The rain lashing the windows of the Hogwarts Express was constant and heavy and reflected the mood inside the train very well. Usually the train would be loud and cheerful, the students happy to be free for the summer, but not this year. With Albus Dumbledore dead, the wizarding world was devastated. The only man that Voldemort had ever feared, was gone. Most were convinced it was only a matter of time until the Dark Lord took over. To all but three students, hope was lost.

Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, the chosen one, the last hope of the wizarding world, sat in a compartment at the back of the train with his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Harry sat with his head leaning against the window, watching the raindrops drip down the other side of the glass, wishing he could drown himself in the rain. He quite literally had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it was slowly wearing him down.

Dumbledore had shown him about the Horcruxes because he believed that Harry could destroy them, Harry wasn't so sure. Dumbledore had almost lost his hand destroying the ring, and Dumbledore was possibly the strongest wizard since the founders. He, Harry, was just a 16 soon to be 17 year old wizard with normal wizard power, nothing anywhere near as impressive as Dumbledore or even Voldemort.

Harry could feel his friends eyes boring holes into him, and he slowly looked towards the two people who had been there for him through everything. Taking in his friends' appearances, Harry could see the puffy red eyes of Hermione, a telltale sign that she had been crying for the better part of the last week as he knew she had been.

Ron on the other hand, to an outsider, would look perfectly normal, if only just a bit depressed. But Harry knew Ron to well. He could tell from the look in his friends' eyes that he was terrified, for his family, for himself, and for the whole wizarding world as well. For the first time the entire ride, Harry spoke.

"I'm not going back to the Dursleys, after all, it wouldn't make much difference. Even if I did, they will be happier if I don't, as will I. When the train reaches the platform, I'm going to apparate to Grimmauld place, and I'll just stay there." He said all this without really looking at Ron or Hermione, but he wasn't finished yet.

"McGonagall told me before we left the school that since D- HE died," Harry said, not able to say Dumbledore, "the fidelius charm isn't protecting the house anymore, so Hermione could you do it again? McGonagall told me that they won't be using the house for the Order anymore, they are just gonna do that at Hogwarts." He said this last part mostly because he had forgotten to tell them about it.

He finally looked over at Hermione to see a thoughtful look on her face.

"I don't know Harry, I suppose I could try. I read all about it last year when I first heard that headquarters was hidden by it but it's a pretty complicated charm."

"Oh Hermione, we all know you can do it, there isn't a charm that you've read about that you can't do." Ron voiced.

Hermione blushed at the compliment but it was true, they all did know that she could do it. Harry stood up and pulled his trunk down from the luggage compartment, shrunk it, and placed it in his trouser pocket.

"Harry, you can't do magic outside of Hogwarts!" Hermione reprimanded.

"Yeah I can, I'm with two adult wizards, the ministry can't tell who cast the spell so its fine." Hermione still looked unsure but didn't say anything. Ron, however, had caught something in Harry had said.

"Wait a minute Harry, you said YOU will stay at Grimmauld place, you meant US right?" Harry opened his mouth to object but Ron cut him off.

"Harry, we are going with you so don't waste your breath. When we get to the platform we will ALL go to Grimmauld place? Mum wont be to happy about it, but I'm an adult and she has no say."

"Yeah Harry, we said we are coming with you, and that's that. I already told my parents that I wouldn't be coming home for a while anyway since we had planned on staying at the Dursleys with you. Like Ron said, they didn't like it but they didn't really have a choice."

The rest of the train ride passed much the way the entire trip had, Harry went back to his thoughts and Hermione and Ron started a game of wizards chess in which Ron totally obliterated her. The peacefulness of the train ride bothered Harry a little bit. In truth he had expected the Death Eaters to attack the train and the teachers had obviously expected the same thing due to the fact that they had also ridden the train for extra safety.

When the Hogwarts Express pulled into platform 9 3/4, Harry, Ron and Hermione were the first ones off. While Ron and Hermione made their way over to the Weasleys, Harry hung back. He had seen Ginny make her way over to her family and he felt strange around her since their breakup.

"YOU'RE WHAT! ABSOLUTELY NOT RONALD WEASLEY! YOU ARE COMING HOME FOR THE SUMMER AND YOU ARE NOT DROPPING OUT!" Harry heard Mrs. Weasley screaming.

"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO ANYMORE! I AM AN ADULT AND I WILL DO WHAT THE BLOODY HELL I WANT!" Ron hollered right back. Harry chanced a look over at the Weasleys but his view was blocked by Moody.

"Alright Potter, let's get you back to your relatives, seeing as how they couldn't be bothered to pick you up." Harry looked into his real eye; his other one was staring out the back of his head.

"No, I'm not going back to the Dursleys." Moody's other eye snapped forward to look at Harry at this.

"Potter," He growled, "you don't have a choice, either you come with me peacefully or ill have to stun you and take you against your will. It's the last time you will have to be there so just suck it up."

"Moody, I can tell you now, that if you try and force me I will fight you, and I've heard I'm rather good."

"Fine, have it your way." Moody pulled out his wand but before he could say a word, Harry beat him to it.

"Pulsus!" the spell was a new one that Harry had learned from Hermione that when connected, sent the person on the receiving end flying backwards. The blue light of the spell shot from the end of Harry's wand that he had hidden in his sleeve. The spell connected with the old auror flush in the stomach, sending him flying back a dozen feet. Ron and Mrs. Weasley stopped the argument and looked over, Ron with a look of awe and Mrs. Weasley with a look of surprise.

Before they could say anything, Harry had apparated to the alley beside Number 12 Grimmauld place.

Hermione had seen the whole exchange between Harry and Moody and while she was rather annoyed that Harry had attacked the older man, she understood why he did it.

When she saw him apparate away, she grabbed Ron by the arm, and apparated to the same alley Harry had, almost landing on top of him. Molly stood back at the platform with a look of anger so fierce that it could have melted metal. Moody, likewise, was extremely pissed.

"Harry! You cursed an auror!"

"Ex-auror actually 'Mione, ex-auror. And I didn't have a choice. He was gonna stun me and drag me back to the Dursleys. I only did what I felt necessary."

"It was bloody awesome Harry. I mean it was very foolish and could have dangerous consequences none the less." Ron added at the look Hermione gave him.

Harry laughed as they stepped out of the alley and onto the sidewalk of Grimmauld place, however the laugh died on his lips, for standing there in front of them, were three Death Eaters. In a flash Harry had his wand out and was casting spells as quickly as he could.

"STUPIFY! STUPIFY! STUPIFY!" Harry grabbed both Ron and Hermione and pulled them back into the cover of the alley.

"Hermione, Ron and I will cover you; you must get into the house and cast the fidelius. We don't know if the anti-apparation wards are still up. When you are done, get your ass back out here." Hermione nodded and Harry looked at Ron.

Silently Harry counted down on his fingers. When he raised his third finger they stepped back out into the street.

"STUPIFY! STUPIFY! IMPEDIMENTA! SECTUMSEMPRA! STUPIFY! REDUCTO! REDUCTO!" Harry hollered as he watched Hermione cross the street and enter the house out of the corner of his eye.

Taking refuge behind a car, Harry watch as the two Death Eaters they had managed to stun were revived by their comrade. Once again Harry and Ron cast stunners and managed to hit two of the Death Eaters, but again, they were revived by the third.

"Awe, does little baby Potter want to fight." Harry knew that voice anywhere; it was the voice of the woman who had killed Sirius, who had tortured the Longbottoms into insanity, the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry's blood was boiling. Standing, Harry put all the strength he could into the spell.

"REDUCTO!" The red beam that shot from the end of his wand was enormous. It struck the side of the car that Harry thought Lestrange was hiding behind.

When the red light struck the side of the car, it exploded into a thousand pieces. The force of the explosion sent Harry soaring back and crashing into the side of number 9. It felt as though every bone in his body was broken, the pain was immense.

"Baby Potter finally got some power huh?" Bellatrix taunted as she stepped out from the other side of the street where she had been hiding.

"How does it feel to take your first lives little Potter? You've killed Crabbe and Goyle." She laughed as she said this.

"Not a big loss really, they were incredibly stupid little boys, much like yourself." The pain from his crash was gone, replaced by an anger that filled every tissue of Harry's body.

Standing up, Harry put all his anger into the curse.

"CRUICO!" The spell hit the unsuspecting Bellatrix and she went down screaming and twitching.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT YOU BITCH! HOW DOES IT FUCKING FEEL!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. Pulling his wand up, Harry ended the spell.

"Get up you stupid bitch." He snarled, his voice dripping with hatred.

Bellatrix looked at him with what he could only assume was fear. Unseen to him, Hermione had returned and was watching the scene unfold from the doorstep of Number 12, while Ron was watching from behind the car.

"Cruci..." Bellatrix started but Harry cut her off.

"No" He said bringing his wand down in an arc. Bellatrix's head was brutally smacked to the side from the force of the wordless spell.

Looking back at Harry, there was a deep cut on the side of her face. Muttering to himself, Harry cast a spell and a silver shimmer of light could be faintly seen growing outwards in a circle like shape.

Neither Ron nor Hermione were sure what Harry had done but it became apparent when Bellatrix tried to dissaparate.

There was a faint pop and she was gone, a split second later she reappeared falling from where the silver light had stopped. Harry had cast an anti-apparation ward! Hermione was stunned.

It was a very complex spell and as far as she knew, Harry had never even read about it.

"Bellatrix, you are going to die today, do you know that." Harry said in a frighteningly calm voiced laced with hatred and contempt.

Bellatrix looked up at Harry and started pulling herself backwards on her hands; one could tell she was quite terrified. One more time, Harry pointed his wand, this time at her heart.

"Avada..." He began.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione yelled as she ran towards him.

"KEDAVRA!" Harry finished. A sickly jet of bright green light shot forth from the end of his wand and connected solidly with the target. Bellatrix Lestrange was dead.