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A NEW BEGINNING

"Oomph!" Harry fell on top off Hermione.

"Harry! Get off me! Ow! Ow! What are you? A Hippogriff? "

"Hey! Not my fault you can't carry a bit of weight….." Harry grumbled.

They finally untangled themselves and looked around. They were in a clearing, surrounded by a dense thicket of trees. The wood lands seemed to extent unto infinity. Their sudden arrival had startled a pair of Peregrine Falcons and they were frantically flitting around. The gentle murmuring of a river nearby could be heard. Hermione stepped away from harry and started walking around.

"Harry…. I think I know this place."

"You do?" Harry asked, noticeably surprised. He himself had no idea, though he was sure it was not the Forbidden Forest.

"Yeah…. I think we are in the Forest of Dean."

"We are?"

"Hmm…mm… I bet the river we could hear is River Wye… I had camped here with Mum and Dad once."

"You did? "

"Harry! Quit repeating after me….. It's terribly annoying! "

"It is?" Harry smirked at her.

"Git." Hermione smiled.

"Know it all."

"Scar head"

"Bookworm!"

"That's not an insult to me, Moron!"

"Hey you spent too much in the company of Snape…. You are using his insults way too much…"

Suddenly they sobered up. In their excitement, they had briefly forgotten how exactly they had reached there. They could still remember the waves of fury Voldemort had projected, the rush off that terrible green light, the proud faces of those who were ready to die for them. Suddenly they had the overwhelming feeling of holding the responsibility of the whole of Wizarding world in their shoulders.

"Mia…. Why do you think Snape did it? Why did he whisper my mom's name?"

"He did what Harry? I completed my displacement long before you did…. I…I saw Prof. McGonagall falling…" Hermione's voice caught.

Harry opened his mind to her, drawing her in and showing what happened after she left. She had a terrible foreboding when Snape raised his Wand. Her eyes filled when she understood who he was aiming at. She couldn't understand how the Snape she had befriended, the Severus she had got to know during their brief time together, could be as callous and cruel as to kill someone he considered equal to a father. But then she understood what a brilliant distraction it provided for him to complete the spell. He knew the importance of them reaching the past, knew their timeline was no more. She winced when his mouths formed the word Lily.

"You know." Harry said a fact not a question. Hermione hesitated before answering.

"Yes." She proceeded to tell, how he helped her cope with her grief for Sirius, though muted. How later he had opened up, though his acerbic wit and sarcastic words would never be considered opening up by anyone else but her, told her the story of the lost boy who had found a purpose in the little girl he had befriended. Harry listened to all of it silently, never interrupting, but silently soaking the stories of his Mother. It was already past twilight when Hermione finished everything.

"They all did so much for us and we never really appreciated anything much, always blaming the world for our shortcomings." Hermione whispered.

"I know. Do you think we will be able to do it, Mia? I feel so afraid. What is the use of being the heirs, having so much power, if we know not how to use it? This is the young Dark Lord we are speaking of…. He is going to be so very different from his older counterpart."

"Yes, but then we are not so defenseless ourselves. We will do it Harry. We have to do it. We gave our whole lifetime for this; we left a timeline with so many people who loved us. It might have been not perfect but at least we had them. Here? We are alone, with no one to turn to."

"Don't sound so down Mia, we do have each other." Harry and Hermione smiled at each other.

"So… where to?"

They had soon realized the foolishness of using their Wands. They were not sure whether the trace was still present. Fortunately, Harry could travel without Wands. He suggested they go to Olivanders' and get new Wands. But Hermione was against it. She suggested they go to Knockturn Alley, Severus had said that 'Crossing Wands' had a collection of some the world's rarest Wand woods and cores.

"If it's so good why is it in Knockturn Alley?" Harry asked, perplexed and a little envious of her friendship with the Dungeon Bat.

"Well, those rare woods? They are not exactly legal and the wands do not carry Ministry traces." Hermione smirked at Harry's gobsmacked expression.

"Huh! What are we waiting for then? Let's Go!"

Harry enthusiastically took Hermione's hand and apparated them to Knockturn Alley. With little difficulty they found the shop they were looking for. On entering, they could understand why the shop was illegal. Most of the items were Class 9 censored materials, which no one should possess without express permission from the ministry. The dingy old man behind the counter was a polar opposite of Olivanders'. He could not wait to get them out. They finally found the Wand that chose them. For Harry it was again phoenix tail feather as a core, though not just any phoenix but the legendary Tibetans'. His wood was made of Chinese Tallow. Hermione too got the wand which had a Kitsune tail, made of Sundari tree, a native tree found only in the Sundarban Delta region in India.

They paid their Wands' price, though Harry was on the verge of protesting. He couldn't believe the Wands had cost every little Knut they had with them. Hermione consoled him, reminding that they still had the Founder's Vault in Gringotts. Prof. Dumbledore had informed them of this surprising fact recently. Only the founders themselves or their approved heirs could open the vaults. They next visited Gringotts, the Goblins skeptical when they informed them of their destinations. But soon they were taken in to the vaults, after the necessary blood rituals and given free reign. Hermione couldn't believe the collection of rare parchments and artifacts the vault protected. Harry was amazed by the weapon collection and potent healing potions. They soon vowed to come back and catalogue everything, but right then, they were pressed for money and that's the only thing they took.

They shopped a little, chiefly for stopping the curious, sometimes downright disapproving glances Hermione got due to her clothes. They also bought the essentials and rented a room in leaky cauldron, a much younger Tom grinning at them. They had to plan their cover stories carefully, with no loopholes or fragments broken. It was vital that no one, not even Dumbledore, realized who they were exactly. They had a job to do and very little time to prepare. It was already mid-august. The term was about to start and they had to be ready.

A/N: We hope you enjoyed the story so far. We will try updating more often. Do review…. They are the fodder that makes us think.

and yes JHarry 1960 this is a TMR_HG pairing... though that's a long time away. :)

Thank you Kayly Silverstor ; DauntlessSlytherinTribute for ur reviews... ^_^