H P Boy who lives Year 7- Summer
Chapter 39
Bending the rules
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Hang onto your wizarding hats because this one is going to be one Firebolt broom ride of a chapter...
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Hermione poured the potion that Severus had prepared for her, down the drain of the sink in her bathroom. She knew that if her plan was going to work then she had to act quickly. She turned the taps on in the shower to make it sound as if she were warming her chilled body up under the hot spray of the shower. She estimated that it would buy her at least thirty minutes of time allowing her to do what she must and then get back with no one the wiser.
"Desperate times call for drastic measures." She stripped out of her soaking wet clothing, pulled on some dry warm sweats, expertly braiding her hair, so it would be out of her way during her decided plan of action. "I knew that this was going to come in handy." She opened a compartment in her trunk and took out a glass case that contained a Time Turner. She took it out of its case, and set it around her neck.
"Hmm the Nimbus is never going to get me where I wish to go, which means that I'm going to have to borrow Ginny's Firebolt. It was fate that in honor of his taking on the title of HBP, some of the elder wizards bestowed on Harry their invisibility cloaks."
She draped the invisibility cloak that she had been given by Harry over her traveling cloak so she was completely cloaked from sight. Adding her wand to her arsenal was the final step to beginning stage one of her plan. "Excellent he will never know that I've even gone."
She morphed into Princess, easily slipping passed Ginny and Luna, who were sitting on her bed trying to think of a way to comfort her.
Hermione was successfully borrowing the Firebolt when Mab appeared behind her. "What you are about to try could very well backfire on you. Time is not something to be taken lightly."
Hermione whirled around so fast the hood of her cloak flew off her head, exposing her whereabouts to Mab. "Unless by chance you wish our world to be disclosed, which I know that you do not, then you will not stop me."
Mab knew very well what the repercussions of the death of Hermione's parents would eventually cause their world. "Are you prepared to face the consequences of what you are trying to do? Be warned they may very well destroy what you have with my grandson."
"So be it then." Hermione had her mind made up. "I think that my plan is foolproof. You see through the wonders of modern Muggle technology I know the exact time and place of the accident. When I pull this off no one will be any the wiser."
"I see that your mind is set. Very well, I believe that two turns on the device should more than suffice. Remember you must arrive back here at the exact time that you left." Mab reminded her of the rules and vanished.
"Yes, yes I know... 'If not then dire consequences will befall me'..." Hermione pulled the hood back over her head and headed out of Ginny's room and right into Harry's arms. :I have to do this don't try to stop me.:
:Did you honestly think that I was going to let you go try the impossible alone? I've been watching you with our new map. I saw you sneak in here. Then when First-Grams appeared behind you that settled it for me, and I knew that you were actually going to go through with it.: Harry was also dressed for travel under the guise of an invisibility cloak. He was not pleased with her.
:I didn't want to have you included in breaking one of our world's cardinal rules. Although, this will be much easier since I won't have to avoid you when I return.: Hermione weighted the pros and cons carefully in her head and then decided that Harry would be an asset to her plan.
:Sweetness, I would have known the second you left the castle. So believe me its better that we do this together, rather than have you face my wrath when you returned. I would have been beyond put out with you.: The two of them made their way up to the stargazing tower. Finding the storm had blown itself out, causing an unusually large rainbow to appear between Hogsmeade and the castle.
:Let's do this then.: Hermione set the chain around both of their necks and activated the Time Turner, by turning it over twice, sending the two of them back in time. "I will never get used to that. Let's see its 3:00pm now which leaves us exactly three hours until the accident occurs."
Harry took the Firebolt out of her hands. "I'll fly while you ride as passenger and for Merlin's sake hold on tight to me." Harry mounted the front of the broom giving her enough room to get on behind him.
Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled her face against his back. "How's that?"
"Perfect sweetheart now let's go save your parents." The two of them streaked off south towards their destination.
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By five they were in the exact place where the accident was to take place, and had taken to hiding out in the orchard that bordered the road of the soon-to-be accident scene.
"We're Apparating to Hogsmeade for our trip back home; because there's no way that I'm going to be subjected to that again." Hermione recalled the near miss with an airbus.
"Look, if you had kept you hands at my waist we wouldn't have wavered from our flight path." Harry glowered down at her.
Hermione's face flushed a little and she hastily changed the subject by pulling the article that she had printed out of her pocket. "Yes, um, well, it says here in the article the inebriated person driving the SUV wasn't alone. Evidently, his sibling was with him and they only suffered a case of severe whiplash." She had no clue what his plan was, so now was the time to ask him. "How are we going to stop him from smashing into my parents? His blood alcohol level was off the charts and it seems that he was narcotized as well."
Harry had come up with a plan, but it was beyond risky. "I'll fly across his hood with the Firebolt and he'll end up smashing into the orchard instead of your parents Aston Martin."
Hermione bit down on her lip as she took in his plan. "That's way too perilous, Harry! What if the SUV grazes you? I mean he was going over 100 miles per hour!"
Harry's mind was set. "It's the only way." He took off his cloaks and handed them to her. "I can't risk them getting caught on something, it's going to be touch-and-go as it is."
Hermione launched herself into his arms. "I don't want to lose you!"
"I can do this, angel, so no worries okay." He hugged her fiercely. "We're going to save your parents and then head back home." He growled into her hair.
The time was 5:50pm and he had to go.
Hermione kissed him with all her heart willing him to come back to her. "Come back to me." She whimpered.
"Honey, after a kiss like that nothing could stop me from coming back to you." Harry mounted the broom, leaving her under the safety of the apple tree.
At 5:58pm Hermione found a safe place to watch. "Please let this work." She could see the Aston Martin coming up the road and then easily spotted the SUV barreling its way towards them.
A minute later Harry made his move, moving so fast that he looked like a blurry blue streak across the SUV's hood. It was more than enough to cause the driver to lose control of his car and veer into the orchard smashing over six trees before the SUV had finally stopped. Steam billowed out of what was once the front of the Car.
Hermione watched as her parents pulled over, hugged each other for a moment or two, before calling for emergency services on their mobile. That done they went to see what they could do to help. "It had to be this way...there was no other choice."
Harry sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Let's go find a place where we can hide for an hour." They both vanished from the orchard.
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At 6:55pm the two of them returned to the stargazing tower where Hermione snuck back to her bathroom.
Ginny and Luna were sitting on her bed pouring over the scrapbook.
"Are you composed enough so we can focus on the Rory and Dromi's party or do you still need more time to calm down?" Ginny got up and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Your parents almost got into an accident, neither of them were even hurt. It was the driver of the SUV and his passenger that were killed." Luna went over and opened the bathroom door.
The two had been killed? So they had saved her parents in exchange for the lives of two others. No matter it was a price that she could more than live with. Hermione, who had just managed to sneak into the bathroom, jumped into the shower just as Luna opened the door. "Sorry about the storm. It's just that I came so close to losing my parents and it hit too close to home." She poured shampoo into her hair and washed it.
"The guy was sloshed and high, as was his passenger they were an accident waiting to happen." Ginny noticed the Time Turner lying in the pile of Hermione's clothing, but said nothing.
"I think it was more who was driving the SUV that set you off." Luna also noticed the Time Turner.
"Yes that was part of the reason." Hermione finished her shower and pulled on her robe. It was then that she noticed the girls were staring down at something in her clothes.
"Did you and Harry go and do another Sirius Black?" Ginny pinned her with a look.
"A Sirius Black? Whatever do you mean by that?" Hermione went about towel drying her hair.
"She means did you use the Time Turner to change an event in time again?" Luna frowned at her.
Hermione walked over and picked up the Time Turner. "I was wearing this all day, because I'm determined to have a first date with Harry. The problem is that I'm not one to bend a cardinal rule." She put the Time Turner away in its case.
"Well desperate times call for desperate measures I guess." Without even thinking twice, Ginny bought her explanation.
"We'll let you get dressed for the party." Luna grabbed Ginny by the arm and the two of them left her to get dressed and closed the door after them.
"Phew that was a close call." Hermione saw that all of her purchases were already hanging in her closet. So she chose a hot pink minidress with all the matching accessories. She was in the mood to celebrate and used a glamour spell too instantly do her hair and make-up. "Now to go find Harry," She left the bathroom and found him lounging on her bed with the scrapbook on his lap.
Harry glanced up from what he was doing and grinned at her. "Gramps gave me more snaps for the book. You look like someone who's in the mood to celebrate tonight. By that I mean you look beautiful." He drank in the sight of her with his intense emerald green eyes.
Hermione walked over to her bed and purred down at him. "You don't look half bad yourself handsome."
"What this?" He winked at her. "Mum had this laying out on my bed with a note pinned on it that read wear this or else." He was dressed in slacks, a dress shirt, sweater, and dress loafers. "I managed to sneak Ginny's broom back to its case while the two of them were in here chatting with you."
Draco knocked on her door. "I believe the two of you have a few presents to set up." He did not seem very happy about something.
"Come on in Draco." The two of them called.
Draco had Ron open the door, because his hands were occupied with the basket containing the kittens. "I believe that one of these is yours and the other two are for Rory and Dromi." He set the basket down on the bed.
Tutt was peering down from his shoulder, stared intently at it as was Isis sitting at his feet.
Ron was holding a very put out Crooks in his arms. "Spill it you two. What did you change with that Time Turner this time?" He pinned the two of them with a knowing look.
"Don't try to deny it. Gin and Luna were muttering about it in the hallway. I told them that you would never dream of breaking that law again and not to ever mention it again. Now what did the two of you do that involved borrowing Ginny's Firebolt?" Draco folded his arms in front him as he waited for an answer.
"To keep our world a secret...We prevented the deaths of her parents, who would have died in that car crash. The two that were killed happened to be distant cousins of Hermione's and the children of a certain aristocrat's mistress." Harry trusted the two of them with their secret. "The two of us prevented that from happening."
"Crikey Harry!! You two must have caused a chain reaction or something!" Ron exclaimed.
"What he means is that many people died this evening all of whom aren't good guys." Draco explained.
Harry put the scrapbook away, so he could focus on the two of them. "Who died in the last three hours?"
"Let me see there's like thirteen people." Draco frowned. "Your former Aunt, Uncle, Aunt Marge, and cousin Dudley all died of heart attacks at six this evening. Then Fudge, Filch, Pettigrew, and my former mother all died of natural causes in Azkaban about the same time. Now here's the kicker that's all over the internet. On hearing of the deaths of her two children the mistress had a massive heart attack in her lover's arms, which caused him to have an attack as well. After hearing that his son had died the shock was too much for his father and he also passed away of a Heart attack, all around a quarter to seven this evening." He completed the list of whom was now no longer in this world to the two of them.
"Thirteen for thirteen...I was wondering how that would eventually right itself." Hermione was the first to say something.
"Thirteen for thirteen?! What the bloody hell do you mean by that?" Ron thought that she was losing it or something.
"She means that thirteen good were allowed to return to the living, so in turn thirteen not so good took their place." Harry explained to Ron not feeling the least bit guilty about what they had done.
"I see, so your little change in the time stream made everything between the land of the living and dead right again." Draco understood what Hermione had meant.
"Exactly, so Harry zooming at like 150 miles per hour across the hood of an SUV barreling down the road at say 105 miles per hour caused a chain reaction that returned a sort of say balance to both worlds." Hermione blurted out what Harry had done.
Harry groaned when the two of them stared at him in horror. "It really wasn't that big of a deal."
Ron's eyes bulged as what Hermione had just described to him flashed through his mind. "Harry, did what across the hood of an SUV?!"
"Bloody hell!! Harry, you could have gotten yourself killed!" Draco glared at Hermione thinking that it had been her hair-brained plan and he had gone along with it. "You really do wish him dead don't you!?"
Hermione bit down on her lip, but said nothing.
"It was the only way to right what had been wronged. The SUV was going I would say 105 miles per hour and I was going 150 miles per hour, so to them I was a split second distraction that got them off the road, and away from Hermione's parent's car." Harry shrugged his shoulders as if it really wasn't that big of a deal.
James was standing in the doorway and had heard nearly everything. The very fact that he could have lost his son hit him hard in the gut.
"DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOUR LIFE WAS LESS IMPORTANT THAN SAVING THE LIVES OF KATHERINE AND ALEXANDER? THAT EVEN YOU CAN MISCALCULATE AND END UP SPLATTERED ALONG THE ROADWAY! ARE YOU BOTH THAT SELFISH?! THE HELL WITH OUTING OUR WORLD!! I VALUE YOUR LIFE MORE! YOU WILL RETRIEVE THE TIME TURNER FROM ITS HIDING PLACE AND GIVE IT TO ME AT ONCE!" James let loose his wrath on the two of them.
Harry had never seen him this mad nor had Hermione, who obediently raced to go fetch him the Time Turner case. "Dad, I just thought that..."
"…YOU WOULD BOTH TAKE ON A MISSION THAT COULD VERY WELL HAVE GONE HORRIBLY WRONG? DON'T YOU EVER PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN! AS IT IS I'M SORELY TEMPTED TO BAN YOU FROM QUIDDITCH, HOGSMEADE, AND ANY OTHER FREEDOM OR PRIVILEGE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE FOR ALL OF SEVENTH YEAR! I'M HAPPY THAT TWO OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE ALIVE, BUT I'M FURIOUS THAT IT'S BECAUSE MY SON TOOK EXTREME MEASURES TO DO IT!"
The storm was once again going at full steam outside.
Harry reluctantly got up off her bed and walked over to face his father. "I can't help it if I have this dangerous habit to make things right again. I reckon six years of risking ones life will do that two a person. I am well aware that what I did was sketchy and will never repeat it."
He took a chance to continue, ignoring his fathers glare. "If you ground us from all activities people will wonder why and start to talk. It could get Hermione and I into trouble and you don't want that anymore than we do. What I did was extreme but it..." He found himself hugged so fiercely by his father that he could barely breathe.
"You are more important to me than anything in this world never forget that or do anything like that again. No matter if it means disclosing our world." James growled hoarsely.
"Dad...I can't... Breathe." Harry gasped for air.
James loosened his hold on his son. "Sorry about that, but you went and scared ten years off my life."
Hermione was standing behind Harry with the Time Turner case in her hands. "I believe this is what you requested, Uncle James." She eyed him warily.
"I'm not sorry that I bellowed at the two of you, but I am sorry that I frightened you." James let go of Harry, so he could focus on Hermione.
Hermione handed him the case. "I'm not sorry for what we did, Uncle James. We set things right again, came back safe, and that's all that really matters."
James handed Harry the case, so he could hug Hermione. "I know that Hermione, but as a parent I can't help but mull over what might have been. Something, the two of you will understand a year or two from now when you become parents."
Lily had come to see what was angering James and saw the Time Turner case in Harry's hands. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't see this and take it back to Uncle Albus." Lily took the case from Harry. "Darling, the party is all set downstairs, so why don't you see if the kitchen has any treats for two puppies. It appears as though the girls have adopted two collie pups. Now as for the rest of you, what was said in this room stays in this room."
"Our lips are sealed." Ron and Draco assured her.
"We're not about to tell anyone about it." Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Rory and Dromi found two pups?"
"Eight cats and two pups this is gonna get interesting." James arched a brow at his wife.
"Uncle Sirius will be happier at least." Draco smirked.
"Yes, well, what's done is done. Now the girls will be here anytime now and I want them to walk into a Common Room filled with family shouting Happy Birthday. So finish getting ready and then join us downstairs." Lily was back to focusing on the party.
"We just have to get their presents in other baskets and then we'll be downstairs." Harry knew that his mother was being way to calm about all of it.
:Young man, you and I will talk later!: That said to her son Lily went off to return the Time Turner to Albus. "Good, I will see you downstairs."
"I reckon I'll go see what we can come up with to feed our new pups." James went off to do just that.
"I think Mum took that a little too calmly." Draco shot Harry a look.
"Little brother, I have no doubt that I'll be facing Mum's wrath after the party." Harry went about conjuring baskets for the two kittens and then opened the basket.
Pepper jumped out of it and into his arms causing Crooks to hiss at her.
Hermione took Crooks from Ron and cuddled him. "Be nice Crookshanks. She's your new playmate."
Crooks spat and growled at Pepper.
"He's jealous because Harry's holding Pepper." Ron smirked.
Harry set Pepper down on the bed and Crooks instantly leaped from Hermione's arms into his own. "No one has replaced you, so go make nice with Pepper." Harry held up Crooks, so he was looking eye to eye with the cat then set him down on the bed.
Pepper and Crooks circled each other for a minute or so before engaging in a sort of wrestling match where Pepper easily pinned him and then nipped him in the ear. That was all it took to launch the two of them into a playful courtship.
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Chapter 40
What the hell were you thinking!?
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I do not claim any of JKR's characters only that I love being able to create my own kind of mischief with her beloved characters. I do not claim any other things that are owned by other companies that I may mention once and a while in the stories...Although the original characters and ideas are mine and I loved creating them. So please review if you wish but try not to flame me too badly.
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Cindra 2004-2008