1DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I own none of the characters, unless I invent one, which I might do, but I haven't really planned anything yet. I own none of the places, spells, ideas, NOTHING.

Hello out there! I know I've abandoned my account for the last year and a half, but after the arrival of Book 6, I got inspired to write this. It's pretty much what I think will happen in book 7, but I really haven't got the entire thing sorted out yet, so I will wait to see if it goes all the way to the end of the series, to Christmas, or to Harry's life after Voldemort. It depends on the popularity of the fanfic as well as time, because I'm going to be really busy with work this year in school.

Romances will be Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Lupin/Tonks. Don't ask me to make it Harry/Hermione and whatnot. Those are the pairs that I like and the ones that I'm sticking to.

This first chapter might not be that great since I wanted to get straight to the point rather then to linger too long at the Dursleys, but the rest of them will be pretty good after this. The first chapters are always the hardest for me, and most people.

MAJOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE BOOK!

-Mick-da-Mouse

Chapter 1

Ron-

As soon as you get this, send a reply back and I'll take the Knight Bus to the Burrow. Bring over Hermione. See you soon,

-Harry

Harry Potter finished his short note to his best friend Ron, and tied the letter to Hedwig's feet. "Take it to the Burrow and make it quick." he told her and she hooted and flew out the window. Harry had gotten back from Kings Cross just a few hours before. The Dursleys seemed oddly delighted when they picked him up from the train station. Probably because they know that they only have a week or so left with me, thought Harry bitterly. But he couldn't deny that he as well felt happy to never have to see them again.

Harry hadn't bothered unpacking his trunk. After all, he was about to leave anyway, so unpacking it would be pointless. He then frowned at the large trunk. Was there any point in bringing it? After all, he wasn't going back to Hogwarts. He bent down opened it and rummaged through to see if there was anything he needed. Near the top, his hand brushed against soft fabric and he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and set it on his bed. Various quills, bottles of ink, and parchments were scattered around in it, and Harry took them out and dumped them into his trashcan.

He also came across all his robes and textbooks from sixth year. He set the robes next to the Invisibility Cloak, as he hadn't decided what to do with them, and set the books beside him. He then chucked out One-Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, for that one couldn't have much use for then on, as well as the Standard Book of Spells Grade 6, because he would probably be buying the one for Grade 7 just to review what he would have learned.

Harry never retrieved Snape's book from the Room of Requirement. In fact, he never wanted to see the book again now that he knew what Snape really was. But even in his hatred for the murdering traitor, Harry could not help notice that Snape had helped him so much. It had been Snape that made Harry such a supreme potions maker. It had been from Snape that had given Harry many useful new spells. And it had been Snape of all people that had saved Ron's life, which ironically enough, would have been Snape anyway.

Harry also chucked out Confronting the Faceless. He wanted nothing to do with Snape or the Dark Arts. Plus, he had survived Voldemort's wrath five times without Snape's stupid teachings...

He placed all of his broomstick and Quidditch things (including his Firebolt), his wand, his gloves, and his wizard's hat onto his bed. The cauldron, scales, and potions supplies joined the textbooks in the trash. He also decided to keep his remaining items from Fred and George and then threw away everything else. Only then did he realize that he had nothing to wear for Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Harry expected his dress robes to be too informal. Though he did have some formal wear hand-me-downs of Dudley's, those didn't quite fit. Maybe there was something in Diagon Ally?

He stuffed the items he wished to keep back into his trunk and, realizing that there was a lot of room left in it, raided his room of anything he wanted to take with him. Oversized clothes, writing supplies, and almost everything else would stay. Harry wanted to take, however, the album full of pictures of his parents, old letters from his friends, and candy that still looked intact from the under the loose floorboard.

Closing his trunk, he sat on top of it thoughtfully. This is it, he thought. Muggle life is over. It's time to enter the world as a man, as a wizard. I'm ready to find the Horcluxes. I'm ready to kill Lord Voldemort. With a sigh, he muttered, "I'm ready to save the world."

Five days later, he got a reply from Ron.

Harry-

The wedding is in two weeks but Mum says that you can come up as soon as you like. Mum doesn't want to leave us alone at the house (especially since Bill is still healing. So far he hasn't turned full werewolf yet. Even so, Fleur made sure to check that the wedding didn't clash with the full moon.) Plus, the he Knight Bus might not be in order since Stan has been arrested, so Fred is going to Apparate over to the Muggle's in three days (the letter, according to the stamping, had been sent three days previously). Hermione would do it, but she doesn't know what the house looks like. Dad's too busy, George has to watch the shop, and you and I don't have licenses. (Stupid prat of an examiner...half an eyebrow! Half an eyebrow!).

Fred said he'd come at about 6:00 in the evening to take you with him, so be prepared, mate. I'll see you in a couple days,

-Ron

"Why didn't he just send over Floo Powder?" grumbled Harry and he checked his watch.

It was currently 5:45 PM. "Time to tell the Dursleys I'm leaving." He said flatly to himself. "They'll be so crestfallen..."

Indeed, Harry's sarcasm was correct. Dudley stared with a glazed look in his eyes and Uncle Vernon gave a kind of grunt and went back to watching Cops. But to Harry's surprise, Aunt Petunia got up and gave him a strong embrace.

Harry was so shocked that he didn't think of returning the hug. He stood there, limp, while she held on and then looked at him with a trace of worry in her eyes.

"All this time," she began quietly, "you may have thought I hated your mother and I must say that half of me did. She was a witch and I hated that. She married someone I despised and I hated that. She left you with us and I hated that." Petunia took a deep breath and Harry glared. If she wanted to insult Lily, why was she saying it now?

"But," Petunia continued. "she was my sister. A sister that deep down...deep down I loved."

By this time, Dudley was now staring at his mother with that blank look and Vernon looked absolutely furious. "DON'T YOU GO CONSOLING THAT BOY! AND SINCE WHEN DID YOU LOVE THAT BRATTY SIST-."

Crack.

Fred Apparated onto the couch next to Dudley. All three of the Dursleys screamed, especially Dudley, remembering the Ton-Tongue Toffee incident. Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was exactly 6:00.

"'Hello, Harry." Fred said grinning and getting up.

After Harry had waved good-bye to the Dursleys he led Fred upstairs to his room. The trunk full of items was lying on his bed and Harry gripped the handle tightly. Fred extended his arm. "Ready to go?"

Harry smiled and held on to Fred's arm even tighter then the trunk handle. They spun once and Harry closed his eyes. It was dark and he felt like he was falling, falling, falling, and then...thud.

He opened his eyes and saw himself standing in the living room of the Burrow. Not only was he in the Burrow, which made him continue to smile, but he was also surrounded by almost all of his favorite people.

Before he could say hello, someone hugged Harry roughly. Once the person released him, he looked up and realized that it was Tonks, whose purple hair seemed to gleam as brightly as her grin.

"Wotcher, Harry." she told him, predictably. Harry was extremely happy to see that she was her cheerful normal self again. The explanation arrived in the form of Remus Lupin, who came from behind Harry and shook his hand.

Of course, Hermione came running out of the kitchen and flung her arms around his neck. "Oh Harry! Less than a week away and we already miss you!" she said beaming. Ron, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur (who kissed him on the cheek) all gave their welcomes as well. Followed by all of them was Ginny.

She gave him a long hug and he couldn't help but let his lips lightly brush against her cheek. After doing this, Harry felt a lump form in his throat. He still hadn't gotten over her. When Ginny released him, she kept her hands tightened on his shoulders.

"I thought you said-."

Harry closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done that..." He muttered and looked up at her. "Just one more reason that I have to kill Voldemort as soon as possible."

She held her head up high. "I'll wait for you."

The lump in Harry's throat got bigger. "I know."

Later on, Fleur and Bill (whose face was still covered in scars, though not even close to as bad as they were the night Dumbledore died.) announced their wedding plans. Fleur had originally wanted Ginny and Gabrielle as bridesmaids, but as Bill could not decide on two people from his family to be groomsmen, Fleur had agreed to let Hermione and Tonks be bridesmaids as well. Her best friend Danielle would be the Maid of Honor.

The groomsmen would be Fred, George, Harry, and Ron while Charlie would be the Best Man. As Mrs. Weasley had promised, Fleur would be wearing Aunt Muriel's tiara with a classic wedding dress. All the bridesmaids, as agreed long before, would be in gold dresses with the men in silver tuxes. Molly and Arthur were worrying about the cost of it all, but Fleur reassured them that her family would pay for all of it if Mrs. Weasley would make the wedding cake. Mrs. Weasley seemed much warmer towards Fleur after that.

Harry was slightly nervous about being a groomsmen. Mostly because each of the men had to walk up the aisle with one of the bridesmaids and they would separate when they reached the alter. Charlie was with Danielle, Tonks with George, Ron with Hermione, Gabrielle with Fred, and Ginny with him, Harry. He didn't need that temptation. He didn't need the hope that in five years or so, they would be walking down an aisle arms linked again...

Tonks had seemed rather cross that Lupin had not been made a groomsmen, though it was no surprise. Bill only had five choices and he would obviously pick family, though Fleur had begged him to replace Percy with Harry. Bill just looked relieved to have an excuse not to let Percy be in his wedding.

As the days to the wedding grew nearer, the more worried Fleur seemed to become. The final touches had not been made on the outfits, the cake was not finished, and Charlie was late. Meanwhile, Fred and George kept daring Ron to get Fleur to kiss him, and took bets on it until Ginny one day looked at them in disgust and hissed, "She's nearly his sister-in-law and your trying to make him kiss her?"All bets ended after that.

Harry had noticed that Hermione had kept a low profile throughout his visit. They hadn't said much to each other and for the first time he noticed that she was looking quite glum.

Two days before the wedding and on Harry's birthday, when she was sitting alone on the couch, Harry sat down beside her. "What's the matter?"

She looked at him wearily and gave a small smile. "Nothing really. I'm just...it's hard to explain."

"Depression?" he asked sharply. "Well, what's wrong, what's it about?"

Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly said "Oh no! Not nearly as bad as that! It's not really a big deal, nothing to worry about much. I just think it's a kind of shock. After Dumbledore dying, and us not going back to Hogwarts, and," she hesitated and then reluctantly said, "Ron...I've never been so overloaded with all of this at once."

Harry put his mug of tea on the table in front of him and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't say I'm over Dumbledore either. And frankly I can't say I'm over Ginny."

He would have continued, but Hermione interrupted. "I'm so sorry, Harry! I didn't mean to open old wounds or anything. I don't know how you keep it together sometimes."

"Forget about it." murmured Harry. "And if I were you, I wouldn't be worried about the Ron thing either. If you're me, and you're from the outside looking in, you see a lot more."

"That's the smartest thing you've said in a long time, Harry."

"Thanks."

"Say," Hermione said, looking a bit more cheery. "how long did your parents know each other before they got married?"

Harry frowned slightly at the abrupt change of subject, but then felt a lurch in his stomach. Nobody knew that he had seen Snape's memory and if he told her, then he'd be breaking a promise.

But breaking a promise to a murderer.

Scowling, Harry began the story about looking into the Pensieve and seeing his fifth year father having a fight with the 'half-blood prince' Snape, and how Lily had despised him. "I talked to Lupin and," he inhaled. "Sirius about it and they said that Dad and Mum started going out in seventh year."

Hermione sat, eyes once again widened when he had finished his story. "How could she get over six years of hate?"

"It wasn't really hate." Harry replied. "It was more of an annoyance."

At that time, Ron walked into the room. He looked angrily from Harry to Hermione and growled, obviously trying to keep his temper under control. "Having a nice night without me, eh?" He went over to the couch and sat between them.

Hermione said tiredly. "Oh, Ron." she sighed. "Sometimes I think Pigwidgeon is smarter then you."

Ron looked at her with a very typical 'confused Ron' look. "What's that supposed to mean!" he cried.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stared back at the fireplace as Harry held back a smirk. Ron continued to look confused, then stood up suddenly, which made Harry and Hermione both jump.

"I know what it is!" he yelled. Hermione slid down in her seat so far that a passerby would not be able to see the top of her bushy head. Ron continued, but turned to Harry this time with a look of hate that could have rivaled Snape. "You're having her behind my back!" He rounded on Hermione, whose eyes were already wet. "You said I was stupid because your relationship is so obvious!"

Hermione scowled through her tears and said through gritted teeth. "Since when was I yours to have!"

Harry couldn't believe it. Ron had always been jealous, but this was obsessive...He decided immediately that it was time to act. He pulled out his wand and shoved it under Ron's chin. "Nothing is happening Ron!" But Ron didn't hear him. Not even noticing Harry's wand pointed at his neck, he punched Harry with such a force that Harry was knocked to the ground.

Hermione stood in Ron's way and started begging him to stop. "I'll kill him!" Ron yelled, ignoring her. "How could you let-? I'll kill him!" He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry.

Hermione screamed and Lupin rushed into the room, accompanied by Charlie. Just as Ron said "Avada Ke-!" they both shot stunners at him and he crumpled to the ground. Hermione let out a sob and fell to the floor as well.

Lupin sat down next to her and tried to calm her down when Charlie was helping Harry get up. Harry's head still throbbed in the spot where Ron had punched him and his vision was blurry. He looked around on the floor and found his glasses broken in half by the recliner.

"Reparo." he said and the spectacles flew back together. He them on and looked over at Hermione. "Are you alright?"

She sniffed. "I'm fine, but what about you? I can't believe what got into him..."

Harry walked over to where Ron was lying. "I don't think that it was him though..." He opened up Ron's eyelids. His vision seemed distant and unfocused.

Lupin pointed his wand at Ron's chest. "Ennervate." he muttered and Ron sprung back to life. He seemed quite surprised to see so many people around him. "Ron?" Lupin asked.

Ron rubbed his eyes and turned them to Harry. "Harry! What happened, you're nose and lip...they're all bloody...and Hermione! You look like you've been crying for hours...man, whoever made you cry, I swear I'll-."

Hermione quickly healed Harry and turned back to Ron. "Don't you know? You punched him." She cupped one of his cheeks in her hand. "You gave us all a fright there. You kept saying you wanted to kill Harry and you almost did Avada Kedavra!"

Ron's face turned pale. "Mmmm…I do remember that." He said and turned his head to Harry and scowled.

Lupin looked worried. "The Imperius Curse, perhaps?" he said and Hermione gasped.

"Who would cast the Imperius Curse on Ron to hurt Harry for sitting with me?"

Charlie looked at her gravely. "I don't think it was you and Harry together. Or even that it was Ron. Just that if someone wanted Harry dead, and getting someone to do it abruptly was the key, you fit the bill Ron." Ron scowled slightly at this but then looked at Hermione.

"Stupid as Pigwidgeon, eh" he said dryly. "Looks like you were right."

Hermione let out another sob then gave him a big hug. "I'm just glad that wasn't the real you."

Harry gave a small grin and decided to let them have a moment alone. He turned to Lupin and Charlie. "Who could have put Ron under the Imperius Curse? I know how, that's obvious. They could have used an invisibility cloak, or Polyjuice Potion or simply Apparate where he was alone and then Disapparte."

"Highly unlikely to be Voldemort himself." mused Lupin. "I would not rule out Bellatrix, Snape or Malfoy though. I doubt any other Death Eater is as important as those."

"Sir," Harry said to Lupin as most of the people in the household started entering the room. "Right after Snape killed Dumbledore, someone tried to kill me. But he said that I was to be saved for Voldemort. Why would a Death Eater try to kill me if I was to be saved for Voldemort?"

Charlie went over to explain to Mrs. Weasley what happened as Lupin looked darkly at Harry. "Perhaps a traitor is in his mist, Harry. A traitor yearning for glory." With that, he turned around and helped Charlie as Harry was left thinking about Ron, the Imperius Curse, and how many traitors he himself knew.