A/N: I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I have been super busy. I decided that my other Book 7 story wasn't that great so I took it down. I have started writing this story which I hope will be a bit better. So far I have six chapters written and almost done with the seventh. I know I won't be getting this done before Deathly Hallows, but anything I write in this is my own, and I won't copy from the seventh book. Anything that happens in my story that also happens in Deathly Hallows is pure coincidence. Anyways, enough rambling. Enjoy the story :)

Harry Potter went rifling through his belongings to make sure he had everything he was supposed to. In about fifteen minutes, a group that included his friends Ron and Hermione were going to come take him away from Privet Drive forever. Luckily, his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were sound asleep in the next room. Also luckily, his cousin Dudley was at a friend's house spending the night.

Harry went to make sure that his owl, Hedwig, was locked in her cage. He took her off the perch on which the cage sat on and placed the cage on his trunk. Looking around his room, he kept a sharp eye out for anything he might have missed. He took Hedwig's cage off his trunk and checked his trunk for the hundredth time that night. He had many Defense Against the Dark Arts books as well as many potion ingredients that might help him along the way on his search and destruction of the Horcruxes. Also in his trunk was his Invisibility Cloak and a map of Europe, which he used to mark the known whereabouts of Voldemort. He, however, had only a couple of points marked on it. Albania and the town in which Voldemort grew up in an orphanage, which was in a small town outside of London.

Harry shut his trunk and locked it. Looking around, he didn't feel like he forgotten anything. In the corner, there was a stack of papers. One pile was Muggle newspapers while the other was The Daily Prophet, the wizarding newspaper. Picking up a Muggle paper, he read the headline: Prime Minister Baffled at Mysterious Flood in Knapely. Harry looked at the picture of the Prime Minister who was standing at a podium. In the past year, he seemed to get paler and thinner and looked twice as old as he was. Harry believed that the Prime Minister knew about the wizarding world and knew exactly what had been causing floods, earthquakes and other disasters across the country.

The Muggle Prime Minister wasn't the only one looking thin and pale, but the Minister of Magic was also. Rufus Scrimgeour was enduring endless criticism from the magical community and was on the verge of being kicked out of office. Many of the things that he had promised had not been done and not even been started. On the front of the most recent Prophet, Scrimgeour promised that he would tighten security in public places such as the Ministry and Diagon Alley. This angered the crowd and in the moving picture of Scrimgeour, one could see him being pelted by various fruits and vegetables.

Harry looked at his watch and noticed that in five minutes time he would be leaving. He walked to the window and noticed the street lamps were out. Lupin, Tonks, Ron and Hermione must be on their way, he thought. Harry unfolded the letter in his pocket and read the letter Hermione sent him last week:

Harry,

I have to keep this brief in case this letter falls into the wrong hands. We're going to be at your home at midnight on your birthday to bring you to the new headquarters. After we arrive at the new headquarters, the will of Dumbledore will be read.

When we arrive, we'll put out the street lights and when we are in front of your house, we will send off subtle green sparks, as not to draw attention. We will shoot red sparks off if there is trouble. As soon as you see the green sparks, open the door so we can leave as quietly as possible.

See you next week.

Love,

Hermione

P.S. Ron says hello.

Harry looked outside and waited for the sparks. He looked around to make sure he got everything again and as soon as he turned around, he saw green sparks that barely lit up Hermione's face. He ran down the stairs, careful not to touch the last one that creaked. He unlocked the door and motioned them in. Quietly, they walked up the steps and grabbed Harry's trunk and Hedwig. They walked back down the steps without talking and waited.

"How many more minutes?" Ron whispered.

"Just one more," Lupin replied, looking out the front window.

Harry waited. This last minute seemed to take forever. Then all of a sudden the house was filled with a bright white light. It was like lightning struck nearby.

"What the hell?!?" screamed Uncle Vernon from upstairs.

"So much for a quiet exit," Tonks said, grabbing Harry's arm and leading him out of the house. As soon as they were outside, the house went back to normal.

"Wonder what that was?" Ron wondered aloud.

"I think it was the spell wearing off. Dumbledore said on my seventeenth birthday the spell my mother put on me when I was a baby wouldn't protect me any longer," Harry replied.

Suddenly, there were at least a dozen pops around them. Death Eaters had the five surrounded and were closing in.

"Ahh, Harry Potter. Our master has some unfinished business with you," came a raspy voice.

Tonks and Lupin put themselves in front of the trio and had their wands at the ready.

"Don't make this harder on yourselves," came another voice, this one sounding deeper.

"Hermione, can you Apparate with both of them?" Lupin muttered, his lips barely moving.

"Yes, I think so," she said, grabbing both Ron and Harry.

The Death Eaters were closing in and Tonks yelled, "NOW!"

The last thing Harry saw was numerous white, green, and red blasts. The next second he was being pushed into a black tube and then landed in a large field. Flowers were blooming here and the stars were as bright as ever. He thought he could hear the ocean which sounded fairly close.

"Where are we? Where are Tonks and Lupin?" Harry asked, looking around, but not seeing either of them.

Suddenly, two small pops behind them announced their arrival. Lupin was sporting a swollen eye that would be black and blue by the next day and a bloody nose and Tonks was bleeding from a rather large cut on her upper arm.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, lightly touching the cut on Tonks' arm.

"Yeah, we're fine. Soon as you got out of there we Apparated. Just got a couple of flesh wounds."

"Ron, did you show Harry?" Lupin asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Ron said, rummaging through his pockets and finding a slip of parchment. He handed it to Harry and Harry read:

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's ideal present would be woolen socks.

"What is this?" Harry asked. Lupin took the slip of parchment and tapped it with his wand. The writing disappeared and all he did was point in the distance.

Out of nowhere, a mansion appeared, much like it did at Grimmauld Place. The only difference was that this place looked much more well kept and more homey, even though the house could have had five normal size houses fit inside it comfortably.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"The Dumbledore family home. I doubt Dumbledore stayed here, but it's been in his family for centuries," Hermione replied, walking toward the house. "I think we're somewhere near Flimby, but we're not allowed to go exploring, and for good reason too."

Walking up to the gate, Hermione, Lupin, Tonks, and Ron pulled their wands out and placed it on a small metal plate in the center of the gate.

"Put your wand there, Harry. It's sort of like a wand reader, makes sure you are supposed to be here. If a Death Eater puts his wand here, they will be transported to a place far away. Dumbledore himself put the charm on the house before-" Lupin stopped. "Well, you know," he continued hastily.

They all put their wands on the plate and a small green light encircled each wand tip. The gate opened with a creak and they walked through. The front lawn was enormous. There were numerous fountains and flowers blooming everywhere. Most of the flowers he suspected were magical as some of them were moving and there was no breeze. The house seemed very out of place in this field. He would have expected a small cottage out here, not a large old mansion.

Looking up at the porch, Harry stopped. The last person he expected to be here was standing on the front porch.