Author's Note: Right and here's the next bundle coming right up. Sadly I'm in the middle of renos so there's only going to be about five of them I think this time round. HOPEFULLY I'll be able to get out a sixth, but don't bet on it. Perhaps next month will be better? Regardless, I just want to say thank youto the Betas I relied on this time around. Stormbow, Philosophize, RealSwede and Biggar Bookworm. To my other Beta's I will be in touch, you all do good work I just find it easier to work with small groups at a time. Right I'll repeat the warning below but I'll say this now, there will be a small section of Mature content below, it's not really super sexual more a frank look at what happens when you're a hormone driven teenager. What else? Uh...Right A lot of you ask for the Pairings, but I'm going to withhold them unless personally asked. Why? Half the joy is in the reveals. Also if you do contact me for details on the pairings, I will ask you to keep it to yourself, as I said I prefer it to come out as a consequence of the story not because someone blabbed.
Warning: Some Sexual Content, Language
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be so rich I could by England and build Hogwarts a dozen times over. Obviously I do not own Harry Potter. And hopefully the woman who does doesn't change her policy on Fan Fiction...I have enough nightmares about that without it coming true. One featured her setting Emma Watson on me...So much feminine fury...Shivers. No but seriously nothing but respect for both women, they do things I could only dream of.
Chapter 10: Aftershocks.
When Harry looked back later, he would barely remember his first arrival at the Granger home. He was quite simply exhausted, and they had used a port key to travel between the hospital and the residence, always fun for Harry who was perhaps the worst traveler in existence when it came magical transportation. He was promptly led to a bedroom, where he fell onto the bed and soon fell asleep.
The others were similarly tired, but found themselves in need of some discussion first. Dan and Emma got their daughter, and the remaining guests to gather in the houses kitchen around the island, pouring some drinks before proceeding.
Dan was, being at times, a somewhat brusque man, the first to speak. "So, tell us what happened," He ordered after taking a swig of lager, looking at his tired daughter who had perched on the edge of one of the islands bar stools. "I assume the boy passed out upstairs is in fact the one you have been writing us questions about?" He asked sounding a touch accusing.
Emma tapped his side lightly with her elbow, the universal signal from wife to husband to back off slightly on his approach. Hermione nodded wearily, she'd tuckered herself out crying at the hospital. "Yes, though I hadn't expected to find out the answers to those questions in quite such a spectacular manner." their daughter agreed bitterly, clearly wishing that her drink was actually alcoholic after the day she'd just had. Alcohol was only for adults in their house, and even then it was only lightly stocked.
The pink haired woman, who had introduced herself as Tonks while they waited for their ride home, leaned forward and peered at the bushy haired teen. "You knew something was wrong?" She asked, sounding a touch suspicious.
Hermione either didn't notice, or didn't care about the tone and shrugged, "No, or at least not exactly, I knew something was off in the way he was acting but I had no idea he was that badly off." She assured the woman who looked moderately assuaged. "I did some research and started cataloguing all the symptoms I was noticing. I was trying to confirm my diagnosis, PTSD, when things hit the banishing spell today." She explained, sounding grim.
Tonks nodded partial understanding. "I'm not sure I understand that last bit, PTSD did you say?" She asked, unfamiliar with the muggle acronym.
Hermione nodded, but it was actually Dan who answered. "Yeah, it's a mental condition, stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it used to be called shell shock, learned a lot about it in the Army. It happens when somebody experiences too much trauma too fast and they can't adapt. They start getting side effects, sometimes its relatively minor things like aversion to places and people, but sometimes it's worse, hallucinations, flashbacks, nightmares, the shakes, panic attacks." He listed off, looking morosely at his drink. One of his friends who had stayed in the army longer than Dan had, had been sent to the middle east following 9/11, he was still being treated for PTSD after his vehicle hit an IED.
Tonks was uncertain, "I thought I heard you were a dentist, a mouth healer right?" She asked. She was wondering if the army needed a special division to heal mouths…You never knew with muggles.
Dan nodded, "I am, but the army paid for my education in exchange for a few years of service." he explained. "I swore an oath to the crown, wore the uniform and carried the rifle, for a few years and they footed the bill for medical school."
Tonks nodded, actually thinking that wasn't that bad an idea, being in law enforcement was sometimes exciting work, but it could really take a toll on you after a while, there weren't many old Aurors, many simply up and quit one day when they couldn't continue. Not a lot of jobs for a person who was missing bits thanks to some bastard who was a little too fond of cutting spells. "So you reckon Harry's seen too much and now is starting to show some wear and tear?" She asked, clarifying. "I know some Aurors tend to go a bit funny once they've been out fighting the bad guys too long," She noted a feeling of cold seeping into her insides.
Dan nodded agreement, "I'd wager good money that that's what your seeing in them, and what we're seeing in Harry judging by Hermione's analysis," Dan knew his daughters work ethic, and was more than familiar with her meticulous nature, if she said she'd seen those symptoms, there was no question she'd seen them.
Tonks considered that, sighing. It's such a bloody shame, the kid's only fifteen and already he's showing signs he's been beat up one too many times. How's he manage to be as nice a kid as he is? She wondered rolling the glass on the countertop while she thought.
Kara was the first to put it into words, speaking up for the first time since they'd sat down. "Assuming this is the case, which I'd bet it is too Mr Granger, what do we do about it?" She asked looking at them steadily.
Hermione spoke up, "I've been looking into that, and I have to admit, I have no idea what to do for Harry," She said in a pained tone, "His issues and symptoms are so numerous that I have no idea where one ends and another begins. I have no idea what to do about those nightmares he has, and I'm pretty sure those are the least of his problems."
Emma spoke up now, "I'm guessing that muggle psychiatric care would be out of the question?" She asked, the looks she got were answer enough. "Then all I can see you being able to do honey, is sticking by him, and keeping him company while he works through it. Most PTSD patients are able to eventually sort themselves out to the point they can live relatively normal lives, it's only the most severely affected that need medication and longterm care…" She noted.
"It's really that bad?" Tonks asked, feeling down trodden at the thought of it.
Dan nodded. "There are plenty of recorded cases of veterans mistakenly believing they are back in combat and accidentally harming, or at least nearly harming those near them while suffering an episode, I don't know Harry is that bad by any stretch, but then again it's not a linear scale of measurement, just because he's not hallucinating, doesn't mean he isn't that bad off."
Hermione shook her head, "He is having hallucinations, or flashes, remember that incident in his memory of the alley Tonks?" She asked and the woman nodded. Harry had seen Hermione dead on the ground at the hands of Death Eaters, when the young woman hadn't even been present. And then proceeded to take apart the bad guys unfortunate enough to be close by in retribution.
Tonks shook that off. "The healers might be able to give him a regular dose of calming draught but I'd bet he wouldn't be too keen on that considering…"
They all stood in silence, it was a few minutes later that Hermione spoke up staring at their American compatriot, "You knew something was up with him. How?" She asked, her brow furrowed.
Kara shrugged, but not like she was disinterested. "I've seen a few kids who've had a rough home life, they all have a certain look about them, once you get used to seeing it." She could tell by Hermione's expression, that this explanation was insufficient, and wasn't going to fly, at least not on its own. "Alright, I knew a bit more than that, but I'm not prepared to talk about it without his say so, it's basically irrelevant now anyways seeing as he's put it all out there now." Kara admitted frustrated.
Hermione gave her what could only be described as a look, one which promised future conversations about this.
"On the plus side, it can only do Harry good to be away from that feckin' tomb of a house." Tonks pointed out, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. "A teenagers paradise Grimmauld is not." She said offering a crooked smile.
Hermione noted her parents looking to her questioningly. "Grimmauld is not a low stress environment, people constantly coming and going, and the place is decorated like you'd expect a house from Grimm Fairy Tales to look like…" She decided to withhold some of the more gruesome or freakish details about the place from her parents.
"So that's the plan then?" Tonks asked a touch skeptical despite the fact that she was basically the one to suggest it. "We just hang out here a couple days and then head back as though every thing's normal?"
Kara was staring at her drink which she was swirling in its glass, "As far as I'm concerned it can only be good for Harry to have some time away from Wrinklenuts," She noted.
Tonks started coughing, having had some drink go down the wrong tube at that moniker, Hermione shot her and Kara a scandalized look, and her parents looked confused. Hermione hated to admit it but that wasn't an entirely invalid point considering Harry's recent clashes with the Headmaster. "Right…Could we have them stay here for the rest of the summer its only a couple weeks till it's time to return to Hogwarts?" She asked her parents.
Emma and Dan shared an uncertain look between them. "Perhaps, but maybe you should explain a bit why you're suddenly avoiding your Headmaster?" Emma suggested.
Kara actually answered first, "Because the Headmaster is personally responsible for having caused most of the long miserable series of unfortunate catastrophes that is Harry Potter's life."
"That's not precisely fair…" Hermione protested, wondering just how much Kara and Harry had managed to talk. How much had he trusted her with already?
"Hermione," Kara chided. "Make a list of every majorly screwed up thing that's ever happened to Harry, and ask yourself how many of them Fumblemore is involved or implicated in. I realize half of those are probably events he couldn't keep his nose out of being an interfering old goat…" Kara argued letting Hermione do just what she suggested. Clearly the other girl didn't entirely like what results her mind were showing her.
"Something we should know about?" Dan drawled dryly at his daughter expression.
Hermione looked a touch panicky for a moment before she schooled her features. "Um—Perhaps those stories can wait for another time?" She suggested, and redirected "So how about it? Can Harry and the others stay over?" She asked, hoping the blitz approach would net her some success.
The look her parents gave her suggested they knew exactly what she was doing, but they still looked to each other before nodding. "How about a trial run then, we'll see if we can stand being under the same roof for a few days…" Emma suggested, Hermione sagged in relief.
They sat in relatively companionable silence for a time, before Hermione voiced something she'd been thinking about. "You know—Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that all of Harry's issues came to a head at once?" She asked. "Don't get me wrong, I know he's got a lot of them, it's just a little odd they're all appearing at once like this…" She tried to put her concerns into words.
Kara looked uncomfortable, offering a wry grin, "Give the guy a break Hermione, consider what he's been through in just the last couple days, let alone the last couple years…"
"True," Hermione conceded. "But something feels off."
"You mean besides the fact that you never told us just why you guys ended up in the hospital?" Emma chided.
Hermione had the good grace to look chagrined at that, "Oh right…That—Uh. You may wish to pour yourself something a little stronger."
—-
"Okay, I've got to hit the office and write up a report for Amelia," Tonks said as she deposited the girls in the room they'd be sharing for the summer, "But I think we need to cover a couple things you two," She said looking over the two girls as they got changed into sleep wear. Kara having to borrow some of Hermione's clothes until their belongings could be retrieved from Grimmauld.
Kara snorted, "You mean you two need to figure out just who the strange American is, and what is up with her and Harry?" She asked. "What? You didn't think I'd notice all the weird looks?" She asked looking at the two surprised faces.
Tonks had to concede she was right, that wasn't an inaccurate assessment of why she wanted to talk, she was confident of Hermione's character, but not of the new comer who only had Harry to vouch for her. "Among other things," She agreed.
Hermione nodded looking interestedly at the girl now pulling one of her nightshirts over her head. Kara shrugged, adjusting the shirt over her chest which was more developed than Hermione's. "What do you want to know?"
"How about some basic facts?" Hermione requested.
Kara nodded. "Born in Newark New Jersey, lived my entire life there, that's the city just across the hudson from New York by the way. I hated it, ran with a rough crowd…ran into trouble, but got out of it eventually." She explained a touch vaguely. "Discovered as a side effect I had magic, I basically took the opportunity to let my family think I'd died, something they didn't seem particularly put out by, and left to join the coven, they wrangled a scholarship for attendance at Hogwarts and booted me out the door. Here I am." She explained.
Hermione blinked at the girls frank description of her life, that'd certainly explain why she might recognize the look of an abused child. But it left some questions. "Okay, but why does Harry trust you so much already," She asked frustrated. "I mean, he's not exactly an open book, especially recently, I mean you've just arrived and you already seem to know most of what's happened to him over the years."
Kara nodded. "Well, me and him have been in contact virtually from the moment the coven realized about the scholarship, they knew having a celebrity on my side might ease me in in such a way I might not ever darken their doorstep again…" She explained. "So we've been talking for a while longer than you might think, but yes we've talked a bit more since we've met in person. I opened up to him and him to me, I'm not going to talk about what we said to each other, it's his business what he reveals or doesn't…" Kara offered.
Tonks looked at her shrewdly. "And is there anything between you two?" She asked.
Kara shook her head smiling. "No, he's a good guy, a friend, I think he'd probably be a good boyfriend, but no we're not like that," She saw Tonks' expression and elaborated. "I wouldn't say no if it went that way, but I don't imagine it will, there are plenty of more realistic candidates for a girlfriend for Harry," She noted jerking her head at Hermione who for her part looked baffled.
"What, me and Harry?" She asked startled. "Don't look at me, he doesn't see me that way," She argued. "I'm pretty sure he only realized I was female during the Yule Ball last christmas." She noted ruefully.
Tonks snorted. "men," Kara looked doubtful.
"If you say so, I got the impression that he's always known you were a girl, especially considering the way he described you when I asked about his friends," Kara said doubtfully.
Hermione pinked but resisted the urge to ask for details immediately.
"Well, as interesting as this gossip is," Tonks noted wryly, "I've got work to do before morning. I'll see you all at breakfast, keep an eye on Harry eh? I don't imagine he'll do a runner, but he's not exactly had the best couple days." She instructed then wandered out.
Hermione was frustrated with herself, distracted by Kara's comment, she hesitated to bring it up though, it felt wrong to be worried about whether or not Harry thought of her as female, when it had just been revealed he was the subject of abuse. But she couldn't shake it, the question was already bouncing around her head interfering with her thoughts. "How—How does he describe me?" She asked.
Kara looked over at her as she rolled out a sleeping bag. "Well he covered the basics of course. What kind of things you like, but I get the impression that's not what you were asking about?" She said smiling, then took mercy on her and continued. "He said he'd be more than willing to describe you as pretty, he recounted how wowed he'd been when he saw you at the Yule ball." She explained.
Hermione blushed, pleased, she wasn't sure he wasn't just being kind, but it was a start. The start of what though was the question. Oh boy, she was going to have a hard time sleeping.
—
Ginny lay on her bed at Grimmauld place and wept. Today's revelations had come as a shock to her, her mother and her brother conspiring against a boy Ginny cared about dearly. Potioning him with Amortentia to force him into a loveless marriage with her. The mere thought of it broke her heart. She wanted Harry to love her, because he wanted her, not because he was forced to. And whether her mother knew it or not, her machinations guaranteed that it'd never happen. She'd heard the reports coming back to the order, it had started up a rip roaring argument between its members in the kitchen. What the potioning could have done to Harry, to Hermione? It could have killed them long term, or at least severely crippled them. And in this moment, as she lay contemplating her families betrayal of those they'd sworn to protect, she decided they were no family of hers.
—
Tonks ended up delivering her report to Director Bones in person around the same time Draco Malfoy finally managed to catch up to his mother and deliver her sobriety potion and calming draft halfway across the country. Amelia then asked Tonks a number of pointed questions about the concept of loyalty and allegiance, and then proceeded to stridently point out the difference between serving Dumbledore and the DMLE whom she'd actually made an oath to. One particularly choice phrase delivered was "The Greater Good is the good as it is defined by one self important manipulative old man, the common good, the good you were sworn to protect is that which is defined by the people as a greater whole Auror"
Tonks had after receiving this verbal barrage from her boss been forced to admit she may have made an error in judgement by joining the Order. She had joined because the Order was fighting when no one else was. She was prepared to resign from the Order to make amends. But Madam Bones, being a shrewd woman, had decided it was better to have her kept in place so the DMLE at least had some idea what was going on in Dumbledore's private army of vigilantes. She then reiterated her orders, that Tonks now bodyguard Harry and sent her on her way.
This resulted in Tonks gathering her and her charge's things and familiars from Grimmauld while the rest of the order fought it out in the kitchen, and returning to the Grangers at close to one in the morning. At which point she promptly crashed on the couch and passed out snoring like a buzz saw.
—
Hermione was laying in her bedroom staring up at the ceiling listening to the slow susurrous of Kara's breathing as she tried, in vain, to get back to sleep. Part of the problem was the way the events of the day kept flashing through her head. The Potion dosings and the aftermath of their negotiations that day. Sadly these were not the issues which had woken her in the middle of the night. No it was her newly reignited interests in her best friend which had done that. Between Harry's new and charmingly deferential attitude, his amazing hugs that set her head spinning, and new yummy filled out physique, were making her hormones rage back to life at the mere thought of him. It was something she was steadfastly trying to quash. She'd put these feelings to bed some time ago, Harry didn't see her that way, and was unlikely to change in that regard, continuing to fantasize about it would only get her hurt. Besides, having fantasies flashing through her head in the wake of the abuse which had been revealed, struck her as highly inappropriate, or at the very least selfish.
Her body of course ignored her mind's remonstrations, as did her subconscious apparently. When she thought of his smile as he pulled out the chair for her earlier or the feeling of his muscled chest under her hands when he comforted her at the hospital, made her heart race and heat pool in her nether regions. It had sadly, or rather, frustratingly culminated in a rather exciting dream in which she and Harry had starred naked.
Being a girl of the modern age, she was not unaware of the mechanics of such things, nor had she been unexposed to the more bawdy stories that circulated among the female populace at Hogwarts. Lavender Brown was already, at least somewhat, experienced in such things, and the stories she told while in the girls communal showers were more steamy than the showers themselves. Better, or perhaps worse, than porn for exciting the imagination, if she were honest with herself. Her predicament was not helped by the fact that Hermione's imagination was quite vivid, it was part of what allowed her to visualize theories and techniques so well in her classes. This meant that tonight she had been treated, or subjected to a dream that was definitely above R rated.
The result of which now had her sitting, embarrassed, in her bed trying to determine whether or not Kara was truly asleep so she could go and quickly throw some unfortunately damp knickers in the wash and replace them with a clean pair. Eventually, as she sat sweating in her bed she decided that Kara was indeed asleep and swiftly rolling out of bed and over to the laundry basket…Darn she hated hormones.
—
Tonks woke to the nose twitching sent of coffee, and opened her eyes to see a mug being held in front of her. A few years of service to the Aurors meant she had lightning quick reflexes even when drowsy when it came to coffee, the slow were doomed to die of decaffeination. She snagged the coffee and rolled upright as someone chuckled. Sipping her drink, before she managed to blink enough of the sleep from her eyes to recognize Harry. "Rise and shine Lady Tonks," He chuckled. "I figured I should wake my bodyguard so she's actually guarding my body,"
He padded out of sight and she took a couple more sips driving back the wave of drowsiness which threatened to overwhelm her. She looked around and saw, Dan Granger, nearly comatose sipping his own mug of java at the island in the kitchen in his slippers and house coat. Harry was busily moving about the kitchen cooking.
She pushed to her feet and shuffled into the kitchen yawning. "Hey Harry, earning our keep are you?" She asked as she stretched a bit of the stiffness from her shoulders.
He was tending what looked to bacon on the stove and paused only briefly to smile at her over his shoulder. "Yes and no, I'm just in the habit of cooking breakfast for the Dursleys so I asked Dan if it was okay for me to do the same for them."
She shook her head, the boy was just too damn nice some times. "Yeah well those bloody Dursleys didn't deserve your services Harry,"
Dan blinked groggily at them, "Coffee…good, free breakfast…not complaining…" He groaned like a zombie. Tonks nodded in sage agreement.
"Is it saturday or sunday?" Kara asked, as she padded into the room, leading a zombified Hermione, apparently the Grangers weren't morning people.
"Coffee? Harry's making food?" Hermione asked blearily.
Harry slid them both cups of joe and placed plates in front of the lot of them. Crumpets with eggs, and bacon. The boy was a saint.
Emma stumbled in a couple minutes later, only slightly less undead-like than her family. "Oh, you didn't have to cook Harry," She protested.
"I actually don't mind cooking, back at the Dursleys it was some of the little alone time I got in the rest of the house. Normally it was only peaceful in my bedroom." Harry noted.
"That's because your relatives were bastards Harry," Kara noted. Harry just nodded agreement, it was hard not to considering.
He continued to work and cleanup after himself, he waited until the Grangers woke up a bit, then spoke to Hermione, "Like your home Hermione, much more homey than the Burrow," He noted smiling at her.
"Thanks, that's nice of you to say, but unlike the Burrow we don't have magic or a yard full of gnomes to entertain with," Hermione replied shyly.
Harry snorted. "I like the magical world don't get me wrong, but it's not exactly relaxing," He pointed out. "The Burrow's like barely controlled chaos, your house is more of a sanctuary,"
Hermione smiled in thanks, "Well then perhaps we should have you over again next summer for a bit," She suggested. Her parents shared a look.
"I'd like that," Harry agreed smiling gratefully. "I always regretted never coming to visit you like I do the Weasleys."
She blinked surprise, "I didn't know you wanted to,"
"Why wouldn't I? You're my friend. Have been for…five years now. I was always curious, wondered what kind of place would create a girl like you," he admitted.
"Why didn't you let me know?"
Harry shrugged, "I didn't want to impose, I thought you might prefer to keep your home private," He admitted. "Mostly when you talk about home you mention your parents, and not much else. By the way its nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Granger." He said smiling at the couple.
Emma smiled, a look that accentuated her similarity to her daughter "It's nice to meet you too Harry, I know we met that one time in Diagon but we didn't get to talk." She reminded him.
"Oh yeah, I remember now, that scuffle between Arthur and Malfoy," He laughed.
"Yes, it's nice to finally get to talk with the boy our daughter talks so much about." She said clearly teasing her daughter, who, as intended blushed brightly.
"Ha—Been telling stories 'Mione?" Harry joked, noting his friends discomfort. "Only the good stuff I hope?"
She shot him a look promising retribution. "Of course,"
"Can't imagine what you guys must have thought, hearing about some of the things these two get up to." Tonks laughed.
There were confused looks from the elder Grangers and a panicked one from their daughter. "Why, what, do you mean they're getting into trouble?" Dan asked noting his daughters expression.
"Uh—" Tonks was suddenly uncertain, she didn't want to drop the girl in the cacky but surely Dumbledore had told her parents about the times she'd been in danger. "I mean, didn't Dumbledore…" Then she remembered who she was talking about. "Oh wait, of course he didn't." She grumbled. Great, just stuck my foot in it.
Dan and Emma were giving their daughter a look. "Tell us about what?" They had to look to Harry before getting any sort of response.
"To be fair, it's not her fault, she's usually the one making sure I don't bite the big one, but uh…" Harry tried to defend his friend.
"Oh, I wasn't aware you got into that sort of trouble Harry," Dan said warily.
"Well…I don't cause trouble really, It's just it is a school for magic, things go a bit odd sometimes." Harry hedged.
"So you don't go looking for trouble then?" Emma asked worried her daughter had befriended a rogue.
The silence was uncomfortable. "Mountain Troll," Kara coughed theatrically, from the sidelines. Hermione glared.
"Not helping Kara," Harry growled. "That was because Hermione didn't hear the warning. What was I supposed to do?" He asked.
"Call an adult and not charge off on your own?" Tonks suggested, she knew this story, she'd been in seventh year during the troll incident.
"Well its a good thing I didn't and dealt with it myself, the thing had her cornered in a bathroom. The Teachers wouldn't have made it in time," Harry argued defensively.
Dan sighed and gave his daughter the you are so grounded look, "I assume a Mountain Troll is as bad as it sounds?" He asked, Harry hesitated. "Oh come on boy, you've already told half the story as it is, no point holding back now," He noted sternly. Harry flinched a bit at the use of the name "boy", but shrugged it off.
"Uh, probably—I mean…" Harry stuttered.
"Harry go on, you might as well tell them now." Hermione sighed.
"Uh—right, Mountain Trolls…they're uh sorta these big ape like creatures, they tend to weigh over two tons, are covered in fur which they braid into a sort of a dreadlock mane around their heads and have great big tusks jutting from their lower jaw." He admitted looking worriedly at his exasperated friend. "They're intelligent—mostly— loin cloths and clubs for the most part. This one had a bandoleer and vest too suggesting it was smarter than some. Any ways…I ran off to where I'd heard Hermione was, and found her trapped with the thing taking a swipe at her, I uh, distracted it, and then Ron levitated its club and dropped it on its head, knocking it out." He said delicately.
"Harry you fried its brain when you stuck your wand up its nose after jumping on its back." Tonks chided.
He blinked at her "Uh—I did? I though it was just knocked out, it growled while it was out." He noted.
"Yeah, that's just trolls, that sort of things tied up in their brain stem, your wand fried its frontal lobes. I suppose it shouldn't be that big a surprise they failed to tell a first year he'd killed a one and a half ton monster." She replied dryly.
"Oh, poor guy," Harry lamented. "I mean, it wasn't his fault, Quirrel tricked him into the castle and set him loose," He sounded honestly regretful.
Hermione was shaking her head.
"Am I to understand then that there have more than one incident like this?" Emma asked worriedly.
"Er—Maybe?" Hermione admitted sheepishly under their stern gazes.
Dan sighed. "Harry I think we might need more coffee,"
"So let me see if I've got all of this down, A Mountain Troll, a possessed teacher, giant spiders, a basilisk, soul sucking abominations, an escaped prisoner, a doppelgänger, a tournament which sounds more like some sort of sick gladiator thing, and a psychopath who's the wizarding world's version of Hitler…" Dan listed off, sarcastically. "Remind me why I didn't just shoot the woman who told us our daughter was a witch?" He asked rhetorically.
"Dad," sighed Hermione.
Dan ignored her, "But wait it gets better, if we don't let you continue attending school at this madhouse, you might get your memory wiped because you don't happen to be born with the same rights as everyone else, and because some people don't like muggle borns the one performing the memory wipe might get over enthusiastic and turn you into a vegetable?" He asked sounding downright incredulous.
Tonks was kind enough to handle this one. "I'm afraid thats that long and short of it Mr Granger," She agreed. She didn't like the archaic customs of wizarding Britain any more than his family did, but it was the system they were currently stuck with.
"Fan-Fuckin'-Tastic and I can't just send her to another school why?" He demanded.
"You could, if you don't mind an inferior education or having to speak french or Swedish." Tonks agreed. "The only two comparable schools in western Europe are Beauxbatons in France, or Durmstrang in Sweden, the other British schools are more analogous to a primary school education." She explained.
"Wonderful," Dan growled irritably.
"Dad, I've managed so far haven't I?" Hermione argued.
"By the skin of your teeth, and a fair helping of luck" Emma shot back sourly.
"No, because I'm a smart, capable witch, with some of the best friends a person could ask for." Hermione said reasonably.
"Hermione, your friends have gotten you into the majority of these problems…" Dan retorted.
"No, I got myself into them because I wanted to follow." Hermione said offended that they thought she would be led anywhere she didn't want to go.
"Mr Granger, sir…" Harry interrupted. "Your daughter—I get the impression that perhaps there are some things about her you don't know in regards to Hogwarts even beyond what we just discussed." He said keep his tone calm and reasonable. Dan snorted in disgusted agreement. "Your daughter is without a question the brightest witch of the Age, she consistently tops out all the scores at Hogwarts, not only that she is incredibly talented. She is almost intuitive in her ability to use magic, because she understands the theory behind it so well. Yet despite this she wasn't placed in the house geared towards the learned, Ravenclaw, instead she was placed in Gryffindor, which is the house based on the principals of Honour, Valour and Courage, she is without a doubt the bravest of those within the house." Harry explained, Hermione had blushed at his praise. "You should know her well enough yourselves to know that claim is not hyperbole, she is simply not the sort of person to abandon those she has befriended. Lord knows I've tried to talk her into staying behind or not getting involved in the past, but she won't have any of it. Now, you see a threat to your daughter and you are rightly concerned, but you would be depriving our world of something, or rather someone, unbelievably precious. She is the smartest, bravest, most dogged, and driven person I know, and I know she's meant to change the world. But she can't do that if she's forced to leave it for her own safety." Harry argued, his words made Hermione's insides flutter. That he was speaking so passionately in her defence was deeply touching.
"That's all well and good son, but the danger is just unacceptable," Dan pointed out.
Harry nodded. "I agree, which is why were changing things up this year." The others looked to him in surprise and expectation and he continued. "First of all, we've managed to convince the Ministry to start taking the threats we face more seriously, the old Minister is on his way out and the Aurors are gearing up for war. Tonks here is an Auror and a Metamorphmagus, that means she can change her appearance, she is assigned to me as a bodyguard, your daughter will benefit from that protection. In addition, despite how much trouble I've been in, I am in spite of all expectations still alive, I know what I'm doing when it comes to fighting for my life. I was already contemplating forming a special study group geared towards learning high level self defence, I will do my best to protect my friends." He promised seriously. He tried not to think about the number of resets he'd been subject to. Still he'd made it through last time through relatively intact up until Malfoy Manor…
Dan and Emma looked mildly comforted but still uncertain. Dan turned to Tonks, "Miss, you're the law enforcement officer here, what do you think of this?" He asked.
"I think all things considered, staying the course is about the safest thing you can do, Hogwarts is, sadly, one of the safest places for a muggleborn witch right now." Tonks said after some thought. "The fact of the matter is that Hermione would be a target no matter what for these nut jobs."
"So what you're saying is we don't really have a choice?" Dan said sighing and leaning back in his chair looking intensely frustrated. "Damned if we do, damned if we don't?"
Harry broke in here. "I realize the options aren't good sir, but this is the best of a bad lot."
Dan and Emma considered that, "Is there nothing we can do to improve things? To at least give her a better shot at safety?" Hermione's mother eventually asked.
They all considered that, Tonks was the first to come up with a suggestion. "Having Hermione stick close to Harry is, somewhat ironically, one of the better options all things considered, in addition we can see about some formal training…perhaps we could petition the board of governors for private housing on grounds…Not sure how much that would help. And you could always get your house warded." She listed off the first ideas to come to mind.
"Wards, what are those?" Emma asked curious.
"Think of them as magical walls around an object or location, they're invisible unless triggered." Tonks explained. "They won't keep people out forever, but they can give you time to call for help or run for it."
"And what would it cost to get some?" Dan asked, hopeful.
Tonks thought about it, "Couple thousand Galleons, we can get you some basic ones for free, courtesy of the Order, but serious ones are going to cost, as it would involve hiring the Goblins."
"Right, I forgot, your bank is run by them," Dan noted, thinking about the odd little people. "And how much is a couple thousand Galleons in pounds?"
"Two thousand Galleons would be approximately ten thousand Pounds at the current exchange rate." Tonks speculated.
"Those are standard House Wards, though," Hermione noted. "Serious Wards, the kind we'd need are far more expensive."
The group grew melancholy at the thought of just how much such a transaction would cost their family. The majority of the group however didn't know that Harry was already planning his next letter to Gringotts in his mind.
They were about to speak more on the matter, when a knock sounded at the front door. Emma was the one to get up from the table and wander off in the direction of the front door, tailed by Tonks.
They returned a few moments later in the company of a pair of familiar faces. Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour, both looking exhausted. If Harry had to guess he'd bet they had been busy working on the fallout from yesterday right through the night. Harry promptly filled a pair of mugs with coffee which he pushed across the small island towards the pair as they exchanged pleasantries.
Amelia directed a grateful look at Harry as she took a sip from the cup, "Thank you Lord Potter." She said smiling thinly, her voice was a bit gravelly from lack of sleep.
"Lord Potter?" Emma asked in a whispered aside to her daughter.
"Harry's family is very old mum, he only found out recently," Hermione assured her.
Emma offered a sharp huff of laughter. "Ha, that must have been a surprise,"
Amelia and Harry had been asking after each others health while this byplay had been going on. Harry was now asking after Susan. "And how's your niece doing? Is she enjoying her summer so far?" He asked.
"More than you at least," Amelia retorted chuckling good natured.
Harry shrugged smiling wryly. "It's been exciting if nothing else. It could be worse, I could still be holed up at my relatives."
Amelia growled as she thought of the Dursleys. "I just came from there, we've arrested them and have them in holding while our investigators look the place over, we've already found plenty of damning evidence. Saw that little hidey hole under the stairs." Hermione was listening carefully now, Amelia saw the attentive looks from those gathered around the table, and ignored, at least for now, the boy's discomfort. "Near as we can tell they kept Harry cooped up in a storage closet under the stairs for sometime…" She looked pointedly at the boy in question, clearly prompting him to help fill in some of the blanks..
Harry sighed, "Until I was twelve, after that I was given Dudley's second bedroom."
Amelia was shaking her head, while the others voiced opinions of outrage. "I saw that room too, three bolts on the outside of the door, and a cat flap for food, signs of points where bars were secured over the windows? While that fat sack of theirs had a room three times the size…" Harry nodded agreement, she shook her head in disgust. "Regardless, that's not why I'm here. I'm here to get the details about yesterday evening in general, starting with the potions incident, my agent here reported, and ending with my arrival on scene at the hospital."
"Potions incident, you mentioned something about it last night…" Emma asked uncertainly.
Hermione nodded seriously to her mother. "Oh! Yes, that's the original reason we were at the hospital, someone had spiked Harry's drink, we found out who and caught them, but the still needed to get checked out properly, thats when they discovered the rest." She explained.
"And you Hermione," Harry chastised. "They spiked your drink too, but we were worried because of my suspicions so only I took the risk of actually drinking," He pointed out.
She nodded, pursing her lips a bit, noting her parents unhappy expressions. "Yes and me," she agreed sombrely.
"Yes, and under normal circumstances such a scenario as the one you constructed could have been viewed as entrapment, however, due to evidence witnessed and gathered by Auror Tonks here, we know enough to kill such a defence before it gets off the ground." She explained. "The Potioners are in custody as well and a court date has been set for before the new school year. This is so you can more easily attend any court proceedings which may require you," She explained.
Harry groaned. "Is there any point hoping that I will not be required? I'm not exactly eager for another go into that chamber," He noted dryly.
Amelia smirked. "If it will create the kind of mess your last appearance did, I'd rather avoid it too, as it stands we have the testimony of several competent and respected adult investigators as well as witnesses, if you are willing to part with the memory of the night in question we can see about bypassing any need for you to take the stand." She agreed.
"Absolutely," Harry agreed quickly. "And in my defence I assure you I had no intention of causing such a fuss last time."
Amelia chuckled. "I know Harry, but sometimes these things can't be avoided. I have a memory vial here if you're willing to allow me to extract the memory in question?" She requested. He nodded. The Granger parents watched in fascination as Harry stood and Amelia worked to free a silvery ribbon of memory from his temple before depositing it in a vial for later examination. "Thank you, this will help greatly." Amelia nodded sounding relieved when her test of the vial confirmed the memory's veracity.
"Ma'am may I ask you something?" Harry said leaning against the marble countertop. She nodded agreement. "What is the Ministry doing to bring us up to war footing?"
She seemed a little surprised at the question but didn't let it throw her. "A number of things, we're are moving slowly because of the fall of Fudge's administration, but we plan to begin sweeps for Death Eaters and their supporters soon, we're keeping the exact date a secret of course. Other than that, I've already got clearance to increase recruitment for the Aurors and Hitwizards. And we're seeing about renewing the wards on the Ministry." She explained.
Harry was nodding, "Make sure you check your Auror force first, if they're infiltrated…" He trailed off, she nodded agreement.
"Absolutely, if we're infiltrated the rest of the sweeps will be a moot point, were hoping an interrogation of Lucius Malfoy will help us flush out some of them." She agreed.
"What about warding other locations?" Hermione asked thinking about the plans so far. "Gringotts, Hogwarts, Diagon Alley…"
Here the woman sighed and Rufus chuckled darkly. "The Goblins are already beefing up their wards all by themselves, as for Hogwarts, well that's up to the Headmaster, and we all know what he can be like… Diagon Alley is harder, we can't effectively ward a location with so many unscreened civilians constantly wandering through it. It's just not feasible to craft a ward that is so specific that it would allow the market to function as it should while prohibiting criminals access. If we could manage something like that we'd have done it years ago to clean up Knockturn." Her dour assistant explained as the Director took a sip.
"Allies?" Harry asked.
"Like who?" Amelia asked snorting. "The other nations prefer to keep to themselves for one reason or another, even the ICW can't force any kind of cooperation for something like this. As for the others…" She started ticking off things on her hand. "The Goblins do business with us, but only grudgingly, the last time I saw a Dwarf who wasn't living on the surface as an outcast they were guarding an exhibit at the Ministry, the elves have no standing army and serve disparate masters, the Centaurs, Mer people, and Giants barely tolerate us." She noted.
Harry nodded sage agreement, "And the Weres, Vampires, and Dementors are all but guaranteed hostiles. There's no Veela presence of note in Britain, and you could sooner fly to the moon on your broom than get the Wizengamot to agree to approach the Muggles." He noted. Amelia looked impressed at his analysis. He shook his head. "Which is a crying shame because the muggles are the most potent of the other groups, martially speaking that is."
Amelia nodded, she was by no means an expert on muggles but she'd seen once or twice what a muggle firearm could do to an unshielded opponent, and the nonmagical community was apparently just about swimming in the things. "It would require a standing minster even if we did manage to talk the Wizengamot around, to even consider approaching any of these groups." She agreed. "We're doing what we can Harry, I promise you that, but its only been a couple days, the aftermath still has us reeling."
"Well its a start at least, you're at least thinking about what you're going to do, which is more that Bagnold did back in the day, and its more than Fudge would have done." He agreed.
"Bagnold." Snorted Rufus, "There's a name most of us would prefer to forget, what a stupid bint. What was that quote she made? Peace in our time? And the next day a dozen muggle borns got strung up in Diagon." He said bitterly.
Harry chuckled darkly. "And so history repeats itself, did you know that those were the words said by Neville Chamberlain just before World War II kicked off?" He asked. He noticed the myriad of confused expressions around the room. Amelia looked surprised, Rufus and Tonks looked like they barely knew what World War II was, Kara looked exasperated, and the Grangers looked a combination of knowing and shocked. That last one was from Hermione who knew about his penchant for falling asleep in history class. Harry noted her befuddled expression, "What? Just because Binns is shoddy at History of Magic doesn't mean I never paid attention to in Primary." He noted dryly. "I enjoyed her classes, I just always made sure I never scored higher than Big D on the exams." He explained.
Hermione looked chagrined. "Sorry, Harry, it just caught me by surprise was all. I know you're…" She seemed unsure how to continue politely.
"Not as thick as I sometimes act?" He joked. "I'll have you know jumping Trolls, battling Dementors and surviving encounters with homicidal maniacs is something I do on the side." He watched her chuckle a little at that one and smiled seeing some of the fatigue and grimness leave her eyes. "The only reason I signed on for Care, and Divination was because King of the Dorks wanted easy courses and didn't want him to feel like a knob. Turns out he was a knob, but I wasn't to know that at the time. I'll see about dropping those when I get the chance…well maybe not care, I like chatting with Hagrid, but definitely Divination," He speculated. Hermione nodded thoughtfully. He offered a lopsided grin, "Besides, think of how many crazed magical creatures I've had to wrestle so far, at least if I take Care, I'll know what the bloody hell the thing shooting poisonous barbs at me is."
"Manticore," Hermione said promptly.
"Yeah, I could of course just ask you," Harry agreed, "But that lacks the exciting risk of decapitation that comes with Hagrid's brand of education." He turned his attention back to the bemused Law Enforcement, "Hagrid's not a bad guy, or a bad teacher really, but he thinks things like Bowtruckles are boring…It wouldn't hurt for the big guy to sit his O.W.L's and such, not fair he got his wand snapped because Voldieshorts let a ruddy great snake into the castle and pinned it on him."
Amelia was nodding thoughtfully. "I'll make a note of it to the right people, no guarantees but somebody might push through the paperwork to get him cleared." She promised.
Harry nodded happily then had a thought. "You know, it really is astounding how little screening Dumbledore does at that school, I mean Hagrid's the best at what he does, but some of the DADA teachers he's hired? Or the others, Binns, Trelawney…Snape? I mean, the man may know his potions, and all that but he's a serious pain in the arse to try and learn from…" A thought clearly occurred to Harry and the others looked at him interestedly. "Uh—What's the Ministries policy in regards to the use of Legilmency?" He asked and Tonks choked on her coffee.
"It's illegal, no exceptions, why?" Amelia asked sounding suspicious.
"Because it seems, Dumbledore has conveniently forgotten that law in regards to himself and at least one other member of his staff." He said. "I took up Occlumency recently to protect my mind against the scary soul fragment thingy," he noted dryly getting a nod of understanding from the all except the Granger parents. "They never try to probe deep but Dumbledore and Snape regularly try to brush the surface when I'm around. I realize my word alone isn't really worth much but you may wish to remind Albus and Severus about the letter of the law in regards to that particular school of magic." He noted.
Amelia looked outraged. "Are you saying that staff at Hogwarts are regularly, and may I say Illegally entering the minds of students?" She asked.
Harry shrugged. "Don't know about all students, but they've both certainly tried it on me in the past. Feels like an Icepick being jabbed in your eye if they do it wrong." he noted.
Amelia was about to inquire further, but another knock sounded at the door.
Author's Note: Quick question, was that little bitty bit of sexuality too much, or too raunchy? I hope not, but you never know. Regardless, Please Rate, Review, Follow, recommend to your friends and such and have them send their naughty pictures...I'm kidding...mostly. Anyways! I always love reading your predictions for the next chapter and if you guys have questions feel free to ask. And if anyone has Emma Watson's phone number, I love to have it, just make sure she knows I'm not a weirdo or anything first...Sighs. I seriously need a date or something, I'm starting to go loopy here.