Chapter 1: Leaving Privet Drive

As the boy walked back to his bedroom, he looked around, brushing his hair out of his eyes. The move briefly revealed the lightning bolt shaped scar that had adorned his head for almost sixteen years of his life, and would do so on Halloween this year. The young man was known to most of the world as the Chosen One or the Boy-who-lived for surviving a killing curse sent by the darkest wizard the wizarding world had known in years: Lord Voldemort, or, as he was known to most of the wizards and witches, You-Know-Who.

Harry Potter was a well known wizard in Britain. He attended, at least for the past six years, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was his home, though he had come home every summer to Number 4 Privet Drive in order to invoke the protection that his mother had given him when she sacrificed herself for him. He lived with the Dursley Family: his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and his cousin Dudley. They were all Muggles, which was the wizard term for non-magical beings.

He heard a quiet fluttering of wings and looked toward the open window, which was opened to allow his snow white owl, Hedwig, a way to go and hunt for her meals. He watched as the owl sat down in her cage with her latest catch, a mouse.

His Aunt and Uncle hated magic, and had tried to make him unable to think about using magic; however, the boy had been rescued by a good friend of his, Hogwarts' Gamekeeper and Professor for the Care of Magical Creatures Class Rubeus Hagrid, or Hagrid as Harry and his closest friends called the half-giant.

Harry's closest friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley were now at the Weasley family compound, called the Burrow. He expected to be picked up shortly, just a week after school had ended, and around two weeks since the murder of Harry's mentor, Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

He would be picked up by members of the Order of the Phoenix, which is an organization developed and formerly headed by Dumbledore to defeat the forces of Lord Voldemort and his minions, commonly called Death Eaters. Harry didn't know which ones of them were coming to get him, but he did know that they were going to plan out his departure, most likely using the stealthiest and least traceable methods available to anyone.

The Order had rotating guards who were stationed on Privet drive, most of them either disillusioned or using an invisibility cloak to remain hidden from passers by. Their main task was to protect Harry, who was one of three people who knew he was the one who had to destroy Lord Voldemort, as revealed by a prophecy made just before his birth on July 31, almost seventeen full years ago.

The ancient magic invoked to protect him would expire when he reach the age of majority in the wizarding world, which was the age of 17. Harry was the youngest of the 'Golden Trio', as he and his two best friends were called. And he was also the one they knew had to destroy Lord Voldemort.

Their first task, after a period of preparation and study for the task at hand, was for the trio to destroy horcruxes made by Lord Voldemort. The horcruxes were objects that held pieces of Lord Voldemort's soul and allowed Lord Voldemort to be essentially undefeatable until the each Horcrux was destroyed.

Dumbledore had told Harry during private sessions that Tom Riddle, Voldemort's name at birth, that he expected Lord Voldemort had split his soul into seven pieces, with each split caused by murder, a very heinous crime. There were suspected to be six horcruxes, with the final piece of the soul being in Lord Voldemort himself.

Two were known to be destroyed: the diary Harry had destroyed in his 2nd year at Hogwarts when rescuing Ron's sister, Ginny, from the Chamber of Secrets, and the ring, a family heirloom of Riddle's family, on his mother's side. There was another, which Harry and Dumbledore had gone to retrieve, a locket suspected of belonging to Salazar Slytherin, one of four Hogwarts founders, which was yet to be found. It was possible that it had been destroyed by someone who held the initials R.A.B.

The three Gryffindors had to figure out a way to find and destroy each horcrux. That would be the difficult part of the next phase of their lives.

Harry had already decided that he was going to focus on destroying Lord Voldemort instead of going back for his seventh year of school. He was thinking hard about that, and during the time he did think about returning, he knew that Ginny, a sixth year student in the coming school year, would be returning.

It pained him to think about his breakup with her after Dumbledore's funeral. Now, he felt alone. Everyone who got close to him seemed to always die. It hurt a lot, and he even had some nightmares about the events he'd experienced in his life. That was the main reason he broke up with her, against the wishes of his heart. His mind told him that he may be responsible for her being injured or worse at the hands of Lord Voldemort if he continued in the relationship with her.

But the relationship had really been part of him, making him feel whole when he was with her. He surmised that was because she got his mind off of the weight put on his shoulders. He felt the weight grow on his shoulders even more now that the only wizard Riddle feared was dead, killed by Hogwarts' former Potions and then Defense Against Dark Arts (DADA) professor, Severus Snape.

Harry scowled when he thought of Snape. The evil man had been one of his nemeses during his time at the school, and the young man who had set up Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, had cornered Dumbledore, though he had been unable to kill. Snape had killed Dumbledore with the killing curse while Dumbledore had held Harry motionless with a body bind curse underneath Harry's Invisibility cloak, which had been passed down from his father to him.

As Harry sighed, Hedwig looked at him. She then turned to the window, where another owl was flying up. Harry, whose wand was in his pocket, walked to the window and looked at the owl. It was a familiar owl, belonging to the Weasley family.

He untied the piece of parchment tied to the owl's leg, and then fed the owl a treat for her efforts.

Dear Harry,

I hope things are going well for you. I know you're still sad at the events of the past month, but be glad. Someone will be there to get you within the day tomorrow, so pack up. They'll expect to leave as soon as they arrive. See you soon,

Ron

Harry smiled at the letter, and placed it in his open school trunk. He'd already gone through his trunk, determined what he might or might not need. However, he decided to take all of his possessions to the Weasleys with him, as he knew he could pick up things later if he determined he needed them. Besides, he was never coming back to Privet Drive.

As the other owl left, he heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it," Harry said, speaking for the first time in a while.

"It's me," the voice of his Aunt Petunia said.

Harry went and opened the door. There stood his aunt, sister of his mother, Lily (Evans) Potter, who had died protecting him.

"Can I help you," Harry asked, looking at his Aunt.

"Harry, dinner is ready."

"Is Uncle Vernon back?"

Harry's Uncle usually yelled for Harry to go downstairs, so Harry was wary at his Aunt's request.

"No, he's home. He's just suffering from a sore throat."

"Oh," Harry said, not convinced.

He knew of the Imperius Curse, which would place a person under the control of another wizard, so he was curious.

As he walked downstairs to get his meal, his hand was on his wand. His emerald eyes, inherited from his mother, were glancing about, seeing nothing to worry about. But the young wizard, knowing about invisibility cloaks and methods, saw a friendly face. The woman wore a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Her hair, however, was a vivid pink color.

"Tonks!" Harry exclaimed.

"Wotcher, Harry," the metamophmagus Nymphadora Tonks said. "Packed?"

"Yes," the wizard said with his hand around his wand. "Wait," he said, thinking of something. "What is the shape of your patronus?"

"A wolf," the woman said. "Because of my boyfriend Remus. Ah, good thinking, Harry," the auror added. "We can't be too safe in these times."

Harry nodded as he saw another person, in the form of Remus Lupin, former DADA professor, a werewolf, and member of the Order.

"Professor," Harry said, greeting the man.

"Harry, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Remus," Moony said. "And what did I teach you in your third year?"

"How to produce a patronus. What was the name of your group of friends while you were at school?"

"The Marauders. And we left a map that I believe you currently have."

Harry nodded.

"Let's get your trunk and go," the werewolf said. "We had to move the schedule up because Tonks and I were the only ones available this week, and I do have something going on in a couple of days."

Harry nodded. It was a full moon. Remus would turn into a werewolf, and, hopefully, would stay in his secure place they'd made at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, which was where Lupin stayed, and headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

The same place, under the Fidelius Charm for the protection of headquarters, was the home of Harry's deceased godfather, Sirius Black, an animagus called Padfoot, one of the Marauders, along with Moony, and Harry's father James.

Harry walked upstairs with Tonks, and then quickly placed the DADA book he'd been reading in the trunk. He closed it after looking around for more things. It was packed full of clothes and a number of other things.

After the trunk was closed, he watched as Tonks shrunk the trunk, minus Harry's broom and pack he put on his back. Hedwig was sent on ahead, as she'd be much better flying. Her cage had been shrunk so it would easily fit inside the trunk after Tonks had cleaned it with a spell and a flick of her wand.

Soon, Harry had his belongings in his backpack, which contained his invisibility cloak, and a few other items he thought were useful. Those items including some of the things he got from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which was a joke shop owned by George and Fred Weasley, Ron's older brothers.

Before they walked out, Remus looked at his protégé.

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Before we go, I think there's something you should say."

"Oh, right," the young man said, looking over at his aunt and uncle. "Thanksforlettingmestay," he muttered.

"What," Aunt Petunia asked, shocked at what she thought she heard.

"What did you say, boy," Uncle Vernon said, cowed by the two wizards in his sitting room.

Remus and Tonks were a great equalizer, as they wouldn't let Uncle Vernon even say anything bad about Harry or his parents while they were there with him.

"I said thanks for letting me stay here," Harry almost shouted.

Aunt Petunia looked shocked. The other two didn't know what to say.

"I guess this is good bye, then," Harry added, as he walked to the door with Remus.

Remus looked at them.

"Harry, one more thing. I think there's something I should tell you."

"Ok," Harry said, looking down at his sneakers.

"I do believe that word has gotten around about what you told to a certain someone. And I do believe that her brothers are upset."

"Great," Harry said, sarcastically. "That's the last thing I need when I have to…"

"You have to what?"

"Nothing," Harry said, trying to make up for the slip he almost made. "There's something Dumbledore wanted me to do, and I'm going to do it even if I die."

"Don't talk about that," Tonks said, looking at Harry. "You know that we'll do anything we can to protect you."

"I don't need it!" Harry almost shouted. "And if I need help, I'll let someone know."

"Very well," Remus said, in a formal tone. "Let's go."

Tonks motioned for them to wait at the door as she applied the disillusion charm to them. Soon, all three were flying on brooms, heading toward a safe location where they could use a portkey to the Burrow. This trip was silent and quick.

Harry looked down as they flew over the countryside, having gotten out of the town quickly enough.

As they flew on, Harry could feel someone following them. He turned to look, but saw no one.

"Someone's behind us," Harry whispered to Tonks, who was flying right beside him.

The woman turned around and looked. Then she smiled.

"Well, I expected it," she said. "They're part of the Ministry's protection plan."

"The Ministry," Harry groaned.

"Yeah," Tonks said. "They wanted to make sure the Boy-Who-Lived is safe from You-Know-Who."

If Harry's hands would have been free, he would have had his head in them. He didn't want the Ministry to do that. Besides, he didn't trust them anymore to do what they said they would, not after they refused to believe he and Dumbledore about Lord Voldemort's return to his full form.

But soon, they landed, and Harry sensed that the others were gone.

"How come I'm sensing them now?"

"Don't know, Harry," Remus said. "But it could be that you're learning to use your natural abilities. And I do assume that you're on high alert because you need to be. They know where you're staying. Here. Grab the portkey."

Harry looked at the other two. They had given themselves the disillusionment counter jinx, and now, Harry was the only one invisible right now. But he didn't have to ask who they were.

He grabbed onto the portkey and then found himself in the broom shed at the Burrow.

He landed and immediately stumbled into old brooms stored there. The wizard muttered, to the delight of Tonks, who was glad she wasn't the only one who did stuff like this.

But Harry knew Tonks had a history of knocking things over.

Soon, they were at the door of the Weasley residence.

"Who is it," the voice of Arthur Weasley, head of the clan, asked.

Harry didn't have to see him in order to know his wand was at the ready, with his wife Molly nearby.

It wasn't late enough where they were in bed, but it was dark, to provide Harry and his escort a natural cover.

"It's Remus and Tonks," Remus said.

"Ok," Arthur said. "But first, what's the password we agreed upon?"

"Long live the Marauders," Remus sighed.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Tonks added. "Now, which one of you did Harry help in his 2nd year?"

"Ginny," Arthur said, sighing.

Harry saw the door open, and then the patriarch and matriarch of the family standing with wands drawn. In the sitting room, which was away from the kitchen, he saw Charlie and Bill Weasley standing, with their wands drawn as well.

"Where's Harry," Molly asked, concerned.

Her wand didn't move an inch.

"Oh, right," Remus said, reaching out and tapping Harry on the head with his wand.

As Harry materialized, the Weasleys breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great," the woman said, embracing him in a hug.

"Let's get them in the house, Molly," Arthur said. "We don't want them to remain outside long."

"Right," the woman said, looking at Harry with a mother's eye.

Harry walked in and he saw Ron walk in.

"Glad you made it, Harry. Where are your things?"

"Here," Harry said, handing Ron the trunk.

"That's it?"

"It's been shrunken, Ronald," another voice said.

Harry said the form of a brown haired young woman walking from the stairs. She, too, had her wand in her hand.

"Carry that up to Harry's room," Molly instructed her youngest son. "And I'll be up in a minute to resize everything."

Ron looked at his mother and nodded. Before he walked out of the room, however, he looked at Harry.

"We have to talk."

Harry nodded. He'd expected this from the moment he told Ginny.

Speaking of Ginny, he looked in the sitting room. She wasn't there.

"Ginny's in her room. She hasn't come down much lately," Molly said. "Do you know why?"

"I can wager a guess," Harry said, sadly.

"What," Arthur asked, catching the tone of his voice.

"Well," Harry said. "I don't know how to put this, but we sort of broke up."

"Why," Molly asked, looking at the boy she considered a son.

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry said. "But it does have to do with my task."

"What task is that," Arthur asked. "You know we're all members of the Order. And McGonagall is now the new leader. We decided during the time you were at the Dursleys."

"I see," Harry said.

"Sit down," Molly said, setting a plate in front of Harry. "You look like you haven't eaten much lately."

"I haven't," Harry said, sitting at the table.

"Why not?"

"There's this empty feeling inside of me," Harry said, before he could stop himself.

"Why," Remus asked, concerned for the son of his close friend.

Harry shook his head and busied himself in his late dinner. They didn't need to know what was bothering him at the moment. He was sure it would be worked out in a matter of days anyway. Besides, the problem was between him and someone in the house.