A/N- Hello again everyone. Welcome to Part 1 of Noctis Umbra. This chapter will be a great dealer lighter than the last few, so I hope you guys enjoy! Don't get too used to it though, we're just getting started. I had intended this chapter to be longer, but it felt more organic to end it where I did. As always, thanks for all the reviews and follows! Not to sound vain, but I feel so much more motivated to write when I know people are enjoying it.

Part 1: The Return

Chapter 1: Arrival

July 2nd, 1995

In the smallest bedroom of Number 4 Privet Drive, Harry Potter bolted up in bed with a soft scream, his chest heaving. Panicking and disoriented, his wand flew into his hand from the bedside table. Green eyes scanned the room frantically as he tried to make sense of where he was and how he'd gotten here. As his vision came into focus, he recognized the bedroom his Aunt and Uncle had allowed him to stay in when he was younger.

Fisting both his hands into his sweaty hair, he continued to take great gulps of air. Vertigo didn't quite do justice to how he felt now. His head felt like it was splitting open from within, and the rest of his body ached painfully with every breath. The room was still spinning slightly, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

Was this real? Was he really here?

"BOY!" His uncle roared from down the hall. Harry's eyes snapped to the door, tension filling him. He remembered what it was like to live with his uncle all too well. "IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP I SWEAR I'LL MAKE YOU!"

Harry waited quietly, not making a sound in the hopes that his uncle would go back to sleep. When he didn't hear Vernon's thunderous footfalls coming down the hall he let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He could still hear Vernon and Petunia complaining quietly from their bedroom, but it seemed Vernon was too tired to get his voluminous bulk out of bed and come thrash Harry for waking him up. A bolt of anger flared through Harry's mind.

Let him try. This was far from the same Harry Potter that had gone to bed beaten and meek the night before.

A soft hoot from his left broke him from his thoughts, and his breath caught in his chest.

"Hedwig." He choked out, eyes filling with tears. Throwing the blankets off of himself he crossed the room to her cage. "Hello girl." He said tenderly. He opened the cage and reached in, stroking her feathers gently as he wept. The beautiful snowy owl gave off a confused hoot and nipped his fingers affectionately before nuzzling into his palm. If this was real; if he had really just been sent back in time to re-inhabit his fourteen year old body so he could kill not one, but two dark lords, it was worth it for this one moment. Hedwig had been his first true friend in the world, the first living thing he'd ever truly trusted and her death had been one of the worst blows he'd suffered in the previous war.

"Don't worry, girl." He said softly. "This time, I'll make sure nothing happens to you. I'll protect you." He told her. He sat there in the dark room, absently petting his beloved familiar as he came to grips with his new situation.

He was different. Of that there was no question. The previous day he'd been more magically powerful than he'd ever been in his life, but his body was failing. He hadn't been taking care of himself, hadn't been eating, hadn't allowed himself to have hope for months. Slowly wasting away until his body eventually gave out or he was found and killed by Dumbledore had seemed like the only possible outcome for him.

His body wasn't the same as it had been at fourteen either. He'd been skinny and drawn back then as well but having just gotten back from school, he would've still been in better shape than his future self physically. Even so, his magical power had been less than half of what it should've been. Dumbledore's seals on his magical core and his charms had done their jobs well. It hadn't escaped him either that despite the fact that his glasses were still resting on his bedside table his vision was better than it ever was before. Now, now he was a completely different animal.

He was powerful. Extremely so, if the magic practically crackling in the air around him was any indication. He was genuinely having a hard time keeping it from spilling out. With some effort, he managed to reign it in. Testing his abilities would have to wait for now, it wasn't safe to draw on his magic here where Dumbledore had surely put spells in place to detect it, but he could tell he was even stronger now than he was in the future. His body felt revitalized, more so than it ever had. He felt strong.

A feral grin spread on his face. Soon enough everyone would know just how strong he'd become.

Miles away in Oxford, Hermione Granger awaked.

Unlike Harry, she hadn't bolted up screaming. Instead she had awoken silently, her lithe body rigid. She was covered in sweat just as he had been, and was breathing just as heavily. Her fingers clenched the sheets that had wound around her body so tightly she felt as if she'd been mummified.

Her mind was clouded, and she felt the same sense of disorientation that harry had. Her entire body throbbed as she took a shaky breath.

Merlin, time travel hadn't felt like that before. She'd been a bit more prepared for it than Harry was. Her experience with the time turner had made sure of that, but that had been different. When a time turner was used, one felt a sensation similar to what she felt now, but the body hadn't moved. Not only that, you could run into your past self. Whatever magic Death had used to send them back had been beyond understanding. Not only had they gone back vastly farther than a time turner would've allowed, it seemed they had merged with their younger bodies, instead of existing simultaneously.

She didn't have any of the doubt that Harry had felt upon awakening. Perhaps because she hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing a connection to Voldemort and the dreams/visions that came with it, but Hermione found it easy to accept that what had happened was reality and that she truly was in the past now.

For a time, Hermione simply lay there in her bed, allowing herself time for her mind to clear and to settle back into her younger body. She couldn't help the smile that spread on her face. Fifteen again. Younger. Stronger. Already she could feel the changes Death had wrought in her. She could feel the magic coursing through her, unchecked and free for the first time in her life. Just as he'd done to Harry, Dumbledore had sealed her magic. Now the floodgates had opened, and the river had sprung free to rage.

None of that mattered, though. At least not yet.

The thing that mattered most to her, the thing that made tears spill unchecked from her brown eyes was simple. She could tell all the compulsion charms that had likely still been in place up until the last few hours were gone, as well as the effects of any potions. Her body felt somehow foreign to her. It felt new. It had never been beaten, raped, or abused by Ron. This body was clean!

Hermione was a fiercely intelligent woman, and she knew what had been done to her could never really be erased, despite the fact that it hadn't technically happened yet. Her mind and soul would carry those scars forever. She wasn't even sure that their blessed vengeance could ever make her forget what happened, but at least she felt clean in her own skin again.

Hermione laid there for some time, tears of joy flowing freely as she wept silently.

Sitting up in her bed, Hermione dried her eyes and freed herself from the sheets that had wound their way around her legs, one hand absently holding the sheet up to cover her bare chest.

Over the course of fourth year Hermione had begun to come into herself, both physically and mentally. She'd taken to sleeping in nothing but her knickers when she was at school, or when she was home alone. Even when her parents were home, she only added a loose tank top to her sleepwear, and that was just to maintain some form of propriety. She'd only started wearing pajamas again when they'd been on the run during the hunt for the horcruxes, when she'd been trapped in a tent with two young men for months and months on end.

Hermione rose from her bed and allowed the sheet to pool at her feet. The cool night air caused goosebumps to erupt on her exposed flesh as she searched for clothes to wear. She quickly found a pair of jeans and a soft shirt to wear. Changing quickly, Hermione silently crept from her room and down the stairs, tying her messy hair back in an unruly ponytail as she went.

She'd known from the fact that she'd awoken almost naked that she was home alone, but she still wasn't sure if Dumbledore had someone watching her already so she didn't switch on any lights and moved as quietly as she could. If memory served, the only time she'd been alone that summer was when her parents went to an overnight conference a few towns over and Hermione had declined to go. That had been around the first week or two of summer vacation, and if that was the case the order would be coming to take her to Grimmauld Place soon.

Entering her father's study, she crossed the room silent as a cat and popped the latch on the left window. She'd known since she was a girl that this window wouldn't trigger the alarm, and she'd used it to sneak out and go stargazing many times. As she made her way around the hedges and headed for the street, her mind was once again on Harry Potter.

Death had told them that she and Harry were soul mates, and she wasn't foolish enough to challenge him on that fact. Even now her heart clenched in her chest as she thought of Harry. Memories assaulted her with every step. She remembered Harry kissing her outside the hospital wing in third year, right after they'd save Sirius from the dementors. She could also remember Dumbledore wiping her memories of it a few moments later.

She also remembered the crush she'd had on Harry since the end of first year. The one that she could remember waning during their fourth year as she began to have feelings for Ron. Except the crush had never faded. It had blossomed into a deep affection and eventual love for the bespectacled young man that had been forced from her mind by charms, and potions.

They'd taken it from her. From them.

Hermione bristled at the thought, magic crackling in the air around her. Panicked she crushed her anger quickly so her magic would recede. It wouldn't do for Dumbledore to show up here because his spells detected a powerful magical signature, and she didn't quite have control over he newfound power yet.

She waited another moment or two, wanting to make sure order members weren't about to start apparating in all around her before she moved again. When she was certain she wasn't being watched she stepped out into the street and vanished, the tell tale crack echoing down the street.

Harry breathed deeply, relishing in the crisp morning air. He'd slipped from Number 4 just before dawn, and was now making his way through Little Whinging. His destination was clear in his mind, as was his purpose for going there.

His feet carried him down the familiar streets with barely a second thought. Harry smirked at the irony. In the previous timeline he'd walked this same path many times, the last time resulting in his encounter with the dementors and all of madness that followed. He wondered if he should allow that to happen again? It would be roughly a month from now that Dolores Umbridge would send the dementors after him if he did nothing. Perhaps not. If he did allow it to happen that would put himself and Hermione squarely in Molly's sights for the rest of the summer, and despite having a rough idea of how to proceed he and Hermione hadn't quite decided their next steps.

Hermione.

Harry was at a loss when it came to her. He wanted to keep her from all of this, to protect her, but Death had been clear that they would BOTH be needed to fulfil their task. He didn't know what would happen if he lost her. The same memories that had returned to Hermione had returned to him, as well as the depth of his feelings for her. It shook him to the core that such a powerful devotion to her could be suppressed. Never again.

Anger darkened Harry's face as his thoughts drifted to what had been done to them. What had been done to keep them apart. They would all suffer. He would make sure of it.

When he rounded the corner, the familiar playground came into view. Harry's heart began to race as he saw her, sitting idly in a swing.

He'd kept her waiting.

"Hermione." He called. She looked up at him and their eyes locked, green with brown. Without a word Hermione leapt off of the swing and took off at a sprint towards him. Closing the gap quickly she threw herself into Harry's open arms, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his jacket, clutching at him with all her strength. Harrys wrapped his arms around her.

"Harry!" She cried softly, melting into him. They stood there, holding each other in the early dawn light, each taking comfort in the others warmth and presence.

"Is this really happening, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Did we really come back?"

Hermione pulled back enough to look him in the eye.

"Yes." She whispered, releasing her grip on him and taking his face in her hands. "Yes." She repeated. Harry's raised his hand and cupped her check gently. Hermione made a soft noise of approval and closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.

"Hermione…" Harry started, overcome with emotion.

"Say it Harry." Hermione commanded, meeting his gaze once more. Her brown eyes were bright in the dawn light, sparkling with unshed tears.

Instead of speaking, Harry simply lowered his head. Hermione mewled softly as his lips came down onto hers, capturing her in a kiss that seared her to her very soul. It was passionate, demanding, and needy. It was everything Hermione had dreamed it would be and more. So engrossed were the two in each other that neither noticed the others magic flaring out, an invisible shell forming around them. His magic brushed hers and Hermione's knees went weak at the sensation, a moan bubbling up from deep within her. Harry growled and held her even tighter, his heart felling like it was hammering out of his chest. A soft glow encompassed the two as their magics merged for the briefest instant, making them both lightheaded.

They both pulled back at the same time, breathless, shaking, and gasping for air. The next words they spoke simultaneously, and without any hesitation.

"I love you."