Hello and thank you for taking the time to read what took me so long to write. I started working on this fic over 5 years ago and was not able to finish it. Now with the help of claraowl I plan to publish the whole story here. I currently have 9 chapters done and expect 6-11 more before the story is done. I hope you enjoy it.
Authors Note: This story will or at least should fit into JK Rowling's cannon including the epilogue. Knowing this should not hurt that story but it will raise questions and hopefully make you think.
Chapter One - Alone
Beep beep beep…
Harry's hand hit the button of Dudley's old repaired alarm clock. The annoying noise stopped, but Harry did not get up. He was trying to get back to the dream he had been having. It had been such a good dream, especially after weeks of only bad dreams; however, it was already fading from his mind. Finally, he gave up the attempt and sat up in bed.
"Married to Ginny with two, or was it three kids?" Harry gave a small laugh. "Could only be a dream. I will never have a normal life like that. Maybe Ron and Hermione will now be able to have that life."
Harry had set the alarm because he needed to get up early today. He had planned to sneak back into Diagon Alley again this morning – he had been doing this regularly the last few weeks. It was the only place he could find what he was looking for and pick up information at the same time.
It has been nearly three months since his duel with Voldemort. For three months now, he has lived in this house alone. He had stopped wondering a long time ago why the Dursleys were still not back and decided to be happy for at least one good thing in his life. The stillness of the room gave him a lot of time to think about what he needed to do next… not that he really had any clue yet.
It has also been three months since he had any contact with his friends. He wondered how they were doing these days. Harry smiled as he thought of Ron and Hermione, and how happy they must be now that they are finally able to be together.
He silently hoped that Mrs. Weasley's clock had stopped pointing to mortal peril. She didn't need to be worried about the people she still had when she was already dealing with the recent losses of so many of her friends and family. Harry was desperately trying to push all thoughts of Ginny out of his mind. He hoped she could move on with her life. Nevertheless, it still hurt him to imagine Ginny living a life in which he had no part.
Harry pushed all thoughts of friends from his mind as he pulled his cloak over his head and stepped outside. Around the house, he had put up most of the charms that Hermione had taught him last year. The house was still visible to Muggles, however; he thought that the house disappearing overnight might draw unwanted attention to his situation. Harry still didn't want anybody to know he was living there again, though.
With a pop he was gone from Number four Privet Drive, and was now standing outside the Leaky Cauldron. He had risked Apparating without a license only a few weeks after he had arrived at the Dursley's. Not a single soul had even come to arrest him. Therefore, he felt that Apparating to the Leaky Cauldron would be pretty safe. Now all he had to do was wait for the first witch or wizard to enter.
Harry could not believe his bad luck – the first person to approach the Leaky Cauldron was none other than Hagrid! Harry noticed that Hagrid was crying as he swung the door open, and followed before the door closed again.
Hagrid slowly made his way up to the front of the bar. "Tom," he said, as he tried to hold back his tears, "I need a drink."
"Hagrid, what's wrong, son?" replied Tom, staring at Hagrid's swollen face.
"Have you not read today's Prophet?" asked Hagrid as he pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet from his many pockets.
Harry moved in closer and read the headlines over Hagrid's shoulder. There was no need to worry about being heard over Hagrid's heavy breathing and sobs. Harry silently hoped this might be what he had been waiting for.
Search Called off: Harry Potter Declared Dead.
Harry had not expected this. He had a feeling they would come looking for him; that is why he'd returned to the Dursley's, of course. No one would expect him to go back there, not to the place he had always hated. To be declared dead certainly wasn't what he had expected.
Harry looked back over Hagrid's shoulder and continued to read the article.
Since Harry Potter's disappearance only hours after his heroic defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Ministry has attempted everything in their power to find the boy. "It is as if he just walked off the grounds," said Kingsley Shacklebolt, in a recent interview. "We cannot find any reason for him to have left, and he has not been in contact with anyone for the last three months. We are forced to conclude that we may never know what happened to Harry Potter."
Many people believe that the search is being called off to soon. "No evidence has been found suggesting that anything has happened to Harry. So we, his friends, have no plans to stop looking for him," said longtime friend Hermione Granger.
In reply to this, Shacklebolt added, "We have no plans to ever stop looking for some sign of Harry Potter, but we can no longer afford to keep putting so much of our resources into the search."
If you are not planning giving up on the search then why are you holding a Funeral him?
"People need closure; they need to start getting on with their lives now. We feel this will help them to do this," was Shacklebolt's response.
The funeral will be held on the Hogwarts grounds this coming Sunday. "It is being held at Hogwarts so that anyone who wishes to pay their last respects to Harry in person will be able to do so," said Temporary Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall.
My own funeral, thought Harry. He had not expected this, for some reason – not that he had ever given enough thought to what he was doing. He only knew it was the right thing to do.
Harry could not take any more of Hagrid's crying, so he continued with what he was here for. At the entrance to Diagon Alley, Harry tapped the correct brick from under his cloak. He had found out earlier that nobody seemed to notice the wall opening of its own accord. He quickly walked over to Flourish and Blotts to wait for a chance to enter the shop unseen.
It was nearly an hour before the first person entered the store and Harry was able to follow him in. He had been coming here so often that he now knew exactly where he was going and the book he wanted. It was a thick brown leather book about Historic Duels. It had caught his eye the last time he had come here for a book on advanced transfiguration. He then walked over to another book that he had been thinking about getting, and now he had a reason to purchase it. This one was a black leather bound book called Funeral Rites and Spells.
Harry left more than enough Galleons on the register. Lucky for him, nobody ever bothered checking who left the store, only who came in.
Harry stopped in his tracks on the other side of the door. Mrs. Weasley was coming down the road, Ron and Hermione following behind her; the latter two seemed to be holding hands. All three looked about as happy as he was. He knew this was his fault. Surely they would have to get over his death sooner or later though, right?
"It really is better this way," Harry told himself.
Mrs. Weasley called back to Ron and Hermione. "Come on, come on we have a lot to do these next few days. No time to dawdle. We still need to get Ron and Ginny new Dress robes for the funeral. They have both grown so much lately."
"But Ron's old dress robes will give everyone a much needed laugh," Hermione said with a small laugh herself. Although she was the only one to suppress a smile. Everyone looked ever so depressed.
"Now where has Ginny run off to?" asked Mrs. Weasley, looking around.
Harry too looked up and down the street, hoping to see her.
"She already ran ahead to Madam Malkin's," answered Ron. Harry supposed that was a good thing; if he had seen Ginny, it would have been extremely hard for him to stay hidden under the cloak.
Harry made his way down the street, going the opposite direction. They'll be fine, he thought to himself. I just need to figure this all out and then I can go back to them. Just how long that could take, he still had no idea.
Harry was soon back at Number Four, Privet Drive. He spent the rest of the day reading his books and thinking about what had happened earlier in the day – that's how he spends most of his days now. It was very late at night when Harry finally put down Funeral Rites and Spells and drifted off to sleep, hoping for a repeat of last night's dream.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of the castle's huge entrance doors and were heading to the large white building that lay next to the Black lake.
"I need to do this alone, I think," Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they walked.
"But we don't know how safe the grounds are yet, Harry. You can't go out there alone; it's just not safe," argued Hermione.
"He just defeated the most powerful dark wizard that has ever lived, Hermione. I think he can handle a few death eaters or anything else that may be still around," said Ron. "Anyway, he still has the elder wand," Ron quickly added, after catching the look Hermione shot him from Harry's other side.
"Fine!" Hermione gave in. "But we are going to walk part of the way with you, so we'll close in case you need help."
Harry quickly agreed to this; he knew it was not worth arguing and he felt better with his friends close, anyway.
As Harry approached the tomb, he noticed that is had not been repaired since Voldemort broke in to steal the elder wand. There was a dark crack splitting the large white building in two; it had weakened the rest of the build and had started to crumble around itself.
Well, that answers that, thought Harry. He had been wondering how he was going to enter the tomb ever since he had left the headmaster's office. Now he would be able enter the tomb and put the wand back. It would stay there until the tomb was repaired – and hopefully until long after his death. This would break the chain and make it less likely that anyone would ever use the elder wand again.
"Okay, wait here. I will be back in a few minutes," said Harry.
He quickly walked the rest of the way to the tomb, only slowing down to work his way over the fallen rocks and debris and trying not to upset anything and cause the rest of the building to fall in on itself. The few minuets he had told Ron and Hermione that it would take had already passed by the time he was standing in the center of the tomb.
Dumbledore's body lay on the stone table just like it had at the funeral, before it was hidden behind a wall of flames. Harry had been bracing himself for the sight of Dumbledore's body, now dead for almost two years, but what he saw amazed him. Dumbledore looked unchanged by his years of death. He lay there as if asleep and able, at any moment, to wake up and start talking to Harry.
But Harry knew better than to think of such things. Dumbledore was dead, and although magic could keep him looking unchanged after death, it could never truly bring anyone back from the dead. Harry quickly placed the wand back in Dumbledore's hand and turned to leave.
"AAAAA!" Harry screamed. Pain shot through his head like it had never done before. He fell to his knees both hands pressed hard to his forehead. It felt like someone had stabbed his scar with the red-hot blade of a very dull knife. He was about to black out when the pain stopped, just as quickly as it had come.
It took Harry a minute to get back to his feet, his sight more blurred than if he had lost his glasses.
But how? Why? Lord Voldemort is dead. Had he not just killed him? thought Harry.
"But Voldemort is the only one that has ever affected my scar before. He must be still alive," said Harry aloud. Although there was no one to hear him, it hurt too much to simply think right now.
But how? What did he miss? Is there another horcrux? Could he still be one? Harry's mind was filled with questions, but no answers.
One thought pushed its way to the front of his mind, and out of his mouth. "If Voldemort is still alive, then everyone around me is at risk again. If I had not been here, would so many have come here? Would so many people have needed to die? No!
"I will not let this happen again. Next time, it will be just me and Voldemort, like it always should have been," said Harry.
He turned back to Dumbledore's body and took the elder wand out of his hands.
"I am sorry but until the battle is truly over, this is not safe here," said Harry to Dumbledore's body.
He then turned around, pulling on his cloak as he walked away from Hogwarts and everyone he loved.
…...
Authors Note: Every chapter takes me hours to write. Please take 1 minute to review as a thank you.