DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Since I am not her, it should be obvious that I don't.

Chapter Three

Dan opened the front door of his home and held it open as Hermione helped Harry inside.

"Honestly Hermione, I'm fine enough to walk on my own," Harry protested for what had to have been the tenth time since he had be released from St. Mungo's a few hours ago.

"You say that now, but I know the second I let you try and walk on your own, you'll end up tripping and falling like Tonks," said Hermione.

Emma was the last one in and closed the door with her free hand, her other hand occupied with the bag full of potion ingredients Hermione would need to make some of the healing potions Harry would have to take for the next month.

While Harry was doing much better than he had been a week ago, he still had a long road of recovery left as his body healed back to normal.

"There's no point arguing with you on this, is there?" asked Harry.

"None at all," Hermione said with a smile. "Now come on. Mum set up the guest room upstairs for you to stay in this summer. It's right next to my room, in case you need me for anything."

"Anything?" asked Harry as he arched an eyebrow.

Hermione blushed and chose not to answer him as she refused to meet his gaze.

"I'll just set these in the kitchen," said Emma as she held up the bag.

"That's fine mum," said Hermione and she and Harry started slowly up the stairs. "I'll be down in a bit to sort through and store it all."

Once upstairs, Hermione opened the door to the guest bedroom. The room was decorated tastefully, though lacked the personal touch of actually being someone's personal bedroom. As Harry looked around, he noticed his trunk and the rest of his belongings piled in the corner.

"Dumbledore brought your stuff over when he came to place wards on the house," Hermione said when she noticed where Harry was looking.

As Hermione helped Harry get onto the bed, Hedwig flew in through the open window and let out a happy sounding hoot.

"Hey girl," Harry said with a smile. "I hear I owe you for saving my life."

Hedwig gave a brief shrug with her wings before closing her eyes and going to sleep.

"I'll never get over how Hedwig seemed to be able to understand and communicate," said Hermione.

"She's one of a kind," said Harry.

Hermione started to take Harry's shoes off when Harry started to protest.

"Hermione, you don't have to do that," said Harry. "I'm more than capable of taking off my own shoes."

"You could barely put them on this morning without wincing in pain," said Hermione as she dropped his shoes on the floor and then took off his socks. "So please, stop trying to pretend you can do everything on your own right now. Just focus on getting better before we have to go back to school."

Harry groaned and lay back against the pillows on the bed.

"School," Harry said and then groaned. "Not something I'm looking forward to as I'm sure by then there will be all sorts of stories in the Prophet about what happened to me."

"Interestingly enough, there hasn't been a peep," said Hermione. "It's been a week, so you would think at least someone would have written something."

"Unless Dumbledore did what Fudge did and put pressure on the Daily Prophet," said Harry.

"He might have," said Hermione. "Ever since Voldemort was seen at the Ministry that night, the Headmaster has been restored to all of his old positions and is once again viewed as the greatest wizard alive. All he would have to do is 'suggest' they don't print anything and they would keep quiet about it."

"Maybe," said Harry. He couldn't fault Hermione's logic. After the hell Harry had gone through the past year at Hogwarts, constantly being in the center of a negative light thanks to the bumbling buffoon of a Minister named Fudge, the possibility of Dumbledore doing what he could to prevent any more focus placed on Harry wasn't that far fetched. Especially something like what had happened, which would end up running as the headline of the Daily Prophet for at least a month as they continuously delve into his past between the night his parents were killed and when he finally arrived at Hogwarts. Not to mention each of his summers.

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Madam Amelia Bones, the current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and if rumors were to be believed, possibly the next Minister for Magic if Cornelius Fudge is voted out of office, was sitting in her own office as she went over the file in front of her. It had been decided that it would be best for Wizard/Muggle relations not to publicly announce what happened to Harry Potter. If the magical community at large were to find out that the Boy-Who-Lived had been beaten to death by his own muggle relatives and was only alive today thanks to the intervention of a phoenix, they could forget having to worry about a war against Voldemort, as a war against the muggles would break loose.

By the time it was over, it would be the dark ages all over again.

However, that still didn't prevent her from doing her job and bringing those responsible to justice. Or, at least that was what she was trying to do.

When Amelia had found out about the attack on young Mr. Potter, she had personally gone to Number Four, Privet Drive to arrest his relatives, only to find out no one lived in the home, and asking a few of the neighbors informed her that no one had lived there for a very long time. A quick Legilimency scan told her that they believed what they were saying, which tipped her off to someone magically wiping their minds of the Dursley's. Her next step was Mr. Dursley's business, only to discover the same thing. And when she paid a visit to his sister, the woman believed she was an only child.

Someone had gone to great lengths to systematically erase the existence of Harry's relatives. And while she would not lose any sleep over the issue, her own curiosity and the instincts of someone that had been an Auror and working within the DMLE for nearly forty years screamed at her to find out the truth.

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Hermione came downstairs and went strait into the kitchen right after she was sure Harry was resting comfortably in bed, and found her parents sitting at the table, talking quietly as they had a cup of tea.

"How is Harry doing?" Emma asked as Hermione started to sort through the various potion supplies

"So far, he's okay," said Hermione as she pulled out a small jar of pickled salamander eyes. "Though, the trip from St. Mungos tired him out, so he's trying to get some sleep."

Emma paled slightly as she watched her daughter sniff a small plastic pouch full of eel spleens. It had been five years since they had all found out that Hermione was a witch, and during that time, Emma had yet to get used to the very odd and sometimes disgusting things they used in potions.

"Are you sure those things are safe to ingest?" Emma asked.

"Of course," said Hermione, who was now looking at a bottle of powdered snail. "I know they might seem weird, but when mixed correctly, they have very impressive results. Even re-grow bones that have been recently lost."

"That must be painful," said Dan as he set down his now empty teacup.

"From what Harry told me, it is," said Hermione. "But this wasn't his first time having to have his bones re-grown. You remember how I told you that Professor Lockhart turned out to be a fraud?"

"We do," said Emma.

"I also remember a certain someone having a bit of a crush on him after reading his books," commented Dan.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Hermione said. "Anyways, Harry broke his arm playing Quidditch that year and Professor Lockhart, trying to act like he knew what he was doing, used a spell which banished all of the bones in his arm from the elbow down."

"Ouch," said Dan and Emma winced as she imaged how that might have felt.

"It wasn't bad when they were gone," said Hermione. "Harry wasn't in any pain. Though, his arm did look a little like rubber. However, he did have to spend the entire night in the hospital wing as the potion he took regrew all of the bones. A little painful, like needles running through his arm, and the taste is supposedly one of the worst. But by the next day, his arm was full of bones again, and by that night, his arm worked just like before."

"And all that just from mixing… Those things together?" Emma asked as she indicated the items on the counter.

"Some of them, yes," said Hermione. "Though, you can't just toss them into a bowl like a salad and stir it up. They have to be added in a certain order, and at a certain time during the brewing process. Some potions can even take up to a month to brew because the ingredients take time to break down due to their magical properties."

"Magical properties?" asked Emma, who was now completely engrossed in learning more about how her daughter made potions. It was the first time since the summer after her first year at Hogwarts where she was willingly giving them details on how things worked.

"Yes," said Hermione, as she pulled out a leather pouch full of a dried up purple plant. "Like this. This is aconite, or more commonly known as wolfsbane. A small amount of this mixed into the right potion can create a powerful potion to knock someone unconscious that it seems like they are dead."

"Oh my," said Emma. "Why would someone want to do that?"

"It was an accident," said Hermione. "It was originally supposed to be a more powerful version of a calming potion to give to someone who was in complete hysterics to the point where they were a danger to themselves and others around them. Instead, they ended up with this. It happens quite a bit. Like when the monks in France were making wine and the bottle accidentally carbonated and they ended up with…"

"Champagne," said Dan.

"Exactly," said Hermione, flashing her father a smile. "Accidents don't always lead to things being ruined, but to all new discoveries."

Seeing that she had everything, Hermione pulled out her potions book and the new cauldron they had purchased, which she placed on the stove before turning on the burner.

"I should warn you two," Hermione said as she pulled out a knife and started to chop her needed ingredients. "I am going to make a batch of pain relieving potion and half way through the process, it will smell like rotten eggs for about ten minutes or so."

Dan and Emma shared a look and both knew that they didn't want to be around for that. And seeing that Hermione had pretty much taken over the kitchen, Emma decided that maybe the two of them would leave their daughter to her work while they ran out for a bit and pick up some take away for dinner.

"How does pizza sound?" asked Emma and she stood up.

"Works for me," Hermione said as she added the diced up frog heart to the slowly simmering liquid.

"What does Harry like on his?" asked Dan as Emma felt her stomach start to turn.

"He likes…" Hermione started to say, but then stopped as she thought about it. In all the years she had known him, the topic of favorite pizza toppings never came up. Though, a part of her wondered if he had ever had pizza, since she knew that his foul relatives would never treat him to something like that, unless it was at gunpoint. "I don't know," she finally said.

"That's okay," said Dan. "We'll just make sure to get one that is half plain cheese, just in case he doesn't like anything else on it.

"Alright," said Hermione as she went back to work, and Dan and Emma left to get dinner.

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Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office at Hogwarts, pondering over the mystery of Harry when he felt the wards at the bottom of his stairs let him know someone was coming.

"Come in," Dumbledore said just before the visitor knocked on the door.

"Headmaster," Severus Snape said as he entered the office.

"Ah, Severus," said Dumbledore with a hint of a smile. "I take it you have something to report?"

"Indeed," said Snape as he sat down across from Dumbledore. "I have kept my ears open amongst the Dark Lord and all his followers to see if any of them had heard what happened to Potter. As far as I can tell, they all remain ignorant of the event that took place. The Dark Lord is in fact, more interested in not only continuously punishing Bellatrix for her failure at the Department of Mysteries, he is also trying to find a way to punish Lucius for not only his failure, but for also being captured and discovered as being one of his followers, effectively losing his closest contact within the Ministry to be able to secretly push forward his agenda."

"Good," said Dumbledore. "I fear what may happen if he were to learn how weak Harry currently is."

"He would find Potter and kill him," Snape said bluntly. The two were quiet for a moment before Snape asked, "What did happen?"

"When Harry's relatives picked him up at King's Cross a few members of the Order chose to inform Harry's uncle that they didn't want him bothering Harry that summer. It would seem he didn't take it very well being told what to do by anyone, especially those that are magical."

Snape scoffed and said, "Imbeciles. Of course he wouldn't take it well. I saw the way they treated Potter while attempting to teach him Occlumency. They have had nothing but contempt for him since the night you left him on their doorstep. It was foolish and stupid of them to think they could bully him into leaving Potter be."

"They had the best of intentions," said Dumbledore.

"And it was Potter that had to walk the road to hell that was paved with it," said Snape, a hint of anger creeping into his voice. He might not have cared much for Harry due to the fact that he reminded the potions master so much of his old school enemy, but that didn't mean that he took any joy in seeing Lily's child being harmed in any way.

Just then, Snape felt his forearm start to burn and clutched it tightly.

"The dark lord calls," he said.

"Then I shall not keep you," said Dumbledore.

With a brief nod of his head, Snape stood up and left the room, his cloak billowing behind him.

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It had taken a few hours, but when Hermione was finished, she had several bottles of the various potions the healers said might and would be needed for Harry's recovery.

Her parents had returned with dinner while she was watching the cauldrons simmer, and took a short break to eat after she checked on Harry, who was still asleep.

Now that she was done and was about to take a shower before going to bed, she heard some moaning coming from the guest room Harry was staying in. She quickly ran into the room, thinking something was wrong, only to find him still asleep and tossing and turning.

"No," he cried out. "Please no. Let me go. I need to get to Sirius."

Hermione felt a pang of sadness inside as she heard his words. While she had been unconscious when Sirius had been hit by Bellatrix's spell and fell back through the veil, she had been told by Neville what had happened and how Harry had tried to go after his godfather, not realizing that when he had passed through the veil, he had ceased to exist.

Not knowing anything about the veil, she had taken the time to look it up in the library at Hogwarts just before they went home for the summer and found out that it was the magical equivalent of a black hole. After reading that, her heart had stopped for a moment as she realized just how close she had come to losing Harry that night if not for Remus Lupin grabbing him before he ran through after his godfather.

And now she stood there, watching as he relived that moment in his nightmare.

It was then that Hermione knew that not only would she have to help Harry heal his body that summer, but also his heart and mind as well before he ended up letting his emotions tear him apart and do something far more reckless and dangerous than he usually did and end up getting himself killed.

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A/N: Sorry it's taken me a bit to get this story updated. I had to have a wisdom tooth pulled, and the painkillers and antibiotics they put me on afterwards knocked me on my ass for a few days. But I'm back and doing much better, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.