Harry was lying in a bed in the Room of Requirement. His wife of nearly two years (in her fifteen-year-old body – Harry was going to have to get used to wrapping his head around that) was lying in his arms.

He could not recall the last time they had made love so passionately. It had to have been months before their wedding, when there was still hope in the world. But now that they were alive and together – not to mention mostly safe and sound – there was nothing stopping them from regaining their old passion.

'It's so good to be here,' Harry remarked for the umpteenth time since they had been mysteriously sent back in time less than twenty-four hours ago. 'With you.'

'It's almost unbelievable that we're both still here,' Hermione said quietly. 'Not that I'm complaining, but how exactly did we get here?'

'I have an idea. But it's pure speculation.'

Hermione chuckled. 'Speculate away, then.'

'It had something to do with the Deathly Hallows.'

Even from his position spooned behind Hermione, he could see that her eyebrows had shot up into her hairline.

'The Deathly Hallows? But I though those were just powerful magical objects and they…they weren't supposed to actually…you know…allow someone to control death.'

'I don't think we exactly controlled or reversed death,' Harry thought out loud, 'I don't think either of us…died yet when it happened.'

At that, Hermione burst into tears.

'Are you okay?' Harry asked gently.

'No! I'm not!' she said through sobs, 'I keep seeing your…your body…cut open and bleeding out! It was so horrible!'

Harry nuzzled her neck soothingly. 'I know how you feel. I dreamed about it last night. But we're here…we're here…we're together.'

Hermione nodded and took several deep breaths, controlling her tears. 'Sorry. Go on.'

'Don't be sorry. It's natural,' Harry assured her. 'Are you sure you want to hear more?'

'I do,' Hermione replied firmly.

'So, um…did you…did you feel anything after…you know…you lost consciousness?'

Hermione thought for a moment, trying to remember. 'I felt like I was being squeezed through a tube. A bit like apparition, but not as bad. And then I saw a light and…then I appeared in the Common Room.'

Harry nodded. 'It was like that for me, too.'

'But how? How did we feel anything after we died?'

'I don't think we actually died. You stopped breathing, but – '

'The human brain can survive for several minutes without blood flow,' Hermione recited textbook-style. 'And I suppose so can the magical soul.'

Harry chuckled. 'The daughter of two dentists.'

She gasped suddenly. 'My mum and dad! They're still alive! Oh my god!'

'We'll find a way for you to see them as soon as possible,' Harry promised, squeezing her.

Hermione shuddered but nodded, prompting Harry silently to continue.

'We already had two of the Hallows on us, right? The Elder Wand and my Cloak. I felt them heating up just before I thought I died. And also, well…I'm not sure, but some part of me knew that I somehow had the Stone, too.'

'Because you're the Master of Death,' Hermione gasped.

'Pardon?'

She flipped over to face him. Harry was rewarded with a face full of her 'assets', but he forced himself to stop staring at her chest as she spoke.

'You're the Master of Death,' she repeated, 'You're the master of the Wand, and you own both the Stone – in the Snitch – and the Cloak. You had the Wand and the Cloak on your person when it happened. Which means that you might have somehow – '

'Summoned the last Hallow?'

'Exactly!' Hermione exclaimed, 'I'm just guessing here, but they may have come to you when you were in need. And somehow…'

'They transported me back in time?'

'No, don't you get it?' Hermione fully sat up now, excited at having arrived at some sort of conclusion. 'The Hallows saved you from death, and it saved me too because you, the Master of Death, was holding on to me, or maybe it was some deeper magic at play. I don't know. But you know that nothing can reverse death, so – '

'We were sent back in time instead, to a time when we were still alive,' Harry concluded, awed. 'Nobody ever told us that the Hallows could do this.'

Hermione shook her head. 'Most likely, nobody knew of it. Not even Dumbledore.'

Harry nodded. 'Not many wizards manage to unite all three Hallows, then nearly get themselves killed.'

'Not funny,' Hermione reprimanded. 'But you're right. That must be the reason nobody knew about this until…well.'

Harry shuddered. He forced himself to banish the image of Hermione lying bleeding on the forest floor from his mind. It's not real anymore, he told himself, She's right here.

'There's…there's something else. It'd explain why we ended going back to this exact time.'

Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow.

'When I was bleeding out, I had images of us flashing through my head,' Harry explained, blushing a little, 'You know, good memories that we had together. And the last memory I saw before I passed out was of you teaching me the Summoning Charm the night before the First Task.'

'You think that guided the time reversal?'

Harry shrugged. 'Magic is weird.'

Hermione agreed, though. 'We could probably spend years and years researching this and never get to the bottom of it. I don't think the why matters very much anymore, now that we have a basic idea of what happened.'

'Hermione Granger, not asking more questions?' Harry teased, 'That's a new one.'

Hermione blushed faintly pink and swatted at his arm. 'I wish I could get to the bottom of this, but we both know that we'd just be wasting time. Most people don't even believe the Hallows exist, much less research them. We've got nothing – no literature, no experience – to go off of.'

'We have more important things we need to do,' Harry said resolutely.

Hermione nodded. 'We need to make a list. If we've been given the chance to re-live our lives with knowledge of what happened before, then I think we should use it to make some positive changes.'

A second later, a desk appeared in the Room with a bottle of ink, a quill, and a stack of parchment.

Hermione got out of bed and walked towards the desk. Harry, however, remained almost glued to the bed, staring at her as she walked away.

She turned around and sighed. 'Okay, I'll put on my clothes if the alternative is some teenage boy staring at my tits the whole time while we try to work.'

Harry blushed fiery scarlet and tugged on his own clothes. Fully dressed, they sat down at the table.

Hermione picked up the quill. 'What could we do?'

'We can pick off all the Horcruxes,' Harry suggested, 'We know where they are. One of them is here at Hogwarts. Literally in the same bloody room we were just shagging in.'

Hermione blushed but nodded. 'We could get at the Locket easily, too. We know it's in Grimmauld Place. That leaves the snake, the Cup, and the Ring.'

'I think our best bet for the Cup is to enlist the goblins' help.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow. 'Are you sure? They were a little reluctant to help us last time around.'

'Yeah, but the last time was in the middle of an all-out war, where one side was actively massacring all non-humans,' Harry pointed out, 'If we nudge the goblins towards a Dark Artefact hidden in one of the vaults, I bet they'd take care of it for us.'

'You're right!' Hermione squealed suddenly, 'The Gringotts Treaty of 1748 stipulated a list of Dark Artefacts that are banned from Gringotts, and the goblins have full rights to dispose of them. I'd bet you anything that a Horcrux is on that list!'

'Binns?' Harry asked, stifling a yawn at the thought of the ghost professor.

'If you had only paid attention,' Hermione reproved.

'Moving on,' Harry said quickly, not eager to get Hermione started on his studies, 'The Ring and the snake.'

'We shouldn't wait for Dumbledore to go after the Ring,' Hermione said at once, 'It'd be too late. Riddle would be too powerful by then and caused too much destruction.'

'But can we go after it ourselves? Dumbledore has the Elder Wand, and I can bet you that shack is warded to hell and back.'

Hermione thought for a few moments. 'First, we need to train you up in Arithmancy and Runes. You can't hope to break through wards or protective enchantments of that strength without advanced knowledge in those subjects. What you know now is enough for making basic wards but not enough for serious ward-breaking.'

Past-Harry may have groaned at the need to study more, but he knew better now. Learning was the only thing that had kept him alive in the five years after the beginning of the Third War. 'We can do that starting now,' he suggested. 'We both already know more material in most subjects than the whole of Hogwarts teaches. You can teach me?' he asked hopefully.

Hermione nodded in agreement. 'I know enough to get you up past N.E.W.T. level. I think that should suffice. We'll need some books, though…'

'The Room can provide them,' Harry replied, remembering how it had conjured a whole library of Defence Against the Dark Arts books in his fifth year. 'What's after that?'

'We need more powerful wands.'

'But how? The Elder Wand – '

'Is just one powerful wand,' Hermione interrupted, 'It's a Hallow, which makes it special, as we've proven, but there are extra-powerful wands matched to wizards in history.'

'And where will we find someone who can make us one? We can't just walk into Ollivander's and ask for an overpowered wand.'

'I've read a thing or two about wand lore. The basic law is that the better the wand is matched to the wizard, the more powerful the wand will appear to be, since it can channel more of the wizard's magic.'

'My phoenix wand is matched to me,' Harry pointed out, sceptical, 'And so is your wand to you.'

Hermione shook her head. 'Yes, but here's the thing. They're not exact matches. No "off-the-shelf" wand ever is. Some are closer than others, but they're never exact. They always grow a little or a lot to match their owner, but that comes at the cost of raw power.'

'So you're saying…'

'We need to find someone to make us wands that match us exactly,' Hermione concluded, 'Ollivander might be able to do that. He's supposed to be one of the best wandmakers in the world. If not, we could seek out Gregorovitch – he's still alive right now. There're also several famous African and Arabian wandmakers that we could go to if all else fails. But more powerful wands are possible.'

'Okay, so Runes and Arithmancy and extra-powerful wands will let us get at the Ring. And the snake?'

Hermione nibbled her lower lip nervously. 'Do you trust me?'

'With my life.'

'You're going to have to let Riddle kidnap you out of the Third Task.'

Harry did not like the idea, but it made sense. He could not get at Voldemort until he had been resurrected to a full body, and the process needed to happen. Besides…

'As long as I can save Cedric,' Harry replied, 'And if I could capture Wormtail in the graveyard – '

'Sirius will be exonerated,' Hermione finished for him, her almond-brown eyes glinting.

Harry nearly jumped for joy. He leaned across the little table and planted a searing kiss on Hermione's lips.

'You're a genius, Hermione.'

Hermione blushed vividly pink. 'It was just the logical thing to do,' she protested in a small voice, though she did look quite pleased.

Harry laughed. 'Oh, just take the compliment,' he scolded playfully. A sudden idea flashed through his head. 'Do you know if destroying Horcruxes weakens the magic of the maker?'

Hermione genuinely looked stumped. 'In theory, splitting the soul would be the step that weakens the maker's magic, because magic is imbued in the soul that you're tearing apart,' she answered slowly, 'So the damage is already done. Destroying the Horcruxes just makes the damage irreversible by any means, which honestly, for all intents and purposes, it already was.'

Her eyes suddenly flashed in inspiration. 'Actually, that gives me an idea.'

'Which is?'

'We can weaken Riddle by messing up the ritual.'

'How?'

'Harry, don't you remember? Bone of the father, flesh of the servant, blood of the enemy. We can't change the flesh, because the rat's giving his hand, but the other two…'

'So you're suggesting we replace the bone with someone else's – '

'Not someone else's. Another specie's. Preferably a completely non-magical specie.'

'So you're saying we put powdered cow bones into Riddle Senior's grave.'

Hermione chuckled. 'That's the general idea. As for the blood, we need to make sure Wormtail gets another's blood. Someone who's loyal to Riddle.'

'Malfoy?' Harry suggested.

Hermione shook her head. 'The Malfoys aren't necessarily loyal to Riddle just yet,' she pointed out, 'They're much more loyal to themselves right now, before Riddle returned.'

'So who?'

'Crouch Junior.'

Seeing Harry's shocked look, Hermione pressed on. 'It's easy. Either of us is more than powerful enough to obliterate Crouch Junior in a fight. We don't even have to fight. We can cast a Disillusionment Charm that's powerful enough to render us completely invisible and just Stun him. We take his blood, and then we Obliviate him so he remembers nothing.'

Harry was awed. 'Have I ever told you you're an evil genius, Hermione?'

'No, but I'll take it as a compliment,' Hermione replied with a giggle.

Harry laughed. 'Sure. But how do we get Wormtail to use Crouch's blood?'

'That's even easier. You have to remember something.'

Harry cocked an eyebrow questioningly.

'Wizards are absolute idiots,' Hermione reminded him, 'They're not like you and I. Even the most powerful ones, Riddle for instance, can't think their way out of a box. All they know is to draw their wand and blast the box out of the way.'

'And your point is?'

'Put the decoy blood in a pouch under your robes,' Hermione suggested, 'When Wormtail runs his knife down your arm, he'll take the first blood that comes out. He won't think twice about where it came from, never mind bother to check.'

'You think that'll work?'

'I'm positive,' Hermione affirmed, 'And even if it doesn't, Riddle will still be severely weakened because of the false bone.'

'So we destroy all the Horcruxes before June, and I can get rid of a weakened Riddle once and for all in the graveyard?'

Hermione frowned sadly. 'I don't think it's possible. We might not have the knowledge or possibly the equipment to go after the ring until at least the summer. The wands might be ready in the spring, if we move fast, but it'd take a lot more time for us to learn proper ward-breaking and curse-breaking. The Locket's a problem, too. We know the Order doesn't assemble until after Riddle's return, and we won't be able to get into Grimmauld Place because of the Fidelius until then. Not unless we can free Sirius before then and he finds a way to let us in…'

'So you're saying the best I can do is save Cedric, capture Wormtail, and weaken Riddle?' Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. 'And I don't know if it's a great idea to touch the Death Eaters, either,' she said sadly, 'If you attack them, you're going to end up killing at least a few of them. And then you'll have Fudge running around charging you for murdering "respectable members of pure-blood society".'

Harry scowled. 'Fudge needs to go, too.'

'Not yet. We need Riddle to return before we can dispose of Fudge. Otherwise, we won't be able to out the Death Eaters. Do you want Lucius Malfoy to end up as Minister? But we can get Bones and Kingsley on our side as soon as we can. They're the only ones who can challenge Fudge politically. Now that we have Rita on our side, we can create a scandal in the press, something to do with Fudge's office, then he'll either resign or be forced out by a vote of confidence.'

'You're an absolute evil genius, Hermione,' Harry repeated.

Hermione beamed. 'I'm absolutely ruthless to people who hurt my husband.'

'Okay, who should we tell about all this? Or do we tell anyone?'

'We need to tell some people. The entire truth, about how we went back in time and what we know,' Hermione answered, 'We can't manage everything on our own. Especially not on the political side of things. I was thinking Sirius. Or maybe Dumbledore?'

'I agree with telling Sirius,' Harry replied, 'But I don't know about Dumbledore. Do you really trust him with this?'

'What do you mean? Isn't Dumbledore the most powerful and politically connected wizard out there?'

'Yeah, but he also keeps so many secrets and wants things done his own way,' Harry refuted, 'Considering what happened the…er, last time around…I don't think I want to trust him to always know what's best. I say it's time to take things into our own hands and use his own tactics against him.'

'What? Telling him only what he needs to know to get to an end?'

'Exactly. We can't afford to reveal too much. By the way, Dumbledore's a skilled Legilimens. You'll want to be mindful of your mental defences around him.'

Hermione nodded. 'Okay, so Sirius, no Dumbledore. Remus?'

Harry shook his head. 'I'm not too sure. He's very loyal to Dumbledore. We'll have to make sure that he'll keep our secrets. I wish we could tell McGonagall, but I have my doubts that she'll abstain from reporting straight back to the Headmaster. Actually, I was thinking of your parents.'

'My parents?'

'What would they think if they found out their fifteen-year-old daughter was married to a fourteen-year-old boy?'

Hermione laughed. 'The whole truth, though?'

'Yes. Everything important that happened the last time around,' Harry replied.

'But won't they get…you know…concerned?'

'It's better that way,' Harry said firmly, 'And besides, the "last time around" doesn't matter. We're planning on doing things right this time to prevent what happened last time, aren't we?'

Hermione nodded. 'We should get started. What's the first thing on this list that we should get done?'

Harry took the parchment from Hermione and scanned it. 'We can collect the diadem this afternoon and get rid of it by tonight. It's right here. And then, we'll need to sneak out of the school and go to Diagon Alley as soon as possible to see if we can get the wands and also to set the goblins after the Cup.'

'Getting out of the school is easy, but we can't apparate without the Ministry knowing. Our younger bodies have the Trace,' Hermione pointed out, 'And it'd be quite difficult to sneak into the Three Broomsticks in broad daylight to use the Floo.'

The answer came to Harry almost immediately. 'Dobby.'

Hermione looked puzzled for a moment, but then the same realization hit her. 'Of course! Elvish apparition can bypass whatever wards or protective enchantments are present around Hogwarts, and the Ministry can't detect it!'

Harry nodded, feeling mighty impressed with himself. 'We can do that this weekend. Okay, what say we go and get the Diadem now, get rid of it, then come back here and enjoy the night?'

Hermione gave a sultry, lopsided smile. 'That sounds perfect, love. Let's go.'

They exited the Room of Requirement and waited until it disappeared before pacing opposite the wall again, thinking, I need the place where the things are hidden. Suddenly, a great door materialized in the stone wall. Harry and Hermione pushed it open and once again found themselves in the cathedral-like Room of Hidden Things.

'Do you remember where the Diadem is?' Hermione asked quietly.

'I have a general idea,' he replied as he began retracing his steps from a long-ago memory.

After twenty minutes of searching, Harry found what he was looking for – the bust of an ugly Warlock near which he had hidden his Potions book. On a table next to the cabinet was a small, dusty box. Harry opened it and removed the Lost Diadem.

'Now for getting rid of it,' Hermione whispered.

'We'll have to go down to the Chamber.'

'Actually, I have another idea,' Hermione said, 'I don't know if it'll work. It might not, but it's worth a try. Here, set the Diadem on the floor.'

'Fiendfyre?' Harry asked, aghast, remembering the last time they had found themselves here.

Hermione shuddered. 'No. Too dangerous. Neither of us have ever cast it. No. I was thinking the Killing Curse.'

Harry raised an eyebrow, curious. 'You think it could work on a non-living object?'

Hermione shrugged. 'I don't know. In theory, it might. Avada Kedavra rips the soul from the target, but I have no idea how it affects Horcruxes, since they're technically not living things.'

'It's worth a try, though. If it works, we'll be able to dispose of Horcruxes easily without needing the Sword of Gryffindor or basilisk fangs.'

Hermione nodded. She raised her wand and pointed it at the Diadem. 'Avada Kedavra!' she incanted. The green jet of light flew from her wand and hit the Diadem. There was a small explosion and the tarnished tiara flew into the air. Harry reached out and caught it on his arm.

Hermione leaned in and the two examined it together. It looked a little dustier but perfectly unscathed.

Harry sighed. 'Well, it was worth a try.'

'We'll have to go down to the Chamber, then,' Hermione said, 'Let's go. Grab your Firebolt. We'll need it to get down and back up.'

The two exited the Room of Requirement. Harry ran back to the Gryffindor dormitory. Thankfully, it was deserted when he entered. He opened his trunk and took out his Firebolt before sprinting down to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to meet Hermione.

The bathroom was eerily silent. Clearly, Myrtle had gone to haunt somewhere else that evening. Harry stared at the snake on the tap and hissed, 'Open.'

The sink disappeared and was replaced by a chute. Harry mounted his Firebolt, and Hermione got on behind him, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and her face buried in his left shoulder.

Harry flew, following the twisting chute, taking care to go slowly and turn smoothly so as to avoid upsetting Hermione's stomach. After several minutes, they found themselves in the caved-in passage just before the Chamber.

A few Reductor Curses made quick work of the debris. Upon reaching the door to the Chamber, Harry once again commanded it to open in Parseltongue. Finally, they were inside.

Harry felt Hermione's hand grip his like a vice. He looked at her questioningly. He saw that her face was bone-white and her eyes were wide with shock.

'That thing is massive!' she gasped, 'I never appreciated how enormous it was when I was down here during the battle. And you had to fight that? In your second year!'

'I had some help,' Harry said sheepishly.

'You could've been killed! You could've – '

Harry interrupted her with a searing kiss. 'But I wasn't,' he said resolutely, 'I'm still here, and so are you.'

Hermione nodded. 'L-Let's just get the fangs, destroy the Diadem, and get out of here,' she said nervously. 'This place gives me the creeps.'

Harry led Hermione up to the corpse of the basilisk. He ripped out several great yellow fangs from its maw and handed one to Hermione.

'This one's yours.'

Hermione chuckled nervously. 'Is this you being noble or chivalrous or something?'

'Maybe. But go on. Stab it.'

She grinned as she plunged the fang into the Diadem. Immediately, a foul-smelling black liquid began oozing out of the Horcrux. A high-pitched scream issued from the cursed object before it broke apart into dust.

Hermione stood up, and Harry gathered her in his arms.

'Well done,' he cooed into her ear, 'That's one down.'

Hermione sighed into Harry's chest. 'That thing felt vile.'

'It's the worst form of Dark Magic. Of course it did.'

Hermione nodded. 'At least it's gone. And this weekend, we might be able to get rid of another one.'

'That reminds me. We'll have to go speak to Dobby.'

'We can do that tomorrow,' Hermione replied, 'We've already had a long day. Dragons, basilisks… Can we just get out of here, stash the fangs somewhere safe, have dinner, and get back to the Room of Requirement so I can fuck your brains out?'

Harry grinned. 'That sounds amazing. Let's go.'

Ron Weasley looked across to Harry Potter's empty bed.

He was extremely unhappy.

He had gone to hand Harry Potter an olive branch, hoping that he would be able to forgive him and restore their friendship to what it was.

But no, Harry Potter just had to rub it in his face by snogging that mousy slag.

Which angered Ron Weasley greatly, though he did not understand why. Surely, he could not fancy Hermione Granger of all people. Not when there were flaming-hot chicks like Lavender Brown, who Ron had heard would give a wank to anyone who asked.

He should be feeling bad for Harry Potter, for having ended up with that…girl? Sure, she was better looking than Eloise Midgen, but really? Even half the Slytherin chicks would probably shag him after his performance against that dragon.

She was great for homework help and saving your arse in a bind, but who would choose to spend time with her in the library when there was Wizard's Chess to be played and Quidditch to be discussed? Not Ron Weasley, certainly.

Harry was probably just playing her around, then, Ron concluded. He would snog her, maybe get a blowie or two off her. Definitely not shag her – who would want to do that? And when he finally left her, which Ron concluded was an inevitability, he would come running back to him, and then it will be Ron who graciously welcomes him back with open arms.

And once he did come back, Ron would work hard to set him up with Ginny. Ginny said that she had gotten over her crush on The Boy-Who-Lived, but really? Was he really that stupid as to take his little sister's word for anything?

Once Harry had married Ginny, Ron schemed, he would really be a part of his family. Maybe he would have success getting with Lavender. And Harry would never again talk about Hermione Granger. Probably never talk to her again, either.

Ron looked at Harry's empty bed again. He imagined Hermione sucking him off in a broom closet. And suddenly, he felt a typical teenage boy reaction begin to grow in his pants.

He unapologetically shoved his hand into his sheets to take care of the problem – envisioning Lavender, of course – before he went to sleep.