Again
Chapter 1
I am Lord Harry James Potter-Black, 54 years old, Heir of Gryffindor and Defeater of the Heir of Slytherin 6 times in a row. I sigh as I sit down in the library in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, my home and my solace, after I finish etching the runes into the slate after 6 hours since I set out in this endeavour. I have been preparing for this day for the last 23 years, the largest portion of which I spent reading through the combined libraries of all the families that I am the head of, and incidentally the last of; Potter, Black, Peverell, Gryffindor, Slytherin and also the secret Dumbledore collection I raided. I never believed I would be so much of a bookworm. I think a certain brown-eyed girl would be proud of my academic prowess, had she… had she survived.
Hermione. I'm doing this for her, just as much as I'm doing this for myself. If I pull this off I will be able change my fate and the fate of the girl I had been disillusioned about thanks to a greedy bunch of red-haired fucks and one goat fucking old cunt.
I wipe my eyes of the tears for what should have been, for what should have been my life and whom I should have spent it with.
I remember the day that the wool was removed from my eyes all too well. It was one of the best days of my life, for it only to turn into the worst.
24 Years Ago
I had just returned from the last Wizengamot meeting of the year and my bill for the protection of the rights for Lycanthropes and their offspring had been successfully passed. I was thinking that finally my Godson Teddy and his family will no longer have to scrape for a living and that I really had to get together with Neville, Daphne, Susan and the rest of the coalition that helped pass my bill.
I flooed back to Grimmauld Place to find Luna sitting in my living room. I find it funny now, looking back on it that directly after the Final Battle that Luna goes on a vacation that had nothing to do with her creatures, meets Rolf Scamander and she find not only a herd a herd of Crumple-Headed Snorcacks but also a hive of Nargles as well. The look on Hermione's face the day we got her letters…
Now Luna had left behind her persona of 'Loony' Luna Lovegood after she had lost her father a year after the Battle, but she still had the intensity for whenever it was needed. At the moment I flooed in I felt the intensity and I was really worried as she was supposed to be on a trip with her husband, Rolf, in about 20 minutes and I'd already said goodbye to her last night as I knew I wouldn't be able to see her off today like usual because I had the Wizengamot session today. Something was definitely wrong.
"Luna, what's the matter?" I said concerned of her presence at that moment.
"Oh my God, Harry. You'd better sit down I've got some news and you're going to be pretty pissed with what some people have done." I saw the seriousness in her eyes and I know this has got to be important to miss one of her trips for the other creatures, so I sat down on my recliner and she took the couch in front of me.
"Oh please don't tell me this has anything to do with the Ginny or the kids!" I said dreading her next sentence.
"Harry this has got everything to do with Ginerva, Molly, Ron…even Dumbledore." she responded with a bit of venom on the last.
"Oh fuck! What the hell's happened to… wait, what has Dumbledore got to do with anything, he died 14 years ago?" I asked confused as all hell.
"He's got everything to do with what's happened." She took a moment to consider her words. "Harry, everyone has been lying to you for years, ever since you entered the wizarding world."
"What?" I exclaimed.
"Harry hear me out and let me do this." She took out her wand and pointing it upwards, intoned, "I, Luna Celeste Lovegood-Scamander, swear on my life and my magic that I will tell Lord Harry James Potter-Black the truth to the best of my knowledge." I felt the telltale sign of a magical oath.
She took a minute to gather her thoughts and started.
"Harry, I flooed to the Burrow today so I could go to my daddy's grave like I do before every journey I take with Rolf" She had done this every time and had to go to the Burrow to do so as the Rookery was destroyed during the Second Blood War and her Father had kept it that way to live as a memory for the Quibbler and Celeste Lovegood's dedication to the paper before she died and her Father had been buried in a field near the Rookery alongside his wife.
"I was in the living room when I heard a bubbling coming from the kitchen and I could smell a really peculiar concoction that smelt nothing like Molly Weasley's cooking. I looked into the kitchen and found a multitude of cauldrons boiling away. They smelt nothing like any medicinal potions or salves, so I used my Head of House ring to check what they were."
I was really hoping that they could not be anything bad or life threatening. My own head of House rings were very accurate and had saved my life on more than one occasion and I rubbed the Potter one unconsciously.
"What I found them to be were… were Loyalty potions, the Amor Mancipium potion and the Sexus Mancipium potion. Harry, they had your and Hermione's hairs as the binding agents and Hermione had an extra potion, The Custodiam Ex Amore potion, Ronald and Ginerva are controlling you and Molly is only too glad to help."
'Is this why she was so fucked up after fourth year? Because of fucking love slave, sex slave and loyalty potions? Not to mention that last one, it was keeping her from her true love.' As I thought about this my insides tore up. My life was a sham, my wife is not the woman I thought she was and I don't know what I feel except that if they did this to Hermione then they are going to pay.
"I wasn't the only one to walk in at that time and Hermione found me looking over the potions Harry. She asked me what it was I was brewing. I told her and she went mental and was thrashing the whole kitchen when your spouses and mother-in-law come in. She sees them and doesn't even utter a word and just starts firing bone-breakers and blasting hexes and she doges out of the way from their stunners. When she hit Ginerva in the thigh with a bone breaker Molly went apeshit and fires off a Sectumsempra, and…" She took a breath and there were tears flowing freely at this point "it hit her in the throat, H-Harry. S-she bled out. She-she's dead."
I let out a massive roar of pain; I know this is true because of her oath. I sobbed uncontrollably and Luna came to wrap me up in her arms like Hermione use to do. This was all too much for me, but I needed it to be put to me bluntly 'cos that's how I need the news that I lost people after seeing friends and family die front of me during a long and bloody war. What she says next got me out of my seat in a flash.
"They didn't notice me, so I stunned before they could escape and get rid of the evidence. I closed Hermione's eyes and cl-cleaned the blood. I contained the evidence and fashioned a portkey. Hermione is in the mistress' room and they're in the kitchen."
I rushed into the kitchen to find them bound to three chairs, still unconscious. I took my wand out of its holster and woke them up. They looked up drowsily and the first thing they saw was an angry Harry James Potter.
Ron was the first to open his gob. "Harry mate, where the hell are we? And why are we bound?"
"I'll tell you why you're all bound in ropes, you piece of shit, you all saw fit to manipulate my life and ruin Hermione's!"
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! YOU WILL NOT TALK TO YOUR FAMILY LIKE THAT?" The screechy bat let out.
"I HAVE EVERY FUCKING RIGHT TO TALK TO YOU LIKE THAT YOU BUNCH OF CUNTS BECAUSE YOU SAW FIT TO INTERFERE WITH OUR LIVES! AND NOW HEMIONE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" I bellowed right in her face in righteous anger. That seemed to scare her into submission but Ron Ginny weren't what you would call smart.
"The mudblood slut deserved it! She broke my leg! A mudblood attacked a Pureblood!" Ginny screeched
"If she were still alive I would have…oof!" He never got to finish his sentence because I broke his jaw.
"RON! You little halfblood bastard! I'll see you get the kiss for doing that to my son!"
"Yeah that'll work the three of you against the man who killed Voldemort and I did this because you murdered my friend. Not to mention the fact that I'm the Head of no less than five Ancient and Noble Houses." I hate having to use titles but I was intimidating them.
"Harry?" the meek voice of my oh so 'loving' wife sounded out through her tears. "Why are you doing this to us?" she pleaded
"Wow, I thought Ron was the thick one. YOU WERE CONTROLLING ME AND YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!" I bellowed.
"Ron's your best… ahh" She was cut off from finishing by a backhand from Luna.
"Thank you Luna." He looked back at the traitors, his 'family'. "I want to know why you did this. Now, I don't have any Veritaserum on me and the ministry cannot detect any magic under the Fidelius. So do you think the Cruciatus will loosen their tongues?" I pondered; sounding too much like the toad from Fudge's political regime. I lost my morals on Dark Magic right there that day.
Luna responded with "I doubt they haven't used the Imperius on you before Harry so I believe that you should."
"Very well who's first? Ah yes my loving wife." His words dripped with sarcasm.
"Harry please, you love me, please what about our children?" She begged like a dog.
James, Albus and Lily flashed through my mind briefly. "They'll learn to live without you. CRUCIO!"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"
"Stop, I'll tell you!" Molly exclaimed. She couldn't bear to see her little princess to be in such agony.
I keep it on her for a second longer and then silence her before she could start yapping about how I should love her not hurt her. I turned to Molly and barked at her to start talking.
"Dumbledore," she starts shaking from head to toe, "Dumbledore wanted you to align yourself with a light pureblooded family and…"
"And the old cunt saw fit to use his most fanatical supporter's family to do this" I barked out scornfully. They start to see the warrior of the Final Battle.
"Oh and I guess that you all wanted my money, I kinda saw all along that Ginny was only in love with me because she saw it as a way to make you happy cos you told her all about me from birth. But how the hell were you trying to get my family's money?"
Molly had tried to look affronted but her shock showed through and she started to wither at his unrelenting glare. "CRUCIO!" that got her talking.
"When Dumbledore was your magical guardian he sign a marriage contract with me that st-stipulated that the whole family was allowed full access to your vaults."
"Then why did you do all this to Hermione?" I raged full of anger and my eyes glowing like the killing curse.
"I-In your fourth year you got way too close to the mudblood slut and y…"
"DON'T CALL HER THAT YOU HAG!" I bellowed as tears formed in my eyes.
After she flinched she continued with "You two got too close and even went on several dates, and Albus had to Obliviate you so many times that he checked if you two had any bonds… you had an uncompleted soul bond so he had Severus brew a Custodiam Ex Amore potion so you wouldn't seek each other out romantically."
I let out a pitiful moan and felt Luna wrap me in a hug as we cried with each other for a friend. It took me a couple of minutes to calm down and ask, "How many people were involved in this?"
She didn't answer straight away so I got a little sadistic and summoned a large knife and walked over to Ron who looked on in horror.
"If you don't tell me, precious Ronniekins starts losing fingers!" I said with an eerie coolness
She started to bawl and shout out names "Me, Ron, Ginny, Dumbledore, and Snape!"
Present Day
That was all I needed to hear from them. I stunned them all and put them in an enchanted sleep. I stepped out of the kitchen and asked Luna in a hollow voice if she would come with me to see Hermione. We walked up the stairs and I entered the room that was always hers when she needed a place to crash after a fight with Ron. I went to the bedside and took her limp hand in mine and started to bawl for the loss of my best friend. Again Luna had to calm me down.
It took me the better part of an hour to calm down. When I was finally composed I told Luna I had to contact the family.
Summoning Arthur and the rest of the remaining Weasleys and my children, I told them of the atrocities they committed and with Percy being in the ministry they kept their familial troubles quiet, but this did end in their banishment from the Weasley family and have their memories of magic wiped. Their cores bound and led to them being incarcerated in a muggle asylum where Arthur visited until they didn't stopped responding to him after 6 years.
Hermione's funeral was a quiet affair. It was said that in her last will and testament she wanted to be cremated and scattered in the garden she and I funded 5 years after the war. We both wanted to have a memorial place for those who lost their lives in both Blood Wars. There were two obelisks for both wars with the multitude of names etched on the stone to be left there forever.
It was a small gathering of people who gathered on that cold October afternoon. In attendance were Hermione's parents Michael and Elizabeth, Hugo, Rose and their families, myself and my children and Teddy, Luna and Rolf, Neville and his wife Hannah, Kingsley, Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones and all of our close friends from before and after Hogwarts. I was almost too choked up to attend but Neville and Luna dragged me out of the house. I visit her tomb every weekend. On her tomb was engraved
Hermione Jean Granger
Friend, Mother
The Brightest Witch of Her Age
19th September 1979
to
2nd October 2009
We all decided as a group that because Hermione was being controlled that we could get the marriage revoked posthumously which her parents agreed wholeheartedly with and the Weasleys agreed as well.
After the funeral I contacted Kingsley, the now Minister for Magic, to see if I could gain entry into the Department of Mysteries to see the Book of Bonds. I could have used the titles with anybody to gain access or just strong arm myself in, but seeing as I had a good relationship with Kingsley I just quietly asked him a favour so as not to leak anything to the press.
So, three days after the funeral I flooed into Kingsley's office and was offered a drink before going through the whole event. I had been drinking through my whole stock of alcohol before this day so I didn't accept. Kingsley escorted down there personally.
When we entered the room containing the Book. It stood on a pedestal. I was told by an unspeakable that to find any bonds pertaining to me, I had to open the book to the first page and write my full name and the book would find my bonds.
I wrote my name, 'Harry James Potter' in the untidy scrawl that had been my handwriting for the last 30 years. The Book glowed and started flipping it's pages to about ¾ to the end and I saw my name glowing with several sentences underneath it.
Lord Harry James Potter-Black-Peverell-Gryffindor-Slytherin
Marriage Bond
-Ginerva Molly Weasley (BROKEN)
Soul Bond(s)
-Hermione Jean Granger-Ravenclaw (INCOMPLETE) (DEACEASED)
-Daphne Elizabeth Greengrass (INCOMPLETE)
-Susan Katherine Bones (INCOMPLETE)
Life Debt(s)
-Hermione Jean Granger-Ravenclaw (CANCELLED-OUT) (DECEASED)
-Ginerva Molly Weasley
-Peter Franklin Pettigrew (REPAID) (DECEASED)
-Gabrielle Francesca Delacour-Michaels
-Arthur Septimus Weasley
-Ronald Bilius Weasley
-Garrick Olivander (DECEASED)
-Dean Richard Thomas
-Luna Celeste Lovegood-Scamander (REPAID)
-Draco Lucius Malfoy
Other Bond(s)
-Dobby (House-elf bond) (House of Potter) (DECEASED)
-Kreacher (House-elf bond) (Hose of Black)
-Lord Sirius Orion Black (Godparent bond) (DECEASED)
-Lady Alice Jennifer Longbottom (Godparent bond) (DECEASED)
Reading that was a real eye opener. I'd never really taken a second thought to saving someone's life, it was just that I had to save him or her and making sure everyone survived. I decided then that I would never cash in a life debt unless it was absolutely necessary.
But the thing that really caught me was that I had more than one soul mate. I would love to see the Dursleys see a 'freak' like me ho wasn't deserving of love have three women who were soul mates. I decided not to approach Daphne and Susan about this.
This got me really depressed. Thinking of all the death's that were caused because of their relationship with me. Mum, Dad, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Dobby. Now Hermione. I didn't leave my house for a month and the only people I saw were my kids, Neville and Luna. I fell into the bottle for two months.
Then on all the last night of my alcohol-induced haze, I pulled myself together and bear with me, I was rather crazy by this point, I came up with the solution to my problem.
Time Travel.
That is what I have been researching for the past 23 years. I poured through all of my family libraries, I was allowed special access from Neville, Luna, Rolf, Daphne and Susan to search all of their familial libraries for the answer. I even got the Dumbledore collection from Aberforth because he said that as he was just a pub landlord, he didn't need all of that knowledge.
And after painstaking research I found the answer. A mix of Runic magic, Celtic Charms and Ancient Dark Magic. I made my reset button.
Lat night I said goodbye to all my friends. They all think I'm taking a break from all of this. I haven't taken a break from this in 23 years and now that I've found the answer. The only people who know are Neville and Luna. Luna knows cos she's Luna and has a knack for reading auras. Neville found out by getting me blinking drunk and made me spill my secrets.
It's ready.
I'm ready.
I fill all of the runes with excess power and chant, "Ad retexere quod est iniuriam." The Runes glow blood red. My head starts spinning. The last part. Death of the Caster. I bring my wand over my heart and say, "Cor statur"
The life of Lord Harry James Potter-Black-Peverell-Gryffindor-Slytherin slips away peacefully.
A/N: Spells and potions are in Latin unless the proper words are in the book
Amor Mancipium: Love Slave
Sexus Mancipium: Sex Slave
Custodiam Ex Amore: Keep from love
Adretexerequodestiniuriam: To unravel what is wrong
Cor statur: Heart stop