This is the eight story in the series Harry Potter and the American Wizard; and it's been a long time coming, almost five years since I wrote the first story. I got involved with other projects, but decided I should finish this series before starting another project. The reader doesn't need to read the first seven stories to follow the plot.
Harry Potter's First Girlfriend
Hermione's First Summer Job
Ron and Hermione's First Date
The Weasley's at Work
Kill or Be Killed
What Are Friends For?
The Start of the Search
However, reading the others may clarify some details and make the story more enjoyable. Most of them are only a few pages each, but the last three stories got away from me and run nine to twelve chapters each.
The Ultimate Confrontation
Chapter I – The Escape
Harry had been at the Burrow for two days since the Order of the Phoenix moved him from his aunt's house and this was the first time he didn't feel comfortable there; but then nobody seemed comfortable.
Everyone was upset by Mad-Eye-Moody's death.
The Weasley family was upset by George's injury.
Mrs. Weasley was upset because she discovered that he, Ron, and Hermione were dropping out of school to do something concerning Voldemort; and though she didn't know exactly what, she knew it was dangerous.
Ron and Hermione were upset because Mrs. Weasley was asking them a lot of questions about their plans that they couldn't answer.
Ginny was upset, because Harry had recently told her they had to break up.
That's what bothered Harry the most; he knew he loved Ginny. They were a couple for one glorious month before he had to tell her they couldn't be together anymore, not that he didn't want to be together, but that they couldn't.
Harry knew since Dumbledore was killed the job of destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes, and finally killing Voldemort himself fell on him. He would have to leave school to do it and leave Ginny unprotected. No, unprotected wasn't the right word, Ginny was a powerful witch and could protect herself against normal threats; but Voldemort wasn't a normal threat.
If Voldemort learned Ginny was his girlfriend, she would become a target. Voldemort would use her to get to him; Voldemort would capture Ginny and most likely torture her to get Harry to surrender.
He had to make people think he didn't fancy Ginny anymore so she would be safe. But he did fancy her; he loved her more than his own life and being near her these past two days without being able to show her his love was killing him.
His birthday was in two days and he would be seventeen; the Ministry of Magic's trace of his wand would be gone so they couldn't follow or find him after that. He would be free to begin searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Harry could do magic without a wand; but he might still need it to face Voldemort. Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand shared a common core. The each wand would not seriously harm the other's owner. It had saved Harry once before when fighting Voldemort; Harry didn't want to take the chance of not having the wand with him.
Ron and Hermione were coming with him, but they wanted to stay at the Burrow two extra days past Harry's birthday because Ron's oldest brother Bill was getting married and the family would be angry if they skipped the wedding. Harry had to remain close to Ginny for four more days and it was tearing him apart.
As bad as Harry felt, Ginny felt worse. She loved him as much as he loved her; and knew he only told her they had to stop seeing each other because he wanted to protect her. Knowing that didn't make it any easier to be close to him but not be able to snog him.
She also knew in general of Harry's plan to leave school and go with Ron and Hermione to destroy Horcruxes in order to kill Voldemort; but none of them would tell her their exact plans, or where they would be, or how to reach them. She told all of them she wanted to go with them, and all three of them said no, she couldn't come.
On top of all of that, two months ago, in a moment of passion, she forgot to do the Contraceptive charm on herself; Ginny was pregnant. She was keeping the news of the baby from Harry; because she knew if he learned she was pregnant, he would want to get married. Under normal circumstances, she would love to marry Harry; but circumstances weren't normal, Harry had enough troubles and she didn't want to add to his burden.
At first, she thought she would have to drop out of school. If people learned she was pregnant, they would know it was Harry's child, and that would put her and the baby in more danger. Fortunately, Hermione found a solution.
An old spell she found put the baby in suspended animation. Ginny was two months pregnant, and would stay two months pregnant until she decided to reverse the spell and let the baby grow normally again. Her new plan B was, if she couldn't go with Harry, after Harry left, she would return to school without anyone knowing about her condition.
On top of all of this, Fleur's family arrived for the wedding and the Burrow was bursting at the seams with several people crammed in each bedroom. Harry couldn't get a minute alone to think.
Harry's birthday arrived and a small party was planned. Ginny decided to take another shot at getting Harry to allow her to accompany them on their quest. As he came down the stairs to breakfast, she opened her bedroom door and said, "Harry, I want to give you your present now."
She took his hand and gently pulled him into her room. She said, "I know you can't take anything big along on your trip, but I wanted to give you something to remember me by when you get lonely." She put her hand behind his head and pulled him into a passionate kiss.
It only took a second for him to respond by putting his arms around her and increasing the pressure of the kiss; but then he broke it off and said, "Ginny, we can't; it's killing me, but people must believe we've broken up or you won't be safe."
She said, "I love you Harry, and I know you still love me. You have to know we're all in danger now; my going with you won't put me in any greater danger. Please let me come and help you do whatever is needed to kill Voldemort."
He didn't have the heart to say no; but couldn't say yes either, so he said, "I'll talk with Ron and Hermione, but no promises."
He did talk with Ron and Hermione, but only to tell them, "Ginny is still pushing me to let her come with us. Did she ask you too?"
Both Ron and Hermione said yes, Ginny did ask them. Ron said, "I told her definitely no, it's too dangerous."
Hermione said, "I told her it was alright with me if it's alright with you two. Ginny is smart, powerful, and could help us. Besides, I wouldn't mind having another girl along to talk with. I love you two guys; but sometimes a girl just needs to talk with another girl."
Harry said, "You both know how I feel about Ginny; but I'm afraid if she's with us I'll constantly worry about her instead of keeping my mind on what we have to do. And if I let her come, your family will be really mad."
Ron added, "Yeah, even if we eventually get back alive, mom would kill you for taking Ginny along."
The day of the wedding arrived, and since there were going be a number of people not in the Order of the Phoenix attending, everyone thought it would be better if Harry's presence wasn't known to everyone. He took Polyjuice potion to disguise himself as a redheaded cousin of the Weasleys.
After the ceremony, food and drinks were served and music was provided for dancing. Ron and Hermione were dancing while Harry sat talking with two of the older guests about Dumbledore's death and the general situation.
Ginny knew Harry, Ron, and Hermione planned to leave early tomorrow morning before Mrs. Weasley was up and could try to stop them. Ginny decided she would make one more try at getting Harry to let her come. She came over and going along with his disguise asked him, "Cousin Barney, would you like to dance with me?"
As they danced, about half way through the song, a Patronus came through the tent and with Kingsley Shackelbolt voice said, "The ministry has fallen, Scrimgeour is dead, they are coming to the Burrow."
Guests panicked and began disapparating. They shouldn't have been able to do that; it meant the protective wards around the Burrow were down. Suddenly several masked, black robed Death Eaters Apparated in.
One appeared right next to Harry and Ginny, looked at them, not recognizing Harry in his disguise, he grabbed Ginny around the waist and yelled, "I got the Weasley girl; find Potter and bring him to headquarters."
Because the Death Eater was holding Ginny so close, Harry was afraid to cast a spell that could accidentally hit her; so still holding Ginny with one hand, he grabbed the man with his other hand to keep him from twisting and disapparating out with Ginny. The man gave Harry a hard push that knocked him over.
Now that Harry was not touching her, Ginny placed her free hand on the man's face and electric sparks crackled from her fingers. The man screamed and fell dead.
Harry got up and took Ginny by the arm; he gave a quick look around for Ron and Hermione, but didn't see them. What he did see was more Death Eaters arrive, so he disapparated taking Ginny side along with him.
They reappeared about thirty yards away in the tree house Bill and Charlie built when they were young. Harry wanted to see if Ron or Hermione had been captured, and he wanted to know if any of the Weasleys had been hurt.
From fifteen feet up, behind the sheltering darkness of the oak tree's leaves, they could see the happenings in the brightly lit wedding pavilion, but not easily be seen themselves.
There were more than thirty Death Eaters, it was hard to get a true count because they, and the guests they were holding prisoner, were moving about. Some went into the house, Harry guessed to search for him and for more members of the Weasley family.
They were too far away to hear the voices except when a Death Eaters yelled. Several times, they heard a yell of, "Where is Harry Potter?" but they couldn't hear the answers. Once they heard a yell, "Where's your daughter?" and once "Where's your sister?"
That meant Ginny's mother or father, and one of her brothers was being questioned. At different times, they caught sight of both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Fleur, Charlie, and either Fred or George but not both twins at the same time.
Finally, Harry said, "Ginny, we can't stay here and we can't help your family against so many Death Eaters; we need to find a safe place and figure out how we can find Ron and Hermione. We haven't seen them here, so they must have escaped and they'll be looking for us."
She pleaded, "We can feint an attack from one side and give my family time to escape. You hold an alternate dimension open to shield us, and I'll shoot lightning in to make the Death Eaters scatter."
Harry said, "Ginny, I can't shield four different directions at one time; only one of them has to get behind us or on our flank to get a stunner in. And how can you be sure your lightning bolts won't hit one of you family or another guest."
Ginny answered, "I can't just leave my family; we have to help them somehow."
Harry said, "It doesn't look like the Death Eaters care about your family; they're looking for me and you, I guess our pretend breakup didn't fool them, they want you. Your family is pure blood; most likely, they'll be left alone.
If we try anything, we might get captured and if curses begin flying around, your family might get caught in the crossfire. I know it's hard for you to leave them; but, we have to go and do what Ron, Hermione, and I intended on doing, find a way to kill Voldemort. Looks like you're going to get what you wanted; you have to come with me."
Ginny asked, "Where can we go that's safe? Did the three of you have a plan; a place where you were going to hide?"
Harry reluctantly had to say, "No. Since I've been at the Burrow, you mom hasn't left the three of us alone for even five minutes. We couldn't get a chance to plan anything. I figured that would be the first thing we would do; find a place, hunker down, and make plans."
She asked, "So where do we go to hunker down?"
Harry shrugged and said, "Well the Burrow is out; maybe Hogwarts?"
Ginny said, "No, with Dumbledore dead, and the ministry fallen, it's not safe at Hogwarts for us anymore. What about going back to your aunts?"
Harry said, "No, the wards there collapsed when they brought me here; there's no protection there at all. The only place I can think of is Grimmauld Place."
Ginny said, "My parents said we came back to the Burrow because Grimmauld Place wasn't safe anymore; Snape knows how to get in. Since Dumbledore was the secret keeper, when he died, we all became secret keepers; that means Snape too, so he can tell the other Death Eaters how to get in."
Harry said, "I think we have to chance it for one night; there's no place else. Maybe Snape hasn't told anyone else yet; and maybe Ron and Hermione will go there too. I say we Apparate to the park across the street, scout around to see if any Death Eaters are outside, and if not, we go in and check out the place."
Ginny said, "Well, at least I get to be with you for one night; lead on MacDuff."
Harry took her arm and Apparated to the far end of the park across the street from Grimmauld Place.
When the Death Eaters Apparated into the wedding pavilion, Ron and Hermione were dancing. She said, "Ron, we have to get to Harry; we have to disapparate together, if we get separated, we may never find each other again."
The problem was Harry wasn't sitting where he had been; there was no sign of him and with more Death Eaters Apparating in, they couldn't wait any longer. Hermione grabbed Ron's arm, twisted, and they disapparated away.
They appeared behind some bushes in a park, just feet from a crowded Muggle area in central London. Ron asked, "Where did you bring us?"
Hermione said, "Jubilee Park just a block from the Millennium Wheel near the Thames."
Ron asked, "What's the Millennium Wheel?"
She said, "It's also called the London Eye, it's a Muggle tourist attraction. I thought the Death Eaters wouldn't look for us in a Muggle area; and if they did, it would be easier to evade them in a crowd. Charing Cross is just over the Golden Jubilee Bridge if we want to check out the Leakey Cauldron and Diagon Alley."
Ron asked, "Do you think Tom at the Leakey Cauldron will know any news?"
Hermione said, "No, at least not so soon; and there are probably Death Eaters hanging around there. It's probably not safe right now; but I thought maybe in a few days we could chance it in disguise."
He asked, "So now what? We don't know where Harry is, we don't know where he'll go so we can't look for him, and we have no place to stay ourselves."
Hermione said, "I emptied my Muggle bank account before I came to the Burrow, so we can get a Muggle hotel room for the night and be safe while we think of what to do."
He said, "Good idea, I'm knackered. But you better get the room; I'm not so good with Muggle money or customs."
They found a small cheap Muggle hotel and Hermione asked if there was a vacancy.
The clerk eyed them up and down, especially Ron who was in wizard dress robes, and said, "Any bags?"
Hermione said, "No."
The clerk asked, "How long do you plan on staying?"
She said, "Just tonight."
The clerk looked at her and Ron again and said, "All night, or just a couple of hours?"
Hermione turned red and said, "All night."
The clerk held out a key and said, "Room 310; that will be twenty-five Euros, cash."
Hermione paid him and they went up the stairs. The room was clean, but the paint was faded and the bed and single dresser old.
Ron looked around and said, "There's only one bed, see if there's an extra blanket, I'll sleep on the floor."
She said, "Don't be silly Ron, we can share the bed. We've camped together and swum starkers in the pond; I'm sure we're mature enough to share the bed for a night. You'll need your sleep and I have the feeling this might not be the worst conditions we have to spend a night in before this is over."
She opened her handbag and said, "I'll get my night clothes and some pajamas for you; we can take turns using the loo, you go first."
Ron said, "How did you fit our things in that little bag?"
She said, "An undetectable extension charm opens an alternate dimension. Harry's cousin James explained them to us years ago; it's the same principle we use to make the blocking spell for unforgivable curses."
She handed him his pajamas, and a kit with his toothbrush, soap, deodorant, and shampoo. "Leave you kit in the shower for tomorrow morning."
When he came back out of the loo, she was in a mid thigh summer nightie and said, "I'll go use the loo, what side of the bed do you want?"
He said, "I'll take the window side if it's okay with you."
She said, "Fine, you might as well get in bed, I'll be a few minutes, then I'll get the lights."
After she returned from the loo, they lay in bed talking softly for some time about what happened, where Harry might be, and where they should go tomorrow.
Hermione said, "I only have a couple of hundred Euros, so we can't spend this much every night for a room, and more for meals; we'll be broke in less than a month, and it will probably be a lot longer than that before we can get any more money.
I'm worried Ron."
They had been lying back to back as they talked, but now he rolled over, reached his arm over her and took hold of her hand. He said, "Things will work out, we'll find Harry, you'll see."
She snuggled back against him so they were spooned together and said, "Thanks Ron, let's get to sleep."
They woke in that same position at six with the sun coming in the window.
Voldemort was furious, he hit the Death Eaters in the room with several Cruciatus curses and yelled, "My source said Potter was there at the wedding and you didn't find him. The girl was certainly at her brother's wedding and you didn't get her either. Get out of my sight, search everywhere they may be, and don't come back until you have one or the other."
Death Eaters ran for the door.
Harry and Ginny circled the perimeter of the park and saw nobody; of course, it didn't mean nobody was there. A Death Eater could be under an invisibility cloak or a Disillusionment spell.
Harry said, "I'll go over to number 12, if nobody comes after me you follow; if somebody does come after me, I hope you can hit him with your lightning bolts before he kills me."
No Death eaters showed themselves, so Harry and Ginny quickly entered the house. After going through the entire place, they found nobody there. They found a few stale biscuits the order had left behind when they abandoned the place; but decided to save them for breakfast. Harry said, "We'll be more hungry tomorrow morning than we are now; we better get some sleep."
He set a Caterwauling alarm in the entrance hall in case someone came in during the night, and they went upstairs. When they got to the hall between the rooms where Harry and Ron slept two summers ago, and the room where Ginny and Hermione slept, Harry looked back and forth between the doors.
Ginny said, "Don't even think of sleeping in separate rooms Harry, we stay together; if someone comes in the middle of the night, I don't want to have and go looking for you. Pick a room and let's get some sleep."
Harry said, "I wasn't thinking of separate rooms, I was thinking we should go to the top floor; that way if the alarm goes off, we'll have a few extra seconds before whoever it is can get up all the steps."
Ginny said, "Good idea, but that's Sirius' room; won't it bother you if we sleep in his bed?"
Harry said, "Yeah, but not as much as it will bother me if some Death Eaters get us because we didn't have those few extra seconds."
They went to Sirius' room and Harry said, "We sleep in our clothes; if someone breaks in we don't want to have to run out in our knickers, and we won't have time to dress."
Ginny asked, "Can I at least take my shoes off?"
Harry smiled and said, "Yes, but remember where they are so you can find them in the dark."
Eventually, they fell asleep on top of the covers because it was warm with clothes on. The alarm didn't sound, and when the sun came through the grimy windows, they woke spooned together
They had no other clothes but what they were wearing last night, so Ginny did a cleaning charm on the clothes before they showered. Then they went looking through the pantry for more food that might have been left behind. There wasn't any.
They sat at the kitchen table eating the biscuits they found last night, and Harry said, "We need money; we can't stay here too long, the Death eaters are bound to check the place soon. I have plenty of money, but neither of us can walk into Gringotts to get it."
Ginny said, "Sorry Harry, all the money I have is what your cousin James gave me to escape to his grandson's in America if things went bad here; but it's in my room at the Burrow. I couldn't carry anything in my brides-maid dress.
You don't by chance have your DA enchanted coin with you; we could send a message to James."
Harry said, "Sorry, I'm in the same boat as you; I didn't carry anything but my wand in my dress robes for the wedding."
Ginny asked, "Neville lives somewhere in London; you don't happen to know how to get to his house. He'd help us and they may not be watching him."
Harry said, "I know how to get there through the flue network; but with Death Eaters controlling the ministry, I bet it's being monitored again like the year Umbridge was doing it."
Ginny said, "I'd go out on the street and beg but I don't think people would give me money if I'm wearing this fancy brides-maid gown."
Harry laughed and said, "I'm wearing wizard dress robes; I can't even go out in a Muggle area like this; people would stare, maybe laugh, but not give me money."
Ginny said, "Well, we have to go out soon; we can't sit here and starve."
They went to the front door, but when they opened it, the first thing they saw was two men in black robes leaning on the fence across the road and watching the area between houses number 11 and 13.
The Death Eaters must have arrived in the middle of the night. It was apparent they couldn't even see number 12 much less enter; but they knew it was there.
Harry and Ginny knew standing in the doorway they couldn't be seen by the men since they were still inside the Fidelius charm; but if they took one step outside the charm, they would be seen, and probably attacked.
Harry closed the door and said, "Well, there's good news and bad news."
Ginny said, "Yeah, The good news is they can't get in or they would already have; so we're safe for now."
Harry said, "The bad news is we're trapped in here with no money, no food, no clothes, and no way to get help."
Ginny asked, "Harry, where's Kreacher? Couldn't you send him to get things for us?"
Harry said, "He's at Hogwarts working in the kitchen. I could call him, but I don't trust him; remember he betrayed Sirius to the Malfoys and Bellatrix, he might betray us to."
Suddenly Harry snapped his fingers and yelled, "Dobby, I need you."
Hermione was up first; she showered and dressed in Muggle jeans and a tee that she pulled from her bottomless handbag. Then she woke Ron and said, "Go shower, I left clean clothes for you in the loo. Then we'll get breakfast and decide what to do."
Half an hour later, they were sitting in a small Muggle diner eating.
Hermione said, "I think we should go to Grimmauld Place while it's light out. I can do some charms to change our appearance enough so we won't be recognized by anyone that doesn't know us really well. We can walk by and see if there are any Death Eaters around; if they are we keep going, if not we check inside."
They didn't have to get close to see the two men in black robes leaning on the fence. They walked right past number twelve and when they got to the next block, Hermione said, "Well, Harry can't be there if Death Eaters are watching the place; any other ideas where he might be?"
Ron said, "Only Hogwarts or his aunt's place in Surry; but Harry's relatives moved out when we moved him."
They Apparated to a park near Privet Drive and walked past number 4 like they did at Grimmauld Place; two men in black robes were standing on the nearby corner so they kept walking.
Ron said, "There aren't even any wards here like at Grimmauld Place; those Death Eaters probably were already inside to check the place. They must be waiting to see if Harry shows up."
Hermione said, "I don't think it's safe to go to Hogwarts or Hogsmeade."
Ron said, "What else can we do?"
Hermione said, "I'm an idiot; Harry's cousin James said if we need help, contact him on the enchanted coins."
She reached into her handbag and dug around until she found her coin. She worked out a short message, "need you meet at little winging diner soon as possible"
She sent the message and told Ron, "Let's get some tea and wait."
Dobby appeared and said, "Harry Potter and his Weezy need Dobby; what can Dobby do?"
Harry said, "I'm not sure. We need money, food, and clothes; but can't go out. Will the Goblins let you get money for us?"
Dobby said, "Yes, house elves often get money so they can buy things for their master's house. If Harry Potter writes a letter telling the Goblins how much money he wants, Dobby can get it and bring it here."
Ginny said, "Can you stop and buy food and a few sets of clothes for us to?"
Dobby said, "House elves buy and prepare food every day; but masters buy their own clothes. Dobby has never bought clothes for a master, but Dobby will try. Do Harry Potter and his Wheezy wish for school robes, everyday robes, or dress robes?"
Harry said, "We need Muggle clothes."
Dobby looked at Harry and Harry knew what Dobby was going to do. Dobby couldn't go into a Muggle store for Muggle clothes and he was going to punish himself. Harry grabbed Dobby's arm and said, "Dobby, I forbid you to punish yourself."
Dobby said, "Dobby is a bad elf, he cannot do what Harry Potter wants."
Ginny said, "Dobby, if you can get us the money and food, Harry and I will be very happy with you."
After checking with Dobby as to how much money he thought he needed, Harry wrote a letter asking the Goblins to give Dobby one hundred Galleons to shop for food and other household necessities. He then asked for the equivalent of another two hundred Galleons exchanged into Muggle money so he and Ginny could buy clothes once they figured how to get past the Death eater guards.
He said, "Dobby, when you get to Gringotts, if they give you any trouble, ask for the Goblin named Griphook; he's my account manager, knows me, and has seen my handwriting. I trust him to help."
Dobby disappeared and two hours later reappeared along with more than a week's worth of food, other household supplies, and Griphook.
Dobby said, "Harry Potter, Dobby was forced to tell this Goblin your problem to get money. Dobby is sorry to act without orders; but the Goblin insisted on meeting with Master Harry.
If Harry Potter wishes, Dobby will now prepare a meal for Harry Potter and his Weezy."
After Dobby left, Griphook opened with, "May the blood of your enemies drip from your blade Duke Potter. You are in serious trouble; but, because your family has always treated the Goblin Nation fairly and with dignity, Gringotts' Board of Directors has designated the Potter family as 'Friend to the Goblin Nation' and authorized me to help you in any way possible."