A/N This starts off a bit dark, and no, I am not nice to the dursleys, (big surprise in all honesty) or the Grangers. If you are uncomfortable reading things that are about child abuse, or things similar, please look for the warning and skip past it. IT WILL BE MARKED, I REPEAT WILL BE MARKED. They are there only for the background and I will not go too much into it. This is seriously Harry and Hermione, who have a background that makes them want to abandon everything and I am setting that up. And no, Hermione's parents did not physically touch her or allow others to. If you are not comfortable with mature themes, then please read something else. This is Marked M for a good reason.

Finally I dont own Harry Potter, its characters, the world its in, or any potential cameos or characters beyond maybe my OC's. Any inspirations from this story I give credit to, If I can ever find them. Harry Potter is owned by Warner Bros, Jk Rowling, et al. IE anyone who has rights owns it, I do not. I am just playing in this wonderful sandbox.

Chapter 1

General POV

He was tired. Beyond that really, but he truly didn't have the mindset to fully explain it any further. His name had come out of the blasted cup, he was a participant in this tournament that was more akin to the roman gladiatorial games than a school competition, his supposed best mate had turned traitor on him along with everyone in the house, well except for Hermione, and finally the rest of the school loathed and hated him. So it was without a doubt Harry James Potter was tired. Tired of it all, tired of existing simply so he could be the wizarding worlds punching bag, tired of being the hero one moment, and the villain the next. Seriously, he pitied the idiots who thought being a hero or famous were great. No one looks at you, they look at what they want to see, want to hear, and if you don't fit that view, then obviously you're a horrible person for even thinking of it. As he stood at the top of the astronomy tour that night, or morning rather now that it was past midnight, he wondered what they would do if he just jumped.

Oh he knew he couldn't. Some enchantment kept students from falling off, a reasonable safety precaution, as you had students of all ages up here many nights a week for astronomy classes. Would he jump if given the option? Maybe, maybe not. The fact he was considering it and the fact that he could think of only one reason not to should have scared him, then again, he had almost died every year he had been at this place that deigned to call itself a school. Snorting at that, he turned his head. He had heard the door open and knew someone had come up, and he figured it was most likely her. Seeing the bushy hair of his best, really his only, friend, he gave himself a small smile.

"I figured you might be up here Harry." There was no condescension in the voice, no hate or malice, no anger, a little worry, but mostly, it was filled with care. Sighing to himself, "Yeah well, just tired of it all really. Should have known Ron would be a giant prat about it. The school is acting just like in 2nd year, and we both know the professors aren't going to do a thing about it. Wondering why I should stay, I guess. And in all honesty, I can only think of one reason." Smiling at her as she handed him a hot cocoa she had obviously had brought to her by an elf. "Yes I know, SPEW was stupid. But thank you for having me talk to the elves Harry. Wish someone would write a book on things like that, you know? Things that muggleborn and raised should know, really need to know. By the time most of us figure anything out, we've offended half the school and it's all simply because we were raised with different values and customs."

Smiling at her and nodding, he definitely agreed with it. Sipping his drink and turning back to the stars, he looked over the sky and the forbidden forest. "Makes me wonder though, everyone knows it's a binding contract, but is it binding to me, or whoever put my name in. What's the cost if I refuse, and what happens to those that put my name in, if anything. Does anything happen to the judges, or the organizers if I refuse? I mean, I'm simply told I have to because I'm in the contract, and supposedly I lose my magic, but I never entered, so yeah." Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders, they had been secretly dating since riding Buckbeak, but knowing how the wizarding world would likely react, they had kept it quiet. "Harry, I was thinking about things, and a little light reading …" both chuckled at that. It was their code phrase for her saying she had been deeply engrossed in research of some kind or other. "I think, well, I mean, we should visit the goblins. The history of the goblet is not really known, but really, I think they either might have been the ones to craft it, or at least know more about it." Looking at her and seeing her chewing her lip, something he truly did appreciate for the effect it always had on him, he nodded. "Yeah, and it wouldn't be the first time we have snuck out of the school for something. We might …. Well, we might want to consider going through with the plan if I'm not actually bound by the event." Closing his eyes and just enjoying the sensations, he went over the plan again in his head.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

They had decided early on in 2nd year that they both were not truly welcome in the magical world. But they were too young to do anything at the time, and neither of their current home lives were great. The Dursleys were overbearing, violent, prone to aggression, and he was their target every time. Finding out that according to WCS , wizarding child services, that they could only do something if the people abusing him called them, and wasn't that idiotic, had put paid to him contacting law enforcement on the magical side. The fact that Vernon had friends and contacts to make reports and such disappear, meant he could not contact that side either. No, he was truly stuck at the moment, which is why he readily accepted setting up and eventually following through with their plan.

Hermione's home life was different but no less horrible. Her mother had Alexithymia, a condition that made it near impossible for her to process emotions. Really, she had told Hermione when she was younger that the only reason she even agreed to have a child was because it was expected of her. Her father on the other hand constantly berated her growing up, not having perfect scores, not being popular, not doing what she was told. In essence, she had assumed he wanted a child that was an adult in a child's body. His idea of punishments had been cruel and heartless and had only gotten away with it by stating that she was mentally unstable at times, close to an idiot savant, but not quite. He had sent her to school when she was 5 years old in diapers with extras in her bag all because she'd had an accident one day. When she had spilt juice on a dress one night at dinner, he had forced her to spend the rest of that month, thankfully it was summer, nude. She had been 10, and just starting puberty. Of course he had also made sure that some of his clients or friends had brought their sons around and got good looks at her. Things had only gotten worse since she had aged. Sure they never touched her or let others, but the mental effects of others looking, of being publicly humiliated and then to have it assumed that it was all her fault, to know that every summer she would face indignities and humiliation, she was truly ready to be done with them.

They had both considered ending it all, and if the plan failed, they might still consider it. Both Harry and Hermione wanted out, one way or another.

Warning Ends Warning Ends Warning Ends Warning Ends Warning Ends Warning Ends

Looking at each other, and having one of their silent conversations, they both nodded. The plan was simple, and it was time to see if they could execute it. Finishing their drinks, Harry fished out his invisibility cloak he had decided to keep on him when he left the tower this night, and pulling out the marauder's map, they verified what path they could take to leave the school. With Dobby as his elf, Harry knew that if they could go ahead with things, he could have them brought, so there was no need to lug them off right now.

2 hours later

It had taken them a bit of time to get out of the school, from dodging patrols, ghosts, and the extra security brought in for the tournament, add in both having to hide under the cloak and the fit was tight at this point in their lives, and finally having to move slowly as it was to keep from breaking the silencing spells they had placed on themselves as well as the scent negating charm. They finally stood, still under the cloak, outside Gringotts. Harry looked at the guard on duty, realizing that the bank didn't open till 8 am, and it was barely 5, decided to get the guards attention and hopefully get inside. Kicking a small rock just hard enough to get the guards attention, and after checking that there was no one else around, he lifted the hood of the cloak, "Sir, I realize it's early, but we really do not want to be seen by anyone. Would it be possible for us to meet with someone about my vault? I have the key here, and we are both willing to prove we are who we say we are. We just do not want to take the cloak off until we are inside and safe."

The goblin on guard looked over at his partner, looked back, and shrugged. He motioned them forward and after grunting a few words in their native language, cracked the door open to let them in. 1 hour later, both Harry and Hermione, after providing a blood sample and his key to verify themselves, then walking under what they later found out was known as the thief's downfall, where sitting in a very ornate, yet subdued office, of a goblin known as Garntooth. They had explained the basics of the situation to him, and what they were hoping to accomplish and were waiting patiently for his response. "Mr. Potter, firstly, thank you for your patience, as time is money, I shall not take up more than is absolutely necessary. As to your first question, I can not confirm or deny that the goblin race crafted, enchanted, or had any hand in the making of the Goblet of Fire that you have spoken of. I can, however, inform you that should you be willing to make an oath in front of me that you in no way tried to enter your name, either through word or deed, or through another party, that there are then options available to you. This is the oath in which you would have to take."

Sliding a piece of parchment over to Harry, he picked it up and read it. He let Hermione also read it and after she gave her nod, he looked back and nodded. "You may draw your wand and recite the oath, do not point your wand at me or in any direction except up, also do so slowly." Harry understood exactly what was being said. Don't be a threat. Carefully and slowly removing his wand from his makeshift holster he had on his wrist, something he and Hermione had started doing last year, he made his oath. "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear that I did not put my name, ask another to put my name, or make any attempt in word or deed to have my name put into the goblet of fire. So Mote It Be." After a brief flash, and then being told to and performing the lumos charm, Harry stowed his wand. " I assume, Account Manager Garntooth, that I have proved my innocence in this?" "Yes Mr. Potter, not that I doubted you, as I doubt you would be here otherwise, but it is always best to be safe." He replied, flashing a toothless smile.

"With that being said, I am surprised that you both are here without a Royal Guard." Looking at the confusion on both of their faces, and figuring something was amiss, "Mr. Potter, have you not received any mail from Gringotts?" Shaking his head no, Harry was still trying to understand why he would need a guard, royal or otherwise. Hearing a slight gasp, Harry turned and looked at Hermione, trying to figure out what this meant. Seeing her shake her head and motioning towards Garntooth, he took it as he would explain. "Gringotts is not allowed to communicate with the outside world except through bank statements or requests for issues regarding banking issues. Our only other recourse is to contact the ministry through the Goblin Liaison Office and well…" he gave a noncommittal shrug at that. "Mr. Potter, your mother was not born Lily Evans, but born HRH Princess of England, Lilithian Marinette Windsor, youngest daughter of HRH Queen Elizabeth the second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the the Faith. The Royal family lost contact with her when she left for Hogwarts in her 1st year. It was assumed she was kidnapped, and that is very accurate."

Harry's head was spinning, he had no idea what to think, what to do. Their plan had been simple. If he wasn't bound by the tournament, then he would simply grab Hermione, all the money he could and they would disappear in the wind through the use of trains, and planes. Possibly even a boat. They were ready to hide their wands till they were old enough or maybe find someone that would take them on as apprentices, but the first stop was always going to be to disappear. Now he was a prince? What did that mean for Hermione? The plan was still viable, they could disappear, no questions asked. He looked at his girlfriend and decided to see what she would say. "Hermione?" "Yes Harry, still here. Sir, not that I am questioning you, but would they even know of Harry? Or would it be better, in your unbiased opinion, for us to disappear?" Hermione was thinking through permutations, and came to a few ideas. She knew Harry may or may not like them, but they would be afforded much better protection with the royal family than they could on their own.

"Well, Princess Lilithian, as a member of the Royal family would have had a considerable amount of power in the wizarding world as every noble house, the wizengamot, and the ministry are sworn to the queen, and by extension, any member of the family. Being magical, the royal family would have had a much larger say in things, and it is presumed they would not be happy about that." "Yes, I can definitely see that." Hermione had mumbled under her breath. " As such," Gorntooth continued, "We know that an unknown wizard kidnapped her from her family before she would have received her letter, we know that she was, according to the news 3 days from her 11th birthday, and we strongly suspect that she was memory wiped of anything to do with them, and instead given a false identity. We further suspect she was put with another family and they were also memory charmed to accept her as their daughter, the Evans. A fake background, no questions asked, and forcibly moved to an area, in which there where very few people who would ask questions, and an area compulsion to think they had always lived there, and then a bribe to the prince family, the only magical family in the area, and all of a sudden… well there you go."

Taking another swig, he continued on, "The royal family does have ways of knowing when one of their members passes on, or if they marry, have children and such. Much like a family tapestry, self updating. As to whether they know you, yes they would. In fact, they have already been contacted while we are sitting here regarding a banking matter. As you are a Potter, but also a member of the royal line, the finances can get…. Crossed. Keep in mind, as they have entered you into the tournament, although illegally done, you will have to participate. But, as a member of the Royal Family, you can represent them, which also means that they can and most likely will hire private tutors. Add in access to magic that is only usable by the royal family, as it was designed by Merlin for Arthur's daughter who happened to be a witch as well…. It won't be easy, but it will be quite doable. In the worst case, the realm itself will protect you." Nodding at the expressions on the two teens' faces, he knew this was a lot of information, and furthermore, they really weren't going to get much of a choice in the matter. The next bit though should be able to calm them, hopefully. He knew humans were odd at times.

"Now before you ask, am I correct to understand that at some point you two planned to marry?" Harry swallowed hard, realizing his mouth was very dry. He could not wrap his head around all this information, but he also refused to appear scared, or worse, worried about anything. Fixing a mask in place to hide his more extreme emotions, "As you may know, it is customary for the uh… for the … the man to propose marriage, and to … well, to present a ring to his … well to the one he hopes to be his … intended. We hadn't quite got to that point as we were more worried about escaping, changing names, that sort of stuff. To answer your question, I had planned to eventually, once we… well once we had been able to slow down, talk things through, decide where we wanted to be in the future, and most importantly, we were safe, well relatively speaking that is. The fact I am still in the tournament definitely puts things off a bit, but" turning to Hermione and looking her in the eyes, she simply nodded with a soft smile on her face. He waved a hand for her to speak if she wanted to. "Yes sir" she responded, "It was the most likely outcome for us. Does that change anything or help us at all, or is it more for your information?"

"It definitely helps things for you two. You see, as you are courting, not dating, as you have both given affirmative answers that the outcome you see for yourselves is marriage, this means that Ms. Granger need not have parental approval. As she is at Hogwarts for over three quarters of the year, she can choose who to have as a magical guardian. Normally there would be paperwork and other such trivialities, but as you are 15 years old, it means that you can, if you so choose, be granted limited emancipation. This does not give you the right to use magic outside of school, nor remove the trace, among many other things, but it does allow you to enter into a marriage contract." Smiling a toothy smile, " And would you look here, I happen to have a standard contract, which as is, can be modified within reason. The important part is that it makes the prospective groom's guardians, in this case the royal family, your guardians. It also places you under their protection similar to the idea of vassalage. Meaning, anyone who attacks you, is attacking the royal family. A very serious crime that can lead to a lifetime in Azkaban depending on the nature of the attack."

More details were gone over and the contract basically came down to the two of them being married no later than Harry's 18th birthday, and no sooner than his 15th birthday. She would be required to be with child within 3 years of marriage, allowing them to either finish school if they married early, or get their careers in order if on his 18th. It would also require two male children and 1 female child, following the old view of an heir, a spare, and a daughter. It allowed for exploration before marriage, but not full coitus, which magic would stop as necessary. Both agreed they were not ready for that yet. A bride price and dowry where both agreed upon and amounted 25,000 on both accounts. For now, the amount was shifted from Harry's family vault, one of only 3 reasons it could be accessed and only by the goblins, to a temporary vault for Hermione. After the wedding and upon being confirmed with child for the first time, the amount would be transferred back to Harry, who set it up that it would then go into a trust vault for said child. Whether he would increase that amount later on was something to decide later.

They both realized that since they would still have to be at school for the tournament, that they would need to return soon. Though it was the weekend, and it could be explained away that they were hiding from the school easily enough, they would have to make an appearance sooner or later. They had been at the bank for several hours and had been fed breakfast and lunch, but as it was now 2 pm, they were ready to get moving. "Now that that is all done, it appears it is time for you two to meet the family as it were. There is an exit here in gringotts that, through the use of spatial magic, connects out to a side entrance by the leaky cauldron. There a driver will meet you, and take you to Buckingham Palace. Worry not, they have been given a full brief, and also understand that you have had, till this morning, of your relations to each other." Standing up and leading them down the hall, he continued, "Basic information will be gone over what to expect, they are aware of the betrothal and can not contest it. You will be returning to Hogwarts, but not for a few days. Furthermore, I believe they will be performing an investigation not only into the school, but also your previous living conditions. Finally, it should be pointed out that the Goblin Nation has done some research into how your mother was taken and such. We know that it was a very powerful witch or wizard, but we also know that the likely subject, one Albus Dumbledore, could not have. He was verified as being out of the country at the time at an ICW conference. In that packet of papers I gave you has all the information we have been able to verify along with some unverified information. We are very sure though, that whoever performed this deed, is long dead."

Opening the door to the outside world, and ushering them out, Harry and Hermione saw a black car with heavily tinted windows. A man was standing there with a stoic look on his face. He walked over to Garntooth, asked a couple questions quietly, was handed a parchment that Harry recognized as the one that he had used in the final verification of himself, and then walked over to the two teens. Opening the door for them, he climbed in and shut the door. "I've been given the verification of your identities, and I realize this is a lot to take in. There is going to be quite a bit of things happening in the next few days, and I also realize that you two have been put into quite the situation. I can say this, when her majesty was notified this morning, she cried, laughed, and then started issuing orders. Now that we have this confirmation," he said pointing to the parchment " well, I can assure you, though things might get tough, you two will never be abandoned again."

End Chapter 1

A/N Ok, so theres the first chapter. I truly hope you liked it. I tried to do a good mix of info dumping, with a good bit of talking. I'm hoping to really have this story going in the next chapter. I know I am also taking some liberties with certain things, and I will explain what I can later. Further, there will not be any explaining of what Harry and Hermione really went through as children. I really dont want to get into it, especially as the only reason I put it in was to paint the dursleys as horrible people, and paint the grangers as people that Hermione would haved absolutely no reason to care about.

Side note 1 In this AU story, Harry and Hermione have been dating since the end of 3rd year after buckbeak rescue. Pick your time and imagine how you want. I may clarify later if I feel the need, but I doubt it. Theyve kept it secret because Harry doesn't want Hermione to be targeted. Thats about to go out the window in the next couple chapters though.

Side Note 2 I am not going to bash dumbledore. In this story, hes a good man who just has a huge amount on his plate and put too much trust in people, some who he should trust, and others who he shouldn't.

Side Note 3 Ron is an idiot in this one, but not really a horrible guy. As Harry and Hermione are right now, They pretty much are going to push others to the side except for a select few who will be revealed later.

Side Note 4. Yes Harry has to participate in the tourney, I am hoping to do so in a different way than has been done before. Lets hope I succeed.

Side Note 5 I am really going to try to not bash many people. Sure I'll play draco as an idiot, but thats just how it goes at times.

Read and Review. All I ask is that you give honest Critique. Keep in mind this is AU. So I will be changing a lot of things that where canon. Furthermore, If you don't like the story, fair, its not for everyone. I also understand my writing style is not for all people. Thanks in advance.