Anything for Harry – Chapter 17

(Present)

Lord Voldemort struggled to his feet in the muddy hole. He quickly cast several wandless healing spells on his back and right elbow, the bones knit back together, though he winced at the pain. Obviously someone had been watching his home. In his rage over Bella's failure and the loss of his Horcrux he had changed his plans. Instead of building up to attack the school, he'd gambled on a night raid on the Ministry.

Someone was causing him to react to them. Potter immediately came to mind, but he wasn't intelligent according to Snape. It had to be his mudblood bitch. He'd have to focus on killing her first.

With his followers now in charge of the Ministry building, though the missing Department of Mysteries posed a possible threat, he could act more openly.

But now his forces were weaker and divided, some had to remain at the Ministry to maintain control, and he'd lost another dozen followers, including the two floating behind him. He couldn't postpone the attack on the school or his allies would think him weak. Demons, Vampires, and Werewolves would turn on him if he showed a hint of vulnerability. But that bitch of Potter's seemed to be just ahead of him. Destroying his anchors and then his home when he was away.

"Nagini!" he breathed, reaching his mind out for his familiar and final Horcrux, she had been here when they left a few hours ago. The connection was gone, she no longer lived and must have been the reason for the raid on his home. He had to exact revenge! They would attack the school now!

"What? Where are we?" Avery asked, using his wand to remove the mud from himself.

The question broke him out of his rage. Had he been enchanted somehow to react blindly? He'd have to get a flushing draught from Severus. "Are you an idiot?" Lord Voldemort asked. "This is where my manor was. Something happened after we left to raid the ministry."

"My Lord." Lord Parkinson called from the cliff above them. "Please relocate to my manor, and out of this rain."

"I shall." Lord Voldemort said. "Parkinson manor, ignore the idiots who tried to breathe the water. And summon Snape to the manor!" He apparated himself away from the former site of his home.

}-{

(Past)

"Luna dear, are you sure you're ok waiting here?" Emma asked, poking her head into their spare dental room. "I know it's kind of crowded, but we don't have the storage."

"Yes, Emma-Mum. I've got these books to read to help Harry and Hermione. I'm a year behind them in school so am working on catching up." Luna said with a smile, holding up a large tomb they'd brought back in time.

Emma walked into the room and closed the door. She knelt beside the chair her second-daughter was sitting in. "Dan and I will be in one of the rooms closer to the front. Our office is the door at the end of the hall. If you're worried come and see us. If anything happens, like we get attacked, you run out the back door or climb out a window and call that number I gave you for Chuck. You have change for the pay phones right?"

"Yes, and I remember how to use them as you showed me. Everything will be fine, we all lived through this, I came back in time and you were ok when we did that." Luna said.

It took Emma a minute to assemble her daughter's speech into a normal sentence and then leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Alright then. We're going to lunch when that clock shows twelve noon. Dan or I will come get you by then. If you need the bathroom it's across the hall from this room, or out in the lobby if it's occupied."

"And don't leave the building. I remember."

"Good." Emma said, looking at the cover of the tomb. "Enjoy your Advanced Arithmantic Theory then."

}-{

(Past)

The vacation in London had been wonderful for both couples. Neville and Kate had discussed their future, she wanted to speak with Susan before making any final decisions. She did say she would warn her father he may need to sign a contract for her. The Potters had spent the month bonding with their son and just enjoying themselves.

They had finally gone together as a group to several movies and one opera that Harry almost managed to fall asleep in.

Now they were all anxious to get back to training. Hermione swung the car into the hidden road and under the bridge. The gate was open so she parked in front of the main house. James and Jess were in the horse paddock but no one rushed out to greet them until the engine stopped.

Luna walked out onto the porch with a steaming cup of tea and waved at them. "Welcome back travelers." She said and put her cup on the railing to greet them, each with a hug, baby James got a soft kiss on his cheek instead.

"When did you get back?" Hermione asked her blood-sister, holding her hand tightly.

"Two days ago, so I wouldn't be at your house when you got there of course. Our parents are great. I didn't get hurt at all, we went shopping and decorated my room. Though we had to pack it all away into the attic so you wouldn't notice anything different. I went to their Dental Practice and even managed to help out a little when a young child got scared. We went out to lunch, I love the variety of muggle food! I'm very glad I spent the time with them." The blonde said, quite happy to share her experience.

Chuck came out onto the porch and Kate quickly moved to hug him tightly. "Thank you daddy, that was great."

He smiled down at her and then looked over her at Neville who was hovering anxiously a few feet away. "I sent you on vacation with my daughter Mr. Longbottom. I shall not now curse you for that same thing."

"Yes, thank you sir." Neville said and calmed down.

Kate slipped from her father's embrace and took her boyfriend's hand. "He did nothing I did not wish."

Chuck held his hands up and shook his head. "No, I want to hear no more about it. Speak with your mother if you must share the details." He then turned to Harry and Hermione. "And how was your time, not too relaxing with an infant and no magic to help out I wager."

"It had its challenges," Hermione said with a smile while Harry carried their son into the house. "Though we did start practicing wandless magic, since that's not detectible by the Ministry."

"Really?" Chuck and Luna asked.

"Yeah, watch." Kate said and gestured to Luna's forgotten cup. It gently levitated to her where she plucked it from the air with a broad grin.

"Wow." Chuck said.

"Jae and Harry are much better than I am." Kate said, blushing at the sudden praise.

"Now Kate." Neville said. "Don't knock yourself down. You're much faster than I am. I can do it, but everything takes too long to be useful." He clarified, looking at Chuck.

"Sister, you're teaching me now." Luna said, dragging Hermione around to the practice field behind the house while Kate and Neville laughed.

"But James…" Hermione protested.

"Harry can watch him for an hour." Luna said and Hermione gave in.

Instead of standing in the middle of the field, Hermione guided her blood-sister to the shielded sitting area and directed her into one of the folding chairs, immediately seating herself in the one beside it.

"So what's the secret?" Luna asked, leaned forward.

"Focus." Hermione said. "You have to replace the focus your wand provides with your mind. That means being more precise in what you want to happen instead of merely repeating the proscribed word. For example, instead of saying reparo and moving your wand to direct the magic, you envision the thing knitting back together and push your magic to make it happen."

"Oh." Luna said and closed her eyes.

"Don't try anything just yet." The brilliant brunette said quickly.

"Just thinking sis." Luna said, still with her eyes closed.

A brilliant warm feeling washed through the new mother and she grinned at her blood-sister. Impulsively she bent over and kissed her blonde companion on the temple. And then launched into a detailed description. "When you repair a broken stick you have to fill in the details of it. Similar to transfiguring where you have to envision the individual hairs and claws of an animal. In this case if it's a broken bone or a living branch from a tree, you have to know how it really works or you will stick it together and it will still be broken because you didn't understand it."

"Oh." Luna said, her eyes closed. "So to fix a cut you have to put the blood vessels, muscle and tissues back together."

"Don't forget the nerves, those are how you feel pain and trigger the muscles."

"I see the difficulty. But levitation, like what Kate did with the cup, you have to imagine the weight of the thing and exert enough force to support it, keep it level, and move it smoothly so it doesn't spill."

"Yes, that covers what Kate did, and I'd start there. We levitated a feather we found. Here." Hermione said, conjuring one with her wand, to sit on the rail beside them. "Don't summon it first, it could hurt you if you do it too fast. Make it go up."

}-{

(Past)

"Mr. Granger." Harry said while Mary was making faces with James, causing him to giggle in response.

"Mr. Potter?" Chuck said with a crooked smile.

"Sorry, Chuck, I need a favor."

"What can I do for you Harry?"

"Hermione and I picked out wedding bands in London, we want to get married here. Can you find us someone to officiate? It would have to be a weekend so her parents could make it, and I guess we have to wait until September so they can get here and the Hermione of the past won't know."

"Ouch." Neville said, suddenly holding his head. "Do you have to talk like your fiancée too?"

"Oh, you poor baby." Kate said and pulled his head down to plant an exaggerated kiss on his head causing everyone to laugh.

"Sorry for interrupting Harry." Neville said sheepishly.

"I'll be sure to return the favor when you're asking Chuck for Kate's hand." Harry said with a broad grin, which caused everyone to suddenly grow quiet, except for James who was still giggling at Mary's face.

"Anything I need to know about?" Chuck said, looking at his daughter.

"Yes, actually." Kate said showing tremendous courage in the tense moment. "Neville and I talked a lot in London. He explained that a Lord can't have a girlfriend, it has to be more formal than that. You will likely need to sign a betrothal contract when he turns seventeen. Though there is a complication that we've still got to work out."

"Oh?" Chuck said looking at Neville now.

The blond Gryffindor sighed, "I've got another outstanding contract with Susan Bones. If she finds a husband by her twentieth birthday then nothing happens. If not then I have to accept her as a second spouse to father the next generation of the Ancient and Noble House of Bones."

"Huh?" Mary said and Harry moved to take his son from her in case she got too distracted by the conversation.

"It's called Line Continuation." Kate explained. "Since Susan is the last of her line, and a girl, she needs a husband that won't force her children to use his name." She turned to her boyfriend. "Did I get that right?"

"Yes." He said and gave her hand a squeeze.

"So you might marry more than one woman?" Chuck asked.

Through his blush Neville could only nod.

"Oh, you poor boy." Chuck said with a laugh. "One is hard enough to deal with."

Mary elbowed her husband, not too hard but enough to get him to look at her.

"Um, I mean one is all I need." The elder Granger corrected himself.

"Good answer Dad." Kate said causing everyone to laugh.

When they calmed down a bit Neville cleared his throat. "It's not uncommon in our world for this to happen. Susan and I are fairly good friends, though certainly of the platonic sort. But I think she is into girls, which means it's unlikely she will find a husband."

"And if she's into witches." Kate said, holding Neville's hand but looking at her mother. "then I've got to be ok with that because she isn't bringing another witch into this relationship."

Neville and Chuck's eyes went wide at that remark as she was basically saying she would also become Susan's sexual partner to make their 'family' work.

Mary looked quite seriously at her daughter before speaking. "If you think that's the way you wish to live your life, then you have our blessing to do so. I'll not dictate what or how you behave in your bed. Now take your dazed boyfriend to your room. I doubt he's going to have a coherent thought now that you've given him that image."

Kate turned to her boyfriend, seeing his glassy eyes and goofy grin, which disturbingly matched her father, she pulled him towards the back hallway.

Harry seemed to be the only one unaffected, which Mary noticed. "And you Mr. Potter?"

"No." He said, cradling his nearly sleeping son in his arms. "Luna tried to turn our relationship into that for a bit, with Hermione even saying it was fine with her. But I simply cannot give Hermione anything less than my full attention. It would hurt her too much. Though I do like Luna a lot, I hope she now sees me as her big brother."

"That's a very mature thought Harry." Mary said, brushing past her husband who seemed to be coming around. A complicated wave of her wand created a crib along the wall for James to sleep in. "And that was before your bonding?"

"Yes," Harry said, moving slowly to the crib to lay his son down in. He nearly woke, transitioning from arms to the bed, but his eyes closed again and they all backed away slowly.

Chuck was getting a glass of whiskey while Mary headed into the kitchen for something. "Damn it." The older man whispered after downing the glass.

"Sorry Chuck if we got you into trouble. We didn't intend to, in fact we didn't plan out this conversation at all."

"Thanks Harry, but it was my own doing. I've got to go make amends. Welcome back, and yes I'll work on arranging a wedding for the first weekend in September. It doesn't need to be a secret does it?"

"Only from Hermione who hasn't gone back in time yet." He said with a smile, sitting in the soft chair beside the door.

With a nod, the Man of the House, went into the kitchen to see how much trouble he was in.

}-{

(Past)

Several days later Penny knocked on the door to Horse-House and Harry let her in. "How are you all doing?" she asked while he made tea and sent Hermione a telepathic message to come down when James was asleep.

"We're doing pretty good really, bit anxious to get some real training started." He said as the kettle went on the stove.

"Well that's precisely why I'm here." She said, sitting on the end of the longer couch. "Have you adjusted to the mental connection yet? It's nearly six weeks now."

"Yes, I think we are." Hermione said as she walked down the stairs, Luna on her heels.

"Oh, hello granddaughter." Penny said suddenly.

"No, I'm not happy with either of you yet." Luna said and then squinted while looking at her maternal grandmother carefully. "Don't trust her." She then said and went into the kitchen to relieve Harry of the tea preparations.

"Dear?"

"No." Hermione said and sat opposite Penny. "She has valid reasons for her feelings and you know it."

Penny turned away from her scant view of Luna's back to face Hermione. "Yes, I know, but she won't even discuss it."

"And you'll just have to live with that for now. She does speak to us about it, so she isn't closing herself off from everyone, just shrunk her circle of trust."

Penny frowned at Hermione's words but didn't push any farther. "So, I'm here to invite the two of you to some bonded magic training. We'll be gone two months or so in the distant past."

"What about James?" Harry asked setting a tray of biscuits on the table and scooping a few of them up before sitting beside his witch.

Penny shrugged. "You can bring him, or leave him here with Mary and Luna. Where we're going it will just be us three adults. I could watch him while you're working on your magic, but he really shouldn't be anywhere near it."

"We'll have to think about that." Hermione said, and then took Harry's free hand in hers.

Luna arrived with the tea service and quickly poured a cup for each of them. She didn't ask anyone's preference, just completed it as they would like without a word.

"Hmmm, thank you Luna Love." Hermione said smelling her tea.

"Welcome." She said and then sat on the lone chair in the room with her own cup balanced on its arm.

"So the plan is to take you back in time to somewhere unpopulated, yes I know precisely where, and work on your combined casting." Penny said, before taking a bite of a biscuit and stirring her tea.

"Combined casting?" Hermione said, "Oh, you mean that since we're bonded we can also use that link to make our spells more potent?"

Penny shook her head slowly, "No, though you can also pull magic from one another. What I meant was using your bond to allow you to each cast the same spell, which then combines, making for a much more potent version."

"That's not normally possible." Luna added and then continued before anyone else could. "Each person's unique magic makes their magic conflict, but with the bond their magic would be in harmony, able to blend. Yes, that sounds like something snake-lips wouldn't be expecting."

"Um…" Harry said, then shook his head and filled his mouth with another half-biscuit.

"Oh, love." Hermione said, pushing his knee with hers. "Yes, Penny we need to do this, but can you give us a few days to determine if we're taking James with us?"

The immortal woman shrugged. "I've got all the time in the world to work with here. But if you're comfortable with the mental link, then it's time to push farther, and it won't be safe when you first do this."

"Yeah, like the explosion you two made forming the bond." Luna said. "You're going to make a big mess if you're not careful."

Hermione nodded, "And that's why we're going somewhen that has no other people. Yes, it makes sense. I just don't want to leave my baby for so long."

Penny shrugged and with a sideways look at Harry, continued. "If you're worried about breast-feeding him, you can re-start your milk fairly easily. I'm not sure if you'd allow someone else to feed him in your stead. Yes that's possible as well, it's the same spell actually."

Though Penny avoided looking at her granddaughter, Harry and Hermione did. The blonde nodded once without hesitation and then went back to looking into her tea.

"But then that would detract from her own training." Hermione said with a sigh.

"Not really." Penny said and turned to face Luna. "If she is willing, then it would be the best compromise. James would be fed by family and the two of you would be able to learn what you need."

"You'll have to come back for confirmation." Harry said, standing abruptly.

Penny followed suit, sipping the last of her cup and meeting Harry at the door. He followed her outside and then asked, "So can I prevent myself from hearing this conversation?" he asked quickly.

"Yes, you'll have to close the connection. We discussed it briefly, imagine a thick curtain or door closing between the two of you. Tell her what you're doing first!"

"She knows." He said and then scrunched up his nose in concentration. "Whew." He said a moment later. "I think I'll take a walk before dinner."

Penny laughed and turned back to the main house.

Luna had moved to sit beside her blood-sister. "You know I have no problems with this, right?" she asked.

"Yes." Hermione said. "But I do, well sort of."

Luna laughed, "Well you're going to have to do more than sort-of explain it to me."

"Yeah." The brunette said and lay back on the couch, Luna quickly followed suit. Only after they were both relaxed on the couch, with the smaller blonde half in the brunette's lap did they continue.

"So, first I'm terrified of leaving my son where I can't take care of him." Hermione said and Luna took one of her hands in both of hers for support. "And I've read a lot about how mothers create a strong connection with their children by feeding them and don't want to miss out on that. Then there's a bit of jealousy that you could get a deeper connection to him than I have."

Hermione wiped her face with her free hand and then suddenly hugged Luna tightly and let the tears flow. "Sorry." She whispered a few minutes later after a ragged breath.

When it seemed the brunette had recovered Luna held their scarred palms up for her to see, reminding her of their connection. "I'm your sister, in every possible way I care about." Luna said. "It's not safe for your son to be with you, and you've got to learn how to control your magic before we face snake-lips. I swear to you that his safety is my highest concern and should anything happen to you, I'll never abandon him. You've given me a real family again, thank you."

By the time she was done both of them were crying, clutching one another desperately. They were pulled from their commiseration by the sudden wails of hunger from the baby in question.

With linked hands they sprinted upstairs and into the master bedroom.

James was wriggling in his crib his face scrunched up and red.

Hermione scooped him up and cradled him with her left arm while flicking her wand over him in long-practiced motions. The magical diaper vanished any waste, so all the spell told her was that he was hungry.

"Well pay attention then sister, you're going to have to start doing this soon." Hermione said and sat in the large chair, pulling a cushion from beside it into her lap.

James had quieted immediately after she picked him up and his face was squirming around against her chest.

"He's hungry, this is called rooting." She said and pulled her top open to expose her full breasts.

James seemed to have a homing instinct and latched onto her left nipple the moment it was close enough.

"Did that hurt?" Luna asked while Hermione's face was still twisted in sudden pain.

"A bit, yes, there, it's ok now." She said visibly relaxing. "He's not biting me, it's more the sudden release of my milk than anything."

"Oh, and the other one is leaking too?" Luna said with a blush.

The new mother nodded, "Yes, they both start at the same time, apparently it's normal." She said and conjured a towel to absorb the leaking milk.

"How about pinching that one closed?" Luna asked, with a quick gesture at the towel.

"That would work, but it doesn't really start coming out until he starts sucking on it."

"Oh, so you're not going to run out?" she asked looking curiously at the suckling baby.

"No, I haven't yet. He's usually asleep before that happens. I ended on this one so started on it this time." She gestured for Luna to come closer. "Put your hand under his head, slowly and stroke his cheek softly."

"Why?" Luna said, still a few feet away.

"To get him used to you when he's hungry. I don't know, it seemed like a good way to start out."

"Well sure." Luna said and slowly slipped her fingers under his head he seemed a bit bothered at first by being disturbed but settled down when she stopped moving. She could just caress his opposite ear with the pad of her thumb.

}-{

A few days later Luna had transitioned to feeding James, while a similar spell had temporarily halted Hermione's milk. Between the two of them they'd shed gallons of tears as the responsibilities of caring for the baby were each transferred. Luna was currently holding him in her arms while Harry and Hermione said goodbye to everyone for the next few months. Their last stop was in front of her as she'd expected.

After Harry kissed James brow he planted a second one on Luna's cheek. "Take care of yourself too, okay?"

She nodded, unable to speak.

Hermione kissed her sleeping son on his cheek and ran a finger under his chin before meeting Luna's blue-grey eyes. "Thank you sister."

The blonde gave a watery smile and then leaned into Hermione's embrace, both were careful not to put pressure on the baby, but it was heart-felt none-the-less.

Seconds later the trio vanished in a flash of phoenix fire.

Mary put her arm over Luna's shoulder while Kate cried on Neville's shoulder. "Do you want to move into the main house?"

Luna looked up, studying her adoptive aunt before giving a slow nod.

"I'll send Jess over to help you move. Unless you'd like Nev and Katherine to do it?" Mary said, ignoring her daughters indignant squeak at the sounding of her given name.

"That's fine." Luna said and headed to Horse House to start packing.

}-{

(Very, very distant past.)

Ptolemy's fire faded away and the view made Harry gasp. They were on the side of a tall mountain, looking down at a large island with a smoking volcano rising from the middle of it. Ancient trees, of some unrecognizable variety, stood up from a veritable sea of ferns which seemed to be competing for every ray of sunlight as they hid the actual ground virtually everywhere they looked. Around them was a vast ocean.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Penny said as Ptolemy flexed his wings before settling on her shoulder.

"So when are we?" Hermione asked.

"The fish of the world are just evolving, around 400 million years in the past." Penny said with a negligent shrug which Ptolemy protested with a squawk. The immortal bird flew off, down towards the volcano.

"Oh, wow." Harry managed to get out as his wife's brain attempted to process that immense bit of knowledge.

"Did you want to see the forming of the Earth?" Penny asked, over her shoulder, as though she knew the extent such a statement would shock the already catatonic genius. She didn't wait for a response, but walked down the rock-strewn slope in the general direction of the island before them.

Harry wasn't going to wait for Hermione to catch up, so he scooped her into his arms and followed. Her arms went around his neck automatically but she made no sound.

"You don't have to carry me." Were the brunette's first words after she recovered from her shock a few minutes later.

"If I hadn't you'd still be way up on the side of the mountain." Harry said softly.

"Oh." She said, looking back up the slope to the spot they had arrived at. When he swung her onto her feet she took his hand and they continued in silence.

When they reached the beach Penny stopped, right at the edge of where the sand started. For almost a full minute she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "This is the first time I've been here as well." She said, still with her eyes closed.

"We'll spend most of our time here, or in the near environs." She said, turning to face them. "To get right into it, the first thing I'd like you to learn is controlling one another."

"What?" Harry said while Hermione tried to puzzle that out.

"Through your link, you each have the ability to control the other's body. First, one of you must relinquish control to the other, proving your complete and utter trust in the other. Originally I would have said for Harry to control Hermione, but after some observation, we should try the reverse."

"How?" Hermione asked.

Instead of a direct answer, Penny's magic surged, creating a pair of lime green chaise lounges, inches apart on the sand. "By first relaxing into the bond and working together. When you are able to move the other's fingers and arms, try walking. When you grow tired, retire and rest in the tent. I'll come back each morning as the sun rises. There is no danger here to concern yourself with."

Ptolemy landed on her shoulder.

"So with that hint, we're on our own?" Harry asked.

"Yes, anymore and I will likely deter your progress." Penny said while Hermione nodded slowly and squeezed his hand.

"After we are able to control one another's bodies, linked-casting will come easier?" the brunette genius asked.

"Yes, it should." Penny said and with a raised hand vanished in a ball of phoenix fire.

"Well, what do you think the odds are that we're actually alone?" Harry asked his companion.

Hermione shrugged and pulled him to the lounge chairs. With a long-practiced gesture, she used her wand to transfigure some sand into a large, peach and pink umbrella to shade the chairs. "I don't believe that matters at all love."

"Why?" he asked slipping into the lounger on the left.

Because everything we need to do is in here. She replied.

Oh, yeah.

So, she recommended I control you first. How do you feel about that? Hermione asked.

He shrugged but then closed his eyes to think about it. Terrified I guess. He finally replied.

Yeah, me too. She thought back and clasped his hand before leaning back on her own lounger and closing her eyes. Just the thought of not being in control of your own actions is the stuff of nightmares.

Not to mention all of that Imperious Curse stuff. He added.

Oh, that reminds me of how you were able to overcome it. Even though the voice in your head made you feel happy you realized it didn't make sense. So how are you to tell the difference between my attempt to control you and someone trying to Imperious you?

He remained silent for several minutes while she also puzzled over that question. Hmm, well our connection feels very different.

Can you show me? She asked and he replied with the memories of his initial experience with the curse, courtesy of the fake Professor Moody.

It was a full minute after the memory ended before she sent him another thought. Yes, that does seem very different from our link. So would you like to try this?

He scowled before schooling his features. Well, I guess it's a required step.

Come love, I'm just going to try to move one of your fingers, maybe your hand.

His scowl turned into a mild frown before he sighed. Sure, how do you think we should start?

Well, I'll just see if I can reach to your right hand and twitch a finger.

Several minutes she sighed and relaxed further into the lounger. This may take some time love.

Yeah, I think it's my fault. I can't seem to relax, the anticipation is making me more nervous.

He actually saw her thought before she could reply and sat up to shuck his clothes. With a giggle she joined him in stripping and they met atop his lounger. A dozen fiery kisses later she began rubbing her dripping slit over his hard cock.

"Merlin love, you are tense, relax and let me take care of you." She whispered into his ear and received a chuckle in reply as his mouth latched onto her dangling nipple. "Yeah, they're awfully tense too. Oh. Yes." She added as his talented tongue sent waves of pleasure from her sensitive nipple right into her core and down to her clit.

A quick change in the angle of her hips and he slid into her warm sheath. They both paused as the incredible sensation once again washed over them. Since their bonding, sex had become an intense sensual experience. Each could feel an echo of the other's pleasure, which rapidly pushed them over the edge. To combat this, and prolong their coupling, they paused once in a while and generally just moved slower.

She began lifting her pelvis and then dropping it, while he tried to remain mostly still and just relax as he'd been ordered to. The tingling that went up her spine from his side of the bond were very distracting, but welcome.

Hermione was sweating profusely over him after a mere fifteen minutes of exquisite torture. Her own peak was moments away, while he was at the ragged edge, barely restraining himself from speeding her thrusts by grabbing her hips.

The astonishing climax that they shared left them both as relaxed as they would ever be and the brilliant brunette easily lifted his right hand from the lounge. She spread his fingers, and then made a fist.

Then his magical core seemed to meld with hers and a surge of blinding white magic shot from his hand and into the side of the volcanic island a few miles away. It only lasted a second before they each clamped down on their Occlumency barriers and the flow of magic ceased. They were still clinging to one another as the shockwave of the impact reached them, shaking the ground as it passed.

Looking at her love through her sweat-covered fringe they shared a terrified expression. What have we done?

A moment later they struggled to their feet, covering their eyes from the sun with a raised hand. Across the water was a ragged bare patch of mountain, a cloud of debris was still suspended over it. Fortunately they were too far away to be hit by any of the falling rocks, but both stood there, nude on the ancient beach, until they could clearly see the crater. It looked like a giant shovel had dug into the mountain and scooped out several thousand tons of rock.

Wow. One, or both, of them thought.

As one they lurched back to their lounge chairs and quickly got dresses, liberally using cleaning spells to remove the sand from uncomfortable locations.

I don't think it's going to erupt. She thought once they were dressed and looking at it again.

So it was a good idea to be somewhere where these accidents won't ever be noticed. He replied.

"Merlin, Harry, we might have just changed the course of evolution on the entire planet!"

"Mine." He said, pulling her into a hug. "Didn't Penny explain that to us months ago? We can't create a paradox, because whatever we do while back in time, had already happed in the history of the world. We just didn't know about it. That's how she can go rescue Sirius, she did it in a way that no one knew was possible."

Looking up into his brilliant green eyes she smiled. "Thanks love."

She was rewarded with a slow, sensual kiss and a briefly tightened hug. "But we did it."

Hermione snorted into his chest. "We can hardly stop to shag on the battlefield to relax enough to repeat that."

With a warm smile he turned her back towards the tree line. "I think that's enough for today, let's setup the tent and get some lunch."

"Yeah, I want to see what Penny thinks about that in the morning before we proceed."

"Of course you do love." Harry said with a gentle laugh.

}-{

(Past)

Luna was beyond happy, she finally felt like she belonged somewhere and was actually able to contribute to the effort. With the blossoming relationship between Neville and Kate, she was always partnered with Jess, which wasn't a bad thing in her mind as he was courteous and reliable.

He was even helpful with 'baby-James' as he called the child, since his older brother was James as well. Without his parents, James was decidedly more fussy, he had a hard time falling asleep. And on the second night after the Potters had left for training Jess found her wandering the house with a fussing James on her shoulder.

"You look exhausted." Jess said. When she only looked at him he gently took the squirming baby from her and held the little bundle in his massive arms. "He's not hungry is he?"

"No." she managed to say after staring at him for a moment.

"Go sleep, I'll walk him around for a while."

"K," she said and fell onto the couch. She was asleep moments later.

Jess wandered with baby-James into his parents room. Since the door was open he went right in and shook his mum's shoulder. With baby-James added noise she was up and moving in a moment while her husband just rolled over.

Back in the living room Jess pointed to Luna on the couch. "She was asleep on her feet."

"Oh, he's not hungry is he?" Mary asked.

"She said no." He told her.

"Pat his back gently, maybe he needs to burp again." She told her son. "No, turn him so his head is on your shoulder, you've seen us do that a lot haven't you? Yes, like that, now pat gently, start low move upwards."

She demonstrated a few times before letting her muscle-bound son take over. "Yes, like that. I'm going to get her into her bed."

"Sure." Jess said, trying to be extra gentle with his patting.

Luna was levitated into her own bed and Kate woken by her mother. "You just got drafted to help with the baby."

The just-woken Kate grabbed her boobs.

"No, not to feed him."

"Oh." Kate said, letting her arms drop back to her sides.

"Luna is exhausting herself trying to do all of this by herself. Jess found her wandering around asleep on her feet. He's got the baby right now and I moved her to her own bed."

"So what do you want me to do?" Kate asked.

"I'm going to put an alarm spell on her, that wakes you ten minutes after she wakes up to feed him. After the feeding I want you to help her get him back to sleep so she can rest. I'll need to show you a few simple spells, but that's it."

"Oh, sure." Kate said.

"Now I don't hear the baby crying anymore, so go relieve your brother and put him, the baby, into the crib in Luna's room. On his side, like I showed you."

Kate nodded, grabbing her bath robe and heading into the living room.

The next morning, when Luna had these sudden changes assimilated, she found herself grinning. It was nice to be part of a real family, where others discovered you needed help and suddenly you had help! The alarm spell on her was a great blessing, she could just turn James over to Kate and lie back down.

The middle of the night incident, did make her ponder her relationship to the youngest Granger child. Jess would be nearly two years older than her, but now was merely six months ahead of her. Something she finally realized was a permanent change for her and her fellow time travelers. Harry, Hermione, Neville, and herself would always be older than their perceived ages. So she stopped thinking of her age based on the difference between the present and her birth, to instead be an accumulation of months that she had experienced since her birth.

Chuck and Mary were very helpful in her continuing her education. They regularly brought in Charms, Potions, Defense and Transfiguration experts to gauge everyone's progress. She routinely exceeded in the assigned tasks to the point where she was a legitimate prodigy.

Kate, and sometimes Mary, would watch and change James at need, while Mary always watched him while they practiced. In fact everyone pitched in to allow Luna as much time as possible to study and train. She had to breast-feed James every few hours, but became adept at falling asleep in an instant when she could relax. Because of her lost sleep she was always an hour later than everyone else to drag herself to the kitchen in the morning.

One lazy Thursday afternoon in mid-August, after an intense practice session with muggle fire-arms, she reflected back on the last year of her life. She'd been incredibly hurt and confused, right up until the moment Hermione had sliced her palm and offered it to her. Since their blood and magic had connected, her life finally made sense.

Luna belonged to this family through her connection with Hermione, she had parents that were reliable and concerned for her! That was enough for the blonde to discover she relished in the stability of such a connection. They frequently called to talk to her, while the Hermione of the past was at the library or out with the other parent. Ever since her mother's passing she'd been lost, trying to help her father, and follow her grandparents confusing directions. Never mind those of her Head of House and Headmaster.

Her growing connection with 'baby-James' was wonderful and she often wondered what it would be like when she had her own child.

There was only one remaining topic for her to resolve, who would be the father of that child? For a while she contemplated asking Hermione if she would let Harry be that father, but gave it up fairly quickly. They were just too connected, perhaps without the soul bond it would have been possible, but that world was pure fantasy so she discarded it.

Jess seemed to be the obvious second choice, but he had never once stepped beyond her comfort level. Even on their winter mission, where they had to snuggle to stay warm for two nights in a simple tent. He'd held her where she placed his hands, and in spite of his erection poking her thigh in the morning had made no attempts to 'relieve' himself.

Instead he'd excused himself, apologizing to her for his lack of control and gone behind a tree to empty his bladder. He hadn't been gone long enough for him to jerk off, and they had continued their mission as though nothing had happened.

So if Jess held no romantic feelings for her, she would have to wait until they returned to Hogwarts in eleven months. Though she did still have a nagging feeling about him, something wasn't right. No he wasn't malicious, far from it. He went out of his way to offer help to others and was nearly always the first out to tend the horses in the morning, with James arriving at least thirty minutes later.

Well, she'd just have to spend more time with him to figure this out.

"Ugh." She said to herself, realizing that she would have to get up earlier to manage this. Instead of protesting further, for who had made the decision if not her to begin with? She rolled over on her bed and slid to the edge.

James was still contentedly asleep in his crib beside her bed. She lifted her breasts a moment, they were getting heavy, that meant he was likely to be hungry soon.

Her boots were dirty and sweaty, a quick scourgify and she was able to put them back on comfortably. She found Mary in the kitchen, and after washing up, she joined in the preparations for dinner.

"Aunt M?" She asked while chopping carrots with quick, efficient slicing spells.

"What is it dear? Just another two of those is fine, you have excellent control there."

"Thanks, is it ok if I get up a bit earlier to help out with the horses?" she asked, not looking up from her precise slicing.

"If you want." Mary said. "I'm sure the boys will appreciate it, Kate always hated getting up early, that's why she and Chuck take care of them in the evening."

"James won't be too much trouble for you?"

Mary laughed. "Dear, I've raised three of my own." She brushed her fingers lightly over Luna's shoulder. "No, so long as you've just fed him it should be fine."

"Ok, thanks." They were interrupted by Luna suddenly feeling her milk let down and James' distant cry of hunger. "Sorry, got to go!"

"I've got it dear, go on." Mary said as the blonde sprinted from the kitchen.

It took her two more days to manage to implement her plan. With Mary trying to burp James on her shoulder, Luna walked out of the kitchen, steaming mug of tea in her hands for added warmth.

Jess had been a few minutes ahead of her, but he was just opening the main door to the barn as she stepped off the porch and onto the dew-covered grass.

If he had been surprised at her change of schedule, he didn't show it. "Morning." He called as she walked into the barn sipping deeply from the mug.

"Morning." She replied and placed the mug on the desk by the door where his coffee stood steaming. "So, I've only done the evening work and rubbed them down after riding."

"Come with me then." He said with a broad swing of a massive arm. "First we just check in on each of them, pat them a bit and see how much feed they need. It's why the feed is stored at the other end really."

"I thought that was just to hide it." She said and took a few quick steps to join him at the first stall.

The Grangers had a full dozen horses in riding condition and four foals that were still too young, three of them were in larger stalls with their mothers. The inspection and feeding was followed by mucking out the stalls and laying down a fresh bed of hay.

Those last two were both very physical jobs. Luna was in the best shape of her life due to the intense training routine they'd been subjected to, but this used her muscles in entirely different ways.

Jess let her manage on her own, and then took over the task when she wavered. He always had another task to have her do, which allowed her to recover her strength. She loved rubbing down the horses, though apparently in the morning it was just a brief one on each animal.

By 8:30 she had to rush back to the house to feed the wailing baby, but Jess hollered after her that she'd been a great help.

Sitting in her room, with James suckling on her swollen breast she thought about the morning in the barn. How did Jess know just when to step in and help her? Was he that in tune with her abilities? No, she thought. That didn't seem possible, they'd hardly spent any time together doing those jobs. Perhaps their experience training together had made him aware of whatever physical signs she had that indicated she was getting tired?

"Hmm, what do you think James?" she hummed softly to the baby in her arm as she caressed his cheek softly.

He didn't answer, or even seem to notice her touch. He was quite comfortable with her now, though they all still had a devilish time getting him to sleep.

"Well, fine just ignore me. Typical male, only interested in my tits." She said gently and then smiled at the new idea she'd just had. Maybe she just needed to expose more of her enlarged chest to see if Jess reacted? It was still warm enough to swim, perhaps more time at the pool was advisable?

}-{

(Present)

Marlene apparated herself and Daphne to the gates of Hogwarts. She immediately sensed a threat and encompassed them both in a glowing amber shield before anyone else could react. Her staff appearing in her left hand with a practiced twist. Beside her she was quite proud that her niece had her wand at the ready and spun to face their rear.

They were at the front gates of Hogwarts, but they were sealed and the wards bristled with added potency.

"McKinnon!" She heard Mad-Eye bark from inside the gate. Two Aurors stood nervously near him, wands trained on her.

"Oh, it's you." She replied, still holding the shield. "What was the first thing you tried to teach me old man?"

"How to fall without hurting yourself." He replied with a brief laugh.

"Very well." She said and put her hand on Daphne's shoulder. She looked around behind them, Hogsmeade appeared to be deserted.

"And what happened when I tried?" Mad-Eye asked her the counter question.

"I broke your nose for touching my ass." Marlene said without hesitating.

Daphne gasped and looked at her aunt who merely nodded once at her and then spun her to face the gates.

"Ok, what are you doing here?"

"What I was ordered to by Madam Bones yesterday. And you know you cannot question me further."

"Yeah, I know. OK Franks let them in." Mad-Eye said.

The wards around the gate pulled back and the gates clanged and groaned before the Aurors were able to pull the left one open a few feet.

Marlene lowered her shield and stepped onto the grounds, her wand and eyes pointing back the way they had come. Immediately after they were inside the gate was shoved closed and one of the Aurors pushed his wand to a rune on the pillar. The Wards snapped back into place.

"Mind if I walk up to the castle with you?" Mad-Eye asked.

"No, so long as you tell me what's going on. And yes my Niece can hear it."

Daphne's mask was tightly in place or she would have grinned in pride at that declaration from her aunt. Instead she sheathed her wand and stepped to her Aunt's far side as they began the long walk to the castle.

Moody waited for them to be well out of earshot of the Aurors at the gate. "The Ministry fell last night to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Damn."

"She didn't make it." He said quickly to her unasked question.

"Damn." Marlene said, her voice quite a bit higher than usual. She pulled Daphne close with a rough arm over her shoulders.

The teen let out a brief noise, but quickly put her arms around her aunt as they stopped in the path.

"I was with her just prior to eight. That's when she gave me the orders I followed last night and am still working on this morning." The Hit Witch said softly.

Moody waited while they digested the news. Then he coughed softly to get their attention. "Yeah, Scrimgeour is here. He wants to speak to you."

"About?"

"A job, I think." Moody said and tugged her magenta robe as he began walking to the castle again.

"So he's coming here next, Gringotts is too tough for what he's got left." Daphne said a minute later.

"It's what we expect yeah." Moody said, giving her an appraising look.

"My father had an owl from him this morning, he wants an alliance with the neutral faction." She said without prompting. "That means he's hurting for troops. From what Aunt M. says he's been taking a lot of losses recently."

She didn't include in that information the fact that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had specifically asked her to become his new right hand. The very thought made her nauseous and her father enraged, though he wouldn't respond until he calmed down. That had pushed him in the direction Madam Bones had asked him to move and the neutrals would now align with the light.

"Is Miss Hermione Granger in the castle?" Marlene asked.

"She was last night, I haven't seen her today though. Her, Potter, and that Lovegood girl were up in some room on the seventh floor last I heard."

The Hit Witch nodded, "My last order from Madam Bones was to protect her."

"Ahh." Moody said with a nod.

Scrimgeour met them in the entrance hall, only his senior secretary, Percy Weasley, was with him. Half-a-dozen suits of armor stood at attention to either side of the doorway.

"Lady McKinnon! How wonderful it is to see you healthy. And this must me your famous niece?" He said by way of greeting.

"Minister." Marlene said stiffly, "And yes, this is Daphne Greengrass."

Said witch curtsied but remained silent until no one spoke for a moment. "Minister, my father wishes to align the neutral faction with the light, against those of the dark." With Madam Bones dead, she felt it was logical to present this information to the Minister for Magic instead.

"Really?" Scrimgeour asked and then recovered himself. "That's excellent news. Can you get word to him that we expect an assault upon Hogwarts in the next few days? Help would be appreciated."

Daphne curtsied again, "I shall do so Minister."

With several nods Scrimgeour continued. "From the frown you wore upon arriving, I'll assume Captain Moody informed you of our loss last evening. I'm afraid we shall have precious time to mourn. We must present a strong front. Several days ago Madam Bones mentioned that you were one of the few she had shared her plans with. With that, and your record, I'm appointing you, Lady McKinnon as interim Head of the DMLE."

Marlene bowed her head briefly. "I shall do my utmost Minister to end this conflict and see those responsible brought before the court. Once it can be re-convened that is."

"Yes," He said and then picked up a jar with a mass of slowly wriggling worms from the second step of the grand staircase. "Here are your first prisoners, though you'll have to figure out how to transform them back."

"What?" She asked eyeing the contents of the jar.

"Apparently they were some of the Wizards involved in the assault on Diagon Alley yesterday. Miss Granger transformed them into worms. Headmistress McGonagall has refused to change them back at this time."

"Hermione?" Daphne said in a hushed whisper and then laughed softly.

"Here." Marlene said and passed the jar to her niece. "Make sure they don't die."

Daphne wrinkled her nose but remained silent, her humor forgotten with this new task.

"Mad-Eye, I need to speak with the Headmistress to determine how we stand, in the meantime I want you to focus on assembling a cadre of troops. Start with the Aurors and then add some of the rest, as I can hear the Great Hall is full of people and you must have evacuated Hogsmeade to here."

"Yes, and many have answered the emergency call as well. I'll get on that." Moody said and stomped into the suddenly silent hall.

"What can I do?" the Minister asked.

"Well you're pretty sharp with that wand, I'd recommend you increase our morale by collecting some of the willing, but non-Aurors and teaching them shielding and at least the piercing hex." Marlene said.

"Not stunning?" The Minister asked with a slight smile.

"Certainly not. I will not allow unforgivables, but a piercing hex to the head is just as effective."

"Yes," he said, nodded his great mane of hair flopping about, and followed Moody into the hall. Without a word Percy trailed after him, though he did look at the two women briefly as he passed.

"Daph, feed those worms. I doubt anyone's done a thing for them. After that you must find Miss Granger and help guard her back. Madam Bones' concern was that if anything happened to her then Mr. Potter would be unable to continue." Marlene said to her remaining companion. "I'll be in the Great Hall."

"Yes, that's certainly likely." Daphne said and headed off to the kitchens and some helpful house elves.

}-{

It had taken her an hour, but Daphne had located an elf that used to work for a fisherman who raised his own bait. He helped her deposit a large piece of pumpkin and a half-cup of coffee grounds in the jar. "Now Ranna, I need you to keep them well fed and bring them to me if I call, and do not allow them to escape or be killed!"

"Yes, mistress." The little man said eagerly as she turned the jar over to him.

Finally free Daphne remembered the message she needed to send to her father and focused on her happy thought. A moment later a ghostly kestrel went off through the stone of the castle to deliver her missive.

She then climbed from the base of the castle to the seventh floor, occasionally running into others, but none of them really acknowledged her presence. She reached the seventh floor and headed around the castle to the room that Dumbledore's Army had been found in.

"Oh, hello Daph." She heard a familiar voice call as she opened the door, with a smile she walked inside.