A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Big shake ups at home and with our foster kids. On with the story.

Last time: Harry smiled and said, "I love you too, Mione."

Now:

"Harry! What?! What are you…" Hermione seemed to be at a total loss. She looked at Harry, still in disbelief that he was in her yard. "I don't…"

Harry grabbed her hands and held them up to his chest. "It's okay, Mione. Breathe. Calm and center. Yes, I am here. No, Dumbledore doesn't know, or at least I don't care if he knows. You kissed me and I told you I loved you too." He smiled as she closed her eyes and began to regain her composure. "Why don't you sit back down?"

She nodded and sat on the lounge chair. "Okay. Deep breath." She blew out and turned her face back to Harry. "Okay. You are here. Dumbledore be damned. I kissed you and you love me. That about it?"

Harry grinned at her. "Not really, but I need you to process that before we move on." He moved to sit next to her. "By the way, purple looks good on you."

Hermione blushed again. "You're going to have to explain."

"Well, you see the color really looks good against the tan you've got going on. I never took you for a sun lover, or a bikini girl for that matter…"

"Damn you, Harry Potter. I meant about everything else."

"I know. I was just enjoying getting you wound up. Where would you like to start?"

"From the beginning. I don't know, how about you start with the end of the school year."

Harry looked thoughtful. "Why don't you get dressed in something else with more coverage? What I must tell you will take a while and I'll be too distracted."

Hermione grinned. "Oh, you're going to need to have a good story. Plus, you'll have to tell me about that kiss. I don't know what possessed you too… Mph!"

Harry silenced her with a kiss of his own. He pulled back and said, "Get dressed. Then we'll talk."

Hermione nodded and stood. She moved slowly toward the house as if she were running through everything and those thoughts were interfering with her ability to walk.

Mrs. Granger spoke up as Hermione went through the door. "Mr. Potter, you seem to have a knack for getting my family to stop talking. I wonder what that power is?"

Harry grinned. "I don't think either your husband or Hermione would be happy if I showed you."

"Oh! You're a cheeky one, aren't you? I think we'll get on splendidly. Come on inside. I'll fix us a drink and you can let us in on the secrets. Not all of them. I'm guessing there are some things only a few are going to be privy to. Just the over-arching story will do." She led Harry into the house, and he found himself looking down at her swaying hips. "Now, now, Harry. Eyes up. Don't want to give your future in-laws the wrong impression, do you? Or maybe you do. I'm open minded, but I'm not too certain about my daughter."

Harry froze and his eyes jumped up to see Mrs. Granger smiling. "Um."

"It's okay, Harry. I'm flattered. My husband doesn't care anymore. I'm fairly certain Hermione is open-minded enough to be accepting. But I wouldn't want to take you away from her so soon in your relationship." She reached out and touched Harry's chin. "On second thought, maybe I do. The things I could teach you, Harry. The things I would let you do to me, would make your head explode." She giggled slightly and slid her hand down Harry's chest and stomach before hooking her fingers in his waistband.

"Mrs. Granger," choked Harry. "Are you?"

"Helen. Call me Helen. Or you could just call me mum," she said as she leaned in and breathed against his ear. Her breasts rubbed against his chest and her hand slid further into his pants.

"Harry," shouted Hermione. "I swear, your daydreaming is a little unsettling. What is going on in your head?"

Harry blinked and realized he'd been zoned out and fantasizing about Hermione's mum. "Sorry, 'Mione. Lot's going on and not a whole lot of time to go over it properly." He looked around and realized he was in the kitchen and Mrs. Granger was busy fixing something at the counter. 'Don't think about it, Harry. She's Hermione's mum and that isn't a good rabbit to chase,' he thought to himself.

Hermione grimaced. "'Mione? You're going to have to explain that. Come on, let's go into the office." She turned and walked swiftly down the hall, Harry shrugging as he followed.

Once in the office, Hermione closed the door and turned to face Harry. "First, I kissed you and you said you loved me. Why?"

"I'm not entirely certain why you kissed me. I'm glad you did. It was rather nice. As for why I said what I said, it was the truth. I do love you. I have for some time, actually. I found out I was being fed a potion to make me attracted to Ginny and Dumbledore cooked up a betrothal contract to tie us together. I have a few theories as to why, but it boils down to control."

"Dumbledore wants to control you?"

"Yes. He is driven to be the winning player in the game. The white knight. With me betrothed to Ginny, my money would go to her upon my death. Albus would gain control of it through Molly. He believes that with me out of the way, he will go on to defeat Voldemort."

Hermione sat in silence for several minutes. "I kissed you because.. I don't know. It just felt like the right thing to do. I find myself more out of sorts lately. I have feelings for Ronald, but that also feels wrong. Now explain your response."

"We're soul mates."

Hermione looked at Harry with a mix of emotions. It felt right that he'd said it. It felt wrong. It sounded ridiculous. "Soul mates are fodder for Molly's boudoir novels."

Harry shrugged and sat on the edge of the desk. "I thought so too. Until I died and went to Limbo."

"Huh?"

"Very eloquent there Mione. Limbo is real, but not like everyone thinks. I was dead. Voldemort killed me at the end of what should have been our seventh year. One green flash right in the frontal lobe, and 'poof', I was sitting in a waiting room with cheap paneling and even worse tiled floors. Right now, we need to get a purging potion in you so you can think clearly. C'mon, let's call Poppy."

"Huh?"

"Think your folks will give us a lift into London?"

The Grangers were more than willing to give the teens a ride to London once Harry explained that he believed that Hermione had been dosed with a potion that was clouding her judgment. Stopping just short of the old Purge & Dowse, Ltd. storefront, Mr. Granger turned and asked, "Are you certain this is the place?"

Harry nodded. "Yessir. There's a trick to it. Just like the entrance to Diagon Alley and the Ministry offices. Wizards are nothing if not prided on their belief that non-magicals are blind to the world around them. All we need to do is speak to the mannequin in the window and she will nod and let us in. The spell hiding the entrance will stretch out and keep us from being seen as we walk through the illusion."

Hermione looked nervous. "Why is Poppy here?"

"This is what she does during the Summer months while school is out. All we have to do is ask for her and identify ourselves as her patients from school, seeking aftercare." He turned to Mr. Granger. "We'll be back home directly. Once Hermione is sorted, we'll get the hospital to give us a portkey, a teleportation token, to return to your house."

Mr. Granger nodded as the teens got out of the car, unsure just why he was suddenly trusting this young man with his daughter's medical care. "You two be careful."

"Thank you daddy," said Hermione as she gave him a peck on the cheek through the open window.

As he drove away, Hermione watched. "Why does he trust you?"

"Not sure. My natural charms?"

Hermione turned and huffed at him. "Oh you. Let's get this over with."

They approached the window with the mannequins and spoke to the one dressed as a WWII nurse. "We are here to follow up on care provided by Poppy Pomfrey during the school year," said Harry. "Our names are Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

The nurse nodded and stretched her hands as if to welcome them through a door. They felt an odd shiver as the notice-me-not spell expanded over them and they could see the entrance before them. "Well, that's different," said Hermione. "Do you know where to go?"

"We ask the desk nurse." He walked forward and approached the welcome desk. "Excuse me, we are here to see Healer Pomfrey."

The young nurse looked bored and was busy inspecting her nails. "Up the lift to the third floor. Take a left and then a right. Fifth door on the left."

Obviously dismissed, they followed the directions and found themselves before a door labeled "Mdme. P. Pomfrey, Healer". Harry shrugged and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Mr. Potter."

Glazing at each other, Harry and Hermione looked perplexed. "Here we go," said Hermione as she turned the knob.

Poppy Pomfrey had been a nurse and later a healer for quite a long time. She'd been a healer for two decades before James Potter and the other Marauders arrived. They'd all been frequent visitors of her ward. James and Remus Lupin more than the other two.

James had been charming long before he should have been able to pull it off. He'd been a cute boy and grew into a handsome man. Harry had the best of James' features and none of his over-confidence and ego.

Poppy had cried the night James and Lily were killed. She wept when Harry had spent his first night in her ward. She feared Harry might go the same way as James. He'd built his own little group of friends who were just as loyal. As far as she was concerned, Harry was her responsibility.

Last week, she'd found a note on her desk. It told her to get checked for loyalty potions and memory wipes. When she asked a friend at St. Mungo's to do it for her, the results were astounding. She was under a loyalty potion and had been for quite some time. The antidote was rather unpleasant and took several days to clear her system. Her memory modifications numbered in the hundreds. The healer remarked that it was amazing she'd survived and had the ability to continue functioning in her profession. Only a skilled magician could pull that off. Only Dumbldore.

She'd made up her mind at that point to have as many as possible undone and find out what was being hidden. She'd emptied her stomach more than once when they were removed. Many times over the last three decades, Dumbledore or Snape had changed her memories so that she forgot about near death experiences and more importantly to her, the damage done to Harry.

So, when she was alerted to the fact that Harry and his friend were in the building, she set about preparing the needed antidotes and sixers to undo damage to the both of them. When she heard the knock at the door, she turned and faced the glass and spoke very calmly. "Come in, Mr. Potter."

The door opened slowly to admit Harry and Hermione. The perplexed looks on their faces were clear. Harry looked around the door frame for some sort of spy glass. Not seeing anything, he asked, "Do you have a spell on the door like Albus has on his?"

Poppy smiled, "No, dear boy. Phyllis at the front desk sent me a message as soon as you walked into the lobby. I had no appointments for today. I had to be you. Now, how can I be of service?"

"We, well I, believe that Hermione has been influenced by some sort of loyalty potion."

Poppy frowned. "I see. To whom do you believe her loyalty has been swayed?"

"Albus. Possibly some exposure to amortentia keyed to Ron Weasley as well. Molly has a history of brewing those."

"Yes, she does." Poppy moved around the desk and pointed to the seats. "Very well. Let's get started. A scan first."

Three hours later, Hermione lay on a bed in the corner of Poppy's office as Harry chatted with the healer.

"Let me get this straight, Albus was dosing you and altering your memories? It makes me wonder just how many of the other staff have been attacked as well."

"Attacked?"

"What else would you call forced memory alterations and being dosed without your knowledge?"

Poppy nodded. "I've asked Minerva to come by tomorrow. She and Filius are the most likely. Possibly Hagrid or Severus."

Harry shook his head, "Hagrid is blindly loyal to Albus for his own reasons. He doesn't need chemical help. Severus is loyal to a point, also for his own reasons. I would check everyone else. Even Filch."

"What has led to this departure Mr. Potter? At the end of the year, I would have sworn you yourself were a devotee of Albus."

"Let's just say that I had a vision of what has happened to me and what lies before me. It has led me to see a truth that was hidden. Not only from myself, but from the rest of the world. My path has been laid bare and placed before me with a welcome sign and arrows pointing the way." Harry smiled ruefully. "I regret that others will feel the brunt of this journey, but in the end, I believe that the entire wizarding world will know who is to blame."

Poppy looked at Harry with a keen interest. "You've met her haven't you?"

Harry looked at her with some confusion. "Who?"

"Death. You've looked her in the eye. She's laid her mark on you more than once in your life. Something has happened and she's chosen you, I believe." She waved her hand, "Oh, you don't need to answer that. If you've met her, she's sworn you to secrecy. I've met her too, you know. As a young nurse during the first world war. I was working at the hospital in Cheltenham when the Belgians were brought in. I worked the night shift and saw her more than once as she plucked those young soldiers free and sent them on. She looked at me and winked before saying I was doing a great job, but those boys just couldn't be helped. I cried and she hugged me. She told me not to lose hope and to keep learning to be a healer. I've strived to live up to that ever since, and you're the only people I've ever told."

Hermione had been listening in. "I've learned enough since being in this world, to stop questioning the things that non-magicals are told are myths. I believe you saw her." She turned her head and looked at the two sitting near the desk. "And I believe that Harry met her. More than once. But, that is a story for later. Now, Who were my potions and spells keyed to?"