A/N OK, here we are with the next chapter. You can now all stop calling me evil and say nice things instead. :)

You can thank my sister Sally who, up until last week, didn't know about Fanfiction and is now nagging me to write faster!

As usual, all this belongs to JKR and I'm not making any money out of it.

Enjoy! :)

Previously

Harry, his face a rictus of misery, spoke. "Avada."

Bill burst into the room and saw Harry lying motionless on the bed on top of Hermione, his wand in his hand pointed at his head. He just stood there, unable to speak. Madam Bones rushed in behind him, only to also stop and stand equally stunned.

A barely a second later, in a flash of flame, Fawkes and Luna appeared. Looking around the room, she saw the couple on the bed and screamed, "NO! my brother, Hermione, no!" as she started to sob, clutching desperately at Harry. This startled Bill into action and he slowly pulled the distraught girl away while she was saying over and over, "he can't be dead! He can't be dead."

Madam Bones gently removed the wand from Harry's limp hand when he suddenly groaned and lifted his head muzzily and croaked. "My head hurts."

"HARRY!" Yelled Luna with joy and glommed onto him. Harry winced from the pain in his head, but hugged her back.

FLASHBACK

Harry, his face a rictus of misery, spoke. "Avada-"

"Harry, NO!" A voice in his head screamed and he stopped for a second, stunned… 'It can't be.'

"...Hermione?" he asked.

"Yes, it's me! Don't do this!"

Joy shot through Harry, 'HERMIONE!' he mentally yelled before the highs and lows of emotion over the last little while became too much and he fainted.

END FLASHBACK

After a few seconds, Harry 's brain finished rebooting. Swallowing a headache potion that was handed to him, he slowly remembered what had happened just before he passed out.

Fearful he might have imagined it, he mentally called out, "Hermione?"

Suddenly he felt wrapped in Hermione's love. 'I'm here sweetheart, I was mentally knocked out somehow.'

'I'm sorry Hermione, I thought I'd lost you. I=, I wanted to be with you again.'

'Shhh. It's OK Harry, I understand. I'm glad I "woke up" in time. I love you.'

Harry broke down again, this time in front of everyone, not caring who saw him.

Dani Granger, who had now arrived with Emmet, started to go over to him, asking. "What is it, Harry?"

It was Luna, who had a smile on her face that said 'I know a secret' who replied. "Mrs Granger, those aren't tears of sorrow, they're tears of relief."

"Relief?" a confused Dani asked.

Harry nodded, his voice thick with emotion. "She's not gone. She's talking to me now." He said, his face overflowing with emotion.

At this point the healer who had examined Hermione earlier spoke up. "I'm sorry Lord Potter, but it's just not possible…" His voice trailed off as Harry just stared at him then lifted up his fringe exposing his scar. "If the next words out of your mouth are 'because no-one survives the killing curse' I will ask you to leave."

"But Lord Potter, those were exceptional circumstances, nobody-. " The healer tried again.

"Do you know what happened in 1981 and why Har- I survived?" asked Harry.

"No, no-one does. I mean there are some crackpot theories, but-" the healer replied.

"By crackpot, I take it you mean theories you don't agree with? Are you an expert on Soul Magic, Senior Healer?" probed Harry.

"Well, no," said the healer, now on the back foot.

"What do you know about Soul Bonds?" asked Harry, going to the kill.

"W-Well, they are mentioned in some of our reference texts…" stammered the healer, unused to being on the defensive.

"Then I hardly think you are qualified to have an opinion, are you?" said Harry, delivering the coup de Grâce. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Dani looked at Emmet, "I'm convinced," she said. Her husband just nodded.

Confused, the healer turned to her and asked. "Why?"

Emmet looked at Harry as he replied. "We know our daughter and how she argues. That quote from Hamlet is one of her favourites. She used it when we were sceptical about magic as Professor McGonagall was explaining about Hogwarts. The points made and the way they were raised were pure Hermione, only relayed by Harry. She wanted to reassure us she really is alive. Am I correct?"

Harry just nodded.

"But how can she talk to him?" asked the Healer.

"It's part of the soul-bond, we've been able to do it since," And here Harry looked at Hermione's parents and blushed furiously. "we finalised our bond."

Dani just smiled and nodded while Emmet looked confused.

Luna then spoke, "I'm sorry Harry, I didn't check when I arrived. I saw you lying there and thought I was too late."

"That's OK, I can understand how it must have looked," replied Harry. "How did you get here?" asked Harry. Luna nodded her head at the bed head and said, "Fawkes."

A brief joyous song filled the air, lifting everyone's spirits and calming them despite the recent events.

Harry walked over to where the phoenix was perched and looked him in the eye. "Fawkes, thank you for bringing Luna here."

'You are welcome, nestling. Your nest-mate is as worthy as you. However, I am disturbed by your lack of faith in your bond. You will be together forever. Again, I cannot stay, call for me if your need is dire and I will come. Also, remember, phoenixes are seen as beacons of the light."

With that, Fawkes lifted from where he was perched and disappeared in a ball of flame.

Harry turned to Hermione/s parents. "Emmet, Dani, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault-."

"Dragon dung!" interrupted Madam Bones. "if anything, it's my fault. I should have taken away his wand the second I knew it wasn't going to be needed."

"Harry," said Dani gently, "I know you tried your hardest to protect Hermione. But it wasn't you who cast the spell. It was Lord Zabini, speaking of whom." Here Dani turned to Madam Bones. "What will happen to him?"

"I'm sure that in a few days, he will have a nice funeral." Replied Madam Bones coldly.

"He's dead?" Dani gasped.

"Very," replied Madam Bones. "When Harry used a disarming spell, he was thrown back so fast that hitting the wall killed him.

Dani frowned slightly, "Is that normal?"

"No." replied Madam Bones, "but Lord Potter is extremely powerful and in the circumstances, I don't think he held back."

Harry looked up at them, particularly at Emmet, who just looked at Harry and nodded as if to say good job.

Harry shrugged, feeling a little guilty, but not very. 'It's OK Harry, you did the right thing.' That lifted his heart, if his moral compass said it was OK, he wasn't going to argue.

Harry shrugged to the others, "If it happened again, I would do the same thing and just hope I was faster."

Harry turned back to Hermione's body lying on the bed. "So, what happens now, will Hermione eventually wake up?"

Luna looked at Hermione and then back at Harry and frowned. "Harry, I'm sorry, but I don't think so. Hermione's body is only showing faint amounts of her aura."

Harry frowned, "but if that's true, where is her soul?"

Luna looked Harry up and down again and then spoke. "Judging by the amount of her aura I see around you, I think her soul has joined yours in your body. I've never heard of anything like that before and I don't know of any way to reattach her soul to her body."

As everyone else's jaws dropped at that revelation. Harry's heart sank, if that was the case, then Hermione's body would fail in a few days like any other victim of the killing curse. While being able to talk to Hermione and feel her love was great, being able to hold her and eventually have children with her was important too. He also worried that if Hermione's body died that her soul might also leave. Tears started to fall down his face again as Hermione again wrapped him in her love and said 'Don't worry my sweet, we will work it out.'

With that, Harry calmed down and Bill stepped forward. "Harry, Bloodfist asked that the goblin healers be allowed to examine Hermione. He had the head Mind Healer and head Shaman with him when I left."

"Can they be brought here?" Harry asked.

Bill shook his head. "No, after an incident in one of the wars that Binns drones on about, the head Shaman never leaves goblin territory."

They turned to the senior Healer. "Can Hermione safely be moved?"

"Absolutely not!" he snapped.

"Why not." Asked Harry. "Can you help here her?"

"No, but those animals can't be trusted!" replied the healer.

"Leave this room now!" snapped Harry. "I will be taking my wife with me."

The senior healer started to say something more when Madam Bones spoke. "Senior Healer, is it your wish to be arrested?" she asked icily.

The healer paled and, with a glare worthy of Snape at his best, turned and stormed out.

Harry simply picked up Hermione and carried her out. With all the exercise he had gotten and his new larger form, this was no issue. They quickly exited the building and Bill provided a port key to take everyone to Gringotts.

They entered the building and quickly moved to a goblin healing chamber. Harry gently lay Hermione on the bed. He then turned to the Goblin healer present and bowed saying. "Well met Lifereader. It is good to see you again. May your patiernts heal and your vaults overflow."

Surprised that a wizard would remember him, he bowed back and said, "Well met Lord Potter, May your vaults overflow. I wish it was under better circumstances. Still, I see the potions I gave you are doing their job."

"Yes, thank you. Can you help us?"

Lifereader turned to Hermione and cast diagnostics. He then turned to Harry and sighed, "Physically she is OK, but I can tell that her soul is not there."

"We know," replied Harry and explained Luna's observations.

Lifereader nodded, "That would certainly fit with what I have observed. May I ask curse breaker Weasley to perform a magic check on you Lord Potter?"

"Certainly." Replied Harry.

Bill pulled his wand and muttered the incantation. Bill's jaw dropped as he gave a strangled gasp. There were similar reactions from all the magicals present. In front of Harry glowing numbers read 678.

"Why is everyone so shocked?" asked Emmet.

Madam Bones replied, "Mr Granger, an average score is 100 with a standard deviation of 15. The most powerful wizards of recent times, Dumbledore and Riddle, were both about 200. That figure," she pointing at the glowing numbers, "is just…" Her words trailed off.

Lifereader nodded, "When a soul-bond occurs, each of the couple ends up with a magical index that is the sum of their previous index values. That figure you see is the total for both of them. Each of them has an EMI score of 339."

Lifereader turned to Harry concerned. "Lord Potter, normally more power is a good thing, but I am worried that you have SO much power that it may be toxic for your body. The question may become, can the magic help repair the damage faster than it causes it?"

At that point Bloodfist entered the chamber along with the Head Mind Healer Bandlur and Head Shaman SoulLooker.

After introductions, Lifereader explained his observations to Bandlur and SoulLooker. He was starting to explain Luna's thoughts when she walked over to them and bowed and started speaking in fluent Goblin. After a few minutes back and forth, all three healers bowed to Luna in respect, to the amazement of the wizards and Bloodfist. Luna then bowed back and smiled. Bloodfist turned to Harry and said, "you have the most interesting friends Harry."

Harry smiled wryly, despite the circumstances, "I sometimes think that's an understatement."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bloodfist chuckled. "Indeed. Now Lord Potter, can you please tell us what happened."

Harry then explained events including his discussion with Hermione about the nature of the unforgivables and Occlumency. Hermione assisted and soon the explanations were over. Luna had been quietly translating for SoulLooker who didn't speak English.

After that, Bloodfist had a discussion in Goblin with the healers, which ended up with SoulLooker shaking his head in what did not look like a good way.

Bloodfist then turned to Harry and said, "Ok, I believe I can now explain what happened."

Harry nodded, "Please."

"Lady Potter's survival appears to be due to a number of factors. Firstly, the former Lord Zabini was casting with a wand not his own that was not well suited to him. Secondly, he was only of average magical strength casting with his off hand. Further, the spell did not hit Lady Potter full on, some of the spells energy went on to hit the wall.

Added to that is the fact that Lady Potter had raised her occlumency shields which we think also absorbed some of the power of the spell. It was still powerful enough however, to completely sever the connection between her soul and body. Although a little bit of her soul remains with her body, that is why the stone dimmed, but did not go completely black.

We then we come to the last part. The Lord and Lady Potter are soul-bonded. Forgive me for comparing a soul bond to something so vile, but the soul-bond in this case acted like a Horcrux. It anchored Lady Potter's soul to this world.

Nothing can break a soul bond connection. Now, normally, the Avada Kedavra spell would have enough power to rip Lord Potter's soul away from his body as well and we would have lost both of them. The combination of factors I described previously prevented that."

Here, Bloodfist looked directly at Harry, "Do not expect it to save either of you again."

Harry nodded for himself and Hermione. "We are just glad it saved her this time."

"So how do we fix it? How do we get Hermione's soul back where it belongs?"

At this, Bloodfist sighed and dropped his shoulders. "We don't know. We don't know how to get the soul back in the body and we don't know how to reattach it to the body once it's there."

Harry's heart sank and he sat in a chair and rubbed his hands over his face. 'Hermione, what are we going to do?' he asked her. 'Don't worry love, we will work it out.' She chuckled, 'Don't forget, I'm the smartest witch of the age.' Harry gave a wan smile before he came to a horrible realisation. 'Hermione, I'm so sorry, if you hadn't stopped me, I would have killed us both.' Again, Harry felt wrapped in Hermione's love and she said, 'We can talk about it later, but it didn't happen so don't worry about it now.'

Harry's stomach then gurgled. Again, despite the seriousness of the situation, Bloodfist smiled, "I will have meals brought in to the adjacent room."

Madam Bones then spoke up. "Thank you Account Manager, but I must leave. I have to attend to other matters regarding this. Please keep me apprised of any developments. My best wishes in finding a solution." With that she was shown the way back to the exit by Bill, since he wasn't able to contribute further.

They remaining people went to the next room and sat down while the healers remained with Hermione's still form to run further tests. While they were waiting for the food to arrive, Ragnok appeared. Luna immediately stood and bowed, before anyone else could even move.

Ragnok smiled and said, "thank you child, but there is no need for that now." Walking to a seated Harry he continued. "Lord Potter… Harry. I was angry when I heard. Anything the Goblin nation can do to help, you only have to ask."

Harry grasped Ragnok's hand in both of his and replied, "Thank you Ragnok, you have your best healers looking for a solution, that is all I could ask. I feel so helpless at the moment; Hermione's body is lying there like sleeping beauty and-. What?" Harry stopped talking, a startled look on his face.

'Sleeping Beauty? Harry, you're a genius!'

'What do you mean?'

'Harry, almost every fairy tale has a basis in fact or at least a lesson to be taught. Although the less said about Cinderella and the fur slipper the better. What if this has happened before? The goblins are unlikely to know about every Soul-Bonded couple. True love's kiss Harry? That will connect our bodies and my soul might be able to move back.'

'Hermione, what about reattaching your soul to your body?"

There was silence for a few seconds as Hermione's thought raced. 'Harry, do you think Fawkes might be prepared to come back? His tears helped heal your mind, they might help with this as well.'

'I can only ask.'

With that, Harry brought his awareness back to the room around him. Everyone was staring at him curious about his actions. Harry looed at Ragnok and apologised, "I'm sorry Lord Ragnok, Hermione has an idea that might fix things. She was just explaining it."

"That's alright Harry, genius works in its own time, not for the convenience of others." Said the Head Goblin with a smile.

Harry explained the idea to everyone, including the Goblin healers who were called in.

The general consensus was that no-one knew if it would work, but no-one could see a downside either.

With that, they all moved back to the healing chamber. Nervously, Harry called to Fawkes, hoping he would appear. After an anxious few seconds wait, a flash of flame signalled Fawke's arrival.

'Well nestling?' said the phoenix, not wasting any time.

'Fawkes, I have a favour to ask of you.' Started Harry.

'Explain'

So, Harry did, going through their reasoning quickly. The phoenix then caused Harry's spirits to plummet briefly. 'Nestling, I know not if this will help, but I do know that my tears will not help heal the soul, the mind yes, but not the soul.'

"Oh" said Harry in despair.

'But phoenix song probably will. I will need assistance though.'

There were gasps all around the room as 6 more phoenixes appeared in flashes of flame and settled on both ends of the bed that Hermione lay on.

'Well nestling, now it is up to you. Think of your love for your mate.'

Harry, extremely nervously, bent down and kissed Hermione. Pressing his lips against hers, but nothing happened. 'Harry, my mouth needs to be open.' Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hermione giggled. 'Slip me some tongue, stud.' This caused Harry to relax a bit which he desperately needed.

Harry cupped Hermione's cheek and pulled her mouth open slightly with his thumb and did as requested. 'Think of our love' said Hermione reminding him of Fawkes guidance.

Hermione sent all her love to Harry, wrapping him in it. Sending him images of their good times in the past, their bonding, making love for the first time and other special memories. Harry reciprocated and a golden glow started to appear around Harry's body, brightening as Harry continued to kiss his beloved as he was wrapped in their love for each other. Both of them forgot why they were doing this and became lost in their feelings for each other.

When the glow seemed to reach its peak, Fawkes spoke again. 'Nestling, push your feelings for her into her body.'

Barely hearing the phoenix, Harry did as requested. Slowly the glow started to spread to Hermione's body, but it was slow as if it was being pushed against something that wanted to remain in Harry's body. Slowly, the glow surrounded Hermione's head and slowly it moved down towards her chest.

However, once the glow reached her heart, it paused and then with a rush it was suddenly covering her entire body. As soon as that happened, the 7 phoenixes all burst into song. The incredible sound of joy and love unleashed filled the air and the glow around the couple intensified.

Just as the glow became almost too bright to look at, some of it appeared to sink into Hermione and suddenly her arms came up and around Harry's neck. Harry straightened up, pulling Hermione into a sitting position. She then wrapped her legs around his waist as he finished straightening up holding Hermione in his arms and kissing her as if the rest of the universe didn't exist. Slowly the couple rose into the air. After a while, the glow dimmed and they returned to the ground.

Hermione unwrapped her legs from around Harry and glanced over at her parents blushing at the display they had given. She ran to her mother and hugged her and then her father. Harry followed and did the same before the pair approached the Phoenixes.

Harry looked at them all and bowed as did Hermione. Hermione was the one who spoke, "Thank you all. I am not sure we are worthy, but you obviously think so."

"May we know your names?"

"Dusty."

"Lucent."

"Pharos."

"Lumina."

"Fume."

"Blaze."

As each one 'spoke', Harry, Hermione and everyone else in the room, including Ragnok, bowed to each Phoenix in turn and Harry and Hermione thanked them individually.

Harry then spoke up, "If there is anything we can do to help you in any way, you only have to ask."

Pharos spoke, 'Nestlings, you are already doing it. You are starting to try and change the magical world to a place of equality and peace. Continue at that and we will be well satisfied.'

With that, the six phoenixes other than Fawkes launched into the air and flamed out. But as they did so, each one dropped a single feather. Each feather floated over to in front of Harry and Hermione and stayed there until picked out of the air by Hermione. "Fawkes, we are grateful, but what are the feathers for?" she asked.

Fawkes mentally chuckled and said to everyone as he flamed out. 'Wand cores for your offspring.'

Harry and Hermione blushed as red as Fawkes.

They both went over to Luna and hugged her. "Thank you for all your help Luna," they said in unison. "You are welcome, brother," she said smiling. Luna then looked them up and down, her eyes switching between the two. "I've never even read of this before, but part of your aura Harry, is in Hermione and vice-versa. It's as if you are a part of each other now. I don't know what that will mean, if anything."

Ragnok came over to the trio, looking at the feathers in awe. With a tone of reverence, he said. "Freely given phoenix feathers meant specifically for your children. Harry, these will make very powerful wands. I suggest you store them in your vault. I will get you an enchanted box to store them, it is designed specifically for wand components to ensure they stay in peak condition."

"Thank you Ragnok, for everything. We could not have done this without your help and the help of your healers."

"No Harry, the honour is ours. To be privileged enough to see that is all the thanks we could ask for," said Ragnok. He then turned to Luna and said, "Miss Lovegood, you are welcome at Gringotts at any time. I understand that the healers have asked that you help them with some cases here."

"They have Lord Ragnok and I am happy to help in any way I can." Replied Luna.

"Please, it is just Ragnok when we are in an informal setting." Replied the Head Goblin.

"Then please, it is Luna to you Ragnok." She replied.

"Thank you Luna, I have asked Hermione and Harry to join us on Saturday evening, would you please come to? If you wish bring a friend, they will be made welcome to."

"Of course, Ragnok and thank you," she replied smiling.

Ragnok then offered them rooms in the guest quarters for the night rather than return to the castle. Given the late hour they gratefully accepted.

Once they were in their room, they got ready for bed and were just about to climb in when Harry grabbed Hermione into a tight hug. He buried his face in her hair and whispered, "you're back, completely back. I thought I'd lost you."

"Yes my love, I am." She said sweetly, kissing him on the cheek. Harry was getting a welter of mixed emotions from Hermione through the bond.

Hermione then pulled back and looked him in the eye and asked "You know I love you, right?" Confused, Harry just nodded. Suddenly, her arm swung up and she smacked him upside the head. She yelled, "HARRY JAMES POTTER, DON'T YOU EVER EVEN THINK ABOUT ATTEMPTING TO DO SOMETHING THAT STUPID AGAIN!"

With that, she burst into tears and buried her face in his chest and cried, releasing the fear and anxiety of the past few hours and Harry held and comforted her. He carried her to the bed and they fell asleep with her cradled in his arms. His last thought before sleep being 'my angel saved us.'

A/N Well there you have it. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Also, if anyone has comments about the shifting viewpoints in the previous chapter as I sort to build tension, I'd love to hear them. I also used it earlier when Hermione was potioned by Ron, but I'd love to know if people's thoughts on how effective it was.

I might try and have next chapter cover more than a few hours. :) I will start the new chapter soon, but since I am back to work on Monday, I'm not sure how far I will get.

As alway, please Review.