Author Note: An expansion of the previous chapter. A few corrections and such as this was an older work in progress from before I started posting online. I had a few paragraphs and made it a true chapter 1. Not that I'm going to move it into the active production line given everything else going on but who knows what the plot gremlins will do.

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. Only now she was someplace that was obviously not the hall. It was a vast white emptiness that seemed to have no depth or dimensions at all.

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 she gasped in fear and worry..

"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, I'm sorry to say. The spell that hit you stopped your heart in shock. 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. That she would never grow up.

"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 would happen.
"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, about Sirius and the others he had killed.

"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. How did that make her Harry's champion.

"Yes. You have stood beside him through all shades of darkness, aside from a few mistakes where you allowed others to persuade you to step aside. 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. She had to admit she could have treated harry better, she could have talked to him instead of making decisions for him.

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." He paused looking upwards, "He is quite the terror in that department. 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 needs a real divine intervention."

"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 as she quickly thought over her time with Harry, "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. You do not breathe or bleed or suffer from injuries, though you can still be injured. 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 at the moment.

"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 life. What will happen."
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 witch 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 instinctively. 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. Thank you Pygar."

===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 in confusion 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."

"C'mon 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.

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 as she 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. The creatures were really misunderstood she laughed to herself. She would have a lot to talk to Hagrid and Luna about when she got through this.

"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. Then I help you do that. I'm sorry I can't fight for you, just help you."

Harry nodded with an amused grin, "Right. Guardian Angel, not warrior angel."

"Exactly." Hermione smiled back.

"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. She gave him a wry look, "Sorry I guess you would know." he said.

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 with a few odd things Hermione was still trying to figure out.

"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. His flare of emotions washed over Hermione like a flame. She took a deep breath and smiled at him though to reassure and calm him.

Opening her aura as she knew she would have to do so to remove that, she felt her wings spread. Looking 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. Being sent onto the next realm and its eternal punishment.

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 concealed her aura once more when she was assured he was safe, cleansed of the darkness and would survive.

Harry woke up a few moments later in her arms, "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. She had felt his sharp stab of fear for her.

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 after a moment, "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. She was going to have a discussion with Pygar about the previous individuals who held the position about this.

"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 to help reassure and calm Harry.

"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 tapping her chest.

"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.

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. Your uncle is getting rather impatient. I guess I should let them take you now."

"Yeah." He replied rather glumly, "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 to the Dursleys. He noticed her parent's followed them.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia. This is Hermione my girlfriend and her parents." he said trying to keep his voice on an even tone.

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?" Vernon looked like he was not expecting that sort of reply.
"Not entirely. We do have a contract to provide some overflow services for the community center 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." Hermione 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." her mother said resignedly, "If he told you then I suppose its worthwhile to make sure."

"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. Some things 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?" Daniel asked, "And I thought you couldn't do magic at home."

"No dad. That's next year." she knew they didn't start animagus studies in transfigurations until seventh year. "And this magic is permitted. I have permission from a higher authority."

"Oh dear. Turning into a cat? How is that even possible it would violate the conservation of mass for a human sized object to reduce to the size of a cat." 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." Hermione said in concern.
"I have come to mostly accept that magic is real Hermione. So I will do my best to react positively." Her mother said calmly.

"That's all I ask." She swallowed then as she felt her mother's calmness and her father's eagerness. She decided to go for the total transformation and relaxing she released her aura. She felt the energy build and letting her wings unfold they spread behind her as her clothes shifted and transformed into a tight golden armor with a pure white skirt. Sandals wrapped around her feet to her knees with golden shin guards. 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 she was looking at with her beliefs. Hermione was worried by her mother's emotions, her father was taking it as well as she expected.

"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.

"Hermione. There is no such thing as angels or spiritual beings. That would have to mean there is a Heaven and a Hell. Angels don't exist."

"There are mum. Angels exist. I met one. His name is Pygar."

"It must have been a hallucination caused by your injury. The brain chemicals broke down. Some of your neuron's misfired from the energy of that, spell." she shook her head.

"Mum. I don't know what else I can do to show you." Hermione worriedly said with a quaver in her voice. "I'm still your daughter, and still a mortal. Just one with more abilities from a higher power."

Helen Granger frowned, "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 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 can explain everything."
"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." He paused, "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 its perfectly safe as I don't get pregnant." She said.

"Well I wasn't suggesting you have that much fun."He said with a grin, "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 without alerting the Ministry." She said sheepishly. Folding herself back into just Hermione.

"Hey its okay." He said getting up to hug her. "I'm just glad you're here."

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 maybe not argue very 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 along, I'll try not to bother you."

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

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

"Oh sorry." Harry said sympathetically, "I hope its not going to be too bad."
Hermione shrugged, "It's the way it will be. She'll have to decide for herself."

"Advice from on high?" He glanced upwards.

"Sort of." She frowned, "I don't know about mum though. She had trouble accepting magic. She saw it as magic versus science before all of this already 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." She countered. She had not meant to start a fight but wanted to talk to Harry about the events to help him get through the pain.

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.

He took a deep breath. Looking sideways at her he said softly, "So you're trying to say there is no such thing as a great master plan?"

She bit her lip as she hadn't been told she couldn't share some of what she had learned but then she had not been told she could. She had always respected authority as her mother had taught her but her dad had always encouraged her to push the limits, especially when authority stood in the way of what was right. "Harry. Free will is the highest gift the powers gave us. There are things that are fated to happen, there is a time for people to die. But otherwise no, there is no mater plan. Its more like guidelines." She finally said.

He took a deep breath chuckling, "That is not entirely comforting."

"I know. But bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people not because of some celestial plan."

"So if there's no plan then why do I have to do this? Why are there prophecies? Why does anything have to happen?" Harry's voice rose as a scowl crossed his face.

She tried to figure a way to explain what she had glimpsed to him. She was still mortal so did not have the whole picture herself. "Imagine it like this Harry. Our lives are like a giant chain of dominoes. These chains lead to a fixed point where we die. In between there are a few other fixed points that have to happen for one reason or another. Some of them are caused by the chains other lives make intersecting yours, this is like when you and I met or you and Voldemort having to fight. Others are caused by chains that started hundreds of years ago. And some of them are there to help set another chain in motion for someone else."

Harry looked at her then sighed while shaking his head, "I'm not sure I still understand."

Hermione shrugged, "Well neither do I to be honest. I get the feeling that if I tried to see beyond the minor glimpse I get with the upgrade my brain would melt then explode. That's sort of what faith has to operate on. We have to have faith in ourselves and the universe at large."

Harry frowned but when Hermione didn't say anything else he said, "I suppose I'll take your word for it. You should know."

"As much as I can. I'm still just as mortal as youa re Harry. I don't know everything." She smiled, "Contrary to popular belief."

He chuckled, mimicking Snape he said, "Such an insufferable know-it-all. Now given cosmic power What shall we ever do."

She laughed, "Oh behave yourself."

He laughed. "Okay. I'll try."

She took a deep breath then leaned forward and kissed Harry on the lips. Harry didn't immediately respond but once he realized what was going on he eagerly returned the kiss. His hand slid along her arm to caress her back as she pushed the two of the prone onto the floor.

Breaking apart after several moments of awkward fumbling touches on each other's bodies while their lips pressed tightly together. They grinned at each other.

"Okay I think that was definitely cosmic." Harry chuckled.

"Oh definitely." She agreed, "Although maybe the bed would be more comfortable.

Harry's eyes grew wide when she said that. "The bed?"

"I'm not meaning we should have sex but snuggling on the floor, or snuggling on the bed, which would you rather do?"

Harry nodded, "Right. Bed. Softer, more comfortable."

Hermione giggled slightly. She felt Harry's excitement, arousal, confusion and embarrassed fear as she moved to the bed with him. "Relax Harry. You have nothing to be ashamed about."

Harry looked at her curiously. "Embarrassed."

"I can feel your emotions Harry. Part of the powers." She said stroking his hair.

"Oh. Right. You can't read my mind can you?" He asked slightly concerned.

"No but as you're a healthy teenage male I'm not sure I need to read your mind to know what you're thinking?"

"I'm not sure I know what I'm thinking right now." Harry said.

She licked her lips before taking her shirt off, "Well let's not think much then." Before she began to kiss him again. His hands sliding up her back with her encouragement.

…...

Laying curled beside Harry while he slept Hermione sighed. She had felt his love for her, his happiness at being with her when they had joined earlier in the evening. They had cuddled afterwards talking about how much they meant to each other. Harry had said Sirius would probably be proud of him right then causing Hermione to laugh in agreement. She told him she as proud of him making him blush. They talked softly, holding each other until he finally fell asleep in her arms smiling softly.

She sighed as she untangled herself from him carefully. Kissing him when he murmured in his sleep. Showering and dressing she returned to Harry's room and sat with her back against the side of his bed on the floor. She closed her eyes and opened her mind to the feel of the magic in the house. The wards covering it and realized she had some work to do.

…...(End of Chapter 1)

Review Responses

Dennisud: Thank you. It is an older work in progress I dug out of the depths. True Voldemort is not going to accept that Harry has celestial backing being unable to see beyond the concept of his own power. I still haven't quite figured out what the Dursleys are going to be like as I've already got her mother being the denier. I doubt they'll be very faithful but might see the light, especially if its being wielded by Hermione upside their head. LOLOL. Due to the other stuff going on it'll go back into the WIP folder until the plot gremlins drag me back to it again but I had a few chapters at least in mind for it.

Sparky40sw: Thank you. I'm trying to show the emotional response of the situation without going too angsty or preachy. Hopefully I can keep it up as I work on this in pieces in the future.

OfficerDonNZ: The OPM wasnot entirely what caused this. This was an older work in progress I had begun several years ago but left on the jump drive as I didn't feel confident enough to begin posting my works online yet. I have a large number of unfinished stuff sitting around ranging from a few sentences to several paragraphs.. Your PM just reminded me of it. Hermione's mum is going to have a difficult time but hopefully she can adjust. But it will be difficult to change one's entire worldview overnight. And yes I was trying to show how Hermione became the uptight bookworm from the early series. Like I said to DennisUD due to the other projects going on this will go back intot he WIP folder for now. But who knows when the plot gremlins will drag it back up. Lol.

Katmom: Thank you. Glad you found it nice.