After the Unspeakables finished giving their report on the trio it was decided that they should head over to the Weasleys to have some dinner. They had spent a lot of time in the ministry and were undoubtedly tired; it had been an emotional day for all present. Harry, Hermione and Ginny were all excited to have their new bond mate(s) and were sifting through all the memories that they received from each other and discussing them. They compared likes and dislikes, treasured memories and bad times, (Harry had an unspeakably large number of these, much to his bond mates fury and horror) different skills and periods of accidental magic and their hopes and dreams for the future. Hermione and Harry were particularly excited when they looked through Ginny's memories of Hogwarts on the few occasions that she had been brought with Molly when she had to visit the school in addition to all the stories Bill Charlie and Percy had told about the castle.
It was Hermione who raised the point that the bond would make things difficult with living arrangements, both here and at Hogwarts. When they voiced this concern Mr and Mrs Granger protested loudly, particularly when they found that Hermione would need to sleep in the same bed as Harry and Ginny. Part was that they would not have their little princess in the house with them but most of it was that she was sleeping with Harry. After an hour of discussion, a considerable amount of persuasion, assurances from Dumbledore, Molly and Arthur, Ginny and most importantly Hermione herself that Harry would not do anything 'improper' and there was truly no other option they managed to reach a compromise. They agreed that the three needed the contact and allowed that but asked that the trio alternate living at the Burrow and the Grangers home in London. Dumbledore informed them that Harry would need to have protections placed around the property which when explained were agreed to.
Perhaps the most important conversation was between Dumbledore and the two sets of parents.
"I believe you asked once what happened to Harry's parents and our references to Voldemort," Molly and Arthur winced. "Or as most people refer to him 'You Know Who' or 'He Who Must Not Be Named'." Seeing their nods he continued. "Approximately seventeen years ago Voldemort started gathering power and followers. For several years there were signs of his movements, dark creatures stirring, mysterious disappearances and certain portions of the population started to alter their habits. Eventually he moved into the open, killing and torturing any who opposed him and for the better part of a decade the wizarding world was in a state of warfare. Unfortunately due to corruption and incompetence our side was losing; the ministry got started far too late, the Order of the Phoenix which was the only other active force opposing Voldemort was being taken apart one by one. Harry's parents and friends all joined and fought bravely, they were among the best there.
"Eventually when things seemed to be on the verge of collapsing I was interviewing a divination teacher when a prophecy was made." He pulled out a bag and drew a small stone bowl form inside.
"A pensieve?" Arthur asked surprised.
"Yes," Dumbledore replied. He raised his wand to his temple and pulled a silvery strand out and placed it in the bowl. "This is the prophecy," he said and poked the silvery liquid that filled the pensieve.
The silvery shape of a woman wrapped in shawls and beads rose and spoke in a harsh horse voice: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born... as the seventh month dies..." (J.K Rowling Order of the Phoenix)
The silence that followed the reciting of the prophecy was deafening.
"It means Harry?" Molly asked her voice no more than a whisper.
"At first it could have meant two boys," Dumbledore said. "But there is no doubt now that the child referred to is Harry."
"It said that neither can live while the other survives," Arthur said. "It's good Voldemort is dead then."
"Actually that is not the case as the horcrux in Harry proved," Dumbledore corrected gravely. "The presence of that horcrux is certain proof that Voldemort is still out there and will undoubtedly return."
"Does the prophecy mean anything though?" Jane asked. "There is so much that could be taken differently, it could already be fulfilled. Does vanquish mean kill or just send away? Does live mean actual life or a meaningful life? And does the Dark Lord mean Voldemort or another Dark Lord we don't know about?"
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "it is possible that the prophecy has been fulfilled but the point reason that I am taking all the precautions I have is that I know Voldemort's character; he only heard the first few lines stating that one with the power to vanquish him will be born as the seventh month dies, not that he would be marked or have power he knows not. If he were to regain his body he would undoubtedly attempt to kill Harry, if for nothing else than to show his power over him. He is vain, arrogant and evil beyond measure but he is one of the most powerful wizards in existence. Therefore he is not to be taken lightly."
"This is the main reason I placed Harry with the Dursleys in the hope that his mothers protection will at least keep him safe until he came of age. In that regard I made horrendous miscalculation, I failed to account for the hatred Vernon and Petunia felt for magic. I never dreamed it would go this far."
"Be that as it may, what is the power that Harry is supposed to have?" Molly asked with a disapproving look at Dumbledore.
"Love I believe," Dumbledore said simply.
"That's it?" Dan said incredulously.
"Love is a powerful force; it was Love that deflected Voldemort's Killing Curse, a feat that had never been performed before and it was love from which I weaved the blood wards around Privet Drive, directly saving Harry on several occasions. In this case I believe it is the love of his bond mates to him and from him to them that will serve him. As you saw the abilities they will gain are extremely potent, many of them can only be developed by certain people and others only by years of work. This bond will give him an edge that can lead us to victory."
"They will not be soldiers! They're only kids!" Jane shouted.
"No they will not be at least not yet," Dumbledore said. "But some day they will need to be."
Neither set of parents had any reply to that. After a few minutes discussing the logistics of the bond and accommodation arrangements the conversation ended with the Grangers and Dumbledore staying for dinner. The ensuing cooking and meal was a real eye opener for the Grangers as they saw the soup stirring itself, knives that sliced perfectly with no assistance and serving on bowls and platters that kept the food hot. Fred and George provided some entertainment with a prank on Percy that caused his food to run away every time he tried to cut it. Jane and Dan were amazed at what magic could do, not in some secret government building but in a home. The real delight was Dumbledore creating several more chairs, Arthur enlarging the table to accommodate more people and the dishes doing themselves afterwards while everyone talked and drank butterbeer.
Hermione was the centre of attention with the Weasleys and they talked at length about the differences between muggle and magical life, the bond that she had with Harry and Ginny, (Leaving out the fact it is a soul bond; they just explained it was a magical bond) sport and school. Hermione was very interested in Quidditch and shared her fantasy of flying around the country side on a broomstick, becoming ecstatic when Ginny showed her memories of her brothers zooming around the orchard on their brooms and the promise that she would get a turn.
All three sat at the table, Harry in the middle with Ginny on his right and Hermione on his left. Hermione had came up with them intertwining legs instead of holding hands so they could each eat with two hands and so they sat talking with all the Weasleys. After dinner the parents sat down with Harry, Ginny and Hermione to get to know those they didn't. Hours of talking later the three went to bed, all of them embarrassed by the way they needed to bathe, before snuggling under the covers. It was several minutes before the trio spoke.
"The bond has ebbed again," Hermione said softly, her arms draped around Harry who lay in the middle between the two witches.
"This time was different," Harry said. "I can still feel you emotions, but I can't get your memories at will like I used to."
"Do you think we passed the first stage?" Ginny asked.
"I think so," Harry said. "It's been," he checked his watch. "Thirty two hours give or take."
"So the second stage should be done in a few weeks?" Hermione clarified.
"Yes, that's what Dumbledore said," Harry confirmed. "I didn't miss the changes but I liked hearing both of your thoughts."
"Me too," both girls said at the same time.
"G-night, Hermione, g-night Ginny."
"Goodnight Harry."
Downstairs the parents and Dumbledore were still discussing their children and the wizarding world in general. They had already covered Hogwarts and the different types of magic that the kids will learn, both from Dumbledore and when they eventually went to Hogwarts themselves. They discussed what people do for a living and were now moving onto the economy.
"The economy is the part of the wizarding world that is most immersed in the muggle world," Dumbledore said. "The reason being that many corporations were founded in part by wizards or bought over the course of the centuries. Most of these businesses are owned by the Ancient and Noble Houses, the houses of Black, Bones, Longbottom, Greengrass, Parkinson and Potter."
"Potter?" asked Dan.
"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Harry is the heir to one of the oldest and most powerful families, both financially and politically. He will get the opportunity to claim his hereditary seat on the Wizengamont when he comes of age as well as having access to the family vault at Gringots."
"You mentioned the Wizengamont before, what is it?" Jane asked.
"It is a cross between the court and parliament," Arthur said.
"Arthur is correct in the essentials though it doesn't always perform the tasks of the parliament," Dumbledore corrected. "Its main purpose is to try criminals but also passes legislation that is introduced, though the ministry is usually the one to introduce it."
"Back to the financial side, to what extent do the ancient houses integrate with the muggle world?" Jane asked.
"It depends on the family, the Potters were renowned in being one of the most modern of the ancient houses; they while being pureblood have no prejudices against others and frequently marry muggleborns. They also like the best of both worlds; Lilly, Harry's mother, was a gifted witch who was researching ways to integrate muggle technology into magical environments. Magic and muggle technology don't mix well, the electricity tends to go haywire when around magical environments.
"The Potters were the most integrated in the muggle world, they had several cars and owned quite a number of businesses in the muggle world outright while having respectable stakes in others. That is in addition to the wizarding businesses of course. On the other end of the spectrum we have the Blacks; prejudiced and bigoted to a man and supporters of Voldemort. Both their sons were Death Eaters and it is thanks to Sirius that Lilly and James were killed."
"You talked about prejudice, what prejudice is that?"
"There are some families in our world who think that because they have long lines of witches and wizards in their ancestry they are superior to those of mixed decent like Harry or of muggle decent like Lilly and Hermione."
"Is there any basis for that," Jane asked, her expression ambivalent. She was curious and apprehensive as to whether Hermione would be at a disadvantage with the rest of the world, but she was also angry that people would think less of people because of their parents.
"None at all," Dumbledore and Arthur spoke at the same time. "In fact there is even some evidence that the reverse is true though that may be down to inbreeding in many families."
"Inbreeding?" asked Dan shocked.
"Yes there are many different families who are profoundly inbred. They value their blood purity so much that they only let them marry other pure blood families, thus there is only a limited pool of families to choose from. All the pureblood families are related in some way, though the Potters, Longbottoms and Bones' not so much; they are the most forward and least prejudiced houses though they to some extent have the upper class mannerisms. I know that Augusta Longbottom is very much an upper class lady.
"Back to the lineage issue; there is no evidence whatsoever that muggleborns are any better or worse than other witches and wizards. Lilly was one of the best witches I have had pass through the school before or since, bright and powerful to boot."
They proceeded to talk about the economy after settling the issue of lineage, revealing that Harry was quite a wealthy young man but couldn't access most of it for at least another seven years, having the option to become emancipated at fourteen as the last member of an ancient house. They explained Sickles, Knuts and Galleons before moving on to the advantages of magic vs. non-magical worlds. Both Dumbledore and the Weasleys admitted that in terms of progress in society and thinking muggles were at least a century ahead of the magical world and their technology was able to perform many tasks as well if not better than magic. Dan and Jane both admitted that wizarding technology and medicine was far superior as well as the study of the innate workings of the person were better understood.
Finally they touched on the laws and the statute of secrecy.
"Many of the laws are archaic by muggle standards and there are some that are different for the sole purpose of accommodating magic," Dumbledore said. "Usually polygamy is illegal in our world. However there is an underlying law that our society is based on: the laws of magic. Any laws that we set are secondary to the laws of magic and so should Harry, Hermione and Ginny wish to marry later down the track, much later, they would be permitted. Their magic has formed the bond and thus takes precedence.
"Other than that there are many laws that are biased, prejudiced or archaic. There is the concept of marriage contracts which are still practiced in our world for example and to some extent the Restriction on Underage Wizardry."
"How is that prejudiced?" Molly asked. "I thought that it banned all underage magical with a wand from practicing magic outside of school with only the exemptions for life threatening situations."
"That is true, in theory," Dumbledore said. "In reality however the ministry can only detect magic done around an underage witch or wizard, not the perpetrator. Thus those in magical households can do magic with impunity while those in non-magical homes are restricted. There has not been a single warning issued to a half or pureblood since its introduction. Those who are under the age that they can get wands, eleven, are largely ignored in regards to their magic use as it is uncontrolled. They only become involved if it is serious enough that they need to clean up afterwards."
"That's outrageous!" Jane shouted. "How can your society discriminate against people just because they aren't born in a magical home? And what about the magic the kids have already done?"
"That prejudice is left over from the medieval times and the days of the witch hunts and the implementing of the Statute of Secrecy. When muggles began to persecute witches and wizards en masse, we withdrew from society for our protection; we could not compete with mass firearms like we could with prior weapons. There were also troubles from muggleborns themselves; those who rejected the magical world and reacted much like the Dursleys," Dumbledore almost spat the last word like it tasted foul. "They spread information about magic to others and people tried and sometimes succeeded in persecuting our kind. The fear and distrust that was created then still exists today, and as they say, fear leads to hate. Thus we enacted the laws of secrecy and went into hiding, those who gain knowledge of our world who don't need to like yourselves have their memories modified to create a new situation that makes more sense to them and we leave the scene."
"You can erase people's memories?" Dan said angrily.
"Yes, though we only do so when necessary and only those who are able to do it properly are allowed to do so even then," Dumbledore said. "The charm can go badly wrong if done badly, yet it is the only way to protect ourselves. If we were to be found to exist people would ask for magical solutions to everything and we'd never get a moments peace. That and we would be studied to find what makes us magical, so it could be given to others or eradicated. That is the way of people: what they do not understand they fear, what they fear they hate and what they hate they try to destroy.
"And now it is late and I think that we should be getting you two back to your home." He finished.
Dan and Jane looked as if they wanted to ask more questions but they accepted and simply asked how they were to get home. Dumbledore replied that he and Arthur would side-along apparate them to their home and would get their house hooked up to the floo network the following morning so they could come around the next day as well. They were planning on showing the Grangers Diagon Alley before setting up a vault in Gringots. Molly watched with no idea what she was feeling as the Grangers, Arthur and Dumbledore walked out the door and disappeared with two 'pops'. Her daughter was alive and well but now there was another girl in the bond between her and Harry. Part of her was angry that Hermione had become part of what she felt was her daughter's, but she also was grateful for her for being there to heal them. She decided that she would treat Hermione like she treated Harry and Ginny, like one of her children because whether she liked it or not Hermione was here to stay and she couldn't change that.
Harry's eyes opened to their mind space once again and he was thrilled to see his girls waiting for him.
"I'm glad that we can keep this part even if we aren't in each other's minds all the time," Ginny said.
"This happens every time you're sleeping right?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Harry said. "I wish that I could hear you both thinking but that comes later. Just having you here is enough."
"We'll always be here Harry," Ginny said. "You don't have to worry about us going away; no matter how far we go we are your friends. Your best friends will always come back to you." With that she opened her arms and pulled Harry and Hermione into a hug.
Harry held both of them as they stood in silence simply holding their best friends and bond mates. He knew that they wouldn't leave but could never shake the nagging doubt that the Dursleys had left; that he was unwanted and unwantable and at any moment both will turn away and leave or he would wake up. He guessed time was the only way he could be sure.
They spent their sleep time simply talking about their parents and enjoying each other's company. They even decided to play a game of tag and spent most of their time chasing each other across the golden expanses of their collective minds. For Harry and Hermione this was bliss, neither having anyone to play with and no-one who would play with them if they did. Ginny also was happy, she finally had someone to play with, her brothers were fun but they mostly kept to themselves and played with each other. She usually joined her mother in the kitchen or played in her room but she didn't like cooking that much. She was decent at it but never had the drive to bake things though she really loved cookies. Now she had a girl to play with and Harry as well, both of whom liked her, knew her and what she liked and didn't and wanted to stay.
The fact that he was Harry Potter rarely occurred to her and when it did she only marvelled that the stories that she had heard were so right and so wrong at once. They always showed a hero who defeated evil at every turn, a person who never did wrong and was there for others. A hero who lived as a hero should, with a loving family who supported him after each adventure. The reality was different but the same, here was a boy who had received no love and had fought no evils since he vanquished Voldemort but was still a nice boy who was there for others. His family didn't bear speaking about but now she knew that it would be her and her family who would help him in his adventures. Finally their night was over and the gold faded into the light of a new day.
The next morning was a bustle of activity as Molly cooked breakfast again and a healer from St Mungos arrived with potions to help get Harry back to where he should be for his age. It had taken a few days to brew the nutrient potions and bone strengthening potions that would get Harry to where he needed to be and now he needed to take three a day with his meals. These helped boost the intake he got from his food and gave him some more by itself. When Jane and Dan arrived through the floo both fell flat on their faces.
"That was one hell of a ride," Dan said.
"Speak for yourself," Jane said. "I think I'd take a car over that any day."
"Still a car wouldn't have gotten here for hours, this took seconds," he retorted. "I can really tell the difference magic makes."
"True," Jane replied grudgingly. Spotting Hermione she asked, "How's my angel today."
"Great mummy," Hermione replied from her seat next to Harry. "It's was funny seeing the auras last night but we think we're to the second stage now."
"You are?" Molly and Jane asked together.
"We can't hear thoughts anymore," Ginny said with a hint of sadness. "But we can still feel what each other are feeling. And we've got our mind space still."
"Mind space?" Jane asked.
"When we sleep it's like we're awake in a golden place," Harry said. "There is always places to sit and talk and play. It's great and we can talk to each other in there."
"Wow that is interesting," Molly said surprised. "Could come in handy later. Still if you're finished you should get ready to go to Diagon Alley."
"Diagonally?" Dan asked.
"Diagon. Alley," Ginny said splitting it into the two words distinctly. "It's where all the real shops are and Gringots as well. You can really see our world there."
"Sounds like time to go..." she looked at Hermione.
"Shopping!" they both shouted excitedly.
"From what Ginny's seen there is a HUGE bookstore," Hermione continued excitedly.
"You really like your books don't you," Harry said to both girls.
"You have no idea Harry," Dan said shaking his head in amusement. "The only way I would ever let these two take me shopping is if I ban them from the bookstore till the end of the trip and limit their time there to an hour. The first time we went shopping together I spent three hours in the bookstore and never got to go anywhere else!"
"That's crazy," Ron said suddenly. "Books are boring. You should do something more useful like play Quidditch. No one likes a bookworm."
The atmosphere suddenly chilled to freezing, with the twins and the rest of the Weasley brothers apart from Ron discretely running from the room while Ron stood oblivious to the change. Hermione was nearly in tears from his words with several unshed in the corners of her eyes. Ginny was shaking along with Harry and the rest of the room while Dan and Jane both gave Ron death glares.
Seeing the room shaking and Harry and Ginny both looking daggers at Ron, Molly quickly hit him with a stunner, body bind curse and dragged him bodily from the room as fast as she could while Arthur bravely tried to calm Harry and Ginny.
"Harry, Ginny, angel, you need to calm down," he whispered soothingly yet urgently.
"He hurt Hermione," Harry growled and Ginny nodded. Arthur was astonished with the change in Harry; before when he was threatened he would cower in fear yet when Hermione was threatened he looked ready to not just go through hell, but kick down the door and give the devil a good hexing and trashing his house before coming back.
He also noticed that Hermione was starting to shake as well as their anger grew, amplified in the three of them, their emotions feeding off each other and quickly gave up.
"Run you three RUN," he said urgently. "Across the fields and let it loose but try to control it."
With that the trio sprinted hand in hand out the back door and over the garden towards the fields that surrounded the house. They heard Molly giving Ron a dressing down but ignored them, fighting to control their emotions and not noticing the smouldering grass that was left where their footprints were.
Inside the house Arthur was ushering everyone out and into the front yard, in an open area. He didn't know how bad this was going to be but given the readings from yesterday he knew that it could do some serious damage to the house and didn't want anyone inside if that happened.
They had barely assembled when the sky was lit up brighter than a dozen suns, all of them feeling their skin burning from the light and heat and all of them dropped to the ground with their hands on their heads. Arthur hastily erected shields around the party as the shockwave hit, shattering the windows of the Burrow and knocking off the top floor in totality, a wave of magic following as a cloud of dust and ash rose above the place over the hill where the trio had cut loose. The ground shook and the world blurred with the vibrations of the ground. He felt the wards that had been around the property for more than three generations shatter like brittle glass.
"Oh my god," Jane kept saying, she was numb from disbelief from her head to her toes at the sight of the cloud, eerily similar to the photos she'd seen of nuclear detonations. Dan was white as a ghost and only his military training had kept him upright. He'd seen blasts in tests as a soldier and even seen the effects of a Daisy Cutter concussion bomb but he'd never seen this before.
The Weasleys were all white at seeing the house ripped apart by a blast at least 300 yards away from it. Molly was frantic to get to her baby girl and make sure she was ok but she was so shocked she couldn't move. Arthur was also in shock, he had just felt the wards of his family home and the wards that Dumbledore himself had placed to protect them crumble and were blasted into a million shards by three children, he had felt them fall himself. All the Weasley brothers were dumbstruck by the sight, Fred and George finally silent and staring speechless, all pranks forgotten, Percy wasn't bossing anyone around and Bill and Charlie were just kneeling with their mouths open.
The party quickly got to their feet and ran towards ground zero, hoping that the kids were all right after that.
In the ministry of magic there was chaos. The Misuse of Magic office there were a couple of people who were injured when a massive surge of magic obliterated the monitoring instruments that detected under age magic as well as some other types of magic that the higher ups felt needed to monitored, especially among muggleborns. The fact that there was a reading beyond anything in history just before and the message that the wards of a ministry head of department were down led to Amelia Bones taking a task force of thirty aurors and a dozen of their best hit wizards to the Burrow to see just what it was that did that damage.
Cresting the hill the Weasleys and Grangers were treated to an astonishing sight. One hundred and fifty yards away the ground glowed red and flowed, having melted in a crater over forty yards across and 5 deep. At the centre the children knelt with their arms around each other, their bodies limp and leaning against each other. The air around them was glowing with a nimbus of light and the air crackled with magic, discharging itself into the ground that was rapidly turning to glass as they watched. The air was thick with dust and ash as well as smoke from nearby trees that had burst into flame and been ripped from the ground and torn to pieces by the blast.
Coming partially to his senses Arthur thought for a second and summoned the brooms from the shed handing them to his oldest sons and taking off. They flew above the molten ground and finally arrived at the centre of the crater, picking the children up gently and carrying them to the edge.
"Ginny? Ginny?" Molly cried desperately as Dan and Jane both frantically tried to rouse Hermione but neither got an answer.
A shout got their attention as they noticed a force of aurors and hit wizards advancing up the hill at a run with wands drawn.
"Arthur?" shouted Amelia as she came closer. "What happened? We got word the wards had fallen and... MERILINS BEARD! WHAT ON EARTH DID THAT?" she cried in shock upon cresting the hill and seeing the crater.
"The kids need a medic, now," he replied. "We can explain later."
A pop announced the arrival of Dumbledore who looked around with wand drawn before lowering it seeing that there was no threat.
"What happened here?" he asked. For the first time any of those present had known him he looked badly shaken and surprised.
"We can tell you after we know the kids are alright," Arthur said.
The healer finished his scans and looked up.
"Their magical cores show to be almost drained, all three of them. They have the worst case of magical exhaustion I have ever seen as well as the signature of suppression wards similar to those seen in the suppressor bands placed on prisoners. Apart from that the only thing I see wrong is Mr Potter is severely malnourished."
"We are aware of his malnourishment and he's on a course of potions to rectify that," Dumbledore said. "What we need to know is what caused the blast and what drained their cores like that."
Arthur proceeded to explain that there was no actual attack and Amelia sent the Aurors away, staying to here the rest of the explanation. He then told them how Ron had angered the trio with his thoughtless remarks and Harry and Ginny lost control of their tempers in defence of Hermione. Having sent them away from the house and other people when he realised there was no chance of calming them before they lost control he evacuated the rest away from the home.
Amelia sat stunned for several seconds before she recommended that the wards be restored to the point of covering the house from muggles and she would get the Muggle Worthy Excuse department onto feeding a story of a meteorite impact to the muggle press. She also told them that she was expecting a more complete explanation on how the kids had that sort of power and why they had the restrictor bands on before as well as informing them that the flash and magic wave had been felt in London.
All the rest of the group left for St Mungos to have their various injuries seen to and Dumbledore thought that there was the potential for the three kids to cause a lot of harm. He needed to control them and soon.