-1Chosen

Chapter one

"Harry Potter. I looked forward to meeting you."

"Most people do." Harry responded tartly. "What is this place?"

"The place is not important. It is the message that matters. But to answer your question, this is a dream. It was the only way I could reach you conveniently."

"If this is a dream, then what is to stop me from believing that this was…well… just a dream when I wake?" Harry asked.

The messenger man smiled. "It will just be a matter of time, Harry. You may not believe it now, but you will. Soon."

Harry almost scoffed. "So what message was so important that it couldn't wait?"

"It was more along the lines of a delivery, Harry."

Harry nearly rolled his eyes. "Okay. And?"

"There must be balance. The scale has been tipped for too long. Intervention from one side merits intervention from the other. I have come here to help you, Harry."

"The most helpful thing you could do, then is to stop giving me cryptic messages and start explaining them."

"Harry… My time runs short. Your delivery is here!" The messenger handed him an orb of solid light. It hurt to look at.

Harry took the orb. It was like holding a cloud the size of a baseball. Harry looked away from the ball to ask the messenger something more. But he was gone. The orb lifted off of Harry's hand and hovered before him.

The orb crackled and a single tiny bolt of blue lightning crackled and walked around it's surface. Suddenly, with the force of a thousand cannons, the orb slammed into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him flying.

And Harry awoke on the floor, out of breath and holding his stomach.

"That dream… was messed up." Harry muttered. He pulled himself to his feet and sat down on the edge of his bed. He was at his Aunt and Uncle's house on Privet drive. The last day he would ever spend there. Albus Dumbledore had sent him a letter before he died. The Headmaster had known he was going to die and had guessed most of what Harry planned to do over the next few weeks. Albus had merely said that as a dying wish, Harry should spend a final few days at Privet drive before continuing on his quest.

Harry had acquiesced only out of respect of his former Headmaster, and stayed a full week at the house. Now it was 6:14 am on the final day. In a little under Six hours, Harry would be taken to the Burrow where he would stay until a few days after Bill and Fleur's wedding. From there, he would sneak into Dumbledore's office and seal it from the inside (something Dumbledore taught him to do in his letter) and take whatever he could find that could be useful or informative on the subject of Voldemort's Horcruxes. After that, he planned to slip away from his friends and find somewhere to lay low until his birthday. He hoped he could figure out the location of one of the Horcruxes by then so that he could destroy it.

If not… well he'd probably run all he'd found out past Hermione to see what insight she could add. It was only a matter of time before they found one… right?

Due to the age restriction on his magic, it took him several hours to pack everything. He had to make sure he had it all. He wasn't planning to come back after all. By the time he'd finished packing, everyone else was up and so his Aunt forced him to make breakfast. And clean the dishes afterward. Once his Aunt had finished with him, it was nearly 11:30 and he had to rush through his shower to be ready for his Portkey when it went off.

Harry rushed into his room, placed a hand on his trunk and grabbed for the small Muggle chess piece (a pawn) that they had turned into a Portkey for him. But he knew it was too late. He watched the Portkey whipping away.

He felt a sort of snag in his mind. As if his mental fishing pole had gotten a bite, and he felt a hook behind his navel pull him through the air to the Burrow.

"Seven seconds off." Arthur greeted Harry with a smile. "I must have mistimed the Portkey."

Harry shrugged. "All's well that ends well."

"That it is. Everyone is out back waiting for you. Now let me get those bags and you can go out to see them."

Harry relinquished his trunk and made his way into the back yard. He was greeted by the delicious smell of roasting meat. Mr. Weasley had gotten a hold of a Muggle barbecue grill and had taught Mrs. Weasley how to cook on it. Apparently, she had swapped with a neighbor and traded a pig and a few chickens for a cow, because there were about a dozen steaks sitting on the grill.

Harry just smiled. It was good to be "home."