Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 8

"Harry?" said Hermione as she looked around his bedroom.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay with me sleeping in here?" A camp bed had been set up next to Harry's own, making the small room even more crowded. It was just past midnight and the two of them were now alone for the first time since learning the truth about who Hermione really was and the existence of the new prophesy.

Harry nodded and went over to inspect all the locks that Heather had reversed. He turned each one and sat down on the end of his bed. "The guest room is at the other end of the hall and I would feel better with you in here since you can't use magic, should Dudley try something."

Hermione shook her head. "I think he is a bit afraid of me and your relatives don't know I can't do magic here."

Harry sighed and looked at her. "Please, Hermione."

She nodded and then looked away. It was easier not talking about the revelations of the past day than to just deal with it head on.

The silence had long since become uncomfortable and trying to find something to fill the void Hermione asked, "Do you normally leave the window open for Hedwig?"

"She'll be back soon, but once I turn in, I usually shut it."

Figuring that the longer they put it off the more difficult it was going to become and this was not Harry's strong suit anyway, Hermione sat down next to him, cuddled into his side and asked, "Are you upset with me because I'm not Muggle-born?"

Harry sat up quickly, dislodging Hermione's head from his chest. "What? Why would you think that?"

She shrugged and said, "Because I lied to you. I didn't mean to, but I did."

Harry sat back against the headboard and pulled Hermione to him. His arms wrapped around her and they held each other closely. "It changes things, but it's not like I'm going to call off the wedding or anything. So you aren't exactly what we thought you were. At least you didn't turn out to be Parkinson on Polyjuice."

"Harry," she admonished. Although she knew that she was thanking Fate every day that it was Harry and not Goyle.

He kissed the top of her head, then continued. "It's weird, Hermione. Your mum is a witch and McGonagall is your grandmother. It's going to take some time to get use to."

Hermione swallowed and said, "Are you still okay with everything?"

"You mean like getting married and confronting Ron and Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione nodded against his chest. "Of course I am. I told you. We either get married and be happy together or miserable alone. We'll figure it all out."

Harry slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Hermione's. Without breaking the kiss her arms encircled his neck and she turned her body so she was straddling him. Tentatively, Harry's hands moved under her shirt and began to move upward gently caressing the soft skin of her back and stomach.

"Harry," said Hermione as she broke the kiss and looked him in the eye.

"Is this okay?" he asked shyly, but still hadn't removed his hands.

"One step at a time. A week ago you were with Ginny and I was trying to figure out my relationship to Ron. I know we were on the potions and it confused things for us, but-"

Harry kissed her again and mumbled against her lips, "We'll take it one step at a time."

*~*HP*~*

Harry carefully opened his eyes and blinked rapidly in the sunlit room. Not knowing immediately where he was, he reached out to the table beside the bed grabbed his glasses. Privet Drive. He was at Privet Drive. Deciding that there was no time like the present to get out of bed, Harry began to sit up only to be impeded when a body draped itself across his chest. It only took a moment for him to recognize her scent and the mass of bushy brown hair.

Suddenly he remembered recent events: Dumbledore's death, learning the older wizard was more Machiavellian than anyone knew, the Weasleys using love potions, he and Hermione fated for each other, Hermione's mum was a witch, and a second prophesy. None of it was going to go away. Things were starting to spiral out of his control. He'd allowed it to happen over the last few days, but now that they all had a minute to breathe, he knew that he and Hermione would need to talk about all of it.

Harry looked up to see a pair of mocha colored eyes staring at him. "Good morning," he said.

The eyes blinked at him owlishly as if trying to remember exactly where she was and just what she was doing draped across her best friend.

"Did you sleep well Hermione?"

Blinking once more, Hermione looked around and then nodded. She set her head back down on his chest and said, "You make a good pillow, Harry. I'm going to have to keep you."

"Good to know." He grinned at her then said, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you need to move." Harry gestured to the bedroom door and smiled at her sheepishly.

Upon reentering the room he said, "I've set a flannel next to the sink, you can use that to clean your teeth until your mum brings breakfast."

Hermione stood and left the room. She was back a few minutes later and after she sat next to Harry on the bed she said, "You had better hope that Richard is the one doing the cooking or that we get take away."

"It couldn't possibly be that bad," said Harry doubtfully.

Hermione snorted and nodded her head. "She doesn't think that it is as bad as it is. Mum gets distracted and burns things. The Muggle cooking she has tried to do the last few years has been even worse. At least with magic she can just use a charm."

Chuckling Harry shook his head and said, "It's good to know that she isn't perfect. I was beginning to wonder."

Deciding to play, hoping that this would segue to a few of the topics they needed to discuss, Hermione said, "All females in my family are perfect, Harry. We like to read, research topics until we know everything there is to possibly know about something, we like to tell people what we do know, and on occasion, we are a bit bossy." Seeing Harry's eyebrows shoot up she said, "Okay, so maybe we are bossy more than just occasionally."

"Your mother does have a take charge attitude." Harry fingered Hermione's thick curls and said, "I think the hair is a dominate family trait too."

Hermione grinned and nodded. "It is. It's always worse at school though. I think the magic in the castle reacts to it just like static electricity." Hermione shrugged. That was not what she really wanted to talk about.

Assuming the same position she used the night before, Hermione said, "I need you to tell me what you are thinking Harry."

Harry began to comb his fingers through Hermione's hair. After several minutes he asked, "Do you think that Dumbledore meant me to die, that he was really intending for me to be a martyr?"

"I…" Hermione couldn't answer. If someone had asked her that same question a week ago, her answer would have been a resounding 'NO', but with all the revelations that had been made recently, seeing his manipulations laid out before them, it was hard to think otherwise. "I don't know, Harry; maybe we won't ever know. It's all so inconsistent. So let's say that he wanted you involved with a fangirl who giggles and simpers and you would head long into battle for because she needs to be protected, not someone to challenge you, not something fulfilling enough for you to want to live.

"He left you here to be locked in a cupboard, starved, beaten on by your cousin, tormented, wearing cast off clothes and shoes and not cared for so that you will be beholden to the person that frees you from that life, Professor Dumbledore and the Weasleys. Who comes to get you every summer? You were manipulated for a reason and if you don't have a soul bond with me, you are more willing to die."

Hermione sighed and then stated, "If you take out that he had planned on having us checked for love potions it would seem it was so and someone like Ginny falls right into the perfect plan. But since he was going to intervene I don't know what to think. Still, you would think that he would have been a bit suspicious as soon as you and Ginny started dating or before that, since our relationship was so wrong all year. Honestly, he made it his business to know how many times a day you used the loo. Maybe his conscience got the better of him or maybe he finally remembered the curse."

Harry started. "Curse? What curse?"

"I'd forgotten that you didn't read the whole book," said Hermione. "Supposedly the book at the Ministry where fated couples are registered carries a warning that 'anyone willfully attempting to interfere in the relationship of a fated couple will be cursed for all eternity with a life filled with misery and torment.' I don't know if it's true or not, but it is noted in every book we bought."

"Maybe is it something that we should remind the Weasleys," mumbled Harry.

Hermione chuckled and said, "I think I like our other plan better, but a gentle reminder couldn't hurt."

Harry frowned. He kept going back to Dumbledore and trying to figure out what he was playing at. "He never did anything to help me prepare to win. Even the lessons I had with him this year weren't really more than information we can use to find the Horcruxes. Why didn't he teach me spells to use against the Death Eaters or Voldemort himself? I watched them duel at the Ministry last year. I can't do that. I don't have the first clue how to beat him and win."

Hermione pulled Harry tightly to her. She ran her hands along his back and said, "You'll learn Harry. We'll ask Mum to teach you, and Remus and Tonks too. We'll figure it out."

Burying his face in Hermione's hair, Harry said softly, "I figured that I was going to die. I was okay with that as long as you and Ron, Ginny even, were all right, dying would have been worth it as long as he was gone, but, Hermione, I don't want to die."

Tears pooled in Hermione's eyes and she rubbed her face into Harry's t-shirt. "You aren't going to die, Harry. I won't let you. We are going to find all of his Horcruxes and then Tom Riddle will be the one to die. We are going to get through this and we are going to be a family."

Before Harry could respond a voice carried up the stairs, "BOY! Get down here."

Harry took a deep breath and disentangled himself from Hermione. "I should go see what Uncle Vernon wants."

With a raised eyebrow Hermione said, "I'll go with you." Taking a page out of Luna's book, Hermione pulled her wand out from her cloak pocket and stuck it behind her ear making sure that it was visible to anyone looking at her.

Harry chuckled, "Subtle."

Hermione shrugged. "I figured a reminder that they could all be turned into mice and fed to Hedwig was a good idea."

A few hours later found them sitting in the back garden. Harry was resting against a tree with Hermione leaning against his chest. Gwendolyn's arrival with their breakfast and lunch had been the cause of Vernon Dursley's interruption. In addition to food, she delivered an overnight case for Hermione and a letter from the Ministry stating that Hermione, along with any other of age witch or wizard, was forbidden to visit Harry, for his safety of course. The use of magic in Harry's vicinity would be constituted as an attack on his person and the perpetrator or perpetrators would be arrested immediately. It was decided by those that had seen the letter that the Ministry's reasoning for the isolation was to keep him defenseless.

"What are you doing Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Making a list," she replied.

Harry bit back a retort. He figured that the key to a happy marriage was in not making snarky comments to your wife when she gave obvious answers to questions as she was prone to do. "I can see that. What are you making a list of?"

Hermione turned her head to look at him. "Oh. I thought that it would be a good idea to update our to do list."

Harry nodded. "I reckon things are different than they were forty-eight hours ago."

After several minutes, Harry asked a question that he had been needing an answer to for a while. "Hermione, why didn't you believe me about Malfoy, especially after what I saw at Slughorn's Christmas party?"

Hermione frowned. Harry watched as her bottom lip slipped between her teeth and she began to chew. "I don't really know. I guess it was because I didn't want to believe you. I just didn't want it to be true. It seemed unlikely that Voldemort would mark a sixteen year old, especially one that was returning to Hogwarts. Looking back, it really should have been obvious given all that we knew about him. It was easy to believe that Snape was on our side, that he was just a petty man with a horrible disposition, but was against Voldemort. I mean Dumbledore believed in him, but I just didn't want to believe that one of our classmates could be like that. There is a difference between being a foul mouthed bigot and someone who is an attempted murderer."

Harry just nodded. He could see her point.

It was an hour later that Harry looked up and frowned. In order to keep Uncle Vernon from having an apoplectic fit they had kept any physical intimacy to a minimum. Therefore they were both reading. Hermione was patiently reading a biography of Godric Gryffindor as Harry read over her shoulder. "Hermione?"

Hermione looked up from the book and blinked at him.

"Is that cat reading?" Hermione had left a pile of books by the garden path. The top one was open and there was a tabby cat looking at it, using a paw to turn the page every so often.

Using all of the strength she had, Hermione prevented herself from rolling her eyes, but just barely. "Probably. What else is she going to do to keep herself occupied?"

Harry looked at Hermione like she had lost her mind. "Do Kneazles read?" He looked back at the animal that was now staring at him. "I don't recognize it as one of Mrs. Figg's."

Hermione sat up completely and put her hands on her hips. "Granted it's been a few years since we've seen her like this, but honestly." She stopped speaking to Harry and began to wonder if he'd taken one too many Bludgers to his head. Looking back at the cat she said, "Gran?"

The animal nodded to her and then walked over to where the pair was sitting.

"Sorry Professor," Harry said sheepishly, "I should have known."

"She's not a Kneazle, she's a cat. Besides, look at her eyes. See the square markings from her glasses?" Hermione lectured as if pointing something out in a museum display. "That is how you will always be able to identify her. There is a book in the library with all of the current registered Animagi listed and their markings."

The cat looked around the yard and then quickly changed into a person. "Not to worry about the magic use. The Ministry is not able to detect Animagus transformations," stated McGonagall as she saw the look of concern on their faces.

"I didn't realize you did guard duty," said Harry.

"Remus thought that as long as Hermione is staying with you, it would be best to limit who was involved and I agreed with him. I've done all I can at Hogwarts cleaning up before Delores arrives and Remus will be here after your mother leaves this evening," the last comment was directed to Hermione.

"The Order knows Heather is watching me?" asked Harry.

"Of course not, Potter. I have the schedule since as far as they are concerned I am responsible for your well being," the older woman stated.

"So Hermione isn't here as protection?" he asked.

"I have full confidence that the two of you will be able to vacate the premises quickly should the need arise, but what we are really watching for is anyone from the Ministry gathering information. It is unclear just who the protections keep out and an unmarked Death Eater, someone such as Delores, might have access."

Hermione nodded and said, "I'm not sure they'd hold against a full assault if Voldemort tried it. Let's hope for the time being he at least believes they are stronger than they are."

"He won't be so bold as to try anything while the Ministry is still standing. When it falls, that will be another matter." She looked around again and then added, "If you will excuse me, I'll leave you two to what you were doing. However, if you don't mind, please leave the book on the walk. It was quite interesting. Was the flying car enchanted like the one that Arthur Weasley bespelled or did it fly for another reason?"

Hermione just blinked. That was something she never thought the older witch would be interested in. It was an Ian Fleming novel that Richard sent over as a joke for Harry. Hermione told her sister and brother-in-law the story of Harry's trip to school by flying car years ago. "Um, another reason."

Having no idea what either of them were talking about, Harry just said, "We'll see you later, Professor."

The two teens entered the house through the kitchen and headed toward the stairs. Hermione stopped short. There in front of her was a cupboard. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Show me, Harry."

Realizing what she was talking about, Harry said, "You don't want to see it Hermione. It doesn't matter anymore. Tomorrow night I get to leave here forever."

"I need to see it. Please."

Harry sighed and opened the cupboard door. He stood aside and gestured to the opening.

Hermione got on her hands and knees and ducked into the cupboard. She gasped at the small space and felt tears burn her eyes. A part of her felt guilty that she had allowed him to return to this awful place every summer. Hermione was having a hard time breathing knowing that Lily Potter sacrificed her life for her son only for him to be treated like this.

"This is where they kept you? This is where you had to sleep and..." She spied a half dozen plastic knights, a dirty blue baby blanket and a romper with winged gold balls on it. Knowing that it must have been what he came to them wearing, Hermione snatched it up and backed out of the cupboard under the stairs.

Harry avoided looking at her, not wanting to see the pity. He felt gentle fingers lift his chin and when her eyes met his what he saw was acceptance and love.

"What did you find?" asked Harry as he pulled Hermione into a hug.

Hermione smiled and asked, "Were these yours?"

He looked at what she was holding and said, "Can't imagine Aunt Petunia buying anything with Snitches on it, so I reckon. The knights were mine. I won them in a Christmas cracker in primary school."

Arm in arm they walked up the stairs. Hermione slipped her new found treasures into her case. If that was all that was left of Harry's childhood, she was taking it with her.

*~*HP*~*

Harry slowly opened his eyes and for the second morning in a row there was a body draped across his own.

"Hmmm. I'm definitely keeping you," said a soft voice.

"I'm glad to hear it," Harry replied back. He remembered what happened the night before and smiled shyly at the girl in his bed. "Are you okay?"

Hermione blushed and then snuggled into his chest. Turning so she wasn't looking at him she said, "It was nice Harry. It was the perfect next step until we're ready for the rest." Getting her courage up she looked him in the eye and said, "Besides, not here. I don't want anything so important to us to happen here. It would taint the memory."

The rest of the day went pretty much as the one before except Dudley had taken to following them around like a lost puppy and at one point even made them both a cup of tea. Harry had been so shocked that he reflexively took a sip. It was the foulest tea he had ever tasted. It was almost half sugar, just the way that Dudley took his.

At half past seven the doorbell rang. "Boy!" yelled Uncle Vernon.

Harry looked at his girlfriend who was sitting on his bed and smiled. "This is it."

"Are you ready?" asked Hermione.

Harry bent down and pulled loose the floorboard in his room and removed a packet of letters.

"What do you have?"

Harry handed her the bundle and smiled. "I saved most of the letters and cards that everyone sent me. Do you see this one?" He pointed to a card. "This was my very first birthday card," he boasted proudly.

Hermione frowned. "This was when you turned thirteen."

"Dobby was stopping my mail the year before to keep me safe."

"BOY!"

"We'd better go or your uncle isn't going to make it through the night."

Harry led Hermione down the stairs and they entered the living room to see Petunia and Dudley looking at a witch and a wizard with great trepidation.

Figuring that he needed to take charge, Harry walked forward and said, "Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, this is Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle. They are going to be keeping you safe." Harry took a good look at the pair. While Hestia's cool aloof attitude inspired confidence, Dedalus in his top hat while he bounced on the balls of his feet was accomplishing the opposite.

"This is going to be fun. I can hardly wait. We must not linger," said Dedalus.

"Er, right," said Harry. Looking at his uncle he asked, "Are you all packed?"

"It's in the boot. That fre… man that came with you on Friday did something unnatural to it."

Hermione nodded wickedly and said, "Yes, he's a werewolf too."

"Hermione," Harry whispered as he watched his uncle shudder. She just giggled.

"Hestia, Dedalus, I just want to thank you for doing this. I know that it isn't the easiest job that the Order could have asked of you."

Hestia smiled and nodded. "You win, Potter. You make it so he doesn't come back this time and it will be worth it." She looked over at Vernon and amended, "Well, almost. Come on Dedalus, we'll wait outside and give them a minute to say goodbye." The pair exited through the front door.

Vernon looked at Harry and started to swing his hand forward to shake Harry's with great effort, but changed his mind and headed out the door.

Petunia just looked at him, evaluating him to see if she should bother.

"Good bye, Aunt Petunia," said Harry deciding to save her the trouble. "I do hope that you are safe. My mum would have wanted that for you."

With nothing to say to the boy that she raised for almost sixteen years, she stormed out the door.

Dudley took a step closer to Harry. "I, uh, I want to say thanks for saving my life and... Mrs. Figg, she explained to me what could have happened to me and all and stuff. You could have run away and left me there, but you didn't and you saved me. You got in trouble for it, but you did it anyway. So er, thanks. I'll uh, I'll make sure that Dad isn't too hard on you wherever it is that we're going. Is your friend coming too?"

Harry's jaw dropped. "Dudley, I'm not going with you."

"But the man that was here the other night, he came with that pink haired woman. He said that the man that killed your parents is after you and that he is going to be killing a lot of other people too." He turned to look at Hermione as to try and sway her to see his side. "If he wants to kill Harry, shouldn't he be hiding with us?"

Harry didn't think he had ever heard Dudley reason anything out like that before. "I have things to do, Dudley. Not to worry about me. Yes, Lord Voldemort does not like Muggles, that is non-magical people. He hates them even more than your parents dislike magical people, so he is killing them and magical people who had Muggles for parents, just like my mum."

"He is a terrorist, Dudley," said Hermione. "He hates Muggles so much because his father, who was a Muggle, abandoned him as a baby when he found out his mother was a witch, abandoned him because he was a wizard baby, now he has made it his mission in life to exterminate Muggles. Really, Voldemort has no issue with me, I'm a pure-blood witch. Both of my parents were magical, along with all of my past ancestors for thousands of years, but I don't want to see anything happen to Muggles, so we are doing everything we can to stop him, but it will take time.

"And since he seems to have developed an unnatural interest in your cousin, Harry will need to be somewhere other than where you are. That way it is easier for Ms. Jones to keep you safe. If you have any questions, you ask her. She is very knowledgeable. Are you sure you have everything from your room?" The piggy boy nodded.

Dudley started to leave then he stopped and said, "You need to come with us Harry."

"Can't, Dudley, I have something I need to do and me being with you will make it harder for Ms Jones to keep you safe."

"But, we've never... you've always lived with us, Harry, since we were babies."

"Not anymore. I will be seventeen soon and in the magical world that means I'm an adult. Besides, I'll have Hermione making sure I eat my vegetables. Go on they are waiting for you and you don't want Uncle Vernon more upset than he already is."

"I just... I just want you to know that I don't think that you are a freak. You… you give him the ol' one two for me."

"I'll do that." Harry grinned and waved to Dudley on his way out the door. "Hey Big D," Dudley turned around. "Be careful and do exactly what Hestia tells you to do. Even if your mum and dad say the opposite. When it is over, we'll have a pint or something." The front door closed and Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry.

"Did I do the right thing? Is sending them off like that best?"

"Don't second guess yourself, Harry. Hestia will do her best and if Voldemort is set on finding them, then we will send them off to Canada or something."

"I don't like them, Hermione, but I don't want to see anything happen to them."

"I know. How about one more walk through the house and then we should probably leave?" said Hermione.

Hedwig had been sent off to Hermione's several hours prior. Hermione placed the second travel case into the first after she pulled out her mother's broom and invisibility cloak and they made their way into the back garden.

"I would have thought we'd have an escort," said Harry looking around.

Hermione chuckled and pointed to a bird sitting in the tree. A raven immediately landed on Hermione's shoulder and the teen said, "We'll follow you, just give us a bit to get situated."

Harry took the travel case and soon they had both mounted their brooms and had invisibility cloaks thrown over them. Wands at the ready, they pushed off and vaulted into the sky leaving Privet Drive behind them.

Harry Potter never looked back.

A/N 1: While Ian Fleming is most famous for his creation of James Bond, he also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was first published in 1964.

A/N 2: Harry the Horcrux. Um, no. While I give kudos to those that can make it work, I just don't get how it happened. As I understand the course of events, Voldemort killed Lily Potter thus providing Harry with some form of protection. Harry, already protected by his mother's sacrifice, was hit with a deadly spell that rebounded leaving him with a jagged scar on his forehead. That same protection prevented Voldemort from even touching Harry without turning to ash up until the end of the fourth book when Voldemort used Harry's blood for his regeneration. Furthermore Harry is able to feel love so completely that Voldemort's very essence cannot stand to be in contact with Harry as seen at the end of book five. If all of these things are true, then just how is a piece of soul able to survive in Harry? Why wouldn't the protection he received from Lily eat away at it? And if that was compromised in some form, wouldn't the love Harry feels for others drive it to extinction?