"Righto, great place to start!" Amanda exclaimed. "Well, the good news is that despite being hit by the killing curse, you two aren't dead!" Twin looks of joy and excitement grew across their faces, and the immortal beamed at their reaction.
"That's wonderful," Hermione exclaimed, smiling widely, "but how is that possible?"
"That...will be explained to you, I promise." Amanda replied, still skirting around the sensitive issue. Harry frowned slightly at this response, before replying.
"And the bad news?" He asked reluctantly, not sure he wanted the answer. Amanda winced slightly, increasing that belief greatly.
"The bad news?" Amanda repeated quietly. "The bad news...is...that..." she sighed sadly, before responding, "a lot of what you knew was a lie." Their eyes widened at this answer.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked incredulously. Amanda twirled and tugged a strand of her hair, before answering.
"Look, this is going to take a lot of explaining," Amanda murmured, "so just bear with me and I will give you answers." They nodded in response. "Right, my main purpose for being here is to present you both with a choice, and your family is here to advise you."
"What choice could there possibly be?" Hermione asked confusedly. Amanda huffed slightly, and rolled her eyes.
"I'll get to that, give me a chance!" The smirk on Amanda's face took the sting out of her words. "To be honest, I am more surprised that you haven't asked me why I am here; instead of say...I don't know...Death?" Harry's eyes widened in shock at this revelation.
"Death is real?" Harry asked in disbelief. "As in, Death with a capital D?" Amanda chuckled at his reaction.
"Of course he is," Amanda replied with a smile, "someone has to be in charge of death, don't they?" She smirked. "By the way, he really likes you, Harry!" Said wizard stiffened at this remark, and he began to panic internally.
"H-he does?" Harry asked faintly. Seeing the unease on his face, the immortal giggled at his reaction.
"Oh, don't be like that!" Amanda exclaimed. "Death's a real nice bloke, once you get to know him! He doesn't often give out second chances, either! So make sure you thank him, should you see him!" The thought of meeting Death made Harry and Hermione feel very uneasy, and they shuddered in unison.
"Y-yes, yes we will," Hermione replied anxiously, "though I dearly hope not to meet him very soon." Amanda laughed at her response.
"I'm sure he's very crestfallen by that, Hermione!" The immortal said amusedly, before getting back on track. "Right! As I was saying, I am here instead of Death," the pair shuddered, "because you two fall under my jurisdiction as the goddess of Love!" Amanda grinned. "So here is another piece of good news! You're soul-bound!"
Hermione gasped at this revelation, and grinning like a mad-woman, she tackled Harry in a bear hug and squeezed him tightly. Harry, meanwhile, closed his arms reflexively around her, but didn't quite understand what she was excited about.
"I'm sorry, soul-bound?" He asked curiously. "Clearly Hermione knows what it is, and is very excited, but I haven't a clue." Hermione chuckled into his chest, before pulling back.
"I did wonder why you weren't as excited as I was, Harry." Hermione said dryly, before smiling warmly. "Soul-bonds are extremely rare! It means that a couple is meant to be together! In a magical sense, the souls of a couple join together and are shared! It's the most intimate bond a couple in love can share!"
As Hermione explained the bond to him, Harry's eyes widened and his face lit up. Seeing his joy and excitement, and realising he was as happy about this as she was, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. After a moment, she pulled back and beamed.
"Oh Harry," she whispered, "we were made for each other! It's a match made in heaven..."
"A match made by me, actually!" Amanda said smugly. "But yes, Hermione is absolutely correct! I scour the human realm and look for people who are pure of heart and soul. I link these people with a subtle connection, which draws them together!" The immortal's happiness faded slightly as she continued. "You two, unfortunately, had a great many...issues preventing you from completing the bond." A startled look of confusion came across both of their faces.
"What?" Hermione asked. "What was stopping us from being together?" Sirius growled angrily at this question, drawing their attention.
"More like who..." Sirius snarled, seething as he thought of the culprits.
As they looked around, there were similar looks of anger on the faces of Remus, Lily and James, the pair noticed. None of them gave any hint as to a name. Before they could press for more information, Amanda spoke once more.
"We will get to that shortly." Amanda promised, before continuing. "As I was saying, yes, you and Hermione share one another's souls. And normally, the sharing of souls that comes with the soul-bond is harmless. However," she paused, "your bond is a little different. You see, there are in fact three souls being shared between the two of you."
"Three?!" Harry exclaimed. Amanda nodded.
"I'm afraid so," Amanda replied, before adding, "although the third soul is more of a fragment..." Harry's eyes widened, before his expression darkened.
"Voldemort..." Harry snarled, seething at the thought of his nemesis corrupting his bond with Hermione.
"I'm afraid so." Amanda repeated grimly.
As Harry silently brooded on this, Hermione took his hand and squeezed it in support. She was as sickened by this development as he was, and wanted answers. At this point, a grim faced James took over the conversation.
"Harry," James began, "did anyone try and explain to you how you survived the killing curse when your mother and I died?" Harry nodded.
"Professor Dumbledore thought that it was because of mum's sacrifice and her love for me…" Harry replied, not sure of the relevance.
As the name of their deceased headmaster passed his lips, they were startled to see the unilateral intense looks of venom and anger on the faces of the immortal and departed magicals. All of a sudden, the pieces clicked together and Hermione gasped.
"It was Dumbledore?!" She asked incredulously. "He was the one trying to keep Harry and I apart?" Harry looked at Hermione in shock, before turning to the immortal. Amanda nodded grimly.
"I'm sorry." Amanda replied sadly.
Tears sprang up in Harry's eyes and he shook his head in dismay. It had to be a mistake, it had to be! Albus Dumbledore was his mentor, his friend – the grandfather figure he had been denied by the first blood war.
"I-It can't be," Harry murmured, "it just can't. There must be a mistake! He was always looking out for me, trying to keep me safe!" He raked his hand through his hair anxiously, harshly pulling straight through knots. "Sure, he made mistakes – played things too close to his chest, didn't share information, tried to control things too much...but he was always on my side..." Sirius scoffed at this remark.
"I don't think Dumbledore was ever on anyone's side but his own." Sirius said coldly, continuing to seethe as he thought of the man. Following this rather uncaring observation, Lily scowled at the marauder, stormed over and slapped him on the back of the head.
"Nice Sirius," Lily scolded, "such a compassionate reply." Looking to Harry, she smiled caringly. "I'm sorry honey," Lily apologised, "I know how much Albus meant to you." Having been properly chastised by Lily, Sirius sighed and looked apologetically at Harry.
"Sorry Harry," Sirius said, rubbing the back of his head in an exaggerated fashion after Lily's attack. Rolling her eyes at his antics, Lily continued.
"Amanda is right though, Harry." Lily confirmed. "Albus was..." she hesitated, wondering how best to phrase it, "always calculating his next move, and always had a plan for how things were to turn out. He regarded most people as pieces on a chessboard, caring only how they factored into his strategy." As Harry listened, his disbelief turned into pain at the betrayal, before rapidly transforming into anger.
"So, I was what?" Harry demanded indignantly. "Just a pawn to him? A piece to move around and fight his battles?! That's it?!"
Feeling his fury at their old headmaster, Hermione pulled Harry into a hug and held him firmly, attempting to reassure him through her embrace. Slowly, his anger began to bleed out as her hold calmed him, and his temper was brought back under control. Lily waited until he had sufficiently calmed down, before replying.
"He was manipulating you, Harry;" she began, "that much is certain. But how he regarded you beyond that? I don't know. I do think he cared for you, in a way. But you would need to ask him for answers..." Harry scoffed at her final words.
"He never gave answers while he was alive," Harry spat bitterly; "so I can't imagine he would give them now in death." Shaking his head of his poisonous thoughts regarding Dumbledore, he looked to James. "So how did we survive?"
"Right." James said with a nod, seeing that Harry wanted to move it on. "Now, you are both aware of horcruxes, aren't you?" They both nodded. "Before Riddle attacked us on Halloween 1981, he had made six soul horcruxes and intended to use your death, Harry, to make the seventh. Now, your mother..." he paused here for a second, before turning to his wife, "sorry Lils, did you want to take this?" She nodded and took over.
"I was certain," Lily began, "that despite all our protections, Riddle would find us and try to kill you, Harry. I was afraid that James and I would be unable to keep you safe. So, while we were in hiding, I would venture out in disguise and scour magical Britain for knowledge to help us. Eventually, in the ruins of a magical fortress I found a library with a vast collection of rare books..." Hermione perked up at this and interrupted.
"An abandoned library of rare books?!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "How did you find such a place in Britain?" Lily smiled at her fellow book-worm.
"With great difficulty," Lily replied amusedly, before sighing happily at her memory of the library, "oh, I wish you could have seen it, Hermione! Thousands of dusty tomes, forgotten scrolls and ancient manuscripts...it was wonderful!" Hermione's eyes lit up and glittered at thought of all those books, just waiting to be read. Harry chuckled at her expression.
"So where was this library?" Harry asked curiously. Lily's smile quickly faded and she sighed sadly.
"I wish I could tell you," she replied apologetically, "but...I don't know." Hermione's joy nose-dived, and she stared at Lily with barely repressed tears.
"What?" Hermione whispered, greatly distressed.
"From what I was able to discover," Lily explained to the distraught witch, "the library can only be found by someone who has great need of it. Once you have found the information you seek and leave, it becomes impossible to find the library again."
"But how could you just forget where it was?" Hermione pressed. "Do you think there was magic involved, like the fidelius?" Lily sighed in response.
"I can only assume so." She responded sadly. "Once I had returned home, I had every intention of trying to go back. But I found that not only had the location been removed from my mind, but the trail I followed to find it initially had vanished!" Both witches now had an expression of utter heartbreak on their faces.
"All that knowledge," Hermione murmured despondently, "just lost?"
Fighting back his bemusement at the trauma both witches were suffering over the loss of an opportunity to study a collection of books, Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione and squeezed her reassuringly.
"It may be lost, Hermione," Harry replied positively, "but that doesn't mean it can't be found again. After all, if mum found it once, why shouldn't you be able to find it?" Taking comfort from his words, the erudite witch smiled softly and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Thanks Harry," she said warmly. He merely smiled in response. "Sorry Lily, you were telling us about the library you found?" Hermione continued, blushing as she realised she had halted the conversation again.
"That's ok, Hermione." Lily replied, understanding her reaction to the library. "While searching in the library, I found a text referencing an ancient ritual which could be used to safeguard Harry from Riddle. Once completed, the ritual would generate a magical barrier of sorts, absorbing any hostile spells thrown at it..."
"Including the killing curse?" Harry asked needlessly. Lily nodded in response. "That's incredible! But I thought there was no magical way to shield against the curse?"
"Yes, that's true Harry," Lily replied, "an individual magic user cannot shield against the curse with just their wand. However, runic ward shields, like those attached to buildings, can stop the curse. Not indefinitely, mind you. The ritual more or less created a ward around you, protecting you from Riddle's spells." At this point, James chimed back in.