DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$ from this…

A/N: And now the plot thickens some more… And for those who wonder why the house didn't burn down in canon - here it comes…

CHAPTER ELEVEN: MEET THE PARENTS

SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1988 - ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, LONDON, U.K.

Harry was sitting in bed the following Saturday morning reading a book - The Two Towers - when the Grangers arrived. They usually arrived as a family on Saturday mornings, actually they always had these past few weeks. But they usually were all smiles. Not today and that had Harry worried.

His whole life had been nothing but disappointment and heartbreak. His relatives hated him. Anytime something came up that seemed like it would make his life even a little better, they found a way to take it from him. He knew the Grangers liked him. Hermione was his first friend ever and now, somehow, they were upset. That could only mean…

"I'm not coming home with you, am I?" Harry asked in a panic. "My Aunt and Uncle won't let me, will they?"

"No Harry," Mr. Granger said, "that's not it. You're still coming home with us when they release you."

Harry seemed to relax. "But then why do you all look upset? Did I do something wrong?"

Hermione started to cry silently, Harry noticed. "Hermione?"

All she could do was sniff.

"What is it?" Harry all but demanded.

"It is about your relatives, Harry," Mr. Granger replied. "Something happened to them."

"What? Are they okay?"

"No Harry, they're not. There was a fire at their house a few nights ago. Gas leak started it. They're all gone."

"Dead?"

Mr. Granger nodded.

Harry did not like his relatives. He all but hated his Uncle who had beaten him more times than he cared to remember. Still, all he wanted was to leave and live somewhere else. Deep down, he did not really want them to die. "Dead?" he asked again as the tears began leaking.

"Yes Harry," Mr. Granger said softly.

"Can - can I see them?"

Mr. Granger shook his head. "They died in their sleep, Harry. The fire investigator thinks either from the gas or the smoke from the fire. But the fire quickly got out of control. Their bodies were horribly burned, we've been told."

Harry could not stop himself as he began to cry.

"I didn't want them to die! I just wanted to be away from them! It's my fault!"

Hermione was at his side quickly. She crawled into his bed and pulled him into a hug - as her mother had done for her at times. She held him tightly as he cried. "It's not your fault Harry," she said as soothingly as she could manage. "You weren't there."

"I should have been," Harry said. "I should have been there! I could have saved them!"

"How?"

"D-donno."

"I do," a deep voice called.

"Sensei?" Hermione asked first.

The older Grangers looked at the old man dumbstruck for the moment.

"What d-do y-you mean?" Harry asked.

"Remember, Harry, our lives are now much different. A few days after my relatives came back from their trip, I could not sleep. I was still in a lot of pain from the beatings. I was dozing in my cupboard when I smelled gas. I got out and tried to find the source, afraid that maybe I left on one of the gas burners on the stove. I could hear the hissing and knew it was coming from behind the stove. I woke up my relatives. They were none too happy about it - until they smelled the gas. They got out of the house and called the fire brigade. The leak was stopped before there was a fire."

"And you got treated better after?" Harry asked.

"They never beat me as severely. But no, Harry. I was still dirt in their eyes. And I had to live with them for another ten years."

"You saved their lives and they still…" Hermione began.

"My Uncle was an evil man, Hermione. My Aunt was scared of him, maybe even terrified. She could not stop it on her own and was afraid to ask for help. She married him for all the wrong reasons. He was a bully in his youth and was not much better as an adult. My poor Aunt Petunia was a weak person. She had so much potential as she was at least as smart as my Mum, but she had no ambition whatsoever. She scored top marks on her A levels and could have had her pick for universities, but could not do it. She was working as a waitress when my Uncle Vernon came in for lunch. She was so lonely by then and so heartbroken about alienating herself from the only person who had encouraged her - my Mum - that, well. She married my Uncle when she refused to get rid of her unborn child. I don't think he ever forgave her for that. When I came along, my Uncle had another target for his abuse. Besides, I really did not expect anything to change."

Harry thought about what Sensei said for a while, they both did. Harry knew Petunia was not the real problem, it was Vernon. She had tried to take care of him when they were alone together. She insisted on sending him off to Mrs. Figg's to keep him away from the others. She would even lock him in his cupboard when she could if she thought Vernon might go off on him. She didn't deserve to die. Harry wondered, what if Vernon was not around? Would it have been different for him?

"Then why'd you save them?" Hermione asked finally.

"My Hermione said I always had a 'Saving People Thing.' I just could not help myself. Got me in loads of trouble," Sensei replied.

"And me?" Harry asked.

"The fact that you're so upset tells me you have it too, Harry. I was always upset when I couldn't save someone - even if I didn't like them at all."

"Who are you?" Mrs. Granger finally asked. "How do you know Harry and my daughter?"

"And where the bloody hell did you come from?" Mr. Granger added.

"You can see me?" Sensei asked.

"Of course we can! We're not blind!"

"Interesting! Interesting indeed. And yet you missed the other three questions," Sensei laughed. "Those being what am I, how am I and when am I. It's good to see you two again, Bob and Rosie. It's been a long, long time."

"You know us?" Rose Granger asked.

"I have, I do, I will," Sensei replied.

"Is he daft," Robert Granger asked turning to the children. They shrugged.

"Are you asking if am I a nutter?" Sensei asked in reply.

"That sums it up nicely," Robert shot back.

"Ah, but you know that the really wealthy cannot be nutters," Sensei replied, "only eccentric."

"I'm going to be rich?" Harry asked.

"Going to be?" Sensei laughed. "Harry, you are quite the wealthy young man!"

"How do you know this?" Robert asked.

"He's me," Harry said. "Well, sort of. I sent him back from the future, it seems. Well, a version of me did anyway."

"WHAT?"

"Perhaps I should explain?" Sensei suggested. The Grangers nodded after noting the big smiles on the children's faces. At Sensei's suggestion, they took a seat as Hermione stayed somewhat snuggled with Harry while Sensei explained who and what he was.

"So you're from the future?" Robert asked in almost disbelief.

"A possible future," Sensei agreed. "Just a possible one."

"Still, you know if you change the timeline, change your history…"

"My timeline will cease to exist, yes. As I told you, in the future I come from, the human race is wiped out. That's a fate worth destroying."

"But, I thought…"

"That if I changed the past that way all time eventualities would cease to exist?"

Robert Granger nodded.

"Ah, the time paradox, yes?"

Another nod.

"It presumes time is linear. Only the past is - rather only the unaltered past is. The future is limitless and can proceed in any direction. Eliminate one direction and the remaining possibilities are still infinite. I am here to ensure that the past that cannot be changed does not lead to the future I know. Any future is better, but a better future than any envisioned would be the ideal."

"And Harry's a key in all this?"

"Unfortunately," Sensei agreed.

"What?" Harry asked.

"The past has placed you in a position where you are key to the future, Harry. It sucks. It sucked when I went through it and it will suck for you, too. No one should have that thrust upon them. But the spells my Creator used could not allow me to interact with anyone but you and those you trust. In a prefect world, my Creator and his Hermione would have seen to it that Tom Riddle died at birth along with his mother. But that option was not possible when I was sent back. I could only come back during your lifetime and could only do my task when you are old enough to learn."

"And you are to teach him magic, I suppose?" Rose asked. It was the first time either of Hermione's parents mentioned magic. Sensei was almost dumbfounded.

"You know about magic?" he asked.

"We've known for some time - er - what should we call you?"

"Sensei is fine."

"We've known," Robert continued. "We knew our daughter's 'special gift' was magic - that she's a witch. Obviously, Harry is a wizard as well."

"You've known," Hermione all but shrieked! "You've known all this time?"

"That you were a witch? Yes Tinkerbelle - or perhaps you missed the hidden meaning behind my secret name for you?"

"Tinkerbelle?" Harry asked Hermione quietly.

"Watch it, buster," Hermione growled at him.

"Sorry, it's just…"

"Only Daddy can call me that!"

"Okay," Harry seemed to sulk.

"For now," Hermione added when she saw he was hurt.

"For now," Harry nodded. "Can I come up with my own name for you?"

"M-maybe," Hermione said. She wasn't sure if she wanted one. Most kids her age had called her names that were not nice.

"Hmmm," Harry chuckled to himself as Hermione kissed his forehead.

"So you've known I was a witch," Hermione said returning to her now dumbfounded parents. "You never told me!"

"Erm," Rose began.

"WHY NOT?"

"Sweetie, how did you come to learn this?" Rose asked sternly.

"Sensei told Harry and me as well," Hermione replied meekly. "He had to tell Harry and since I could see him…"

Rose nodded. "We were going to tell you, Sweetie, eventually. It was - ah - inevitable. Did Sensei tell you about the Magical Secrecy Laws?"

Hermione nodded.

"We could not tell you until we had to, Hermione," her father continued. "It's not as if we wanted to keep this from you, but the secrecy laws had to be upheld. Telling you risked you telling others. They would have taken you away from us. We could have lost you had that happened."

"We cannot lose you," Rose Granger added.

"But you knew?" Hermione asked.

"We knew about magic since well before you were born, Hermione. My younger brother was magical as was your Dad's younger sister. We knew. Your Aunt Minnie is too and she told us that you were as well."

"And you never thought she was a freak?" Harry said in shock.

"No Harry, we never did. Nor do we think you are. You are gifted from God, not freaks or accidents. We don't fully understand your talents. We accept them, however. Hermione is our child and now so are you. We accept you for who you are, not what. We really don't understand your talents near as much as we'd like. Aunt Minnie helps but…"

"Aunt Minnie?" Harry asked.

"She's a witch. Wanted to be here on the day we told Hermione, but…"

"Sensei beat her to it?"

Rose Granger nodded. "Still, there's more to tell our daughter. Robert?"

"Aunt Minnie is coming by today," Robert Granger replied. "Maybe?"

Rose nodded.

"Maybe what?" Hermione asked.

"Later, Dear," Rose Granger said. "When Grand Aunt Minnie is here."

"Okay," Hermione pouted. She did not like waiting to learn. "What happened to my Aunt and Uncle? I never knew I had any."

"They were killed by evil wizards during the last wizard's war, Hermione. They died before you were even a year old."

"Oh." Sensei had told them about that war. It sounded awful then. But to know it had touched her own family? That was not right!

"So, Sensei," Robert Granger began, "what are your plans for our children."

Harry looked up at this. He could not believe what he had just heard. He never had been anyone's child, at least not since his real parents died, and he did not remember them at all. Now he was part of a family. It scared him a bit, but thrilled him even more.

"Well, my original plans are useless now," Sensei said.

"Why?"

"I was originally intended to arrive at Harry's Aunt and Uncle's place on July 1st, 1995. It was just after the end of Harry's Fourth Year at Hogwarts. Voldemort had returned to a physical form. I had witnessed the event itself. A friend of mine was killed in cold blood right before my eyes and I had been made an unwilling participant in Voldemort's return. The coming year would be the worst year of my life up to that point and that was saying something.

"Harry would be in desperate need of information, friendship and training that summer and he would be denied it by his magical guardian for 'The Greater Good.' This Guardian believed Harry had a destiny. That destiny would culminate in Harry's death as a Martyr."

"What!" the four exclaimed.

"Obviously, that did not happen, else I would not be here aged 168 years. Still, the Guardian's plan blinded me for years. I trusted him and believed what he was doing was for the best. I also believed he was infallible and could not make a big mistake. He did. I would not learn of it for over twenty years and when I did, the next war was upon us and it led to the final two wars that wiped out mankind.

"My tasking is and was simple. Harry will not walk down that path. His will walk a path of mostly his own choosing and he shall learn that his destiny is his to control and no one else has the right to control it for him. As I have over shot my target time by over seven years, I now see a golden opportunity, at least as far as Harry - and Hermione - are concerned. My plan is very different now.

"First goal, getting Harry better. Although I have begun their training, the real fun cannot begin until Harry is healthy again. Second goal is also a request. Harry and Hermione are going to start an intensive course of magical and physical training. Once that starts, they will need food.

"The training will burn prodigious amounts of energy and on top of that they are still growing children, which also requires energy. They will need at least 4,000 calories a day of healthy eating. I don't mean healthy for you, though. In their case, fatty foods are not bad. Those 4,000 calories should be full of proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates and a fair bit of fats: bacon, sausages and at least two eggs at breakfast along with toast and other foods. Whole milk is key. Plenty of fruits and veggies. They should also be allowed at least another 1,000 calories of pure energy foods - you call them junk food: candy, potato chips, sodas, stuff like that."

"And they won't get fat?" Rose asked.

"No. They won't. You will have to monitor them carefully. 5,000 calories a day might not be enough to keep them healthy with their training requirements, at least during the summer months. During their school year, we may be able to cut back a bit because their school work comes first.

"I've been working with them on mind skills. They are learning the disciplines that will make them far more able to learn magic. They are also learning a type of magic call occlumency."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Your safe place in your head, Harry. That safe place we shall build into a veritable fortress that only those you want can ever enter. There is another kind of mind magic out there and they will be used on you and Hermione which is why you need your fortresses. It is known as Legilimancy. In its benign form, this magic can allow a person to read another person's memories and emotions with ease. While one cannot read thoughts, still it is useful. In its malevolent form, it allows one to attack another's mind and can force them to do things or drive them insane. Not pleasant at all. Voldemort was a master at this magic, but he was not alone. Occlumency blocks this kind of intrusion into your mind and, when mastered, can allow you to trap your attacker. Harry and Hermione need to learn how to protect themselves and their secrets.

"I will also train them in magic as well as physical combat techniques. When the time comes and if they choose to engage, they will be ready. My Hermione and I, while quite gifted, were not. They will be and it can make all the difference in a war."

"War?" Robert Granger asked.

"Yes, Mr. Granger, a war. You were S.A.S. in your youth, so you know war. Most witches and wizards do not, which was why we lost in my timeline. Well, we won, but at a terrible cost because we refused to kill the enemy."

"That's madness," Robert Granger said. "If they are out to kill you…"

"I agree," Sensei said. "I hope this timeline has changed such that Harry and Hermione might not be thrust into battle at the tender ages of eleven and twelve respectively. I hope Harry here won't have to kill a man at age eleven as I did. But I cannot promise that will not be so. Hence, they train."

"Non-magical combat?" Robert asked.

"With your permission, of course. I can teach them the martial arts. But there is one who is much better. Sensei Teneru Watanabe. He runs a school in Kyoto Japan. They teach eastern martial arts, eastern and western magic as well as non-magical subjects. They run a summer camp of sorts. Three or four weeks, it is. I can assure you, as four summers separate them from when they have to enter the wizarding world, Harry and Hermione will be ready for whatever awaits them once they enter the wizarding world in a few years."

"What sort of non-magical subjects?" Rose Granger asked.

"All sorts," Sensei replied. "Math, sciences, art, literature, history, languages. They also teach music so Harry can continue with the piano if he wishes."

"I do," Harry said.

"And cooking," Sensei added.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Really."

"Hermione's taking the violin," Rose added.

"And she could continue."

"In three or four weeks?" Robert asked, "that's impossible!"

"To you, they will be away for about a month. To them, more like four or five years. With no outside distractions, they should effectively finish primary school by the end of summer."

"Hold on," Rose said, "my baby will be five years older?"

"No. The magic they use to - er - slow real time does not allow them to age more than a couple of months. Their physical, mental and magical skills will be that of two people who had trained for four or five years. They, however, will not have aged at all."

"And how much will this cost?"

"Money will not be an issue," Sensei said. "One of the first things you should do with Harry, aside from buy him some decent clothes, is to take him to the Bank of London. He can access his accounts from there. As this is an education related expense, his trust fund can pay for it."

"And its just this once?"

"No. I was thinking each summer starting this summer and ending no sooner than the summer before they start Hogwarts."

"But where will they be by then - education wise?"

"If they apply themselves, they may be near master levels in several of the eastern martial arts including karate, taekwondo, aikido, jujitsu, and the Japanese sword disciplines. With wands, they could well be beyond what it taught at Hogwarts by the time they are invited to attend. Their wandless skills may be beyond almost anyone in Europe. Academically, they may well enter Hogwarts with their college degrees completed."

"Then why send them to Hogwarts at all?" Robert Granger asked.

"Because that's were it all happens. It will be the focal point of the coming war which cannot be stopped and must be won."

"We'll think about it."

"Please Daddy?" Hermione all but begged. "It sounds wonderful."

"I said we'll think about it."

Sensei laughed watching Hermione pout. His Hermione never did that. "That's all I can ask for now. If you decide not to, there are other things I can do."

"But they must do this?"

Sensei shook his head. "They should do this. It will make their lives better than it would otherwise be. It only becomes necessary several years from now when they need to make their mark on the timeline to stave off the disaster. The sooner the better, I should think."

"We'll think about it."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door to the hospital room.

"May I come in?" a voice asked as an older woman's head peeked into the room. She looked to be in her mid-sixties with white on blonde hair and glasses. Harry thought she looked like a pleasant person.

"Auntie Minnie!" Hermione cried out as if she wanted to hug the woman, but Hermione never so much as left Harry's side.

"Hey there, 'Mione," she replied.

"You can call me that," Hermione whispered to Harry.

"Like Arwen better," he said smiling back and causing Hermione to giggle.

"My, my," Minnie said, "you told me Hermione had a friend. I do believe that's true as I cannot once remember a giggle passing her lips."

Hermione could not help but blush.

"Minnie," Rose said, "this is the new foster child we told you about. Horribly abused he was. This is Harry Potter."

The woman seemed to look at Harry in shock. She then seemed to transform in front of them. She grew a couple of inches and her face changed entirely. Her hair was now iron gray and it was hard to tell her true age. She stared at Harry as if she had seen a ghost.

"Not from Little Whinging," she said in shock.

"We found him there," Rose said, "he was in really bad shape. His Uncle abused him something terrible."

"That's impossible! Harry Potter is dead!"

"Interesting," Sensei said attracting the attention of everyone in the room except the newcomer. "Harry?"

"Yes Sensei?" Harry replied.

"Please ask Minerva McGonagall what makes her think you are dead. And be sure to use her name, Harry."

"Yes Sensei." He then turned to the woman. "My Sensei has asked me to ask you, Minerva McGonagall, why it is you think I am dead? Obviously, that is not the case."

"H-how did you know my name?" McGonogall asked.

"My Sensei just told me," Harry replied. "So, why do you think I died?"

It took a few moments for McGonagall to regain her composure. Something very different than anything she could recall was happening here. Whether it was good or not was as yet an unanswerable question. "Albus Dumbledore said you must have died," she replied. "It was the only thing that explained the collapse of the wards that protected you and the deaths of your relatives."

"Wards?" Harry asked Sensei.

"Special magical shields," he replied. "They collapsed the moment your Aunt and Uncle signed you over to the Grangers. You can tell her that."

Harry did as he was told. He also told her the fire that claimed his relatives was not magical.

"You know about magic?" McGonagall asked in shock.

"Sensei told Hermione and me about it," Harry said. "Seems her parents already knew."

"Who's this Sensei you speak of?"

"You can't see him?" Robert asked.

"He's right there," Rose added pointing at Sensei.

"I see nothing."

"Sensei can only be seen by Harry and by those he trusts," Hermione said. "He doesn't know you yet."

"I see. What is he?"

"He's me," Harry said. "Well a future me. He was sent back in time to find me and help me fix the timeline."

"What's wrong with it?"

Harry then repeated what Sensei told him. "Albus Dumbledore's plans for me will lead to the extermination of the human race should I follow it."

"But that's…"

"Impossible? Hardly." Harry's voice paused as he slowly repeated what Sensei was saying. "Should this timeline continue unaltered in the important events, Albus Dumbledore's Greater Good will lead to the end of the world for all. The magical world has three choices. First off, it can discard its archaic secrecy and rejoin the rest of mankind as equals, not as superiors. Second, it can cease to exist entirely. The third choice is to do as Albus wants and lead the entire world to ruin. Albus cannot be trusted with the fate of humanity. He accepts no counsel but his own and is obsessed with a prophecy he does not and cannot understand. He never studied that magic. Yet he places faith in it anyway. He will lead the world to its ruin."

"I…"

"For the sake of mankind, Minerva, I am dead. You will not tell Albus otherwise. He will lead us to ruin if he has his way and removes me from the Grangers' care. My Sensei told me to tell you this. He knows what the future has in store for us all if we do as Dumbledore wants. So long as the magical world believes I am dead, I am safe as are the Grangers. Do you understand?"

"No. I do not. Albus has always had your best interests…"

"Has he?" There were longer pauses now as Harry listened to Sensei in stunned disbelief, yet he relayed the message just the same. "My parents and I would have been perfectly safe had we hidden at my ancestral home. But Albus could not find us there either so he set us up in one of his properties in Godrics Hollow. He told the world later that my Godfather was the Secret Keeper when he knew that was a lie. He knew that Peter Pettigrew had been the Secret Keeper because the enemy would assume it was my Godfather, Sirius Black.

"He allowed my Godfather to be sent to prison without a trial for what happened to my parents and what people thought happened to Pettigrew when, as presiding judge, he could have prevented the miscarriage of justice. But, if Sirius Black was a free man, I would have become his Ward. Dumbledore would not be able to control my future if I was Black's Ward. So he saw to it Black was out of the picture and I was sent into slavery with my Aunt and Uncle."

"Slavery?"

"I'm in this bed in this hospital for a reason. The Grangers are my parents now for a reason. My Uncle beat me to within an inch of my life a few weeks ago. I've had beatings before as well. It was not the first time. Dumbledore knew of this and left me there. You know what the magical laws do to child abusers and those who fail to report it?"

McGonagall nodded.

"Dumbledore should be rotting in prison for his failures as my Magical Guardian, a position he stole from my Godfather. Do you really want to tell the facilitator of my torture that I am alive?" After there was no reply from McGonagall, Harry continued to relay Sensei's information. "I will attend Hogwarts, but not as Dumbledore's pawn. He and the rest of the Wizarding World will not know I am alive until you call me forward to be sorted. By then, he will be in no position to continue to ruin my life or to cast the world onto the path towards its destruction.

"Are you going to tell him I am alive?" There was fear in Harry's voice when he asked.

"No, Harry. I'm not sure if I believe everything you say. But I never wanted you to go to those brutes. I see now what that led to. I will keep your secret."

"Good. But as you doubt, ask yourself this question: How could my Godfather betray me? You know the magic behind that relationship. It is impossible for him to betray me or even place me at risk. To do so would have killed him. Yet he lives."

"You have a point."

"Will you tell Dumbledore that I am alive?"

"You don't want me to, do you?"

"No!"

"I won't betray you, Harry. I cannot."

"Why?"

"Because, in a way, you are part of my family now."

"What do you mean?"

Harry and Hermione then saw the three real adults gather together for a moment. They were clearly whispering about something. Soon, they broke apart and faced the two children.

"Hermione," Minerva said, "we have something to tell you - and Harry now. It's about your parents."

A/N: A first cliffy?