Books in Series:

Book 1: A Girl Can Be More Important Than a Firebolt

Book 2: Light of the Heart

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A/N: Harry Potter and his world belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers and anyone that has received licensing rights.

-oOo-

Chapter 2

September 3, 1996

Hogwarts, Scotland

Hermione setup on the table next to him as they waited for the first runes class of the year to start. As Lavender and Ron had predicted, there were many that looked at him and Hermione.

Most had been shocked yesterday morning at breakfast when word had finally made it around. This morning, he had noticed some jealous or other looks, mostly at Hermione. He did have to stare down a few Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff that were looking at her.

Harry didn't like it. He didn't believe he was as popular or desirable as his best mate, and his other sixth-year mates, said he was. All he wanted was the beautiful brunette next to him.

Hermione nudged him. "What's on your mind," she asked as others came in.

"Just thinking," he told her. She didn't press him, but he had a feeling she would later. He had to talk with her. After Runes and Ancient Studies, the day was empty and it was probably better to get this over with sooner, rather than later.

He looked around. The class was smaller than it had been the last few years. The last three years it had been eighteen of them. Now it was only nine: Daphne Greengrass, his cousin Draco, Padma Patil, Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner, Wayne Hopkin, Susan Bones, Hermione and himself.

Daphne and Mandy sat at the table next to them. "Morning, Potter. Morning, Granger," Daphne greeted.

"Morning, Daphne," he responded.

She looked at him for a moment. "Hermione, I am going to schedule our study group this afternoon and Thursdays at three."

"Sounds good. Harry will be joining us this year," Hermione told her.

Daphne was still looking at him. "This is as serious group, Harry. We meet until supper time and if you slack at all, you will not be invited back."

He snapped his fingers. "There go my plans to goof off."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He will be serious," she spoke up.

Daphne nodded.

"Good morning everyone," Professor Babbling said walking into the room.

"Good morning, Professor Babbling," many of them echoed.

Babbling had a serious look on her face, like normal. "I can see you are all here. As you all know, I will not tolerate lateness. You are all NEWT students and I expect you to act as such."

The Professor flicked her wand and three sheets of parchment flew to each of them. "This is your syllabus for the year, your homework schedule and your draft proposal form for your project due by Halloween, with a minimum twenty parchment or minimum fourteen-foot scroll report due by end of April next year. I expect all assignments to be handed in on time and will not remind you again."

Harry took his parchments and slid them into the folder he kept for the class. He could review them later.

"Now, after Christmas break last year, we started on some simple formula for determining if Rune chains would work on an inscription. The next two weeks we will expand on that and then get into inscribing," she instructed. Her wand had pointed towards a chalk board and the equations for magical links were appearing on the board.

Harry didn't write it down, knowing them very well by now. He did notice Hermione was recording everything on the board and what Babbling was saying.

When the class was done, Harry put his notes away and took out another folder for Ancient Studies. His bag had never been organized like this before, that was until he started studying with Hermione last year.

"This class is going to be really interesting," Mandy said as she packed her items.

"Different than what I thought. Mother said she didn't get into the formula until her seventh year," Daphne agreed.

"It was a different professor," Harry pointed out. "Professor Babbling has only been here nine years."

"What was it like before?" Hermione questioned.

"Lots of translations and only a senior project."

"I'll see you this afternoon?" Mandy asked.

"Three in the Library," Daphne told her as Mandy walked out.

Hermione was reading over the parchments as they talked. "Harry, do you think we could use our research projects for this?"

"I was planning on it," he said.

Professor Babbling walked up to them. "Granger. Potter. I received your request and would like to meet at 1:30 to discuss."

"Yes, ma'am," Hermione spoke before him.

"What did you request from Professor Babbling?" Daphne questioned curiously as the professor walked back to her desk.

"We have been given grants for projects from the ICW and would like to ask Professor Babbling to be our advisor."

Daphne blinked. "You what?"

"We applied and each received two grants for independent research from the ICW. I am working on enchantments that will heavily use Runes and Ancient Magics. Hermione is doing theory based Arithmantic Treaties on enchantments and identifying potion uses for little used herbs." He smiled at the expression on Daphne's face.

"How did you get that?" she asked, sounding envious.

"Applied to the ICW after getting our OWL results," Hermione said.

The few that hadn't taken runes were filing in for Ancient Magics.

"How did you two find out about the ICW? Mother never mentioned we could do something like that," Daphne questioned.

"Harry found it out," Hermione told her.

"The bids are closed for this year, but I can give you the information to contact the Grant Board for next year. Sometimes they have grants that come up around Christmas," Harry said.

"Good morning to those not in my Runes class," Professor Babbling called out after the bell rang. "Now, you have all achieved Outstandings in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Both will be required for this subject as we delve into some of the secrets that helped to make Hogwarts, the Pyramids, Stonehenge and other places. As we do, we will examine the runes and how they were inscribed, as well as the magic it took to make them. This will include ritual and blood magics. It will also include the arithmancy behind some of it and even get into some of the new theories on how that magic interferes with muggle technology. This will be particularly important as this class gets into next year."

She flicked her wand and three papers fluttered to them. "This is your syllabus, homework and report schedule and the form for your project..."

Hermione was reading through her notes and already marking them up when the bell rang. Professor Babbling left soon after the bell.

"Three o'clock. Don't be late," Daphne warned them.

"I'll make sure she is there," he told the dark hair girl.

"Where," Hermione asked after a few.

"Daphne wants you to jump in the Black Lake at three," Harry told her. "I would wear the yellow one."

She blinked before hitting him on the arm. Harry laughed, but stopped to hear the drawl of one of the people he truly hated. "I see you lowered your standard even more, Potter. Of course, blood traitors belong in the mud."

Harry reached for his wand and Hermione put a hand on his arm.

Draco smirked. "See, the mudblood knows her place."

Hermione twirled on Draco. "Whose the dirty one? I earned where I am. Did your father buy you your Outstanding like he did your broom," she snarked.

The smirk fell off Draco's face. "I would watch what you say mudblood..."

Harry had had enough and his wand was in his hand and pushed his way around Hermione. His wand jammed into Draco's neck. "You care to repeat what happened last year," he warned in an angry voice.

Draco stood tall, tilting his head back. "You aren't protected anymore."

Harry shrugged. "I am not bound anymore, you mean."

Harry saw Draco's eyes grow concerned.

"Harry, he's not worth it. Let's go get some lunch," Hermione suggested.

He let out a breath when she touched his arm and lowered his wand.

"Father will hear about this. I can't wait to see people like you under my boot."

Harry snorted. "Be careful what you wish. It may not be the way you want it."

Draco eyed him before leaving.

He let out an angry breath. Harry didn't want to be related to the ponce.

"Harry, put your wand away please," Hermione demanded.

A sigh escaped him. "I didn't mean to push you so hard."

"I would appreciate you not doing that in the future, but you need to just let it go. Is it worth losing your Prefect badge to start a fight with him?"

"At least he would lose his badge too."

"I thought you wanted to be Head Boy? Babbling may not recommend you if you do this again or get caught." She pulled on his arm to turn him around. They were the only ones still in the room.

"Beauxbatons is sounding really good right now," he told her. He knew this was probably going to happen.

She shook her head. "Would you run?"

"No. I can't promise I won't go after Draco if he says anything else about you," he informed her.

"Two years, Harry. I want to move to Sark and then we don't ever need to deal with the likes of Malfoy," she soothed him.

He took in a deep breath. "After dinner, can we talk?"

Her brown eyes drew him in even as she regarded him. "Is this about Draco or something else?"

"Both, but mostly something else," he responded.

After a few, she pushed up on her toes to peck him on the lips. "Whatever you have to say can't be that bad."

Harry hoped so.

-oOo-

Later that day...

Harry paced across the length of the room. They had only been dating for thirty-seven days. Thirty-seven days he had very much enjoyed and wanted to make that count many, many more.

"Harry, you can just tell me," Hermione stated.

He stopped and ran his hand through his hair. He didn't know where to start that might not scare her away.

"Harry," she called for his attention.

He looked up at her. They were in an unused classroom on the 2nd floor of the east wing. Professor Babbling had given them permission to use it for the year for their lab. She had said that the empty classrooms in this wing were used for NEWT students that needed a workshop. If too many requests came in they could have to share it with two others. For now though, it was theirs. It was the best private spot he had in the castle without finding a broom closet, and this was not a conversation to have in a broom closet. He was pretty sure he wouldn't want any conversation in a broom closet...

She was sitting on one of the desks that had been pushed against the wall by the door. Harry had asked her to sit there so he could figure out how to talk to her.

He ran his hand through his hair again.

She huffed and pushed herself off the desk. Walking over to him, she took his hands. "Unless you are trying to tell me you don't want me, it can't be that bad."

After another sigh, he finally spoke. "Did you really mean you love me the other day?"

Some color came to her cheeks. He liked it but felt very nervous.

Hermione was quiet for a few. He started to feel his heart fall out of his chest. "Hermione, I meant it when I said I love you."

More color came to her cheeks and a small smile crept onto her lips. "You really mean it?"

He let out a breath. He was a Merlin-be-damned Gryffindor! "Yes."

She moved a little closer. "Harry, I love you."

He smiled before letting it drop. He let go of her right hand and reached into the pocket of his pants. Taking out the broach she looked apprehensively at it. "I am not ready to be married," he told her, seeing the fear, and desire, in her eyes.

"Then why are you carrying that around?" she asked.

"The Potters are a very old family and there are certain rituals or rights that bind many of the Old Houses. Or, more specifically, my Blood," he told her.

Hermione was quiet for a few. "That day in Diagon Alley when your Aunt said you knew about your blood and it was important to know where it came from, there was a specific reason why she said it that way. Isn't there?"

"The original 'pure' bloods were those that could trace their lineage back to the Romans. It was a way to tell those that had direct lineage to Rome. That blood was tied to the land of Britain with the intermarriage of the picts and others that had already claimed the lands," he repeated what his Aunt had taught him and what he had read in old family texts. Aunt Bel wanted him to understand what he was doing and what it would cost him if he truly severed all ties to the land of England.

He put a finger on her lips so he could get to why he was holding the broach. "Marriages that combined two magical traditions or different Blood, make a bond. It is an intermingling of the Blood and magic. The bond would start with a courtship and sealed with the consummation of the union."

Her eyes slowly grew wide as he talked.

"I have been attracted to you for a long time. I really mean it when I say I love you. When you told me the other day, I felt your magic reach out. I can feel your magic now."

She pushed his hand down. "Harry, when you say bond, do mean like a true magical bond?"

he nodded.

"Aunt Bel tried to hold me back when we went to the graveyard. I could feel your sadness and all I wanted to do was comfort you. When you told your parents how you feel about me, I thought I felt something too," she said. "Are you telling me we have started a courtship?"

"Kind of," he told her.

"What do you mean kind of?"

He held the broach out. "Some of the old traditions would seek out a Seer to determine if a couple was compatible. If it was found they were, the Seer would give a gift to represent the possibility. If the couple felt the attraction, then the courtship would start and their magic would start to call for each other. My Aunt thinks if we don't want this, we have maybe a few months to stop. If not, then yes, we are in a courtship."

It was quiet for a few before Hermione reach up and pushed his hand closed over the broach. "Would you want to be in a courtship with me?"

Merlin, her brown eyes where deep. He saw the vulnerability in them. Whatever he said next would probably decide their fate. "Would it scare you if I told you I want to have four kids? Obviously not now, but someday," he added quickly.

Hermione didn't say anything. He saw the gears turning in her head. She didn't pull away either, instead taking a half step towards him. "It's a little scary. Not because I don't want them," she said as he tried to take a step back. "I would like to be out of Hogwarts, and not right away. I only turn seventeen in fifteen days."

He let out a breath. "A courtship can last as long as we want."

Her eyes were intense. "You mean until we consummate it?"

Harry felt his face flush some. "Yes," he squeaked before clearing his throat. "Yes."

"I will wear the broach when we get there, Harry Potter," she said with a smile coming across her face. "Is there anything else we need to do in a courtship?"

Harry wasn't sure. He had never really considered it before and Aunt Bel hadn't gone over all the details. "I can owl Aunt Bel. There is more though," he continued with an uncertain look.

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me we have to dance naked under the full moon or something?"

"Only if you want," he remarked before he could stop himself, the vision of her prancing around crossed his mind.

She flushed and he was sure he was matching her. "Maybe someday," she said in a whisper. His heart beat against his chest. "What else is there?"

"It has to do with Blood and the Wizengamot," he told her.

"You are renouncing your Lordship," she responded.

"I am, but there is a reason I want to stay on Sark besides it being my home, and there is something else."

She cocked her head. "Your family magic is tied to the lands here, and living on Sark lets you retain it, doesn't it?"

"How many of those books did you read that I took from my vaults?" he asked.

"Most of them. I didn't see anything about courtships."

"Aunt Bel suggested that I take some of those family histories and diaries. I thought she just wanted me to go through a few of them again and read a few I hadn't yet."

"She wanted me to read them?" she asked pensively.

"I think so. She told me she felt that we were attracted to each other and she felt the start of the bond when we visited my parents."

Hermione let go of his hands and started to pace, like he had earlier. So far this was going much better than he had thought it might. She had the unmistakable look of being deep in thought.

Harry liked it. She bit her lip and her hands moved some as though she was having an internal conversation. "Harry, how far back does your family really go?"

"A little over eight-hundred years," he told her.

She stopped and looked at him. She hadn't asked the question that she really needed to ask. After a moment, she asked, "How far back does your blood go?"

"We can trace it to before the fall of Hadrian's wall," he told her.

She blinked. "That was more than sixteen-hundred years ago."

"The true 'pure' bloods can all trace their heritage back like that. Many of us are distant relatives and a true courtship is hard to come by for those that only marry those of pureblood. You can be bonded, but it is not the same. Like my mother, you are of new Blood. A person magic gifted the right to. This isn't just me and you getting married eventually, it is the start of a new Blood line, like with my parents," he told her.

"Aunt Bel told my parents she thought I had talents. Harry, how much talent is passed through Blood?"

"Quite a bit, actually," he stated.

"What were your parents' talents," she asked curiously.

"The Potters are known for our transfiguration and fighting skills. Almost every generation has had at least one Auror or its equivalent. My father was so talented he was able to make the animagus transformation at fourteen."

Her eyes widened. "McGonagall said your core usually isn't strong enough before sixteen or seventeen. Are you an animagus?"

"Not yet, but I would like to be."

"What of your mother?"

He smiled. "My talents lay more along with hers. She was a crack at charms and arithmancy. Aunt Bel tells me she started to learn her skills in Runes and Ancient Magic from my mum. I do have dad's knack in DADA."

"You are no slouch in transfiguration," she informed him. "What happens if you were to leave Sark?"

"If I move back to Britain, nothing."

"If you move anywhere else?"

"My bloodline will be broken and my children will be deprived of any power that might bring them."

"You mean our children?" she asked.

"If you want me, they would get the talents of their mother, but would be just average in their inherited abilities from me," he told her. "It doesn't mean they won't have the ability to be exceptional, but it would be hard work."

He moved towards her and she took a few steps to meet him. He just meant to take her hand and she wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her tight after the initial surprise.

"Any child of mine will not be afraid of work," she informed him. "And you have studied hard to be where you are."

He chuckled. "Yeah, but you're still brighter." He liked the abashed look she gave him at the praise.

"Giving up your Wizengamot seat and titles, does that break any of your bloodline?"

"It breaks the Rights given by the Wizard's Council to those of true 'pure' blood, but it doesn't break my bloodline to Britain. I am still technically going to be Lord Potter though."

She pulled back and looked up to him. "How is that possible?"

"I will inherit the Lordship of the Blacks when I turn seventeen."

"You mean from your cousin Sirius?" she asked.

"Yeah. I am the closest male blood relative to the direct line of the Blacks. It will pass to me without any opposition if I can claim it after seventeen. I wanted to talk with you and Neville about it."

Her hands rested on his hips and his on hers. "I want to move to Sark. I really like it out there," Hermione told him.

"That is where I want to live too. I would need to spend a month's worth of time on Britain's soil every year, but that might be necessary anyways if I was to take up my seat on the Wizengamot."

"You hate politics," she told him.

"You asked if I would abandon our friends, and our families, if I had a chance to change things. With the House of Potter, from my father, being dissolved, it will add seats and change the power dynamics. You are right about me, I will not run if I can help others," he agreed with her.

Her eyes took on a shine that made his blood start to run. She moved in and he ducked his head down to meet her full lips. She moved her arms up around his neck and gave him a kiss that was so intent, he swore he felt her own excitement and desire for him.

Hermione pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I love you," she said with and emotion that stirred the butterflies in his again.

A smile crept across his face. "So, one last thing," he said.

Her eyes didn't change and her intense look didn't get any less. "Unless it has something to do with how attractive you are, I really just want to kiss more right now," she informed him.

"I am your Escort."

"What does that mean," she questioned. "You said it the other day."

"I said it because I was upset with my Great Aunt and don't want Madam Bones saying anything. There is an importance to that word. It means we are in a courtship to anyone of the pure blood."

Hermione shrugged. "Then you are my Escort."

She pulled him down and it turned into a rather heated snogging session.