Prophecy of Three

By Insanity Lord

Author's Notes: I'm invoking my right as this fanfiction's author to fudge the timeline. Everything is pushed forward to accommodate the other half of this crossover. Other than that, nothing else has changed. Voldemort's first defeat is in 1991, and Hermione and Harry enter Hogwarts in 2002. A lot of canon will change too, but isn't that the fun of an AU crossover fic?

Chapter One – A Prophecy Changed

They who will strike against the darkness approach.

She, born of Earth and raised by those from the Stars.

Wielder of a Magic Unseen.

He, born as the seventh month dies, marked with death.

She, Seer of Things Disbelieved.

Three, there will be, touched by death, destined to bring life anew.

October 31st, 1991

They had known about this reclusive, secretive society of magic for years, of course. She had learned about it years ago herself, when she was being briefed on what exactly the Time/Space Administration Bureau covered as a whole. She knew that they couldn't interfere in its domestic affairs, as their International Confederation of Wizards didn't even know about them, nor did they have a valid reason to approach with a possible alliance.

At least until the terrorists known as Death Eaters chose to drag the non-magical population into their attempted coup. She was there that night, too late to stop the bulk of the damage. The non-magical police ("Muggles," she reminded herself, "they call them muggles.") were taken by surprise as the robed, masked men and woman unleashed their magic on them.

The streets burned, houses attacked, families killed. Dragging innocents into it made it her problem.

"Raising Heart," Takamachi Nanoha said quietly, "Excellion Mode, Set Up."

The small gem she wore around her neck glowed in response, and the young woman felt the power rise within her. "Stand by ready, set up."

The Death Eaters saw the flash of magic and power as Nanoha activated her Barrier Jacket. As they turned, she was already moving, dressed in an armoured white dress and wielding a staff.

She was also flying without a broom. She had no idea how rare that was, but wasn't above taking advantage of the openings their surprise provided. She thrust out Raising Heart.

"Axel Shoot."

Spheres of energy burst forth from the tip of the Intelligent Device, splitting off between the seven robed terrorists. They barely had time to register what was happening before the spheres let off blasts of energy that threw them off their feet, stunned from the force. Nanoha landed in front of them, Raising Heart running a quick scan of their wands.

"Magical power detected. Those sticks seem to be magical foci."

Nanoha snatched up a wand and slipped it into her pocket before using Chain Bind to bind the wizards. "Better make sure they can't use these again," she said to herself, blasting the wands into so much tinder before going to check on the officers. With a scowl, she realized that they were all dead. At least they aren't suffering, she thought sadly.

And then a woman staggered out of the burning house, clutching an infant in her arms. She fell to her knees, coughing. Nanoha ran over to her, kneeling.

"Are you all right?"

"Her vitals are failing. This infant has a Linker Core," Raising Heart said after running a brief scan. Nanoha frowned and held the woman, cursing her inability to use healing spells.

"My name is Nanoha, I promise that I will take care of your baby," she said quietly. "Does she have relatives I can take her to?"

Emma Granger, dentist and innocent victim of a war, coughed and shook her head. "No. Please...please take...care of my baby, of Hermione. She's only 17 months old..."

Nanoha saw the life leave the woman's eyes. Fighting back tears of grief for both a victim of war and her crying child, she took the baby in her arms. Sirens sounded in the distance, and Nanoha Takamichi took off into the night sky with her ward.

Godric's Hollow, that same night

A haggard Hagrid took the orphaned Harry from the ruins of the cottage. He was about to take him to Albus when Sirius arrived. The Heir to the Black family stared in horror at the ruins of the cottage and stared at the half-giant.

"Hagrid! Is...is that Harry? Is he safe? What about Lily and James?"

The gentle man shook his head. "They're dead, Sirius. I dunno how he knew, but... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came for 'em. I'm taking the boy to Albus. He'll know what to do."

Sirius was Harry's Godfather, and in another life, another time, he would have rushed off in a rage to find the real betrayer.

But that was in another life, another time. Here and now, something stopped him. Albus knew he wasn't the Secret Keeper, knew that he would never betray the people he thought of as family. If he ran off now, he would be betraying the Potters, people that were more of a family to him than the Blacks ever were.

He would also fail his Godson. Standing up straight, he looked at the half-giant. "I'm going with you. We'll talk to Albus. I'm the boy's Godfather. I still have a say in his life."

He turned on his heel and went to his enchanted motorcycle. "I'll take Harry, you drive."

Hagrid nodded, surprised but trusting Sirius. The Headmaster trusted him too, after all, didn't he?

A minute later, the motorcycle flew into the night.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was pacing in his office in Hogwarts, waiting for Hagrid to return. He had thought the Potters safe, he had cast the Fidelus Charm himself, and Peter was supposed to be their trusted friend.

How did it all go wrong? How had he not realized that Peter was a traitor? Because like everybody else, he thought wryly, you started to believe that nobody in Griffondor would ever betray their own. You're a fool, Albus. Age is catching up to you.

The door to his office opened, and he turned to find himself staring at Sirius Black. "They're dead, Albus. Harry is safe, Hagrid took him to Poppy. He has a scar."

"A scar?"

Albus, for the second time that night, felt his age. He had to lie down on a bed after the news Poppy had just given him.

"A horcrux," the old wizard said in a shaky voice. "Harry has a horcrux in his head. The memories are fading quickly, but they're there. Tom cast the Killing Curse on Harry, but it was somehow reflected back at him. Tom's body was destroyed. Lily...she must have done something, but the only way to destroy a horcrux within a living body is to use the Killing Curse on it."

"Albus! You can't be thinking..." Minerva had been in the infirmary since Hagrid had brought the baby in, watching Poppy work. Albus shook his head.

"I refuse to hurt the child, Minerva, but this means that the Dark Lord isn't dead. His spirit will continue to exist as a shade. It will be many years before he has the strength to possess a living host."

He turned to Sirius. "Sirius, I know you hate it, but you are the only living Black able to access Grimmauld Place. The Black Library..."

Sirius didn't like the old place, but he put that aside. He had made a promise after all. "I'll let you in, Albus. That library has tomes of some of the foulest magic known, maybe we can find a way to extract that thing from my Godson."

"Thank you, Sirius. Poppy, keep him under observation. Sirius is taking custody of Harry tomorrow morning."

The healer nodded and resumed her duties.

Albus managed to stand upright, though he was feeling his age. "Sirius, I must ask you to, as his Godfather, raise Harry. Peter has likely gone into hiding, and with his animagus form..." he ignored Sirius' shocked stare. Nobody was supposed to know about that aside from the Marauders, after all. "...he can hide anywhere, for as long as he needs to. Trying to find him now will be useless. I will send a message to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, telling them that Peter was the Secret Keeper and traitor. You must take care of Harry."

Sirius didn't even have to think about it. "I will raise Harry until he comes of age and can take over as Lord Potter. I was cast out from the Black Family, but I have a cottage out in the country, heavily warded. I promise you that he will be safe."

"Thank you," Albus said. "Now, what I say next must not leave this room."

"He, born as the seventh month dies, marked with death."

The prophecy rang in his mind, and he knew that he could not keep it hidden, not from these three. He knew he could trust them.

He was also getting old, even for a wizard. He wasn't even sure if he was going to be alive in eleven years, when Harry entered Hogwarts. The blood wards would protect him, but Lily was specific in the will – Harry was not to go to her sister.

"There's a prophecy.I hired Sybill because she went into a Trance and gave it to me. Her powers as a Seer are quite real, and I wanted to keep her close at hand, safe within Hogwarts so that no dark wizard could use her."

Sirius stared. "A...prophecy? About Harry?"

Albus shook his head. "About three children. Harry, I believe, is only one of them. I have no idea what the rest of it could mean."

He closed his eyes and recited the prophecy:

"They who will strike against the darkness approach.

She, born of Earth and raised by those from the Stars.

Wielder of a Magic Unseen.

He, born as the seventh month dies, marked with death.

She, Seer of Things Disbelieved.

Three, there will be, touched by death, destined to bring life anew.

Sirius sank into a chair, staring at nothing.

"Merlin's beard," he breathed, "this...I don't know what to say to this."

Nor do I, Minerva said. 的f Harry is the subject of a prophecy...wait, did he know?

Dumbledore closed his eyes. 滴e must have.

He wasn't sure how Tom had found out. Severus would never tell the Dark Lord, and Albus knew better than to order him to. It would have been foolish to. The only explanation is that Tom's skills as a Legilimens is greater than I thought and he broke through his Occlumency shields.

Child of prophecy or not, Poppy said, 鍍his baby needs rest. Get out, all of you!

"A...stick?" Fate was holding the wand that her fiancée had brought back to their cottage in Japan. "Is this seriously what I think it is? A wand?"

The baby was sleeping peacefully now, and Nanoha had already taken steps to adopt her. Fate agreed instantly. Both mages had a soft spot for children, Fate especially, given her own history.

"Yes," Nanoha replied. "I'm going to take it back to the TSAB for study. Their magic, while it didn't seem as strong as our own, was still dangerous. They commanded flames that seemed alive, and a green light that killed on contact. We need to know if our Barrier Jackets can protect us from that."

"And the baby?" Fate asked gently.

"It won't be hard to adopt her and take her back with us. Earth is under the TSAB's jurisdiction after all, and she is a war orphan now."

"You're going to raise her on Midchilda?"

"Of course. Nothing short of an order from your mother will make me stay in England with this girl."

"The terrorist known as Voldemort is dead, but my superiors have decided to keep you and Fate stationed in England as observers."

Lindy blinked as Nanoha groaned and put her head in her hands. An amused Fate decided to explain to her adoptive mother. "We adopted a war orphan, ma'am. She has a Linker Core so Nanoha was hoping to raise her on Midchinda and train her."

Lindy blinked. "You can still raise and train her, you know. For the sake of the mission, you are to keep your magic hidden, for two reasons: this 'Magical England' has a law forbidding the non-magicals, the people they call 'muggles', from knowing about magic. From our own research, it is painfully obvious that the general population knows about magic...they just don't seem to care. Regardless,you can train her, of course, but keep her magic secret. The second reason is that the ICW is aware of the TSAB, but they believe we are just a splinter group that follows their Statute of Secrecy in our own way. This is a highly covert operation, remember that."

Nanoha sighed. "Yes, ma'am. I assume we have a home in England all set up?"

"Yes. Oh, and Takamichi?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Please don't 'befriend' too many people. There are only so many times people will believe a gas explosion caused a crater."

She cut the transmission before an irate Nanoha could reply.

Years later, Nanoha was staring at an owl that seemed to be carrying a letter. It held out its leg and stared at her expectingly. The woman reached out and took the letter, utterly bemused, and idly noticed that the bird was staying. She undid the ribbon keeping the note rolled up and opened it, staring.

"You are hereby invited to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."

She trailed off and read the rest of it.

"...Fate! Get in here!"

Author's notes: Welcome, friends, to my latest venture. Please bear in mind that while this is a crossover, the action will mostly take place in Magical England. Nanoha, Fate, and their allies will be a part of things, but Hermione is in the spotlight here. That said, enjoy the ride with me.