Declaration: I write for my own pleasure and not for profit. I do not own Harry Potter Universe.
Chapter Three: Taking charge
The days following Harry's revelation were filled with easy banter and light hearted fun between Harry and Hermione. Though initially shocked after knowing that Harry had lived at least 7 years more, she was happy that she played an important role in his life, important enough for her to be his girlfriend. The knowledge that Harry will always be there for her was like a balm to her insecure heart and allowed her to enjoy her stay at Hogwarts much better than the first two months. She now had someone to share her thoughts and desires with, and Harry made a conscious effort to acknowledge the very big part that Hermione played in his life whenever he could. His knowledge about magic far exceeded even that of the professors in the school thought that fact was known only to Hermione. She took full advantage of the situation and began learning all that Harry could teach her.
Course work came easy to both of them and they took care to include anyone willing to study with them. Their willingness to give up their free time for the sake of helping their friends meant that quidditch practice and games were the only time that either Harry or Hermione could totally forget their books and relax. This was not difficult for them as Hermione lost most of her seriousness and even made sure that they relaxed for brief periods in between bouts of intense study.
Neville Longbottom joined them often in their study sessions thankful for their help in practicing the different spells. He was quick to understand the theory but the practical aspect of casting the spells was proving difficult for him.
Hermione was quick to spot this and raised it with Harry, "Do you know why Neville has trouble with spell casting? Is it a problem with his confidence or does he really have low magical potential?"
Harry of course knew what the problem was, "Oh he is powerful enough Hermione, the problem is that his wand is not matched to him. It is his father's wand and because of that he is having problem channeling his magic properly. That in turn is causing him to lose confidence in his ability. Last time it took for him to break his wand to really bring out his true potential. I do not know what to do to help him without giving out my secret."
"Even with all the future knowledge, there are some aspects to life that are best left alone, only time can take care of them. May be we can introduce him to a book about wands and leave it to him to find the problem?"
Harry gave her a hug and a quick peck on her cheek, "That is the best idea yet, let's look in the library for one."
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More often than not Harry managed to bring out the hidden playful side of Hermione during their study sessions whenever she started to get too serious to annoy others who were seldom used to her intensity for learning. It also helped that Hermione was secure about having a steady friend and hopefully something more pretty soon, in Harry. His constant presence at her side had a tempering effect on her exuberance taking away the need to show the world her superior knowledge and prove herself. Even her willingness to allow others to answer questions in their classes helped others to relax around her and if no one else knew the answer she and Harry were of course there to earn points for Gryffindor.
This change actually had the desired effect on the rest of the Gryffindor first years, gone away was the annoying know-it -all Granger and in her place was a much more relaxed Hermione. They soon saw that learning need not be a dull bore, it could be fun too and there was always help in the form of Harry and Hermione available to them. The close knit group of first year Gryffindors began to be the envy of the entire school.
Hermione never felt so happy than the day Lavender Brown approached her for homework help and in exchange gave her a hair lotion to tame her eternally errant hair.
The only sour note in Harry's and Hermione's near perfect world was Ron who was ingrained with the opinion that studying was only for passing the exams and so should only be done before the exams. With Harry determined to do better with his grades and his constant studying, Ron lost the one source of pastime. Hermione began to get annoyed by Ron's constant bickering as he tried to take his anger regarding Harry out on her.
"You are spending more and more time with her Harry" Ron accused him one day.
"Yes Ron I need to study and get good grades, we did not even know how to stop the Troll on Halloween. Hermione could have been killed" Harry tried to explain patiently.
"But we are just first years, how can we stop a Troll?" Ron protested.
"Yes we are first years Ron but that did not stop Hermione from reminding you about the levitation charm. I want to do the best I can and make my parents proud of me wherever they are."
Ron was torn between the truth in Harry's words and slacking off. But that decision was made easy by Seamus came down from the dorm just then and asked Ron for a game of chess. That was all Ron needed to end any thought about studying.
Hermione was proud of the way that Harry defended her and could not help feeling dismay at Ron's attitude. She was now sure that Harry made the right decision about not getting too involved with Ron and going out of his way to please him. Being free from his influence may be the best thing for them both and now the only thing left for her is to accept Harry's proposal of spending their life together, which in her opinion was a forgone conclusion.
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Harry agreed to spend Christmas with Hermione at her house, meeting her parents was a necessary evil that had to be done. He wanted to marry Hermione eventually; this was a chance to impress the Grangers and also give them a chance to get to know him better.
Getting out of the train Harry was impressed by the ease with which Hermione's parents accepted him as a friend of Hermione. Both her mother and father suspected that it was not just friendship that brought harry to their house; they just wondered how long it was going to take Hermione to announce what they allowed to be happy news. Hermione's father wanted to rage at the boy who dared to capture her daughter's heart, but how could he be angry at someone who made his bookish princess laugh even if it was a boy?
They were surprised that Hermione did not open even a single book from the time she came home and it was all because of Harry's influence. They also knew about his polite and helpful nature, and his vast fortune also made it all good in their view, not that they were influenced by it but were happy that their daughter's future was secure should she choose to marry Harry.
Christmas morning brought much cheer to the Granger household. It was also the first time that Harry enjoyed a Christmas after Sirius' death in his fifth year, more than two eventful years passed in between. He had little to be happy about in those two years and now with nothing to worry about regarding his future and Hermione by his side, he was determined to enjoy the day to the maximum.
Harry bought a couple of stylish robes for both the elder Grangers to enable them to move freely in the wizarding world where they often felt insecure and left out. He debated about buying a lavish gift for Hermione but eventually decided that it was too much too soon and he also did not want to shock his hosts.
He gifted Hermione with a book about 'wizarding customs and etiquette for the lady of the house' and a heart shaped locket made of gold on a braided golden chain, nothing expensive but both gifts hinting at a future Lady Potter. Clasping the chain around Hermione's neck, Harry got a quick nod of approval from Hermione's father, a gesture which alleviated most of Harry's fears.
The highlight of the day however was the cloak of true invisibility that Dumbledore sent him. Harry was a little anxious that Dumbledore may not give him the cloak but knew that he would be forced by the oath he gave his father. Not that he was bothered by it; he could always call it to him whenever he wanted.
"This is my family heirloom and has been in my family for many centuries" he told the three Grangers who were clearly in awe at the cloak. Hermione could now see the reality of what Harry was alluding to and brought home his destiny and by associating with him hers too. She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze supporting his destiny and her decision to be his life partner.
Wearing the cloak, Hermione's father was like a kid in a candy store revealing himself in the most unlikely of places and scaring the daylights out of his wife and daughter. 'Yes' Harry decided it was 'the best Christmas ever.'
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The next two days were spent in visiting places of interest and generally having fun. The two elder Grangers had to attend their clinic for two days before the New Year after which they chose to close their practice to be with Hermione until she went back to Hogwarts. Harry decided to put his plan to reclaim the Hallows in motion during their absence.
He knew that the resurrection stone was currently under heavy protective wards put there by Voldemort and he could not summon it. He called the Elder wand to him and Hermione gave a yelp of surprise to see the wand materializing in his hand. Getting a nod in reply to her unasked request for permission, she took the wand in her hands and reverently ran her finger along the length. She now had the fabled unbeatable wand in her hands but surprisingly, did not feel much different to her.
"You have to win the wand in a duel or by beating the owner for it to give its allegiance to you" Harry reminded her. "Since I am already the true owner of all the Hallows, you cannot get the wand to work for you as good as your own wand."
Since the wand is untraceable, he used it to remove the ministerial tracking charms from both his and Hermione's wands. Not that he needed a wand to do magic, he was now proficient in wandless casting, but now even Hermione can do magic in her house and if needed defend herself without the ministry breathing down her neck.
During the previous timeline he always felt that Dumbledore could sense him even under the invisibility cloak which did not make any sense to him, if this was really the cloak of invisibility, then that should not be possible. Acting on a hunch Harry ran the elder wand over the cloak. Chuckling at the results, "That old coot!" he exclaimed. "Dumbledore put a tracking charm on it and also a charm that will project a faint aura whenever someone wears the cloak. I think that he has a means to detect the aura; it always made me wonder how he was able to see through the cloak. It is nothing more than a trick to track me." He immediately transferred the tracking charm onto his trunk and dispelled the aura charm.
"Are you ready Hermione? You can back away if you want and I will not think any less of you."
Hermione took a deep fortifying breath and answered, "Harry I promised to be with you for eternity and that includes any dangerous situations. I am ready."
Harry grabbed her in a hug and they both disappeared before appearing in front of the Gaunts' shack in Little Hangleton.
"This is the place where Voldemort's mother lived" and pointing to a rundown Manor a little distance away continued, "That is the Riddle Manor, it belonged to Voldemort's father, a muggle."
Hermione could not help but wonder at the irony of a Halfblood dark lord trying to cleanse the wizarding world of everyone having impure blood. No matter how many times she heard the story, it always brought home the foolishness of the wizarding world's elite in allowing such bigotry to exist.
She was brought out of her musings by Harry opening the door to the shack and she followed him in while listening to Harry's explanation, "The resurrection stone was set in a ring that was in Voldemort's family for many generations. Thankfully Voldemort did not know the significance of the stone, if he believed that the Hallows existed, he would have tried to gain control of them. There is no concrete evidence but it is possible that the Gaunts' were descendants of the second of the Peverell brothers. Voldemort is also the last living descendent of Salazar Slytherin just like I am the last living descendent of Godric Gryffindor."
Harry led her to the spot where the ring was buried under the floor boards and even through the wood Hermione could feel the magic. Unlike the many times when she felt a thrill of pleasure in presence of lots of magic, this feeling was one of dread and she was very uncomfortable. She attributed the feeling to the presence of a horcrux which Harry explained to her as being the means for Voldemort's near immortality.
With a lazy wave of his hand, Harry removed all the protections guarding the ring, all except the horcrux, and called the ring to him. When all the Hallows were united again, Harry changed into the classic persona which most people equate with the 'Grim Reaper', only the wand in his hand in place of a scythe was the difference. The heavy cloak was completely covering his six feet height and with the hood up his face was lost to darkness. It looked as if there was a gaping hole instead of a face. He could will himself to become invisible and at other times the invisibility cloak draping him was just an ordinary cloak.
Surprising even him, the sword of Gryffindor sheathed in its jewel encrusted scabbard, materialized on Harry's hip. The sword choosing to return to its true owner at last.
Even with the blackish aura surrounding him and the enormous amount of power pouring out of Harry's persona of 'death', Hermione never felt safer. She felt as if she was a part of Harry, a part of the never ending cosmic events, not a spectator, she finally felt complete.
Harry willed himself back into his eleven year old form and thinking that she was frightened hugged Hermione. Hermione however was elated and from within his arms exclaimed, "I could feel your power Harry. I felt as if I was a part of you, like I was the other half of your soul. I have no hesitation in believing that I am truly your life partner, your soul mate for all eternity."
Harry was relieved, his biggest fear, the fear of rejection was now a non-issue. He was glad that 'fate' delivered on its promise, not that he openly doubted it, but he was not used to his dreams and aspirations bearing fruit. He tightened his arms around her and reveled in the feeling of contentment.
Hermione's elation however did not last long as the air around them began to get cold and her breath began to come out as a mist. Her heart began to fill with despair and all feeling of happiness was being sucked out of her. Even in the broad daylight she felt the darkness creeping in upon her. She was not prepared to see the three creatures, which she recognized as dementors by their description, suddenly appear in front of them.
Only the presence of Harry beside her prevented her from screaming out upon seeing the dementors. When Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist the dementor's power to induce despair in humans no longer worked on Hermione, she was their mistress for her to command.
The lead dementor began to speak in a language that no human has ever heard; Harry cast a translation charm on Hermione for her benefit, "Greetings Immortal one. I am the chieftain of all the creatures you call dementors, I am called Twern. I am here to follow your commands." The other two held themselves back giving the impression that they were waiting on their chieftain.
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What are called dementors on earth were actually from a different dimension. In their world they were a noble race called 'Venustas', they were nearly nine feet tall and stately built. Their features were perfectly chiseled and exuding an unearthly beauty, they were the embodiments of poise and grace. Added to this a sharp mind and intelligence that allowed them to dominate their world; they were the perfect beings to create utopia on their world.
The power over other beings of their world gradually pushed the Venustas towards cruelty and instead of protecting the other beings they swore to defend, began to abuse them. Torturing them for their own pleasure and killing them in the name of sacrifices, they gradually began turning their perfect world into one that bred resentment and revenge. They lost the respect of all the inhabitants of their world and when 'fate' finally chose to end their existence, begged for atonement.
When the last 'death' lost the Hallows and earth was forced into troubled times, 'fate' chose to send the Venustas to earth. Their own souls were kept captive and the dementors were born. The once noble race was relegated to the role of scavengers on earth, sucking out the souls of all the sinful people. As part of their atonement, the dementors were forced to endure all the horrors the innocent victims of the condemned souls they sucked out, had faced themselves.
The dementors were to wait for the next 'death' who would free them of their curse and allow them to return back to their own world and their former glory.
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All this information was implanted directly into Hermione's mind and she understood the plight of the dementors. Even with the best of intentions, too much power can corrupt anyone; they were to be sympathized for their plight not feared. The wizarding world needs to learn their story and take heed that their current actions to demean other magical beings do have grave consequences.
"Greetings Twern" Harry returned. "I promise to release you from your plight, but ask you to wait for one last duty. There are a lot of souls who have escaped justice from human hands; they however are condemned to the pits of hell. I ask for your assistance in removing all the marked death eaters from their unjust existence. Be patient till you hear my call" Harry told him.
"As my lord commands."
"Oh! There is one prisoner in Azkaban, who is innocent of all crimes and is locked there. I command you to leave him alone, I will need time to prove his innocence and plan his release."
"We are aware of his innocence my lord and took steps to minimize our presence near him. He has nothing to fear from us" Twern commented. He gestured at his assistants, Harry thought was meant for them to take note not to bother Sirius.
"I have one last command for you today; Lucius Malfoy has a diary which hosts a part of Tom Riddle's soul. I need it to destroy the dark lord once and for all."
Twern turned to one of the dementors who vanished and immediately returned with the diary clutched in his long bony fingers. Twern hissed at the diary, "It reeks of a tainted soul my Lord. I can sense only a part of his soul, how many more of such abominations are present your Grace?"
"There are three more excluding the ring I have in my hand, the goblins have one of them hidden in their domain unknown to them" Harry replied and waving his hand in an intricate gesture extracted the fragment of soul from the ring and transferred it into the diary. The dementors chanted in tune with Harry binding the two pieces together in the diary. The ring and the resurrection stone set in it were left intact. Harry was required to repeat the process with the other three horcruxes also to bind all the pieces together, except the one currently in Voldemort.
Agreeing to come to Harry's assistance when called, the dementors bowed one last time to their master and mistress before disappearing and return to Azkaban.
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Willing the Hallows and the Sword of Gryffindor away, Harry took Hermione's hand before returning back to her house. Since it was still an hour or so away from darkness, they decided to take a stroll in the park near her house to get the 'romantic' outing with a couple of soul suckers out of their mind.
Hermione remembered Twern's comment about Harry being immortal. Harry confirmed her suspicion, especially about not being killed by mortals and also being able to choose when he can stop living and pass on.
"Where does that leave me Harry?" Hermione asked the beginnings of despair creeping into her voice.
Harry being unwilling to meet Hagrid's baby dragon, did not visit his hut with Hermione when the egg was hatching. He did drop a hint with the Weasley twins who managed to smuggle it away with their brother Charlie's help. Unfortunately, this meant that Hermione knew nothing about Fluffy and Nicolas Flamell.
"Hermione do you remember what Professor Dumbledore said at the opening feast about the third floor corridor being out of bounds" Harry decided to drop a hint and let Hermione work it out. He was not worried about it, he was sure that it would not take Hermione long.
"Yes I did wonder about that. Is there something hidden there?"
Harry nodded at her assumption, "I will give you a hint. It was developed by Nicolas Flamell and is being sought actively by Voldemort."
He was not disappointed, after a few moments of intense thought she gasped, "It cannot be" and dragging him back into the house, rushed to her room coming back with a familiar book. Harry could not contain his amusement and burst out laughing hard.
Hermione however was not pleased. Harry raised his hands in surrender and in a teasing tone asked, "Some light reading?"
Hermione blushed and muttering about 'insane time travellers' turned the page to a description of the Philosopher's Stone.
Reading the description about the stone Hermione turned to Harry who began describing the various obstacles that were keeping people away from the stone. "I do not know if it was an enticement for Voldemort, a test for me or genuinely Dumbledore's idea for protections, but they were too easy for three first years" he concluded.
"I cannot believe that he hid a valuable object behind solvable traps and obstacles, that too after taking it out of a Gringotts vault."
"We will never know his true intentions unless we ask him"
Hermione could guess what Harry planned to do with the Philosopher's stone and quite frankly she was flattered that he would want her to use it for keeping him company for a life time. In this case it may even span many centuries "What about the Flamells Harry?"
That was the only sore point in his plan, but they could not very well approach him and ask for the stone, "I cannot feel sorry for him Hermione. He gave it away knowing fully that he may not get it back and the risk it carries. Think about what would happen if Voldemort did get his hands on it. I have no qualms in using it for a bigger purpose."
Hermione had no problems in agreeing to that logic and besides it was the only way she could live with an immortal and she would take it any way it comes.
Harry took a deep breath and with the most sincere look he could muster began, "You have been my best friend, my lover and conscience even. I do not have a choice but wield the Hallows and I will do the best to have you in my life for however long I live. I do not want to lose you; it is unimaginable for me to have an eternity without you in it. I hope that you will find me worthy of your love again."
Harry was now certain that it was time to take the step that would guarantee his happiness, "Will you be my girlfriend again Hermione and when the time is right my wife?"
"I do not want to lose a good thing too Harry. Yes, I will be more than your wife, I will happily be your life partner for all eternity" Hermione answered with love pouring out of her eyes.
Harry lifted her into his arms in a bridal carry and twirled a laughing Hermione around the room. Gently putting her down, they shared a sweet kiss, one of the many in their long lives.
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Meanwhile in Hogwarts castle, Dumbledore was flummoxed at the loss of the elder wand. He searched high and low for the wand but could see no wood or hair of the wand. His pride did not allow him to accept the possibility of someone breaking into his office and making away with the wand. He warded his office with the best protections that he could manage and there was no sign of anyone compromising them.
His thoughts briefly turned to the possibility of Lord Voldemort snatching the wand, he brought the philosopher's stone into the castle to try and lure him into the castle after all. He brushed them away; he would have detected the presence of Voldemort if he was present in the castle. He tried to think back about the time when he last used the Elder wand but came up with nothing.
Finally admitting defeat he pulled out his old wand from storage, the wand he bought from Ollivander when he first entered Hogwarts as an eleven year old.
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Very soon it was the last night for Harry's stay at the Grangers before returning to Hogwarts. Hermione's mother wanted one last favour, "Harry can I have a turn at your wonderful cloak?"
Hermione wanted to glare at her mother; she really tried but could not keep it up for long. She lost the battle and burst out laughing along with Harry who did not even make an attempt to hide his amusement.
Harry went to his room and summoned the cloak to him and handed it after returning back to the living room. Over all it was a relaxing time for Harry and it was a bonding experience for all of them while the elder Grangers invited the boy who will one day become their son-in-law into their hearts.
The days leading to their exams were spent in studying hard not only for their exams but also for a life after Hogwarts. Harry was far advanced compared to his peers and Hermione was gaining all the knowledge Harry had to impart to her at a rapid pace. Hermione never felt as accepted by her peers as she was at Hogwarts, not only because of their study sessions but also her willingness to take a joke about her study habits. The serious Hermione Granger was fast becoming a memory.
Most of the time Harry and Hermione spent in each other's company and they became inseparable. They openly acknowledged their relationship which also calmed Hermione's nerves by dissuading enthusiastic witches who wanted to catch Harry's eye. The rest of their Gryffindor year mates banded about the couple which also greatly helped calm Hermione. The only time they could be seen without the other was during the nights sleeping or in the short time it took to visit the loo during the day. Hermione was tempted to try to sleep in Harry's company for at least some nights, but they did not dare risk the wrath of their head of house.
Harry felt he was in control of the situation much better than the last time when it was mostly guess work regarding the horcruxes. Now he knew where the remaining three horcruxes were, getting Ravenclaw's Tiara was the easiest and Slytherin's locket was also within easy reach at 12 Grimmauld place. The only problem he could foresee was getting Hufflepuff's cup from Gringotts. He began formulating a schedule with his girlfriend/ fiancée's help to get the remaining horcruxes without raising any suspicions. He still kept practicing offensive spells and dueling with Hermione diligently, not only to get her better prepared but also to be prepared if things went south.
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He also began teaching Hermione wizarding customs, laws and pureblood philosophy. "Why do I need to know about all of this Harry?" Hermione wanted to know.
With a sly grin Harry answered, "We cannot have the Lady Potter ignorant of the world she is going to play an important in, can we?"
Hermione blushed prettily hearing that. Harry chuckled and embraced her tenderly before continuing with their lesson. Later, relaxing on the couch in the 'Room of Requirement' Harry told her, "My family also has a seat in the House of Lords, Hermione. This makes you a Lady even in the non-magical world and we will have a prominent role to play there too. We will need to keep abreast of the political situation in the muggle world and also learn proper etiquette."
Kissing her fiancé tenderly on his lips, Hermione snuggled into Harry's side and murmured, "Lady Gryffindor- Hermione Jane Potter has a nice ring to it." Burrowing further into his side Hermione refused to show him her bright red face.
A/N: The word 'Venustas' actually means 'Poise' in Latin