Friendship, and bravery… and…
"I-is it dead?"
Hermione Granger peeked from under the lone intact basin, Harry Potter stood up shakily on his feet from where the troll had flung him, while Ron Weasley was still looking disbelievingly at his wand and the unconscious troll alternately.
"I-I don't think so… knocked out, I reckon…" Harry mumbled as he cautiously approached the smelly beast and bent down to retrieve his wand, which was still lodged in the troll's nostril. As soon as his hand touched the wand, there was a bright flash inside of the almost destroyed third-floor girls' toilet that sent the three conscious occupants reeling on their feet.
"Ugh…" Ron Weasley very shrewdly summarised how he was feeling.
Harry Potter had a frown on his face as he took a look around the room he seemed to suddenly be aware of occupying, while Hermione Granger had her head in her hands, swaying dangerously on her feet.
"What the -"
Ron looked up right at that time and once more, almost toppled over.
"Is that the troll?" He pointed at the beast and asked his friends incredulously.
"It appears so, Ronald." Hermione's clipped answer came from the back of the room from where the witch was yet to move closer to the wizards.
Harry's brows furrowed in deep thought, "But how? The last thing I remember was -"
He was cut off by Ron's accusing yell, "What did you do, Harry?"
"I-I don't know… Hang on, whaddya mean what I did? Why do you think that I did something?" Harry was annoyed with the Redhead.
"Because, in my experience, whenever something happens, it is always because of you," Ron replied with a resolute nod of the head.
"Bugger off, Weasley. Why do I even put up with you?"
"Boys!" Hermione's harsh rebuke stopped the two from another meaningless argument. An argument that they should hold in private, in her opinion. "Do me a favour and be quiet. If I am not mistaken, we are about to have some company." True to her words, they could hear rapidly approaching footsteps from the corridor outside of the toilet. "Don't look anyone in their eyes. Just follow my lead and pretend to be a Firsty." She warned her companions.
"Eh?" Ron exchanged a look with Harry, who only shrugged his shoulder in reply.
"Yes, just like that. Perfect." Hermione said as she came forward and stood in the middle of their small huddle.
Ron and Harry had about a billion questions to ask her what she meant, but they didn't get to ask any as the doors to the toilet burst open and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell rushed inside. Quirrell made a sound like a cat hacking a hairball and clutched his chest while slumping down against the wall. The other three kept looking at the unconscious troll with disbelieving eyes, and the three First Years, who were looking quite dishevelled.
"What happened here?" McGonagall's voice was high and shrill.
The three started to speak all at once, the acoustics of the toilet made quite a cacophony of the three adolescent's high pitched voices.
"One at a time, if you please." The Headmaster peered down at them from behind his half-moon spectacles.
Hermione took a deep breath and launched into the explanation about how she had read about the trolls and wanted to see it for herself. Harry and Ron were there because they didn't want her to get into any trouble. While they didn't plan to confront the beast, it somehow cornered them and thus, forced them to battle with it.
"And how pray tell, did three First Years manage to bring down a fully grown mountain troll, whereas trained adult witches and wizards have trouble subduing one due to the troll's magically invulnerable skin? I was not aware of any of you three possessing tremendous power to overcome a troll, no matter how idiotic your assumption was to just have a look for a dangerous beast." Professor Snape asked them in a silky voice.
"Severus," Headmaster Dumbledore hadn't taken his eyes off of the young ones, "they are just children. I am sure they didn't want to face the creature, but use the circumstance to learn about the world a little bit more. We should commend such inquisitive minds." He took a deep breath before continuing, "However, I cannot, in any sense, condone such blatant disregard of order when I asked all students to return to their dormitories."
Here, Harry mumbled something under his breath, still looking at his shoes.
"What was that, Mr Potter?"
"You asked everyone to return to their dormitories when Professor Quirrell told us the troll was in the dungeons. Slytherin and Hufflepuff dormitories are in the dungeons."
The three Professors stood there gobsmacked. Basically, the Headmaster had sent half of the student population directly into the danger.
"Arrogant Potter," Severus Snape broke the silence first, "just like his father -"
"Severus!" Once more the Headmaster stopped the dour Potion Master, but this time, there was a hint of steel in his voice, "Mr Potter is right. In my haste, I did forget that I am sending half of the children directly toward the danger. For that, I apologise to you, and I will be making a statement regarding the same at breakfast tomorrow. Now, as Professor Snape asked you earlier, please enlighten us about how you managed to subdue the troll."
The boys exchanged a look before they both slightly pushed the witch forward. Hermione delved into a lengthy explanation about how the three planned to hide behind the bannisters of the staircase to catch a glimpse of the troll. But, to their misfortune, the troll had, by then, left the dungeons and ventured into the upper floors. When they saw the troll in their path, they tried to escape from it and tried to take refuge inside the girls' toilet, but the troll followed them. She explained how Harry and she tried to distract the troll while Ron cast the Levitation Charm on its club and used it to knock the beast down.
Albus Dumbledore had a proud smile on his face, his eyes were twinkling like never before. Which, none of the students saw since they never raised their heads to look their professors in the eyes.
"Minerva," he turned towards the Transfiguration Professor, "we will abide by your verdict since they are your lions. But I must interject one point – while they did disregard a verbal instruction, they used their ingenuity and teamwork to overcome a perilous situation that saved their lives as well as saved the school from more harm that might have been possible."
The elderly Scottish woman was glaring down at her three wayward lion cubs.
"Detention," she growled, "for not following orders from the Headmaster. I will see you three tomorrow after dinner in my office."
She sighed after she registered the Headmaster's pointed stare at her. She further added, "…and ten points each to Gryffindor. For sheer dumb luck."
Dumbledore clapped his hands in happiness, "Excellent. Now, I believe you three must return to your House. The feast has been relocated there. I suggest a hearty meal and a peacefully long shower after such a harrowing experience before bed. Move along now, children."
"Yes, Professor!"
"Thank you, Professor!"
The three scurried out of the toilet as fast as they could. Soon, they were running down the corridor towards the portrait of the Fat Lady who guarded the entrance hole of Gryffindor tower. Hermione skidded to a halt and grabbed the hands of the two boys and dragged them inside of an unused classroom. She closed the doors and cast a series of locking and privacy charms on them.
"Hermione! Dumbledore told us to go directly to our Common Room."
"Oh relax, Harry. It's not like we have never broken the rules before." Hermione snapped at him. She was pacing the length of the room muttering under her breath while the boys sat down on the teacher's desk. After a few minutes were spent watching their friend still busy mumbling to herself, the boys exchanged a worried glance between them. Finally, Harry sighed and got up from his seat.
"Mione, calm down. Tell us what is going on inside of that beautiful mind of yours and we will help you figure things out. Come on…" He enveloped the agitated witch within his arms. The said witch released a long sigh of contentment as she burrowed further into the hug. Harry dropped a kiss on her bushy-haired head.
Ron snorted from behind of them, "…like a sister my arse."
"Language, Ronald!"
"Oy! What's that supposed to mean?"
Ron raised his hands in surrender, "I just said that you were full of dragon-dung when you said that you see Hermione just like a sister."
"When did you say that?" Hermione raised her head from Harry's shoulder to look at his face.
"When we destroyed the locket." Harry turned his head towards Ron, "Riddle once again played with his noggin and showed us some… stuff. I had to calm him down somehow. After all, he had the Sword of Gryffindor in his hands at that time, once little nick, and goodbye Harry." He frowned as something dawned on him, "What changed, by the way? I thought you two were pining after each other." He looked at both of them askance, and the two were red in face.
"Erm… we kinda kissed… and it was super weird…" Ron admitted finally.
"You two were snogging in the middle of a freaking battle?! When did it happen?"
"It was nothing like that," Hermione detached herself from Harry and took up the explanation, "Ron just said that we should alert the House Elves so that they don't get caught in the crossfire. I was stunned at his good idea."
Ron mumbled, "I do have those… occasionally."
Hermione spared him a glare before continuing, "Anyway, I was so impressed with him that I kind of… jumped at him and kissed him…" She was bright red in the face.
"And?" Harry prompted.
"And it felt weird… I mean I was expecting a… a…" Ron fumbled for a suitable word.
"Spark?" Hermione helped him.
"Yeah, that." Ron nodded enthusiastically, "But it was nothing like that. It felt like I was snogging Ginny." He shivered in disgust.
"Yeah… I know what snogging Ginny feels like…" Harry shivered too, in the same kind of disgust.
"What's that supposed to mean, Potter? And be very careful with your answer." Ron growled dangerously.
"Come on, mate. You saw Snape's memories too. Who did my mum's younger version remind you of?"
Ron frowned in thought, "She looked almost like a twin of Ginny… oh!" His eyes widened in realization.
"Yeah, oh! I don't think I can ever look at Gin in that way after seeing my mum." Harry shivered again.
"Romantic dilemmas aside," Hermione's voice broke through the boys' conversation, "Why are we not freaking out with our situation? How are we so calm?"
"Maybe because of the shock of the situation? Our minds haven't caught up with us yet?" Ron provided helpfully.
Hermione looked at him with narrowed eyes, "You are just a fount of brilliant ideas today, aren't you?" Ron looked too pleased with himself at her comment.
"I always said that all he needs to do is get off his butt to be a brilliant wizard." Harry put forth his two knuts.
"Oy!"
"Speak for yourself, Harry, you are as lazy as him. Anyhow, what do you think has happened for us to find ourselves here?"
"Magic?"
"Don't be daft, Harry, of course, it was magic. But what exactly caused such effect?"
"Dunno." Harry shrugged his shoulder.
"Er… Mione, why don't we try to trace back our steps… maybe we could find some clues?" Ron rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Now you are really scaring us, mate." Harry grinned at the boy who chucked a wad of parchment from his pocket at him.
"That's a really brilliant idea, Ron." Hermione bounced in her seat enthusiastically, "Let's see now – We were at the Headmaster's office, just finished watching Snape's memories."
Ron continued from there, "Riddle gave us his ultimatum that he was waiting for Harry inside the Forest."
"We decided to go there together under the Cloak. We were just beyond the castle ground when we saw Greyback, dragging Lavender along with him."
"And you shot the Silver Arrow spell at his head. He died but the Death Eaters around him became alert."
"They couldn't see us but they shot killing curses in our general direction… I think one or two connected with us…"
"And instead of being dead, we suddenly found ourselves back in the toilet with the troll."
The trio silently sat there, each contemplating the impossible situation they found themselves in.
"See, Harry. I told you whatever this is, you were the reason."
"Haha, Weasley. What do you want? The House cup?"
"A chocolate frog would suffice."
"Will you two just shut up? I am trying to think here."
"Sorry, Mione."
In another ten minutes, Hermione spoke up again, "Harry, how sure are you that a killing curse contacted with you?"
Harry scratched his head in thought, "I will say about 90%? I mean I was still concentrating on whether Greyback died or not. But I do think that at least one of the curses contacted with us. I am pretty sure I saw one heading at my chest."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully, she slowly went towards the boys on the desk and sat down in between them, "In that case, I think I have a theory about our situation…"
"Are we allowed to ask about it?" Ron asked grumpily. Hermione took a breath to berate him but Harry beat her to the task by slapping the Redhead upside of his head.
"I didn't have a lot of time to think of the reasons," Hermione started to speak slowly, "but I have come up with a theory. I don't know about the possibility, but this is all I have at this moment."
"And it is better than either me or Ron could come up with even if we had a decade to think." Harry consoled her with a squeeze of her shoulder. Ron nodded his head vigorously, giving his assent.
Hermione gave Harry a sweet smile as she laid her head on his shoulder, her left hand searched for and grabbed Ron's hand. It was as if she was trying to draw courage from her two best friends.
"My theory is, well, quite vague. But I think there are a lot of forces working in tandem that resulted in us being here instead of being dead.
The first is obviously, the prophecy. Whatever it said, the content boils down to the single fact that Harry and Riddle are connected by fate. Only they can bring death to each other. Riddle's thug firing the killing curse at Harry worked against fate's design. That was one of the reasons. Normally I would scoff at the prophecy being a driving force, but Riddle believing in it and acting accordingly gave the prophecy the potency it lacked.
Next, we have the Deathly Hallows. Another thing that could have been a myth, but I don't think a man like Albus Dumbledore… or Grindelwald will run after baseless facts. The Potter Invisibility Cloak is a family heirloom. While normal invisibility cloaks stop working after a decade or two, the Potter Cloak is handed down from father to son generation after generation. I don't know if there is an entity called Death who made this cloak, but it is one powerful magical artefact, of that I have no doubt. For argument's sake, let's think that this is indeed the actual Cloak of Death."
Harry muttered thoughtfully, "And Dumbledore left me the snitch in his will, and it contained -"
"The Resurrection Stone, exactly. It was a stroke of luck that you were fooling around with the snitch before our mission at Gringotts and you were blabbering about our death by Goblins, I never even thought about saying something like absolute death to open the secret compartment of the snitch."
"I didn't blabber." Harry protested mildly but received a sharp elbow from Hermione for his troubles.
"Anyway, Harry already possessed two of the three Hallows. The only remaining was the Elder Wand. According to Harry's visions and from Skeeter's book, the Elder Wand was kept safe by Gregorovich, the wandmaker, from whom, Grindelwald stole the wand. Later, Albus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in a duel and became the master of the Elder Wand. He wielded it till he died."
"Yes, and Snape Killed him and then Riddle killed Snape to gain the wand's alliance. What is your point?" Harry asked irritably.
"But that is the point, Harry. It's been niggling at the back of my mind since we got back from the Shack. Was Snape really the master of the Elder Wand? Think, Harry, how did Dumbledore die?"
"Snape cast the killing curse at him. Granted that now we know it was all a big ruse as the Headmaster was already dying from ring's curse."
"And? Did the Headmaster have his wand with him when Snape cast the killing curse at him?"
"No, I told you, didn't I? Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, he didn't even have his wand on him when Snape killed him."
"Exactly, Malfoy disarmed the Headmaster. Malfoy relieved Dumbledore of his wand… the Elder Wand."
It took the boys a while to absorb what Hermione just told them.
"Bloody Hell!" Ron had gone pale, "Malfoy is the master of the Elder Wand?"
Harry had to stop himself from whimpering at the thought of that ponce realizing that he was the master of the most powerful wand in the world.
"Not necessarily." Hermione shook her head, "Back at the Malfoy Manor…" she trembled from the memory, making Harry scowl at the same set of memory as he tightened his hold of the witch. Ron took Hermione's hand in his own two hands and rubbed it consolingly. "Ahem, back at the Malfoy Manor, when we were escaping from Lestrange and all those snatchers, Harry punched Malfoy before ripping out his wand from his hand. Draco Malfoy never realized that he was the master of Elder Wand. And then Harry Potter gained the wand's alliance without even firing a spell by physically overpowering Draco Malfoy.
As it stands, Harry Potter is now the true owner of Deathly Hallows, all three of them. I don't know about being Master of Death, but the Hallows belonged to him. Riddle may wield the wand, but Harry, other than being the master, is also of the Peverell blood – the original owners of the Hallows. Because according to wizard genealogy, Iolanthe Peverell, the last known descendant of Ignotus Peverell, had married Hardwin Potter and thus, the Peverell line was absorbed within the Potter line.
Thus, even with the Elder Wand being in Riddle's possession, Harry was the Peverell descendant who became the master of all three Hallows and by reuniting them together, I think it did something to him, protection or power boost – I have no idea. But with how powerful these artefacts were, to begin with, I have no doubt they did cause some weird magic over Harry."
Harry snorted at that, "It won't be the first time I came in contact with weird magic. But what being the master of Deathly Hallows has to do with our situation?"
"I am getting there. So, there we were, with the theoretical Master of Death, hidden under the Cloak of Death, when one of Riddle's thugs cast a killing curse at us. It travelled through the first lair of the Death's artefact, the Cloak and struck, according to Harry, at his chest, where he always wore the mokeskin pouch. Now, tell me, what was in the pouch that was related to the Hallows?"
Ron sat up straight, "The Resurrection Stone!"
"Ten points to Gryffindor, Mr Weasley." Hermione giggled.
"Shut up." Ron's ears had turned pink, "So that's how we ended up here? Because the curse struck the Stone?"
"No, I don't think so. I think it only accumulated the energy or power. The energy from the killing curse, one of the most powerful spells in the history of wizardkind, plus the magic of the Cloak and the Stone helped power up another powerful magical artefact."
"Which one is it now?"
"Harry's wand."
"Eh?"
"Yes, my theory may seem pretty farfetched, but it fits with our situation. Harry's wand contains a tailfeather of Fawkes. Now, Fawkes is a being who rebirths from his own ashes when it is time for him to die. Dumbledore was right – love, friendship – they are powerful magics on their own. When the killing curse approached us, it meant the end, the death of our friendship, our love for each other. When the curse struck, the energy from it, plus Harry's Hallows, powered up the innate magic of a phoenix which sends us back to the beginning, at the birth of our friendship – back at the toilet with the troll. It activated the moment Harry's hand touched the wand."
All three of them sat there in silence, each thinking about the possibility of Hermione's theory.
"Of course, I could be wrong. I mean…"
"Hush, you are rarely wrong, and I think you are right about this issue too." Harry planted a kiss on her head.
Hermione blushed at the show of affection, "Thank you, Harry!"
"How does she manage to think all that?"
"Mione's brain is as sharp as a computer."
"What's a compootar?"
"Forget it, Ronald. Now, the question is, what are we to do?"
"It's easy. We know the locations of Riddle's things. We get rid of them all and get rid of the git altogether."
"But should we tamper with the timeline? I mean there are laws about not changing the flows of time, after all."
"Mione, I am not as smart as you. But within my feeble mind, one thing is sure. The law is for the people who use time turners and go back to their real times. Our case is completely different. We don't have a way to go back to where we were. In my opinion, we are given a second chance and I am going to use it in full. There are too many deaths on my conscience – Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, Moody, Hedwig, Dobby, Remus, Tonks, Fred. I want to save their lives, Hermione."
Ron got up from where he was sitting and came to stand before Harry. He put a hand on his shoulder and grasped tight, "And we will mate. We will save them all. We will try our damned best to end the second Blood War even before it begins. Won't we, Mione?"
"Yes. Yes, we will do our absolute best to save them all, Harry. You are right, we are given a second chance to right the wrongs here."
The three friends hugged each other.
"You know," Harry began, "I think I am finally starting to realize our situation. It's been a year since I spoke with Dumbledore, and there was the man, once more healthy and, well, old… but alive."
"Oh!" Hermione squeaked and started to hyperventilate.
"Mione? What's wrong?"
"M-my parents, Harry… they are still here… I am still their daughter… they remember me…" She hiccupped between tears.
Harry drew her in a tighter embrace, "Shush, it's okay, love. They are alright. You are alright. You don't have to alter their memories anymore. We will protect them, together."
"You promise?"
"Of course." Harry cupped her face within his palms and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. Then, summoning his Gryffindor courage, he dipped his head and pecked her on her lips.
Hermione sighed in contentment.
"Yeah, just as I said before, like a sister my arse!"
"Up yours, Bilius!"
"Oy! Uncle Bilius was a great man. Don't you disrespect him!"
"I didn't disrespect him. I am disrespecting you, you git!"
"Come here and say that to my face!"
Hermione could only shake her head in exasperation.
"Boys…"
A.N. - Chapter 3 is missing at this point because I have started two one-shots/first chapters at the same time but this one was completed the first.
A.N. 2 - I am currently suffering from writers' block and stuck with my GoT/ASOIAF story. Of any of the followers of CoTW is here, I am truly sorry for the delay.