Disclaimer- The Harry Potter universe has never been mine, and will never be mine. Deal with it.

Chapter 1

It had gotten dark little more than an hour previous, and yet Diagon Ally had been deserted long before the sky had reverted from its dull grey to its current bottomless black. Crickets faintly chirped in the distance, accenting the deathly still streets, and leaves rustled in the wind, tumbling down the sidewalk. A solitary cloaked figure marched purposefully down the dark, deserted streets, stopping only momentarily under the streets only street lamp to peer around the corner, listening for stray sounds. Satisfied that there was no one else in the immediate vicinity, the figure turned the corner, taking swift, calculated steps towards the only lit store front.

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"Fred, I think I've finally figured out the problem with..." George stopped in his tracks, narrowly escaping the mistake of dropping the box of inventory in his arms.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" Fred inquired, emerging from the back room. "George? What's..." Fred fell silent as he caught sighted of the hooded figure standing outside the window. "It's time then." Fred said, finding his voice. George nodded.

"It's time." Stepping around the counter, George met his brothers eye, and with a quick nod and their trademark smirk, dissasperated.

"Good luck, we'll all be needing it." Fred spoke softly to the empty room, before turning his attention to the figure at the window and only after extending his head slightly to the right and giving a faint nod, slipped back through the storeroom door.

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Harry Potter reclined in his task chair, staring out the window into the endless night sky, as he twirled the coin that hung around his neck in between his fingers. "Happy Birthday to me." He whispered as the digital clock flicked from 11:59 to midnight. "Any time now." Harry murmured softly.

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George crouched in the shadows under the window sill of the Dursley's sitting room, focusing intently on his watch as he gripped the coin that hung around his neck. "One more minute." He muttered to himself. They had been plotting and planning all summer, and until now he hadn't harbored any doubts as to whether or not they were doing the right thing. He hoped that they were making the right choice.

"It's now or never." George whispered as the minute hand slid over the 12. In several quick movements, he pressed the coin into his right palm and waited for it to heat up against his palm. As the metal grew warmer, it began to glow faintly.

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Ronald Weasley sat propped against the backboard of his bed, staring a hole into the far wall of his room. It was 12:01, and he knew that soon everything was going to change, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Of course, he understood that nothing can ever remain the same, but he was apprehensive nonetheless.

What would his mum say? It wouldn't be pretty, her reaction when she finally found out. But she'd understand why they'd done it, right? She had to. After all, there was no getting away from the fact that some things have to be done. There are some things that cannot be avoided in times such these.

Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes and brought his right hand up to cover his face, with his left hand he twirled the coin that hung around his neck.

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The cloaked figure stood in the narrow alley, gingerly tapping the bricks on the wall in sequence. After repeating the pattern twice, and a third time in reverse, the wall shifted to reveal a steel door. A narrow slot was removed from the door, "Identify yourself." In one quick movement the cloaked figure raised their left hand and dangled a coin in front of the opening.

The alley was silent for a moment, and then the voice on the other side of the door spoke up once more. "Password."

"What!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing the hood off of her head. "What password!" The door swung open to reveal Fred grinning widely. "Fred Weasley! That is the most sophomoric, childish..." Of course, she would have finished her tirade, had she at that moment not found her lips otherwise engaged. As the door shut the duo separated. "You can't just kiss me every time I'm about to yell at you." Hermione smirked.

"I beg to differ." Fred answered, planting a chaste kiss on her forehead and grabbing her hand. "Come on, it's down here." He said, as he lead her down to the basement. They each stopped at the bottom of the stairs, their free hand moving to grip the coin's that hung around their necks, they were glowing faintly and growing warm. It was midnight. It had begun.

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Harry pressed the warm, glowing coin into his palm and waited as it began to cool taking on a blue hue. A moment later, George apperated into the room. "Did you bring it with you?" Harry inquired.

Wordlessly George pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pocket. "It wasn't the easiest thing in the word to find." He said as he spread the parchment out on Harry's desk, revealing a map. "And mind you, we're still working on putting on the finishing touches. I think I've managed to figure out where we were going wrong, but just to make sure that we get it right, Hermione's agreed to help out."

"That's what she said." Harry agreed. "Did she make it there alright?"

"Everything went as planned. I left as soon as she got there." Harry nodded, and George continued. "So you're going through with it then, right after the wedding?"

"I don't have much choice do I?" Harry countered, shrugging his shoulders. "I've never really had much choice in the matter anyway." George nodded, and a short silence enveloped the room. "So, what do we know about Godric's Hollow." Harry spoke, leaning over the map.

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I'm so sorry. I know I said that I would have this up yesterday, but I ran into some problems. Hopefully the content makes up for my tardiness. :D This chapter, by the way, is dedicated to the wonderful and lovely Jade Fairy, who kindly reminded me that I owed you guys another chapter. Thanks for the kind shove in the right direction!

Anyway, I'm still a bit dubious about this chapter. Not too sure how I feel about it at the moment. Anyway, feel free to let me know your thoughts. All constructive criticism is welcome, and flames will be used to make scrumptious baked apples.

Peace Out and all that Jazz!