Disclaimer: Harry Potter, its characters, and the Harry Potter Universe belong to JK Rowling. I only lay claim to the situations I am about to put them in for your entertainment. I hope you enjoy my writing but warn you it will sound different than JK Rowling's style. I would encourage you to read beyond the first chapter to get a better feel for how the story is going to go. The first half of this chapter was necessary, but doesn't reflect the feel for where I am taking the majority of my series.

Chapter 1: Assessing the situation

For many years, Harry Potter had considered himself a boy like any other. It was a few years back that he found out that fate had other designs. Finally he could make that claim again. He was a normal teenager, free to do and be what he liked. Sure, he might be the only one who saw himself that way, but it was a step in the right direction.

Harry had just spent the last year on the run, scouting for dark artifacts to fulfill a prophecy made when he was just a baby. His search had culminated in a grand battle that even the history teacher, Professor Binns could tell without putting the class to sleep. Harry had won the battle, but the cost was high. He had spent the day following the Battle of Hogwarts, as people now called it, processing the loss of life and generally feeling numb to the world. He finally collapsed from exhaustion as the sun mercifully set. As he drifted off to sleep he began to flash back to the events of the previous day.

He felt the grass rustle under his feet as he walked from the castle to meet Voldemort. He noticed the eerie calm as he marched to his death. The moon was blocked by a dense layer of clouds, the grounds of Hogwarts were as dark as they have ever been, and the air was incredibly still, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Harry entered the Forbidden Forest and whispered his intention to die to the Snitch. He retrieved the resurrection stone and flipped it in his hand. Once. Twice. Three times . In an instant he was surrounding by the people who had died protecting him, and he felt the added weight of responsibility for each. There were some new faces in addition to old: his parents, Sirius, Cedric, Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks, Fred, & Snape. There was so much Harry wanted to say, but he knew he had precious little time.

He started with Snape whose features seemed to soften in death. His standard sneer removed and a slight acknowledgement in the form of a raised eye brow. Harry spoke to him without disdain but with more than a hint of uncomfortable gratitude; "Thank you Severus, I will your sacrifice... Always."

Remus and Tonks were next. Teddy's situation was too close to his own and the realization hit Harry like a lightning bolt; a less scar-shaped and more figurative lightning bolt. He made a personal vow to do everything in his power to protect and to show Teddy a better childhood than he had. Harry would show his godson all of the wonders he had missed growing up. There would be muggle zoos, museums, and amusement parks that they could experience for the first time together, as well as whatever it was wizard children did for fun.

As Fred approached Harry, there was a desperation about him that was starkly in contrast to his normal demeanor. Fred 's only concern was for George. George had to carry on, he had to design new pranks and bring joy and new ways to skive off class to the students of Hogwarts.

Finally was Dumbledore. Harry poured out his frustration and eventual acquiescence to die into this final conversation. After all, his death was a small sacrifice to protect those he loved and to protect Hogwarts. It only seemed inevitable after so many had died protecting him. Finally his time had come, and he would go willingly. Harry felt ashamed that he was unable to prepare another to take on his quest to finish Voldemort after his death, but he was confident Hermione would take on the challenge as her own.

"It always had to be you to defeat him, Harry" stated Dumbledore knowingly with a gleam in his eye.

"Defeat him? I'm on my way to let him kill me. If only you were still alive, the prophecy would be fulfilled and you would be here to finish the job. We've needed you this past year, Hogwarts needed you, I still need you… All that is needed from me is what I am about to do."

As Harry completed his words he noted a phoenix's cry in the back ground, with the words "Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it" echoing in his mind.

Harry slowly faded from his dream back into reality, but he could still hear the faint echo of the phoenix. Bleary eyed he stumbled to the boy's dormitory window scanning the sky for a sign of Fawkes. He looked over the quidditch pitch. It was now pockmarked with craters. The stands were battered and burned. One set had intentionally razed to the ground for use as battlements against the pending attack. The hoops had been flung aside and lay in a bent heap and the locker rooms burned to the ground until all that remained were ashes.

He continued to search and saw the lake had a red tinge around the shallows. Bodies had been pushed against the shoreline. As he scanned the entirety of the lake, Harry watched as the giant squid tossed another corpse to shore. It sank into depths and then bobbed to the surface as the bloated body came to rest.

Unable to stand the sight Harry continued to cast his gaze around the battlefield. No the school he corrected himself. He found the whomping willow. Few knew the secret to staying the willow's hand, and none of them must have been on Voldemort's side last night. While the whomping willow took some minor spell damage, it dealt a far greater blow to the enemy. No less than ten bodies surrounded the tree. Everywhere he looked Harry saw devastation. As he scanned the sky, Harry could see no sign of Fawkes, but the echo of the phoenix remained.

At that moment Harry could not help but notice the blood red sky painted on the horizon by the sunrise. It all became too much for Harry to handle and a single tear fell from his eye to the ground below. All of the pain, all of the loss, all of the emotion seemed to leave Harry with that single tear. Like that tear, Harry fell to his knees. His eyes unfocused as the phoenix's lament culminated and the smoldering red of a phoenix flashed throughout the morning sky. Everything went dark and as his head hit the ground and an almost inaudible laugh came from the shadows.

***HPGBP***

Harry woke up with a pounding headache. He took in the scenery he knew so well, but this time the sterile hospital wing of Hogwarts was filled with occupants. Most of the others were much worse off than he. In the bed in the corner, Seamus was suffering through a large dose of skelegro. Harry remembered his run-in with the stuff and a bitter and chalky taste came to mind. Harry had no desire to use it ever again if it could be helped.

To his left, Hannah Abbott was healing from a cutting curse to the upper right thigh. The wound had a sickly orange discharge surrounding a black and green cut. Madam Pomfrey had been treating the wound for the last few days with a modicum of success. Harry could hear her muttering under her breath about children being hit with dark curses.

Harry went on surveying the victims in the ward, but as he sat up, Madam Pomfrey heard the rustle. "I'll be right there Mr. Potter. A few tests and you should be good to go, let me just finish dressing this wound"

As Harry waited, he tried to remember the events leading to his arrival in the ward. He could remember his dream, his guilt over the death of so many of his family and friends. He remembered waking up hearing Fawkes sing. He remembered the devastation of Hogwarts and the last glint of phoenix fire in the dawn's light. Then there was nothing. Had he been attacked? It didn't all seem to make sense.

"Mister Potter, you seem to be feeling better." stated the healer and she shifted her attention to Harry.

"I am still feeling a bit peaked, but I don't know how I got here?" Harry half said, half asked.

"You were found unconscious in the dormitory this morning by Mr. Weasley. We initially worried about foul play, but no residual magic was found around you. Upon examination it appears you were suffering from both magical and physical exhaustion. I have given you fluids and pepper up potion for starters. Overall there is little I can do for you except ask you to rest and restrain from magic for the week."

"Does that mean I am free to leave?"

"Let me run a brief diagnostic charm to see that you have stabilized and then you may go." The spell Signae vita was immediately followed by mensio magias facultas."Peculiar... Mr. Potter come see me in three days to make sure your recovery is progressing. For now you seem to be healthy enough to leave."

"What do you mean peculiar?"

"Frankly Mister Potter, I have seen more of your magical signature than any other student I have ever met, but something has changed. I noticed the aberration this morning, but I just validated the change. We don't have time to look into it further for now, but most of the sick or injured will be healed or shipped to St Mungo's within three days and we can run more tests at that time. The change doesn't appear to be harmful so it will have to wait until then."

As Harry left the hospital wing he began to wander to the great hall. Of course he realized what the change was but no one else would. How do you explain to everyone that you have been harboring a dark wizard's soul for sixteen out of the seventeen years of your life without receiving everyone's pity or worse... suspicion? He could hear the daily profit articles now Potter's Parasite, The Boy who Lived: with the Dark Lord's Soul,and He Who Must Not be Trusted. The stories would slowly turn to dark predictions of Harry's future; after all he did at one point have a link into Voldemort's mind.

Harry continued past the suits of armor that had previously defended the castle. As he walked through the halls he began to realize how much repair had happen while he slept. He was approaching the great hall when he looked out a window. The lake had sparkling clear water and all of the craters had been filled in with the hints of new blades of grass popping through the soil. He shook his head in confusion. Had the Hogwarts he had seen yesterday morning been part of his dream or was it real? He tried to think back to yesterday, but it was all a blur of faces. The battle on the other hand was still clear in his mind. There was damage to the grounds and rubble in the castle. The extent eluded Harry. Was it minimal enough to have been largely fixed overnight?

As Harry staggered into the great hall, his ears were assaulted by all of the conversation. There was an immense amount of excitement that wasn't present the day before. Harry joined Hermione and the remnants of the Weasley clan at the Gryffindor table. It became clear immediately Harry had missed something, something big.

"Hermione, what's going on?"

"Harry!?" Hermione yelled in surprise as she wrapped him in a hug. She looked him up and down making sure he was ok. "You were released from the hospital wing in only five hours? I think it's a new record!" she added with a slight smile while waiting for his reaction.

Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "Hermione, now's not the time to be cheeky, what's going on?"

"People all over the castle heard a phoenix this morning. Everyone is under the impression that Fawkes came back to help everyone grieve, to provide closure. No one saw him though. All we know is he was heard this morning and there was a flash of red fire light seen all around Hogwarts and the grounds were repaired instantaneously. The magic didn't seem to extended to the physical structures around Hogwarts, but the battlefield has been cleansed of blood and damage. Some people say they saw the phoenix dive into the ground, others say he was consumed in a massive flame that exploded outwards over the grounds. Other versions include his ashes raining down, and anything touched was made anew. The stories are growing more fantastical by the hour. No one knows what happened, but they agree there was a fiery looking flash of light and the grounds were repaired. Personally I think Fawkes must have triggered some of the castle's magic to restore itself, and the rest is rubbish. Speaking of which, what happened to you this morning?"

"I heard Fawkes this morning too! I was having a dream about the last battle and talking with Dumbledore when I heard his cry. I woke up and started trying to find him, to see Fawkes. As I searched the sky I saw the devastation and then a blaze of red. Explosions of red and gold seemed to sparkle from the sky as I passed out. Madam Pomfrey says that I was exhausted from the battle and I just need time to sleep and recover."

Hermione furrowed her brow as she took in the new data. "Were you having any strong emotions as you talked to Dumbledore in your dream?"

"You could say that. I had just finished talking with newest batch of the 'I died to save Harry club'."

"That's it then Harry. Your strong emotions and loyalty must have called Fawkes back to the school. Dumbledore had said that by showing extreme loyalty to him in the Chamber of Secrets you called Fawkes to you before. This must have caused a similar reaction to occur. I'm still not sold that Fawkes did this on his own, but Phoenixes have been known to have healing powers, maybe restorative powers would be more an apt definition. I need to head to the library to do some research to see if there is precedent. I'll catch up with you later." Hermione said as she rushed off to the library.

"Mwherez Herminee goin?" Ask Ron through a mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"She went to do some research in the library. What's on the schedule for today?"

"Kingsley should be back from his debriefing with McGonagall any minute. He was supposed to supervise the clean-up today. Since that isn't fully needed Dad says he will probably be visiting with the survivors and doing general morale building. He asked to talk with me, can you believe it! He was asking about you too, but you were in the hospital wing. I'll find you when we're done talking and fill you in on what he wants." Ron sat up a little straighter as he finished talking.

"I'm happy to let you have the attention; you can leave me out of it. Has there been talk about what is going to happen next year?"

"Initially there were talks of closing the school, but that was quickly countered since Voldemort isn't a threat anymore. People were hesitant to buy into that since the ministry has claimed he was vanquished before, but it seems Malfoy senior was useful for once. His dark mark is gone entirely which validated the claim." Both Ron and Harry took this as a cue to unabashedly stare at the Malfoys.

"What's going to happen to them?" Harry asked with a mix of disdain and pity in his inflection.

"Between the Malfoys' last minute change of heart and an extremely large donation the ministry received this morning they will likely avoid Azkaban. There are talks of a lot of muggle volunteer work and as well as a foundation to support muggle born witches and wizards. The worst part for them will be the mandated five year wand suspension with an adult trace placed on both Lucius and Narcissa permanently." Ron said with a resigned grimace.

"An adult trace?" inquired Harry.

"It's similar to the trace put on underage witches and wizards except all magic performed will be recorded for public viewing. The purpose is to monitor for any dark magic, but to pure bloods like the Malfoys there is nothing worse than your every action being known publicly." Ron stated with a smirk.

As Ron finished his sentence the great hall was quieted by the arrival of the Ministry contingent. While everyone was distracted, but before the Ministry could take the floor, Harry managed to grab Ginny's hand, nod his head in the direction of the door, and sneak out of the great hall.