Hey guys! Thanks for starting my story! It's set right after Harry watches Snape's memories and he has a difficult decision to make. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter One
Harry gasped as he stumbled back from the pensieve, chest heaving and mind racing. He had just watched Snape's memories, just found out that he would have to die in just a few short moments. He sat on the steps in the headmaster's office and tried to compose himself. He noticed his shaking hands and thumping heart as he considered his fate. All this time, Dumbledore had just been raising him to die? How could Dumbledore expect him to do this? He just couldn't. Harry tried hard to convince his legs to take him to the Forbidden Forest, but it simply could not be done. He thought of Voldemort and all the crimes he had committed, the evil that was inside of him. All this time, Harry had unknowingly been protecting him from death. How could he not even know?
Harry sat for a few moments more, trying to think coherently. His mind was cluttered with anger towards Dumbledore, shame at his own cowardice, and guilt for not being able to save the people he loved. The power was in his hands, but he couldn't complete the task that he and so many others had worked at for so long. Taking a deep breath, Harry stood up. He was ready to flee the place he had called home and the people that had become his family.
He quietly stepped down the stairs out of the familiar office, about to make his escape when he was startled by the appearance of one of his best friends.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "I'd hoped you were up there!"
"Hermione," he sidestepped her in the hallway. "Um, what are you doing here?" Harry watched her warily, trying to develop a way to distract her.
Something changed in the girl's eyes as she solemnly said, "You're not going through with it, are you? You're about to leave." Harry looked shocked and Hermione continued, "Dumbledore told me that there would be a task for you which you may or may not choose to accept. In the case that you didn't, we're supposed to take these." She rifled through the beaded bag that had somehow stuck with them through everything and she brought out two small tubes of potion. She looked warily at them. "I don't know what they are, but Dumbledore said this would change things for you."
Harry grabbed one and examined the purple liquid inside. Was this just another way to kill him? And why was Hermione involved? Harry sighed and decided that he had nothing to lose. He raised his glass towards Hermione and she nervously did the same. In a moment, they both gulped down the potion.
A group of fighters walked down the hallway just a few seconds later, never to realize that the only person able to protect them from death had left this spot just moments before.
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In a flash, two figures appeared in the street of a dark town. They looked confused and out of place until terror washed over them as alarms rang and men shouted about intruders. The two looked at each other and ran for dear life down the deserted street now filling up with men in cloaks and masks chasing after them.
Before they knew what was happening, the couple was pulled into a house along the edge of the road, kicking and flailing their limbs. The two were hushed into silence. Each party took a moment to get a good look at each other.
"What are you two getting at, wearing those clothes and being outside after dark? I would have left you if I wasn't so fed up with the constant bragging about how many people they terminated last night." A young woman in her mid-twenties scolded as the newcomers just looked at her with clouded eyes.
"Where are we?" The girl sitting on the floor asked. "And who are you?"
"I should be the one asking the questions. This is my house. Shabby, but at least it's my own. Who are you two?"
"I-" The boy and girl both looked perplexed. "I don't know." The boy said and the girl followed suit.
"Come, now." The rescuer rolled her eyes. "I won't turn you in. Who are you?"
"I can't remember anything before being in that street. How strange." The girl turned toward the boy. "Do you know who I am?"
"I can't recall anything past the street, either. What's going on?" He turned toward the owner of the house.
"How the hell should I know? I'll go get you some tea and you do some thinking." She shook her head and looked as if she was starting to regret saving them as she left the room to get tea.
In just a few minutes, the three young adults were sitting at a small table in a cramped kitchen. With hot cups of tea in front of them. The newcomers took a sip and both grimaced. Apparently the tea their tastes buds remembered was different than what was in their hands.
"Well excuse me," said the host as she sipped her own cup. "The quality tea goes to the troops. You're lucky I have any at all with the meager rations they give us."
"The troops?" The boy inquired.
"Of course. We're fighting the Yanks. The stubborn muggle-lovers refuse to heed to the Great Lord's will. I don't know why the Yanks don't understand that they would be happier that way, putting the muggles in their places."
For reasons unknown to them, the intruders suddenly felt uncomfortable and made no effort to continue the conversation. The girl just continued talking, "I'm Molly, by the way. Molly Weasley."
"Molly Weasley?" The boy repeated. That name seemed so familiar.
"Yeah, after my great-great grandmother or something like that. But I hope to get my name changed soon, it's so filthy. My ancestors were notorious traitors of the Great Lord. They tried to take him down by killing hundreds of innocent people. It's not something I'm proud of."
The conversation fell into a lull as no one knew what to say to each other. "So," Molly said. "Do either of you remember your names yet?"
"I've been trying, and I think mine starts with an H." The girl replied.
"Mine, too." The boy announced. "Let's see. . . Herbert, Harold, Hagrid, Harvey, Henry, Harry. Harry! That sound right!"
"No!" Molly said sharply. "No one has been named that since. . . Well, it's a long story. The point is, that can't be your name. What about Henry?"
"That sounds almost right." Henry pondered. "I guess I have to go by something so Henry it is."
Molly turned toward the unnamed girl, "What about you?"
"Oh, I don't know!" She looked flustered. "I hate not knowing! I suppose I can go by Harmony. It sounds almost right."
Molly sat back and looked as these strange newcomers. Henry was brown eyed, tanned, and had a mop of shaggy blonde hair while harmony had straight dark hair, pale skin, and brilliant blue eyes. They couldn't be related.
"So, what should I do with you two?" She half mumbled to herself as they sat there awkwardly. "Well, I guess there's no use in you disturbing anyone at this hour. For now, you can sleep in my living room and I'll take you to the ministry in the morning."
They accepted her hospitality as Harmony slept in the lumpy couch and Henry did the same on a threadbare carpet. Molly apologized for her lack of blankets, but the Great Lord only gives each member of a household one blanket, with the rationing and all.
All three people fell asleep that night with questions on their minds and the feeling that something big had been triggered in their hearts.
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Thanks for reading! This is my first story so I would very much appreciate any feedback, good and bad. Please review and I'll be sure to post the next chapter soon! 3 Rose
