Pride and Prejudice has always been my favourite story but it was Harry Potter that induced me into writing my own stories. It was only natural that I attempt a story with both the elements.

I am not a native English speaker and so did not even make an attempt at recreating the regency style language and expressions. I tried to keep the manner of address and the beliefs and customs of that period intact. If I failed miserably, I apologize. That said, this is just a story and I do not mean any harm by twisting the two original stories to my liking. I do not make any profit from this piece of fiction except for the accolades I may receive.

I cannot guarantee that I would reply to each and every review, but I certainly take great pleasure in reading them. I thank you in advance for taking your time to read this.

Declaration: I do not own Harry Potter world or the storyline of Pride and Prejudice. I do not make any profit through this story and is only for reading pleasure.

Chapter 1

A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur.

Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand:

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last.

And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing.

Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

One shivering second of silence… {Thanks to J.K. Rowling for these words. Taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}

Part I

… and then they all could hear the most insane laughter they ever heard in their lives. The laughter was coming from within the body of the dark lord which was lying motionless on the stone floor. A black mist started to gently seep out of the fallen body and began to coalesce into a shape, a wraith that began floating out of the body of Lord Voldemort. It was this wraith that was laughing at the assembled fighters of the light side.

"Potter!" Lord Voldemort's shade gloated. "I went furthest in terms of achieving immortality. I am the greatest of all wizards of all times, I am Lord Voldemort and I will come back again. Stronger and turn this land into rubble."

Before anyone could react or even worse scream out in terror, Hermione Granger reacted. Pointing her wand at the wraith, she intoned, "'rhwymo eich ysbryd'!"

The incantation was old Welsh magic which literally meant 'bind your spirit'. This was used as a means to control unruly or unaccommodating members of a house by the head of the house. It was meant to bind someone's spirit and made them obedient. In a normal human being, the 'spirit' or 'will' is bound. The spell was outlawed due to the increased misuse of the charm in binding people and enslave them; it was found by those who regularly used the spell, that a witch or wizard with enough magical power and will power could bind those of lesser power even if they were not of their own house.

The wraith from of Lord Voldemort was nothing more than an embodiment of the minimal magic of the soul of a wizard and the remaining soul piece. It was in existence due to the will of Tom Riddle and it was this 'spirit' that was targeted by Hermione's spell.

Harry immediately understood what Hermione was doing. During the time that Ron abandoned them, Harry and Hermione broached the subject of what would happen in exactly such a scenario they were facing now. What would happen if Dumbledore's calculations were wrong? What would happen if Lord Voldemort had a horcrux that was impossible to find?

The only answer they had was what was happening now. Tom Riddle's wraith struggled against the spell that was forcing his will to submit to a mudblood. It cannot be, and though he did not really have a magical core, he looked to be winning the war of wills.

Harry took just that few moments to react to what was happening. He learnt the spell along with Hermione and practised hard to be able to cast it. It was just that he needed a little longer to recall the spell and the wand movements. It was after all not in his native language or in his adopted language Latin. With the Elder wand in his hand, Harry shot the same spell at the struggling wraith of Lord Voldemort.

This time, the result was instantaneous. During the Ministry of Magic debacle at the end of his fifth year, Harry was able to push out a magically powerful Lord Voldemort out of his mind and foiled his attempt to possess him. Harry came out top in that battle of wills and this time was no different, moreover, Harry was aided by the 'wand of destiny'.

Lord Voldemort's wraith ceased its struggle and was suspended, docile. This allowed Hermione to cancel her own spell and gave her time to rummage in her ever present beaded bag.

"Harry, force him into this," Hermione exclaimed holding out a vial. It was not Aladdin's magic lamp, just a small glass vial that Hermione conjured to hold Snape's memories during his dying moments, but it would serve their purpose.

With a mental command and a flick of his wand, Harry directed the wraith into the conjured vial. It was a tight fit and so Hermione was forced to enlarge it a bit but the deed was done. Hermione replaced the stopper and with a snap of her own wand, conjured a black bag.

Harry understood what his best friend was doing. He cast the strongest 'imperturbable charm' he could manage on the bag with the Elder wand hoping that the charm would take care of outside magical influences and also prevent the dark lord from escaping. The vial containing the wraith of the cruellest wizard of recent years went into the black bag and that went into the same beaded bag and would stay there until they could get it under a plethora of wards.

The terror that permeated the defenders of Hogwarts castle at the appearance of Lord Voldemort's wraith was replaced by cautious optimism after Harry and Hermione's actions. Everyone understood that the threat of the dark lord was removed at least for the time being and hopefully the 'Boy-Who-Lived' would be able to take care of the threat.

Harry looked around the assembled witches and wizards and could see the still lingering doubts in their minds. He could not deny that the threat was still there and even though they got a reprieve, hopefully for a very long time, Harry did not feel like celebrating. He looked at Hermione and he could sense the same thoughts running through her mind.

This was not how he imagined the end of their struggle to be. He imagined people celebrating and wild parties on the lawns of Hogwarts and in every home. What he was faced with was sorrow for many lost lives, dismay that their efforts were not enough, and a little hope that they may yet live without the threat of Lord Voldemort at least for a good number of years. Over and above all of this, Harry could see a weariness that seeped into the bones of all of his friends.

Harry turned to Hermione and gave her a tired smile, "Hey, I hope that I can keep counting on your help to unravel this mystery."

"Of course Harry," there was no hesitation in her reply. "I promised that I will be there for you and I will be there to see him dead."

Ron was incredulous, "You cannot mean that Hermione. It may take many years."

"I am aware of that Ronald," she hissed at him. "I don't care."

"What do you mean you don't care? We cannot put our lives on hold for Merlin knows how long," he retorted.

"We?" Hermione was beginning to get angry. "You can carry on with your life as you want Ronald. No need for you to put it on hold."

"How can you say that?" All signs pointed to an impending Weasley explosion, "I was waiting for the war to finish to get together with you." He breathed in deeply to calm himself but could not leave without having the last word, "… you kissed me."

Hermione was angry now. "It was supposed to be a little peck. On your cheek. But no… you grabbed me and kissed me." She realized that they were making a scene and struggled to calm down. Harry's hand on her shoulder of course sped the process a lot.

"Even in the tent, I chose Harry, Ron and even now I choose Harry," she proclaimed with a finality that was not lost on anyone, least of all their redheaded friend.

Ron could only gape at her before throwing a betrayed look at Harry and Hermione before storming off.

"Harry?" Ginny asked tremulously.

"I know that you have gotten close to Neville, Gin." As his feelings changed during the hunt, the Marauder's map also showed him that Ginny was spending a lot of time with Neville. During the brief time he saw them together before the fight, Harry could sense the changed dynamics and he could honestly say that he was happy for his ex-girlfriend. He gathered Ginny into a loose hug, "I am happy for you."

Ginny pulled back and saw the truth in his words. She kissed Harry's cheek, relief evident on her face, "Thank you Harry."

With that she went to her boyfriend's side who gave a grateful smile before pulling Ginny into him.

"We would very much like your help Professor," Hermione called out to McGonagall. The interim head of the school was moving towards the commotion caused by Ron's abrupt departure, she was within hearing distance and so was able to follow the conversation going on.

"I vowed to do whatever it takes to bring the madman down Miss Granger and I will do whatever I can," the professor answered. Then she sighed, casting her glance around the destruction, "My priority will however be the school. There is a lot to be done to get it back in shape."

Harry and Hermione understood that. They in fact thought that they would help in the reconstruction and maybe even come back to finish their final year and take their NEWTs. This situation with Lord Voldemort however threw all their plans out of the window.

"We understand professor," Harry replied. "I cannot promise to come every time you may need us, but please do not hesitate to send us a message if you need any help."

"Thank you Mr Potter," the professor replied gratefully.

"In the same way, may we avail of the library when we need it," Hermione enquired.

"Of course Miss Granger. That goes without saying."

Harry then turned to Kingsley Shacklebolt who was the sole remaining auror in the Order of the Phoenix. Anticipating their question, the auror replied after a heavy sigh, "I and Arthur are the only members who are also a part of the ministry. We will have to take a lead role in cleaning it up and bringing things back to normal as soon as possible. Things cannot go back to what they were before, we have to bring in the change now that we have the chance to do so."

That was very much needed. Things escalated in favour of Lord Voldemort so quickly during the previous years because of the death eaters who were allowed to go free without punishment. This time around, Kingsley was determined to see that each and every remaining death eater or those who fought on Lord Voldemort's side was given a trial with the truth serum and appropriate punishments doled out.

The remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix were support members like Hagrid, Mrs Figg, and Madam Pomfrey who were very willing and capable members but were totally unsuitable for a prolonged search for answers to the latest conundrum.

"Can't we just leave him the way he is now? Put it under heavy protections?" Mr Weasley pondered.

Harry shook his head in the negative while Hermione answered, "What is to say that the protections will last forever Mr Weasley? There could always be a fanatical follower who would make an attempt to free and resurrect him again. We cannot live our lives always looking over our shoulders sir."

"Besides," Harry interjected, "Most of you know about the prophecy or know about it. What will happen after me?"

That was a very valid point. Would Lord Voldemort be back after Harry's death? Who would vanquish him if Merlin forbid he returns and Harry was not there to confront him? No, it has to be done and it looked as if Harry and Hermione would be the only ones to look for a solution.

Before any plans could be made, the two teens decided to talk to the one wizard who may have at least some answers, Albus Dumbledore. After a hearty breakfast, McGonagall led the two teens to the head's office.

As soon as Harry and Hermione entered the office with McGonagall, the portraits of the former headmasters and headmistresses began applauding the two teens. Leading their efforts was none other than the wizard they respected a lot and wanted to meet. Dumbledore was kept abreast of the happening of the wizarding world by Snape and so was well aware of the state of things. He also knew that the only horcrux that was left was the one in Harry's scar and with the same young man standing before him, it was evident that Lord Voldemort was dead.

"Well done my boy, well done," Dumbledore crowed with a genuine smile and tears threatening to overflow. "You overcame overwhelming odds and emerged victorious. I am proud of you."

The former headmaster turned to the current headmistress and exclaimed, "Why the long face Minerva, this is a time for celebration." The rest of the former heads also joined in the cheering except for Phineas Black who was still disgruntled for being stuffed into a bag and jostled all across the country.

"Lord Voldemort is still not dead Albus," her quite announcement brought absolute silence to the room. All the portraits were filled with shocked faces but they were absolutely silent, not willing to miss anything that was said in the office.

Hermione explained how Tom Riddle was not dead even after the horcrux in Harry was removed. Here she could not help but give Dumbledore her best glare conveying all the anger that she kept bottled up from the time she came to know that her boyfriend was a horcrux. Only Harry's hand on her shoulder allowed her to continue where she explained succinctly about Lord Voldemort's body killed by a backfired killing curse but how he was still existing as a wraith. She then explained how the spectre was contained for now.

Even though Dumbledore was nothing more than a portrait, the living members were able to feel the despair the former headmaster felt about the news. He closed his eyes tightly hoping that the nightmare would go away but it was futile.

"So my worst fear came to pass," Dumbledore sighed softly.

The silence hung in the air for a few minutes before Harry broke it; they were here for answers but it looked like there were none forthcoming from Dumbledore. "Forgive me for asking this sir, but the ring was the only one destroyed when neither Hermione nor I was present. Can you describe what happened when you destroyed the ring horcrux?"

"What are you saying my boy?"

Harry described how the diary, locket, and diadem horcruxes reacted when destroyed. How an ear splitting scream echoed out of them and how the soul piece within the horcruxes tried to overwhelm them and tried to save itself from destruction. Hermione also pitched in with her own experience with the Hufflepuff cup and Nagini which were similar to what Harry described.

"Hmm," Dumbledore stroked his beard before continuing, "I did not hear any scream or threats to my life from the ring horcrux. In fact, without the withering curse affecting my hand, the ring did not put any fight."

It was very much evident that the Guant ring, containing the resurrection stone, most likely was not a horcrux. Either it was a hoax or Lord Voldemort recognized the stone for what it was and was most likely hiding it for his own use. Dumbledore's opinion that there were seven of those monstrosities was probably accurate, just that the identity of one of them was wrong.

"Do you suggest that we leave the wraith of Lord Voldemort contained as it is now and not look for ways to destroy it?" Hermione had to ask the former headmaster's opinion. Not that the answer would change their own course of action, but Hermione wanted Dumbledore's honest opinion.

The former headmaster looked sharply at the teens, "You know the prophecy Harry. You are the only one who could destroy the blight on wizarding world and bring peace to our world."

"Do not be hard on them Albus," McGonagall interjected. "They are willing to do what was needed of them to destroy Lord Voldemort once and for all."

"Good, good," Dumbledore nodded his head absentmindedly. "The order will help you in every way my boy…"

"There is not much left of the order Albus," McGonagall cut him off harshly. Her emotions were all over the place after the bloody battle and now her mentor added to the mess by almost forcing them all to hunt for a needle in a haystack. She monotonously listed all those who died in the battle adding to the already depressing mood.

Dumbledore's portrait sighed heavily, "I know that I am asking a lot of you Harry, but the risk is too great..."

"Not to worry sir. Hermione and I are committed to end the threat once and for all," Harry replied.

Hough Harry's answer brightened Dumbledore's face, a frown quickly replaced it. "Not Mr and Miss Weasley."

"No sir," Hermione replied shortly.

"I love Hermione sir. Ron is angry with her for not choosing him and Ginny is happy with Neville," Harry added.

Dumbledore was a little saddened after hearing. "When did that happen?" he asked with genuine curiosity obviously referring to Harry and Hermione's relationship.

"When Ron abandoned us for more than a month during the hunt," Harry replied with a careless shrug of his shoulders.

Dumbledore sighed heavily, "I made the deilluminator to take a witch or a wizard to what they wanted the most at that time. I used it to take me to where I was wanted the most, during a battle or to just help out with problems, always trying to make the world a better place to live…, trying to save lives.

I gave it to Mr Weasley because I felt that he needed the most protection among the three of you. You, Harry are very powerful magically and I knew that nothing could hold Miss Granger for very long. The two of you could not only protect yourself but together, could save many lives.

Mr Weasley on the other hand needed something to get him to safety, basically to either one of you. I felt that it would help him if he got separated from you and needed to get to safety."

Dumbledore paused in his explanation. He rubbed his eyes from under his glasses and then looked at the two teens, "I am sorry to hear that Mr Weasley left when the going got tough."

What can Harry or Hermione say to that?

Harry grunted in what could be taken as acceptance or just annoyance. "Do you have any ideas where to look sir? Or even what it could be?"

"I am sorry Harry. I was hoping for you to find all of them. The reason was not because I was confident about my guesses but because I was terrified of being wrong."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. There was only one way to get the answers they need, "From Voldemort himself," they echoed.

Part II

Escaping from the school and the clamouring public was very easy for the two teens. They had the experience of being on the run for more than 8 months and they had the cloak of true invisibility with them. Harry did not have the resurrection stone with him physically, but Dumbledore confirmed that once a 'master of death', always a 'master of death', until Harry's dying day that is. It did not give him any extra powers but it did give him enormous control over his magic and what he wanted the result to be.

Harry could wish for a particular thing to happen and it would happen. Alas! It did not solve the problem of the unknown horcrux.

The first place Harry and Hermione went to after leaving Hogwarts was the Gringotts bank.

The goblins were snarling at the two teens as they strode confidently into the bank. They recognized Harry and Hermione as thieves and were itching for revenge. The two teens did not waver in their determination to get out of the bank without showing any fear or without meeting any unreasonable demands from the goblins. Instead they demanded to meet with the highest authority in the bank, the director.

The director of the bank snarled at the audacity of the two humans who strode into his territory making demands. He wanted nothing more than run them through with his sword. Unfortunately, the treaty with the humans was such that he would have to answer their demands, magic enforced that bit. Well, he would meet with them and then hang their heads on a pike in front of the bank, war heroes or not.

Unfortunately for the director, the meeting turned out to be a disaster. Harry and Hermione might have held a little fear going into the bank but the knowledge that Harry had unprecedented magic at his fingertips gave them the courage to meet the head goblin on his own territory. Without a word being spoken, Harry and Hermione had the upper hand.

Harry simply showed them the memory of Griphook renegading on a deal made in good faith. They also showed the importance of the Hufflepuff cup. The director understood the implication of not just the vile magic in the cup but also the behaviour of one of his employees. Hermione need not even threaten the goblins about going public with Griphook's treachery, the director understood the damage it would bring to the credibility of Gringotts as a trustworthy bank. The director captulated without putting up even a token fight.

The goblins came down from their lofty perch and agreed not to block any of the Potter finances or Harry's access to them. Feeling generous, Harry offered to bear half of the direct cost incurred in repairing the damage done due to their escape on a dragon. Even that was not a burden that Harry was allowed to bear. Once Kingsley heard about the deal, the Ministry of Magic was forced to foot the bill. There was enough in the ministry's coffers due to the enormous fines that the interim minister of magic was planning to impose on all the families that aligned themselves with Lord Voldemort.

Putting Hermione on all his vaults was easy as was withdrawing a lot of money from the main Potter vault. Most of the gold was converted into pounds and US dollars. The two teens were ready to hunker down for a long siege and wanted all the resources they needed to hunt down the last horcrux of Lord Voldemort. Their base of operations was Potter Manor and no one other than the two of them, had unlimited access to the manor as that was where Harry and Hermione were going to hold Lord Voldemort.

Potter manor had a very intriguing secret. The basement of the manor house was nearly 15 feet deep from the surface and it was made of mostly support pillars and a few storage rooms. There was one room for a potions lab also but most surprisingly, in one corner of the basement, a ritual room was also present. What was intriguing was there was no record of when the ritual room was constructed or for what reason. Potter magic apparently brings the room into existence only when there was a great need for that particular room.

The ritual room did not have a floor and a simple 'X' was etched directly into the dirt, almost at the middle of the room. Hermione found out that the 'X' also marked the convergence of two different magical leylines and was probably the most magically powerful spot for miles.

The vial containing Lord Voldemort's wraith found a new home under several powerful wards inside the ritual room. Hermione tied the wards to draw power from the leylines. Harry added his own wards on top. Having wards with two different magical signatures made it nearly impossible for anyone to break them down. It would take the concerted and near simultaneous actions by at least two curse breakers and the two teens were hopeful that only Gringotts would have two such people in their employ.

Once they were assured that the wraith was not going out of the ritual room, even if it were to get past the vial, the leylines and the wards, Harry and Hermione decided to get the answer to the burning question. 'What was Tom Riddle's last horcrux and what happened to it?' As Dumbledore acknowledged, the only way to know that was from Lord Voldemort himself and at the same time, the two teens also knew that he was not going to tell them that easily.

What was unsaid during their conversation with the deceased headmaster, and what the three of them knew instinctually was about the only way to get that information. Of those who were alive, Harry was the only one who had any experience in being possessed by Lord Voldemort and successfully beaten him back. The fight at the end of their fifth year showed that he was magically and mentally strong enough to overcome Voldemort's influence, unlike Ginny Weasley who succumbed easily.

"There is no sense in skirting around what I need to do," Harry commented a week later. Along with Hermione, he took the time to recuperate and recharge his mental fortitude. He was drained after the torment of seeing his friends and the last of his father's friends killed but the presence of his girlfriend with him helped Harry to recover swimmingly. The pain was there but it was tempered with the acceptance that the circle of life was unavoidable.

"Yes," Hermione agreed, "… are you certain that you will be able to hold up to whatever visions Riddle will force on you?"

Harry simply nodded his head. Though Lord Voldemort was magically weakened, they had no way to estimate the strength of his mental shields.

"Only one way to find out." With that comment, Harry cancelled his wards around the vial that held Lord Voldemort's wraith. Hermione followed suit and uncapped the vial.

Lord Voldemort woke up from the slumber he was forced into due to a combination of the spell that Harry and Hermione used in addition to the lack of a magical core. The first thing he noticed was that he was allowed to roam free but he did not make an attempt to escape. No, he had one clear goal and that was to destroy Harry Potter.

With a scream of rage, Lord Voldemort headed straight for his mortal enemy and with a characteristic ruthlessness, began to enter Harry's mind to take over his consciousness.

During Ron's absence, Harry and Hermione used their down time to practise occlumency and legilimency to such an extent that they could be classified as masters in the art. Harry did not resist Voldemort's attempt to possess him; he could repel him with occlumency if Harry wanted. In his desperate attempt to overpower Harry, Lord Voldemort dropped his own occlumency shields and opened his mind.

Taking full advantage of Lord Voldemort's vulnerability, Harry counterattacked. It was a simple thing for him to overwhelm Tom Riddle's magically weakened mind and dwell into his deepest secrets, not that Harry was interested in any of them. He was only looking for one memory and latched onto it easily.

The memory in question showed Lord Voldemort storing a piece of his soul in a sparkling sapphire. This sapphire was set in an intricately designed golden bracelet that belonged to his muggle father, Tom Riddle Sr. A different memory connected to the bracelet showed an older Lord Voldemort using a ritual to open a rift in the time stream and casting the horcrux into the time stream. Even at the height of his powers, the dark lord was not able to keep the rift open for more than a couple of seconds and so was unable to determine where or when the bracelet landed. Nor was the dark lord really interested to know, he was not worried about its destination, only that it was out of the reach of anyone who was living now or was going to come next. Digging further into Lord Voldemort's memories, Harry was able to learn everything about the ritual used. He may not understand much about the ritual with his current lack of understanding of ancient runes, but his memory of the ritual was all that would be needed for Hermione to unravel it.

Hermione's hand on his shoulder helped Harry not to get embroiled in Lord Voldemort's mind. With nary an effort, Harry threw out the dark lord's weak attempt at possession and was free once more.

Harry's brutal attack on Lord Voldemort's mind and the subsequent forced removal threw the dark lord into a magical coma. The two teens hoped that he would never recover from it, but for the moment, Lord Voldemort would be easy to control and to be held prisoner under the wards set by Harry and Hermione again.

"Do you have any idea if the final destination of the horcrux was in the future or in the past?" Harry asked his girlfriend. They were walking around the enormous grounds of Potter Manor. Both of them needed the fresh air to get their equilibrium back; Harry after his struggle with Lord Voldemort, and Hermione after viewing Harry's memory of the details of the ritual.

"It has to be in the past Harry. The future is still not written and so there is no way for his horcrux to land into the future." Hermione huffed in annoyance, "Even then the past is so vast. Currently we have no way to know when in the past did it land."

Thinking about it was driving Harry and Hermione into near panic and they did not want that. Harry had to be strong for Hermione and he had to pull his and his girlfriend's energies towards forming a plan to hunt the last horcurx down.

"We have the ritual that Riddle used and we also have a source for his magical signature, Hermione. That is a start and all we need to do is to follow the magical signature through the time stream." Harry did not know if it could even be done but if Lord Voldemort could open the time stream to send an object out, then Hermione Granger could open the time stream to send a person to follow that magical signature. He vowed to do everything in his power to achieve their goal of destroying Lord Voldemort and it seemed that he would have to step up on learning new branches of magic like ancient runes and arithmancy, if he had to help Hermione help him.

There was a lot of unknown magic involved and they had no idea where to start looking for magic that dealt with time manipulation. One source could be the department of mysteries as they already had a collection of time turners. A lot of them were destroyed yes, but that could not be the entire stock, right? Even if that was, they would be sure to have detailed notes on them. The easiest source however, was the one that the two teens did not even want to approach.

The department of mysteries within the British Ministry of Magic was notorious for guarding their research with the utmost secrecy. Harry and Hermione could probably pressurize Shacklebolt in letting them inside but the two teens were sure that the head of the department Croaker would certainly like to chalk up a few favours at the least or even demand to keep the wraith of Lord Voldemort with them. Even if it was just for safekeeping and not for any studies, Harry was not ready to take the risk of Lord Voldemort escaping from their clutches. If he wanted something done right, Harry was going to make damn sure that either Hermione or he himself did it.

The only viable option for the two teens was to learn from other countries and the first stop in a world tour was Australia. After restoring Hermione's parents' memories, the two teens lived with the native magicals of Australia and New Zealand before departing to Japan. The elder Grangers decided to continue living in Australia until Hermione was ready to settle down and so only Harry and Hermione went on the world tour.

The Americas were next on their agenda after taking a detour through China. Visiting the US was also memorable for them when they got married at Las Vegas right at the stroke when Hermione turned twenty two.

Continuing on their learning tour, the Potters sought the blessings of the Hindu priests residing in the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath and also The Dalai Lama and other Buddhist priests residing in Dharmshala in India.

Finally after ten years of extensive research, the two Potters finalized the runic structure and the spells needed to identify the magical signature of the horcrux in the time stream. It took them another two years to construct a hand held device that could 'home' onto the magical signature of Lord Voldemort and also to create a rift in the time stream that could allow them to travel to the required time period. The rift had to be stabilized long enough for Harry and Hermione Potter to touchdown at their destination and should also be contained enough that it did not devour the present and bring an end to the world.

The magical power requirement needed to accomplish this was enormous but serendipitously, a powerful source of magic was within their grasp. Just to be sure, Harry also powered a good number of Magical Crystals that could be used as power generators during the ritual.

Initially, the husband and wife team were worried that they may have to carry Lord Voldemort's wraith with them in order to home onto the signal of the horcrux. Thankfully, Harry and Hermione were able to develop a portkey based spell that would not only recognize Lord Voldemort's signature, but also take the two Potters to the source of that magical signature. This unique spell was cast on a twig that would be used as a portkey.

One fine day, the two thirty year olds kitted themselves out fully to face a war and activated the runic circle in the ritual room.

… and Harry and Hermione Potter disappeared from Potter Manor.