Author Note: Harry has a new guardian angel. Good thing he already knows her. First chapter of a story idea that broke into my brain and refused to leave except through the keyboard.

Hermione stumbled as she found herself in a strange well lit room. She had been running through the hall of prophecies when she felt a searing sharp pain in her side as a spell from Dolohov hit her.

She stood looking around as a person came walking towards her. He was tall, muscular and had wide golden feathery wings protruding from his back. The only clothes he wore was a pair of tight white athletic shorts that proved angels were not androgynous a part of Hermione's mind noticed briefly.

Another part of her mind identified the being walking towards her as an angel. Angels were in heaven which meant she was dead? She felt a brief sting of pain as she realized how much she would miss, how her parents would feel. And Harry. What would happen to Harry now.

"Hello Hermione." The being said in a rich mellow voice.

"Hi. Am I. Did I." She was reluctant to actually say it.

He sighed and nodded sadly, "Yes you died. The spell that hit you stopped your heart. In the chaos and confusion no one was able to get to you in time and you died."

"Oh." She said. Sad and upset that she would never do so many things with her life. That she would not be able to help Harry finish his quest to destroy Voldemort. That her parents might never know how she actually died.

"Please sit for a moment. I'm sure its a big shock, it usually is." He said gesturing to a bench that had appeared out of the blank nothingness.

"Where are we?"

"We are in what is known as in-between. Its a corner of Limbo you might say."

"So this isn't heaven?" She asked looking around.

The being laughed, "Oh graciousness no. This is the receiving chamber you might say. The ones with different beliefs get sorted out here, going onward to their respective after lives."

"So where am I going?" she asked curious as she had never really accepted any particular faith as her own.

"You my dear are going back to the mortal realm." He said with a smile.

"I'm going back?" She was very surprised. She didn't know if this was going to be a punishment or reward or what.
"Yes. You see Death is very irritated with the one calling himself Voldemort. She rather hates those who try to cheat their time, and since you got taken earlier than you were supposed to as a result of his actions, we are going to send you back." the being said.

"Oh. But what about the others who've died during this." She thought about Cedric.

"They had fulfilled their destiny. I am sorry child. Not everyone gets a second chance. You though have a role to play."

"A role to play? What's that supposed to mean?" She tried not to sound huffy but she disliked being used, and she was starting to feel more and more like she was being used.

"You are Harry Potter's anchor on reality. He needs you to survive and win. He is Death's champion and you are his."

"I'm his champion?" She was surprised. All she had done was be his friend.

"Yes. You have stood beside him through all shades of darkness, aside from a few mistakes where you allowed others to persuade you to make mistakes. You have been his best friend and reason for continuing to fight. Otherwise he would have surrendered by now. Although as I said it was close when you listened to the wrong man and ignored him. Try not to do that from now on." He looked at her with kind disappointment. Sort of like the way her grandfather did as she remembered from her childhood.

"Oh. I. Uh thank you. I'll try to do better this time around." She said getting concerned.

The being patted her on the arm, "Relax. There are a few things though you'll need to know before you go back."

"Right of course. I'm sorry. I'm still rather addled by the dying bit." she said trying to joke.

"Well Harry is very important to the cause. He will need all of the help he can get and you are a vital component of that help. Without you he would fail. So Death is rather more than happy to send you back, she is even allowing us to give you a bit of an upgrade if you will." he said with a wide grin.

"An upgrade?" She asked looking down at herself quickly.

"Oh yes. As I said Death is highly motivated to ensure that Tom, Voldemort, whatever he wants to call himself, is reaped for eternal punishment. To this end she asked if we could upgrade you. So we will give you the powers of a Guardian Angel. Especially since Harry's last one resigned after tonight. That makes the fifth one since he came to Hogwarts. He went through two the year of the Tri-wizard tournament alone." The being mused wryly. "Dragons. The one whose idea that was."

"I'm going to be Harry's Guardian Angel?" She asked in shock.

The being chuckled, "Yes. A role you have already been carrying out since the day you met him. Only now you will have the actual title and powers."

She chuckled, "I guess I have been doing that sort of." she realized now.

"Yes. And as much as I know you will want to fight his battle for him you will have to let him do most of the heavy lifting on the battles, you may help him, defend him, and advise him of course, as always."

"So what I've been doing all along." She repeated.

"Yes. You will be his Guardian Angel though." The being said.

"But will I still be a mortal girl. I mean with all the usual mortal stuff?" She asked worriedly.

The being sighed, "As an angel empowered you will not sleep, you will not tire. You will neither hunger nor thirst. Although you may eat and drink if you wish. You will not have to go to the bathroom or have a period. Nor shall you become pregnant through sexual relations. As a Guardian you will be able to sense the location and condition of your ward, as well as his emotional state. You will not have access to his thoughts though. You will be able to hide your holy aura and appear much as you used to unless you choose to do reveal yourself, or must do so to use certain powers."

Hermione nodded. The idea of angels having sex made her blush a little bit but the rest of it didn't sound too bad.

"Your wings will let you fly, and protect you from harm, and they can be hidden so that you will not be constantly knocking things over." He laughed.

"I'm going to have wings?" She asked glancing over her shoulders. Nothing was there.

"Yes of course you are. When you release your holy aura it will be impossible to hide them. Its one of the symbols of our power." He said ruffling his own. "Don't worry you will be given the instinctual knowledge of how to use them and everything else."

"Oh wow." She said wide eyed then sighed.

"What is wrong little one?" The being asked softly.

"But I'm going to be an angel. How could I have a normal life, will I still be able to grow old and be a mother and have a."
The being raised his hand trying to calm her. Hermione stopped talking and took a deep breath.

"You are going to have the power of an angel. You will not be an angel. Death wanted us to make that abundantly clear. Once your task has been completed, that of defeating Voldemort, your powers will be stripped and you will return to being just another mortal for the rest of your natural life." the being smiled benevolently at her. "Although one who has seen behind the curtain and remember the things that have been done."

Hermione sagged in relief, she had been scared before but now she was already thinking of what she had to do to help harry and get the war finished sooner rather than later.

"So. I'll know how to use my powers, there's no handbook or anything like that?" she asked.

"No, there is no handbook. The knowledge will come to you instinctually. So are you ready to go back?" he asked.

"Yes of course. Although what's your name?" she asked standing up. Feeling much more composed and ready.

"My name is Pygar. Take care Hermione." he said.

"I will."

===xxx

Hermione woke up on the floor of the Ministry. She had a large hole burned in the side of her shirt which she frowned at, a moment later the hole was gone and her shirt was whole again.

She reached out and felt for where Harry was, locating him in the atrium of the Ministry she stood up and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go." She said to herself and vanished from her current location to appear beside Harry who was in the middle of a violent battle between himself and Bellatrix Lestrange.

She released her aura feeling large white feathery wings unfolding from her back, a bright white glow forming around her as Bellatrix and Harry both froze for a moment. Bella recovered quickly and unleashed a green bolt of light at Harry.

Without thinking Hermione grabbed Harry and wrapped her wings around themselves. She felt the spell hit her wing and dissipate. She looked into Harry's confused and shocked eyes for a moment before smiling at him.

He smiled awkwardly back before she jumped up and somehow had a golden bladed short sword in her hand. Bella's eyes grew wide and she threw herself into the Floo rather than continue the fight.

Hermione turned to Harry briefly before a darkness appeared behind her. She felt its presence as a cold blight on the world. Turning she saw Voldemort standing there before her.

"Interesting use of transfiguration child. But pointless." He raised his wand at her, "Kneel and obey me." He hissed.

She assumed a defensive position and backed towards Harry, "You're not going to take him. I'll protect him from you."
"I am sure you will try child." He said before launching several spells at her. Hermione parried some with her sword and shielded from others with her wings. She had reached harry though and grabbed him concentrating on Hogwarts they vanished as Dumbledore walked into the atrium.

"Hello Tom."

===xxx

Harry and Hermione stumbled and fell onto the ground. She was straddling him, her wings blocking out the sky from Harry's point of view but the fact she was glowing still allowed him to see her.

She also saw the fear and confusion on his face as he scrambled out from under her to sit staring at her. She concentrated for a moment and turned the aura off somehow, she wasn't sure and felt her wings fold away into, someplace? She wasn't sure and would explore that later. She was still holding her sword and sort of thought about hiding it and it shimmered away. Looking at harry she could feel the anger, pain, confusion, and sadness radiating from him.

"Hello Harry. Uh I guess I have a lot to explain."

"You're dead. You're dead too." He cried.

She rushed to his side and hugged him, "Not quite. Its kinda complicated."

Harry looked at her, "What do you mean you're not dead? I saw you. You're an angel."
"Yeah. Your guardian angel. So listen to me Harry okay? I'm not dead, I was, but I got better. They sent me back to help you and protect you. To do that they made me your guardian angel." She was stroking his hair, as she did so she felt a darkness in his head. Concentrating she saw a strange void in his soul like something had been stabbed into him and a blister had formed around it.

Harry shook his head, "I'm. I watched you get hit by a spell. You fell down."

"I know. I know Harry. I died. I really did but like I said they sent me back." she tried to say comfortingly. Trying to soothe his pain.

Harry soon stopped crying and looked around, "If they sent you back maybe they sent Sirius back. Maybe he's not dead too?"

She felt somehow that Sirius was not going to come back. No matter what. She bit her lip as Harry's plaintive hopefulness seemed to recognize from her expression what she was going to say. The hope fading from his eyes in rivulets as the tears fell again.

"He's not coming back is he?" Harry said painfully.

She shook her head, "No. It was his time. He had to go. It was peaceful though. I know he didn't feel any pain."

Harry nodded as he wiped his face on his shirt tail. "So what are you?"

She knew Harry was in shock and repeated her explanation of what happened and what Pygar had told her. She knew once Harry had some time to come out of shock she was going to have to do this again but until then she would repeat it as many times as he wanted.

He stood looking at her when she had finished before nodding, "Oh. Okay."

"Cmon lets get you to madam Pomfrey."

===xxx

When Hermione walked into the hospital wing holding Harry's hand everyone fell on them in sheer confusion and excitement. Professor McGonnegal cried out in Gaelic and hugged her. Neville excitedly jumped up and hugged her too, "We thought you had died." he cried out.

She smiled, "Uh I got grazed and knocked out briefly. Nothing big." She tried to downplay things. She saw that Luna was studying her carefully with her unblinking silvery blue eyes. Hermione felt some sort of strange difference about her but tried to ignore it. She certainly did not want to use any of her major powers right now, until she got a handle on controlling it.

Ginny was hugging and crying over harry and madam Pomfrey was trying to check her and harry both. It was going to be several days before things calmed down and she was able to talk to Harry.

It turned out they would not be able to speak about her special condition until a day before they went back home. All of them were too busy trying to avoid being bombarded by all of their fellow students with questions. They also spent that time recovering from their injuries and trying to deal with the things that happened. Hermione especially.

===xxx

Harry and her were sitting beside the lake on a rock. He was staring at her closely. She had been careful over the last several days to keep her aura controlled and hidden, as she was getting used to it. Remembering to eat and drink and act like normal as much as possible during this time. Right now though she sat quietly waiting for harry to ask the questions she felt burning in his heart.

That was the biggest change she had to get used to. She knew where he was constantly, she felt how he was at the slightest thought. If he was sad, hungry, in danger, or whatever she could feel it. His grief was palpable though, almost with out the sensory link.

Harry licked his lips then said, "You died."

Hermione knew Harry was having trouble with that concept. She supposed she understood since she was sitting in front of him, warm and alive looking. "Yes."

"But they sent you back to be my guardian angel and help me." he was getting a better handle on it as he spoke it seemed.

"Yes. That's right Harry."

"And you have all the powers of an angel." he stated again. "But you are not an angel?"

"Yes." she patiently said again. She didn't mind this as much as she once would have as she could feel the curiosity behind the questions now. The desire to understand. It wasn't that Harry didn't want to learn he just didn't want to be overwhelmed all at once by everything. He needed to work at his own pace to fully understand everything about an idea before he moved on to the next one. Unlike Hermione who tried to understand at least a dozen things at once it seemed like. One good thing about not sleeping was she was getting ahead in her studies.

Harry stood up and walked towards her. She felt his fingers touch the inside of her wrist where her pulse should have been. She had full control over her body so she had been keeping a pulse around everyone but Harry. He frowned as he felt her warm skin but no pulsating throb under his fingers, "You don't have a pulse."
"No but I can." She thought for a moment and soon felt her blood pulsing through her body again.

Harry snorted as he felt the beat under his fingers, "Nice trick. Can I see your wings?" He asked as he stepped back.

She was curious about them as well. Aside from that first night she had not manifested them again. Standing up she stretched and took a deep breath. Reaching into herself she opened her aura and manifested them. They unfolded from someplace, she wasn't sure but within the span of a single breath she had large white wings fluttering slightly. She smiled at harry who was gazing at her in awe.

She tried to tone down the aura which caused him to shake his head, "Sorry about that harry. I'm still trying to figure this out."

"I suppose real angels are created knowing how to control that?" he asked.

"Maybe. Since I'm just a mortal with the powers of one there's going to be a bit of a learning curve." she said as he walked behind her. She felt him touching her back by the base of the wings.

"So what does it look like?" She asked since she couldn't see her own back.

"Like they grow out of your skin. Your shirt has these large holes for them to poke through and your bra vanished." He said with a interesting tone to his voice.

She looked down and saw her breasts were perky and obviously not covered by her undergarment as their nipples were trying to poke through the cloth as harry stroked the base of her wings.

"Uh Harry. I don't have to be chaste." she said quickly. He yanked his hand from her skin like he had been burned.

"I thought angels didn't have sex?" he squeaked before clearing his throat and composing himself.

"I'm not entirely one remember?" she laughed. "I'm still very much a healthy girl in that regard."

He swallowed briefly before grinning, "Oh and when I was touching your back."

She nodded, "Yeah. Uh. While I don't mind the idea I think I'd like to get a better grip on things before we do anything about that."

He nodded, "Right. So uh. Wait. Does this mean we're dating?"

She shrugged, "It would help explain why I'm around you so much. Plus I'm not entirely opposed to the idea." She said the last with a large smile.

He smiled back, "Okay. I'm not opposed to the idea either." He chuckled awkwardly.

"Good. Now maybe I should put them away?"

He sighed before nodding. She thought and felt herself fold back into just Hermione. Wingless and normal. "That feels so strange doing that."

"Do you mind if I look at your back again?" He asked with a slight quaver in his voice.

She pulled her shirt up and turned around. "So how does it look."
He replied "Beautiful" in a soft voice before continuing slightly louder, "Uh, unmarked, normal bare skin. Your bra strap goes right over where they had been."

She let her shirt drop back into position before turning around, "Interesting. I wonder if they are stored in some kind of extra dimensional space."

"Are they heavy?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No not really. No more than a backpack."

He nodded, "Wow. I don't know what else to say right now. My girlfriend is an angel for real."

"Yeah." She said sitting beside him holding hands.

"So how are you doing on everything else?" She asked. She knew his emotions but wanted him to talk to her about them so hadn't mentioned that aspect of her powers.

He took a deep breath, "I miss Sirius. I really do. I barely got to know him but he was one of dad's friends. He represented a family, a life I never had." He said with a hitch in his voice.

She listened as Harry talked. She had been trying to be supportive as much as she could. Eventually harry ran out of things to say and sighed.

The two of them sat quietly as a Thestral walked by slowly. Hermione watched it go by smiling as she felt its life energy.

"So what now?" He finally asked.

"Well there is something in your head I think I can remove. Beyond that we try to figure out what you need to do to defeat him."

"Dumbledore told me about the prophecy. It says either I have to kill him or he has to kill me because neither can live lest the other dies." Harry sighed.

"Well that's really pretty grim." She said. "But that still isn't the end of the world."

"Yeah. But this thing in my head, what is it?"

She shrugged, "I don't know for sure what it is. It feels like its part of him. There is a thread stretching off into the distance that probably links it to him. It feels dark and evil. Unholy." She shivered slightly.

Harry chortled a little bit. "Sorry I guess you would know."

She smiled, "Yeah. Its kinda weird how everyone looks and feels now. Like I can see what sort of person they are."

Harry nodded, "Wonderful. That must be kinda strange."

"It is. Some people are rather surprising." She observed as she had been noticing some of the Slytherins were not as dark as she had thought and some of the students in the other houses were not as light as she would have thought. Ginny especially had some troubling aspects about her aura Hermione had noticed. Ron on the other hand at least didn't have any darkness in his soul. Which meant his annoying personality was just him. Luna's aura though was as pure white as fresh snow.

"When would you want to remove this thing?" He said pointing at his forehead.

"I think I could do it right now if you wanted." she replied kneeling in front of him as he sat on the ground beside the rock.

"Could you. I don't want any part of him in me. I don't want any part of him around me." Harry emotionally declared.

She opened her aura as she knew she would have to do so to remove that. She felt her wings spread then when she looked at Harry she saw a spot of inky blackness, a void in the glowing aura of his soul. It had a tendril going off into the distance which she snipped then carefully tugging at the blackness she slowly withdrew it from Harry. Making sure to not take any of the shining bits that belonged to Harry from him.

When she was done she held a small spiky ball of blackness that seemed to absorb the light. It felt wrong and cold and nasty so she concentrated on destroying it. A light flared from her palms and the darkness dissipated with a whimper.

Harry had fallen backwards against the rock. Hermione reached out and felt that he was merely unconscious, the effort to remove that thing in his head having overwhelmed him. She released her aura once more when she was assured he was safe, cleansed of the darkness and would survive.

Harry woke up a moment later, "That was not fun." He said breathlessly.

"I tried to be as gentle as I could. I'm sorry." She said.

Harry sighed, "So I'm free of that now."
She nodded, "Yes. Unfortunately she can't tell me if there are more than the one's you've already found. Something about the celestial bureaucracy and I'm still technically a mortal. I only get to peek around the curtain not get the whole picture. It would be against the rules." Hermione frowned as she crossed her arms over her breasts.

Harry laughed, "Well nice to see some things are constant. You don't like that."
"Dad would find that comforting I suppose." She said sitting down. "And no I don't but since the alternative would be to permanently become an angel I'll live with it."

Harry shuddered slightly at the thought of losing her so he shifted to watch her to distract himself, "So how are your parents going to react to this?"

She bit her lip before sighing, "Dad is going to be okay. He's pretty open minded and understanding. Mum though is a rationalist. When I developed magic it was a pretty big blow to her view of the world. Its taken her this long to accept that magic exists and is real. To prove to her that an afterlife and angels exist is going to be quite the shock."

Harry had a sudden surge of worry and concern for her she felt. "She won't do anything to hurt you will she?"

"No. Why? Harry? Explain that?" Hermione asked sternly.

Harry turned to stare at a tree across the clearing from them, "Uh. Just worried. I mean this has been a big shock for me too."

"Harry what if I told you can tell when you're lying?" She looked at him in what she hoped was a sympathetic and hopeful way.

He took a deep breath before saying, "I'm sorry. My aunt and uncle don't like magic so they. If anything freakish happened they would beat me or starve me."
Hermione's aura sprang into full power as she leapt up and prepared to go do some smiting, the only thing that stopped her was Harry grabbing for her arm in sudden panic. She spun accidentally knocking him on his butt with her wing.

"Sorry. I forgot how far these things stick out." She said bending over to pick him up one handed.

Harry shrugged, "Its okay. I was just trying to stop you doing anything to them. They've gotten a lot better. They at least don't beat me anymore."

Setting him down she scowled at him, "But they still abuse you?"

"Well kinda. Its just words and, you know, letting Dudley have the most stuff and food and. You're not going to do anything to them are you?"

"Harry words are still abuse. Neglect is still abuse. Abuse is wrong and, and as your guardian angel I am kinda duty bound to protect you from stuff like that." Hermione pointed out with her arms crossed as she stretched her wings out.

"Okay. But It doesn't hurt me anymore. I'm used to it." Harry said with a dismissive shrug. His feelings though Hermione could tell showed otherwise.

"Harry. Lie detector. Remember?"

"Okay it hurts me. It makes me mad sometimes. But they are still just jerks, not like Death Eaters level of evil. They don't deserve getting smited or whatever you were going to do to them." Harry looked at her with a weak smile, "Okay?"

She reigned in her aura, "Okay. Maybe having a guardian angel with a bit of a temper is not a good idea." She said with a chuckle.

"Maybe. Still it shows you're motivated to keep me alive so it balances out."

"Maybe." She laughed. "Okay. So getting back to the main problem, I doubt the thing in your skull and the diary are the only two. We need to figure out if he made more and how many."

"The diary? You think that was one?"

"It possessed Ginny, it tried to posses you, it was only destroyed by the basilisk venom. It tried to steal Ginny's lifeforce to bring the spirit within it back to life. So yeah logically that would be some kind of anchor."
"And your boss can't tell you?"
Hermione shook her head, "Mortal. Just a upgraded mortal." She said with a frown.

"Right. So we need to use mortal means to figure this out."
"We go back home tomorrow. There isn't going to be very much time here at school but I can help you over the summer." Hermione said with a grin.

"I think I'm going to like this." He grinned back.

===xxx

They walked back into the school holding hands causing several of their friends to grin and react with happiness. Lavender squealed in excitement and declared she knew it would happen as she had seen it in her tea leaves. Hermione felt Ginny though have a stab of jealous anger when she looked at them. Hermione would have to watch her she knew. Ron though just shrugged and although he felt a slight bit of disappointment he did not seem to be jealous or upset.

Neville took the news with his characteristic calmness, the only thing he said was congratulations. It was Luna who surprised Hermione when the petite blonde smiled widely and beatifically declaring that things were what they were supposed to be hugged them both. Hermione had trouble with Luna's aura as it was rather confusing. Luna was a mortal, Hermione was certain about that, but had some special powers or touched by something supernatural about her.

The train ride back was spent with Hermione snuggled beside Harry, her shoes kicked off and her legs tucked against her as he rested. The grief he felt for the death of Sirius was still strong but not as overwhelming as it had been. Hermione felt bad that she couldn't actually do anything active to remove it but her love and support was doing wonders to help him he said.

When they arrived at King's Cross Hermione took Harry's hand and led him to her parents. The Dursley's standing nearby glaring at her with such ire that she almost let loose with her aura to tell them off in the middle of the station waiting lounge. She managed to control herself but it was close.

"Mum, dad. I want to introduce you to Harry. He's my boyfriend." She smiled. "Harry this is my mum and dad."

The tall middle aged man with a receding reddish brown hairline looked at Harry with a studied expression then held his hand out, "Glad to finally meet you. Hermione has written us all about you."
Harry shook the man's hand as he asked in surprise, "She has?"

"Well I don't think she has mentioned your shoe size or a few other things but she has told us a bit about you." The man said with a chuckle, "And the name is Dan, or Mr Granger for now."

Harry nodded, "Yes sir."
"Ohh polite. Not entirely bad looking teeth. I suppose you can keep him." He said with a wink at Hermione.

Hermione rolled her eyes as her dad's sense of humor rolled over her. She could feel her mother though looking at Harry with some trepidation and curiosity. Harry though was very nervous. "Well glad I have your approval dad." She declared sarcastically.

"Yes well. It is nice to meet you Harry." her mother said with a polite smile.

"Yes ma'am. I'm very glad to meet you."
Hermione could feel the impatience of Harry's uncle building from across the room causing her to sigh, "I'm sorry Harry. You uncle is getting rather impatient. I guess I should let them take you now."

"Yeah. Well it was nice meeting you both."

"Well, if that's your family then good luck young man." Daniel said.

"Thank you." Harry chuckled slightly.

Hermione turned and took him in her arms pulling him tightly she kissed him so hard his brain reset briefly. When she let go of him she chuckled, "Oh Harry why don't you just introduce me to your family." She said in a bubbly voice not too dissimilar to Lavender's.

"Uh yeah." Harry said leading her over there. He noticed her parent's followed them.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia. This is hermione my girlfriend and her parents."

Constrained by the need to at least appear polite in public Vernon held his hand out to Hermione's father, "Ah. Pleased to meet you sir. You look rather more normal than I was expecting."
"Thank you." Daniel said with a glance at his wife.

"So what do you do for a living?" Vernon predictably asked.

"I'm a dentist." Daniel answered, "My wife and I have our own private clinic."

"Private? Not NHS?"
"Not entirely. We do have a contract to provide some overflow services for the community but generally its all self-pay."

Vernon smiled, "Ahh well then. That's good to know."
Harry rolled his eyes as the two adults talked before Hermione suggested they leave soon as she had a lot to talk to them about.

"Now don't forget Harry I'm gonna want to come and visit a lot over the summer." Hermioen said batting her eyes.

Harry almost broke out laughing as she did that before giving her a hug, "Don't lay it on too thick." He whispered in her ears.

"Trust me its this or I go smiting."
He gleefully smiled at her as they parted.

…...

"Well he seems nice." Her mother said once they were in the car on the way home, "Although why did you flirt so heavily with him, in front of his family at that?"

"Oh I wanted to make sure they understood Harry was going to be checked on all summer. He's not treated very well by them." Hermione explained.

"Oh and you know that why?"
"Uh magic." Hermione said cautiously then continued, "And Harry told me."
"Oh yes. Well."

"So anything exciting happen this year?" Her dad asked eagerly. He was very supportive of her magical studies.

Hermione laughed awkwardly, "Funny you should ask that. Somethings did happen but it'll be easier to show you rather than just tell you."
"You didn't learn how to turn into a black cat or anything did you?"

"No dad. That's next year." she knew they didn't start animagus studies in transfigurations until seventh year.

"Oh dear. But that will really violate the conservation of mass." Her mother started to say before they began another discussion of how magic violated the laws of thermodynamics but still stayed within quantum mechanics. In the back of Hermione's mind though she kept track of Harry's feelings, which still seemed to be quite happy and bemused by her kiss and performance.

…..

They had dinner and relaxed before Hermione's mother consented to having her show them the new thing that she had learned.

"Okay. Now before I show you I need you to promise me you won't react badly."
"I have come to mostly accept that magic is real Hermione. I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask." She swallowed then as she felt her mother's calmness and her father's eagerness. Relaxing she released her aura letting her wings unfold and her clothes to shift and transform into a tight golden armor with a pure white skirt. Hanging off of the black belt around her waist was the golden sword she carried.

Opening her eyes she saw her father staring at her open mouthed. He seemed to be blankly unsure of what he was seeing. Her mother though was actively trying to reconcile what her eyes were seeing.

"You look like an angel pumpkin." Her dad finally managed to gasp.

"That's because I am." Hermione said then began to explain what happened. She had to go over it several times before her mother would accept the concept of guardian angels and heaven. Her aethiesm causing her to reject anything along that line of thought.

"Mum. I don't know what else I can do to show you."

"I think this one is going to take a bit more to accept than the rest of the magic stuff."
Hermione took her mother's hand, feeling that she was lost and on a bad path. "Mum please. I know you don't want to believe but there are higher powers. You don't have to accept any particular religion, just that there are higher powers."

Helen Granger stared at her daughter with a nervous tremor in her hands, "I don't know Hermione. Logic and reason dictate that none of this is real. Science."
"Science is not the only part of the story mother." Hermione said standing up stretching her wings so they brushed the walls. "Does this look like science?"

"This looks like I need to take my evening meds and calm down. Good night dear." She said going out of the room without a second glance. Hermione felt her fear and confusion but that she couldn't do anything about it. Turning to her dad who felt sympathy for her she said, "I know dad. Its okay. Harry had trouble accepting this for a few days too."

"I accept it. I've always known that you were special pumpkin. Your mum'll come around in time."
"I hope so. I don't want to lose her."
"I know. So. What're you going to do now?"

"Well I was going to make a care package for Harry and take it to him. I'll let you and mum get some sleep and talk things over." She said giving him a hug.

"Okay. Have fun." Her dad said then got a confused look, "You can still have fun right?"

Blushing Hermione nodded, "Yeah and perfectly safe as I don't get pregnant." She said.

"Well I wasn't suggesting you have that much fun. But that's good to know." He said with a forced chuckle. "Good night pumpkin."
"Good night dad."

…...

Harry was laying in bed wondering what life was going to be like now when there was a roaring rush of light and Hermione was standing in his room. She had to immediately pull her wings in as she was brushing the walls. Hedwig chittered unhappily as she had to dodge a stray wing.

"Sorry Harry. Its the only way I can travel." She said sheepishly.

"Hey its okay." He said getting up to hug her.

She set her backpack on the floor and began pulling packages out of it. "I brought you some food. Don't argue, since I don't have to eat it's not going to cause a problem at home."
"Okay no problem. I learned not to argue with you." he grinned when she raised her eyebrow at him, "Okay much."

She laughed sitting on his floor cross legged as she pulled some books out. "Not sleeping is another thing. So I brought some books."

"You're going to stay here?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Well it would speed up response time and I think my mum is going to need some time to deal with things." She said with a frown.

"Oh sorry."
Hermione shrugged, "It's the way it will be."

"Advice from on high?" He glanced upwards.

"Sort of." She frowned, "I don't know about mum though. She had trouble accepting magic versus science before all of this and like I thought the confirmation of an afterlife was too much."

"I'm Sorry."

"Don't be. She's an adult and made her choice. I have to accept that." She sat looking at harry, "Like you need to accept that Sirius chose to do what he did."

"I doubt he chose to die." Harry frowned at her, still sensitive about the subject.

"No but he chose to take the risk and defend you. He chose to come to your aide, like we all did."

Harry sighed as he sat beside her. She draped her arm over him. "I know Hermione. I just. I keep going over what if I'd done things differently. What if Sirius had dodged better. What life would be like."
"I know. If I'd dodged better." She left the rest of that unsaid.

Review Responses

Dennisud: True but that was the point of the quickies. It was a little bit too long to put under the ramblings.

Killer death: We'll work on that at some point. lol.

OfficerDonNZ: True. Ron reacted prettymuch the way one could expect. Livingin the now for certain. I'm not certain wha tthe adult grangers would ahve come up with. In my world they would ahve figured out a way to deal with it and accepted that harry, hermione and Luna had worked out a happy life together. In someone elses' *Shrug*

Idlemanrpg: Thanks. Glad ot be interesting at least. Lol.