The worn parchment rustled as he shifted his focus, green eyes peering at each segment with rapt attention. Long fingers, curled like a pianist traced each line with a hungry desperation. They moved with a shaky determination, jerky yet focused. He let out a small curse - faint even to his own ears - as he read further down. Words flowed off the page and filtered into his mind in rapid succession, his dyslexia a mere inconvenience in his quest for new knowledge. He needed more information, more research-

"Buzz!"

"Damnit!" he sneered suddenly, his head shooting up from his work. He was certain that he had placed a sign on the door cautioning others not to disturb his peace, so who could it be to interrupt him now.

He stood from the small desk he had made his own and fidgeted with his glasses, their iconic rounded rims and taped patchwork being pushed up the bridge of his nose. He took one last longing look at the symbol which had dominated his mind for - he paused slightly as he failed to remember how long he had been researching the meaning behind the symbol.

A triangle with a circle within, bisected by a single line.

It had appeared on the back of his dominant hand ever since that infamous duel and the heat he suddenly felt stirring in his jeans pocket reminded him of the wand he now possessed.

He crossed the hotel room in quick, long striding steps and tugged the door open but raised a brow when he saw no one at the door. Confused, he took a single step outside to the hallway, looking both left and right hoping the catch a glimpse of a retreating figure. A sudden sense of unease settled and his senses rose in answer. His hand seamlessly slipped within his pocket and produced a slender stick immediately. Now alert, he ignored the pulsing heat from his pocket as the other wand expressed its displeasure at not being chosen by its master and flicked his wand swiftly on either side of him.

When nothing happened, he retreated back to his hotel room intent to continue his work when he spied the envelope that was now sitting atop all his acquired parchment.

'Well that certainly wasn't there before,' he thought as he studied the letter.

It was addressed to him obviously, with only his name written in a imperious purple and stylish cursive font.

Harry, it had read.

He tore the envelope open and produced the small card it had contained. It was rather small, about the small size as a postcard, and only had a single word written on it.

Remember.

'Odd,' he thought as he read the message aloud but immediately cried out a swift gasp of pain as memories he had long suppressed and forgotten came rushing back. His hand clutched the desk as a brace and he could almost feel the information worming its way back into his head.

For a moment, he likened the pain to those that used to come from his scar before it subsided. As his mind cleared, the feeling of distress settled heavily on his shoulders. Just how long had he been here? And the startling response that came was... he didn't know.

He immediately backpedaled, panic settling in as he shook in small tremors. He remembered flying in to Los Angeles, opting to take the muggle transportation to avoid unneeded attention. He remembered exploring the city before he detected the nucleus of magic standing out like a lumos charm in a darkened to and his immediate curiosity was awoken. He remembered walking into the hotel, the employees immediately recognizing him and offering him their cards and rewards. It was almost too good to be true, he had thought, and it was.

This place was a trap, and he had fell for it hook, line and sinker.

He turned sharply and flung the door open, ignoring all sense of normalcy as he ran towards the main lobby. As he passed the many occupants, he could immediately notice the abnormalities. He picked up on their small quirks that made them stand out. Their outdated state of dress and speech. Some had even looked like they were straight out of the seventies! Again the thought of how much time had passed floated to the front of his mind and he dreaded to find out.

As he neared the exit, a poshly dressed employee blocked his path. The man was as plain as they came with his brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. But it was his fixed smile that gave him away. It was strained and had the subtlety of a rampaging Horntail. How had he not noticed it before?

"Mr. Potter," the man greeted. "Leaving so soon?"

Now that he knew what he was looking for, Harry could feel the foreign presence seeping into his mind. It wasn't like the usual legilimency probe. No, it lacked the 'solid-ness' that came with the mind reading technique. Rather, it was smoky in presence, seeping through the cracks and crevices in the mental shield. Almost like a mist.

"U-Uh yeah," he replied nervously as he clamped down on his mental barriers. He was no master but it proved enough to hold off the intrusion.

"Are you sure about that?" the man's smile faltered slightly and Harry made to push past him. "We've just added another level to our expansive library, surely you'll stay awhile longer." He reached for the wizard's hand and in a rash judgement, Harry flicked his wrist, sending the man sprawling with a weak wandless banishing spell.

Rushing for the door, he bolted from the hotel vowing never to return to the Lotus Hotel and Casino again.

He slumped into his booth and nursed the small flask with a quick swish. Tapping his wand against the table twice, he welcomed the cool sensation that flowed over his body. To the casual passer-by, they would see an old decrepit man slouching into a bottle of fire-whiskey rather than the famous Harry Potter. He surveyed the the patrons as they mingled within the Leaky Cauldron, looking for any familiar face. He could clearly see the passage of time that had affected the place. New portraits had been strung up while others had been taken down. There was a particular portrait that caught his eyes, and he blushed embarrassingly as he watched himself - dressed in his Ravenclaw quidditch robes - as he soared through the air on his broom.

Taking another sip of his drink, he turned to face the bartender, Tom. The man had obviously aged since the last time Harry had been here. New wrinkles had appeared on his face and he walked with a cane now, a severe limp in his left leg.

'A decade can do that to a man,' Harry thought mirthlessly.

Even with the evidence, he could not wrap his head around the fact that he had missed ten years has the world had gone by. He thought of his closest friends - the few that he had - and wondered what exactly they had gone on to do with their lives and how they had taken his disappearance. It would obviously have caused a mass scandal and he dreaded the reaction of his return to the public.

Not to mention the questions they would ask?

That was why he was here now, hiding away in plain sight as he thought up his next move. No doubt many would want to know where he had been and why he looked not a day past seventeen when he should be nearing his thirties. While he doubted that he would be dragged off by the Unspeakables for experimentation, he wanted to avoid the outrageous claims of him being the new Dark Lord or finding immortality.

Lord knows he had enough of that during his years at Hogwarts.

No, he needed to be patient for now before he revealed his existence to the magical community and as he nicked an abandoned newspaper from the table near him, he found his answer soon enough.

It was later that night when he made his first step to reintegration. He walked confidently down the halls of the Ministry building, trying his best to appear as though he belonged there. He had placed a glamour on himself, trading in the iconic black hair and green eyes for a sandy shade of blonde and blue eyes. His gait was a lot muscular than his trim build and he walked briskly as he neared the office of his destination. Casting just a quick glance to the nameplate that read, Weasley, he opened the door and stepped in.

She was immediately aware of his presence and raised an odd brow at him.

"And just who are you?" she asked, her bushy brown mane bristling at his intrusion.

"You've turned into quite the fox, Granger - or should I say Mrs. Weasley now," he greeted, unable to stop the boyish grin from off his face. He had not lied when he complimented her, the buck-toothed know-it-all had grown into quite the attractive adult. Despite being a witch, it was obviously to all to see that she was muggle-born. The standard robes were missing for one, instead she wore a figure-fitting beige pencil suit that went nicely with her long brown hair.

"Who are you?!" she demanded, her face flushing with indignation.

Ignoring her temper, he reached for his wand and pointed it at the door.

"Muffliato' he intoned as the walls shone blue before fading. "Sorry about that but I needed to make sure we wouldn't be overheard," he explained as he sauntered over to her desk. He wasn't usually like this but there was something about seeing a familiar face - despite the fact that she was much older now - that made him feel relaxed. Almost. Not to mention who she was and the history the two had shared.

"And just what could be so urgent and secretive that would burst through my door and silence my office then?" she asked, the anger still apparent in her tone.

Instead of answering, Harry allowed the glamour to fade away, revealing his true appearance but if he was expecting her to instantly welcome him back with open arms, he was dead wrong. As a quick as the flip of a coin, he found himself having to duck low to avoid the stunning spell she aimed at him. He got no reprieve as he immediately sent him ducking and diving out of harms way as she sent a chain of spells with intent to hit him. Twisting and turning, he weaved his way through her spells before firing one back of his own.

'Expelliarmus'

The charm struck her arm and sent her wand sailing through the air, right into Harry's outstretched palm. There was a moment of silence in the room before Hermione had a mad dash for her desk. Figuring she had some sort of magical device hidden there, Harry quickly intoned the incantation for the full body-bind spell and watched as the witch fell to the ground, frozen. He levitated her prone body back into her chair before running a hand through his wild hair.

"I'd hope I didn't have had to do this Granger," he sighed. He flicked his wand and her jaws relaxed, allowing her to speak. "But obviously I have to make you see reason,"

"Don't dare speak to me when you're parading around with the face of a dead man! Have you no respect!" she shouted at him, forcing another sigh from his lips.

"I can't exactly be dead if I'm standing right here in front of you now can I?"

"Stop lying! Harry Potter is dead! I don't know how you are, but you must be horrible at whatever it is you do if you thought you would have fooled anyone with that disguise,"

"Trust me when I say Granger, I am still quite alive," he said. Standing upright, he paced her office as he thought over the words he needed to say. "It'll blow your mind if I were to explain where exactly I've been for the last decade and why I look like I'm fresh out of Hogwarts, but then again, we've yet to fully discover the true limitations of magic so who is to say what should be considered the impossible," he lectured half-heartedly. "But that's completely irrelevant right now. The main point I want to get across to you is that I am Harry Potter and I need your help,"

She scoffed at him, rolling her eyes in bemusement. "Do you really believe that I would have fallen for that, oh please,"

"I can prove it,"

"And just how do you intend to that, 'Mr. Potter'?" she taunted, barely trying to hide the skepticism dripping from her words.

He paused, thinking of a way to convince her of his identity. "Is there some way you could identify my magical signature? That's how the Improper Use of Magic Office tracks underage magic right?"

Again she rolled her eyes at him, feeling as though she was talking to a rather dim wall. "Yes we can do that," she replied, but at his brightened smile, she felt the need to crush his hopes. "But you should be well aware that persons can change their magical signature to another's to frame them or impersonate them,"

"What if I told you something that only Harry Potter would know?"

"Harry has been on the front page all his life, no matter how hard he tried to stay private. I doubt there's anything truly secretive about him that the public -"

"I know about that day back in our third year under the quidditch stands," he blurted out, and the detained witch found herself blushing a bright red.

"W-What!?" she shrieked.

"You know what I'm talking about. Krum wasn't your first kiss like you led everybody to believe now was he?" he smirked, finally getting the upper hand against the intelligent witch. Hermione had always been the smarter of the two and many times before Harry found himself wondering why she had been a Gryffindor rather than a Ravenclaw like himself. But he remembered her ferocity on the battle against Voldemort and her bravery as she fought Death eaters and knew she had gone to the right house.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she stuttered in denial, but her heated cheeks gave away her credibility.

"We both know what happened behind those stands, so do you believe me or not?"

She refused to meet his eyes for a few moments and Harry thought that maybe it might not have been enough to convince her , but was proven wrong when she spoke up. "Swear an oath,"

"Huh?"

"If you really are who you say you are," she said though under her breath whispered, "Not saying I believe you are anything," before continuing, "But if you are, really and truly Harry Potter, then swear a magical oath saying so,"

"So you believe me then?"

"I never said that," she snarled suddenly, the embarrassment not yet forgotten. "But... if you swore the oath though... "

Here, Harry perked up suddenly, feeling a new hope on the horizon. "Gladly" He rose his wand above his hand and declared, "I, Harry James Potter...

It had been two weeks since his return to Britain and only a week since his 'official' return and Harry had went to find the peace and solace he had unwittingly been looking forward to. The 'official' story that Hermione had been able to come up with was not too far away from the truth. She had called in a favor from the Prophet by offering them an exclusive with a very important celebrity.

The young reporter who had been waiting in that private room had been shocked to see Hermione Weasley walk in with none other than the dead savior, Harry Potter. After they had been able to calm the young girl, it had been a semi-factitious tale about how on his journey around the world ten years ago, Harry had stumbled upon a lost relic from an ancient civilization (which was more common than you would have expected) and had been frozen in time for ten years by some very ancient and forgotten magic. Upon his release, the first thing he did was to rush home to the land he loved so much.

Harry had thought that with the ending, perhaps Hermione was laying it on a bit too thick but she had insisted that it was necessary. Sales had skyrocketed that week or so he was told as the general public had eaten up the news of their hero's return. Sure, there had been the tedious details where he had to present himself to the Wizengamot and reclaim his lordships (the Blacks which had been handled by Andromeda in his absence and the Potters which was left dormant) and the scripted public greetings Hermione had insisted (read: nagged) were necessary.

At the end of the day though, Harry had to admit that he could always count on the wizarding public as being sheeple who believed whatever they read despite how many times it had been proven wrong.

Now however, he found himself facing a rather tricky predicament.

Namely, how to re-introduce himself to the godson he had not seen for ten years.

Teddy had only been one year old when he left for his trip and with today being the first of September, Harry had wanted to see the boy off before he went off to Hogwarts. He had first planned to meet him at Andromeda's (who he had been raised by) but he had found himself bombarded with backed-up mail which he had tried to sort through at a later date but many were from Gringotts and the goblins were insistent on him reading through them immediately. That alone had taken a few days and by the time he blinked, it was already time for Hogwarts.

So here he was, hidden from the crowds, waiting to technicality ambush his eleven year old godson.

He felt as though there were hippogriffs in his stomach as he waited for Teddy's arrival and he wondered if this was how Remus had felt about first meeting him all those years ago when he started teaching at Hogwarts and maybe that was why the man had taken so long to admit that he was best friends with his father. He was even aware of how ironic it was that now the roles were reversed with the man's son.

He didn't have long to contemplate his feelings though as he noticed Andromeda stepping out from floo and in step behind her was someone who could easily pass for a younger Remus. He wondered if it was intentional, having known that Teddy had inherited his mother's abilities but Teddy was a dead-ringer for his dead father. But where Remus had been timid and reserved, Teddy was loud, vibrant and...

Harry couldn't stop the laugh from spilling from his throat as the boy tripped over his own legs.

'Definitely Tonks' son' Harry thought. As they made to step by his position, Harry stepped forward with what he hoped was an easy smile.

"Hello, Andi. It's nice to see you again," he greeted the woman he had met through Nymphadora.

"Harry!" she shouted as she quickly wrapped him in a quick embrace. "How have you been? It's been so long since I've last seen you,"

He laughed at her words as he scratched the nape of his neck. "It feels like only yesterday since I've seen you Andi but the years have really gone by haven't they?"

Whatever she was going to reply with was cut short by her grandson, the young metamorphmagus slinking forward with a scowl. "Come on, Grandma, let's go!"

"Don't be shy Edward, this is Harry, your godfather,"

The boy had a face at Harry and stomped past him, and Harry's heart sank at his actions while Andi looked apologetic.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry-"

"It's okay Andi," Even though he knew it wasn't. "I'll... see you 'round I guess,"

With a turn and a muted pop, he was gone.

It was a dejected Harry Potter that made his way back into his small apartment. He had yet to move into one of the many Potter properties and had to use a small apartment for temporary lodgings. As he poured himself a shot of fire-whiskey, he had not expected for someone to ask him to pour two.

Especially when that person was is deceased mother.

Lily Potter was seated in his couch without a care in the world.

"Hello son,"

I'm back, though I'm not sure for how long seeing as how school will be starting back soon. Man, it's been so long since my last update on any of my stories yet here I am same way, with a new story.

But I have to admit that I can't take credit for this story as its the brain child of Panther-Strife who PM'ed me and asked me to so this for him/her and I felt whimsical and agreed. I'm glad I did cuz I really like the premise of his story and want to see it through to the end.

So yeah, notice for my other stories... None of them are dead, I just need time to get back in my groove.

Thanks for the support for those who will stick with me and for those who don't... sorry for disappointing you I guess... meh

That's it for now, any questions... just PM me

-Gregorybryce9