AN:

A quick or not so quick note on this story's alternate universe. There are two, maybe three facts in this story that lead to all other changes to the original canon story we all know and love.

Fact number one: Soulmates exist. That is the most important fact of this whole story. Soulmates are the be-all and end-all of this whole universe. They are the problems and the solutions. They influence the way the character acts and most of the events of the timeline, no matter if they take place chronologically before or after this story's prologue.

So don't expect the character to be identical to canon, or the story to follow too closely canon events. While some events stay the same as the story progresses things will get more and more altered.

Fact number two: Hermione's parents are different. Which is why she lives at number 6, Privet Drive. We don't know much about them in canon, but I think it is safe to say that my version of them is still very different from how they were in canon.

Fact number three: I'm not sure about that one, but I think Hermione might be a bit more of a genius in this version than in the original even if it is hard to judge her intelligence level in canon since Harry has little understanding of what Hermione can actually do. So I'll let you decide on that.

The rest of the changes are all consequences of these three facts.

Thank you to everyone who read, fallowed, liked or reviewed this story, I hope you like this new chapter.

Par I: Stick and Stone

Chapter One

Of Letters and Magic

" I got a letter! Well, two letters, and now I've got a room and… oh! I helped a big snake escape from the zoo and it's going to Brazil now!"

Hermione stared at Harry, unsure how to answer. They hadn't had the opportunity to see each other in the last few days, but Hermione could not comprehend how so many things had happened in between. But that was Harry for you, always in the middle of some complicated situation. From turning his teacher's hair blue to finding himself stuck on the roof of his school, the moment Harry set foot outside of his aunt and uncle's house, nothing was ever as simple as it should have been. He really did need a guardian angel and Hermione took her unofficial role very seriously.

They were seated in her garden, hidden from view by the rose bushes. Harry was eating the plate she had prepared for him heartily, still practically vibrating with the need to tell her everything that had happened the last few days. He was radiating happiness and it made her heart swell with some of her own.

" You're going to have to explain in more details than that, and maybe in chronological order?"

Harry nodded and Hermione saw him take a deep breath to organise his thoughts. She couldn't help but smile proudly, she had taught him how to organise his thoughts so he was able to write logical and concise homework. Hermione was so proud of Harry every time he came home with an A on a homework or exam, which happened more often than not. She knew that Harry was just as proud to show them to her than she was to see them. No one else gave a thought to his academic achievements. But Hermione cared, she cared very much for everything that had to do with Harry and some days seeing him and taking care of him was the only thing that she looked forward to. He was her family and she was his.

So she listened attentively while Harry told him everything from Dudley's birthday to the letters he had received but had been incapable of getting a hand on long enough to read. The result of these strange events being that Harry was now in possession of Dudley's second bedroom.

That conclusion was the most mind blowing part of it all, weirder than the disappearing glass, talking snake or mysterious letters. If anyone would have asked Hermione that morning she would have told them that the Dursley would keep Harry in the cupboard until he was old enough to leave the house definitively. She had a hard time understanding that something had been powerful enough to make them alter their behaviour in such a drastic manner.

Still, the two friends rejoiced when they realised that their bedroom windows were now in front of each other, only separated by a few metres. Hermione theorised that they may be able to communicate together from their respective bedroom, by writing words on papers and sticking them to the window. Harry was more than enthused at the idea, he always loved the mystery novel that Hermione would lend him and the idea of communicating like spies was very appealing to him. Harry was also more than happy to play spy to discover what was in those letters.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll get up very early and wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive to pick up the mail before anyone else is up to see if there is a letter for me again."

He told her, seriously. Harry took nothing more seriously than a mystery and Hermione was the one following him around making sure he didn't get into too much trouble playing detective. Hermione refrained from sighing and nodded her head in approval.

" That's a good idea, if they still take it from you before you can read it, we'll think of a better plan tomorrow."

She might like to deny it, but she did like to play detective as well, Harry's keen intuition and her logical mind made them a really good team and together they had solved more than one mystery in the neighbourhood. From the disappearance of Mr. Paws, Mrs Figg's cat ( he had gotten stock in the compost box of Mrs Green), to the mysterious disappearance of the postman ( He took a pause from his route every Thursday to visit Mrs Pence while Mr Pence was at work).

Harry had finished eating and Hermione looked at the time on her watch.

"I have to go. I don't want my absence to be noticed."

" How's the new nanny?" Asked Harry, curious.

Hermione winced. Nanny Abigail had left a month ago and the one her parents had hired after that, nanny Ashley, hadn't lasted two weeks.

Hermione had immediately loved nanny Ashley's calm and intelligent demeanour. But, it had taken her parents two weeks to find what was, in their eyes, an unforgivable flaw in nanny Ashley. Nanny Ashley was a man and apparently men could not be nannies at least not to little girls. The fact that it had taken them two weeks to realise that Ashley was the name of a man not a woman proves how little time they spent at the home even when they were in the country.

It was proof that her parents did not even take the time to meet the new nannies before hiring them, simply trusting the agency to send someone competent. In the dark recess of her mind, Hermione thought that maybe it was also proof of how little her parents truly cared about her when she wasn't in their direct sight.

When they were there, Hermione could feel their love and she basked in their attention. Still she could not really help but wonder how much they really cared if they allowed a stranger they had never met to take care of her.

A part of her wondered if she had used up all the attention her parents were willing to give her when she was very young. Hermione hadn't been an easy baby. She had been fussy and demanding. Apparently, She had spent the weeks before her first birthday crying and yelling non stop, to the point where her parents were desperate. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her, but hearing her mother telling the story, it sounded like she was crying like she was being tortured. Maybe that was when all of her parents' patience for her had gone. But she wouldn't let herself think too long about that.

Her parents ended up firing nanny Ashley and changing agencies. The new nanny had arrived the same day they had left for their latest trip, three weeks ago, and Hermione didn't know what to think about her. She was discreet, but she observed everything in a way that made Hermione uncomfortable.

" I don't know, yet. But I'll have to be prudent while I try to figure her out."

They hugged each other goodbye and Hermione slipped back into the house, stopping by the kitchen to wash Harry's plate so no one would realise it had been missing.

" You're back."

Hermione jumped in fright hearing the nanny's voice behind her. She turned around hoping not to look guilty. Nanny Faith was a petite woman with brown hair that fell to her shoulders and large black rimmed glasses, she was dressed in the adult version of a preppy, first of the class, schoolgirl.

Hermione was staring at the nanny, eyes wide. Nanny Faith smiled at her.

"What would happen if I were to tell your parents that you are stealing food and sneaking out to meet the boy next door?"

Hermione looked at her with horror, her parents could not know about that or they would do everything to stop her from seeing Harry again, they might even move. They were convinced that anything that could distract from becoming a doctor before the age of twenty, was to be banished from her life. She could not lose Harry, just the thought of it made her throat close in and her eyes start to grow tears. Incapable of answering, Hermione kept staring at the nanny. Nanny Faith smiled at her.

" Good." She smiled again. " Carry one, dry food is always harder to clean up."

The exchange might have been mundane, but Hermione could not help but feel worried about it. There was something in her tone. Her eyes were like a predator's who, hiding in the dark and sniffing the air in the hope of smelling blood, had finally found an open wound with which to bring down its prey. If Harry was more of a plaster for the open wound that was her relationship with her parents, there was no denying that Harry was definitely her weakness. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him and she was worried what she would have to do to keep him, her secret.

The next day, Faith served Harry's plate herself and smiled when she gave it to Hermione to take outside. Hermione wasn't too certain what to make of it, but she decided to bid her time and observe in the meantime, to see what would happen.

She still explained the situation to Harry and he said he would keep an eye out as well. It turned out that Harry hadn't managed to get the letter, his uncle Vernon had slept in front of the front door.

That made Hermione and Harry even more curious about what the letter could contain that was so important that it was worth a man like Harry's uncle guarding the door all night to get it. He even went as far as nailing the mail slot close that morning. They agreed that Hermione would keep an eye on the house the next day and try to intercept the letter.

When Hermione returned inside nanny Faith smiled at her and Hermione felt uncomfortable again.

But the next day, even though Hermione woke up very early, she didn't see anyone deliver any letters even though Harry told her later that some had been squished under the door and even

through the downstairs bathroom. Hermione was flabbergasted, because she hadn't seen anyone do any of that. Saturday, after the letters were hidden inside two dozen eggs, the two children were convinced that something weird was going on with those letters, something extraordinary, something… magical. Which of course made them even more determined to get their hands on one of those letters. Of course they would not get the opportunity before next week, because tomorrow was a Sunday, and the post did not come on Sunday. The two children could not imagine that the magical post would be exempted from such a rule.

When Hermione came back inside, she scurried to the kitchen with Harry's dirty dish, under the nanny's slightly malevolent smile.

On Sunday, Hermione was working diligently on her homework. The summer vacations did not mean that Hermione got to slack on her extra lessons. Her parents were hoping that she could start university in three years. That was their plan and to stay on track Hermione was continuously busy.

She was so concentrated on some complex mathematical problem, that she nearly did not look outside when she heard some loud voices coming through the open window.

Hermione peered down to look at the Dursley's front lawn. She was troubled when she spotted the Dursley quickly taking seats in their car, Vernon Dursley, pushing Harry into the backseat. They left quickly, their car riding out with a screech of tires.

Hermione was immediately worried. The Dursley never took Harry anywhere. Dudley's birthday had been a notable exception. She stayed the rest of the day in her room, looking regularly through the window to see if they were back. They did not come back, and by the time dinner came Hermione was very anxious.

When the doorbell rang, something that never happened, Hermione ran downstairs wondering if it would somehow be someone with news about Harry. When she arrived at the front door, nanny Faith was already closing the door.

"Who was it?" Asked Hermione worried.

" An old lady that wanted to talk to your parents. I told her that they weren't here and that she should come back tomorrow if she really needed to speak to them."

Hermione was surprised, she had not realised that they would be home tomorrow.

" They are going to be home tomorrow?"

" That's what the schedule says." She looked at Hermione speculatively. " Tell me, do they usually stick to their schedule or does it happen that they show up unannounced?"

Hermione felt angry at the allusion.

" It's their house, they can come whenever they want. They don't need a schedule."

" Exactly, you would think that they would come all the time, spend time with their darling little girl. But they don't, do they. They are rarely ever here, from what I understand. And when they are, I bet that you see it in their faces, their desire to leave again, even when they look at you." Nanny Faith smirked. "And that's what they always do, leave you again."

Hermione tightened her closed fist, before storming back to her room.

That night, she didn't sleep, she kept turning and turning, her worries for Harry and her nanny's words swirling inside her brain.

At noon on Monday, the Dursley still weren't back. Hermione took the opportunity to slip outside when the nanny was on one of her numerous phone calls. She hesitated a moment before slipping through the hole in the fence. She approached the Dursley's house carefully, peering through the window, looking for something out of the ordinary. Not seeing anything, she was about to go back when she realised that the Dursley had left so quickly that they hadn't taken the time to lock the backdoor.

Hermione hesitated again, looking carefully around, before quickly opening the door and entering her neighbours' house.

Hermione moved through the house, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but she found nothing in the beginning. The house was perfectly normal, especially if you considered that the family living there was keeping, until a few days ago, their nephew in the cupboard under the stairs.

Everything looked normal until Hermione set foot in the living room. The whole living room was covered in letters, what looked like thousands of them, covering every surface of the living space, a few were even still floating in the air, like they were suspended in time before they could finish falling.

Hermione picked up a letter and read the address.

Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive, Little whinging, Surrey

These were the letters Harry had difficulty getting his hands on. She wondered if Harry had managed to pick one up among the thousands that were now lying around, before being hauled out of the house. She wondered how they had all gotten in, but knew that the answer was probably magic. She took ten copies of the letter, just in case, and put them in the pockets of her dress.

She considered leaving, now that she had a pretty good idea of what had caused the Dursley to flee. On the other hand, she had never had the opportunity to enter the Dursleys' house before and her curiosity demanded that she finish exploring. The practical part of her brain that was devoted to the protection and care of Harry told her that it was probably prudent to get a lay of the land while she was beyond enemy line, just as a precaution, while she could.

She looked everywhere, from the cupboard under the stairs, who broke her heart, to the master bedroom's en-suite. When she returned to her room, she hid the letters at different places, just as a precaution, until she was left holding the last one of them. She wondered if she should open it, or if she should wait for Harry since it was his letter. She decided to wait and see if Harry was coming back before making any other decisions. She hid the last letter just in time for her parents to call her downstairs, they were apparently back from wherever it was they had gone.

Hermione arrived downstairs just in time to see the nanny Faith take her leave of the house at least until the next day. Before leaving, she had insisted that she would need to talk to the Grangers about their daughter the next day and the smile that she had sent Hermione's way before leaving, made her extremely uncomfortable. She started to wonder if she should not come clean to her parents about Harry before the nanny did so herself.

Preoccupied, Hermione went to hug her parents. Mrs Granger was a tall, statuesque woman who had a way of standing that made her look effortlessly regal. Mr Granger was a little shorter than his wife but he had a square frame that made him appear more imposing than he really was.

The two of them were madly in love and rarely spent any time apart. They were dentists and had developed a new…, Hermione wasn't sure if it was a tool or a technique, but it was now part of standard dental practice and had made them a lot of money. They now traveled everywhere with different organisations and provided dental care to people in need.

Although they were rarely at home, Hermione loved her parents. She always felt warm and happy when they were around. They would pay attention to her, particularly her schoolwork, check on her progress and praise her or reprimanded her if she was not at the right level. Her father would cook delicious meals, they would tell her all about their travels and the people they had helped. Her mother would help her tame her hair and they always gave her a hug before they had to go again. It was always the best of times.

Dinner was so pleasant that she nearly forgot all about her worry about Harry, the mysterious letters that were hidden in her room and the nanny's intention.

They had just finished eating when the doorbell rang. When Hermione opened the door, she was surprised to see a stern looking woman on their doorstep.

" Miss Hermione Granger?" Asked the woman.

" Yes." Asked Hermione, unsure.

" My name is Professor McGonagall. I'm here to talk to you and your parents, and to deliver this."

The woman produced a letter out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to Hermione.

Hermione closed her finger around the letter, so similar to the ones hidden in her room and read the address:

Miss Hermione Granger, The Southern Bedroom, 6 Privet Drive, Little whinging, Surrey

Thirty minutes later, she was sitting on the living room couch, holding the letter tightly to her heart, a feeling of excitement permeating her whole being. She was a witch, she would be going to a wizarding school, with Harry. There, she would be with people her own age, learning new exciting things. No one would laugh at her for being so much younger. For the first time, she would be an equal. Hermione did not think she could get any happier.

Professor McGonagall had just finish explaining everything when her father, who like her mother had been fairly silent since the professor had transformed herself into a cat, interjected:

" Absolutely, not."

Professor McGonagall stopped her explanation of the different classes, surprised.

" I beg your pardon."

Mr Granger stood up from the couch.

" Our daughter is a genius. She is on her way to become a doctor before she turns twenty. She will revolutionise the medical world and I refuse to let her get distracted by nonsense like divination and transmutation."

Professor McGonagall straightened her back.

" Sir, I assure you, Hogwarts is one of the best schools in the world and we teach very important subjects to all witches and wizards. If your daughter wishes to pursue a career in healing, I assure you it wouldn't be a problem. There is…"

" That is another thing," interrupted Mrs Granger. "Our daughter is not a witch. You talk about unexplained incidents, but I can tell you that nothing of the sort has ever happened in my house or around my daughter."

Hermione watched in horror as her parents destroyed all the beautiful fantasies she had just built up in her head. She hurried to rectify her parent's misconception.

" No! Mum, Dad, you don't understand. I am a witch."

And to prove her point she raised her hand and willed a small blue flame to appear in its centre. When the blue flame lit up her palm, she looked back up at them and smiled. Her parents' expressions were horrified, far more than when Professor McGonagall had transformed into a cat.

" Hermione Jean Granger, stop that, this instant." yelled her mother.

Hermione stiffened and closed her palm, the flame disappeared immediately.

" What have you done to her? " Her father closed in on McGonagall. "She wasn't like that before."

" Mr Granger," interceded McGonagall, severely. Clearly not perturbed by her father's aggressive behaviour. " Your daughter was born a witch and at Hogwarts she will learn to harness her magic." She turned to Hermione.

" Very impressive magic, Miss Granger. I have no doubts that you will make Hogwarts proud."

Hermione smiled uncertainly at the professor.

" She is not going and that is final. We are her parents and you cannot take her without our authorization and you won't have it."

" But dad, I want to go!" Interrupted Hermione.

" You have plans for your future, Hermione, and I won't let you ruin them." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "Now, you are going to take that… magic out of our daughter and leave us alone."

The professor took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"The magic can't be taken out of her, she was born with it."

" Well, if she was born hyper flexible, that does not mean I would let her join a circus." replied Mr Granger rather belligerently.

The argument that followed lasted two and a half hours. Professor McGonagall argued the virtues and possibilities of the wizarding world and the Grangers their right to do what they considered best for their child. Hermione would chime in here and there, but she saw early on that her parents were not going to relent and as the discussion continued she felt herself drifting more and more into a state of deep panic. Three hours after first setting foot inside their house, Professor McGonagall finally rose.

" I see that there is nothing that I can say that will change your mind." She looked sadly at the Grangers. " When a muggle family refuses to let their muggle-born child join the wizarding world, the ministry considers that the family's knowledge of the wizarding world is a breach of the status of Secrecy. As such, I will let the ministry know of your decision and they will send a few officials to ensure that all of your memories of the magical world will be erased. I assure you that it is a painless process that will only take a few moments. They should be here first thing in the morning."

The professor's movement had taken Hermione out of her trance-like stupor.

" I won't remember anything about magic." Her voice was loud to her own ear, despite being barely higher than a whisper.

" I'm afraid not, Miss Granger. The spell used will specifically target every memory related to magic. I have been informed that it might also affect your memory of certain works of fiction, such as books that reference a Muggle vision of magic. The brain does not make a clear enough distinction between reality and make belief to be able to avoid the later. Since you are eleven, your magic has stabilised enough that you are not at risk of doing involuntary magic if you forget all about magic itself. The ability will simply stay dormant within you for the rest of your life."

Hermione's mind was transfixed with horror at that revelation. Her heart was breaking. She wouldn't go to Hogwarts and learn magic, she wouldn't even remember magic. Suddenly, an even more horrifying thought crossed her mind. Would she even remember Harry? A lot of their conversations had to do with magic. Would she remember her angel, which she now suspected was a wizard, he had a wand like Professor McGonagall. He had been the first to tell her she was a witch. The thought of all those memories, which were some of the best of her life, being erased forever was unbearable.

By the time she shook out of her cascading thoughts, her parents had accompanied Professor McGonagall to the door and thanked her politely for her visit. They had already closed the door when Hermione took off the couch and ran desperately out the door to try and catch up with the witch. Her only hope.

The professor was already at the end of the lawn when Hermione joined her, closing her hand around her arm and clutching it in despair.

" Please, Professor, you don't understand, you can't let them take my memories."

The professor looked at her sadly.

" I'm afraid there's nothing I can do…"

Hermione interrupted her.

" No you can't, you don't understand. I've known I was a witch since I was four. My best friend, Harry, is a wizard. We've been playing with magic for years. If you take my memories away, you take my whole life away. Please."

The professor's eyes turned to the Dursleys' house like she knew where Harry resided before coming back to her full of pity and sorrow.

" Oh child, I wish there was something I could do."

" Just give me a little bit more time. I know I can change my parents' mind. They love me, they are just very scientific people and they already have a whole future plan for me. I just need more time to make them see that that future does not have to exclude magic. All I want is a bit more time. Please."

Hermione was hopeful, but the professor only shook her head.

" The wizarding society is old and deeply prejudiced. Some members of society are against the presence of Muggle-born in our world and they often use the danger that constitutes Muggles knowing about magic as a way to pass laws that reduce the number of Muggle-born allowed in our society. As deputy headmistress, it is my responsibility to introduce the muggle family of muggle-born to the wizarding world. As such, I am magically bound to certain rules. I am not allowed to talk more than three hours with a family and those three hours have to be consecutive hours. If the answer is still negative, I am magically obligated to report your parent's decision to the ministry. There is really nothing I can do."

Hermione let out a whimper and dropped the professor's arm. There really was no hope.

" I'm sorry." Said the professor one last time before disappearing.

Hermione was suddenly distinctly reminded of the way her angel would always disappear and something snapped in her. She ran back to her house, energy crackling around her. Her parents looked at her in alarm. Hermione's voice was deathly calm when she addressed them.

"I want to go to Hogwarts."

Her mother approached her warily.

" Hermione, you can't be serious. Magic is not serious, it would be like throwing your life away. You can't tell me that a place called Hogwarts can provide you a better future than the one you have worked so hard all your life to achieve."

" Why do you care if I go to Hogwarts?" yelled Hermione. Her parents recoiled. " It is my life and you're never here, anyway."

" Hermione! " Exclaimed her mother indignantly. "You know why we aren't here often. We're helping people out there."

" You're helping people one tooth at a time." She said sarcastically.

Her parents' expressions were crestfallen and betrayed in a way that robbed Hermione of breath. And suddenly Hermione felt so bad. She knew that their work was important, but she too felt betrayed by their refusal to listen to her. But seeing that expression on their face, the disappointment there was just too much. All her life she had tried to make them proud and now, it felt like all those efforts were worthless.

Hermione's power reacted to her rapidly escalating emotions. She felt her blue flames lick her skin and the crackling air around her became a violent wind that threatened to knock over everything in its way. Hermione couldn't see anything anymore, she was nothing but sensation, she couldn't even tell if what she was feeling was physical or emotional, she was too overwhelmed to form thoughts about anything.

Everything came back into focus with a sharp stinging sensation on her cheek. She felt the magic around her die down when her mind snapped out of its internal turmoil. She opened eyes. She had not even realised that they were closed and looked upon the horrified face of her mother who still had her hand raised as if wondering if she should slap her again. Hermione touched her stinging cheek, surprised when her fingers came back with a little bit of blood. Her mother's ring had made more damage than was visibly intended.

Her mother let her arm fall to her side, eyes wide with horror.

" Hermione! I'm so sorry. You were not responding and there were flames everywhere but your face and wind and electricity and I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry." She started to cry. Her father immediately joined her mother's side, taking her into his arms.

Hermione was in shock. Her mother raised her arms to give her a hug. But Hermione just couldn't accept it right now. She flew upstairs, taking refuge in her room and locking the door behind her.

It didn't take more than a minute to realise that she didn't want to be alone. She did want a hug and she wanted to talk to someone who would understand what it would mean if her memories of magic were to disappear tomorrow.

Her brain was still scrambling, her magic still coursing along her skin. She was barely aware of what she was doing when she opened the window, sat on the edge and let herself fall from her second story window. She was not even surprised when instead of falling she flew safely to the ground.

The only thing that was in her mind as she crossed to her neighbour's front lawn in the darkness of early evening, was that she needed to see Harry. She needed to see him. She needed to tell him. She needed to hold him, for what would be probably the last time . She needed to hug him, while he still meant something to her. Something precious that would be completely erased the next day. So she went to the front door of the Dursleys' house and for the first time in her life, she knocked.

And she knocked, and she knocked again, each time louder, longer and more pressing. But nobody answered. It was then that she remembered that the Dursleys were gone and that they had taken Harry away with them. They had been gone for two days now and Hermione didn't know where they were, when they were coming back or even if they were coming back. Tears started to fall then and her knees completely gave out when she realised that tomorrow was Harry's birthday and even if he were to come back, she would not remember who he was or what they had shared together.

So she started sobbing, alone in the dark, hugging herself against the door that marked number 4, Privet drive.

AN:

I thought about making Hermione's parents despicable people, but I couldn't in the end. Parenting is a balancing act between what a child wants and what a parent considers best for them. Nobody is perfect and parenting is often a messy business. Hermione's parents do love her, but they tend to get wrapped up in each other and in their charitable work.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I would be happy to read all of your comments!