Harry Potter and the Lost Souls

Author's Note I: This story has sat untouched for many years. I finally finished my story, The King and Queen Diaries, and wanted to finish the rest of the works I have had sitting around for so long. I re-read this hot mess and decided I wanted to take a different direction with it, but with the same general idea.

Author's Note II: Hey everyone! This is my first ever Harry Potter fic! Keep in mind that I am an experienced author; however, I am new to writing HP fics. I wanted to start out by saying that I have read all the books, but if I make a noticeable mistake, please let me know! Us fanfic authors can't catch everything!

But on to the story description! This story is going to be an AU (Alternate Universe) to Harry Potter. Basically the end of book 6 and all of book 7 do not exist in this universe. There may or may not be instances that I take from them, but I am going to act like Harry is going BACK to school for "my" book 7. There is going to be all sorts of yummy darkness in this fic, along with my own unique sense of humor. If you do not like swearing, blood, death, destruction (x10 what JK Rowling wrote), romance, action, adventure, and probably the biggest of them all, SEX, please do not read this story. The normal pairings in the HP series are not going to exist. This is going to be a Harry/Hermione fic, so if you don't like that couple, stop reading now!

I will be posting any spells that I have created and their meanings at the end of the chapter!

Now, on to the story!

HARRY POTTER AND THE LOST SOULS

Chapter One: Lonely Soul

When Harry Potter was born, he didn't know that he was going to lose everything. He had no clue that he would suffer the loss of loved ones, friends, and family. He didn't know that he would have to fight to save the whole world, and he certainly didn't know that he would have to kill to do it either.

He also didn't know he would gain so much from it all.

What he did know though, was that there came a time in everyone's life where you had to make difficult decisions...however, he also knew that those kinds of decisions shouldn't have to be made by a seventeen year old boy.

It was the end of August, and over the last few days he'd had a lot of time to think about his life, his choices, his decisions, and whether or not he thought they were wrong or right. Perhaps, in the most vague of possibilities, he could have done something way different to prevent a bad outcome. Many times it just twisted about in his head until he could no longer think of it. No matter what, he figured that he would have lost his friends and family one way or another.

He thought daily of the ones that had died...and of the ones he still had and could still lose. His constant depressing trains of thought had his head aching incessantly, but the images just would not flee his mind. He had so many questions, so many ideas, so much he just wanted to say and do. He just wanted to have someone listen to him, but...it was like no one was there. Just like every other summer...

He hadn't received much mail except for the Daily Prophet and a few letters from Ron and Hermione. Everyone seemed busy with their lives or with their families, trying to keep them safe. No one came to visit him the whole summer, until the few hours before his seventeenth birthday, the one night he had been dreading for weeks.

Remus Lupin came alone that night to bring him to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. It was covert and they were both covered in invisibility cloaks the entire time.

Quickly the older man had helped Harry place a new Fidelius Charm upon the unplottable area. Remus was his Secret Keeper, and Harry had no doubt that the man would rather die than reveal his new home and whereabouts.

The moment he was safely through the door, he let loose a sigh that he felt like he had been holding forever. The Dursley's were gone, and the weight on his shoulders he felt every time he was under their roof was lifted. It was almost bizarre, but it felt like his entire body had shackles dropped from it, like a restraint on his soul and body was gone. Remus hadn't mentioned anything, but a subtle magical pulse had escaped his body the moment the Fidelius Charm was completed, just seconds after he turned seventeen, setting off several car alarms and shattering a nearby light. It definitely wasn't part of the ritual.

After helping him settle in, his friend talked to him for a few minutes, told him he would be by to visit soon, and then he had been alone ever since. Remus had work to do protecting the Wizarding World, and wasn't able to stay longer than a few minutes to make sure his charge was settled in.

Harry was now seventeen, a wanted man, and all alone in the rickety, old, evil house. After banishing half the horrid furniture and scrubbing the living hell out of every surface, he felt more like it was his home rather than a place he would be staying for a short while. He took his time and did everything manually, rather than with magic. It was a needed stress reliever. What magic he did do was to redesign the rooms after they were completed and shape old furniture into things that he found much more tasteful. He left a lot of the old woodwork, but modernized everything else. What was left was a house with several different themes for every room. The structure was warm, cozy, and welcoming, even awe-inspiring in some cases.

With the exception of Kreacher and the portrait of Walburga Black, he liked the place. He didn't particularly enjoy Kreacher, so he sent him off to the Hogwart's kitchens and only called on him if necessary.

Because of the Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of Walburga's portrait, he couldn't get it off without destroying the wall. She screamed at him for a good hour after he covered her with an old blanket and left. He figured when he actually cared he would do something about her.

Once he felt settled in and made the dwelling habitable, he began paying attention once more to the outside world. He had been receiving news that attacks from Death Eaters had been increasing; both Muggles and magic folk alike were dying because of Voldemort. Stock markets all around the world were plummeting, wars of so-called terrorism were breaking out, gang violence was increasing, and all out bloodshed was enveloping the planet. Very few places were safe. Things were becoming known and revealing themselves that others had only thought were fantasy. Harry wondered how long it would take before the whole world knew what really existed beneath the surface.

Harry knew that he could, in all likelihood, stay here for the rest of his life. All he really needed was food and possibly some form of entertainment now and then. But upon hearing Sirius's mother screaming yet again about blood traitors and mudbloods and filth living in her home, he decided he would rather take his chances elsewhere and hopefully quickly. Her words only made him more depressed, anyhow.

And that was another problem. Not only did he not want to be in hiding for the rest of his baneful existence, but apparently neither did Ron. His friend had just written him the day after his birthday, telling him about how he was planning on returning to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in September. He put up countless arguments as to why it was a good idea, citing that it was one of the safest places in the world, had numerous resources for searching for whatever these bloody Horcrux thingies were that he was always babbling about, and plus Professor Dumbledore's portrait was there.

All perfectly sensible reasons to return to the place that felt more like his home than anywhere else ever had.

His fears for returning had him quickly writing to Hermione, who, in all her genius, wouldn't sugarcoat anything and would give him the cold hard facts.

He received a reply first thing the next day. He didn't want to admit to himself how excited he was to hear from her and see what she had to say as he ripped the envelope nearly to shreds. It read:

Harry,

I was wondering when you would get it through your thick skull and realize that returning to school would, in all probability, be the best choice for not only you, but all of us. Ron was right when he said that it is the safest place for us to be right now, and not only would Professor Dumbledore be available to us, but so would countless others! And with me being elected Head Girl, I will be able to get into the restricted section of the library to research, and possibly even Professor Dumbledore's library. Not only that, but I am sure that Professor McGonagall will help us in whatever way needed.

I know that this is a hard decision, but this is the fate of the world that we are talking about. It would be so much easier for you to just hide forever, but I know you better than that.

Let me know if you are planning on returning or not, because if you're not, I'm going to come over there and whack some sense into your head.

Love always,

Hermione

Harry thought with a small smirk that he should just say that he wasn't coming back to get her to visit him. He missed her and the happiness she always brought with her. He wished Ron would visit too.

In the next month that followed, Harry spent time preparing for the possible Quidditch season he would be playing in. He had remodeled one of the many rooms into a place to work out, and he was in there sometimes three or four times a day out of boredom.

The basement was also converted into a magical training center of sorts. Remus had visited for a few hours the day after he had settled in and had helped him update the old one that was down there. They had spent some time practicing some spells with each other, and then he had left. Harry visited the huge room several times a day as well.

The other room he spent a lot of time in was the library. It was a magnificent source of dark magic and other rarely used forms of charms, potions, transfiguration, curses, hexes, and jinxes because it was simply so ancient. Hermione would have been proud to see the amount of notes and the stacks of books that he had amounted.

Time surprisingly flew. He had never had so much free time to himself, and he found that he liked it decently enough. He didn't have anyone to answer to for the first time in his life, and he was officially considered of age in the Wizarding World. Kreacher and Dobby were able to retrieve anything he wanted, including some Muggle items like a huge TV and stereo system, and the food that he was eating. However, it was nearing the last few days of August when Harry realized that if he was planning on actually returning to school, that he would have to go buy his school supplies—something he knew either elf wouldn't be able to do for him.

After a lot of thinking and contemplating, Harry sighed with utter melancholy and wrote both of his friends that he would be returning to school with them. It was depressing knowing that he would be going back, but also liberating as well. He just hoped that he would find what he was looking for there: Help, friends, and a place that was safe.

He attempted half-heartedly to get a hold of Mrs. Weasley to see if she could get someone from the Order to come with him, or even go with Ron, but no one answered his Floo. Contemplating going by himself, he realized that he could probably get away with it if he used his Invisibility cloak and went during the right time of the day.

Gathering up a bag with an undetectable extension charm and his cloak, he began walking his way to Diagon Alley. It turned out to be about a thirty minute walk at a brisk page, so it wasn't too bad. Once he got there, he noticed that there were actually more people than he had thought were going to be there, but he supposed it was good in some ways. It meant that people weren't as terrified as he had thought.

He looked at his list of supplies: mostly books, paper, quills, etc., all items that were easy to get a hold of and wouldn't take him long to get. Unfortunately, as he began walking towards the shops, he also realized that he was in sore need of new clothes and robes. His sixth year clothes had either shrunk or he grew, and he was pretty sure than he had shot up a few more inches since he had gotten his last set of robes. His pants were way too short and his shirts were way too tight, especially across the shoulders and chest. Not only that, but the sleeves were too tight around his biceps. His shoes from school would have been pinching his toes if he weren't wearing Dudley's oversized cloppers. He would look like some kind of freak if he showed himself in public.

Nervously dodging around young witches and wizards being hurried along by their uneasy parents, he made his way into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Quickly heading into the back rooms for changing, he removed his cloak and went back to search for several Hogwarts robes and whatever he thought would fit him. Grabbing robes, shirts, pants, shoes, socks, and boxers, he hoped he got everything in the right sizes, because he doubted he would have a chance to return anything.

He walked up to the cashier to check out with his arms full of clothes. He set down everything with a bashful smile when the plump lady gave him an annoyed look and leisurely began ringing up his items.

Harry sighed and began looking around distractedly, trying not to look too suspicious and wishing that the woman would feel some sense of urgency. He felt like he was totally out in the open and his stomach was starting to feel sick from the constant nervousness. Or maybe that was because he hadn't eaten yet that day.

He walked over to a rack with plain t-shirts and began flicking through them as he waited, when something caught his eye. He felt his eyebrow rise at the sight of a pair of long, bare legs, joined with a pair of shapely hips covered in a short, dark gray skirt barely covering the unknown female's bottom. Whoever it was, she was bent over a counter and he couldn't see above her shoulders because a shelf was blocking his way. He started leaning to the side to catch a better look—

"Sir."

He could almost see her face, her long, straight brown hair was up, and she—

"Sir, your things are ready."

Harry turned towards the lady at the old-fashioned cash register with a small sense of frustration. He had really wanted to see the girl's face. If her body was any indication, she was bound to be bloody gorgeous.

He paid for his things and stuffed them in his bag. He headed back to the changing rooms to put his cloak back on and to hopefully catch another glimpse of the girl in the short skirt, but she was gone. He shrugged.

He hurried to Flourish and Blotts to buy his books, all seventh year editions, and distractedly started wondering who would be their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. He hoped whoever it was wasn't a complete idiot and would actually teach them defense. Maybe Remus would come back.

Harry pulled off his cloak after walking into the back of the shop, hoping he wasn't noticed since there weren't that many people in there. He walked up and down the aisles and snatched everything he needed as quickly as possible. He almost felt like he was on a mission of some kind, sneaking around trying not to be noticed. It amused him for a while, until a young child caught him creeping around, pointed at him, and started tugging at his mother's robes. When the child whispered something at the mother, she gave him a dirty look and shooed her child away. Harry stopped his sneaking, feeling like an arsehole.

He walked up to the counter with all the books he needed, praying that this man wouldn't take as long to ring him up.

Thankfully, the man seemed to have the same sense of urgency as him, especially once he sighted the scar on his forehead. Harry felt a comical impulse to smirk at the old fellow, because he started frantically tossing the books into the bag that Harry presented to him.

Done in record time, Harry pitched the coins required into the old man's hands, went back into the rear of the store, threw on his cloak, and departed henceforth.

Harry walked around Diagon Alley thinking of what else he could need, and began wondering if it would be a better idea just to steal the items he needed rather than revealing himself and putting himself at risk. He only needed quills, ink, and paper, so he imagined that he could get away with it.

He began walking towards the store in question when he saw her again. Quickly going to duck behind a corner of a building, Harry chuckled at himself when he remembered he was invisible. She was quite far away, but he could tell it was her because of the white shirt and dark gray, nearly indecent skirt. She had her straight, brown hair up in an elegant pony tail, but she was turned around so he couldn't see her face.

Feeling the same sense of annoyance that he couldn't see her as before, he began walking towards her to see if he could get a better look. She gave the impression of being around his age, so he imagined it was a distinct possibility that she went to Hogwarts.

Out of nowhere, sudden explosions rang out from every corner of the alley. Panicked screams of women and children echoed in his head as he jumped underneath a table outside of the closed ice cream store. He looked around frantically to see the source of the explosions, and his eyes widened in horror at the sight of dozens of black cloaked figures with masks on their faces. It seemed like they were everywhere at once, shooting spells at anyone in their path.

Harry watched as both witches and wizards alike grabbed their family and began Apparating away. He could see people running around in terror, trying to escape the bright flashes of light coming from all directions. People were lying dead in the streets, covered in blood. Body parts littered the sidewalks. Children were crying next to the bodies of their dead parents. Mothers screamed hysterically as they watched their children struck with green light. Buildings were crumbling all around him from the onslaught, and a large chunk of concrete crashed into the table he was under. The wood crumpled instantly, and Harry barely had enough time to roll out from under it. An already partially destroyed table stopped his progress halfway, and he yelled out in pain when the table he had been under crashed upon his left leg. Swearing and cursing as he grabbed his limb, he shoved and kicked the rest of the table off him in anger, praying that his leg wasn't broken.

Letting out a ragged curse when he saw that his skin was ripped open obscenely and blood was pouring out everywhere through his torn pants and his fingers, he struggled to stand up to get away.

Fixing his cloak around him, he hoped that the noticeable trail of blood dripping onto the ground wouldn't attract attention to him.

People were still screaming around him, but it was noticeably quieter because almost everyone had Apparated or was dead. The Death Eaters were pretty much just looting and torturing the left over people. Standing up as straight as possible, Harry winced as he knew that he was probably going to have to Apparate to get away, which was illegal since he hadn't taken his test. Apparating was going to be extremely painful, and that was if he even survived it. Quickly getting ready to leave, he saw the girl again, out of the corner of his eye.

A Death Eater was standing above her, laughing maniacally as she trembled with her hands over her head, trying to vainly protect herself. He could see blood covering her head and fingers, and knew that she had been hurt.

Anger surged through him at the sight. How could someone be so evil as to attack someone when they were down? She was just an innocent bystander, all of these people were, none of them deserved this! None of them deserved to die!

"Sectumsempra!"

The Death Eater screamed in agony as gashes appeared all over his body. Harry could see blood spurt from underneath the mask, and running as fast as he could with his injured leg, he shoved the Death Eater down, grabbed his wand, snapped it in two, and threw it in his face.

"Bloody bastard!" Harry yelled in fury at him, kicking him in the side with his good leg and causing the masked man to curl in on himself, and then Harry pointed his wand at him and shouted, "Sectumsempra Maxima!"

Below him, the man nearly exploded into a pile of blood. All Harry knew was that he had stopped moving and that was all that mattered.

Harry dove on the girl as more debris fell around them, for other Death Eaters had seen the attack on their fellow member and were firing spells in their direction.

"Do you know how to Apparate!?" he yelled above the noise, hoping that the young woman wasn't unconscious. He felt her vigorously nod against his chest as he tried to protect her, and he winced as he felt something gash his side and hit his back.

Grimacing as he forced them both to stand, he shoved the girl away from him, encouraging her to Apparate. He heard her draw in a deep breath from the pain, and the last he saw of her was her spinning around and disappearing with a loud pop. He hoped that she didn't splinch herself from the sound of that pop.

Jerking around himself, he closed his eyes as he felt the unfamiliar tube envelop his body, landing him safely back at the doorstep of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

Gasping in pain from his leg and the gash in his side, he crawled to the door, barely managed to open it, and fell inside. He kicked the door closed with his good leg and laid there, breathing raggedly.

He had almost died. He had almost gotten himself killed.

Adrenaline was pumping through his body, but oddly enough he could still feel the pain. He was stupid. He couldn't believe that he had made such a stupid mistake, such an idiotic decision! What if—?

"Who's there? Come out where I can see you!"

Harry wrenched his head upward, and realized that he was still covered in his Invisibility cloak. Tugging enough of it off him to reveal his face, he exhaled raggedly at the sight of Remus in the doorway.

"Harry! What the...what the hell were you doing? Are you injured?" he asked hurriedly, running towards him and yanking off the rest of the cloak. He gasped at the sight of his body, for apparently he was worse than he had thought. He was covered in splattered blood from head to toe, but upon further inspection, most of it seemed to be someone else's.

In a shaky voice, the older man pointed his wand at his midsection and said, "Episkey."

Harry felt a hot sensation all over his body, and then suddenly a cool feeling. He relaxed some as nearly all of the pain went away, but his leg still seemed to be injured.

Lupin tore the rest of his pant leg away to get a better look at his limb. He mumbled a few things as he attempted to move it and Harry hissed in pain. "Your shin is pretty bad; it might take a few days for it to heal, but it seems to only be a flesh wound. Keep it wrapped and take some pain potions. Otherwise, you seem to be alright. Stupid, but alright."

Harry sat up and rubbed his face, sighing. "Thanks, Lupin."

His old professor helped him stand and limp into the kitchen. Once he was in a chair Lupin went back to retrieve his items.

"So it looks like you went to Diagon Alley," Lupin mused, dumping out everything in the bag onto the kitchen table and rifling through them without a by your leave. Harry frowned, but then shrugged to himself. Let the man snoop, it wasn't like he had done anything bad.

"Did you get everything for school?"

Harry sagged in his chair and rested his leg on the opposite side of the table, feeling it sting as he moved it. "No, but I should be able to bum some items off my friends. I have all my books, but I wasn't able to get all the supplies and whatnot. Oh, and the clothing store I went to was positively amazing in the style department," he said sarcastically, resting his head on the back of the chair, closing his eyes. His head and leg were starting to pound.

"Well, you can always go to a Muggle clothing store. It might actually be safer. I have some Muggle currency if you feel up to it."

Harry thought about it, but shook his head. "Not today. I'm in too much pain right now. Maybe tomorrow. I only have three more days until school starts."

Harry opened his eyes when he heard a chair scrape against the floor. The older man came next to him and pointed his wand and left hand at him. A light blue glow came from the tip of his wand, and Harry felt his pain lift. He sat up in his chair.

"What spell did you use?" Harry asked, flexing his leg and standing. His pain was completely gone.

"It's a little known Auror spell. Lenio Adflictatio. It is supposed to take away pain, but it only goes so far. If your arm is ripped off, I doubt it would work effectively. It also wears off after a few hours, so you will have to recast the spell. All you have to do is point your wand at the person and it relieves all pain in the body. A potion is always better, but not when you are in need of immediate pain relief."

"Great, I think this spell will come in handy," Harry observed, rolling his head around his neck and flexing all the muscles in his body. He felt like nothing had ever happened. The only evidence was his still-bloody leg.

Lupin smiled at the boy and patted his shoulder. After searching his face for several moments, he said, "Maybe I should stay here with you until you go to Hogwarts. How does that sound?"

Surprised, Harry felt a sudden warmth grow in his chest as happiness he had not experienced for some time came to life inside him. He had been alone for so long, had wanted someone—anyone—to talk to, to spend time with, and he hadn't even realized it.

He smiled at his father's old best friend.

"Sounds great."

Author's Note: Please let me know what you think of this revised chapter!

The original was very similar, just a few adjustments!

Latin Words, meanings, and the spell:

Lenio Adflictatio - Lenio [to make mild, mitigate, relieve]. Adflictatio [pain, torture].

Sectumsempra Maxima – Sectumsempra [from the books, causes huge gashes to appear all over the body]. Maxima [used from the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where Dumbledore uses Maxima to increase the strength of a spell].