Chapter One: The Unexpected Visitor

There was fog, as far as the eye could see. Thick fog had settled over the community of Little Whinging. The sun had not been seen for days, and the air had been unseasonably cooler than normal. Forecasters called the fog "rather unusual for this time of year" and indeed, it was. The community had not experienced such an extreme phenomenon for a long time. The year before last, a severe drought had gripped the neighborhood. Last year, fog had settled in, but nothing like what was being seen now. Many of the communities inhabitants decided to remain in doors, having seen on the news a warning from forecasters, as well as government officials'. However, the same did not hold true for Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was the only inhabitant of the community outside. Harry was a boy of sixteen years old; he was tall and thin, with the look of a boy who had grown in short space of time. He had untidy jet black hair, which stuck up in the back, no matter how much he combed it, and almond shaped eyes, with a vivid green color. On his forehead, was a scar, in the shape of a lightning bolt, which he had since he was one years old. How Harry had heard countless times about the scar on his forehead…

He had heard the stories since he was eleven years old; how the most feared Dark Wizard for a century had broken into his house when Harry was just one years old. How the man called Lord Voldemort murdered Harry's father, and then his mother, and finally turned his wand onto Harry Potter. However, when Lord Voldemort cast the dreaded killing curse, the curse did not hit young Harry. Instead, it rebounded onto Lord Voldemort himself, destroying his powers and ripping him from his body. That night, Harry was given the scar which made him famous. Harry was the cause of Lord Voldemorts downfall, but thirteen years later, Lord Voldemort managed to regain his old body and powers.

During this time, things seemed much different for Harry. When the first war had broken out, Harry was merely a baby. Now, he was approaching manhood, and old enough to grasp the effects of how dangerous war is. In two action packed years, Harry lost his godfather, Sirius Black, and someone else who was close to Harry; Albus Dumbledore. These deaths marked a significant change within Harry. While he had difficulty accepting Sirius's death, he looked at Dumbledores death differently.

This new death marked the beginning of Harry's determination to bring an end to Lord Voldemort once and for all. And Harry had a head start…he had learned of Voldemorts' secret; he had split his soul into six pieces, and both Harry and Dumbledore already rid of two; there were still four more pieces left. Harry vowed to find them and destroy them, and then go after the thing which needed to be rid of: Lord Voldemort himself.

Harry snapped out his thoughts, remembering that he was walking outside under the veil of the thick and mysterious fog. He had his hands inside his jacket pockets and his right hand was gripped around a long thin wand. His only protection. Harry looked around, making sure that he was not being followed. The only thing he saw, which he almost attacked, was a shabby looking cat that had leapt under a red jeep and scurried out of sight.

He continued walking down the empty street, towards the playground not too far from where he was. The playground was of course empty. No child or adult was out. Harry made his way across the grass towards the swings. He sat down on one of the swings, and began to slowly swing himself backwards and fore wards. He surveyed the area, and saw something that, to most people would have been seen as strange, but to Harry, was quite expected.

Next to a tall oak tree was a stop sign. Harry knew, through common sense, that stop signs were only placed on street corners and in parking lots (he had seen them near his Uncle Vernon's work place).

"I know its one of you from the Order, so you don't have to hide," Harry said, grinning slightly.

The sign then transformed into a man Harry knew too well. His long shabby traveling cloak and messy hair…

"Professor Lupin!" Harry said in shock. He had not expected this. He knew that it was someone from the Order, but he had not expected Remus Lupin, his former Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Lupin smiled. "Hello Harry," he said welcomingly, walking towards Harry. Harry stood up. "I trust you are well,"

Harry nodded. "What are you doing here Professor?"

"The unusual," said Lupin, looking around. "Checking up on you,"

"I'm okay," Harry said, feeling as though he knew Lupin was here for another reason. "How did you know I would be—never mind," he said, thinking of the cat he saw scurry away.

Lupin sat on a swing adjacent Harry. "Mind if we talk?"

"Er…sure,"

Harry sat back down on his swing.

"Harry…first, and know that I am saying this only because I am concerned about you, that I do not feel it is wise for you to not return to Hogwarts this year,"

Harry felt the need to ask how he had heard about this, but declined from asking because it was not a huge matter. He turned to Lupin.

"I have my reasons Professor," he said simply. "I have to do something that requires my full attention,"

"I understand that Harry," Lupin said calmly. "But, not returning places you at a all time risk of being hurt,"

Harry already knew this. He had accepted this, the exact moment he made the decision to not return to school. He knew, that if anyone in the Order had found out, they would try to convince him otherwise, but Harry, knowing the mission Dumbledore entrusted to him, realized that school was the least of his worries.

"Professor, listen to me. There is something…something important," Harry said. "Something that Dumbledore left for me to do…and its important; I've got to kill Voldemort before its too late; and I know that I am throwing myself even further onto the front lines, but its something I have to do. Its something I want to do," he said truthfully.

Lupin stared at Harry, and for a minute, Harry thought he was going to continue trying to convince Harry to return to Hogwarts. But instead, Lupin smiled. "Then I trust you know what you are doing," he said simply.

Harry looked around at him. "Yes. I trust Dumbledore, so…I trust myself,"

Lupin smiled, and Harry saw his eyes become glossy. Lupin stood up. "Well then. I'll leave you to it. I will not badger you anymore about your decision…but just know Harry, I am here. And I will always be here,"

"Thanks," Harry said smiling. "What has everyone been up to, in the Order?" he asked.

"Busy. Voldemorts' armies are growing fast, but we are as well. Recruiting has been our top priority since Dumbledore's death," he explained. "Dumbledore told us that no matter what happens, we need as many people as we can…we cant stop fighting. And we're not,"

"Good," Harry said, feeling happy about this news. "Have you heard from Ron and Hermione?"

Lupin nodded. "They are safe and sound, and cannot wait to see you,"

Harry smiled at this. He, himself could not wait to see his best friends again. Then, Harry hesitated, but still decided to ask anyway. "And Ginny?"

Lupin looked at him rather curiously. "She's fine too,"

Harry looked at Lupin, who seemed to be fighting rather hard to ask why Harry had asked about Ginny. Harry quickly decided to change topics while he had the chance.

"Is everyone at Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked, avoiding Lupin's gaze.

Lupin waited a moment before answering. "Yes. The house still is as unwelcoming as before, but we're dealing with it,"

Harry's mind wandered back to Ginny. He continued to think of their last conversation…when he had broke things off; he could not lie to himself; he did miss her. He missed everything about Ginny. Her scent; her hair…

"Well listen Harry, I've got to be getting back. You should be inside. The Dementors are multiplying rapidly, as you can tell," Lupin said cautiously. "Keep out of trouble, and refrain from using your wand at all costs…at least until your seventeen,"

Harry nodded. And a loud crack filled the air, and Lupin was gone. Harry looked around, feeling ever so alone. He decided to take Lupin's offer and return to the house he dreaded so much. But as he stood up, another crack was heard. Harry quickly turned around, pulling out his wand at the same time. There was nothing there.

"P-Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, wondering if Professor Lupin had returned. But no one answered him. The fog was his only greeting. Harry turned around to face the entrance to the park, and his heart began racing. Someone was walking towards him. They were moving slow…and their body was covered in blood. Their clothes were torn. Harry nearly stumbled backwards into the swings, and as he did, he felt a hand touch him; he rolled over and saw another one of the things he had just spotted. He recognized them at once; they were Inferi. Harry kicked back hard to get the hand off of him. He stood to his feet to see another four Inferi coming towards him.

Lupin had told him not to use his wand, but Harry had no choice. He raised his wand to the nearest Inferi and said "Incendo!"

Fire shot from his wand, igniting the dead corpse. The corpse screeched in pain and Harry watched as it crumbled to the floor, turning into ashes. But there were too many of them. Harry would not be able to hold them all off with that one spell. He did not know any other spells that would work against the corpses. Harry then landed hard on the floor, as an Inferi leapt on him from behind. Harry's wand fell out of his hand and rolled away out of reach. The Inferi's breath was hot on Harry's neck. Harry was sure that he would die…

"HARRY!"

And in an instant, fire had erupted all around him. He watched as the Inferi were set ablaze, and the one on Harry relinquished it's grip as Harry quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the fire leaping on him. And then, finally, the fires were gone and so were the Inferi.

Harry looked up, but his body was weak…all he saw was a shadow draw closer to him, before his eyes became too heavy to stay open…and all he saw was darkness…