Summary: In an AU world, the prophecy never existed, Harry's parents never died, and Harry lived a semi-normal life. However, Voldemort is still around and stronger than ever. The trouble comes when Harry turns 19. He runs away from home to join the Death Eaters. His family and friends are devastated and face many problems that revolve around Harry's actions.


Chapter One: The Calm Before the Storm

7/1/1999

Ginny's POV

I held tightly onto Harry's hand as we walked down Diagon Alley. It probably wasn't safe for two teenagers to be walking down the street alone; especially two teenagers who were part of the Order of the Phoenix, but Snape had needed some potions ingredients to help Bill, who had burst in to the safe house covered in blood only moments ago. He passed out before he could say what happened, but Snape had guessed that it was Greyback, even though it wasn't the full moon. Bill's face had looked terrible and Harry and I had volunteered to get the necessary items. I don't know why Harry volunteered, probably just to follow me, but I had to get out of the house. I couldn't bear to look at Bill when he was injured like that. He was my favorite brother and any injury that he suffered also hurt me.

As soon as we got to the Apothecary Harry went to the manager and handed him the list of ingredients that Snape had written down. The manager was quick in getting all of the necessary items and he rung us out within five minutes of us walking in. Harry handed the man some money and grabbed the bags, not even waiting for his change as he walked out of the store in silence. I quickly followed him, wondering how all of this was affecting him. He had never been very open with his feelings, but ever since he graduated from Hogwarts he had seemed especially distant. I didn't know why, but I figured that it was because he was now out of school and in the real world. He must be worried about what was going to happen. Also, I don't want to sound conceited, but I think that he was also worried about me because after a lot of begging my parents had finally let me join the Order last month. He had gotten angry when I told him, saying that I was too young and it was too dangerous. I knew that he just didn't want me to get hurt, but I had to join. If my entire family was risking their lives every day, I had to be there to make sure they were okay.

We made it back to the house without any problems. Harry handed over the ingredients to Snape before running up to his room. I watched him go, and then quietly followed him a few minutes later, wanting to comfort him. His door was shut so I knocked quietly before opening it. Harry was lying on his back in his bed, staring at the ceiling. I lay down next to him with my arm across his chest. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

He rolled over so he was facing me and put his arms around me, pulling me closer. "I'm fine, just worried about some stuff," he replied. He kissed my forehead. When he pulled back he looked in to my eyes for a long time. Eventually he whispered, "I love you Ginny. You know that, right?"

I nodded. "I love you too, Harry," I told him seriously. We had started dating in his sixth year, my fifth. I had never thought of him like that before he asked me out; he had been more like an older brother when we were growing up. But I'm glad that he had those kinds of thoughts about me, because I could not imagine myself with anyone else. The two years we had been dating were filled with so much romance and love.

I was broken out of my memories when I felt Harry's lips on my own. He began kissing me with more vigor and passion than usual. I gave in, because it felt amazing. He rolled over so he was hovering above me with both of his arms by my head holding him up. He brought one hand up to cup my face as our making out got more intense. I put one of my arms around his neck and let the other one travel up and down his chest. The hand that was on my face continued down, brushing my breast as it went. He reached the hem of my shirt and began pulling it up off of my body. He threw it to the floor before putting both of his hands on my chest. I moaned. I did the same with his shirt and let my hands roam his chest and back. He was skinny, but there was definitely muscle too.

My hands continued down to his jeans. I have wanted this since our one year anniversary. I began undoing the button and he looked at me. "Are you sure?" he asked me. When I nodded he grabbed his wand from the bedside table and performed locking and silencing spells. "I love you, Ginny Weasley, no matter what."


7/9/1999

Blake's POV

I was in the library studying with Andy. Studying. Over summer break. This girl was so weird, I didn't know why I liked her. Honestly, summer is the time to goof off and let your brain shut down. Yet here I was, reading a transfiguration textbook. All for her. I had started liking her last summer. After spending almost every single day of my life with her, I was surprised that I hadn't started liking her earlier.

Just as I was turning the page, Harry opened the door. He was mumbling something to himself, but all I could make out was "idiot" "leave" and "Ginny." When he noticed us he instantly froze. "Sorry," he muttered before walking back out. I just stared at the place he had been standing. He never would have done this a year ago. He would have noticed me and Andy and made some sarcastic comment about us before laughing and coming over to see what I was doing. Then he would have made fun of me for studying over the summer. But he had been acting weird ever since he had graduated from Hogwarts. He became more distant, stopped talking to me almost completely, and never laughed anymore.

Apparently Andy had also noticed this, because she looked up from her book with a frown on her face. "Is he okay? He's been acting really weird for a while not. I'm worried about him." She looked distressed. I knew that she thought of him as an older brother. Our families were really close and we had basically grown up in the same house (not technically, but our parents never went a day without seeing each other).

"I don't know. He doesn't talk to me anymore," I told her. Out of all of Harry's weird behaviors, this one bothered me the most. He was two years older than me, but he had always treated me like his friend instead of his little, annoying brother. We talked about everything, from girls to school to Voldemort. But ever since he returned from school last year he had stopped talking to me. It wasn't like he was ignoring me, because if I went to him he would listen and he talked to me about trivial things, but we no longer had any long, in-depth discussions like we used to. It could just be that he was now too old and cool to talk to his dorky 16 year old brother, or it was something else entirely. I honestly had no idea.


7/29/1999

Ginny's POV

After the night that we had sex, it seemed like Harry was avoiding me, but I had no idea why. Whenever I tried to talk to him, he would come up with some excuse to leave; whenever I went in his room he was sleeping, or more likely he was pretending to sleep; whenever I walked into a room he was in, he walked out; at dinner, he sat at the opposite side of the table from me and wouldn't even look at me. I was afraid that I had done something wrong, or he was regretting having sex with me. I didn't know what to do and I was getting really worried. I thought that maybe he wanted to break up with me, but didn't know how.

After four weeks I had finally had enough. I had just walked into the library and watched as Harry walked out as soon as I sat down. He had gone through these phases before, where he wouldn't talk to me, but it never lasted this long. Instead of staying there brooding on the subject like I usually did, I got up and followed him. Instead of going to his room like I thought he would, he headed out to the backyard. He went and sat beneath the large tree that was back there. I was standing right next to him before he noticed me. "Harry, we have to talk," I told him. My tone was serious and I think he understood that I was upset because he wouldn't look me in the eye. I sat down in front of him and tried to keep his eyes on mine, but he looked everywhere but my face. "You've been avoiding me for the past four weeks and I want to know why. I don't know what I did, but this has to end. It's ridiculous and I'm sick of it," I told him. I don't usually cry, but I seriously felt like I was going to lose it. I loved Harry with all of my heart and to have him ignore me was the worst thing in the world.

He was silent for a long time, but after a few minutes he finally looked at me. It was weird, but he looked like he was going to cry. I had never seen Harry cry. Ever. So something must be really wrong for him to get this emotional. "Ginny, you know that, no matter what happens, I love you, right?" he asked.

"If you had asked me last month I would have said yes without hesitation, but lately I'm not so sure," I said bitingly. He was really hurting me, and I wanted him to feel an ounce of the pain that I felt.

"I'm sorry, I haven't been avoiding you on purpose, I just have a lot on my mind lately and I don't want to drag you into my problems," he said, trying to explain. But I didn't accept that. Everyone had problems, so why were his problems so important that he had to ignore me?

"You really hurt me Harry. I was afraid I did something wrong," I said quietly, trying to hold back my tears.

He took my hands. "I'm sorry. You're the last person I want to hurt. I just can't…" he broke off and looked away, as if he was debating whether or not to tell me something. "It doesn't matter why I've been acting stupid, as long as you know that I love you. This war is getting serious, and now that we're out of Hogwarts it directly affects us, but No matter what happens in the next few years, I'll always love you. You mean the world to me and I couldn't picture myself with anyone else." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I still didn't know why he had been so upset for the past month, but I decided that I didn't care. As long as Harry still loved me and wasn't having any second thoughts.


7/31/1999

Lily's POV

Birthdays were always the hardest. They made me glad that we had survived another year, but they also made me face the fear of the future. How many more birthdays would we all have? Where would we be on our next birthday? There were too many questions that could have a bad answer. However, I always tried to stay positive for my kids. If they knew that their parents were upset, then they would be even more upset than they already were.

Today was Harry's 19th birthday. After all of the trouble we have faced, it was a miracle that he was still here. He was my first born son and always had a special place in my heart. But the past year he had been really worrying me. He probably didn't think that I saw it, but I noticed that he was spending less time with his friends and family and more time locked up in his room. I was really worried, but I hoped that he was just going through a phase. That's what James convinced me to believe. So maybe James was right, just this once.

Harry never liked a lot of attention on him, so we decided to keep his birthday small. One thing that I knew he would love was to have the party at our house instead of the safe house. As comfortable and homey as the safe house was, it still wasn't the home that Harry had grown up in, and it was also way too crowded. So I invited only the people he was closest to: the Blacks, Lupins, Weasleys, and Hermione. I knew that this small group would be the best present he could get right now.

The party was quiet. The kids sat around talking and the adults sat on a different side of the room in their own conversations. Every now and then I would look over at harry to make sure he was enjoying himself. At times he looked genuinely happy. He laughed and smiled like he used to. But everyone once and a while he looked so depressed and upset to be there. I didn't know what was causing these shifts in his mood, but I was worried.

Before we all left to return to the safe house I pulled him aside to talk to him. We hadn't had a real conversation in a long time. "Sweetie, are you okay? You've been looking kind of depressed lately and I'm worried about you," I told him, reaching out a hand to put it on his cheek. I didn't care if he was 19 and "too old" for motherly affection. He was my baby, and I got to treat him however I liked.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, not looking at me. His gaze was focused on something past me. I turned to see what it was, figuring that it was Ginny. Sure enough, it was. But he didn't look at her like he was happy in love. He looked like he was upset about something.

"Is something wrong with you and Ginny?" I asked. My hand dropped to his shoulder. I knew him and Ginny loved each other very much, so I couldn't imagine them getting into a serious fight.

"I'm just really worried about her now that she's in the Order," he told me. I nodded. This made sense, and explained his behavior for the past month. He loved her and didn't want anything to happen to her. I knew that James was pretty much the same way when we first joined the Order way back when.

"You don't have to worry too much, she's strong and can take care of herself," I told him. Ginny was strong. Growing up with six brothers made it necessary.

He just nodded and shrugged off my shoulder. I watched as he walked towards Ginny and took her hand in his. I was happy for them; they were perfect for each other. Now Blake needed to find his perfect girl. He probably didn't think I noticed, but I knew that he had a crush on Andy. I think that they would be perfect for each other, although Sirius was a bit protective of her, so I didn't know what he would say about it…