NOTES: Rated M for violence, blood/gore, and maybe some minor sexual parts. Language too! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

Blink

Story Description: Voldemort is dead, the Death Eaters disbanded. Harry struck the final blow, but it was his friends that helped him. Harry disappears, Hermione and Ron are stunned. Ron moves on, but Hermione can't shake the fact that there seems to be something wrong. They are both good aurors and soon they are assigned to a case that is connected to a secret group and someone who is determined to dominate the world, just like Voldemort. This new enemy is good, very good. So good in fact, that Harry left because of him. But the golden boy will return, when the world needs him the most...

STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Harry Potter story, JK Rowling does. I am merely another author who wishes to write a story based on her stories. I own my made-up characters, places, descriptions, spells, items, and anything else you don't recognize from the original books. The characters in this story are fictional and are used fictitiously by the auther (moi).

Chasing a Shadow

Flight

No. 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey...fourty minutes outside ofLondon
Two days after Voldemort's downfall...

The Dursleys were sleeping well, Vernon's snores echoing throughout the house and accompanied by his son's own, far lighter, snore. The night was black outside as a new moon began to wax itself. A slight breeze blew and ruffled the leaves of the trees along the street.

The street was bright with light pouring out from the street lamps. Moths and other flying insects whirred around and landed on the lamps, taking warmth from the heat generated by the light.

A light snuffed out, at the far end of Privet Drive. Then another, and another, and the lamps kept going out as if they were candles and someone were blowing them out. Without the lights, the entire street was pitch black, and if one tried to look outside, nothing was visible.

The door to No. 4 exploded inward with a crash as figures rushed into the house. Dark, hooded, silent, they ascended the stairs as some of the other figures checked the rest of the house.

Vernon was awake, his eyes on his bedroom door. He reached for the sidetable and took out a gun. It was a Colt. It was new, but it didn't shine in the dark. He fumbled with his pudgy hands to load it and he slapped the .357 Magnum rounds into the revolver and pulled back the hammer. It was ready to shoot.

He moved his index finger to the trigger and aimed for the door. He heard the creak of the eight step and tensed, sweat creasing his brow.

He stared at the wooden door, imagined who would be behind it and what he would do, and waited. His finger never leaving the trigger as it tensed, ready to pull on it. He had never before fired a gun, but now was a good time to learn how it felt like.

He started shaking slightly, in fear. HIs eyes were wide, trying to see if the door was opening or not. Damn the darkness, he thought, as he heard some more sounds. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and his son screamed for a few seconds before falling silent.

Vernon was visibly shaking now, his imagination running wild as he thought of what happened. Tears obscured what little sight he had and he tried to brush them away. Who were these people? Why were they here?

Ten seconds. Twenty. He counted in his mind as he slowly regained control.

His wife snored softly in her sleep and turned over. She would wake up when he fired, that was for sure. He hoped to whatever diety was out there that he and his family would be safe.

The door flew open in an instant and he didn't even hesitate as his finger pulled back and his arm tensed.

BANG!

The magnum round tore through the air and into one of the assailants. He yelped in and fell to the ground in a heap.

BANG!

Vernon fired again, hitting another guy, but not succeeding in making him fall. He fired again, but this time the gun flew out of his hands and broke through the window. His ears were ringing and they hurt like hell. He felt pain in his fingers, hands and arms. He wasn't strong, but having never fired a gun, he didn't know how hard he had to grip the gun either. It kicked hard and nearly hit him in the head on the first shot.

His ears were still ringing and hurt a lot, but then that was when he noticed that it was because his wife was screaming.

She was flailing, eyes wide, and her mouth even wider. A red light shone and something seemed to hit her because she flew into the headboard and fell silent.

He was lucky, whoever these attackers were they were stunned for a bit as they processed this new information. The figure on the floor didn't move, but the one he shot in the shoulder stepped into the room.

The figure was breathing hard, clutching with its right hand onto the shoulder where the shot hit. The other hand held something and it was pointed at him. That was when he knew that these were...freaks. The bad ones, that is.

He paled and turned multiple shades of green. His mouth agape, he tried to formulate words. "W...W-why...? Who...?" he barely managed to say.

For some reason, even in the dark, he saw the figure smirk, before a red light hit him as well and all turned even darker than the night outside.

The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole
That same night...

Hermione sat in the living room of the Burrow. It was slightly different in the house, after the war everyone seemed a little...off. She thought she felt a little off as well, but no one was nearly as 'off' as Harry. He was, extremely different.

During the last two days with him, he was more silent, less open it seemed. He left to go walk outside and she was waiting for him.

She tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and watched as the magical clock signalled that the Weasleys had come home. After the final battle, they had offered to house the other two of the Golden Trio for a little, as they cooled off and got ready to face the rest of the world and return to normal. Of course, nothing was going to ever be really normal anymore.

Ron entered the living room and fell into one of the seats adjacent to the sofa where Hermione sat.

Ginny followed a few seconds after, and sat next to Hermione. She smiled at her in greeting and then closed her eyes and rested her head onto Hermione's shoulder. They had gotten closer over the past few years, and they seemed like sisters now.

Ron closed his eyes too, he felt tired, along with everyone else. He was different, like everyone else too. He was taller, a little over six feet maybe. Histhick red hair was eventhicker and was longer too. Long enough that it touched his eyebrows and flowed over his ears.

His freckles seemed to have multiplied and he had a couple of scars on his skin as well. He was more filled out, with muscle that is. No more was he a lazy fat slob who ate a lot. Well...he still ate a lot, but he wasn't really that lazy anymore and he wasn't fat anymore either.

Ginny was different as well, she was taller too. She stood at about a respectable five-and-half-feet tall and she was very pretty now.It was a good thing that the war was going on or else boys would have been hounding after her like crazy. Heck, even Draco seemed to have an interest in her, before he left to join his father that is.

Her long flowing red hair framed her face perfectly and her bright brown eyes were filled with energy. Though she had lost some of her innocence during the war, she had to hurt or kill people after all, she was still the little girl that they all cared for.

Her thoughts turned to Harry this time, and she pictured him in his mind. Strong, tall, powerful, frighteningly powerful in fact. It was no wonder he was the one destined to fight Voldemort and it was no wonder that he could kill him too. He was muscular and was an inch shy of six feet. His raven black hair was still as unruly as ever and his emerald green eyes were bright and happy, but that last only a few hours.

He seemed so...changed. So different, or maybe it was because everything else had changed and Hermione had not really tried to see these changes. His eyes turned cold and he showed little or no outward emotion. He rarely spoke and when he did, it was quick and straight to the point.

Molly Weasley and Arthur Weasley quickly swept into the living room accompanied by the twins. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were by far some of the ones who changedthe most.

They had more lines on their faces and they seemed to have aged a few more years than they really were. Stress and the war had tried and tested them and they barely came out alive. They had huge bags under their eyes and their hair had intermittent streaks of gray. Though she knew that since the war was over, they would slowly return to their normal appearance, it would take time.

The twins barely grew an inch and were shorter than Harry and Ron by about three inches or so. They were only a few inches taller than Hermione and Ginny as well. They were not as changed as the others and still smiled and joked a lot, though considerably less than before.

Pranks were rare, but it was too early to tell if they were going to return to that habit. Hermione smiled a little, they probably were going to return to that habit.

They all sat in silence, Mrs. Weasley sat next to Ginny and watched as herhusband stood and observed the room that he had passed millions of times. Things were going to change, the Ministry had given him a hefty sum in reward for their services during the war and the house was going to change.

He was going to miss the old look, but he knew that it brought too many memories. After all, Percy...

"Where's Harry?" George asked no one in particular.

"Dunno..." Ron mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"He went out for a walk," Hermione replied.

"Oh," George said as he nodded his head.

They stayed like that for about an hour, until Mrs. Weasley stood and announced that she was going to prepare supper. Mr. Weasley offered to help and Ginny did too. The twins went upstairs, leaving Ron and Hermione alone in the room.

"Hey, Ron! Wake up!" she said, about half an hour later. The smell of food filtered in from the kitchen and he started sniffing.

"Dinner!" he asked a little groggily, but he was waking up, fast.

She smiled, nothing but good food to wake up the boy who sleeps like a rock.

"I think we should go out and bring Harry back in.." she suggested.

"Huh? Go where?"

"Out to get Harry"

"Oh, sure. Where is he anyway?" he said as he stood and stretched. He nearly touched the ceiling as he stretched.

They left the Burrow and walked in silence, the cold night air making them a little chilly.

"You know where he is?" Ron asked, slightly grumpy since he thought he was waking up to dinner.

"Uhh...no. But we can find him and before you say that he can go back on his own and that he can take care of himself, you should know what happened to him. Something did, and it changed him. You saw how he was after a few hours, he was different," she answered, "Besides, he wouldn't stay out here for too long. I mean, it is pretty dark and he should know that we are about to eat dinner."

Ron grunted, she was right, and he knew it. Harry was different, he had seen it in the way he acted with them, the way he walked, stood, sat, and slept too. They still shared his room.

He did smile a bit as a bright light shone in his mind. They were going to have the Burrow renovated, and it was going to change. There would be room for all of them, in seperate rooms too, and there would be a helluva lot more space than before.

After what seemed like an hour or so, the Burrow was merely a speck in the horizon, and they still kept walking. No sign of Harry anywhere.

"Harry!" Hermione said, her voice carrying in the silence.

"Uh, 'Mione, I think we should go back now. He might have gone another way, and he might be there now."

"How many times did I tell you NOT to call me 'Mione! How many times?" she yelled angrily as she did an about face and stalked off.

Ron sighed and scratched his head as he walked after her. Some things would never change.

They returned to the burrow, their throats a little sore from calling out Harry's name. They walked into the kitchen and asked if Harry had returned.

"What do you mean, is he back yet?You haven't found him?" Molly reprimanded a little, worry in her tone.

"No, mum.." Ron said.

"Arthur! Arthur!" she called urgently.

"Yes, dear!" her husband replied, running into the kitchen and looking at his wife.

"It's happened. Oh dear, it's happened. Call the Ministry, inform McGonagall. We have to look for him before it's too late..." Molly told him, making motions with her hands.

"What's happened? Tell us, what has happened! What is it?" Hermione asked. Ron said the same thing.

Both adults looked at the children and shook their heads, "Not yet, later," was the reply as they rushed off to go somewhere, dinner sizzling in the kitchen.

Somewhere in Britain...

Dobby was confused. It all happened quickly. Harry Potter had come for him, as he had promised, and had hired him as his house elf. Dobby thought he was going to go to Grimmauld Place, but there was another place, somewhere he had never been to before.

His new master, who would rather that he be called friend, had quickly introduced him to the two other house elves in the mansion and the personal bodyguard that had protected his parents all those years ago. He was not there when they went into hiding, they did not want him to be caught up in their mess and so left him at the mansion.

His name was Bruce, and he was a former agent of some muggle government agency Dobby didn't know about. Then after the introductions and after dinner, Harry left, but before doing so he had given Dobby a very strange order.

Dobby unfolded the parchment in his hands and read it again.

Dobby,

I am leaving. I cannot tell you where I am going or what I am doing, but just know that I will not be there for a few years. Keep the mansion clean and safe, strengthen the wards and the security as well. I leave you now with a small portion of funds that total to about five million galleons to take care of the estate and to buy yourself other things.

I am also giving you this money because I want you to do something for me. I want you to buy a few things and also I want you to keep tabs on everything happening in the Wizarding world. Make a list, write journals, do whatever. I just want you to make sure that upon my return I can catch up on everything that has happened over my absence, for I will not be able to do so. I will send you a letter with more instructions, but until then, take care Dobby.

Your friend,
Harry

He shook his head, a little confused. He was still surprised by theamount of money left to him as well. A tear fell onto the parchment as he read the last two lines. He still insisted on being his friend, not his master.

Well, he had a job to do and he had his master's...friend's orders. He would not let him down. No sir, Dobby would excel and would do more than Harry Potter thought he would do. He would make sure of that. He gripped the parchment and popped over to the elf's quarters to break the news.

The Burrow
Morning of the next day...

The search was still on, but they all knew Harry was gone. He had disappeared from the face of the Earth. They had even approached the goblins in hopes that they would inform them of any transactions made by Harry so that they could find him, but they were turned down and shooed out.

Apparently, they were keeping Harry's actions and wherabouts secret, not just because they held client information private, but also because he had told them so and they were his allies, friends even. Not that anyone else knew about that, so they thought that it was just the goblins' great secrecy of their good clients' dealings.

They all looked at each other confusion, worry, sadness, and a little anger in their expressions. Why did he leave? Where was he going? Was he safe? When will he return? What was he going to do? Questions like these filled their heads as they tried to answer the questions themselves.

Harry had gone, and they had no idea why. Hermione though, was intent on finding out, and the first step was to ask the Weasley adults, who seemed to be hiding something. Something vital to uncovering Harry's sudden flight.

Author's Notes: Hope you like this:)