Hello, to all my readers out there.

I thought I would go ahead and start on this story. I came up with the idea a while back. I just wasn't able to publish it at the time. But, now, I really want go get going on it.

Let's get started.

Chapter 1- Hope Amidst the Storm

In 1997, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters took over the Magical government of Britain. This heightened a civil war taking place in Magical Britain. This war culminated in the Battle of Hogwarts at the beginning of May, 1998.

The Order of the Phoenix led the defense of Hogwarts Castle. Despite their best efforts, the defense ultimately failed, and Harry Potter was presumed killed. When he miraculously returned, he attempted to lead a second defense of the castle. That second defense also failed, and Harry Potter led the survivors in a retreat, ultimately retreating to the United States.

Following the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort re-solidified his control over Magical Britain, then expanded his goals and took over the Muggle British government as well.

But that was not enough for Voldemort. Expanding his horizons across the Atlantic, he began an effort to conquer the United States.

For half a year, the United States fought against Voldemort. But, not being familiar with wizards, and the American Magical Congress not used to working with the U.S. government, they didn't know how to fight back. And eventually, the United States fell, and just like Britain, much of its military became subservient to Voldemort.

But not all. Harry led the British and American Magical refugees to Australia, along with a great portion of the U.S. Army, Marines, and Air Force, and a fleet from the U.S. Navy, including two aircraft carriers and the four Iowa class battleships.

With the fall of the United States, it became clear that the world was in true danger. Two countries was not enough for Voldemort, and he began sending his forces out to conquer the world.

The conflict wore on until late in 2000. At first, the countries of the world tried to resist and drive Voldemort back. Then, realizing they were not going to win without greater preparation, they changed to delaying tactics, trying to slow Voldemort down, while allowing as many civilians and military forces as possible to retreat to Australia, which had become the home of the anti-Voldemort resistance.

The conflict wore on until August 31, 2000, when Beijing fell to Voldemort's army. With the fall of Beijing, China, the last country still fighting, lay completely under Voldemort's control, leaving only Australia and New Zealand as the last free lands on Earth.

But, the war was not over. Hope still survived, for Harry Potter was still alive. And he was determined to eventually strike back.

(May 1, 2008, London)

Voldemort stood atop Buckingham Palace, looking out over the city of London. He laughed as he watched the Muggles walk through the streets, guards keeping them under stern observation. He breathed in and relished in his power.

The past 10 years had been nothing but good luck. Almost all of the world had been subjugated and lay under his iron fist. His military, thanks to the Imperious Curse, was now massive.

Of course, his conquest of the world hadn't gone perfectly. Harry Potter was still alive, and had retreated to Australia, along with the Order of Phhoenix and tens of millions of people, both magical and Muggle, from the countries he had conquered that had managed to escape and fled to Australia as well. With their help, Potter had fortified Australia and New Zealand.

Yet, Voldemort was satisfied. Potter had not tried to fight against him since 1999. And since he had finished his conquest of the world in 2000 and the last refugees had fled to Australia, Potter and the people of Australia had not emerged from their isolation.

While he knew he would have to eventually have to take Australia, he was content for now to wait and build up his forces until the time was right.

Voldemort grinned. Nothing could stand in his way.

(North-Eastern Australia)

In a wide open field in Australia, Harry Potter, dressed in camouflage, stood at the top of a tower behind a barrier of glass. A number of tanks and vehicles were arrayed around the tower.

As Harry watched, an F-16 dropped from the skies into an attack run. He watched calmly as it approached.

Suddenly, a camouflaged F-15 dropped in on the F-16's tail. But, just a few seconds later, a MiG-29 pulled in behind the F-15. For a few seconds, these three planes, each in a slight left bank, flew in a procession towards the tower. Then, then F-15 levelled off and began a slow climb, as the MiG-29 snapped into a hard right turn, indicating to Harry that the MiG had gotten off a successful simulated missile shot. Meanwhile, the F-16 flew past the tower, dropping a cluster bomb as it went, which took out two tanks and a Humvee. But the destruction of the vehicles did not concern Harry, because this was all a training exercise. Harry watched as the F-16 flew away from the tower.

"Sir!" Harry turned to Colonel Stone, who was standing at a control console. "Yes, Colonel?" he asked. "The exercise is wrapping up. The Blue Force if forming up and heading back to base," the Colonel responded. Harry nodded and looked back out at the exercise range. Flights of aircraft were flying over the tower, heading north. He watched as a flight of F-4 Phantoms flew at pretty low altitude over the tower.

"Colonel," Harry called.

"Yes, sir?" the colonel replied.

"I am off for home. Instruct General Eliyahu to inform me of the results once the evaluation has been completed," Harry informed the Colonel.

"Understood, sir," he replied.

Harry left the observation platform and headed down to the base of the tower. An armed guard saluted him as he left the tower, and Harry returned the salute. He then walked over to his personal UH-60 Blackhawk and boarded the chopper.

"Hello, General. Where to?" called Major John White, Harry's personal helicopter pilot, from the cockpit.

"Home, Major," Harry replied.

"Ha. Right where I want to be," Major White replied with a chuckle as he powered up the engine.

"Well, once you get me home, take the rest of the day off," Harry said with a smile.

Major White laughed, then said, "Ok, General."

A few seconds later, after allowing a flight of Su-25s to fly overhead, the Blackhawk lifted off the ground and began flying north.

As he watched the countryside go by, Harry reflected on the last decade. Ever since the retreat to Australia, Harry's resolve to defeat Voldemort had strengthened tenfold, in part due to his new responsibilities. Soon after arriving in Australia, the leaders of the Free Forces (the name for the combined force that had fled to Australia) had, due to him being the Chosen One, has him go through 3.5 years of officer training. Then, 5 years ago, they had promoted him to the new rank of High General and made him Supreme Commander of the all branches of the military of the Free Forces. Not, at just age 28 (almost 29), Harry was an experienced commander and a master strategist.

He was not the only one. Ron had also gone through officer training, and had also been made a High General, and Harry's second in command. Hermione, to Harry and Ron's amusement, had ended up going into the Air Force, and had become a fighter pilot, which was amusing since she had lacked skill on a broom. But, she had grown to be a very competent fighter pilot, starting in F-15s, and was now a Colonel and commanded a squadron of Su-30 Flankers. Many other friends of Harry's now also had positions in the military.

As the Blackhawk continued north, Harry looked off to his right, and caught a view of the Sirius Black Space Center, the main base for the Free Force Space Agency (FFSA). He saw the Space Shuttle Atlantis sitting on the launch pad, ready to launch on its next mission in 36 hours.

One of the Free Froces' greatest resources had come from NASA. Atlantis had been in orbit when Voldemort first attacked America. NASA had ordered Atlantis to land in Australia. With magical help, one of the U.S. Air Force's E-4 aircraft had been converted into a second Shuttle Transportation Aircraft. The two STAs had flown the shuttles Discovery and Columbia to Australia. The shuttle Endeabour had to be left behind. To ensure Voldemort couldn't use it, NASA removed it's engines, sabotaged its systems, then buried the orbiter in a secret underground bunker. All design data for the shuttle, external tanks, and rocket boosters were destroyed, as well as the tanks and boosters themselves.

For months, the three orbiters had stayed earthbound, while maintenance was performed on the orbiters, new tanks and boosters were formed, the Sirius Black Space Center was built, the FFSA was formed, and new crews were gathered and trained. Then, on October 15, 2000, with Harry, most of the Order of the Phoenix, and many of the world leaders from the Council of the Free Forces in the stands watching, the space shuttle Discovery, with a crew of 5 commanded by American astronaut Rick Husband, lifted off the launch pad, embarking on a 5 day mission to deploy a reconnaissance satellite and a communications satellite (the Free Forces had lost access to most satellites after Voldemort took over).

Over the nearly 8 years since then, the FFSA had outdone itself. It was necessary to get dozens of satellites into orbit for when the Free Forces finally emerged from isolation, and that called for a hectic flight schedule. NASA had averaged 5 or 6 flight per years, with each orbiter flying just once or twice a year, usually with at least 6 months between flights.

Now, the FFSA was flying at least one mission a month. Each orbiter was flying a mission at least once every 3 months. Sometimes, there had even been 2 orbiters in space at the same time. Some experts had wondered if the shuttles could withstand such a hectic flight schedule. But, with magical help, the three orbiters were still performing at peak efficiency.

Since October of 2000, the FFSA had flown 98 shuttle missions, deplyong 127 satellties. Discovery had become the workhorse of the fleet, flying 36 of the 98 shuttle flight. Columbia was the second busiest shuttle with 32 flights under its belt, and Atlantis the leats busy with 30 flights. Atlantis' impending mission was going to be one of its most important of all, because it would be deploying a highly important Radar Ocean Reconaissance Satellite (RORSAT), and a weather satellite that would be crucial in developing weather reports for combat situations.

But, the shuttles were finally going to get a break. They had almost finished deploying the necessary satellites. Sol on August 1, Columbia would launch on its 33rd mission for the Free Forces, which would be the 100th shuttle flight flown by the FFSA. The shuttle program would then be shut down for over a year for necessary maintenance before resuming late in 2009, with a far slower flight schedule.

Harry took great pride in the shuttle program. He had in fact gotten to fly on Discovery on its 30th flight, and had spent a week in space. It had been of the greatest experiences of his life.

Several people Harry knew were in the FFSA, including Padma Patil and Professor Sinistra. But, the most surprising was Fleur's sister Gabrielle. When she saw Discovery launch in 2000, she was determined to become an astronaut. Under Harry's orders, she underwnt training when she was old enough. Then, just the month before, after coming off from maternity leave after having her first baby, Gabrielle had flown into space for the first time aboard Discovery. She was scheduled to fly again on COlumbia's flight in August, and was in consideration to command the first flight after operations resumed in late 2009.

"Five more minutes, General!" Major White's call jolted him out of his thoughts. Harry grinned. After a long day of work, it was finally time to come home and be with the family.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, the helicopter slowed to a stop, the lowered to the ground. Once the helicopter touched down, the door slid open, and Harry jumped out.

He stopped and looked around for a minute as the Blackhawk took off again and flew away. The vast grounds were as well kept as ever. And ahead of him rose the familiar structure of the Potter Mansion. Harry had objected to living in a mansion at all, but Tony Blair, the British representative on the Council, had personally intervened and ordered the mansion built anyway. In order to somewhat pacify Harry, part of the mansion was dedicated for us as a military command center.

Harry smiled, then started jogging up the half mile stretch between the helipad and the front doors. Thanks to being in such great shape due to the military's fitness requirements, he made it to the mansion in just over 4 minutes. He walked up to the front doors, saluted the guards, then opened the front doors and marched in.

"I'm home!" he called out as he stood in the entrance hall. A few seconds later, he heard the rapid pitter-patter of tiny feet. Then, his 3 year old son, James, came flying out into the entrance hall as fast as his little legs could carry him, with little 2 year old Albus toddling behind him.

"Daddy!" James cried. Harry smiled broadly and dropped into a crouch, throwing his arms out. James ran straight into them.

"Hey, buddy!" Harry exclaimed as he hugged his son and kissed him on the side of his head. "How was your day?" he asked.

"It was fun! Auntie Luna came over with Lowcan and Lysan!" James said happily.

Harry grinned. Neville and Luna had fallen in love after the Battle of Hogwarts and gotten married in 2001. Just 2 months earlier, in April 2008, they had welcomed a set of twin boys, Lorcan and Lysander. Because James was so young, he could say their names right, so he called them Lowcan and Lysan.

"Daddy!" Harry smiled even brighter as Albus toddled up. He threw out an arm and reeled Albus in too.

"Hey, buddy! Oh, I'm glad to see you too," Harry said as he hugged his sons tightly. Then, he released them and asked with a smile, "Where's your mother?"

"Glad that my husband is home to help me with my crazy children." Harry looked up and beamed at the sight of his beautiful wife standing in the doorway James and Albus had just come through.

Harry stood and quickly made his way to the doorway and wrapped his arms around his wife and planted a kiss on her lips. "I love you," he whispered.

"I know," Ginny whispered back with a smile.

Harry pulled back a little, then asked, "How's the little one?" As he asked, he placed his hand on Ginny's belly, and felt the baby moving within.

"Very active today," she said with a smile.

"Daddy!" Harry turned to James and asked, "What is it James?"

"I going tell Teddy you home," he says cheerfully. Harry smiled. He had taken Teddy in after the retreat to Australia, and has basically raised him. Teddy was now 10 years old.

"Okay, James," Harry said. James looked thrilled and hurried off, with Albus following him as fast as he could.

Harry smiled as he and Ginny stared after them. It was all thanks to Ginny that the last 10 years had been some of the best of his life despite what had happened. During the brief time they had spent in the United States, he and Ginny had rekindled their relationship, and fell deeper in love.

After retreating to Australia, Harry had asked her to marry him on Valentine's Day in 2000. Their wedding took place on September 1, 2000, 9 years to the day they met. They held the wedding aboard the USS Nimitz, one of the two aircraft carriers the Americans had retreated to Australia with. The ceremony took place on the hangar deck, to keep it hidden from cameras, and the reception was held on the flight deck. They had honeymooned in New Zealand.

When Harry started his officer training, Ginny had expressed a desire to join the military too. At first, Harry had been reluctant to let her. Then, after he was made a High General, she finally convinced him to let her. She had started officer training for a short time. But, after 7 months, she got pregnant with James. But, she still held hope she could continue her training after James was born. But, 4 months after James was born, she found out before she was pregnant with Albus. Once Harry found that out, he told Ginny he was never going to let her join the military now that they were going to have 2 kids. Ginny was angry about that, but her anger had vanished once Albus was born. Since then, she had been content to stay at home with the boys, especially when she discovered she was pregnant again.

Harry again placed his hand on her belly. "How did your appointment go today?" he asked.

"Pretty good," she said happily.

"He's still healthy?" Harry asked.

Ginny looked him right in the face. "She is. I've told you a thousand times. I know it's a girl," she says.

Harry grinned. "I'm still sure it's a boy," he says.

"Well, I'm the one carrying this baby. You'd think I would know," she said.

"What about with James and Albus?" Harry said. Ginny put on a pouting face.

Harry grinned. During her pregnancies with James and Albus, she had been sure she was having a girl, and both times Harry had been sure they were boys. So, that has been a recurring arguement during this pregnancy. It hasn't made Ginny happy, especially since only Fleur has sided with her.

"Well, we'll just have to wait until she's born," Ginny said firmly. Harry grinned, but decided to humor her.

The sound of running feet caught their attention. A second later, Teddy came running into the entrance hall, with his best friend Victoire, Bill and Fleur's daughter, following behind him.

"Teddy! Victoire!" Harry exclaimed, giving them both a big hug as they ran up to him.

"Teddy invited me over, Uncle Harry!" 8 year old Victoire exclaimed.

"Did he now?" Harry asked with a smile, looking at Teddy.

Teddy smiles broadly. "Yeah! And we're playing tag!" He then tags Victoire and cries, "You're it!" before racing out of the room. Victoire giggles and chases after him.

Harry and Ginny both laugh as they watch them run off. Then, the door opens behind him. Harry and Ginny both turn around to see Draco Malfoy, in his white admiral's uniform, walking through the front door.

The arrival of Draco Malfor in Australia had come as a surprise to many. In early 2001, an Su-30 fighter had been spotted flying towards Australia from the direction of Indonesia. A flight of Navy F-14s had been scrambled from the USS Enterprise to intercept it. However, the pilot climbed he wanted to defect.

When he landed at an airbase in northern Australia, he was met by guards. But, when the person in the back seat of the Su-30 climbed out, it shocked everyone to see he was Draco. Draco was immediately taken into custody and brought to Sydney. There, he was interrogated.

Draco claimed he had had enough. His heart had been changed by the things he'd been forced to do, and how Voldemort had treated him and his family. He claimed he wanted to try and make up for all he had done.

Harry decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He had cleared Malfoy to join the military. Malfoy had revealed he had always liked sailing, so he joined the Navy. He had shown to have a natural gift for naval tactics. He had risen through the ranks, and nearly 3 years ago, had been promoted to Admiral. Then, just a few months earlier, as the preparation for coming out of isolation ramped up, he and an American Admiral named Gary Roughead had been promoted to the wartime rank of Fleet Admiral.

"Hey, Draco. What is it?" Harry asks.

"I got a report today. The New Jersey stripped a main turbine. Its gonna take a month to fix," Draco says. Harry groans.

"But, I have a better report. According to shipbuilding progress, our fleet will at our desired size by next month," Draco says with a smile.

Harry smiles too. "Awesome. And the other branches think they're ready," he says. He looks off at a picture of Hogwarts he has hanged in an adjacent room, then says, "I think we're ready. I think it's time we start getting ready to retake the world."

And, I'll end there. I hope this wasn't too long, and didn't have too much unnecessary details. But, when it comes to the military, I can go into a lot of detail. That's just who I am.

Next chapter will probably be just some more background info, so I don't have to include it in future chapters, and to get it of my mind. Then, we'll continue on into the rest of the story.

Let me know how I started off, and stay tuned.