Harry Potter and the Tears of the Light

Chapter 1

One Room, Many Problems

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter or anything in here you may be familiar with. New characters, plots etc. is all I am responsible of.

Another perfect day was born as the sun rose brightly above Privet Drive. As was the norm for many of the children in the neighborhood, the park nearby was slowly seeing it's paths worn and it's benches no longer feeling alone. A warm breeze drifted from the park up through Privet Drive until it passed number four. Under normal conditions, the breeze would have brought a safe and wonderful feeling. One look at number four, Privet Drive would leave a person searching for a bit of character... Something that made this house a home. Try as they might, it was an ordinary, normal house just like all the rest on the street. That is, unless you look up into a small bedroom on the top floor where a snowy white owl kept watch over her master and friend.

The teenager found in this small room was far from normal and ordinary. The fact of the matter was that he was a wizard. Of course not just any wizard, but the one whom many in the wizarding world felt was responsible for saving the entire British Isles from the darkest wizard since the days of Merlin himself. Far from ordinary indeed...

"I'm sorry," He choked out between sobs occasionally revealing eyes full of pain and regret. "I... It's all my fault! If I'd on – only tried to use the bloody mirror first Sir – Sirius would still be here! Sirius... I'm so sorry..." A lone tear slowly formed out of the boy's right eye.

For almost 16 years, the eyes of Harry Potter were a vibrate green. Now the same green eyes seemed darker as tear-stained eyes allowed red to creep in. The past 2 weeks since the holidays began left Harry in a trance. It was only on this day that he finally open up his emotions. During his last month of the school year, he left the safe confines of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with five of his friends to the Ministry of Magic in London. Instead of saving his godfather, Sirius Black, like they had hoped for, they instead fell into a trap within the Department of Mysteries. It was there that Harry, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood fought Lord Voldemort's best Death Eaters including the Dark Lord himself. Lucky for them, the Order of the Phoenix along with Professor Dumbledore helped to protect the young students allowing them all to escape. Physically they sustained a few injuries, Hermione being the worst off, but nonetheless they were alive. Unfortunately, one Sirius Black would fall protecting his godson and friends. After the battle, Harry learned of his destiny... a destiny he felt should have been shown to him ages ago...

"... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

"I can't do it," said Harry as his feelings slowly swelled from sadness to anger. "How in Merlin's name am I supposed to do it Hedwig? My mum and dad, Cedric, now Sirius... All gone because they knew me! I'm not even 16 and yet I have practically the entire wizarding world's fate resting on my shoulders because of a prophecy made before I was even born! A prophecy that Dumbledore didn't bother clueing me in on until a few weeks ago! Not to mention I'm trapped in this house with people watching my every move! I have people making sure I'm ok when they should be out protecting other people! If this blood protection is so strong, then why do I need so many Order members constantly watching the house! Doesn't Dumbledore know that their help is needed elsewhere! What am I supposed to do girl? You tell me!"

His voice seemed to shake the room ever so lightly as his only friend at number four hooted timidly trying not to look at him. Harry knew he had a bad temper but getting it under control was the last thing on his mind. Noticing the scared owl, his face softened.

"I'm sorry girl," Harry gently said. "I just feel so lost. Sirius isn't here to help me... Dumbledore's busy with the Ministry since that wanker Fudge finally admitted that Voldemort's back... I just... I just wish I knew where to start. And even if I did know, how many more people are going to die before the end. If I can't defeat him, then there will be no end, will there?"

Closing his eyes, Harry's mind wandered through the few years he'd experienced in the wizarding world. Fear, destruction, loss and death... He had seen enough horror to last him a lifetime... and it wasn't over yet. Eventually he thought about what the future could hold. Could he stop all the pain that seemed to suffocate him, his friends, and his world? Or would Voldemort truly finish the work of Salazar Slytherin? Unsure whether he would be able to stop him, he resigned from his train of thoughts.

"No," he whispered as his hands ran through messy, jet black hair. "No there won't. He'll keep coming after me and those I love."

Time seemed to make little difference as Harry sat on his bed staring out the open window. To him, a whole different world was a few feet away. Birds flew with freedom, soaring through the blue sky... He could even hear them singing without a care in the world... What he would give to have that kind of freedom and that kind of life... Just then, a BANG came from his door.

"Hey freak, you in here!" Bellowed his fat cousin.

"What do you want Dudley," Harry said icily. "I really don't feel like talking to you right now."

"Mum said to come up and tell you lunch is ready. She actually made a sandwich for you since you've barely eaten the past couple weeks. Said she doesn't want your little group of freaks bre —"

"Shut up, I get the point. Tell Aunt Petunia that I'll be right down."

"Sod off! You can't tell me what to do!"

Just as Harry was about to slam the door in his face, a gust of wind blew in and completed the task for him. He looked at the door and thought it rather curious, but quickly dismissed it as the breeze had been picking up a bit. Anger coursed through his body at what his cousin had said moments ago. At first he thought that his aunt might actually be worried about him, but instead realized she was only worried that the Order would show up in their robes attracting attention for neighbors. A low rumble came causing Harry to realize that he was indeed hungry. Slowly, he made his was down to the kitchen.

"Boy get over here and eat! You look retched!" his aunt said narrowing her eyes at him before fetching a glass of water to drink.

"Thank you for lunch Aunt Petunia," he said, using all of his will power to remain civil.

She studied him quietly as he ate. Dudley of course wasted no time and began stuffing his face, while Harry would barely get halfway through the sandwich. All anyone had to do was look at Harry and instantly see that there was definitely something wrong. He was skinnier than he had even been before with his already baggy hand-me-downs accentuating the issue. The eyes showed not a boy of 15 but of someone who had already seen life and was about ready to call it quits. Even the way he carried himself revealed a great burden that was hard to imagine. Afraid she would be blamed for the boy's disheveled look, Petunia forced a smile and ended the silence.

"So when was the last time you spoke with your ah — friends?"

Harry looked up and saw what he believed to be two faces on his aunt. From the nose up he saw annoyance and worry. Below that was a smile so unnatural that not even the twins could figure out. He knew what she was doing and thinking about it made his tempter begin to rise.

"What? Afraid my friends will come and do something oh I don't know... abnormal around your perfect house? You know, you really don't have to pretend to be pleasant on account of me. I much rather preferred it when all of you simply ignored me. To answer your question, I believe it was about two-three days ago. So was there anything else you wanted to ask, because this whole nice thing is wasting my time!" Harry just sat there knowing he opened up another round of screaming from his aunt.

"Don't give me any cheek boy! Just like your mother... Always thinking she was better than what she was. Why else do you think she left to go with those other freaks?"

"Don't talk about my mother again," said Harry whose blood had reached his boiling point. "You hate everything there is about magic but let me just tell you how pathetic your blindness and prejudices are." Using the word magic was like breaking the camels back with a ton of brinks instead of a straw.

"How DARE you talk to me in such a manner, and in front of my Diddy no less! Not to mention you used that... that 'M' word! Get out of my sight! NOW!" Petunia's face was about to turn purple and her eyes were livid with anger.

Afraid of finding some way to make himself more upset, Harry quickly left half of his sandwich on the table and stormed up to his room. The fact of the matter was Harry had indeed owled the Order the day before to let them know things were fine. On top of that, his relatives, if they could be called that, had no idea what transpired the previous month, still thinking that his godfather was a fugitive on the run instead of beginning his next great adventure. Unable to take anymore from either his aunt or his whale of a cousin, Harry quickly got in bed for a short nap.

What was once a warm, sunny afternoon had turned into a cool, dark night. As Harry finally looked around his room, he noticed that he wasn't in his room anymore. It seemed to be a cave of sorts dimly lit by a few green torches. Panic fed his adrenaline when the whole room quickly went black.

"Hello Potter... Having a nice nap are we?"

Harry knew what had happened. Seeing through red eyes until they were shut.

"Voldemort!" Harry gasped. He knew that voice anywhere. No other voice could be filled with as much hate and evil. "What do you want?"

"Come now, what makes you think that I actually want something? Maybe I just wanted to thank you for finally getting rid of Black for me. My dear Bella has been most satisfied aft—"

"NO!" yelled Harry as his emotions were getting the better of him. "IT'S NOT TRUE! YOU TRICKED ME AND I THOUGHT—"

"What you THOUGHT is why he is DEAD! You truly are a Gryffindor. Oh so brave and noble... But tell me Harry, how brave will you be when others die because of you? Will you be brave enough to stand up to me when your friends die one by one? Let's see... We have the entire pack of Weasleys who have been an embarrassment to purebloods the world over... Then there is also that mudblood of yours. Quite charming if she wasn't utter filth... That old codger of a fool who needs to be sent to the great beyond... Ah and of course there is the lovely Miss Chang... Just terrible if something were to happen to them wouldn't it?"

"YOU'RE A BASTARD TOM! YOU'RE ALWAYS HIGH ON THE PUREBLOODS AND YET YOU'RE A HALF BLOOD JUST LIKE ME!"

"How DARE you insult the greatest wizard the world has ever seen!" At this the Dark Lord was truly beginning to anger as Harry's accusations cut him like that of the Cruciatus Curse. Eerily though, his voice changed as his words glided off of his forked tongue. "However, I will give you one last chance Harry. Join me! At my right side we could rule this world. None could stand in our way. I recall telling you once that there is no good or evil, just power. You have the potential to be as great as you want to be! All you have to do is reach out and grab it. I could help you, Harry Potter... Join me and your friends' live will be spared..."

With all fear gone at this point, Harry gathered his thoughts and for the first time, was able to tell Tom exactly what he thought.

"You know TOM; I have to agree with you with one thing... I can be as great as I want to be, but the help I get will not be from you. The Light will win this war that you have started. I don't know how much of a part I will play, but let me tell you whatever it is, I will be doing all I can to make sure we all see you dead Tom. You have brought nothing but pain and suffering to the world... Albus Dumbledore and the rest of the Order will see to it that you'll never return. It will be a cold day in Hell before I join you," Harry finished with renewed conviction.

"So be it Potter," Voldemort spat. "I could have given you power beyond any you could fathom! Instead you chose death for you and your friends. Oh and don't worry about Hell... You'll see it soon enough."

The cackling coming from Voldemort echoed into oblivion as the boy who lived shot up from his nap covered in cold sweat.

"Damnit," he thought to himself. "I just had to piss him off didn't I? Oh God what have I done? I've got to owl Dumbledore and start practicing my occlumency again. Luck really is on my side since he didn't bother to look for the rest of the prophecy."

Looking down at his watch he noticed that only 2 hours had passed since he had come up to his room. He walked over to his desk, which was covered with letters from his friends. They had only sent one each after the school year ended. He was thankful he was not bombarded with letters and given time to himself. Taking out a piece of parchment, he quickly jotted a note to his professor retelling the event and asked for help with occlumency. Just as he was finishing his letter, his lightning bolt-shaped scar burst with pain the likes he had never felt before. Clutching his scar with one hand and adding this new information with the other, he began to wonder.

"I thought he couldn't get into my head like this while I'm here! Wasn't that the whole point of my coming back to this ruddy house every holiday!" he yelled to himself. With that, he quickly let Hedwig out of her cage and tied the note onto her leg. "Take this to the Order member watching the house girl, and hurry." With a friendly nip on his finger, she flapped her wings and flew out of the window with all her might.

After a few moments, he noticed his fingers were rather damp. Crimson blood covered his fingers as it continued to drop from his connection with Voldemort. The world around him slowly began to spin and black out on him when he fell onto the floor with a THUD.

The rain fell as screams reverberated throughout the quaint village. Fear and despair were the only emotions resting within the souls that were running around trying to take some cover. As colored light streaked by in every direction, a chill seemed to paralyze the town folk. Men and women shrouded in black robes and white masks came thundering in on foot, while ghosts of death glided their way towards the village. Death Eaters and Dementors were knocking on the town's front door.

Suddenly a white light burst in the sky erupting into what seemed to be a symbol. There set within the seal were a Siberian Tiger, Bald Eagle, Golden Griffin, Owl, and Black Labrador – each facing down toward the earth all while a great White Phoenix draped it's ever protecting wings around the five other beasts. Across this image was a pair of swords crossing in the center.

'What the hell is this? Is this another trick of Voldemort's?' Harry thought as the scene unfolded before him atop a grassy knoll.

This seemed to take the Death Eaters and Dementors by surprise as they all looked up at the night sky. No sooner had their eyes rested on the town before them that the apparition of several dozen witches and wizards in white robes took place. With the firing of a spell, the battle had begun. Several people cloaked in white mounted their brooms and attacked from the air, while several more took positions blocking the village from Voldemort's forces. This left eight beings in white step forward to meet the enemy head on, while a soft glow emanated from them.

"Who are all those people? Are they mad they will be trounced! There must be at least 20 Death Eaters and 30 Dementors! OH COME ON JUST LET ME SNAP OUT OF THIS!" Harry screamed. This feeling reminded him of being in a pensive. He could view what he was seeing, but actively participating was out of the question. "I've got to get word to the Order incase this is real! I'm sure they'll want to know about these wizards in white."

Harry quickly left his place above the village and ran down hoping to get a better idea of what he was seeing. About halfway down the hill he could see spells being exchanged as those on brooms effectively encircled the dementors with their patroni holding them at bay for the moment. Finally, Harry made to a building in the rear part of the village where a light blinded him. It came from the center of the battle. Gaining his vision again, he came to the center of the town. A few feet away stood a wizard helping to protect the area. The same symbol that was hanging in the sky was found on the left chest of the wizard's robes. Weaving in-between the buildings and streets, Harry reached the front lines. He gazed in amazement as the Dementors were gone and the few conscious Death Eaters began to port-key out, while many were either stunned or dead.

Before he could get any closer, Harry felt the scene start to drift away. The village, witches and wizards faded out of his frame of mind. Soon the only thing left was the seal that as still hanging in the sky. It was then that he knew this couldn't have been a trick of Voldemort's... One feeling overtook Harry that would make the Dark Lord's power crumble with time... Hope...

"Harry! Harry are you ok? — Oh Merlin, HARRY! No, not again please!" Tonks gently tried to shake the frail boy awake as tears slowly found their way down each cheek. Seeing whom she considered a friend laying in her arms with blood dripping down his forehead frightened her. Not too long ago, she lost her cousin and now his godson didn't look much better than death itself. She quickly performed an emergency spell to stop the bleeding, as all Aurors know. Then without warning, a pair of eyes opened and sprang to life.

"Wha — where?" said Harry as he attempted to clear his foggy mind. He turned his head and meet a young face with spiky, bright pink hair.

"Thank God you're ok! You had me scared for a moment," Tonks said with relief clinging onto the skinny boy. "I gotta take you to Madame Pomfrey so she can patch you up."

"No it's ok I'm fine."

"Harry you've lost some blood. I don't know how well my spell's going to —"

"I'm FINE Tonks! I just... I need to sit down. There's no need to have Madame Pomfrey worry about me, it's only a little blood. OK?"

She looked at him slightly hurt by his tone but knew he was under a lot as of late and let it slide. "Well fine, but at least tell me what happened, and start at the beginning."

After 15 minutes of retelling the day's events, the pink haired auror just stared slack jawed at her young friend.

"So all of this, from your aunt, to you-know-who, to this dream... all happened today?" He slowly nodded. "Listen Harry, I have no idea why you seem to get the short end of the broomstick all the time, but just remember that we're all here for you. It's already tough enough on me with Sirius and all, but you... you've got that, plus one crazy bastard who seems hell bent on getting to you for some reason. I don't know how you do it sometimes. Honestly, you're probably the strongest person I've ever meet next to Dumbledore." Harry smiled at her words, letting it fall slightly as he forgot that Sirius was Tonks' cousin, not to mention the Order did not know the second part of the prophecy.

"Thanks Tonks. So what do you think the dream, or whatever it was, mean?" Harry thoughtfully asked.

"I don't have a clue. With visions, the person doesn't pass out, they just momentarily forget where they are. If that were the case, Trelawney, that old bat, would be out for half the day according to her." Harry snickered as he imagined her 'Inner Eye' going to work in Divination while passing out face first into her tealeaves. "Even if this passing out was a fluke occurrence, I don't think you're a seer. Seers can only witness an event, but from what you just described, you could actually walk around and interact to a certain extent much like a pensive. You should definitely talk with Dumbledore. Oh, I almost forgot... here's the letter you sent Hedwig with since the first part was actually for the professor. Quick thinking you've got there."

"So how long are you lot sent to watch me? I mean, watching a house all day can't be your idea of fun," stated Harry.

"Well I'm going to lie, it is a bit of a snooze. Especially since you never leave this blasted room of yours. I mean come on, the least you could do for us would be go outside or to the park. At least them we could move around and see all the sights around Privet Drive." Joked Tonks as she lightly jabbed him in the ribs. "I'm not supposed to talk about who guards you or when, but I can say that there are 6 of us."

Harry knew only too well that it was probably under Dumbledore's orders that he not be told this bit of information either. After all, he was the person who seemed to keep everything from him, only relaying to Harry what he felt was necessary.

"Well, thanks Tonks for — well you know, everything"

The young auror smiled and said "No worries. If you need anything just send a note with Hedwig and we'll see what we can do. Oh and Harry..." she said turning just outside his door.

"Yes?"

"Eat a little more will ya? I mean you're cute and all but a little bit more meat on those bones, some newer clothes and you'll have the girls eating right out of your han—"

"Tonks!" called out Harry as he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry!" said Tonks. No sooner had the apology come out of her mouth than an amused look dawned on her face. "Oi, maybe you'd prefer the love of a different type, such as an arse bandit?"

The look she saw on Harry's face was priceless, causing her to trip over her own feet. Recovering from the initial shock, he indignantly said, "No I happen to like girls thank you very much, NYMPHADO —"

"Alright Potter, you win!" she said knowing full well she deserved it. "I'll see you around." As she looked at him, she noticed how his scar was now healed up completely when moments earlier it was bleeding. Contemplating about letting the Order know, she shook her head and thought better of it. It was, after all, Harry's choice whether to tell people about it or not.

Walking over to his desk, he wrote a revised note for his professor, which included his account while unconscious. Taking one final look at it and thinking it was good enough, he called out to his feathery friend and tied on the note one more time.

"Ok girl, this time I really want you to go to Professor Dumbledore," With a hoot she was gone.

Gazing out the window following Hedwig until he lost her in the clouds and sky, he decided to get some schoolwork done, followed up by some Occulmeny practice before bed. Rubbing the scar that so famously defined him to most of the wizarding world, he though that his was going to be one rough summer.

A/N: That's the first chapter and I hope it's good enough for you to keep reading and reviewing. Please let me know what you think. Good or bad, it doesn't matter since I've never written before and I thought I'd take a stab at it. I hope to have this 6th year fic done before the sixth book itself comes out. I'll try to update twice a week, but we'll see. The way the story board is shaping up, it will be 120,000+ words, just a heads up if you don't like long fics. Thanks for at least reading this far!

Next update 15-3-05 or 3-15-05 if you're stateside.