A/n: Sorry for the wait, but school is out now, so chapters will be coming more frequently, promise! Thank you to the three people who reviewed my last chapter. I appreciate you all!

::: 4 :::

Destiny's Memories

"The angry morning

Gives the early signs of warning,

You must face alone the plans you make

Decisions they will try to break."

--Three Doors Down

Though the sun dawned beautifully the following morning, for the first time in a long while, Hermione was not awake to watch it. She'd slept through most of the night, disturbed only once sometime in the early hours of the morning by a mild nightmare. While normally she'd have stayed awake, the ongoing lack of sleep had finally hit her and she fell asleep again almost as abruptly as she'd been awakened. It was somewhere around the middle of the day when she finally emerged from her room, looking rested.

She knocked on Harry's closed door and heard a frantic rustling of papers from inside and his call of, "Coming!" A moment later, he opened the door and gave her a weary grin. His hair was wild and messy he was blinking rapidly. He invited her in and she accepted his invitation.

Immediately she noticed a pile of books on his bed, some open and with papers and quills scattered about atop them. They were the books she'd loaned him the day before. She gave him a taunting smile. "Been studying have you?"

"For once," said Harry, returning her grin. "Hey, I had hours to kill and nothing better to do. I figured I might as well do something more productive than staring at walls. I have to admit, if I thought studying would be a more invigorating activity, I was wrong. I was just thinking a few minutes ago how I would be switching to observing the furniture soon."

She laughed a little. "Well, despite your complaints, you've certainly been engrossed in the books-it's nearly noon!"

"I know. I ate breakfast a while ago, but I came back up. I don't really know what to do with myself without you around. I feel weird."

"You don't have to," she admonished. "My parents like you and you're a welcome guest. You're allowed to watch television or something else if you want."

"I don't feel comfortable watching television in my own home, let alone in someone else's." He paused and smiled. "It's still hard to remember I don't really have a home. It'll take some getting used to. I mean, I never really considered the Dursleys' house to be home, but at least I knew where I was going in the summer. Now I'm just sort of lost and drifting . . . It may be odd, but it's still better than the Dursleys." He shrugged in an unconcerned type of way.

"My home is your home for as long as you need it and I'm sure Sirius will come for you soon. You said he'd gotten a house. That's your home, Harry."

Harry just shrugged again. It didn't particularly bother him-he had too many other more pressing issues on the tip of his tongue. "So did our experiment work? I didn't sleep. Any nightmares? You certainly slept like you didn't have any."

Hermione had to think hard to remember. She sighed in depression at the realization that their one lead was now dead. "Yes," she said. "One, somewhere around three. No chance you dozed off?"

Harry shook his head, his expression grim. He forced himself to give a smile. "Don't worry, we'll work something else out. I suppose I should be getting some sleep now, though-I'm dead tired after so much insomnia."

Hermione sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, her lighthearted mood leaving. "We've got a lot to work out, haven't we?"

Harry was about to reply when a scream echoed up the stairs. Hermione was on her feet in an instant, her face pale and her breath sharp. Her heart was thudding in her chest. Harry was right behind her, moving quickly to the door. He felt a strong sense of déjà vu overcome him. Wasn't this what had happened with Aunt Petunia?

"That's my mother!" cried Hermione, the worry in her voice distinct.

Harry nodded grimly and opened the door. He darted back to his bed and rummaged under it quickly to look for something. A moment later he pulled out his wand. Another scream accompanied his voice. "Let's go."

The two jogged hesitantly down the stairs. Hermione led them toward the family room, where she thought she'd heard the screams come from. Worry was overtaking her. What was happening? Was her mother all right?

Hermione's sense of direction did not fail them. They entered the family room and immediately saw Hermione's parents and a third man whose face they couldn't see. Hermione's father had the man-who was at least a head shorter-pinned against the far wall. A wand lay on the ground at his feet. Hermione's mother was hovering some distance back, holding a phone and apparently torn about whether or not to dial it. The strange man was muttering something in a low, soothing voice to Daniel Granger, who appeared to be angry and refusing to accept the words he was hearing.

"What's going on?" asked Harry, his strong voice cutting through the room and making heads turn.

"Harry! Go get Hermione and get out. I don't know who this man is, but he's looking for the two of you. Go, we'll come for you when it's safe."

"Harry!" gasped the man, though Harry could still not see his face. "Hermione, please, reassure your father I'm here to do you no harm."

Harry's eyes bulged in disbelief. He turned to Hermione to see if she was thinking along the same lines he was. She nodded. "Sirius?" asked Harry uncertainly.

"Who else would I be?" demanded Sirius, apparently getting irritated. "Tell him to let me go, please. I can scarcely breathe!"

"Dad, let him down!" commanded Hermione.

Daniel was still unsure. He loosened his grip enough for Sirius to take a shuddering breath but did not release him. "Who is this man?"

"He's my godfather," said Harry. "Not too sure what he's doing here, but we can trust him. He's not here to hurt us. Don't you remember? You saw him a few months ago in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He was there when Dumbledore was explaining things."

"I wasn't paying all that much attention to the people. I was more focused on Hermione," he said dryly. He let Sirius go. Sirius nodded his thanks and straightened his cloak. "I apologize, sir, but you have to understand I'm a bit edgy. Things are a bit out of control right now."

Sirius gave him a smile. "That's more than all right. I have a complete understanding of the state of current events and even if they weren't as they are, I would still have expected such a reaction. I would have reacted similarly." He turned his attention to Harry, who was now standing close. Harry was obviously still confused, but he wore a large grin. Sirius embraced his godson. "It's good to see you, Harry!"

"You too," said Harry. "Not to sound like I don't appreciate the visit, but why are you here?"

"I got your letter," said Sirius grimly. "Writing back would have taken too long, so I came to you in person. You need to leave here."

"We know," said Hermione. "We're already making arrangements, we just don't know where to go."

Sirius turned to her and gave her a warm smile. "Hello, Hermione. How have you been?"

She gave him a slight smile. "I can't tell you how sick I am of hearing that question."

Sirius laughed. "I'd imagine. Okay, I'll let it drop, then. Move on to business, shall we? There will be time for small talk later. Where do you intend to go?"

Hermione and Harry exchanged a look. "Well," said Harry slowly, "we hadn't worked out any details. I was considering coming to stay with you in Dumbledore's hideout, or in your new house, should you have it ready. I don't have anywhere else to go." He looked at Hermione and gave her a grateful smile. "Hermione's been a great help in all this, but I couldn't impose on any relatives her parents might send her to."

"Harry," Hermione began, but was cut off by her father.

"Your mother and I have discussed it since we last talked," he said, making everyone in the room look towards him. He glanced at his wife, who nodded. "We will allow you to go with Harry and stay with Professor Dumbledore. This is not at all ideal. We'd feel much better if you went to one of our relatives, but we agree that we don't want to separate the two of you right now. Harry's presence is clearly helping you, honey."

Hermione felt relief at her father's words and it was apparently evident on her face because Harry gave her an agreeable smile. "When are we to leave?"

"Now, if at all possible," answered Sirius. He gave her parents a sheepish smile. "I didn't come here to work out details so much as to get the both of them and bring them back. If you'd prefer I came back later . . ."

"No, that's okay," said Daniel, though his words appeared forced. He was clearly unhappy with the situation. "We understand the immediate need to get them out of here. The longer they stay the more danger they're in. Cecile and I are going to stay with my brother in Sussex. They're sure to trace Hermione to here and then they'll find us if we stay. I'm terribly sorry that my kind are causing so much trouble."

Hermione was about to protest again, but Sirius beat her to it. "Sir, if I may say, there aren't simply two sides in this war. A large percentage of the wizarding world is made up of Muggle-borns, which means there are a lot of Muggles out there who know of us and support us. In my mind, there are three sides. The wizards, the Muggles, and people like you. You're obviously a decent man, that's reflected in your daughter if in nothing else, and if you had the ability to do magic, you'd make a fine wizard. Muggles are non-magic people who refuse to accept the magical sort. You're simply a non-magic person. They really need to make a new definition."

Mr. Granger nodded, though it was obvious he still felt some guilt in the matter. He looked to his daughter and rested a loving hand on her shoulder. "I suppose you two had better head upstairs and get your things . . ."

Harry nodded and took Hermione's hand, leading her out of the room. She was still standing still, feeling overwhelmed by the quick pace at which everything was ocurring. She followed Harry up the stairs with one backwards glance at her parents and Sirius where they stood talking. Harry said nothing until they reached the top landing. Her immediate shock at the abrupt arrival and announcement of Sirius had faded and now all was left over was a grim resolution. She understood the necessity to leave here-she'd expected them to leave today or tomorrow. However, when it came down to it, it was still a shock. True, for the larger part of the summer she'd remained off in her room, ignoring and rebuffing her parents' attempts to reach her. It had not been fun. That didn't change the fact that this was her home. Now, with Harry's arrival, things were beginning to look up and now she was being sent off again.

Harry could sense her mood. He put a reassuring arm around her and grinned. "Hey, it's okay. At least we'll be together. And it'll be nice seeing everyone again. Could be worse, right?"

Hermione sighed and nodded. She looked around her, not that there was much to see except closed doors along the hallway. "Yes, you're right."

"Do you want me to help you pack? I've only taken a couple of things out of my trunk and most of them I've put back since. I'll check again and help you."

Hermione nodded and opened her door. Crookshanks, who'd obviously been waiting on the other side, darted through immediately, nearly tripping her and dashing down the stairs so that they saw no more than an orange blur. Harry rolled his eyes and his arms seemed to sting in memory of the night before.

He made a quick check of the room he'd just begun to get used to. Harry felt a slight headache pounding in his skull. He massaged his temples as he made the bed and double-checked his trunk. Everything really was moving far too quickly.

By the time he'd dragged his trunk out into the hall, he could see Hermione struggling to close the lid on her own. He joined her and the two managed to get it closed. Once they had, he looked up at her with a teasing grin. "I suppose it's so hard to close because it's overflowing with books?"

"What else?" she replied. "Did you really expect me to go six months without studying? Now help me drag this down the stairs."

Harry waved his hand negligently. "Just pull it out into the hall. We can't do magic, but Sirius can. It'll be a lot easier for him to just enchant them. I think the harder part will be getting Crookshanks. I'll help you find him, but forget any physical contact-you're very much on your own when it comes to putting him in his cage." He rolled up his sleeves, displaying to her the mosaic of scratches Crookshanks had given him the night before. "The cat doesn't like me touching him."

"Oh!" she cried in worry. "When did he do that?"

"Last night. He was attacking Hedwig," said Harry, shrugging. "Don't worry, I've been through much worse. Just warning you-I've got enough scratches. There isn't room for any more."

Despite Harry's declaration, he ended up helping Hermione stuff her cat into his cage once they'd located him under the dining room table. She carried him into the family room while Sirius floated their trunks down. He pulled out a sack of Floo Powder once everything was collected and Hermione and Harry had said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

"Oh, is that how you arrived?" asked Hermione wryly. "No wonder you frightened my parents."

Sirius smiled at her. "No other option, I'm afraid. This is the quickest way, as you two aren't of age to Apparate yet. Do you have everything?"

Harry and Hermione glanced at one another and Harry sighed, nodding. "Yeah. We're going to Dumbledore's hideout?"

Sirius nodded. "For now, yes. Perhaps later in the summer you can come with me to stay in my new house, but I'm afraid our duties to everything else are being neglected. There's so much the Dark Lord left over for us to wrap up and of course there's the brewing war . . . Professor Figg has had to duck out of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year to help. Dumbledore will only be there part time. Fletcher has completely withdrawn from the Ministry for now. This will not be finished by the summer's end, I'm sorry to say."

"So who will be our new professor? I'd ask if it would be you or Professor Lupin, but both of you are also involved," said Hermione.

"No, it won't be either of us, though perhaps one day it will be. I'm not sure who. I don't think Dumbledore is, either. We'll have to wait and see," said Sirius.

Hermione said her final farewells to her parents and each of the three took their turn tossing a bit of Floo Powder into the fireplace and stepping into the emerald flames. Harry felt the usual wave of nausea wash over him as he spun in the fireplace, finally coming to stop in the fire at Dumbledore's sanctuary. Harry stepped out to the large, warm room. He remembered the hours he'd spent there the year before. This place had been their temporary haven. In a way, he looked at it as the eye of the storm-it had been calm, a chance to rest and prepare for what was ahead. Then the next thing had hit them. Well, if I've got to spend a few months here, I suppose it's a good thing this place doesn't hold particularly bad memories, decided Harry. He dropped his trunk loudly and immediately everyone working at their respective desks around the room looked up. He gave them a small smile, sheepish for interrupting their work.

Just then Hermione appeared, unintentionally slamming into him from behind. He toppled forward onto the floor. Hermione managed to regain her balance before she fell too. Unlike Harry, she quickly dragged their trunks out of the way of the fireplace and stepped to the side. A moment later Sirius appeared, looking the least disheveled of the three. He noticed his godson on the floor and grinned at him. "Your father could never get the hang of traveling by Floo Power either," he commented at he pulled Harry to his feet. "He'd puke or collapse every time we had to use it. It was a great opportunity for Moony and I-we never let him hear the end of it."

Harry laughed at the image. Professor Lupin had moved from his station and now appeared beside Sirius. "Oh, Padfoot, don't make it sound like we were heartless," he admonished. "Lily didn't like Floo Powder either and she reacted the same way, but we had decency. We never teased her."

Harry grinned again and extended his hand to his old professor, who accepted it gratefully. He then turned to shake Hermione's hand. "It's great to see you both," he said. "It seems we never get the pleasure of meeting under decent circumstances, does it not?"

Harry shrugged. "Hey, it's better than last time."

"An excellent point."

The four turned to see Dumbledore standing just behind Professor Lupin. He greeted them all with a smile. "Welcome. I am glad to see you both again. You look well."

"You too, sir," said Harry politely.

Dumbledore gave Hermione a smile, which she returned. Harry, who had been watching, relaxed considerably. Her smile was sincere, not forced. He supposed that perhaps it was just easier on her to be around wizards in general.

"Welcome, Hermione. I must apologize for the haste in bringing you here-I don't suppose you're feeling all too kindly toward me right now. I do hope you understand the necessity-staying there much longer would have been invitation for the Muggle law enforcement to take you. We have enough problems with affairs between our two sides right now without that on top of it. Not to mention the fact I don't think it would have been a particularly enjoyable experience for you, either."

"That's all right. We would have had to leave soon anyway. It was unexpectedly quick, yes, but it's done with now," she responded calmly. "I do apologize for all the trouble I've caused you. If only I hadn't thrown that Muggle boy back against that tree . . ."

"Do not apologize," reprimanded Dumbledore, looking at her sternly. "You did what the situation forced you to do. Had they not attacked you, you would not have had to defend yourself. I would have been disappointed had you not attacked."

Hermione looked down, her guilty expression still present. "Yes, but-"

Dumbledore held up a hand. "While I am normally quite happy to accept someone else's opinion, not this time. Hermione, you did nothing wrong. This situation would have come about no matter what you did or didn't do. It was nearing the breaking point; you were just what sent it over the edge. If you had not done it, someone else would have."

Hermione nodded and said nothing else.

Dumbledore smiled at the both of them. "All right then. We have a great many things to discuss, but first, I will allow you to get settled in your rooms. I warn you, they are small." Dumbledore led the two toward two doors on the opposite wall of the rooms they'd stayed in last time. He opened up one and stepped inside. The room was decorated in red and gold colors. The bed was large with a checkerboard red-gold pattern, with one pillow of each color at the head. There was a small wooden table on the right side with a lamp and clock. There was a dresser pressed up against the far wall and a door in the right wall. A gold rug was placed right in front of the bedside table. The walls were white, but there were no windows.

"This will be Harry's room," announced Dumbledore. He motioned at the door in the right wall. "This door will join your two rooms. It locks. The only real difference between the two rooms is there is an old bookshelf in the other room, which I had the notion Hermione would enjoy." At this proclamation, Hermione grinned happily.

Harry dragged his trunk over and set it down in front of the dresser and Dumbledore unlocked the door and led Hermione through to her room. He looked his over with a slight smile. This wasn't so different from his Gryffindor dorm. The only difference-the best difference-was that he had this room to himself. Not that he didn't like the other boys in his dorm; it was just that it was a nice change to have a room to himself and not be at the Dursleys.

He walked through the door that adjoined his and Hermione's rooms. Dumbledore was standing by the door that led out to the main area, watching as Hermione looked over to the tiny, squat bookshelf that was against the wall beside the door. She was frowning, much to Harry's surprise.

He soon found out why. "Almost half of these look like something you'd find in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library, Professor. A lot of them look like Dark Arts books," she commented, looking up at Dumbledore with a confused expression.

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I am aware of that. I trust you to use your discretion, Miss Granger. While Hogwarts does not teach the Dark Arts like some other schools for obvious reasons, I see no harm in you looking at Dark Arts books. You need to be aware of what you're up against. I trust you and Harry without question. I do not for a second believe that you will attempt to use anything in those books or I would not give you the opportunity to see them. I simply thought you might find them interesting to look at."

Hermione nodded, still looking slightly puzzled. "The others look very interesting though. Oh, look, one on advanced Transfiguration and Arithmancy!"

Harry laughed and she looked at him. "Hermione, can you not think about classes and subjects for longer than ten minutes?" he asked her jokingly.

"Harry, our O.W.L.s-"

"I know, I know," he defended. "I was studying, wasn't I? You even caught me! It's Ron you need to be nagging."

Hermione pursed her lips in disapproval. "Yes, I doubt he's so much as picked up a single book all summer."

"If he even remembers that O.W.L.s are still taking place at all!"

As the two shared a grin, Dumbledore watched, a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. They were so young. Innocent, no, not after all they'd seen and been forced to do, yet they'd still managed to recover so well in such a short amount of time. He hoped that future events would not change that. He prayed that history would not repeat itself.

"I will leave you to get settled," said Dumbledore, making them look at him. "We will send someone for you when lunch is ready."

"Professor, wait," called Hermione. Dumbledore stopped and turned to face her. There was no trace of her smile now. She looked at Harry, then back at Dumbledore. "Did you read the letter we sent you?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, I did. There are matters that we will discuss later, but not now. Please do alert me, though, if you have any more of these visions or dreams. It would be helpful to know. I assure you that while I know nothing concrete at this point, I am looking into it to the best of my ability."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you."

Dumbledore left and Hermione moved over to sit on her bed. She looked sort of bleak as she stared blankly at the bookshelf. Harry came over and sat beside her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "I just wish we could get some answers. We've been through so much, and now some new, confusing, horrible thing is happening. Everything is moving at an alarming rate." She put her head in her hands and gave a forlorn sigh. "It's hard to take it all in."

Harry put an arm around her and they sat like that for several minutes, unmoving. Finally, Hermione gave him a grateful smile, stood up, and walked over to the bookshelf once more. She appeared her old self again. Harry was having trouble getting used to her frequent mood changes and could think of nothing more to say. Her eyes began to scan the spines of the books, and Harry stood, deciding to go and speak to Sirius, leaving Hermione to investigate her new reading material. The last thing he heard on the way out the door was her excited exclamation to no one in particular: "I've never seen any of these in the Hogwarts library before!"

A/N: I decided to be kind and not end this one with a cliffhanger. Why? Because I made you wait so long for this part, and I couldn't find a better place to break this chapter in two. Urg, I really hate Notepad, and I hate the fact that ff.net will not let me upload things from MW anymore!