Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of JK Rowling. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter One

It was a beautiful day by any standard, but was especially nice for the end of June. The temperature was warm, but not oppressively so. The sky had that deep blue colour that one only sees on the most perfect of afternoons. The few clouds there were seemed to stay away from the sun for fear of melting away to nothing. It was this sky that a sixteen year old Harry Potter was gazing at. He was lying on his back in the grass, trying vainly to block out the bickering of his two best friends and to make some sense of recent events.

His Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had been murdered by Severus Snape, his former Potions Professor, one month ago. Prior to his death, Dumbledore had been teaching Harry more about Voldemort and the lengths that he'd gone to become immortal. Lord Voldemort was the root of all of Harry's troubles. He'd murdered Harry's parents when he was just a baby, before attempting to kill Harry himself. Because of the love his mother had for him, the curse rebounded on Voldemort, leaving Harry with a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Instead of being killed though, Voldemort was reduced to less than a spirit, and spent the next 10 years possessing the bodies of small creatures to survive.

Harry had been sent to live with his aunt, uncle and cousin. They despised Harry, treating him more like slave labour than their nephew. His aunt and uncle knew Harry's parents were a witch and wizard, and were determined to make sure that Harry didn't turn out 'abnormal' like they were. They tried to stamp out his 'unnaturalness' by making live in the cupboard under the stairs for the first ten years that he lived with him. He was served meagre rations of food, while his cousin was served extra large portions of everything. He was forced to wear his cousin's old cast off clothes, which were always at least two sizes too big for him. He never received Christmas gifts. And July 31st, which was Harry's birthday, was just another day at the Dursley household, while Dudley got increasingly larger and larger piles of gifts every year.

Harry had lived like this for ten years before he got his first letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His uncle, knowing what the letter meant, immediately took it from him. This began a battle between his uncle and the school's post owls, who dutifully left more and more letters every day. Finally, after taking his family and Harry on a cross-country trip to avoid the letters, they landed in a little hut on some godforsaken island. It had been Harry's eleventh birthday, and there in that little hut, he got the greatest gift he could ever have received. Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, was sent to deliver Harry's letter, and told Harry that he was a wizard. This began Harry's immersion into the Wizarding world. He'd been introduced to Diagon Alley, Platform 9 and ¾, and the Hogwarts Express. He'd met his two best friends that year as well.

Ron Weasley was the sixth child in a family of seven. He had five older brothers and one younger sister, and always seemed to be outshone by them in one way or another. Bill, his oldest brother, had been Head Boy at Hogwarts, and was now a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Charlie, the next eldest, had been Quidditch captain, and now worked with dragons in Romania. Percy was next, and he had distinguished himself by getting top marks in all his classes and becoming Head Boy. The twins, Fred and George, while not the most academically inclined members of the family, had left school early to start a very successful joke business. Ginny was an excellent student in her own right, but because she was the only girl born into the Weasley family in several generations, that brought her distinction all on its own.

Ron was one of those people with the annoying habit of never being able to see his own self worth because he was too busy trying to fit into the footsteps of those who went before him. Ron was an accomplished chess player, giving him an exceptional understanding of strategy and tactics. He was loyal to a fault, and the best friend that one could ask for. Sure, he was a bit hot-headed at times, but that was almost a given with the red hair that graced his head, along with every other member of his family.

Hermione Granger was Harry's other best friend. Neither he nor Ron liked her much at first. She was the smartest witch in their year, and was quite obvious about it, always answering every single question asked in class. But during their first year, when a mountain troll got into the school everything changed. Harry and Ron had gone to try and rescue Hermione. When they'd knocked the troll out and were discovered by their teachers, Hermione lied to save Harry and Ron from a lifetime's worth of detentions. From that day on, they were a trio and the best of friends.

They'd had many close calls with Voldemort over their school career. First year was the Philosopher's Stone. Second year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and Ginny Weasley was almost killed by the memory of a sixteen year old Voldemort. Fourth year was the Triwizard Tournament, which saw Voldemort being returned to a body. Fifth year, Harry and his friends battled Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic, and Harry learned of the prophecy that said that he and he alone could be the only one to kill the Dark Lord.

The whole of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had been showing him how Voldemort had become the person that he was today. He showed Harry how the young witch Merope Gaunt, the mother of Voldemort, had tricked the wealthy and good looking Tom Riddle into marriage, and became pregnant shortly after. After discovering the truth about his wife, he left her and returned to the town they had both come from. Merope died in childbirth shortly after naming her son Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Tom Riddle had grown up in a Muggle orphanage, terrorizing the other children with the use of his magic. He'd had extraordinary control of his powers at a young age, something that was unheard of in most young wizards. Dumbledore showed how he himself had gone to the orphanage to explain to an eleven year old Riddle that he was a wizard and had been accepted to Hogwarts. Harry learned how in Riddle's sixth year, he learned of Horcruxes and how they could contain a piece of your soul, thereby ensuring a kind of immortality. He saw the memories of Riddle learning how a Horcrux was created through the murder of a human being. Harry learned that at the age of sixteen, Riddle had murdered his father, paternal grandparents, and his maternal uncle and created his first Horcruxes. And most terrifying of all, Harry learned that Voldemort had split his soul seven times in his quest to become immortal.

Harry Potter had lost more than most to Tom Riddle. He'd lost his parents and his childhood. He'd lost his mentor and a school mate as well. But the one death that hurt the most was his godfather. Sirius Black had been James Potter's best friend, and the only father figure that Harry had ever had. Sirius had been killed at the fight the previous year at the Ministry of Magic. His own cousin Bellatrix Lestrange had cast a Stunner at him, knocking him into the Veil in the Department of Mysteries. That fact that there was no body, no real closure had always nagged at Harry. With Dumbledore, there'd been a body. Harry had seen Professor Snape cast the Killing curse with his own two eyes. He knew that there was no way that Dumbledore could have survived. Sirius was a different matter. To the observer, he'd done nothing more than fall through an archway in the middle of a room.

Harry lay there in the grass trying not to think too much. His thoughts kept drifting back to the last few months and the events that had occurred. The one event that kept creeping into his mind over and over was the kiss in the common room. Ginny Weasley had always been in the background. She was his best mate's little sister. The girl who'd had a crush on Harry and couldn't string together two words into a coherent sentence when he was in the same room as she was. He had rescued Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets her first year, and slowly things began to change. Somewhere along the line, she'd gotten over her crush, and had become an important part of Harry's life.

Once again, the kiss had crept back into his thoughts. Harry had been serving a detention with Professor Snape after injuring Draco Malfoy in a fight. Gryffindor was facing Ravenclaw for the House Cup, and their Seeker and Captain was going to miss the match. Ginny had taken over the position of Seeker, and had done marvellously, catching the Snitch and winning the match. Snape hadn't let Harry leave the detention till he was sure the match was over. When Harry walked into the Gryffindor common room, the celebration was in full swing. Whether it was the emotion of the moment, or the feelings that he'd been developing for the youngest Weasley over the last few months, he would never know. All Harry knew was that as Ginny ran across the common room to hug him, he did what he'd wanted to do to for the longest time. Harry kissed Ginny.

They'd only had just a short time together, just a few weeks really, but for Harry, it was one of the best times of his life. Then Dumbledore was murdered, and life came crashing down around their ears. Harry knew that he would have to search for the Horcruxes that Voldemort had made. That was the key to finally ridding the world of his evil. He knew that with Dumbledore gone, he would become Voldemort's prime target, and that anyone close to him would immediately be in danger. He did the only thing that made sense to him. He broke up with Ginny. She knew nothing about the Prophecy or the Horcruxes, and Harry wanted to keep it that way. The less she knew about that the better as far as he was concerned. He didn't want to make her more of a target than she already was.

The pitch of Ron and Hermione's bickering had reached an annoying level. Harry sighed deeply and raised himself up on his elbows. "For the love of Merlin, could you two give me a break? You've been at it for almost an hour now. I'll bet you don't even remember what you're arguing about in the first place."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You know mate, you're right. I don't remember what started this off."

Hermione tried her best to look at Ron in a reproving manner, but failed miserably. "And that Ron Weasley is why you did poorly on your History of Magic O.W.L.'s"

Just as Ron was about to make a retort to Hermione's comment, Harry silenced him with a glare. "Shut it Ron."

Ron scowled at Harry for a moment, but kept his silence. He knew as well as anyone that if he'd made the comment that had popped into his head the moment before, he and Hermione would be off and running again.

This was the last day that the trio would be spending at Privet Drive. Tomorrow morning, they were packing their belongings and heading for the Burrow. Ron's oldest brother Bill was getting married in two weeks, and the trio had promised that they would be there to help with the wedding preparations.

Harry had already packed all of his belongings. There was no love lost between he and his relatives, and he couldn't wait to get away from their questionable care. To say that Uncle Vernon had been less than pleased when he had been informed that Ron and Hermione would be staying with Harry would be quite the understatement.

They'd been at the train station when Harry had told him of their plans. Vernon had turned a shade of red that Harry had never seen before, quivering with rage, his moustache twitching and the veins in his forehead bulging out. It was Mad-Eye Moody who had politely 'explained' to Vernon Dursley in no uncertain terms that the other two 'freaks' would be staying with Harry, and that there was nothing that Dursley could do about it, and that the Order would be watching the home to make sure that there was no trouble. Uncle Vernon had grudgingly loaded the three of him in his car and took them back to number four Privet Drive.

Hermione, of course, had already begun researching everything she could about possible artefacts that had been left by the founders. Harry thought that whatever the mystery Horcrux was, it was most likely something that had belonged to Ravenclaw, since the only known relics left behind by Gryffindor were his sword and the Sorting Hat, both of which were securely located in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. Even as powerful as Voldemort was, Harry didn't think he would be able to make a Horcrux right under Dumbledore's nose.

For two weeks, Harry and his friends had stayed with his Aunt and Uncle. For the first time that Harry could ever remember, Aunt Petunia had seemed to care about what was going on in Harry's life. He had noticed that she seemed to hover around where ever the trio had gathered to do their research. To the casual observer, she was doing nothing more than cleaning, but Harry knew she was paying attention to what they were doing. He really wanted to ask her why she suddenly cared about what he was doing, especially since it involved the magical world that so appalled her, but whenever he would meet her eyes, she would quickly look away and leave the room. Harry would just sigh, and continue on with his research.

Finally, two days ago, Harry had managed to corner his aunt. Hermione and Ron had left for Diagon Alley to pick up a few books on the Founders from Flourish and Blott's. Harry was lying on his bed, reading yet another book about Rowena Ravenclaw, when a soft tap at his door caught his drifting attention. Petunia slowly opened the door and asked her nephew for entrance to his room.

"Come in Aunt Petunia," Harry replied warily.

Petunia Dursley looked around the room with a strained expression on her face. Over each and every section her gaze drifted were reminders of the world her sister and nephew belonged to. Moving pictures of James and Lily, and Harry and his friends were sitting on the desk along with the Marauder's Map; Hedwig and Pig's cages sat on the dresser; Harry's Firebolt sat in the corner alongside Ron's Cleansweep. Instead of Harry's trunk being at the foot of the bed, it was Hermione's. Uncle Vernon had insisted that Ron and Harry take the spare bedroom, especially after Hermione had pointed out that she could just magically enlarge Harry's bedroom without having to inconvenience the Dursley family at all. "There will be none of your 'unnatural-ness' in my house!" Vernon had nearly screamed at the top of his lungs.

Petunia slowly walked into the room and sat in the chair at Harry's desk. She looked troubled, as if she had a million questions in her mind and didn't know where to start. She glanced at Harry, and began. "So, why did you come home early? Term hadn't ended yet."

Harry sighed and explained to his aunt what had happened to Professor Dumbledore. Petunia paled at the mention of his murder. "So, he's not protecting you any longer? And that Voldemort person is after you now?"

Harry glanced at his aunt. She had a fearful look on her face, and as much as Harry wanted to be rude to her, he couldn't. While he certainly didn't like his relatives, he had no wish for them to die. They needed to be made aware of what could happen to them because of their relationship to him. "Yes, Voldemort is after me now. The protection that Mum gave me will last until my seventeenth birthday. After that, it will be gone. You and Uncle Vernon might want to plan a vacation around the end of July just to be on the safe side."

"But why is he after you? I just don't understand why he went after Lily. I never have really."

"Because of a prophecy that was made concerning him and me. I can't tell you what it said, but that's why," Harry replied.

Harry could see his aunt fighting with herself over his admission. As far as Petunia Dursley was concerned, she should know about anything that went on in her house, and Harry denying her the prophecy was a sin of major proportions.

A soft sob escaped her, which shocked Harry into speechlessness. He'd never seen his aunt express any emotion toward him other than hatred. Now, she was in his room, crying softly at the thought of the possibility of his death.

"I never wanted this for you. After Dumbledore took you away last summer, I went to the attic. I kept the letter that he'd sent with you after Lily died. I realize that I've not done the best I could raising you, but I didn't want this. You have no idea how hard it was looking at you every day, seeing Lily's eyes looking back at me."

For the first time he could remember, Harry actually wanted to comfort his aunt. He remained where he was seated though. He was afraid that if he made any move toward her, Petunia would bolt from the room, and he wouldn't hear the rest of her story. He shifted around so he was looking at her, putting his elbows on his knees as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I was jealous of her. She was always prettier and more popular. Then she got her letter, and then there was another thing that she could do that I couldn't. I suppose I took that jealousy out on you. I apologize for that. I'm not expecting you to forgive me, but I am sorry for the way I've treated you."

Harry just nodded at her, afraid that if he opened his mouth to say anything, he'd end up screaming at her. He was angry, and justifiably so. 'She waits 'till I'm seventeen years old, and about to leave before treating me like a human being,' he thought to himself.

"So what happens now? Are you going to have to fight this Voldemort person?"

"Yes, I'm going to have to fight him at some point. I don't know when though. Dumbledore gave me some things to do before he died, and I have to finish that first," Harry told her, wondering where this line of questioning was headed. As much as he hated research, he knew it had to be done before they could find the rest of the Horcruxes; his aunt asking questions was just preventing him from getting his work done.

Petunia looked at her lap, and Harry thought her eyes looked suspiciously bright. She removed a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and began twisting it in her hands, as if she was offended by its pristine, unlined state.

"So… so you could be hurt? I mean…"

"Yes Aunt Petunia. It wouldn't be the first time he's injured me, but more than likely, I'll be killed when I finally have to face him."

"You… you've faced him before," she whispered.

"Yeah, five times so far, including when I was a baby." Harry had a sudden idea. He'd gotten a large package from Professor McGonagall a week ago, and although he hadn't opened it yet, he knew what it was. "Would you like to see it?"

"How could I possibly…?"

"I have a Pensieve. It belonged to Professor Dumbledore. He left it to me when he-. Anyway, I can put the memories of the times I've faced Voldemort in it, and you can see it. It's like watching a movie, only you're right in the middle of everything. You can't be hurt by the battles; it's perfectly safe."

Petunia stared at Harry for a moment, fighting her instinctual hatred for all that was magic, and her curiosity of what her nephew's life had been like. She finally nodded at him, and Harry went over to his wardrobe and removed the large parcel. He unwrapped it, and opened the box, setting aside the vials of memories he'd gone over with Dumbledore last term. He noticed that there was an extra vial, and made a mental note to take a look at it later when Ron and Hermione returned.

He placed his wand at his temple and drew out a silvery strand of memory, and placed it in the Pensieve. After repeating this act three more times, he looked at his aunt. "All I need you to do is put your face in the Pensieve. I'll come in right behind you, and we can watch them together."

Surprisingly, Petunia leaned over the stone basin and was drawn into Harry's memories. He followed right behind her, and came face to face with Fluffy. Petunia shrieked and grabbed Harry's arm. He chuckled a bit and tried to get her to release her grip. "It's okay Aunt Petunia, he's just a memory, he can't hurt you."

"Wh- where are we?"

"This is Hogwarts at the end of my first year."

They watched Harry's memories one by one, with Harry providing a running commentary. When they got to the cemetery, Petunia nearly fainted when she saw her sister emerge from the end of Voldemort's wand and speak to her son. "How is that possible," she questioned.

"It's called Priori Incantatem. My wand and Voldemort's are brothers. That's what happens when they are used against each other. One of the wands will start showing the last spells that they've cast."

The battle at the Ministry of Magic suddenly swam before their eyes. Harry had put the entire memory in the Pensieve, from the moment that he, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna arrived, to the end when Voldemort Apparated away with Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry turned away during Sirius' battle with Bellatrix. He'd watched his godfather fall over and over again in his nightmares, and had no wish to see it again.

Harry and his aunt left the Pensieve and emerged back into his bedroom. His aunt was crying silently, her face shining with tears. She hesitantly reached out and grasped Harry's hand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I had no idea you'd gone through all of that."

"Well you couldn't know, could you? You never bothered to ask, and I certainly couldn't tell you since it involved magic."

Petunia hung her head at the reproving tone in his voice and took her hand away. She composed herself, and raised her head to look Harry in the eye. "So what are your plans now?"

"We're leaving in a few days. Ron's oldest brother is getting married, so we're going back to his house. After that, I'd like to go to my mum and dad's old house, and maybe visit their graves."

"Will you be coming back? I know you're of age in your world, but…"

"No. Once I leave, I'll be out of your hair for good. Like I said, the protection will be gone by then, so it wouldn't do me any good to stay here any longer."

"I know I have no right to ask this, but could you maybe get in touch every so often and let me know how you're doing?"

For the second time in almost three hours, Harry was stunned into silence. Of all the things that he could've pictured happening to him that day, his aunt asking him to keep in touch after he'd left was not even on the list of possible occurrences.

"Um, sure Aunt Petunia. I guess I can do that. I'll have to use Hedwig though. We won't be anywhere where I'll be able to use Muggle post."

"That's fine Harry." She stared at him a moment longer then put her handkerchief back in her pocket and stood. "I'm going to go and get dinner started." She started towards the door then paused and turned. "Thank you for sharing your memories with me. I'm sure that Lily would be proud of you." She silently left the room, closing the door behind her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The morning of June thirtieth was warm and sunny. Harry blinked a couple of times to wake himself, his dreams receding in the onslaught of sunshine making its way into the room. He grabbed his glasses off the table at his bedside, and looked at the calendar he'd stuck to the wall the trio's first night at Privet Drive. A grin spread across his face as he realized that today was his last day under the roof of Vernon Dursley. A look at the clock told him it was nine AM, long past time for him to be awake. He wanted away from Little Whinging as soon as possible.

"Oi! Ron! Get up you lazy git, we need to go," he said as he poked the tall, lanky form of his best friend.

"Gerroff Harry," Ron mumbled from under the covers.

Harry poked Ron a few more times, eliciting only mumbled responses from the red head. 'All right mate, you asked for it,' Harry thought to himself.

"Ron! Spider!"

Ron immediately began waving his arms around and kicking his legs, which did nothing more than tangle him in the bedclothes further. A solid thump meant that Ron had wiggled himself right out of bed trying to avoid the 'spider'. Harry howled with laughter as Ron tried to work his way out of the blankets. Hermione charged into the room, wand drawn, looking for the cause of all the noise. "Decided it was time for Ron to wake up, did you Harry?"

Harry smirked at her, then looked at Ron who had finally managed to get his head and an arm free from the blankets. "Yeah. It's time to go," he said, pointing at the calendar.

Ron sat up and scowled at Harry. "Mate, that wasn't funny. Don't think I won't get you back for that."

After extricating Ron from his blankets, the trio packed their belongings. Hermione of course was the first one finished, since she'd packed the night before. She helped Ron and Harry, chastising them all the while for not being more organized. Two hours later, they had packed and left the rooms in the pristine condition that they'd been in when they'd arrived. Harry made one more sweep of the upstairs, being sure to check under the floorboard in his bedroom for any of his belongings.

As they finished lugging trunks and owl cages down the stairs, Aunt Petunia emerged from the kitchen. Harry had told Ron and Hermione about his strange conversation with his aunt and both had been wary of the woman ever since. "She could've been put under an Imperius or something, mate," Ron had pointed out.

Petunia looked at the three of them with an unreadable expression on her face. "So, you're leaving then?"

Harry nodded at his aunt. "Thank you for letting Ron and Hermione stay with me Aunt Petunia. I really appreciate it."

Petunia flushed slightly, remembering the tantrum her husband had thrown. "You're very welcome. It was nice to meet your friends."

"Well, I guess we'll be going then."

Petunia walked slowly toward Harry. 'Hm, I'm taller than she is now. I hadn't noticed 'til now.' She looked at Harry for a moment, then gingerly pulled him down for a hug. "Take care of yourself, and don't forget to let me know how you're doing."

Harry awkwardly hugged his aunt, glancing at Hermione in alarm. She just raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged her shoulders. Petunia released him, and walked back into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her.

Harry shook his head and grabbed his belongings. "Let's get out of here."