A/N - I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I only play in the universe. Any ideas that other authors that recognize some of their ideas, I apologize, I have read so many stories that I can't remember where I get some of them. Send me a PM and I will try to give you the credit that you deserve. I appreciate constructive criticism but will ignore any flames you send me. If you don't like the story then don't read it.

Chapter 9

Harry didn't know how long he had been there. He felt like it had been days but for all he knew, it could have only been minutes since he shifted there and collapsed. He watched as past memories, of his life as a Potter, flashed by, trying to accept what happened to him had happened and had made him who he is. Throughout the memories, he had to relive them as himself, not as though he were in a pensieve. He felt every raw emotion and every physical pang of hunger and loneliness.

At times, he felt it was unbearable and fought to leave the memories but he always heard Hermione's voice, reminding him that no matter how much it hurt, he would never be alone again. Thoughts of her and of Miku and his other adopted family members kept him going, they helped him remain strong and push through the pain when he was ready to give up. During the memories of past Birthdays or Christmases, he felt completely alone, it was a feeling that he had nearly forgotten. During those memories, he felt cold, isolated and it was during these times that he despised the fact that he was a master Occlumense, simply because it gave him an eidetic memory.

He forced himself to sit and watch over and over again, memories of James, Sirius and Remus play with and teach Chris different games. He remembered their third birthday, James had gotten Chris a training broom and would spend hours in the back of the house, flying together. He watched as Sirius would transform into Padfoot and give Chris rides on his back, the last time Padfoot had done that with Harry was when he was three. He remembered the different times that Neville and Ron would come over and would break something while playing in the house and then blame Harry for it. Lily and James would send him to his room and yell at him for not being careful.

Somewhere in the back recesses of his mind, he had a strange thought. I sure am going to be thirsty when I'm through with this. I'm crying so much that I'll be surprised if I'm not dehydrated. It was his last thought as he let himself be consumed entirely in the memories, allowing himself to be swallowed up.

X0X0X0X0X0

It had been three days since Harry had disappeared, two since the Minister was forced to recall the Dementors because of their attack on Hogsmeade. And even with her group of friends always around, Hermione had never felt more alone since coming to the magical world. With Luna in Ravenclaw and their other friends in all her classes, they made sure that she wasn't ever alone, but no matter what they did and how much time they spent with her, she always felt like there was a part of herself missing.

How did he become such an important part of my life so fast? I was alone for so long and now I can't stand it when he's not around.

Even her professors saw a change in her behavior. She was quieter and didn't speak up in class as much. Lily Potter and the Marauders noticed a distinct change in her attitude towards them. She was much more formal towards them and kept her face blank when she spoke to them. They knew she had reason to be and understood her reasons.

Any free time that she had, she would spend out by the lake, meditating and working on her Occlumency. To her, she seemed to spend more time in her mindscape than she did in the real world, but she was fine with that. The nights were the worst because she only slept for a couple of hours. Normally, both she and Harry would sit on a couch in the Room of Requirement, with her head on his shoulder and read together, but she couldn't do that now. Instead, she would simply meditate and change her mindscape slightly, trying different things and seeing if they worked. She felt like by the time he came back, she will have changed her entire mindscape have a dozen times.

She also noticed that the three stooges seemed to watch her more often, particularly the red headed one. She ignored them and continued with her normal routine. She would get up in the mornings and work out with the others in the group, then go to class. During the evenings, she would go with the rest of the group and train in the Room of Requirement. When she sat by the lake, she knew that her friends, the professors, the Marauders and the three Gryffindors watched her to see if she was okay. She ignored them every time and simply set up wards around herself, to alert her if someone approached, and went into her mindscape.

She worried about Harry constantly, hoping that he was coping and getting through the memories. She wanted him to come back, she missed him so much that it almost hurt. She didn't think she would ever feel this way about anyone. She constantly talked with Miku and both her parents via the mirrors that Harry had given them. All three of them always smiled at her oddly whenever she talked about Harry and how she hoped he was okay, as if they knew something that she didn't. It was maddening to her. She just hoped that Harry would come back to her soon so she could be with him again and so he could hold her.

X0X0X0X0X0

It had been exactly a week since Harry Daniels had left. Though, for most of the students, it was not nearly as important as the end-of-the-year exams that were upon them. It was the Saturday before finals and breakfast was a loud affair. Everyone was talking to their friends, hoping to get together in groups to cram for the exams that were happening within the next few days. The older students were worried about their OWLs and NEWTs that were in the next few days. It seemed like the only students that weren't worried was Harry's and Hermione's group of friends.

They were constantly seen in the Library but they never looked rushed or frustrated or even a little panicked. Albus watched them discreetly, trying to find a chink in their armor, trying to find any little problems in their group that he could exploit. He could already tell that the Granger girl was depressed about Daniels not being around. To him, that boy not being around was a God send. He was a constant source of irritation and reminder that he was prone to a few mistakes in his life. He needed to figure out Daniels' secrets! He needed to know who the boy of prophecy was so he could guide him to his destiny, which would grant Dumbledore more sway over the people of the wizarding world because it would be him who trained the defeater of Voldemort. He needed people to believe in him because he needed to set the course of the Wizarding World for the Greater Good.

X0X0X0X0X0

Harry watched as, once again, he was forgotten about for Christmas Dinner. He watched as his family sat around the table with guests and friends; the Weasleys were there, as were the Longbottoms, Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore. No one had even thought to ask where little Harry was. None of them saw him watching the entire thing from the stairs. None saw the copious amounts of tears coming down his face.

Harry was tired of crying. He was tired of being ignored and tired of not being wanted. He was slowly getting to his feet, intent on going back to his room and being ignored for the rest of the night, when he heard a faint whisper. It was so faint that he had to strain his ears to hear it. It was someone speaking. It was so soft and so faint, it touched his ears like the wind ghosting over him. He must have stood there for five minutes, doing nothing but straining his ears, trying to understand the words.

He realized that the longer he stood there, the voice seemed to get stronger. He forgot all about his family and forgot all his troubles as he strained to listen to the voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, like a song heard once, many years before. He recognized it as a female voice. He felt a protective feeling come over him as he heard it. He felt an odd sensation, deep in his gut and his heart would jump in his chest whenever he heard the voice. When he thought about it, he realized that it wasn't the first time he had heard the voice. He had heard it over and over again, during all the worst points in his life.

He heard it again, stronger than before. "I will never leave you and will always be there for you."

He wondered what it meant. She sounded sincere and he wanted, more than anything, to see her. He wracked his mind, trying to remember who the girl was. He caught an image of a curly brown hair and deep, caring, chocolate brown eyes. He heard a laugh that immediately brought a smile to his face and he smelt the scent of vanilla and a hint of peaches.

Who is she?! I know that I know her, I can't have made her up!

He heard the whisper again, but this time it was different. It was a different voice, but still female. "You have people who love you and care about you."

When he heard it, he felt a warm feeling envelope him. It was different than before though. It reminded him of what families did, when he went out to Diagon Alley or other public places. He caught the sight of a petite asian girl. Immediately, the name Miku sprang to mind. With that, he started remembering his life after the Potters. He remembered the night he left Potter Manor. He remembered the first time he met Ragnok, Warchief of the Goblin Nation and Director of Gringotts. He remembered his first meeting with the Order of Shadow Walkers and the first time he met Miku, Jammel and the other members of his new family.

When he remembered them, he remembered his first year at Hogwarts and he finally had a name to place with the voice that affected him so. He remembered what caused him to drown himself in his memories and that he was living in them, they weren't real. With that, the world around him faded to black and he jerked awake in an empty room.

"Hermione!"

X0X0X0X0X0

Hermione noticed a slight change in the way the castle felt while she ate her dinner. She didn't know exactly what was different but she felt something in way magic flowed through the castle. A moment later, there was a commotion in the Entrance Hall and she turned to look. Her eyes were drawn to the doors, as they slowly opened, she realized Harry's magic and recognized what it sounded and felt like. She jumped up from her seat, infused her legs with magic and she was in his arms in under two seconds flat.

"I missed you!" she whispered into his neck.

She felt him smile into her neck as he inhaled her scent.

"I missed you too Mione. It took me awhile, but I finally figured it out."

He raised his head as he felt several others getting closer and saw that it was the rest of their friends. They all greeted him with pats on the back for the guys, and hugs from the girls. They talked a bit more, ignoring the rest of the Great Hall, who were staring at the group.

Finally, Harry said, "Okay guys, I don't know about you, but the last meal I had was at the Three Broomsticks. So, I need to eat."

Susan asked, "How did you get by on nothing to eat?"

"My magic kept me strong while I was in the memories. Now I need to eat real food." he explained.

The others nodded and they made their way back to the Ravenclaw table, where they all sat down and began their meal again. Hermione had latched onto Harry's arm and refused to let go of him the entire time. Finally, Harry mentally nudged her and let her into his mind and she dove into it, letting go of him physically and instead, mentally held onto him.

A little while later, after explaining a bit about why he was gone to the few that were brave enough to ask, Harry noticed both Aurors, Professors Potter, Flitwick, Lupin, Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore walking towards him. He sent a mental nudge to the others in the group and as one, they all turned to look at the approaching party. Harry simply rolled his eyes and stood up, Hermione followed and latched onto his arm again.

"Mr. Daniels, could we speak with you?" Professor Flitwick asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk away.

"I'll see you guys later." he nodded to the group and led Hermione out of the Great Hall.

They walked to the antechamber off to the side of the Great Hall.

Once everyone was inside, Dumbledore said, "Miss Granger, please excuse us but we need to speak with Mr. Daniels alone."

He waited for her to leave the room and when she didn't he realized that she wasn't even looking at him.

Ignoring the question, Harry asked one of his own. "I want to know why whenever you try to talk with me, you always bring three Heads of House? I mean, I understand Professor Flitwick, he's my Head of House and Professor McGonagall is Deputy Headmistress, so I understand her as well, but not Snape. I mean, besides the two hours of hell he puts us through for class, I never speak with him and I really don't even recognize that he exists. Why do you choose to leave Professor Sprout out? Especially when I respect her much more than him."

Snape snarled at him but Harry completely ignored him.

Dumbledore said in a chiding tone, "Now Harry, you must respect Professor Snape." completely ignoring the question and putting emphasis on Snape's title.

Harry, again, shrugged and said, "No I don't. He doesn't respect anyone else, let alone me. Hell he doesn't even really respect you. He only follows your lead because he knows that the minute he is no longer under your protection, the aurors will have him in custody and he will be well and truly up shit creek without a paddle."

The adults had no idea how to respond to that statement and the Marauders were barely standing up, they were laughing so hard. Through it all, Harry and Hermione stood there, looking unperturbed.

Finally, Dumbledore cleared his throat uncomfortably and said, "Yes, well, that is your opinion, in my opinion, Professor Snape has my utmost trust."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yes, well, that's all well and good for you, but that's kind of selfish don't you think? I mean, I thought that only thinking about yourself is sort of the thing the Headmaster of a school isn't supposed to do. Aren't you supposed to think of your students, and what's best for them? Because if you are, you're doing a very poor job of it."

Dumbledore sputtered and said, "Of course I think of the students! Professor Snape is the youngest Potions Master in the world and the best in Britain!"

Harry waited for a moment, then said, "Yeah... and? I mean it's great that he's good at Potions, but what does that have to do with students? It doesn't matter if he was the "Merlin" of Potion making, if he can't teach the subject, then, as a teacher, he's as useful as teats on a boar hog. And if you'd pay attention, then you would know that he is the best in Britain because Britain hasn't produced even five Potions Masters in the last thirteen years."

Both Harry and Hermione were laughing on the inside at the colors that Snape and Dumbles were turning and the expressions on the other adults' faces.

Harry continued, "Anyway, sorry, you got me off on a tangent. Back to what I wanted to say, if you get to have Snape, who has no business being here, present, then I get to have Hermione here. Simple as that." After he thought about it, "Actually, you can't even be here. The Charter is still in effect, therefore you're violating it right now."

Hermione, playing along said, "What happened to the last Headmaster that violated the Charter, Harry?"

Harry smirked, "He lost his magic because when he signed on to be the Headmaster, he signed a magically binding document to uphold the Charter to the best of his ability."

They both turned to Dumbledore and Harry said, "By all means, stay here as long as you want Headmaster. It should be a good show."

Both Ravenclaws looked at the Headmaster eagerly and waited. Dumbledore, with anger and frustration clouding his judgement, quickly left the antechamber, Snape following.

Harry chuckled, "I can't believe he fell for that!"

Flitwick asked, "You mean that it wasn't true?!"

Harry shook his head, "Oh, no. It's true that a Headmaster signs a magically binding document when he or she becomes Headmaster or Headmistress, but the only thing that will happen if he violates it, at least a small part of it, like he just was, he would just lose his job."

McGonagall asked, flabbergasted, "Then why did he leave?"

Harry smirked, "Because he was too angry and frustrated with me, because I refuse to bow to his greater wisdom. It clouded his judgement and he left before he realized that what I had said was false. Anyway, what's up?"

The adults looked at the two Ravenclaws in astonishment.

Flitwick asked, "Why are you Ravenclaws? Why aren't you in Slytherin?"

Harry shrugged, "I told the hat that I wanted to be in the same House as Hermione. It said that I could have been in any House. Remember what I said in the Great Hall?"

The others nodded, remembering the conversation between him and Daphne Greengrass.

McGonagall cleared her throat and said, "Yes, well. We asked you in here to ask what have you been for the last week?"

Harry sighed, "I was in a special room that I had the Goblins design for me, with my help. I knew that there could possibly be times where I needed to go and vent my magic. It is completely sealed, there is no way, in or out. Not even Portkeys or apparation can get in. Only by shifting can someone get in. I went there and let the memories I was fighting, overwhelm me. I relived them until I got over them completely."

Lily gasped, "You relived everything?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah. I had all those memories under lock and key and I let them out and they swallowed me whole. For a time, I even forgot myself and was completely immersed in the memories, not remembering that I left at all or had a life outside of the Potters."

Lily said, with tears rolling down her cheeks, "I'm sorry you had to relive that."

Harry shrugged, unconcerned. "Eh. I needed to. Now, they don't bother me anymore. I could go back to the day at Hogsmeade and the Dementors would affect me, slightly less than everyone else because I've accepted the worst of my memories. Not many people can accept their worst memories, that's why I would be affected less than others."

Turning back to Flitwick and ignoring the Potters, Remus and Sirius, he said, "Anyway. I'm back and I'll be here until the end of term. I'm all set to go for my exams so I'll be fine."

Nodding, Flitwick and McGonagall dismissed them and the couple left to spend some time alone. Together, the two Ravenclaws walked around the castle and finally made their way down to the lake.

"So what did you do while I was gone?" Harry asked, after a while.

Hermione sighed before answering. "Nothing really. I was too worried about you. Ask anyone, I really was in my mindscape a lot last week. I probably rearranged it at least fifteen times. I didn't really do anything else, I know for sure that the others were worried about me."

Harry smiled sadly and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry I worried you. But to be honest, the only reason I came back when I did, was because of you."

Hermione looked at him, questioningly and he explained everything that had happened to him. An hour after the start of their conversation and Hermione had her head buried into Harry's chest, her tears drenching his shirt. She was sad that he had to go through all of his worst memories without anyone there to help him get through it. She cried even harder when he shared his memory of what happened at the end of the ordeal. She cried in both happiness and sadness. Happiness, because even though she hadn't been there physically, she was still able to help him, and sadness, because he didn't have anyone during his time in his memories and would have most likely been trapped in them, if not for her.

After a while of silence, Hermione pulled Harry's mind into her memories of the past week so he could catch up on what had been going on around the school. Harry watched the memories fly by and felt a bit sad at the hurt he had caused Hermione but she quickly brushed it aside and assured him that she would have been worried about him regardless. Eventually, they went back into the castle to find their friends and help other students prepare for the upcoming exams.

X0X0X0X0X0

The week of exams was stressful for everyone in the castle, including the professors. The upper years were under a lot of stress and easily snapped at each other as well as the younger students because of their OWLs and NEWTs. Most knew they shouldn't take their anger and frustration out on the other students and would eventually apologize but were too busy to do so, or care, during exams. The younger years were stressed as well, but not nearly as much and some of the less studious students didn't bother to worry.

Harry, Hermione and their group of friends helped anyone that asked for their help. It didn't matter if they were older students or younger. It was common knowledge that both Harry and Hermione knew more than the average witch or wizard their age.

A few people asked Harry where he was the previous week but he only gave the vaguest of answers and eventually people understood that he didn't want to talk about it. Snape tried to give him detention for missing school but because of his probation, Flitwick had to sign off on the punishment and refused. The Potions exam for Ravenclaw was nearly unbearable after that. Snape seemed to go after them with as much fury as he did Gryffindor. He couldn't take any points but he hovered and at the simplest mistake, he would vanish the potion of any Ravenclaw student and force them to start over again.

Luckily, most Ravenclaws could brew the potions they had to, for the final, with ease and no matter what Snape did, they all passed. Potions was really the only exam that posed a problem for anyone. With Harry, Hermione and their group's help, anyone who studied with them, felt they did well on the exams.

During the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, Hermione's prediction that Harry's boggart was, again, a dementor, was proven false. He was once again faced with a Nundu, while Hermione's boggart was a surprise. It had changed since the beginning of the year and was now a dead Harry. Since the exams were separate and were between student and professor, Lupin promised to keep it from anyone else, Hermione assured him that she didn't care if others found out, she was okay with it. She managed to defeat the Boggart by dumping a bucket of water on it and forcing it to have a high pitched, girly voice when it shouted in surprise.

The night after the last final, Harry and Hermione were, once again, alerted to the fact that Chris and the two other stooges were again out of the castle. They pulled out Harry's map and saw that they were making their way to the edge of the Forbidden forest. Looking towards where they were headed, they saw the name Peter Pettigrew slip off the edge of the map. The name was in green ink so they knew he was in his rat form.

"I smell a trap." Harry said.

Hermione nodded and replied, "I do too, and the idiots are walking straight into it."

Harry sighed, "Why do they have to do this crap at night? I mean, if we had to sleep normal hours, we would be beyond tired in the mornings with the amount of times we have saved their asses."

Hermione nodded and Harry continued, "Well, I'll send a message to Lily and let her know, then we'll go. Go in our Hogsmeade forms."

Hermione nodded and went up to her dorm to change into the basilisk armor and cloak.

X0X0X0X0X0

Chris Potter sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, deep in thought. How could the Headmaster think that Daniels is the Boy-Who-Lived? I'm the one that got all the special training from Padfoot, Moony, Mum, Dad and Dumbledore himself! Besides, they told me that Daniels didn't show much magic when we were younger, that I was always doing the accidental magic. Sure, he's good at magic now, but I'm the one that got all the training to eventually beat Voldemort! Their wrong, I know it and I'll prove it to them.

Ron and Neville had noticed something was wrong with their friend, ever since the attack in Hogsmeade. He had gone to a meeting with the Headmaster and his parents and come back quiet, and at times he would get angry for reasons only known to himself. During the week Daniels was missing, they had noticed that he seemed more confident, but when Daniels came back, Chris had gone back to being quiet. They had watched Granger walk around, depressed the whole week and knew it was because Daniels wasn't around but they didn't know where he had gone.

All of a sudden, both boys were brought out of their thoughts when Chris gasped and sat up quickly.

"Look guys!" he pointed to the map, "It's Pettigrew! He's on the grounds."

They looked at each other and nodded, "Let's go get him." At first Ron and Neville were hesitant but then they thought about who they would look, bringing the betrayer of the Potters into custody. They thought back to the times that the Marauders had talked about how Pettigrew hadn't been a very good wizard when they knew him. They figured that with three of them, they could easily take time, especially with all the training that they had gotten from the Marauders, Lily and Dumbledore. With that, they ran upstairs and got the invisibility cloak and made their way out onto the grounds. They followed the map and slowly made their way into the forest. They were cautious because it was the Forbidden forest but they weren't going to let it stop them.

X0X0X0X0X0

James Potter, aka Prongs and Sirius Black, aka Padfoot were keeping their friend and fellow Marauder, Remus Lupin, aka Moony, during the full moon. During the transformation, they realized that something was wrong with the Wolfsbane Potion he was supposed to have taken. Before he lost the ability to speak, Lupin let them know that he hadn't taken the night's dose because they hadn't gone back to his office, where it was sitting on his desk, after they had been talking about training Chris and the boys with Lily.

The news didn't shock them too much. They had dealt with Moony before the potion was invented so they didn't see any problems. Like most nights they spent with him, it was quiet, they had to again, show the wolf that they were in charge, since it had been a while, but it was easy for them, their animagus forms were large and easily beat back the wolf. After that, they kept their friend company.

After about a couple of hours, being cooped up in the Shrieking Shack, they decided that it would be okay for them to explore the forest a bit, since Moony was getting restless and they had done it before, during their school days. They quietly made their way to the forest and slipped inside without letting anyone hear or see them.

X0X0X0X0X0

Wormtail quickly made his way back to the clearing in the forest, once he saw the castle doors open. He knew when he didn't see anyone, that he had gotten the attention of the boys and they were taking the bait.

Once back in the clearing, he transformed back. "They are on their way. I saw the castle doors open and no one came out so they are using the cloak."

He shivered when he saw the smile on Bellatrix's face. She said, "When they get here, take the Potter brat. I don't care about the Weasley, but I want Longbottom. I have a score to settle with his parents. Now, Wormtail, go back to our master. Relieve McNair, you are useless to us."

Peter sniveled and nodded in fear. Then he disapparated and a few seconds later, there were three other Pops that signalled the other Death Eaters were there.

"What are you doing here! You should be caring for our master!" Bellatrix sneered

Lucius Malfoy, with new silver hands that his master had given him, sneered back at his sister in law, "Our Lord has told us that we are to assist you. He has stated that he only needs Wormtail to protect him. He has another servant as well, but he will not tell us who he or she is. He does not wish to bring attention to himself by having too many of us with him. We are to bring the Potter brat to him when we have him and then he will give us more instructions."

Bellatrix snarled but accepted the orders. From there, they sat and waited. Their trap was laid, now they needed their prey to spring it on.

X0X0X0X0X0

Lily Potter was grading her fourth year exams. She had one of the elves taking care and watching over Rose. She was just finishing up her second to last exam when there was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal her favorite professor as a student.

"What can I do for you Professor Flitwick?" she smiled.

"Lily." Filius chided, "What have I told you? We're colleagues now, please call me Filius."

Lily smiled slightly, "I'll try. Now, what can I do for you?"

"I hope I didn't wake you, I just thought you would like to know that Mr. Daniels has, again, passed my final with flying colors." he smiled.

Lily smiled brightly. "That's great! Thank you for letting me know. I know that I will never be his mother but I can still be proud of him as a mother."

Flitwick smiled slightly, he was still disappointed in his former student for treating her son the way she had. But Harry had spoken to him a bit about it and he understood, as Harry did, why she had done the things she had done, even if he doesn't agree with it. If Harry held no grudge towards his former family, then he had no right to, it wasn't he that was wronged. They continued to talk a bit more, mostly about Harry and Hermione and their class standing.

As Flitwick was getting ready to leave, back to his office, there was a flash of white light and they were greeted by a ghostly white raven.

It opened it's beak and they heard Harry's voice. "Your idiot son has decided to go off with his idiot friends and confront Pettigrew in the Forbidden forest. Thought you ought to know. Since my help wasn't welcomed last time, I'll leave it up to the adults, who know better than I do." his last statement was dripping with sarcasm.

The two professors looked at each other, then rush out of the room, towards the Headmaster's office.

X0X0X0X0X0

Harry and Hermione got their armor on, then changed their appearance and shadow walked to the edge of the forest. They waited in the shadows for the three stooges to show up.

Finally, they noticed the three Gryffindors coming towards them under the cloak. Harry chuckled as he imagined telling them that their invisibility cloak wasn't so invisible to them. Once the three passed their hiding spots, they quietly followed behind them, walking silently and in the shadows. They watched, amazed at their stupidity as the three spoke in hushed tones, but were still heard in the silence of the forest. They put up a few wards to keep the more dangerous animals in the forest away from the small group.

They finally made their way to a clearing in, well into the forest. At first glance, there didn't seem to be anyone or anything in the clearing, but that was quickly proven false as a large group of people in black cloaks made themselves visible. Immediately, the three Gryffindors, as well as the two hidden Ravenclaws saw that every single person had a silver mask covering their faces.

Chris spit out, "Death Eaters!"

They quickly turned around to run back to the castle when they came face to face with Bellatrix.

"Ah ah ah, Potty. Our Master wants to speak with you."

The insane Death Eater jerked her head, and three masked Death Eaters immediately grabbed the three Gryffindors. Bellatrix cackled and laughed, and went on about how she was going to enjoy torturing Neville before killing him and sending his body back to his family. Finally, Harry and Hermione had enough and slowly stepped out from behind the trees.

"You know," Harry drawled, "It isn't wise to dilly dally around when you're trying to kidnap someone." The Death Eaters snarl and turn as one, towards the newly revealed strangers.

Bellatrix growled, "Who are you!?"

Harry and Hermione smirked, "Oh, we're no one important. We were just in the neighborhood and heard, what sounded like a wounded jackal or something. But don't worry, that was just you. Say Lucy, how's the hands? And the balls?."

Hermione giggled, "Don't you mean, 'lack of' dear?"

Harry chuckled and agreed. Lucius snarled when he realized who the two were. The other Death Eaters shifted nervously when they, too, realized these were the two strangers that took care of the attackers in Hogsmeade a few weeks before.

"Anyway, we thought we would show up and help out these idiots. We got word they were being stupid, like trying to go after a Death Eater that was clearly leading them into a trap." Harry pointed to the three Gryffindors.

The three students were to afraid to retort, instead, Chris settled for a steady glare. Without anyone looking, Malfoy unsheathed a poisoned knife and sent it towards Harry. With surprising skill, he caught it, spun it around his hand a few times, then threw it back at the blonde so fast that many couldn't track it with their eyes. There was a dull thud and Malfoy gasped in pain as it embedded itself in his shoulder.

Harry said, casually, "Be glad I removed the poison from it. Otherwise you'd be in big trouble." going for some misdirection on both Voldemort's part and Dumbles' part, Harry said, "You shouldn't try and play with the big leagues. You, Death Eaters are minor league compared with us. And that's just the inner circle. The others are like school children."

A few seemed to understand the references in the insult and snarled at them.

Hermione said, lazily, "My, God. Are you all animals? Can't you do something other than snarl like rabid dogs?"

Before anyone could say anything, Harry threw up a shield around the three students and shielded himself against the three Lestranges and Malfoy. The other Death Eaters went after Hermione. The two groups exchanged spellfire for a few minutes with Harry taking care of Rabastan with a throwing knife to his shoulder and a well placed crushing curse at his legs. He wandlessly sent the Death Eater's wand to the ground, next to the three Gryffindors. Next, he took care of Malfoy, again, cutting his new, shiny arms off and blasting him into a tree. He downed Rodolphus with conjured ropes and strung him up from a tree. He was lucky that he was wearing his basilisk armor because Bellatrix's piercing hex nailed him right in his left ribs. He finally got her by placing an illusion of himself, still dueling her and made his way around to her back. He calmly tapped her on her shoulder and when she swung around, he got her with a strong right hook mixed with an overpowered stunner.

Hermione fared much better and ended her duel with the remaining four Death Eaters with most sporting nasty looking cuts and two of the men looked to be in as much pain as Lucius was after Harry was done with him at Hogsmeade. Harry summoned all of their wands, including their spares and conjured name tags for each Death Eater that had carried them.

As he was just setting the wands down and Hermione had untied the three students, there was movement to their left. As one, all five heads snapped towards it. There, slowly making their way into the clearing was a magnificent stag, a large black dog, that closely resembled a grim and following behind them was what could only be a werewolf. As soon as the werewolf spotted them, it lunged forward before the other two animals could react.

It was met by large, black wolf, just over twice the size of the grim. The wolf snarled and threw the werewolf to the side and backed it into a corner, away from the humans.

Hermione calmly said, "You can change back now, aurors. He can take care of Lupin."

James quickly changed back and ran to the three boys, "What's going on here! Who are you people?"

Hermione calmly said, "Who we are is not important, what we are doing here is saving these three from their own foolishness. They decided they wanted to be the ones to catch a Death Eater and decided to do it alone. No, be silent idiot." she said, interrupting Chris' retort. "We were just making your jobs easier by labeling who these wands belonged to. Here you go." she handed the assortment of different wands over to the head auror.

As she did, another group of people burst through, into the clearing. It consisted of Professors Potter, Flitwick, McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape.

Taking stock of the situation; the large group of Death Eaters in chains on the ground, some missing body parts, Dumbledore demanded, "What is going on here!?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I've already explained it to him. Obviously, if you can't get the gist of the situation, then you are beyond the age you should be working as a teacher."

The others are left gaping at the stranger's insult the Headmaster. They heard a strange woofing sound come from a little ways away and see a wolf standing guard over a werewolf. They quickly realized that the animal was laughing at what had been said.

Finally, Sirius changed back from Padfoot and went over to the group, satisfied that they were no longer in danger.

Snape immediately sneered, "Black, it was so nice with you in your natural form, please do not change for the rest of us."

Before Sirius could respond, there was a loud growling and snarling from the werewolf. The large wolf snapped at Moony and he was silenced.

Hermione drawled, "I suggest that you keep your leash on your Death Eater, Dumbles. Otherwise, my friend may lose interest and let Lupin loose."

Snape blanched and Dumbledore shot a sharp look at the strange woman. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Hermione chuckled, "Ah, well, like I told Potter, who I am is not relevant. As for why I'm here, well.."

At this, the wolf transformed back into a man, he quickly sent a massively overpowered stunner at the werewolf and then caused a large metal cage to form around the sleeping beast, made out of transfigured dirt and wood.

Ignoring the stares he got for the impressive display of magic, Harry said, "Why we are here is because we heard that a few idiots needed help and we decided to help. That's it. Now, we will take our leave."

As he finished, he made his way to Hermione and they saw that Dumbles' eyes were twinkling.

The old man said in mock sadness, "I am afraid that I cannot allow that. I have a few questions you you and you left so rudely last time. Who are you, and how you seem to know when to show up, just in time?"

As he finished, he threw up powerful anti-portkey and apparation wards.

Harry laughingly said, "You don't need to know who we are. For one, you're just not that important enough for us to tell you and two, we don't very much like you. We're going to play your game. We're only going to tell you what you need to know."

Hermione piped up and said, "Ask Harry. If he want's to tell you, then he can. While you're at it, tell him, 'you're welcome' from us. And to only send us half the agreed amount. Call it a discount for friends and for letting us piss you off. If our help isn't wanted, then we will not help anymore, we'll only do what we are paid to do. This was free and it seems like we aren't wanted so we'll just sit back and watch next time." she finished, smirking.

Harry scolded, "Now Mr. Dumbledore, it isn't nice to try and trap us after we just helped you out. If we didn't know any better, we would say that those are a bit like Death Eater tactics. But because we know better, we'll go with the actions of a spoiled child not getting what he wants and throwing a temper tantrum."

Hermione, ignoring the looks of astonishment and outrage on the people watching them, said thoughtfully, "Actually, if you think about it, isn't that what the whole last war was about? One man, mad at the world for the way his life turned out and throwing a tantrum about it?"

Both smiled cheekily and waved goodbye as there was a loud SNAP! as the two strangers broke through Dumbledore's wards. At the same time, Dumbledore gasped in pain and staggered back. With that, the two outsiders disappeared in a swirl of white flames.

Not two minutes later, Amelia Bones and four aurors; Gawain Robards, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Moody, along with the two Longbottoms apparated into the clearing, wands out. They saw the clearing and the group of people standing off to the side. Amelia quickly took charge, handing out different assignments to the three aurors with her. She allowed James and Sirius see to Chris, as well as the Longbottoms see to their son. Moody took control of the different wands that were labeled and started to walk through the Death Eaters, assuring himself that they were all secure.

X0X0X0X0X0

Harry and Hermione Shadow Walked back to their separate trunks and removed their armor and put back on their normal sleep wear. Afterwards, they went back down to the Common Room and took out their books to read. They knew they would eventually get called into the Headmaster's office, so they just stayed up and read their respective books; Harry's was on the art of Warding and Hermione's was on Enchantments.

About 45 minutes after they had gotten back to the Common Room, Hermione said, "Harry, this book has me wondering. How many true enchanters are there in the world?"

Harry thought for a few moments, "Well, I don't know an exact number, but it can't be that many. I know that one works for the Mages and contracts out to the Research Department at M.I.T. Other than that, I don't know any. None are with the Walkers. We mostly rely on people with skill in engraving Runes into objects. The difference between the two is that, enchantment is completely permanent. Carving Runes into things and powering them is not considered permanent because the Runes can be scratched out or fade after a long enough time."

Hermione nodded. She knew this. During her studies, she had learned that Enchantment is the art of weaving strands of magic into something. Effectively tying the magic to the object for eternity. The only way an enchanted item could be disconnected from the magic was if a more skilled enchanter came along and undid the work.

Hermione voiced her thoughts. "From what you described after second year and from what I've read, the diary was enchanted and that would mean that Riddle would have been an enchanter, right?"

Harry tilted his head to the side and thought for a few minutes. Just as Hermione was about to say something, he spoke up.

"No, I don't think so. What I unraveled wasn't a weaving of magic. It was more like a tangled mess of cords. It was like the diary did everything it could to tie it's existence to whoever wrote in the diary. It wasn't enchantment, it was a very poor imitation of it."

Hermione nodded her understanding, then asked another question. "Then, to enchant something, one would have to have knowledge of the temple, right? Because it seems like it is very similar to what they do with the currents of magic."

Harry, again, shook his head. "No, not really. I mean, the two things are similar and to learn how to manipulate and create flows and currents of magic like that would be very useful to an enchanter, they really only need the basic knowledge to see and manipulate currents of magic already in existence, like what we were taught."

Hermione nodded. "So we are already well ahead of other enchanters because we can do that?"

Harry smirked and nodded. "Yup. It also helps immensely in Warding because you can permanently enchant a wardstone to keep the power growing over time. And it would help in making wards where it isn't as magically rich as other areas; where there aren't Ley Lines around for miles. If done correctly, the wards could be completely impenetrable because as someone is trying to bring them down, the enchanted wardstone would continue to draw magic to keep the wards powered. But to enchant something like a wardstone would only be taken on by a Master Enchanter. There are only a few in the world that would even attempt something like that."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because a ward stone must have runes already carved into it that allow it to absorb magic, to power the wards. The kind of magical currents that would need to be tied to it would have to be massive. It would be like working with Ley Line magic without a staff."

Hermione, remembering what she knew about the different types of focuses, blanched at imagining working with them without anything between herself and the pure magic of the Ley Lines.

They talked a bit more about Warding and Enchanting until finally, Professor Flitwick stepped through the entrance of the Common Room.

He seemed surprised at first that they were awake. "Goodness! Mr. Daniels, Miss Granger! What are you two doing up at such a late hour?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and turned back. Harry said, "This falls under your oath Professor." Flitwick nodded seriously, wondering what his oath had to do with their sleeping habits. "We don't sleep all that much because of a combination of some of our meditations and our Occlumency."

Hermione continued, "Actually, everyone in our group doesn't sleep much because of the same reasons. We all usually just stay in our beds and do homework or read a book but since we knew that you would be coming, we decided to stay down here to make it easier and not wake any of our roommates up."

Flitwick nodded, understanding and said, "Well, we have managed to stall the Headmaster until morning so please report to my office at 9am tomorrow- well, later today."

Harry and Hermione nodded their understanding and wished the Charms Master a good night's sleep. After he had left, they went back to reading for a bit. After a while, Hermione gestured with her hand towards the stairs and set up alert wards at the top of the stairs to let them know when someone was coming. Then did the same with the Common Room entrance. Afterwards, she closed her book and leaned into Harry's side and snuggled into him, getting comfortable. Harry just chuckled and wandlessly summoned a blanket from the other side of the room and covered them both with it. He gently kissed Hermione's forehead and closed his eyes.

As an extra precaution, he put a Notice-Me-Not ward around the whole couch, along with a confundus at the bottom of the stairs to make anyone coming down, want to immediately head down for breakfast and not hang around.

X0X0X0X0X0

Both Harry and Hermione were awakened a couple of hours later as light shone through the windows. Hermione had obviously liked using Harry's chest as a pillow and had wrapped her arms completely around his torso. Harry had his hands running through Hermione's hair, almost making her purr in contentment. Finally, as they felt the wards alert them to someone coming down the stairs, they slowly got up.

Just as they had banished the blanket back to it's original spot, across the room and gotten their books back out, acting as if nothing was amiss, Luna came walking down the stairs. They both sighed in relief that they wouldn't have to answer any odd questions.

Luna smirked at them, "Well, you two sure are up early. Though you both look like you just woke up. So my question is, how was your night? The couch comfy? Or was Harry more comfy, Hermione?"

Both third years blushed but Hermione smiled back. "Harry was much more comfy than the couch and much warmer than the blanket."

Luna just smirked at the couple and giggled slightly. She waited while the two of them went up to their dorms to change into their workout clothes. Once done, they all went down and met with the rest of the group to begin their workout.

Towards the end, Daphne asked, "So how do you all think exams went?"

Harry shrugged, "Mine went like they always do. The only exam that was irritating was History of Magic."

The others nodded their agreement. With all the training and extra books that Harry and Hermione had given them, their other classes were a breeze. Besides Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, History of Magic and Potions, they were all fairly far ahead of their classmates, both in theory and practical. Between Hermione's help with the theory side and Harry's help with the practical side, they all were confident that they could have passed in their sleep. Even in Care, Potions and Herbology, they were decently far enough ahead to not have to worry about those classes.

Ginny said, "I think my brother and Chris are more worried about whatever happened last night than what mum and Mrs. Potter will say about their poor grades, but it is pretty close to a tie between the two. I saw them this morning when I came down, they were so out of it and worried that they didn't even try and stop me from meeting you guys today. Usually I have to fight with them until I threaten them, then they usually leave me alone. Neville got the hint after the first time and he stays out of it."

Harry nodded, he knew that Longbottom was probably the smarter of the three stooges. He checked the time and saw that if he and Hermione were going to make it to Flitwick's office on time, and still have a decent breakfast, they needed to head up to have time to shower beforehand. As the group headed back up, the two Ravenclaws explained a bit about what happened the night before.

X0X0X0X0X0

Once Harry and Hermione had made it to Flitwick's office, they were immediately led to the Headmaster's office. Once inside, they were met with the sight of the three Gryffindors, Aurors Moody, Potter, Black and Longbottom, as well as Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Potter and a tired looking Professor Lupin. Alice Longbottom was there as well, along with the Weasley parents. Flitwick conjured the two students a seat and took his own seat with the other Professors. Dumbledore nodded to them when they sat down and started the meeting off. "

"Please explain to us what you were doing out in the forest last night." he asked the three Gryffindors.

Chris nervously started, "Well, I was watching a map that my dad and his friends made me before school," Lily shot James a scowl while the Senior Potter winced at the information that was revealed, but didn't say anything as his son continued, "As I was looking at it, I noticed Pettigrew's name on the grounds."

"And you just decided to go after him on your own?" Lily asked, angrily.

Chris winced at the tone, but shook his head, "No, we figured that with the training that we had from you guys, we could take him. I remembered all the stories that you and dad had told about your school days and how Pettigrew wasn't that good with spells and a weak wizard. We thought we could take him, we didn't know that there would be a group of Death Eaters waiting for us."

Neville nodded his agreement. "We didn't think he would be much of a problem and that we could bring him back to the castle for Prongs or Padfoot to arrest."

Ron added, "You guys have said that we are doing great in the training that you've been giving us."

The adults sighed, James said, "Be that as it may, you are just students. No matter how weak he was as a student, he isn't one now, he is a fully trained wizard and a Dark wizard at that. You should have told someone."

Lily continued, "We didn't give you that training so that you would seek out a fight, we did it so that if you were ever put into a situation where you needed to fight, you would know how."

They talk a bit more about the confrontation with the Death Eaters and what had happened before they had arrived. Finally, it had come to Harry's and Hermione's part in the events of the previous night.

Flitwick started by asking, "What exactly do you two know about what happened last night?"

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and shrugged before Harry said, "We know enough."

Hermione added, "We didn't really learn anything new this morning, if that answers your question."

Flitwick nodded and turned back to the others in the meeting.

"How did you two know to inform Professor Potter about young Christopher, Neville and Ronald needing help?" Dumbledore started off.

Harry looked surprised, "I didn't say they needed help. I just told her that they were going off to chase Pettigrew. Since my help was unwanted last year, I decided to leave it in your capable hands."

Hermione snorted at his sarcasm. The other professors and adults scowled slightly at the reminder of the end of the previous year.

Lily, remembering something from the night's events, said, "The two individuals that helped last night said to tell you 'You're Welcome' and that to only send half the fee. He called it a discount for friends and..." she left the last part unfinished.

Moody picked it up, "He said it was a discount for friends and for letting them piss off Albus."

Harry and Hermione smiled, "I'll have to send a letter telling that I'm glad I could be up help and glad they enjoyed the entertainment."

Scowling, Albus said imperiously, "Yes, and who were they? I, as Headmaster of this school, must know for your safety and the safety of the other students." as he finished, he sent a compulsion towards the couple from under his desk.

Both Ravenclaws rolled their eyes and Harry said scathingly, "I doubt that. You're just angry that you don't know something. And I will warn you only one time. DO NOT! send compulsions charms at us. They won't work and will just make us angry." Hermione agreed with a scowl.

The other adults looked angered by the Headmaster's attempt on his students.

Harry continued, "As for who they were, did you honestly believe that I would come back to Britain without someone to watch my back? Or the backs of what friends I make?"

Dumbledore put his grandfatherly facade on and said, "I'm sorry you feel that way. But what does that have to do with how you knew Christopher and his friends needed help?"

Hermione snorted, "Not likely. You are the main reason that we feel the way we do. And you haven't helped yourself by trying to feed us loyalty potions, keyed to you, hostility potions keyed to each other and magic inhibitor potions" as she continued speaking, her eyes started to glow a faint gold.

Harry said, "How I knew isn't relevant, but if you really want to know, we have a map." seeing a few people starting to ask questions about it, he said sharply, "No. You can't have it. Make your own. I brought it to your attention because last year, when I went to help, I was chastised for it and realized that my help wasn't wanted, nor was it welcome. So I am leaving everything alone. Magical Britain's problems are not my problems. The leaders of your government have the power to change things but you choose not to. Half bloods and first generation magicals out number the purebloods by nearly five to one, they have the power to demand change, but they don't. I'm not going to waste my time helping people who won't help themselves and who don't want my help."

Dumbledore, trying to go for guilt, asked, "What about when Voldemort comes back? Will you fight for the Light, or let innocents die?"

Harry shrugged. "I won't fight with you, or with them. Riddle is a product of British Magical society. If things continue they way they are, then after Voldemort, another Dark Lord will show up in a few years. It's too easy to gain a foothold here. Eventually, British Magical Society will fall and it will be entirely the society's fault for not demanding the change for the better."

The adults, as well as the three Gryffindors, were dumbfounded.

Finally Flitwick found his voice, "What do you mean, Mr. Daniels?"

Hermione answered for him, "What we mean is, it's easy to play on people's feelings. Voldemort plays at being a pureblood and riles the bigots and racists up. When they attack halfbloods and first generations, their victims learn to mistrust and loathe the purebloods. He doesn't really have to do anything. Really, he only has to make an appearance every so often, to rile the purebloods up and he can just step back and watch you destroy yourselves. Without first generations, the pureblood population will eventually die off. Eventually, they would only have Magical Mundanes being born, or 'squibs' if you prefer."

Harry sighed, "Look, we've told you how we knew what we did and we've told all that we are about who the two people were last night."

Dumbledore immediately answered, "No. I still would like to talk with you."

Both Ravenclaws ignored the irate old man and looked at Flitwick for their answer. The Charms Master nodded his assent and they got up and walked out, without another word to anyone else.

Dumbledore sputtered and started to reprimand his Charms Professor, but Flitwick cut him off. "If you wanted them to listen to you, then you should've done the same for them and not tried to dose them with potions."

X0X0X0X0X0

The rest of the year was quiet. The three Gryffindors quietly thanked them for alerting Lily, though they did it reluctantly, and then left them alone for the rest of the year. Malfoy was furious with Harry for his friends once again putting his father back in prison but said nothing and settled for steady glares. During their spare time, which they had a lot of considering finals were over, Harry and Hermione studied for their mundane exams they would have the first week of summer.

They also made plans to go with their group of friends to see the Quidditch World Cup in August. Harry had already reserved a private box just below the Minster's box. It could hold fifty people and his party would be sharing with another large party, though not nearly as large as his. He had gotten tickets for Miku, Mike, Jammel, his girlfriend and all his friends' parents, who insisted on paying him back when they saw him. The twins and Ginny let them know that their family had plans to go with the Potters. Everyone was disappointed but knew they would still see the three redheads at the Cup.

X0X0X0X0X0

The end of the year had come and Harry, Hermione and their group of friends were on their way back to London, talking about their summer plans. Harry and Hermione were sure to tell their friends that they could send and receive owls during the summer.

Hannah asked, "Why? I thought you guys always are out of the country during the summer?"

Harry nodded, "Usually we are, but because of the World Cup this summer, my family is coming to Britain. We will take our normal trip to France for two weeks but for the rest of the time, we'll be in Britain. You might even see us in Diagon Alley. Ragnok offered to have someone teach us about Warding and Cursebreaking this summer."

The others were gobsmacked. The Director of Gringotts and Warchief of the Goblin Nation offered their friends lessons!

Blaise summed up what everyone was thinking in two words, "Bloody Hell!"

Harry chuckled and Hermione said, "Moving on. We'll definitely teach you guys next year. And be sure to practice turning into different animals but make sure that no one is around to see you, we don't want to answer any awkward question now do we?" she finished smirking.

The others nodded and smiled at the different animals they all wanted to try. Like Harry and Hermione, they had all come up with lists of animals they wanted to turn into by the start of the next school year.

When they got off the train in London, Harry met Lily and the others on the platform. He said goodbye to his little sister and the rest of his former family and went with Hermione to meet her parents. Surprisingly, the Marauders seemed to finally understand that they could not expect him to forgive them and go back to being in their family. They seemed to be leaving him alone and simply told him they hoped he enjoyed his summer. For the first time in three years, Chris Potter, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom let the train station without being cursed.

A/N: Finally finished this book. This last chapter is longer than any other that I've written (just over 26 pages). Hoped you guys liked it. ON a side note, my beta had to stop because she had many other priorities going on in her life so I am again without a beta. I hope to have the first chapter of the Fourth book up within the next week and a half or so. It may be longer because I have several exams coming up and 2 papers to write. I'll try to get the chapter up as soon as I can. Thank you for all the reviews and keep them up.