AUTHOR NOTE: Just for clarification purposes. I AM NOT Dave. This is a fictional story although the personality of "Dave" is based on some people I know from the really real world. The locale is relatively real as well. This story is a work of fiction. Total fiction. Any resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental and accidental. This is more of a idea that rattled around until it came out. Three survivors from a very bad universe (Harry, Hermione and Ginny) come to America and encounter someone who will go back and help them change things.
Dennisud: I doubt Harry or Hermione will wear masks. They have the three movies for examples so the only ones who wear a mask are the bad guys. He's sort of picking and choosing which bits to cosplay it seems like. Especially after that entrance. Putting a mask on at that point is sort of like putting a condom on at the baby shower.
Nowa5t3r: Umtoad is going to get played with first. He wants to send a message to the Ministry and Dumbledore that he will not be pushed around anymore by anyone. And while he is angry with her for trying to kill him he is still not ready to do cold blooded murder. In combat or to defend yeah. Tripping someone that made your life a living hell to save your own skin sure. Straight up cutting someone down not quite yet. He still has a bit to go to get a dark side point. Hermione. I'm not so sure about. She has a temper so we'll see.
Yeah Luna is going to be an interesting Jedi/Darth. I like the name Darth Moonbeam. I may just use that. Luna is awesome. She is like love and sweetness incarnate. It makes it hard to write stuff where she gets hurt. I feel like such a cad.
As for the potion in choices. Yeah it would be a rather rare and forgotten potion that she picked up from the depths of the Black library more than likely. If anyone wanted to see how a marriage would turn out pure-bloods would. Not so much to see if there was going to be happiness or not but for heirs and to see exactly what sort of pain they were in for.
OfficerdonNZ: Oh yeah. UMtoad is going to regret her actions. I'm not entirely sure how but I do know that it won't be nice.
And yeah I agree. One reason Ron was not given the nice happy ending in the choices story.
As for the choice of Theme. Harry wanted to start with the main theme as he is still hoping to stay light and hopeful. He wanted to send a message to the other Muggle-borns and half-bloods that something was going on. We will see the Imperial march but it will be later when things get a bit less happy.
I have seen a few stories where Ginny was Bi at the least. Usually she gets paired with Luna. I could see her playing both ends of the field though.
And yeah out of all the students I could see Hermione working to get the room to turn into a holodeck. BTW there really was a HMS Agamemnon in WWI. It was a pre-dreadnaught Battle cruiser. I felt like she would have an appreciation of history and go for that rather than anything aeronautical. I'm sure her holodeck history files would make Barclay cringe.
"Harry take Gin and go. Nev and I will hold them off." Ron shouted as spells fell around them. They had fallen back to the mouth of the cave Hermione had found the Door of Summer in. An ancient magical place that was linked to Merlin. They were trapped and if Hermione didn't get the Door opened they would all die as they were surrounded by Death Eaters.
Ever since Harry had failed to kill Voldemort the war had spiraled harder and harder out of control. It began to involve the muggles who fought back using their weapons of mass destruction. Hogwarts was a radioactive atomic wasteland as since their computers had been unable to directly target what had become Voldemort's stronghold they used multiple warheads and wasted the entire valley. Proving that nuclear weapons would overwhelm magical defense no matter how strong. The only thing to walk out of that valley was Voldemort.
"Where's Luna?" Harry begged.
"She fell. Now go dammit or I'll fucking frag you myself. Get my sisters out of here. You and Hermione go find a way to fix this. Make it right. Now go!" He shoved his sister into Harry's arms and pushed them into the cave. Harry stumbled with the catatonic red haired girl in his arms. After about 15 yards Ron called out "Harry. Tell Hermione Goodbye." He then blasted the cave ceiling dropping tons of rocks behind Harry who staggered further into the cave. His wand lighting the way, blood dripping off his nose from a cut on his forehead.
Entering the chamber he saw Hermione finishing aligning the crystals according to the notes her and Luna had worked out so painstakingly. A stab of hurt shot through Harry's heart at Ron's words he just recognized.
Hermione glanced at him. When he shook his head she grimly nodded and continued her work. She put the last crystal in place and suddenly a section of the cave wall glowed and they were looking into a temperate woodland. A deer was visible standing in the distance.
Hermione reached into her pack and pulled out a tube about a foot long and turned a dial on one end. She finally spoke, "Okay lets go."
Leaping through the doorway they landed in a tumble on the grass. Rolling a few yards they laid there in the brilliant sunshine and relaxed briefly. Hermione crawled to Harry and checked him he took her hand and squeezed. They passed out.
=====xxxxx=====
When Harry woke up he was laying in a sleeping bag under a tarp of some kind. He heard harmonica music from nearby and smelled wood smoke. He looked around and saw Ginny and Hermione both asleep. He still had his wand and crawled out from under the shelter.
He saw a figure sitting by the fire. The man was playing the harmonica but he was watching Harry. The log he was sitting on had a long gun of some kind leaning within easy reach and a sidearm of some kind on the man's belt made Harry pause. He wasn't wearing a uniform though he was wearing a denim jacket over a black shirt with a skull and crossed bones on it and denims.
The man stopped playing music and sat staring at Harry before he finally spoke, "So kid. You feel better?"
"A bit. Where am I?"
"Well somewhere back in Wayne National Forest."
Harry had no idea where any of that was. The man's voice sounded like he was an American. "I still have no idea where any of that is."
"You ain't from around here are you?"
"No."
The man put his harmonica in his chest pocket and reached behind the log for something. Harry braced with his wand but the man pulled a can of something out and popping it open took a big drink.
"Look buddy. I've been around the world, in some deep shit in country a few years back. Seen some crazy stuff. But the three of you coming flying out of a glowing circle like it was some kind of crazy Harry Potter shit just broke it."
Harry blinked at hearing his name from the man. "What do you know about that name?"
He laughed, "Well we used to watch the movies back in the sandpit at Balad. When we wasn't dodgin mooj ...Well let's just say it wasn't all fun and roses."
Harry's head was starting to swim. He put his hand on his head and felt a bandage there.
"Yeah you had a helluva cut. I stitched you up and slapped a band aid on it. Don't know what's up with your girlfriends. The brunette woke up briefly and I gave her some gatorade but she passed back out. The red head's been out all evening.
"She got hit by a bad guy."
"Damn. Didn't know we had any ali babas around here."
"Hunh? I'm from England Could you speak English."
The man laughed, "Son you're in Ohio now. I'm the one speaking English."
Harry came over and sat on a log opposite the man. "My name's Harry."
"Yeah cool. My name's Dave. Wanna brew?"
Harry did not figure the man meant potions. He nodded none the less.
The man pulled a can out and tossed it to him. Tucking his wand into his belt he looked at the can and determined it was some sort of beer. American beer but any port in a storm.
"Whats with the sticks. You and the brunette had a death grip on the things when you came tumbling out. But red she don't have one."
"She lost hers. Look I don't know how you're going to take this but I have nothing left but the two of them. My name is Harry Potter, that's Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley in there. Our friends are all dead because Voldemort won the final battle. Three years ago. We only managed to escape because Hermione opened a door into here. Where ever here is."
Dave took a deep drink of his beer then crushed the can flat. "Well for now you're in my camp so you're safe. Tomorrow we'll hike out and get you some help at the ER."
"You think I'm crazy."
"Right now I think one of us is and I'm not so sure who it is." He got up and rolled out a heavy poncho. Throwing a few more sticks on the fire he laid down. "If you're going to sit up kid keep the fire going."
Dave rolled over with his back to the log and fell asleep soon. Harry sat up and wondered what was going on. He saw some airplanes fly overhead their blinking lights familiar. He reached out and felt magic was in this world. He wasn't sure what this Dave was talking about the movies of Harry Potter. He cast a ever fire charm and went to the shelter. Taking the blanket he snuggled up to Hermione and went back to sleep.
=====xxxxx=====
Harry woke up to Hermione groaning. "Mione? Mione?"
She opened her eyes. Saw the pale green tarp bottom over their heads held up by some kind of rope. To her right was Ginny and Harry was looking into her face from the left.
"Harry where are we?"
"Uh I think we wound up in America."
"That could be good I suppose."
"Well I happen to think it is."
Hermione rolled over and then froze as her vision grayed out for a moment. Harry grabbed her but she shook him off.
"Hey if you took a headshot you better relax. I'm sorry I ain't got a cell but it wouldn't matter much you don't get service back here anyhow."
She crawled out form under the shelter sitting up Dave handed her a canteen and a powerbar. "Hey I'm Dave."
"Hello I'm Hermione." She said automatically.
"Yeah and hes Harry Potter and that's Ginny Weasley."
"Harry already explained everything?"
"Uh not really Mione."
Dave laughed, "Yeah you three don't look much like your actors. But I did some thinking while I was cleaning up. That and you had the fits last night."
"The fits?"
"Screaming fits. Nightmares. Trust me I know all about them." Dave said looking into Harry's core it felt like."You kids have seen shit. You got the look. When I was checking you for wounds I saw some scars. Old wounds. Some of them the same as in the movies."
"So you believe me?" Harry carefully asked.
"Well either this is the realest delusion ever or you three are really who you say you are and came through some magic doorway."
Hermione stretched, "We are who we say we are. Our war ended badly. We failed somehow." Her voice caught and she began to cry.
Harry took over, "Ginny got hit by a curse. She won't wake up. We wouldn't abandon her. It finally came down to Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ron and myself as the only ones in the resistance. At least the only ones we knew of."
Dave nodded and said with a sigh, "Loosing buddies hurts. Well you grab red there and I'll get this packed up. We'll head back to the truck and should be at casa de grande by lunch."
When they were all packed up and Hermione saw how much Dave was carrying she asked, "Uh do you want some help with that?"
"Hun I was humping twice this much on patrol in 120 degree weather. Your boy's got red and you're doing good to keep yourself vertical. I got this."
"I was just going to say I could cast a lightening charm on some of it."
He chuckled, "Oh I coulda used that a few years back but no. Thanks save your energy. We've got a bit of a walk to get back to the truck."
=====xxxxx====
Harry was wondering what Dave considered a strenuous hike if this was merely a bit of a hike as he half walked and half slid down another almost sheer slope of dirt and mud with little gravelly rocks sticking through.
Looking ahead the old warrior was waiting for them watching. He had shouted at Harry how to traverse the slope easier and better. To lean into it and keep his weight on his back foot. All at the same time. The man must have been part goat.
Hermione had been given a stout stick to use to help support herself. The broken leg she had gotten during one of their previous battles was hurting her. It had been broken by a curse and regrown but it still ached when she pushed hard. She was biting her lip and grunting but Dave noticed and soon she was leaning on a walking staff.
Harry's thoughts though were shaken as they entered a gravel clearing with some kind of green truck that had a cover over the cargo bed.
Dave gave a whoop. "Well there she is Ol Betsy. The cab might be a bit crowded so you can lay your friend in the back. Just keep the windows cranked open."
He began to toss his gear in the back using the sleeping bag and tarp to make a somewhat comfortable bed to put Ginny on. They got her situated and Harry helped Hermione into the back. She had better healing skills than he did so she was the one that watched over her.
Getting into the cab Dave cranked over the truck after laughing at Harry coming around to the driver's side. "Wrong country brother. Other side of the horse."
=====xxxxx====
Once they were under way for a bit Dave watched Harry who was turned sideways watching Hermione and Ginny in the back.
"So you and the brains are together?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Son I may not have a woman of my own but I've seen when a guy falls head over heels for a skirt."
"Hermione is more than just a skirt." Harry frowned.
Dave waved a hand off the wheel, "Figure of speech. A girl. Dame. Broad. You know. Someone of the feminine half of the population."
"Oh. Yeah. Since 4th year."
"Hunh nice. I never got to finish them as I came home. So I have no idea how they turned out. If they got anything right or not. You don't look like the kid they got. You're taller."
"I'm 20 years old. Its been a few years we've been on the run."
"Damn. Well you know Hollywierd they take a good story and ruin it."
Harry just grunted. He had no idea what to think as Hermione's Door had taken them into another entire world it looked like. He picked up a magazine off the floor and saw that it was dated 2013. Apparently also through time it seemed.
Dave chatted with Harry about life and things in general. Pointing out some of the local sights along the way. Eventually they arrived at a small place back a side road. It was a rather mid sized Caravan. There was an older car parked to the side and a garage or shed of some sort. Trees and fences hid the place from the neighbors.
"Well Home sweet home. Welcome to Case de Grande."
======xxxxx====
"Take your friend to the back bedroom. I got to clean out the side one. You get settled in. Bathroom's pretty easy to find. You're welcome to raid the closet for anything you need."
"Thank you sir."
"Hey I wasn't a sir I worked for a living. Not some damn fobbit piece of brass..." He went towards the kitchen muttering under his breath.
Putting Ginny in the bed that was well made Harry laughed, "You know if I didn't know better I'd swear Moody came over with us."
"Yeah he does share a few personality traits with him." She said rubbing Ginny's hair.
"Do you think she'll come out of it?"
"I don't know. I'm running out of health potions and all kinds of supplies. If there isn't a magical world in this place we could be in trouble."
"I can still feel magic can you?"
"Yeah but it feels different. It feels like its not as controlled, not as tamed."
"Well you're more sensitive than I am about that."
"Only thanks to Luna. She taught me a lot."
They fell silent thinking of their friends. Dave called them from the other end of the trailer. "Its just a frozen pizza but I figured hot and now is better than good and later."
"No this will be fine." Hermione said taking the plate and sitting at the table.
"So you guys have no money and I bet you're running low on supplies right?"
"Were you listening."
"No but you look like your kits about to the bottom of the barrel. Plus if you were more plush you'd be offering to pay me back for all this. People always seems to think money solves things."
"Well yes to be honest we are about out of Health potions and some other supplies. We have some food left I think. We don't have very much money and what money we do have is wizard money."
"Hunh. So like gold, silver or something?"
"Its an alchemical gold that the Goblins developed."
"So magical?"
"Yes they made it so it couldn't get counterfeited or copied."
"And you can't melt it down for the base metal?"
"Not without a magical forge or a dragon."
"Well I got an oxy-acetylene torch but I bet that ain't what you're talkin about."
"As I'm not familiar with them I have no idea."
"Alright. Well good thing I know people who won't ask too many questions about a strong back that'll work hard. You got a problem with that Harry?"
"I'm a bit used to manual labor."
"Alright. I'll talk to some of them tomorrow and get us a gig or two. You can get some money to pay for your accomidations..."
"And as for myself?" Hermione asked with a bit of trepidation.
"Well you got to watch Red. There's a pharmacy down the road a ways you can take the bicycle in the garage and rid down ta. I think they sell books there and magsn stuff. You're the brains you gotta brain yer way outta this."
"So as far as you know there is no wizarding world?"
"Not for reals. There's a game shop one of my buddies at the VA works at with some kids frum the college in toan. They might recognize any gang signs or whatever you guys use."
Hermione snickered. "Well there is a way to test. You are a muggle. At the very least it'll test how closely they monitor magic if there is."
Harry looked at her. "You sure?"
"Well if we get in trouble we should be able to explain what happened."
"Okay whaterya tawking about?"
She smiled and looked around the kitchen It was neat and orderly but there were some dishes out and other signs it was inhabited by a bachelor. She waved her wand and things picked themselves up, cleaned and polished and put away. Soon the place was sparkling and had a hint of lavender in the air.
"Well goldang it. That was some wicked ass effing sheet."
Harry and Hermione laughed. "I know the first time I did magic it was amazing." Harry said.
"Well Harry you better come with me. I'll introduce you to the guys and get things set up."
"Won't they ask for ID or other questions."
"Dude the work we're doing they don't care if you're a little green muther from mars as long as you got a strong back and show up. We get paid cash under the table and if you get hurt too damn bad. So just don't get hurt."
When no one from the MACUSA showed up Hermione was disappointed. Harry though was not surprised.
=====xxxxx=====
Things soon settled into a bit of a routine. Harry learned the business end of a shovel and hand tools real fast. Hauling, pushing and lugging things Harry saw what Dave meant about needing a strong back. He did cheat when no one was watching and use magic but Dave always shook his head when he found out. Magic may have been neat but hard work was a religion to Dave so Harry became a devotee.
Harry used his earning to help replenish their clothes to blend in and help out on food. The local IGA became their friend. Since according to Hermione the three of them must have been the only magicals on the planet she stopped being shy about using it and fixed the trailer up with expanding charms on their room and the bed.
Dave had taken Harry to the comic shop to see if there was any wizards or anything. No good came from that but they did find several books on the Harry Potter universe and the novels.
She said it was disturbing how much of their world the author had gotten right but also so much she got wrong. Like Ron was absolutely wrong in their world. He was not a prat and thought of Hermione as a sister. He had had a major crush on Luna and thought the world of her. She was a nice girl but not as spaced out as they made her in the book.
Dave taught Harry and Hermione how to drive his truck so they could get out more on their own. They had begun to trust him with Ginny. As he spent time gently ladling chicken soup and water into her. Brushing her hair and talking to her. He had moved into the second bedroom so that they could have the main one. He said after having spent nights in a biv under the desert stars a pullout couch was no big deal.
He also taught Harry some hand to hand and about guns. He said they'd go out in the woods later and shoot. Dave's friends accepted that Harry was a friend's cousin who ran away and didn't ask anything else.
=====xxxxx====
He was sitting reading a book to Ginny one afternoon when she opened her eyes and looked around. Seeing Dave she froze and he stopped and carefully set the book down.
"Hello."
She looked under the blanket and saw she was still dressed. "Whoare you?"
"Well I'm Dave. Your friends Harry and Hermione went off to check an old indian mound to see if she can open some gateway or somethin back to your home."
"oh."
"You hungry? Thirsty?"
"I could use some water."
"K be raght back."
When he stepped out Ginny looked around. She was wearing a shirt that said Grateful dead on it and her knickers. She didn't seem to have been molested she thought and aside from feeling like she had been run over by a heard of hippogriffs she felt okay. The room had books and a writing desk and a whiteboard with all kinds of runes and arithmancy on it. So it looked like Hermione was busy.
He cam back with a glass of water handing it to her. "Here ya go red."
"Thank you. How long have I been unconscious?"
"Well you've been here a little over two months. They said it was a few weeks afore that you got hit."
"Oh no wonder I feel so bad."
"Yeah better get up and walk. A body forgets how to if you stay in bed too long."
=====xxxxx=====
When Harry and Hermione got back she was smiling. "I found a crack in the worlds. I think I can get it to open to our world by next summer solstice."
"Well that's a few months away."
"Then we can go home?" Ginny said walking unsteadily form the back room.
Hermione and Harry both glomped her and cried a few tears at her recovery. She was slow and achy and needed to pause more often but she worked with them to get better.
Harry and Dave worked a lot over the winter. Hermione would do her calculations and sometimes go out to the mound to see about alignments and such. Ginny and Dave would sit up and talk and sometimes drink as Ginny had developed a taste for his beers. They'd watch movies on his DVD player and he taught her to play poker. He went hunting with a friend and came back with a deer which he taught her how to process and she helped out without going all girly on him.
She learned how to hunt and take care of knife from Dave. He took her shooting more often as he said Harry would be lucky to hit the broadside of the barn standing in it. Hermione did not even try to use a gun as they were loud, kicked and very unpleasant. Ginny though Dave approved of as he said she had the feel for it.
She worked with Hermione on wandless since she had lost her wand along the way. Dave asked why didn't she just pick up a stick from the woods and they had to explain about crystals and focus and stuff. So he went to the comic book store and bought her a copy of the elder wand which she tried to use but it didn't work any better than wandless. She appreciated the attempt.
He even took the younguns as he called them bowling a few times. Ginny and Dave did quite well. They even entered a tournament one weekend in the spring which they won. When they did Ginny grabbed him throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. Which shocked him.
He was a lot quieter when they went back to the trailer and sat out on the porch after dinner alone.
=====xxxxx====
Ginny came out wearing the jeans and boots from the thrift store. Even though it was a chilly evening she had unbuttoned her shirt to show the bra she was wearing off. She saw Dave sitting on the wood chair looking out into the night. He nodded to her when she came up.
"Dave why'd you pull away when I kissed you?"
"It surprised me."
"You didn't like it?"
"I. Well I did. That's the problem."
"How's that a problem?"
"You're a kid. I'm old enough to be your big brother."
"I'm 20 years old. Even in America I'm a legal lay."
He frowned at her, "I've been a bad influence on you."
"Depends on your point of view." She said leaning back against the porch railing directly in front of him. She at least was happy to notice he was looking at her.
"I've not had the best of luck with women."
"Well we haven't exactly taken off on our own yet. And trust me my relationship history isn't very good either."
"That one of those things the book got wrong?"
"Just a bit. They got the possession in my first year right, they left out the rape by Malfoy in 5th year or the way Neville rebuilt me when everyone else was off trying to save the world. I had a major crush on Harry but he's only ever seen me as a little sister. Neville was my first love. The first boy to love me."
"Well when she geets you guys back there you and himell pick back up then."
"No we won't. First off I don't know if this wild ass plan will work. I mean its Hermione so it probably will. But if it does and we go back to the same time we left Neville's probably dead, if we go back later, Neville's still probably dead, if we go back earlier then he's younger than me and I'll feel like a cradle robber."
"Yeah and that's what I am."
"How old are you?" She pointedly asked him.
"I'm 33."
"So you're 13 years older than me. That's not too bad."
"Yeah but. But. Shit. I'm runnin out of excuses." He said looking at her steely stare.
"Yeah. You are." She said sitting in his lap with a grin.
"So you're sure you wanna be my girl?"
"Well if we trim this shrubbery up a bit I wouldn't mind." She said playing with his beard.
"I ain't shaved this since I got back."
"Well then I think it's about time eh?" She said nuzzling into his chest.
=====xxxxx====
Next morning at breakfast Harry and Hermione froze when they saw a clean shaven hair neatly trimmed Dave sitting at the table while Ginny cooked the breakfast. He awkwardly greeted them,
"It was her idea." He said as way of explanation.
Harry and Hermione said nothing when Ginny glared at them. "Well 3 more months and we can go back. I think. I have to do a few more calculations. I will also need to make a device to activate the portal. I'll need copper, cold iron, and some crystals. Do you think you and Harry could find me some?" She handed Dave a list.
"Uh There's a new age shop in town that might have the crystals the rest of that we can probably pick up at the hardware store or scraps."
"The tools in your garage do you mind if I use some of them?"
"Yeah but I thought you could use your magic stick on it?"
"For some of it. I'm going to have to get a bit creative though."
"Well yeah have at it."
=====xxxxx=====
The next night Ginny moved into Dave's bedroom to Harry and Hermione's amusement but approval. They reminded Ginny that the walls were rather thin and that silencing charms were a good thing the next night to Dave's amusement.
=====xxxxx====
One day while Harry and Dave were at work a couple months later Ginny was helping Hermione wrap copper wire around steel pipe that had been inscribed with runes. She had pounded some copper plates found at the thrift store into a flat disk with more runes and put crystals in them.
"Mia. If Dave doesn't come with us I'm going to stay here with him."
Hermione inhaled a few times before she pursed her lips and said, "Are you sure? You'll be the only witch here. Not to mention Ginny Weasley is a fictional character."
"I know. But Jenny Weaver isn't."
"Sounds like you've been thinking about this."
"Yeah. You know the library in town? I've been using their computers for research on how to get id and what I'd have to do. With a few uses of the Imperio and some other spells I can get all the right and proper paperwork and exist here."
Hermione sighed but kept working, "You do realize this door will be a one way trip. We won't ever come back."
"I know. I'll miss you guys."
"Well maybe you can talk to him."
"I have. He hasn't said anything."
"Are you sure he's not just using you for sex."
"Yes Mia. Do you think Harry is using you for sex?"
Hermione paused to frown at her red haired friend.
"So no then. Dave's not doing that either. Hell half the time I have to be the one to initiate things. He has some real emotional problems. He loves me I can tell by the stuff he does but he doesn't say it. I don't know why and he won't tell me."
"Well I don't know what to tell you. It took me three years to get Harry to talk to me about his feelings. And that was even without all the baggage he supposedly should have had in those stupid books."
"I know did the author ever write you back?"
"I got a very nice form letter thanking me for my interest in how she developed things."
=====xxxxx=====
A few nights before the summer solstice Dave called his new friend's together.
"Okay I know red's been freakin out about where she's going to be hangin her hat here comin up. And I did some thinkin. I don have much holdin me here. Red's been the best thing to happen to me and the only woman to stay with me longer than a few weeks. You go back into a war zone you could use some help so I'll be going with you."
"It's a one way trip. You won't be coming back." Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah red told me that. My brothers won't miss me much."
"Are you sure this isn't your fight."
"I put boot to head for country fer over 9 years. This time I want to do it for friends. Red says she'd be happy here without you but I don't think books and some movies that got actors that don't even look like you'uns is gon be enough. She needs your world. She needs you guys and I need her. So She goes I go."
"Well we'll be glad to have you." Harry said holding his hand out.
"Good."
"Don't forget we have to get there and setup before sunrise."
"I know. Won't be the first time I've been up at o'fuck thirty."
"Okay. Well if it works. We will return to just before the final battle. Since we missed the cup horcrux we will go get it somehow. Destroy it and then the Harry that will be there originally will win."
"Wait a second. I must have missed a memo."
"What do you mean?"
"Is there going to be two of us after this?"
Taking a deep breath Hermione nodded, "Yes there will be two of us. I have no idea about Dave."
"There is another one of me he'd be in his teens. I joined up straight out of high school and was already in when 9/11 hit. I think we can avoid each other."
"Okay well that will help."
"So you got a plan on getting and destroying the cup? Then whats your exfil?"
"Our what?"
"Exfil. Ex filtration. How you getting out of there?"
"Well hopefully not on the back of an ancient half blind dragon."
"And after the good guys win?"
"I was thinking we move to Australia."
"Yeah well no plan survives enemy contact intact. Options. Alternatives?"
"Well as you read the books. We kinda make things up as we go?" Harry explained with a grin.
"Yee-ha." Dave said sarcastically.
=====xxxxx=====
Waking everyone up at the appropriate time to drive to the mound Harry, Hermione and Ginny gathered the gear. Several duffel bags had been packed very carefully. Dave raiding his storage shed for the gear he didn't use as much anymore. Hitting the army-surplus store for some of the other.
Walking out to the truck he patted the hood. Too bad the doorway thing ain't going to be big enough to bring Betsy with us. She's been a good truck."
"Sorry. I know you like this. But since we have to be on top of the mound anyhow I don't think you could get her up there." Ginny said sympathetically.
"Oh well I'm sure some kid in the impound lot will get a kick."
=====xxxxx=====
Arriving at the mound the driveway was blocked by a closed and padlocked gate. A little work with a pair of bolt cutters and they were in.
They moved carefully and quickly to get things setup and aligned. Dave moved all of the duffels to the spot Hermione had marked out while Harry watched for security.
Dave left the keys in the ignition with the window rolled down and a note on the dash.
When Hermione declared everything ready they picked up the duffels and the backpacks and stood there. Harry and Hermione holding hands, Ginny and Dave doing the same.
"You know this might not work and the doorway might not open." Dave pointed out.
"It'll open. The calculations plus the harmonic alignment between the crystal boosters will ensure that happens."
"You sure it'll go when and where you want? I mean winding up in the middle of the Atlantic might be a bit problematic."
"When did you get so cynical." Ginny laughed.
"Three days after the recruiter got me to sign my name."
The sun started cresting the horizon. Unfortunately a sheriff's cruiser pulled up to the park entrance and then behind Betsy.
"Uh oh. We got a county mountie getting curious."
Harry gripped his wand, "It'll be okay."
The officer got out of his car and started walking towards the mound. He was frowning and shaking his head.
"Well he's coming alone. Probably thinks we're some crazy hippies conducting a moon ritual."
"The sun's almost up." Hermione said noticing the crystals had begun to glow.
The officer got to the base of the mound and started to climb, "Hey folks come on down."
"Nah that's cool officer I don't know if the price is right or not."
"Very funny buddy. What kinda game is this?"
The sun fully crested the horizon. The crystals glowed as a beam of light bounced around each of them then hit a point in empty space. The officer put his hand on his sidearm but froze as a crackling hissing noise suddenly filled the air and what looked like space itself ripping opened in front of the four people standing in front of him.
The gateway opened and Hermione gasped, "Its Hogsmeade!"
"Well then Ooh rah and lets go!" Dave said leaping forward with Ginny. Hermione and Harry moving at the same time. They leapt through the magic doorway and it closed behind them. A burst of energy shattered the crystals and melted the pipes. The officer had thrown himself backwards when the gateway opened so he missed them jumping through it.
He picked himself up at the base of the mound looking at the top turned and walked back to the cruiser. Trying to figure out how he was going to explain this in a way that didn't get him talking to someone with a long white coat while laying on a couch.