Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Epilogue - Part 1

April 7, 1997

Hermione sunk into her now familiar position against Harry's side and waited for him to speak. They'd split up from Ron who was now most likely fending off questions from Lavender, Neville, and Ginny on all that they had learned that day. She was thankful Ron offered to deal with the inquisition on Harry's behalf.

The trio had agreed that they needed to have a long talk about what could be shared and to who but those discussions could begin tomorrow...or maybe the next day. They needed clear heads to plot and plan and her's was currently spinning from the information overload from their day long conversation with the headmaster. She heard Harry cast Muffliato and patiently waited for him to speak.

"You know, part of me was hoping you had exaggerated how ridiculous Dumbledore's plan was. It's even more insane than you made it out to be."

She finally asked the question that had been on her mind for the last day. "Are you okay?"

He chuckled. "No. Not at all. But on the plus side I get to own the most powerful wand ever created in a few days. That's something I suppose."

Despite herself she laughed. "And to think, all you need to do to become the Master of Death is to let Professor Snape murder Dumbledore."

"Snape didn't look too great did he?"

"Slowly crumbling Unbreakable Vows tend to have that effect I suppose," she replied.

"Do you think Snape is on our side?" he asked.

"Dumbledore certainly thinks so."

"He's been wrong before...but the things Dumbledore said about him and Mum..." Harry offered helplessly before drifting off. There were so many unknowns.

"I think we should ask her," Harry finally offered.

"Her?"

"My mum."

Hermione pulled back. "You're joking."

"We are going to have the resurrection stone in less than a week, Hermione. Dumbledore wanted me to make peace before I died but I reckon we could use it for the opposite reason. To figure out a way to survive. We have this resource that will let us talk to people without any risk of our secrets spreading."

"You think you could handle that?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered, not sounding quite as sure of himself as he'd hoped. "But either way that's where you come in."

"Me?"

"You get to decide when we use it and only you will know where it is."

"The temptation could be too great," she theorized, "you could go behind my back and try to get it."

Harry pulled her back into his side as he let out a small laugh. "First of all there is no way I could ever figure out how to get past the security measures you would use to hide it. You're the one who always explains that sort of thing to me. I'd be clueless."

As she waited for him to continue she realized he wasn't wrong. He and Ron wouldn't even know where to start.

"Besides, I reckon the last thing my parents would want is for me to keep calling them up for a chat instead of focusing on this," he continued.

"So you're saying we should come up with a list of topics to question them about?" she asked, becoming more and more intrigued at the potential usefulness of the stone.

"Well, I assumed you'd be the one coming up with most of the questions, but yeah," he joked.

She playfully poked him in the ribs. "Dumbledore said we should avoid using the stone," she reminded.

"Yeah, well he was the one dumb enough to get himself cursed because of it. I've got you to stop me from doing something that stupid," he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She pondered his words and realized there truly were many unanswered questions Harry's parents could provide answers to. The nature of Harry's protection...other potential research tools and Potter assets...even Horcrux theories.

She sat up and grabbed a blank piece of parchment and self inking quill out of her bag, eager to start making a list. As much as she wanted to relax for the rest of the evening their time was limited and there would be time for that once they were done. She'd expected Harry to protest but apparently he was in agreement.

Snape was due to fulfill his vow of finishing Draco's task in five days and they needed to plan as much as possible while Dumbledore was still available for questions and input. After that they would truly be on their own and the headmaster was one person she had no intention of using the stone on if they could help it.