Seeing her daughter collapse screaming in agony in front of her was the second most horrifying moment of Jane Grangers life. She had only had a light head ache but it had turned into fits of convulsing and screaming with her powerless to help. The most horrifying came after thirty seconds of screaming when she stopped screaming and stilled. It was a few seconds before she realised Hermione was not breathing and a check of her vitals showed her heart had also stopped. She screamed for her husband to call an ambulance while she tried to resuscitate her but after three rounds of compressions she was thrown backwards by some unseen force.
When she got to her feet she saw Hermione lying as still as she had been before but with a golden glow surrounding her that prevented her frantic attempts to continue first aid. She was still trying a minute later when the ambulance arrived and after a couple of attempts managed to slip a stretcher under her to take her to hospital. Riding in the back of the ambulance watching her daughter twitch but not breath; a halo of light shrouding her and preventing anyone from touching her was tearing her apart. Her daughter, her precious Hermione needed her and she was completely powerless to do anything except watch and wait. Watch wait and pray that she would be alright.
The hospital was a blur of people asking questions as they ran her through the emergency department and coloured lights of machinery that they tried to attach. Every machine went haywire once it went near her. They couldn't even link up a heart monitor to get her vitals. Eventually one of the doctors fed a stethoscope through the halo around her and laid it against her wrist. There was silence as he listened and her blood ran cold as he frowned. She opened her mouth to ask but she couldn't; she couldn't ask the man if her little angel was gone.
"Her heart beat is..." he paused, confusion reigning supreme amongst surprise and a faint trace of annoyance. "Her heart sounds fine, when it beats. There is no pattern to the beats; they seem random with periods of up to ten seconds or more of nothing and periods of flat out beating. The single most baffling thing is the static; there sounds like a bad radio is playing in her skin."
He looked up at her, "how did this happen?"
"I don't know," she said her voice breaking. "She complained of a head ache just a minute before and I took her up to bed. Just as we were walking towards the bed she just collapsed." She stopped to gather herself. "She was screaming and I couldn't do anything and I tried but nothing worked and she wouldn't stop screaming and..."
"Stop," the doctor said firmly taking her hand, trying to calm her. "You did everything you could. Now take a deep breath and tell me what happened next."
"She was screaming for thirty seconds, she was twitching and writhing like she was being tortured," again her voice broke. "Then just as suddenly as it started she just stopped and went limp. I saw she wasn't breathing and checked her but couldn't find a pulse." Once again she was overcome with the pain and fear that the recollection of the memories brought. "I started compressions but suddenly..." she broke off and gestured at the halo that was only now beginning to fade.
Just then the door opened and a dark skinned man in robes walked through and stopped looking shocked at the glow surrounding the girl on the bed.
"What's happening here? How did she end up like this?" he asked his low voice tight with the surprise of seeing Hermione like that. His mind immediately jumped to the descriptions of Harry and Ginny's bond that he had heard from healers the previous night and had been described by Dumbledore when he had talked to the man later. Could this be happening again?
"Who are you?" demanded the doctor who was there. Kingsley waved his wand and the man simply looked at Jane, said "I'll be right back," and left.
"My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt," Kingsley told Jane. "Can you tell me how she ended up like this?"
"She just collapsed and started screaming and then this came up," she replied her voice breaking.
"Was the shield like this before? Or was it fully corporeal?" he asked.
"What?"
"Was it more defined," he clarified. "Was it like how it is now; fuzzy and sort of out of focus or was it almost solid looking."
"Solid do you know what is going on, is she safe?" Jane asked desperately.
"I'm not sure," he replied and with a wave of his wand sent a silvery jet out that disappeared through the wall. "But I assure you I will try to make sure your... daughter I presume she is?"
"Yes her name's Hermione," Jane told him.
"I'll make sure that she comes out all right," Kingsley assured her as a silver phoenix flew in and spoke to them.
"Harry and Ginny are the same; bring them both via portkey to the Department of Mysteries, Room of the Veil."
Jane looked stunned. "What was..."
"There is no time to explain, is your husband here?" he asked.
"Yes he's filling in paperwork," Jane replied.
"I'll be back soon," he said and turned tail and walked through the doors.
Jane sat at Hermione's side and stroked her hair, glad that the halo around her had disappeared and her breathing and pulse were normal again. The only indication that anything was different was a faint crackle of static as she stroked Hermione's hair and her state of unconsciousness.
"Jane dear do you know what's happening? Is she alright?" Daniel Granger asked as he walked into the room with Kingsley.
"No but I hope this man will help us find out," she replied.
Kingsley tapped a small rubber glove and murmured, "Portus," and it glowed blue.
"If you would just tough this thank you and keep a good hold on Hermione," Kingsley said.
"And what will this-" Dan started but was cut off when his world dissolved in a whirl of colour.
At the same time that Hermione was being driven to the hospital, all the adults in the Department of Mysteries were clustered around the two children who they recently exorcised the soul fragment from. The department medics had done a sterling job of trying to revive the kids, their hearts having stopped for several minutes before restarting along with their breathing but were impeded by a globe of magic that had burst out of them, completely shattering the bands that they wore.
"Those bands were supposed to be unbreakable," one of the workers said in disbelief. "I know because I helped make them, we tested them against the Gringots curse breakers. A team of twelve went at them for a week before they cracked one open and they were to a man passed out for several days afterward. How in the name of Merlin did two kids break two of them at once?"
"These two are beyond what we have seen before," Dumbledore said sagely. "I believe you are familiar with the power of soul bonds? These two have a stronger bond than any seen before."
After that the adults all talked about the wards on the bands, the power of the bond and any side effects that might come from the horcrux's removal. They all kept a close watch on Harry and Ginny who were wrapped in each other's embrace, the only sign that they were alive being their breathing and occasional twitch or shudder.
Arthur and Molly were talking to Dumbledore and another worker when Molly asked a question that she had put aside the previous afternoon.
"What was all that about music? When Albus brought that book in the kids were going on about music but we couldn't hear any."
"Music is the language of our soul," the worker who had informed them her name was Maria Elmswood answered. "What they heard was their combined souls rejoicing in their union, something sounds unbelievably beautiful. The same sound is heard in the room of love; the sound of the souls of those in the room singing. We are not allowed to spend more than two hours a week in that room; there are some who have been driven to near insanity by the sounds, sounds that no earthly instrument could hope to replicate."
"How did they hear it," Arthur asked.
"The book contains an enchantment that enables it to detect such bonds and reveal them to the bonded when they are near."
"I must say this is a fascinating subject," Dumbledore interjected. "There is little known about the soul itself and some of the darkest and foulest things affect the soul itself."
"Yes, horcrux's and the Dementors kiss being the most foul," Maria said. "It's also a little known fact that the Killing Curse affects the soul as well; the magic disrupts the connection between the soul and the body causing the soul to leave the body and with no anchor the soul departs. That is the reason it is unblockable: as soul magic, only soul magic could counter it."
"Then how did Harry survive as a baby?" Molly asked.
"I have a theory," Dumbledore said. "It is because of that theory that I placed him at the Dursleys, even with the blood wards."
"What is this theory?" Maria asked. "We have been eager to study The-Boy-Who-Lived for years."
"I believe that Lilly Potter invoked ancient magic when she died, part soul magic and part blood magic that reflected the curse," Dumbledore said. "I believe that it was that magic that prevented the blood wards from failing when Lestrange attacked, she certainly had the knowledge to break the wards but they held."
"What..." Maria asked then stopped. "Loves sacrifice?" she asked.
"Yes."
"What's Loves Sacrifice?" Molly asked.
"It is when a person willingly chooses to die in the place of another and has the option to leave and not die," Dumbledore said. "The sacrifice is blood magic and the love required is soul magic and would be enough to repel the curse."
"If it was her dying for Harry that did it why aren't there more cases," Molly asked. "I know I would die for my children and others must feel the same."
"True but the difference in this situation is that Lilly was offered a choice, something that usually doesn't happen particularly with Voldemort. Usually they may give their lives for their children or loved ones but they didn't have the choice to walk away unharmed. That choice was the key element."
At that moment a patronus soared through the wall and spoke quietly to Dumbledore.
"Impossible," he breathed. He rounded on Maria, "get the book of bonds."
"Why?" she asked.
"I think that things have just gotten more complicated."
She looked bewildered but nonetheless left to fetch the book, returning a minute later and handing the book to him still looking perplexed.
He opened the book to the page that Harry and Ginny's bond was on, read and frowned looking amazed. He raised his wand and sent a patronus out before turning back to Maria.
"We need to have a portkey come through the wards," he said. "There will be four people in total."
"Why? Dumbledore what is going on?" she asked.
"We have something else that has never been seen before," he replied showing her the book.
Written there on the page were the same words as before but there were additions.
Harry James Potter and Ginnevra Molly Weasley. Soul Bonded 16 June 1986, Hermione Jean Granger (partial) 17 June 1986
"Another person!" she cried and the room went silent just in time for the portkey to place Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hermione and her parents in the middle of the floor. As soon as the four materialised Hermione, Harry and Ginny all began to glow and the three lifted off the floor. They floated to the middle of the room and there was a glowing golden band that formed around them in the same shape that they had seen on their scans but with the part that flowed up encircling Hermione and being solid rather than scattered.
"Hermione!" her mother cried trying to get to her. "What's going on?" she asked sounding scared.
Fortunately for the woman's sanity the trio floated gracefully to the ground. Immediately Jane raced forward and grabbed hold of Hermione before being restrained by two of the Unspeakables.
"LET GO OF ME! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER! LET GO!" she screamed before being silenced by Dumbledore.
"Please calm down, we couldn't let you take her away from the other two because it could harm or kill both, particularly at this stage and with the surrounding circumstances. Please stay calm and we will explain everything."
After several minutes and a glance to see that Dan was similarly restrained she calmed down enough for Dumbledore to remove the charm from her.
"Ok we'll start with the basics," Dumbledore began. "This may take some time to tell as there is a lot to cover and there is quite a lot that we are not sure about and don't understand fully. First off the most basic thing is that magic is real, you are currently in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries."
"What is this rubbish?" Dan barked still angry from before. "Magic isn't real."
"How did you come to be here? Haven't strange and inexplicable things happened around Hermione that don't' make logical sense?"
Dan and Jane looked thoughtful for a second. "There was one time when her cousin didn't want to give her her books back and threw them on the roof but she got them back and turned her cousin fluorescent orange for a day, she looked like an Oompa Lompa."
"Magic, Hermione is a witch," Dumbledore said.
"How dare you!" Jane cried.
"In our world, witch is simply a term for a female with magic, nothing more or less," Dumbledore explained calmly. "What you had seen is accidental magic; uncontrolled outbursts from when a child experiences strong emotions like happiness, anger or fear. These are all totally natural and ordinarily we would let you know of the existence of our world when Hermione is eleven, old enough to attend school and get her first wand."
"School? What sort of school?" Jane asked quickly.
"It is a boarding school in Scotland of which I am headmaster," he said. "The schooling lasts for seven years, choosing electives in third year, taking their Ordinary Wizarding Levels or OWLs in fifth year which decide which subjects they continue with. Then are the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests or NEWTs at the end of seventh year which determine what careers you can choose, but we digress.
"The reason that you were brought here is because of an unheard of occurrence. There appears to be a three way soul bond forming between the children."
"What is a soul bond," Dan asked.
"Essentially it is the joining of two souls," Maria said. "Not the simple linking in marriage but the physical, for want of a better word, fusing of the souls into a new soul with the two individuals making up parts of the whole. This usually has several requirements such as physical contact and trust between the two involved but provides an experience beyond imagining."
"That's all well and good but what is so special about this?" Dan demanded. "And what does it mean for my little girl?"
"What is so special is that there are two completely new phenomena in this case," Dumbledore took over. "For one there is the three way connection; no bond in recorded history has been three way. The second is that the bond with Hermione is partial and we have no idea what differences if any are there and the future of the bond."
"So you called us here to tell us that Hermione is stuck in this bond that you don't have the foggiest about and she's a witch?" Jane asked snippily.
"We don't know for sure," Maria pointed out. "However we are the experts and we can predict likely outcomes and potential problems. That is what we have to discuss."
"So how did this all come about, start from the beginning," Dan said.
Dumbledore then explained with some help from Molly and Arthur how Molly had rescued Harry from his relatives and foiled their murder attempt, the revelation of which left both grangers horrified and appalled. They went on about the formation of the bond and the connection formed before explaining the power the couple held and measures they took to control it. Finally they moved on to the discovery of the horcrux and the ensuing ritual to banish it through the veil which seemed to somehow form the bond to Hermione. Needless to say, Dan and Jane were both overwhelmed by the story.
"What I don't understand," Dan said after a final pause. "Is how Hermione managed to be pulled into the bond? This is supposed to require close proximity at least and she was miles away isn't that right?"
"True we don't know for certain though we have a few theories," Maria said. "The first theory is that Harry has two soul mates and the removal of the horcrux made his soul find Hermione's and start the bond. This we don't think is very likely. The second theory is that Hermione is Harry's true love and their souls connected after the horcrux was banished."
"True love but you said that was Ginny," Jane pointed out.
"No Ginny is his soul mate, there is a slight difference," Maria corrected. "A person is believed to only have one true soul mate; they are the ones that can naturally form a soul bond. The problem most people have is that their soul mate is usually born at a completely different time and it is almost impossible for them to meet, if not impossible full stop. So most people find a true love who is a close second and on rare occasion a true love can form a soul bond if the two change enough to match."
"And what does this have to do with us?" Dan asked again.
"What I think happened is that the soul fragment had been part of Harry for so long that its removal badly damaged his soul. It needed something to heal it and Ginny having been affected by Harry's wounds was not able to help so Harry's soul sought out the only other soul with a chance to heal it: Hermione's. His soul called and hers answered, she healed his wounds and joined her soul to his. You might want to liken it to a wound in you world, having something cover it like a false skin, the false skin bonds to the skin, it's the same here. The real crux of the matter is that this is the soul equivalent of having both arms and legs ripped off so the bond is very strong."
"There was that much damage?" Molly asked faintly.
"Yes, the bond forming and the effort required to heal made their bodies shut down for a while which is why their hearts stopped," Maria replied. "This theory is the most likely and fits with the established laws that we know of."
Three simultaneous gasps pulled their attention back to the three kids who were now looking at each other, taking deep breaths. They made no other attempts to move apart from moving their heads around.
Where am I? Hermione asked through the bond.
The Ministry of Magic, they must have brought you here when they realised that you were in the bond with us, Ginny answered.
This is great; will you still be our friend Hermione? Harry asked eagerly but with a hint of trepidation, worried that she would reject him.
Of course I will, where else could I get two friends who really know me? Hermione replied and they could all feel the joy coming off her.
"Harry? Ginny? Hermione? Are you OK?" Molly asked as she scrambled over.
"We're fine mum," Ginny said. "The bond seems much better and we've got Hermione in it as well! This is going to be so fun! We each got two best friends in two days!"
"She's right Mrs Weasley," Hermione said. "This is really nice having them both know me and I know them and we all help each other if we're sad and we're always there for each other it's really nice. Do you know why this happened? Do you think that we would need to sleep together?"
"Slow down princess," Jane said soothingly trying to stop Hermione's eager babbling. "You're babbling again. She always babbles when she's nervous or really excited," she commented to the Weasleys.
"Tell us about your bond," Dumbledore said. "What did you see and feel when you were unconscious?"
"We were in these two rooms," Harry began. "There was that strange symbol on the roof but with three balls instead of two-"
Hermione continued without missing a beat. "I was in another room, Harry and Ginny were in a room of their own. Mine looked like my room at home and theirs looked like Ginny's room. There was a wall in between the rooms and I was scared at first, but then Harry and Ginny came in and they told me about the bond and magic-"
"And we all talked about our pasts and how we would keep going after this," Ginny finished.
"I think the wall resembles the fact that this is not a full bond, but has that potential," Maria said. "Harry and Ginny are in the same room because they are just two parts of the whole individual, Hermione is still a separate individual but the connection could make them all one if they want."
"So Hermione could be in the room with us?" Ginny asked eagerly. "That would be great! We would be fully together then!"
"I'd like that too," Hermione said. "I want to be part of this as well; it just feels too nice to stop."
"What do you mean it feels nice?" Jane asked.
"Well I can feel their emotions, they like having me as a friend and it feels nice that they can see me and not a source of homework," she said sadly and Harry and Ginny held her tighter with their free hands. "Just like that, they saw that and helped me. They like me and don't care I'm just a buck-toothed bookworm. And when they are happy I feel happy which makes them even more happy."
"We like the magic as well," Harry said. "Without those bands it feels like a river in us, and it gives us so much energy. I just feel like hugging both of them all the time. It's so great!"
"Magic feels wonderful," Hermione agreed. "I've never felt so alive!"
"That's all well and good but could you please put us down?" Maria asked. None of the people there had noticed that they were now twenty feet up.
"They really are strong if they could do that without noticing," Molly said.
"We'll need to control it," Dumbledore said. "We can't have kids running around with that much magic and no control."
"Not the bands!" Harry, Hermione and Ginny all cried at once in the same voice.
"What the hell!" Dan gasped. "What was that?"
"They can control each other to a certain extent," Dumbledore said. "We need to see how much Hermione is getting from this bond."
The next half hour was taken up with the trio being tested in the abilities that had manifested themselves at the beginning with Hermione included. At the end of the testing all present were positive that the three of them were moving into the sixth stage but the manifestation of the stage was absent. Dan posed that maybe the sixth must be consciously used and not an automatic thing which got nods from all present.
"The final test we had developed during our research into squibs," Maria said. "It is essentially a measure of the magical power currently in the person. The average scores for muggles rank in the teens, squibs rank in the high twenties and low thirties. Magical children before they attend Hogwarts usually rank between forty five and ninety, teenagers between eighty and 120 and adults between 100 and 160." She cast the spell on Dan and Jane, scoring twenty nine and thirty respectively.
"That means that you could possibly do some basic magic," Maria said with some surprise. "The level you are at means that you wouldn't have detectable outbursts but you have enough to do basic spells like cleaning and household spells. It is a misconception that squibs are completely without magic, they simply don't have enough that they have the outbursts that parents look for."
She cast it at one of her peers and scored 147 and casting at Dumbledore scored 203.
"Now let's see what you score," Maria said to the children causing Hermione to sit up straighter and pay close attention like she was being tested and didn't want to fail. Harry and Ginny quickly calmed her down and got her to relax a bit.
The result was 449.
Total silence filled the chamber as everyone looked at the result in shock.
"How did they get to that level?" breathed Molly sounding as though she was about to faint.
"There are three of them and I doubt any of them on their own were weak," Dumbledore said. "What you get together is more than just what they are combined. Remember that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. That is what we see here."
"So those three are the most powerful people in the room?" Jane asked shocked.
"Yes and it will only grow as they age, the bands that we used to reign in their power were shattered when they used some of their power. We tested those on Gringots curse breakers, it took a team of twelve a week to break it and they were exhausted."
"Can you give that to us again?" Dan asked looking confused.
"The best analogy would be a team of demolition specialists," Maria said. "Working to break down a wall for a week and using all their equipment and these kids just walk right through it and don't even slow down."
"Oh."
Finally the stages were finished and the verdict was written down as follows:
Harry Potter, Ginnevra Weasley and Hermione Granger (soul bond) abilities by stage.
Stage one: none (possible can count inclusion of Hermione Granger in soul bond.) current length of stage at twenty seven hours and counting.
Stage two: uncertain, possible ability to relocate to each other in times of need. Unconfirmed as couples unable to separate without pain, (Harry and Ginny) or extreme discomfort (Hermione).
Stage three: Shared memories in addition to thoughts, innate occlumency and legilimency that could be strengthened to unprecedented levels (Hermione not to level of bond mates when tested). Legilimency not to passive stage as yet.
Stage four: total sharing of senses, aura vision (Harry and Ginny: Level one; dishonesty detection, basic detection of personality and emotional history. Not security risk. Hermione: level two; dishonesty detection and basic personality detection.)
Stage five: able to seed total control of each other's bodies to another in the bond. Harry and Ginny able to control each other's magic.
Stage six: unknown as yet though definitely present. Possible conscious ability rather than automatic ability.
Stage seven: unconfirmed though still a possibility.
Looking at the report that was written up, all the Unspeakables made a vow to themselves: don't mess with these kids. They are the ones who will take the world by storm and they didn't want to stand in their way.