Author's Note:

Chapter 11! Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always I am more than delighted over ever favourite, review, and follow.

Halloween was drawing near, and with it, Voldemort's first attempt at the stone. This time, however, there would be no near-death experience for Hermione. Harry would make sure of that. He had discussed the event with Hermione, and their plan was simple: Head to their common rooms and keep their heads down.

When on said day, Quirrell burst into the great hall and mumbled about a troll, they did exactly that. The next day, Dumbledore made an announcement that the incident had been dealt with, and just like last time, Snape had gotten himself a limp from checking on Fluffy.

Harry was still anxious about Quirrell's interest in Hermione, but for now he didn't make any more attempts to talk with her. Thus, Harry concluded that the danger was minimal at the moment. Voldemort would not endanger his plans for a new body for a first-year student, no matter how talented or powerful she appeared to be.

Time was moving forward with nothing of note happening for a few months. Draco hadn't approached Harry yet, but was often seen quietly contemplating in the common room. Neville was still joining them for studying sessions and tea with Hagrid, and his grades were slowly improving. It was hard for Harry to keep so many secrets from the boy, but he knew he couldn't tell him anything important, no matter how much he was sure that Neville could be a loyal ally.

Hagrid's lessons were also moving forward, and with every new spell he learned, the half-giant seemed to gain a bit of self-confidence. It was nice seeing Hagrid reconnect with his magic, and Harry could feel that something deeper inside his friend was changing. Being disconnected from your magic tended to have a bad effect on one's psyche, and Harry could practically see Hagrid's self-worth slowly rise along with his magic.

Christmas break came around, and Harry was giddy at seeing how Remus and Sirius were doing. Even though they kept in contact via letters, seeing them in person would be something much more rewarding. Hermione would be returning home to her parents but would join them for a meeting with the members of their order a few days before Christmas.

The train ride was spent in silence, Hermione engrossed in a spell book, while Harry thought about his further plans. Neville joined them in their compartment, seemingly content with their silence. Harry thought that the boy was just glad to sit with people he could call friends, which on the one hand angered him for Neville being in such a state of mind, but at the same time made him glad that they could slowly do something about it.

When they arrived, Harry quickly said his goodbyes, before heading off towards the exit. He didn't want to run into the Grangers, as they hadn't seen him as an eleven-year-old yet, and he hadn't yet figured out how to tell them the more sensitive parts of information, while at the same time ensuring the safety of it.

The travel towards Godrics Hollow took him quite some time, as he needed to use muggle means to do so. Therefore, it was already dark when he opened the front gate of his home. As soon as he entered the front door, he heard his godfather excitedly shout his name from upstairs. A moment later, the same godfather swept him into a hug, a smiling Remus standing behind him.

"How is my favourite time-traveller doing today?" Sirius grinned, and Harry couldn't help but laugh at the joy his godfather radiated.

"Quite well. Thank you, Sirius. How have you two been holding up?" Harry answered, letting go of Sirius and then engulfing Remus into a hug, too.

"Just fine," Sirius answered, "We got the house finished. Well, Remus did, as I sadly don't have a wand yet."

Harry's eyebrows rose at that. "Finished? All alone? I was expecting to spend some work over the holidays on it."

Remus shrugged, a small smile on his lips. "Well I had enough free time. We can show you later, and of course you can make adjustments if something doesn't suit you."

"As much as I would like to see your handywork right now, I think tomorrow might be better suited. How about we get us a glass of Firewhiskey, and we exchange some notes about the last few months?"

Sirius let out a booming laugh. "You think your eleven-year-old body can take Firewhiskey?"

"A glass, Sirius, not a whole bottle."

"In fourth year, James and I sneaked a bottle from Hogsmeade. The next morning was something to behold. In my official capacity as your godfather, I will very much enjoy seeing you suffer through tomorrow."

Harry playfully hit Sirius into his side, who in turn ruffled through his hair. The two of them then chased each other into the living room, a sceptical, but happy looking Remus behind them.

-o-o-

Their first official order meeting was scheduled to start a few days before Christmas. Hagrid would be coming over from Hogwarts, and Harry would get Hermione from her parents' home. There was another reason he was visiting the Granger's, besides getting Hermione, and that was something he at the same time dreaded and looked forward to. Harry had talked with Sirius about his problem with withholding information from Hermione's parents, and Sirius had been able to provide him with a solution. The Blacks had always been a family harbouring many secrets, and while every Black started learning Occlumency years before Hogwarts - much like many other pureblood heirs – the Blacks had not been content with just one layer of protection. Thus, they developed a mixture of an oath and a spell that would protect information even from a skilled Legilimens. Basically, it shut part of your memories away from the rest, and while those memories were still accessible, the mind had to take a detour through the memory of the oath and spell taking place. It didn't make the information unreachable for a Legilimens, but without knowing what to look for, the backdoor would be easily overlooked. It made thinking about the information quite a tad more difficult, which was why Harry had decided to not use them for the main members of their order. Finding yourself in a situation where you had to use that information fast and needing to go through that backdoor might take away valuable second that you did not have. Sirius and himself were proficient enough in Legilimency to keep someone out, and Remus, Hermione, and Hagrid were learning fast enough to brush off surface scans by now. And if Voldemort decided to for some reason go for a full-blown brute force attack, not even the best Occlumency shields would do them any good. The only wizard Harry knew of that could withhold information from the Dark Lord through such an attack was Snape, and Harry didn't have a clue how he was doing it.

Harry ringed the doorbell of the Granger household, the illusion of his older self in place, all the while keeping himself from nervously fidgeting at his ropes. A moment later, the door opened, and Emma Granger shot him a welcoming smile.

"Mr. Potter, please come in. Hermione is waiting in the living room."

Harry thanked her, before entering through the doorway. "I was actually hoping to speak to all three of you, before heading off."

Emma nodded, before calling out for her husband. Harry greeted Hermione's father with a firm handshake, then followed both of them into the living room.

Hermione greeted him with a warm smile, and when all of them were seated, Harry began talking.

"As you both know, there are things I did not tell you about Hermione's situation. The reason for that was that some wizards, as you know, have the ability to read minds, and I had not yet found a way for you to protect your minds from such an attack." The Grangers nodded, and Harry took that as a signal to continue explaining. "Luckily, through a member of our organisation, we have found a way to do so. The procedure would be a combination of an oath and a spell, and while not offering a hundred percent failproof protection, it minimises the risk to an acceptable degree. I do not like keeping secrets from you and would gladly stop doing that starting from today."

Hermione's father's face held an expression stuck between relief and fear for a moment, before morphing into determination. "We would very much welcome that." Emma Granger nodded her approval, before shooting a look at Hermione, who just nervously smiled in return.

"The whole thing is pretty straightforward. You need to look into my eyes, so that I can reach out with my magic towards your mind. I will then anchor the spell to the memory currently being created by your brain, You need to recite some specific words, basically saying that you will not relay any information I tell you without my permission and keep it guarded through this oath. My magic, together with your mind, will do the rest by itself, anchoring said information behind the memory of the oath. If you want to recollect that information, you then need to briefly remember this moment. It's slightly bothersome, but with a bit of practice, you won't even notice having to do it."

Again, the Grangers nodded. It took no more than fifteen minutes for him to bind the memories of them both, and when he was finished, the Grangers both looked slightly confused.

"It can be a bit disorienting having information locked like that, but it will fade in time." With a wave of Harry's wand, the illusion around him faded, and in front of the Granger's now sat Harry's usual eleven-year-old self. Before the Granger's even had the time to react, Harry already started speaking. "Let me start at the beginning. Before I was even born, a prophecy was made…"

So, Harry started explaining. He told them about his past life, about Voldemort, the Horcruxes, the forming of their order, basically everything that he had left out of their conversations they held before Harry had entered Hogwarts. Not once did the Grangers try to interrupt him. When he was finished, Mr. Granger waited a few seconds before asking something Harry had hoped he could avoid.

"You said no more secrets, however you conveniently left out any information regarding Hermione in your past life."

It felt like a thick, heavy lump had miraculously appeared inside his throat. That was something he did not like to think about, and definitely didn't want to talk about.

"You promised to tell me," Hermione's quiet voice cut through the tense silence. Harry sighed.

"Hermione arrived at Hogwarts with zero knowledge about the wizarding world, its laws and custom, and the people residing within it. As you undoubtfully know, she is an extremely driven person, and together with her insane magical talent, she was ahead in all her classes from day one. That did not sit well with the purebloods at Hogwarts. They isolated her, threatening anyone who even dared thinking about approaching her. She was the target of daily insults, belittlement, and incredibly cruel pranks. To my shame, I must admit that I did nothing about it, in fear of retribution from the rest of the students. It continued like that for three years, until in fourth year, I found myself in a quite similar situation like Hermione. There was a tournament, an incredibly dangerous one, and I was picked against my will as a participant. The school however, as well as the only friend I thought I had, had the impression that I had entered it willingly, and stole the spotlight from another student. Hermione…she didn't think twice when she saw that I needed help to survive the tasks of the tournament, and she is the only reason I got out of it alive. And then…they used some obscure new law to send her to Azkaban for helping me. She died after a few years in that hell. "

Silence filled the room, and when nobody said anything Harry again felt the urge to speak.

"I failed her. She was courageous beyond belief, not once thinking about what it might mean for her when she helped me that year. The time I spent with her was the best I ever had. She was the first real friend I ever had. And I swear on my magic, that I will do anything, absolutely anything to keep her safe and enable her to live the kind of life that she should have had all along."

The words just spurted out of Harry's mouth and he didn't feel his magic react until it had already settled around him. He had just given an oath, even though he had not used the proper wording for one. His magic had just instinctively reacted to his words and feelings. But before he could ponder about it, a blur crashed into him, and his vision was blocked by brown hair.

"I- don't blame yo-u," Hermione cried into his shoulder, "Sto-p beating y-ourse-lf up." After a moment she added, this time with a much steadier voice: "You already did more for me that I could ever imagine."

"Mr. Potter," Harry heard Mr. Granger's tightly controlled voice, and an embarrassed Hermione let go of him, but not leaving his side, "I think…that we have to think over the information you provided to us. We will talk at a later time. Please have Hermione home at eight."

Harry nodded solemnly. He couldn't blame Mr. Granger for his reaction, actually, it was a lot more civil than Harry had expected.

"Of course, Thank you for your time."

-o-o-

The drive towards Godrics Hollow was subdued, neither Harry nor Hermione feeling much like talking. As they entered the room designated for their meeting, Sirius, Remus and Hagrid were already seated.

After a warm greeting, Harry began their first official meeting, asking if any of them had something to discuss.

Remus was the first one to respond. "Last week, when I did the check-up for the wand-seller, I found the laptop you mentioned. I arranged a meeting for the second of February."

"That's wonderful news. We can get Sirius a wand then, and another one without the trace for Hermione…How is your wand working Remus?"

Harry grimaced at the though of having gone through all that trouble with Remus, just to buy him a wand a few months later.

"Better, it's working better."

"That's good," Harry answered. "Remus, I suggest that you meet with Kusznecow. You will need some blood from Sirius and Hermione, for him to find a good match."

Remus agreed, and when no one else seemed to have something to bring forwards, Harry raised an issue himself. "I was thinking about recruitment. While this is our inner circle, and at the moment I don't have anyone trustworthy and with the right circumstances to join, like Dumbledore and Voldemort, we will need more people than us five to help accomplish our goals. We need some kind of process to feel out possible members, and slowly get them more involved."

"Dumbledore used oaths on our magic for the regular order members," Sirius provided, "But the only reason we got people to agree on that was Dumbledore's reputation. Sadly, we are quite lacking in that regard. Maybe we can start people off with the oath I showed you?"

"It's too much of a disability in quick decision making." Hermione answered, taking Harry's words right out of his mouth, "I will do some research and find something suitable."

Hermione had expected her suggestion to be shut down by the "adults" but was surprised to find accepting nods around the table. A warm feeling spread through her chest. While by now she had accustomed herself to Harry treating her like an actual capable adult, she hadn't expected the rest of their group doing the same.

"Perfect," Harry clapped his hands together, "When all of you are equipped with wands, we can start the Horcrux hunt. Hermione and I will scan Hogwarts for possible members. If any of you have someone in mind, you can tell us the next time we meet. Before we can do any big attacks on Voldemort or the Ministry, we need to strengthen ourselves and weaken their hold on wizarding Britain first."

"How exactly do you plan to do that?" Remus asked.

"We have to fill important ministry positions with our members. How we are doing that depends a lot on the circumstances. I am always an advocate for keeping things peaceful, that said, we won't be able start a revolution without a few dead bodies."

Harry saw Hagrid nervously squirm in his seat, Remus and Sirius looked grim, while Hermione had a mix of determination and worry etched onto her face.

"But Harry, don't yeh think there is another way?" Hagrid nervously asked.

"Hagrid, I am not talking about killing a ministry employee doing his job. Although it would be easier doing it that way, I won't. I am talking about death eaters in ministry positions, murderers, rapists, people that had it coming. I am always for rehabilitation if possible, but we just don't have the means to do it that way. We are saving a lot of lives with what we are doing. A lot more than we will take. "

Hagrid still didn't look convinced, but also didn't have anything to respond, so Harry moved on.

"First comes getting us ready ourselves. Then we can worry about how we are going to infiltrate the ministry."

-o-o-

When Harry dropped Hermione off at her parent's house, Dan Granger was already standing at the doorway. "Mr. Potter, a word please?"

"Of course, Mr. Granger," Harry answered, following the stoic father into the living room. When Hermione followed, Mr. Granger gently held her back. "We would like to talk with Mr. Potter alone."

Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, but after a moment of hesitation she nodded and went up the stairs to her room. Harry followed Mr. Granger into the living room, where Mrs. Granger was already waiting.

"So, Mr. Potter," Hermione's father started talking slowly and carefully, "First, we would like to say that we appreciate your honesty with us. We know that if you wanted to, you could lie to us and we would be none the wiser."

"I would ne-"

Mr. Granger signalled Harry with his hand to stop, and Harry shut his lips closed, letting him continue. "We do not like the situation Hermione is in. We do not like that she is this heavily involved into what will eventually turn into a civil war. We do not like her being potentially made a target because of her association with you." Mr. Granger made a small pause, taking a deep breath. Harry's face had turned into a grimace. He could understand the position Hermione's parents found themselves in, and he could more than understand their worries.

"However, with what we learned about the wizarding world, that civil war is going to happen with or without you. And as we know Hermione, she would not run from what she feels is right. We also heavily appreciate your actions in trying to shield Hermione from harm. With that said, we have two requests for you. First, we would like your promise to keep Hermione out of the actual fighting. The battlefield is no place for an twelve-year-old girl. Secondly, we would like you to keep us updated on what you are doing and what is happening - no secrets."

Harry took a deep breath, calming his nerves. "I will keep you updated, and I will not hold secrets. I won't take Hermione into fights before she is ready to face them. I will not force her into anything. But…I can't promise to keep her out of the fighting completely. She is immensely powerful, so much that her very presence could turn a battle in our favour a few years from now."

Mr. Granger's face had turned angry and his voice rose slightly above the normal volume. "So you expect us to accept you putting our little girl into a war at twelve? Are you out of your mind?!

"I don't expect you to do anything. And she won't be joining any fights at twelve, most likely not at the age of thirteen or fourteen either. But Mr. Granger, I am sad to say that this is not your choice."

Mr. Grangers face had turned from angry to furious. His hands were shaking, and Mrs. Granger had begun to silently sob next to him. Harry's face was passive and cold, his Occlumency masking the pain and anguish saying those words to Hermione's father brought him.

"Get out of my house."

Harry nodded, and without another word left the Granger household, holding up the tears threatening to bubble up until he was back at Godrics Hollow, taking Sirius's firewhiskey and drinking until he collapsed onto the couch into a relieving unconsciousness.