Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the Harry Potter universe(s). I am not making any money from this. If I use one of your original ideas, tell me and I'll credit you

Summary: The trio are banished from the wizarding world for something they did not do. They learn to rely on each other, and form a special bond in the process. They find themselves becoming more powerful than they ever thought possible…

Possibilities of Change

By Zeta Pheonix

……………………..

………..

…………………

PROLOGUE

Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting in Gryffindor Tower a few days before summer break. Harry stared out the window, head in his hands. It was a beautiful day; everyone else was outside. But the trio were feeling sad about the events of the year.

"I just…feel… terrible," Harry sighed. "If only I hadn't convinced Cedric to take the Cup with me, he'd be alive."

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other. How do you deal with your best friend's depression? Especially when you're feeling rather upset about the whole incident yourselves?

Hermione bit her lip then said, "It's not your fault, Harry. You shouldn't have been there in the first place. If only we had recognized what Crouch was sooner…"

Ron butted in. "Don't you start, too, Hermione. No one could have known about Crouch. He even fooled Dumbledore!"

"But I've had experience with Polyjuice. I should have recognized that smell, as nasty as it is!" Hermione exclaimed.

"'Mione, we've all had experience with Polyjuice. You shouldn't worry yourself about it. You still have three years at school to learn how to detect it. Besides, Ron's right. There's absolutely nothing anyone could have done to find Crouch with him fooling the Headmaster 'n' all," Harry turned from the window to look his friends in the face.

"How about we make a pact?" Ron blurted out suddenly. "A pact to stay beside each other, no matter what. A pact to stop Lord…V…V…Voldemort. To train and be there for each other to the end." Harry and Hermione stared at him in surprise. Then they smiled.

"And here I was, thinking I was the only one with brains!" Hermione teased.

"I like the idea, a lot," Harry said. "I've one suggestion. I know there's a real ritual where you bind your magic to others. It would not only enforce the pact, it would amplify our powers, by magnitudes."

The other two grinned at him crazily. "We're in."

WHATWILLHAPPENNEXT

The next day was spent in the library, researching the ritual. They had gone ahead and said the vow, even without the spell. Just after supper, Hermione hit the jackpot.

"Here it is! The Margium Potentialis Ritual!" she exclaimed, and the boys ran over to read over her shoulder.

The Margium Potentialis Ritual is a very old bond between friends. Its original purpose is lost to this day and age, but many speculate it was to hide oneself and one's friends from control via true-names. For this reason, participants must pick new names that will become irrevocably bound to oneself – ones true name. Because of this, it is impossible to perform this spell more than once, although it is very easy. The ones to be bonded cut their hands and simultaneously plunge them into a bowl of water. Then, chant three times in unison ' We are bound together by friendship of the heart. Let this accord be noted by Magick.' and state your new names one by one. However, because of this spell's simplicity, true-name control has been lost through the ages and is no longer a threat. Usual side effects are an increase in power and an awareness of the other bonded. Unusual side effects include an awakening of dormant powers such as animagus, metamorphmagus and parseltounge, and a sharing of these rarer powers.

"Wow, that's some spell!" Harry whistled. "I like it, though."

"Yeah, it's perfect. But we should decide on our names first." Hermione wisely pointed out. "Otherwise you two will be named Uhhh and Errrrr."

Ron pouted. "I'm not that bad! "

"Yeah, your more likely to come up with Quill or Water, or whatever's in front of you at the time." Harry joked.

"Alright, already! How about I let you two pick out something that will match my personality, and I'll tell you if I like it or not." Ron grumped.

"Do it for all of us." Hermione suggested. The other two nodded. "Okay, you, Ron, need something…"

"Firey."Harry offered.

"Yeah, mmmm…. Brant? Aiden? Kegan? "

"I like Kegan. Harry, what should 'Mione be?"

"Wise, or wisdom. Athena comes to mind, but that's kind of like having the same name as Professor McGonagall. " Harry mused.

"How about Kavi? " Hermione offered. " That way it starts with a 'k' too."

"Nice, it matches you. Now, what about Harry?" Ron asked.

"His meaning should be dark, or night. You've always got a look of mystery, Harry." Hermione explained at the raised eyebrows. "Perhaps… Keiran? That'll fit with the 'k' scheme"

"It's great, I like it. " Harry smiled. He remembered one more thing. "Won't we need new last names?" The trio fell into a pondering silence.

"Why don't we decide in the morning? It's late and we're tired. We can sleep on it." Hermione suggested. The boys nodded their assent, and they peacefully walked back up to the dorms. Unknown to each other, their last thoughts were the one and the same. I'm really lucky to have them as friends. I love them.

FATEISACURIOUSTHING

The next morning found the trio at breakfast, everything packed, shrunk, and placed in their pockets. They had decided to do the ritual on the train, where there was less chance of anyone ruining it. They all expected a rather peaceful and happy morning. Little did they know how wrong that assumption was.

Suddenly, the Great Hall doors flew wide open with a bang. In strode the Minister of Magic, flanked by four aurors. They walked right up to the Gryffindor table, to where the trio was eating. "May we speak with you outside a moment, Mr. Potter? This is a matter of utmost urgency, " the Minister asked, bouncing impatiently.

Harry glanced at his friends. "May my friends come with me? I keep no secrets from them."

"Yes, yes." Fudge lead the way outside, Harry following, Hermione and Ron trailing close behind.

"Well, what is it, Minister?" Ron asked as they walked down to the forest. They stopped on the edge.

He turned to face them, with a serious expression on his face. "I have good reason to believe you three, especially you, Mr. Potter, are the ones behind Mr. Diggory's death, and Mr. Crouch's disappearance. While we cannot bring to court more than circumstantial evidence, it is not safe to have three murders running around the wizarding world. You are hereby banished to the muggle world. Now, where are your things?"

"Back up at the castle, sir," Harry spat, livid at the nerve of this man. Dumbledore would straighten this out.

"Very good, much easier on us all. Now, here is a Portkey to downtown London. Dumbledore insisted you be given a chance, so we used a wad of muggle money as the Portkey. Be warned, if you ever come back, you will be killed on sight. Good-bye now," the Minister shoved the three so they touched the Portkey, and he activated it. It would be the last the wizarding world saw of them for years.

ANDFATEISFICKLEVERYFICKLE

The trio landed behind a dumpster in and alley, in the middle of London. They stood there in shock for a minute, before Hermione broke the silence. "We're not going to be able to get out of this. Dumbledore sanctioned it. He said to give us a chance to survive give us some money. We can't go back. "

"We've got each other. Now, we can't go and stay with anyone we know, it's too easy a target for Death Eaters. We can always duplicate the money, no problems there. Good thing the stupid Minister thought our wands and stuff were in the castle. I'd suggest that name change a first priority. Then we can go rent an apartment of something," Harry thought out loud.

"Y'know the last name thing?" Ron spoke up quietly. "I think we should all have the same one, for safety. We can pass off as siblings or cousins. And I think Grey would be an appropriate name. "

"It fits. We're in the grey zone, we don't know what to do." Hermione smiled weakly. "I'm so lucky to have you two. Let's do the ritual right now. That way we can't be traced – the portkey's signature will wipe out any magic we use." So saying, she took out the stone basin they had found and conjured some water.

The magic swirled about them as they said the words. Then it was done. They were bonded for life. The next thing they did was find a safe place. The Greys managed to rent an apartment off a side street that didn't look too shady. Then, they made a plan.

"We're half-educated in magic, and have barely any education in the muggle schools. Our best bet is magic that the ministry cannot trace," Kavi analyzed the situation.

"Meaning wandless magic and potions," responded Keiran. "First, I want to see what new abilities we have. Let's each try a wandless levitation spell." He easily made their trunks rise. Kavi could do it as well, but Kegan had the easiest time.

"I guess the wandless magic is my original power," Kegan shrugged.

Keiran looked at the two considering something. Can you understand me? he hissed.

Of course we can, Keiran, Kavi hissed back.

Why wouldn't we? Kegan asked confusedly.

"You're speaking in Parseltounge," Keiran smiled wryly. "I guess you got that from me."

"I have one more suspicion…"Kavi bit her lip thoughtfully. "Let me try something." She shut her eyes and in a few minutes, a beautiful python sat in her place. Then Kavi was back to her normal self. "Now you try," she said. Kegan managed to become a cobra, and Keiran a small basilisk. "I've known that I had the innate animagus ability for a while, but this power boost shared it between us and let us actually become animagi. I'm assuming Keiran's Parsel abilities is what triggered our snake forms."

The boys thought this was very cool indeed.

"Now that we know we can use magic without being traced, it'll be easier. We can go in disguise to get books to teach ourselves magic," Keiran said thoughtfully.

"I think we should specialize," Kegan spoke up. "We can all learn the basics from each other, we can just have areas we do best. Who gets what?"

"Before we divide up subjects, I want to say one thing on the topic of types of magic. I don't think there is such a thing as dark magic. They are merely spells the Ministry doesn't like," Keiran looked around seriously. The others nodded. It made sense. "Therefore, I will take Potions, Dark Arts, and Defense. You know my aptitude for the latter, and I'm actually good at Potions, I just can't let Snape see it. "

"I'll take Transfiguration, Runes, and Arithmancy," said Kavi.

"I can take Charms, Herbology, Magical Creatures and History," Kegan offered. "Herbology and Magical Creatures are close enough to be the same subject, and I like History, just not Binns," he smirked.

"We'll also need to wield a weapon. Try to find one to learn. "Keiran nodded in agreement.