A/N It seems that I didn't read what I have been writing, but thanks to Elfwyn pointing it out I will have the chance to correct my mistake. At this stage of the story there isn't any need for Harry to stay with his aunt and uncle to power the wards, so Harry will be leaving within the first week of summer break to stay with Rick instead of waiting until his birthday.

Disclaimer: Nope still don't own Harry Potter

Before Hogwarts

Summer (age 8)

Today was the last day of school for Harry, tomorrow started his summer holiday. Harry was looking forward to being able to fly and do magic and potions. But he still had to suffer through this day, they weren't really doing much in class just helping the teacher get everything put away. After lunch there was to be some sort of special assembly for all the students, Harry wondered what that was about.

Harry got home from school and had to show Aunt Petunia the certificate he received for having the highest scores in his year, and second highest in all of London. He had just shown Petunia his certificate when the phone rang, it was Lucy and she said that they would pick Harry up the following weekend for the summer. Petunia was so surprised about Harry's certificate she even hung it on the wall.

That evening when Vernon came home, he saw the certificate and got upset, "Boy, what kind of freakishness is this; you know your not allowed to do better than Dudley. You must have cheated some way, well this can't stay up here since you obviously didn't earn it". Vernon went to take the certificate down but it couldn't be removed, in fact he couldn't even touch it. Now Vernon was even more upset, he said if it wouldn't come down then he would just out something over that spot to cover it up. That didn't work either.

Things stayed fairly quiet at the Dursley's for the next week, Harry got up early each morning and went for a run and then had breakfast - timing it so Vernon was gone first. Dudley continued to sleep until around 11am and would make it up for lunch. Finally, Friday came and at 11am Rick and Lucy showed up to pick up Harry. While Rick and Harry went to check that Harry had everything, Lucy had a cup of tea with Petunia and asked if she was feeling better, referring to Petunia passing out previously. Petunia said she was doing better but the doctors still had no idea what caused that episode.

Once the three, Rick, Lucy, and Harry, left the Dursley's, Rick told Harry they had a surprise for him, but it would have to wait until they made a stop first. The trip took a little longer than usual since both Rick and Lucy were used to driving, but not in England where the cars drove on the "wrong side" of the road, to reach London. They stopped at a nice little house in one of the outlying areas. When the door was answered it was by a young girl about Harry's age with bushy hair.

"Oh, hello Ms. Lucy, come on in and I'll get mom", the girl said and lead them to the "sitting" room before going to fetch her mom.

When the girl and her mom came back in Lucy introduced everyone, "Rick, Harry, I would like you to meet Emma and her daughter Hermione, Granger; Emma, Hermione, this is Rick and Harry, the young man I talked about so much."

The five of them sat around and talked for a while, until Emma's husband, Dan, came home for lunch and introductions were again made. Rick, Lucy, and Harry left soon thereafter so Dan could enjoy his lunch and they could get to the house. Once at their house and Harry's trunk was unloaded and placed in his room, Rick told Harry that the three of them needed to have a talk.

The three of them had a seat in the small sitting room and Rick said it was time to explain some things to Harry about Lucy and himself. Rick explained that only one of them ever stayed in England at a time unless Harry was in the house, then both stayed. Rick and Lucy took turns going back to the USA to continue working at their real jobs. Both adults worked for the MBI, Magical Bureau of Investigation, which was the same as the DMLE in England and then some. Rick explained that in the US they didn't have some of the outdated laws found in England, but they still had a few wizards and witches who thought it was okay to use their magic to steal from others and from the mundanes, or worse to harm people.

Rick was in deed a lawyer, in fact it was required that members of the MBI have a collage degree in something useful, which explained why Lucy had her MMD, or Magical Medical Doctorate, and was able to help Harry regain his health and magic last year. Rick explained that he and Lucy had been friends since they were about Harry's age and had worked together several times in the past on cases. Rick explained that the reason he and Lucy were there was because of a promise he had made Harry's dad, a magical promise that couldn't be broken even if Rick wanted to - which he didn't. That promise was to help Harry if something should happen to his parents and they were either incapable of, or unable to do so themselves due to illness or death. It just happened that Rick's promise was a good excuse for his being in England. Rick explained, very briefly, about how he had met Harry's mom and dad due to some very bad wizards coming to the US on orders from their boss, some madman who called himself "Lord Voldemort". Rick explained that that trip ended badly for the wizards as they all died at the hands of Rick's team and Rick was sent to return the remains to London where he met James Potter.

It was through James that Rick met first Lily, Harry's mom, and then some of James' friends, namely Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Rick went on to explain that it was this "Lord Voldemort" that had killed Harry's parents and that Sirius was blamed for telling where to find Harry's parents and sent to jail without a trial. But Rick knew that it wasn't Sirius who betrayed James and Lily, as Sirius would have given his life for either of Harry's parents (as would have Remus). Rick asked if Harry would like for Rick to find Remus and let the two of them meet and talk about Harry's parents? Harry was very enthusiastic about meeting Remus Lupin, so Rick said he would see what could be done. Rick told Harry that if he ever had any questions to be sure to ask either Lucy or himself and they would answer what they could and attempt to find answers to things they couldn't answer. Then Rick and Lucy told Harry to go fly for a while if he wanted but to stay within the boundaries of the property; that was the last the two adults saw of Harry for two hours.

It was during supper that Rick said that they would do more this summer than just study, they would have fun also. Harry asked if maybe he could see Hermione some more as he had never had any friends and she seemed to be lonely too. Lucy smiled at this and said she thought that would be an excellent idea and that she would broach the idea to Emma and Hermione the next day or so. As soon as supper was over Harry asked if they could go to the training room and let him use some magic to see if he had learned much from the books he had been reading.

Once in the room Harry tried all the spells he had read about and surprised Rick and Lucy when he completed just about all of the charms for first year. The problem came when Harry tried his first transfiguration spell, turning a match into a needle, instead of a needle he got a ring. Lucy told him that some people had trouble with transfiguration at first and not to be discouraged, Harry said he was surprised it worked at all. Then Harry tried something he had read about in one of the books, he pointed his wand at one of the dueling dummies and it exploded without Harry saying a word.

Rick was standing there with his mouth open, he looked like a fish out of water, for a few seconds before he asked Harry what spell had been used. Harry said he just thought 'Reducto', but it was supposed to shrink the dummy not blow it up. Rick laughed and said Harry had the wrong spell, he should have used 'Reducio'. Harry tried again with another dummy, but said the spell, and the dummy shrink to the size of toy. Lucy, who had been quiet all this time, asked Harry if he could do the 'Reducto' spell again but at a target she put up on the far wall. Harry pointed and the target exploded, Lucy fainted.

When Lucy woke up a few minutes later she said that the target was used to measure the strength of a spell and should have absorbed the spell instead of exploding. The target was set to measure spell strength from 1 to 100 on a scale, the reading she got was 110 just before it exploded. She cast the same target and asked Rick to try it, Rick scored a 80. Lucy said that was a little higher than she expected as the norm was 50 to 75. When Lucy tried she got a score of 49, which was good for a healer she said. Then she noticed which wand Harry had, it was the one they had gotten in the states and not the one Rick had given him at first.

Rick asked if Harry would like to learn a new spell, Harry told him he would try anything Rick or Lucy wanted him to do. Rick told him the verbal part of the spell, 'Protego', and had Harry cast it a few times on one of the dummies. It was after the fourth time that they saw a faint glow surround the dummy, Rick shot a mild Stupefy at the dummy and the spell bounced back, which Rick dodged. Next Rick tried a Reducto and it bounced back, now Rick tried again and shouted his Reducto. The rebounding spell hit Rick's shield and knocked him back about 10 feet, the dummy hadn't moved yet.

Rick got up shaking his head and tried to end Harry's shield and failed. Lucy told Harry to cancel the spell, Harry said he didn't know how to cancel a spell. Lucy told him the canceling spell was 'Finite Incantatum' and for him to try it; Harry was able to cancel the shield after about three tries. Lucy and Rick decided that they had enough for the night and suggested an early bedtime, but since tomorrow was a Saturday there would not be classes but they would do something fun.

After Harry was in bed Lucy had a talk with Rick and told him that the wards on the walls in the training room needed to be much stronger, she was afraid that if Harry really put his all into a spell it might escape or damage the walls. Rick agreed quickly and said that he would see what could be done as the wards were as strong as he could get them by himself. Lucy then reminded Rick what the wand maker in the states had said about Harry using a staff and his core strength.

Meanwhile at the Granger's house Hermione asked if she and Harry could maybe spend time together that summer as he seemed to not have any friends either. Emma said she would ask Lucy about the two kids spending time together. Emma knew that her daughter didn't have any friends at school and the kids around the area didn't like her because she was so smart in school.

The next morning at breakfast Lucy asked Harry what he would like to do that day, Rick had some work to do and would be gone all day so it would be just the two of them. Harry thought for a few minutes before asking if they could go to a movie or the zoo. Lucy thought those were both good ideas, and was surprised when Harry said maybe they could take Hermione too. Just before the two left to go see if Hermione would like to go with them to the zoo Lucy reminded Harry that the subject of magic was not to be mentioned around the Grangers, Harry said he understood.

When Lucy rang the doorbell at the Granger's house she was surprised when Dan was the one to answer the door, he explained that Emma and Hermione had gone to the store and would be back in a few and asked Lucy and Harry inside to wait. It was about an hour later when Emma and Hermione returned to find Lucy, Dan, and Harry in the back yard tossing a ball around. Hermione had never seen her dad play ball before and Emma told her that Dan was on a championship team in school and that if she ever asked he would be glad to show her how to handle the ball as well.

It was Harry that saw the two girls first and ran to say hello to Hermione and Mrs. Granger, followed by Dan and Lucy. Dan suggested that they all go inside and have some lemonades and then told Emma and Hermione that Harry and Lucy wanted to take Hermione to the zoo with them, if she would like to go. Hermione said she would like to go if it wasn't too much trouble. Dan tried to give Lucy some money but she refused as Harry wanted to treat Hermione and it wouldn't be much more than what it cost for the two of them anyway.

Harry and Hermione were having a ball at the zoo, and Lucy was thinking she needed a pepper-up potion to keep up with the two kids - but she was having a good time watching the kids have fun together. Everything was going well until the kids ran ahead of Lucy towards the petting zoo part. It was there they found some of Hermione's classmates. A couple of the boys started making fun of Hermione, and when one of them pushed her down Harry pushed the boy down also and told him it wasn't nice to pick on people, especially girls. The boy got up and tried to retaliate but Harry dodged him and was grabbed by another boy from behind. That didn't end well for the second boy as Harry just threw him over his shoulder and on to the ground remembering some of his training in self defense.

Lucy came up just as Harry tossed the boy on the ground and saw another boy take a swing at Harry from behind knocking Harry to the ground. Hermione hit the boy and he pushed her down again. That was when the attendant grabbed the boy by the shirt collar and told him he was no longer welcome in the area. Harry got up and helped Hermione, who was crying, up and as Lucy came up she heard Harry tell Hermione that he was sorry he had caused her to be hurt. Hermione went off on Harry for that and told him she thought he was wonderful for standing up for her and it wasn't his fault she got hurt, it was the other boys' fault for being bullies.

When the two boys tried to say Harry and Hermione started it several others told the attendant that it was the two boys who started all the fuss by pushing Hermione down first. The two boys were escorted out of the area and their parents were told that the two weren't welcome any more and to remove them. Lucy saw that Harry had a scraped elbow and both of Hermione's knees were scraped, she took them to the first aid station to be patched up. It was while they were there that Lucy noticed something, Hermione was scared and she was radiating magic. This would need further looking at in the near future.

The three of them left the zoo shortly thereafter and returned to the Granger's, by way of an ice cream stand to reward Harry for his defense of Hermione. When Dan and Emma heard what had happened they both thanked Harry for standing up for their daughter and that Harry was welcome at their house anytime. Hermione asked Harry if he would show her what her dad had taught him in the back yard, and maybe show her how he had thrown the boy off. That day was the start of a close friendship between Harry and Hermione. The next day the threesome went to the movies and to the mall after lunch.

It was Monday when Harry asked Rick if the Protego spell worked on physical attacks or just on spells. Rick told him he wasn't sure and that he knew a way to find out. Rick conjured up a pair of boxing gloves to fit Harry and told Harry to punch him, after he cast the spell. Harry's punch bounced off Rick's shield the first time, but not the second; Rick was on the ground again and holding his stomach. Harry was apologizing continuously and Rick, after getting his breath back, told him to quit as it was Rick's own stupidity that caused the accident. Then he told Harry that he had quiet a punch for an almost eight year old boy. Harry grinned. The two "boys" worked on physical fitness and self defense every day for at least an hour.

Over the next few weeks, while Harry and Rick worked together Lucy visited Hermione and asked if Hermione would be interested in helping her with a party for Harry's birthday. She explained that Harry didn't have any friends to invite and that it would be just the six of them, if Emma and Dan wanted to come. Emma suggested that they have the party at the Granger's so Harry would be surprised, Hermione and Lucy thought that was an excellent idea. While visiting with Hermione, Lucy ran a few silent and secret spells on Hermione and found that Hermione was undeniably a witch, and with some strong magic; now how to tell her and her parents.

Once Rick found out Hermione was a witch he had an idea. Rick asked Harry what was the easiest spell for him to cast, Harry thought for a few seconds then said he guessed 'Repairo' as he could do that one without his wand. This got Rick's attention, Harry was doing wandless magic and he was not even eight years old yet. Rick asked if Harry could do any other spells without a wand, Harry said sometimes he could levitate a really light item but not very high or for very long, about a minute or two depending on how heavy it was. When asked what he had levitated, Harry said himself was the heaviest and then only about 3 meters.

The morning of Harry's birthday he woke up and went down to breakfast, the only thing he noticed different was Twinkie had put "Happy Birthday" on top of his pancakes in chocolate syrup. Rick and Lucy didn't act any different, they did say happy birthday but that was it. After breakfast Rick said he had some work to do, so there wouldn't be any classes that day and Harry could just goof off until after lunch, then they had to go somewhere; Harry went flying to make himself feel better.

After lunch Lucy said that Petunia had asked if Harry could stop by today, so she would take Harry by there then over to see Hermione. This pleased Harry, seeing Hermione, but not the thought of seeing his aunt or cousin (he didn't want to think about seeing Vernon). Lucy told him to get cleaned up a little as they might take Hermione out for ice cream. When Harry and Lucy got to the Dursley's Harry was surprised when Petunia gave him a present and had a cake with his name on it made. The present turned out to be some pictures of Harry's mother when she was young and one or two of her and his dad. Harry was very thankful for the pictures, the cake, well Harry knew he could do better.

When Harry and Lucy got to Hermione's she wanted to show him something in her room so the two went upstairs. As soon as the two kids were upstairs Rick came in from the kitchen and said everything was ready in the back yard for Harry. Upstairs Hermione asked Harry if he could keep a secret. Harry said he would keep anything a secret if possible; Hermione showed Harry a trick, she made a book come to here from one side of her bed to the other. Hermione said she couldn't do often but from time to time it worked but she didn't want anyone knowing, they would just think she was even more weird than anyone thought. Harry was having a problem, should he tell his friend about magic or keep quiet as he had promised? He did tell Hermione that he didn't think her weird, just lucky she could do something like that. Those few words made Hermione smile, very few people ever paid her a complement (except her parents) until she met Harry.

The two kids went back downstairs and saw Rick was there; Rick and Dan said they would like to see if Harry had gotten better handling a ball and Hermione said she wanted to show everyone how much she had progressed. Harry was very surprised when he walked outside and saw a large sign saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY" hanging above a table with a cake and presents on it and everyone shouted "Surprise!!" at the same time. Harry had never had a birthday party before so this was very big to him.

After cake and ice cream, and the cake was much better than Petunia's, Harry opened presents. From Dan he got a new ball so he could practice at home and have fun. From Emma he got nice shirt and pair of pants; from Hermione he got books, of course. There were two presents from Rick and Lucy, the first was a picture of a set of luggage with a note "This was too big to wrap, so it is at home". The second present was two airplane tickets to the states and two "E" ticket books to Disney World. When Harry asked why two tickets he was told so he could invite his best friend along if he wanted, Harry immediately turned to Hermione and asked if she would like to go? Hermione looked at her parents and they both nodded their heads yes. Hermione hugged both parents and then, much to his embarrassment, hugged Harry. Rick said they were leaving the following weekend so they would pick Hermione up on Thursday to leave on Saturday. She could spend a day or so with Harry at their house before the trip, that way Harry wouldn't get bored while they finished up last minute preparations.

On the way home Harry told Rick and Lucy about Hermione doing magic, and said he had promised not to say anything but he thought they should know so they could be prepared if anything happened. Lucy and Rick both thanked Harry, then Lucy told him she had already discovered that Hermione was a witch and was thinking how to explain it to her and her parents. The three of them hadn't been home but about 30 minutes when there was a flash from the fireplace and out stepped a haggard-looking man with brownish hair and dressed very much out of fashion. Rick immediately went to him and shook his hand then turned to Harry and introduced Remus Lupin. Harry looked at the man and said "Uncle Mooney?", Remus just about broke down right there, he said he hadn't been called that in over seven years and was surprised Harry remembered. Harry and Remus spent an hour talking about Harry's parents, then Rick invited Remus to stay for supper and to stay the night. Remus tried to refuse but Lucy told him outright that he was staying and to quit trying to argue, Remus stayed.

Remus stayed for two days, then it was time to go get Hermione. While Lucy and Harry went to get Hermione, Rick had a talk with Remus and offered Remus a job. Remus said he didn't take charity and was told it wouldn't be charity as he would earn every gallon of his pay; the job was two fold, first he would be responsible for handling Harry's account to make sure it was not abused and it made money, second he would help teach Harry transfiguration since Rick and Lucy weren't very good with that one and Harry was having problems. The one requirement was nobody was to know about Harry; Remus said he could do that as he had already heard from Harry about the way he was treated when he was younger and Remus wasn't too happy with Dumbledore right now, or with the Dursley's. Rick went on to explain that Hermione was a witch and didn't know it yet, so she might be joining Harry in lessons, Remus didn't see anything wrong with teaching two students. Remus was quiet for a few minutes then said he had one problem, when Rick asked if he was referring to his "furry" problem not to worry as they would provide the wolfsbane potion as part of the pay, and of course they would provide room and board. Rick told Remus that he started the 1st of August, so Twinkie would set him up in a room while they were gone to the states.

On the way to pick up Hermione Lucy told Harry to be sure to take Hermione to see all of the house, especially the training room. Harry looked at her funny and she explained that he should show Hermione that he could do magic too, only not too much at first; with that Harry and Lucy both smiled. Once the threesome returned, Harry was sorry to see that Remus was gone but Rick said he would be back when they returned, Remus just had a few things to take care of first - like moving his stuff to the house. After putting Hermione's luggage in her room, Harry started showing her around the property (at least what they could reach easily). While they were exploring Harry asked if Hermione could do any more tricks, when she said no Harry offered to show her one of his. As Hermione watched, Harry pointed a stick at her and suddenly she was floating off the ground about a meter. Once he let her down he asked if she wanted to see another trick, Hermione was shocked but said yes so Harry summoned a rock from across the yard to his hand.

"Harry, how did you do that? How did you make me float like that? Do Rick and Lucy know you can do that?", Hermione started asking.

"Both of them know about it, in fact they helped me learn how to do things like that. Lucy thinks you might be able to do the same things with some practice; it's called MAGIC Hermione", Harry replied with a big smile. "Hermione, you are a witch. I don't want to sound mean but you are. A witch is a girl that can do magic, while a wizard is a boy who can do magic. Lucy is a witch and Rick and I are wizards; also, I am sorry but I told Lucy and Rick about your trick you showed me and they said I could tell you about magic. In fact Lucy already knew you were a witch, she tested you while she was at your house; just like she tested me before I started staying with them during the summer and on weekends during school. Magic is fun, but sometimes it is hard work getting it to work right. I have had to do a lot of reading and practice before I could do much. Maybe if we ask Lucy will show you more, it was her idea for me to show you some of what I've learned after I told them about you summoning that book in your room."

Hermione asked if Harry could show her more and he said to follow him to the training room so it would be safer. Once they were in the room Harry told her he needed to show her one more thing before he did any more magic and for her not to be afraid. Harry called Twinkie, once Twinkie popped in Harry introduced the two of them and asked Twinkie to help protect Hermione while he showed her some more magic.

"You's not supposed to do magic in front of anyone, you get in trouble", Twinkie replied.

Harry asked her to check with Lucy as she was the one who had told him to show Hermione, but he wouldn't do anything until Twinkie was satisfied that it was okay and would wait for her to talk with Lucy. Twinkie popped out and a few minutes later she popped back and said Ms. Lucy had said okay, but she wanted to talk with Ms. Hermione later that night. Harry showed Hermione several more spells and charms, he even was able to conjure some flowers for Hermione. When Hermione wanted to try Harry said until Lucy or Rick said it was okay she couldn't as he might not be able to fix any problems she had. Harry told her it was no fun to have a spell bounce back on you, sometimes they hurt and some of them could kill you if done wrong. He showed Hermione his Reducto on one of the dummies and she was convinced when it exploded. Twinkie had not seen Harry do that spell before and she was scared Harry would hurt someone. But Harry told her he had promised only to that one here in the training room unless Rick said he could do it otherwise.

That night after supper Lucy and Hermione went up to Hermione's room to talk about magic and what Hermione could and couldn't do while staying with them. They also talked about how to tell Hermione's parents about her magic. Lucy did promise to see if they could get Hermione a wand while they were in the states, but Hermione could only use it here at the house or while with her and Rick. The next morning Hermione joined Harry and Lucy while they did potions after breakfast; after lunch she watched while Harry and Rick worked on spells and then tried to join in with the self defense part, but she wasn't in very good physical shape and tired out quickly. Harry invited her to join him for his morning runs to help her get in shape and said that Lucy would most likely be able to show Hermione what she could do at home to get in better shape.

The foursome left for the US on Saturday, this was Hermione's first time flying and she was scared. Harry tried to calm her down by telling her it was fun to fly and while it took a while to get to the states they would have a lot of fun at Disney World, both public and in the magical part. As excited and nervous as Hermione was she soon fell asleep on the plane and had to awaken when they were ready to land. Their first stop was New York, after a short layover and a change of planes they headed for Orlando. Once in Orlando they went straight to the hotel and Lucy gave them all a potion to help get their bodies used to the time change.

Harry woke Hermione up at 6am, local time, to see if she wanted to run with him that morning. Hermione got dressed and ran with Harry but she got tired real quick so Harry said they would head back for breakfast and some rest before going to do anything else. It was after lunch when Lucy suggested they go swimming, Harry admitted he didn't know how to swim and Hermione said she would teach him what she knew. Then Hermione remembered she didn't have a suit, so she and Lucy went to get her one while Rick took Harry to get his.

Harry had not ever been swimming so he wasn't prepared for all the girls in swimsuits at the pool. Hermione wore a green one piece, and Lucy was wearing a light blue two piece that showed a lot of her, as far as Harry was concerned. Harry noticed that some of the girls were wearing very tiny suits and that got his attention until Hermione popped him and said he couldn't learn to swim unless he paid attention to her and not the other girls there. By the end of the day Harry was burned, but he could at least feel comfortable in the water, and Lucy had to apply some burn cream to his burns (she also gave Hermione some). Rick and Lucy told the two kids that tomorrow they were going to Disney World so to get plenty of rest because it was a large place and would take two to three days to see most of it, and that didn't include the magical part.

Hermione and Harry had a blast over the next two days, Rick and Lucy enjoyed the kids but were exhausted each night. On the third day they went to the magical side of the park and while there they found Hermione her wand, Willow with an eagle feather core. They also got Hermione a wand holder that would disappear on command to hide the wand. One of the places in the magical part was a place where people could duel for fun safely and Harry won not only his age group but two above him. Hermione was challenged but told the person she just got her wand and wasn't used to it yet, when they kept on taunting her Harry offered to take her place and beat the kid in about 30 seconds as Harry could do some wandless and nonverbal spells that the kid wasn't expecting. That night Hermione asked Lucy if she could start learning spells, Hermione said she liked that Harry took up for her but she wanted to be able to take up for herself too, she was tired of being bullied. Lucy explained that without Hermione's parents permission they couldn't teach her much, Lucy went on to remind Hermione about the Secrecy laws in both the US and England.

The next day Lucy brought Rick up to date on Hermione and her request for training. Rick said there wasn't much they could do right now, the only reason they could teach Harry was because Rick was his magical guardian and they had his non-magical guardian's permission (from Petunia). They could teach her theory of magic, history of magic, and potions but not spell work or wand work until they had her parent's okay. Rick did suggest that they get magical guardianship of Hermione as soon as possible so that Dumbledore couldn't interfere with her training, like he couldn't interfere with Harry's.

That day the foursome went to a magical zoo and the kids got to see some of the magical creatures they would be learning about once they got to Hogwarts, or another magical school. There weren't many animals that they could actually touch, Hermione got to pet an unicorn. They also found out Harry could talk to snakes, and some lizards, when a small garner snake slithered past Harry and Harry "heard" the snake complain about all the "two legs" scaring away all the mice. It was later that Harry heard an iguana complaining about not enough fresh water. When Harry mentioned this to Rick he got a shock in that he was informed that most people couldn't understand snakes or lizards and that Rick suggested Harry keep that trait to himself.

The four had been in the states for about a week when Rick said it was time to go home as Hermione's parents might think they had kidnapped her, besides Rick needed to get back to work. Neither of the kids were ready to return but they understood it was time to go home, since school would start soon. Besides Hermione wanted to get her parents talked to by Rick and Lucy so she could learn more about magic. It was a week after the trip when that chance came about.

Lucy got a frantic call from Hermione one morning saying she had a big problem and needed Lucy's help really quick. When Lucy arrived at the Granger's she soon saw the big problem. Hermione had accidentally enlarged an ant to the size of a medium size dog, and the ant wanted in the house so bad it was chewing through the back door. After Lucy handled the problem she had to laugh at the way Hermione's magic expressed itself, then she had to calm Emma down and try to explain what had happened, and why. At first Emma didn't want to believe Lucy, then Lucy did a few simple spells and charms to show Emma that magic was real. Hermione put the finishing touch to the topic when she got upset and the dishes started rattling. Lucy told Hermione to show her mother what she could do and to explain how long she had been doing the summoning in her room. Emma said Dan would never believe this about his daughter, she was wrong.

When Dan found out about Hermione he just said it sounded just like his great aunt "Lizzie" who none of his family ever met since she had moved away after she supposedly blew up the gas man. Dan then asked if Harry was magical, since Lucy and Rick were. Harry answered by handing Emma a bunch of flowers and another bunch to Hermione. That convinced Dan. Now the question that was on everyone's mind, what to do about this? Lucy and Rick offered to teach Hermione along with Harry and explained that Harry spent every other weekend during school with them so he could learn to control his magic and stay out of trouble. Rick explained about magical guardianships and offered for either he or Lucy to be Hermione's, they decided that Lucy would do it so Rick got the forms ready and had everyone sign where needed. It was Harry who suggested that they take Hermione to Dagon Ally and get her some of the same books he had, that was turned down at first until Lucy said she could take Hermione but due to his scar Harry couldn't go. Harry wasn't pleased but understood, he did ask for some magical sweets though.

Harry and Hermione had a wonderful summer and would now see each other every other weekend at Rick's house to train with Rick, Lucy, and Remus (who Hermione had yet to meet). It looked to be an interesting school year for both kids, and their families.

A/N: Sorry about the delay with this chapter, but the holidays and poor health took it's toll. I want to insure everyone I do understand plot holes but the only one pointed out wasn't a hole!! It was just filler.

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