Chapter Ten: Rite of Passage
Wednesday, 18th August 1999.
Hermione stood perfectly still, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the bespectacled boy before her. Harry looked rather nervous in response but neither spoke, just staring at the other as Harry waited for Hermione to yell at him for fleeing the day before.
"Fine, I'll let you off the hook. This time." Hermione finally said, Harry's body sagging in relief. "You were right. We needed some time just to talk as a family. It's a good thing the tent was still in the lab for now."
She walked over to where Harry was seated in the mess hall and sat opposite. "How are they?"
"They're fine. I can't believe I went this whole time thinking they'd be mad at me for wiping their memories when they were just fine. Although, they were a bit put out when I told them that meant we really did sell their house and practice. They're technically homeless and unemployed right now."
"So, no different to us." Harry joked and Hermione smirked at him.
"I am glad you were here for it. I don't think I'd have managed it alone. Not with that damned subconscious time bomb. I've no idea what I was thinking."
"I do," Harry murmured and Hermione flicked her gaze up at him. "You won't like it."
She observed him for a moment, noticing he was pulling inward slightly as though he expected her to give out to him for whatever he was about to say. She moved to say she wouldn't judge him for it when he started talking again.
"It's something I felt when I… when I was walking into the forest." Hermione froze, her heart thudding heavily in her chest as she stared at the man opposite her. "I saw you and Ron, and the Weasley's. From under the cloak. I wanted to come over. To say goodbye. To… But I knew that if I did, one of us would break. I'd lose the will to go. Or you'd refuse to let me, or convince me not to."
"You're damned right I would have." She growled, and Harry chuckled slightly, drawing a raised eyebrow from her in response.
"I know. I'm still sorry, but I'm also not. What I felt in those moments… that's what I think you subconsciously felt when you modified your memory. I don't know a lot about memory spells, but I know that complex ones like that take time. While you were changing things, you came to a point where you thought your parents didn't know who you were. So, I'd guess your mind gave you a way to save them from further pain."
"I don't understand, Harry."
"If you knew you would never find them again, would you want them to miss you forever, or live on 'happily' not knowing they were missing something?"
"Obviously I'd want them to be happy."
"And that's what happened. You convinced yourself if it took too long, it would get to a point where finding them and reversing the spell would cause more harm than good. It was wrong, but with the changes you'd made to yourself, it would have made sense, subconsciously."
Hermione shuffled around the circular bench until she was resting next to Harry. "I hate that you know what that feels like."
He glanced up at her and smiled softly. "It wasn't so bad. Nowhere near as horrible as standing in a clearing full of Death Eaters and telling myself I mustn't pull my wand. Watching Tom make the motions, hearing him say the words. Resigning myself to the inevitable."
"Never again. For either of us." Hermione demanded, pulling him closer.
She considered going further for a moment, pressing her lips to his forehead, but she heard footsteps coming from outside the room, soon joined by two voices.
"It is fascinating. And you say it's millions of years old?" Her mother's voice came as she reached the doorway and her father and Merlin became visible beside her."
"That is correct."
"But the other one is only a thousand years old?" Her father queried, looking at the hologram.
"Again correct."
"Hermione, there you are." Her mother noted. "Merlin said we'd find you in here, oh, hello there Harry. We've had him bring the rest of our things. He says we're just down the hall from your room."
"You're what now?" Hermione asked.
"Well, thanks to someone, we sold our home and office. So, we've nowhere else to stay."
"You've moved into Fundamenta?" Harry asked, looking surprised, as though he hadn't considered the idea.
"Yes," Richard said matter of factly. "Now we've got her back, we're sticking close to Hermione for the foreseeable future."
Hermione and Harry looked at each other and she gave him a slightly forced smile. As much as she had missed her parents, that was maybe a little too much family time for her liking a little too quickly.
ϟ
Monday, 22nd August 1999.
Luna smiled pleasantly as she appeared in the halls of Fundamenta once more. She had managed to enjoy a couple of weeks with her father in their home, though it certainly helped keep him present when she could track his movements and beam to his exact location if he tried to sneak off.
They had hashed out a few of the issues he was still struggling with, but it would take time to heal all of his wounds. Soon she would need to have Harry and Hermione around to show him that they held no grudge against him.
She skipped forward until she was close enough to hear voices from the main chamber. Continuing around the bend she noted that Harry and Hermione were staring down Merlin's hologram while the two adult Grangers stood by watching. She approached slowly as Hermione spoke to the image once more.
"We talked about this, Merlin. You were supposed to ask first."
"Correction, you said to inform you about information gathering that pertained to yourselves. Not to your parents."
Hermione's face turned slightly red and Luna moved up beside her, touching her shoulder softly. "Hermione's parents fall under that grouping as well, Merlin. Anyone we bring here does."
Merlin glanced in her direction before nodding. "Noted. I shall acquire your authorisation before running any scans on personnel you bring to this facility then." Hermione growled under her breath as the hologram nodded to her parents. "I apologize for the inconvenience."
"I didn't even feel a thing, I hardly call it an inconvenience," Richard stated, shrugging to his wife.
Luna liked both of the Grangers instantly after she met them a few days earlier. They both seemed to share Hermione's desire to learn, having both been eager to utilize the Mirror device. Natalie even snuck off and used it without telling anyone, exactly as Harry and herself had done. So, she wondered what had riled Hermione up so much in regards to them this time.
Harry caught her eye and seemed to sense her question. "Merlin scanned their DNA without informing us after they both successfully used the main feature of the Mirror device. Turns out they're almost the same as we are. But I guess that was expected given they're responsible for giving us our Hermione."
Luna nodded and smiled at the cheery couple, Natalie sidling up beside her and whispering. "Luna, dear. Perhaps you're clear-headed enough to give us a rundown on this fancy chair. Merlin says we can use it, but Hermione's in too much of a mood right now."
Hermione spun on her heel and gave her mother a rather severe look. "Of course."
Hermione growled once more and stormed off, Harry shrugging and following her as Luna led the two elder Grangers over to the control chair. "It mostly just reads your thoughts, but some things you need to focus on intently to achieve. Others are selected or controlled using these pads."
She indicated the soft pads on the tips of the arms, pushing a finger gently into the soft surface. "But the easiest way to learn is to do. Take a seat."
ϟ
Friday, 27th August 1999.
Neville smiled at his friends as he materialized in Fundamenta for the first time in weeks. His eyes drifted behind them and surprise filled him as he saw a pair of people who looked a lot like Hermione standing there watching him as well.
"Er, hi guys." He mumbled and Hermione smiled as she stepped towards him.
"My parents." She whispered as she gave him a firm hug. "Try not to let them get to you."
He glanced at the pair who simply watched him in return. "So, Merlin's beacon summoned me for something?"
Hermione stepped back and the hologram appeared in the middle of the group. "Yes. It's ready."
The four younger figures all glanced excitedly between one another while the Grangers looked slightly confused. "What is ready?" The male asked.
"The Astria Porta," Merlin replied simply and began to walk out of the chamber, heading to where Luna had told them the conscensa had previously been located. "I have redesigned the conscensa after researching some of your modern architecture. Hopefully, it is to your liking."
The group followed the hologram as the doors opened and the room beyond came into view. Neville looked on in awe at the large space before him.
The roof was several stories up with a large hatch that was almost invisible against the ceiling. Graduated pale green and blue pillars ran the full height of the room around the curved walls that led from the door to the giant arched window at the back, currently dark with the ice blocking the already non-existent light at this time of year, making Neville wonder why such a window was needed.
The floor itself was a pattern of dozens of different shades of pale yellow that flowed in and out of one another, perfectly flat as it filled the space, except for two grooves at the far end just before the window and a crisscrossing red vein pattern that he ran his foot over and noted absolutely no detectable seam.
"Incredible." Mrs Granger said, awestruck as she walked towards the far end of the room.
"Where is the lighting coming from?" Mr Granger asked, walking beside her.
"The Alteran people long ago learned ways of diffusing light through solid matter. Emitters are built into the walls and as it passes through the molecules, it diffuses and evenly fills the space."
"Wicked," Harry noted as he ran his hands over the walls. "I'm a fan."
The group all nodded their agreement and Merlin stepped over to the grooves. "And this is where the Porta shall go."
"I looked over the design while it was being built on the computer. It seems incredible." Hermione stated, looking through the huge window out onto the ice beyond. "Why the window, though? The amount of light that we'll get here through most of the year…"
"It is not a window," Merlin explained, standing beside her. They all started as a whirring sound filled the room and the window retracted rapidly into the floor, leaving the space open to the icy wall beyond. "It is a doorway. For any Porta sized vessel to enter and exit horizontally. Just like the one in the ceiling."
"Amazing," Luna said, standing beside Harry by the holes in the floor. "A little cold with it open though."
They all chuckled and Merlin nodded, closing the opening once more. The room rapidly heated once more and the physical members all gathered by Harry and Luna. "Moment of truth time?" Neville suggested and Merlin turned to face them all, still standing by the doorway.
"Very well." He nodded slowly and a large ring of beam energy filled the air in front of them. The group took a few steps back as the energy peaked, the sound of vibrating air being displaced by the integration of the giant structure filled their ears. After a few moments, the light dissipated leaving behind a pale silvery-grey ring in its place.
Neville admired the design as he circled the massive ring, appearing perfectly smooth as it dipped into the holes in the floor while also towering above them where they stood. There were still seven visible chevrons spaced evenly, and he assumed there were two more under the surface of the floor. Each chevron bore a green triangular crystal that went through the entire thickness of the ring, stretching from its outer reach to a couple of inches shy of the inner edge. They were all bordered by a thin raised line of darker metal around its exterior on the front and back that merged seamlessly at the outer edge where the ring seemed to bulge slightly outwards and grip the crystal, keeping it in place within the structure.
The ring itself was smooth all the way around, thicker at the outer edge compared to the inner side, looking almost tear-shaped with the very tip of the pointed side removed. Where it should have come to a sharp point was a recessed groove that contained the emitter crystals. Three rows made up of hundreds of tiny clear crystals about two inches long and half an inch wide laid around the centre of the groove, spaced another inch apart.
At the very front edge of the groove in line with each of the breaks between the crystals were even smaller blue crystal dots that Neville assumed were emitters for some other part of the device's function.
"It's magnificent," Luna said, drawing their eyes from the beauty of the pale grey form.
"It has no inner ring?" Harry asked, running his fingers over the surface.
Neville mirrored his action and noted that the surface wasn't actually as smooth as it seemed. Instead, it was covered in a super fine pattern he couldn't make out with the naked eye.
"This model is entirely digital and has no moving parts at all. It can operate entirely devoid of a dialling device. Although the new ones I have made for you will still function with it as well. But most importantly, it utilizes the most recent development in the database for the wormhole."
"Why is that important?" Mr Granger asked, also running his hands over the outer edge of the device in awe.
"Because we are still on Earth," Merlin replied simply and Neville realized what he meant.
"You mean it can operate while the SGC are using their Astria Porta?" Luna asked.
Hermione spun to look at the hologram, a surprised and yet knowledge-hungry look on her face. "That is correct. From the reports I have filtered through, they have previously detected the usage of a second Porta on Earth when their unit responded abnormally. So this model avoids the issue entirely. Even when dialling in remotely."
"That is so cool," Harry whispered as he stepped back and stood beside Neville.
"Let's try it out," Luna suggested, standing front on to the device and smiling at the group.
"Where would we go?" Hermione asked from her position opposite Luna.
Neville noticed Harry approach Merlin and whisper something to the hologram. The image nodded and a bright light filled Harry's hand for a moment before disappearing. He turned back to the others and Neville caught his eye. Harry winked as he stepped back up beside Luna.
"I know where to go. Everyone come around here."
He pulled the advanced dialer Merlin had made and punched in an address Neville could not see clearly and the Astria Porta began to emit a dull whine, getting higher as the moments passed. The seven green crystals illuminated at once and with the same metallic vibrating hum as the Area 51 Porta, a bright ring of white light leapt out from inside the groove expanding until it met in the centre, quickly changing to the typical blue of the stable wormhole, the watery sound of the undulating event horizon filling the room.
Neville glanced at the elder Grangers and couldn't hold his laughter at their stunned faces. "It is impressive the first time, isn't it."
"You can say that again," Natalie commented, stepping up to the mighty device and tapping the surface softly, just as her daughter had done. "Incredible. Where does it go?"
"That part is a surprise," Harry noted as he joined her at the event horizon. "One I'm sure you'll love. I promise."
He extended his hand to the woman and she took it. With a wink over his shoulder at the others, Harry guided her in and the two vanished. Luna quickly danced through the Porta and Hermione shook her head as she stepped over to her father and gestured for him to pass through.
They both disappeared leaving Neville alone with the widely grinning Merlin. "Where is he taking us?" He asked the image curiously.
"You'll see," Merlin replied as he shimmered out of sight.
Neville shook his head at the odd program. Sometimes it was very obviously a computer-generated image of a subroutine, but at others, he could swear it felt alive. He took a deep breath and passed through the event horizon in a somewhat more subdued fashion than his last attempt.
His breath caught in his throat as he emerged and beheld the long open room before him. The design was similar to the space on Thor's ship, with wide curved walls interspersed with inwardly curving flat pillars stretching back to the distance. All his friends were gathered on the other side, but it was the handful of shorter figures that had drawn his attention quickly away from the architecture.
"Welcome, to Othala." A soft voice to his right offered.
Neville turned to see an Asgard gesturing him forwards and he stepped up and joined his friends. The Grangers seemed even more overwhelmed now than when they'd just been staring into a wormhole. Understandable, he thought, given it was their first time meeting a truly alien species.
"Isn't Othala in another galaxy?" Hermione hissed lightly to Harry as Neville caught up with them.
"Yes, it is." The boy replied.
"I hope we have enough power to get back home."
"Relax, Hermione. I am sure that the Asgard have a sufficient power source to get us back. Besides, we owed them the rest of our promised aid."
Harry held up the device that Merlin had spawned in his hands earlier and Neville recognised it as the subspace data link they had designed to allow the Asgard real-time access to Fundamenta's database.
A single Asgard with a beautiful stone pendant hung around his neck stood waiting at the nearest end of the meeting hall. "Greetings, I am Penegal of the Asgard High Council."
"Greetings." The group replied, the Grangers taking the longest as they continued to look about in wonder at the massive hall and its denizens.
"We are pleased to have you on Othala. Thor's report on your meeting was most illuminating."
"It was a pleasure meeting him. Is he here today?" Harry asked.
"Unfortunately not in person. He is busy in another part of the galaxy, but may still be able to join us for a moment. If you will follow me." Penegal replied, turning about and walking swiftly towards a larger break in the pillars.
The group followed, noting the looks they garnered from the Asgard as they passed. After turning into a handful of different corridors, Penegal directed them into a large open conference room. A long oval-shaped table filled the centre of the room, but all six sets of human eyes were immediately drawn to the floor to ceiling window that covered the entire far side of the room.
They stepped up to the giant window and Neville was at a loss for words. The building they were in seemed to be higher than most in the vicinity as they looked out over thousands of tiny buildings spread out among dense green plantlife, as far as the eye can see, with towering triangular structures dotted amongst them.
Three moons of different colours hovered over the high mountains in the far distance and hanging in the air in front of them were hundreds of hovering platforms. Some of the platforms held ships at rest, giant hammer-shaped vessels that looked monstrously powerful.
In the middle distance, hovering over the bay, was the largest set of platforms surrounding a skeletal structure of what Neville assumed to be an even bigger form of vessel, though it seemed to be in the very earliest stages of construction.
"Please excuse the mess. We were not expecting visitors." Penegal noted as he sat on the window side of the table, his chair swinging to watch the humans as they gawked at the view.
"What is that?" Mr Granger asked, dumbfounded.
Penegal looked past them to the vessels gathered beyond. "Those are three Bilskirnir-class vessels undergoing repair and resupply. The larger one is the first of the more advanced O'Neill-class. Our next great hope for victory in this unending war."
"War?" Harry asked, turning to face the nearby Asgard. "This far more dangerous threat that Thor mentioned?"
"Indeed. If you will please be seated, the others will join us momentarily." The small alien indicated the chairs on the wall side, allowing them to continue looking out over the impressive sight beyond.
As the last of them sat, a trio of white energy fields appeared on the far side, depositing several more Asgard wearing identical stones to Penegal, except for the rune on its front side. The air above a third seat shimmered slightly and a familiar figure appeared in its place though it was clearly a transmitted hologram. Each of the figures looked much like every other member of the alien species they had seen today, with only very minor colouration variances indicating who was whom.
"May I introduce those of the Asgard High Council present today, or able to communicate remotely. Odin, Chief Archon of the Council. You already know Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. Freyr, Head of the Asgard Oversight Council. And Vidar, Chief of the Asgard Justice Council."
"Greetings. It is good to see you all again." Thor noted, shimmering slightly in place.
"And you. A pleasure to meet you all." Hermione noted.
"We apologise for our impromptu arrival," Harry explained. "We just completed construction of the new Astria Porta and wanted to bring this to you as soon as we could." He placed the small cylinder on the table and pushed it towards the centre. "A subspace data link that once incorporated into your systems will allow real-time access to any and all information stored in Fundamenta's database. As agreed."
"You truly intend to share all the information you possess?" Vidar asked coarsely, his voice far deeper than any Asgard Neville had heard speak so far.
"Why not?" Luna replied. "We intend to be allies. What secrets do we have to keep from you?"
"Vidar is correct to be wary. Our interactions with your kind have been less than ideal. They were nearly responsible for the ruination of Cimmeria." Odin noted plainly.
"The actions of the SGC cannot be laid on these." Thor interrupted. "And even then, those actions were not made maliciously. We could never have predicted a Jaffa might rebel against his master. You must forgive Vidar and Odin. I am sure you can see why some of us might be slightly suspicious of such generosity."
"We negotiate from a vastly weakened position," Hermione said. "A group of four, now six, and a computer. All we truly had to offer in exchange for supplies were our hands in friendship and the knowledge at our disposal."
"And I think you underestimate just how much aid you have provided," Neville spoke up. "We have only just taken our first steps out into the galaxy. Not only have you provided all the necessary materials we required to do so. You likely saved our very lives on Consortium."
"Is it wise for us to provide such aid to a group that cannot keep themselves safe from something as simple as drowning?" Freyr queried, looking at his fellow councillors.
"If you feel it necessary, you can obviously cut ties with us. This information is offered freely for services already rendered." Luna explained. "We would cherish having your kind as friends, but if you find our presence a difficulty…"
"We do not." Thor and Penegal stated together before the latter continued. "We have been alone in our efforts for a long time. As such, we've come to rely solely on ourselves. The SGC have made steps to one day joining us as equals, but that time is still a long way off."
Thor continued, "We face two potentially devastating issues." Vidar and Freyr looked as though they wished to comment, but Odin raised a hand, silencing them. "Skirmishes with the goa'uld in Avalon are a minor concern for us at present compared to the threat located here in Ida from the Replicators. We have been unable to achieve decisive victory against this insidious enemy, and in many recent battles, we have come out the vanquished.
"The Tollan and the Nox are both pacifistic in nature, and have already provided all the aid that they can, and likely will, in our struggle. As the one sitting on the front lines of this war, I would not so blithely cast away aid freely given. Whether you will accept it or not, we are losing this war. If such a pattern continues, and the O'Neill does not relieve the stress on our fleet, we may not even be around to complete this debate, much less be very good allies for long."
Thor cast his gaze over the gathered Asgard and Neville felt like they were intruding on matters that were far beyond them at that moment. "If it is the choice of this council to renounce ties with these people, I will abide by that ruling. But I strongly urge you all to consider our options. The Lanteans never truly shared with the Alliance to the degree that the rest of us did. The fact they had Famrir's body throughout our entire friendship and never once mentioned it shows that. And that was a bond forged over millennia. Time that we may not have on our side now."
He paused for a moment as he glanced aside, his attention drawn by something they could not see before glancing back at their group. "I must return to the front. It was good to see you all again."
The image shimmered for a moment before it vanished and they were once more left alone with the remainder of the High Council. Harry sat up straighter in his chair and the alien eyes all turned to him. "Perhaps we should depart for now, and allow you to discuss these matters in private. Whatever you choose, the link is yours."
"For that, we are grateful, Harry Potter." Penegal smiled. "I have informed Idun of the fact you hold Famrir's body in stasis and when able, she will come by to recover it."
Neville felt that despite the impassioned speech Thor had just given about these Replicator enemies, that the recovery of the Asgard clone body was somehow more important to the Councilors. "Of course. We moved it to Fundamenta a bit over a week ago, so that we could keep a closer eye on its condition." Neville explained. "For the time being, it remains stable. Though my understanding of your physiology is obviously limited."
"The link will allow you to send us real-time transmissions in return." Hermione offered. "Simply let us know when Idun will be nearby."
Penegal leaned forward, pressing his hand to the table and the link was surrounded by beam energy, vanishing away as the group stood. "Thank you for your visit. I am sure we will be in touch again soon."
The door to the room opened and the six bowed to the councillors. "We look forward to it." Luna finished, and the group slowly exited the room, heading back for the meeting hall and the journey home.
ϟ
Sunday, 29th August 1999.
Hermione lay back in the control chair, her eyes closed and her mind drifting through the stars of the stellar maps she was observing. The thousands of different coloured balls of gas and their accompanying planets interspersed with tiny writing rotated about before her. In the two days since they had returned from Othala, Merlin had used the new Astria Porta to do a far more thorough check of the wider Conmeatas. So many of the former Lantean settlements were non-responsive, indicating their Portas were probably damaged or buried.
Of far greater concern was the spread of these goa'uld throughout the galaxy. Many former Lantean worlds had been usurped by the parasites, and even more worlds rich in the resources they were seeking were now enemy strongholds. Entire garrisons of troops and powerful starships defended their mining operations, preventing any hope of sneaking in and out with what they might need.
But hope also lay among the stars. Several of the connections had revealed civilizations that had progressed beyond even Earth, despite the yoke of Goa'uld oppression. The other Asgard Protected Planets were thriving, many of their peoples fast approaching the level where they could see the Asgard for what they truly were. Provided the Asgard made it that far.
"You look worried," Harry noted, sounding like he was only feet away.
Hermione closed the map and leant forward, her eyes opening to see Harry looking at her solemnly.
"It doesn't look great out there right now."
"I know. I've been thinking about that. Thor couldn't detect our use of magic. Nor could he see through the Cloak."
"We can't go banking on that to keep us out of trouble. You of all people should understand the risks we're facing. After all we've been through, I wouldn't have expected you to be so eager to get into another war. This is a galactic empire of violent despots. Luck won't win the day for us."
"I'm not suggesting we dial up the nearest stronghold and charge in. Merlin is already looking through the database for a vessel design we can use to get around in areas that the Conmeatas doesn't cover. I was thinking we can look into what options magic opens up for us that we may not have been considering so far."
Hermione sighed as she leant forward in the chair. "I've given it a little thought in the past month. So far I have done a little of the arithmancy for a modified bubblehead charm. One that would cover the whole body and function almost like a spacesuit. In case any of the planets we visit aren't exactly friendly to human physiology."
She took a breath before she continued, wondering what Harry would think of her coming suggestion. "Maybe we should look into bringing a few more people into our circle here. Padma was extremely good at arithmancy in Hogwarts. And we both know the Weasley Twins are geniuses when it comes to inventing new products and ideas."
Harry smiled at her and she relaxed slightly. "Sounds good to me. Let Fred and George Weasley loose on an unsuspecting galaxy. What could possibly go wrong?" The pair laughed at the idea of the two causing havoc across the universe.
"Maybe as a consulting role only then. I'm still coming to terms with how the information we got from the Mirror might affect our understanding of magic. If what Thor says is true, and we are a renewed evolution of the Alterans and their late-stage abilities, perhaps we can refine the technique."
Harry looked at her intensely and Hermione began to blush under the unyielding stare. "Your mind is magnificent, Hermione." Her blush increased. "We need to consider ways of keeping your parents safe as well. Your father already looks keener than Neville to get out exploring the galaxy. We at least have the benefit of magic to fall back on."
"He's incorrigible. And your tales aren't helping matters there." Hermione gave him a heatless glare before her face broke out into a smile.
"They missed out on a lot while you were away at Hogwarts." Harry defended himself.
"Yes, but you don't need to tell them everything. Nor keep talking up how you wouldn't have made it this far without me. It's embarrassing enough living here with them always poking their heads in unannounced."
Harry chuckled at her and she gave him another glare. "It is true though, I wouldn't have made it this far without you. I've been thinking about that actually. If we manage to… find Sirius out there. I think I want to move in here for now too. So that he can do what he likes with Grimmauld once he gets back."
Hermione's face softened as she stood and moved closer to Harry. He looked away as she approached and looked far more like the old Harry again for a moment. The one who was stubborn and refused to let others see when he was hurting. Not that it had ever stopped her from knowing.
"Believe me, I understand. And I have the system cross-referencing every settlement we find with the signature of the Archway. If he's out there, we will find him."
She pulled him into a tight hug and Harry let his head rest on her shoulder as his arms tightened around her back. "What would I do without you?" He whispered.
"Probably go running off through the Astria Porta screaming Sirius' name to the heavens." Harry chuckled once more and she felt the vibration run through her.
The pair stood in silence, Harry's arms providing a comfort Hermione welcomed in her very core. She knew that she would have to speak with him soon, but she was still not quite ready to do so. Several long minutes passed as Harry shifted his arms up and down her back softly.
"Have you seen Dobby about lately?" Harry suddenly asked curiously, disturbing Hermione's thoughts.
She smiled at the idea that holding her closely had led Harry's mind to his other friend. "He's about. He and Winky are working with a few of the older elves, looking into their collective history. Something to do with something Merlin said to them. And said they've been checking in with Xeno from time to time as well."
When he finally pulled away, she smiled up at him gently as she heard a pair of loud footsteps approaching and her parents appeared from around the corner.
"Hello, you two. What's the plan for today?" Natalie asked as she stopped just a few feet away, looking like a kid in a candy store. Ironic, Hermione thought, given her former profession.
"Richard is coming with me," Harry said as he stepped away from her, gesturing her father down the nearby hallway.
"What?" Hermione asked the woman in front of her, as the two men walked away chatting happily, her mother looking at her oddly.
"Nothing, dear. Come now, show me something else amazing." She said, stepping up onto the hexagonal chair platform.
ϟ
Harry watched the doors close behind Richard, leaving him alone in the conscensa as the man went for dinner with his wife and daughter, having spent most of the day exploring the facility with Harry. The two shared stories back and forth as Harry came to see the man as a friend in his own right. He turned on his heel and walked to the window, staring out into the dark icy space beyond and let his mind wander. He was beyond happy that Hermione had her parents back and that they were bonding once more after their separation, but sometimes he hated himself for the guilt he felt when he looked at them.
Natalie and Richard had embraced his presence without question, in spite of the fact he was the major reason for the break between themselves and their daughter, and it was odd being freely accepted by those he felt he had wronged. It was part of the reason he had so much trouble staying with the Weasley's for any extended time these days. But mostly he felt guilty that he was envious. Hermione had retrieved something they had all begun to consider lost to them. Even Luna was finally breaking through the wall that had risen between herself and her father. Harry was jealous that his friends were reconnecting with their parents, a possibility denied to him forever thanks to Tom.
He glanced over his shoulder at the pale ring, standing in the rear portion of the room, almost taunting him with the possibility of recovering a piece of what his friends were feeling. But without knowing where to aim it, he was lost. He let his forehead rest on the window and closed his eyes, the cool external air giving the glass a cool touch. They had so much they needed to figure out, so many tasks to achieve, and he had no idea where to start.
Harry sighed as he pulled away from the window and turned to face the Astria Porta once more. It was untrue that he had no idea where to start. He would take a leaf out of Hermione's book and do as he had suggested earlier that day. This was his discovery, and yet she seemed to have committed to it even further than he had so far. It was time to put all his eggs in this basket.
He lifted his left arm upwards and shimmied the sleeve slightly down, revealing the small remote device. A few quick taps had him surrounded by white light as he returned to Grimmauld Place for what may be the last time.
End of Book One