Summary: After losing his Godfather and dubious about what fate has planned for him, Harry takes his destiny into his own hands, after talking with an old General on vacation.

Grey in the Stars

Chapter 2

I

It was a beautiful day.

Not to sunny, not to dreary, just the right amount of wind, which in Harry's opinion was a lot of wind.

Perhaps it was a holdover from his days riding a broom, but there was nothing like the feel of the wind raking through his hair. If he could have even a fraction of the sensations that he'd once had while broom riding by leaning into a really strong wind, he was somewhat peaceful.

A year and a day in the world outside the bank was part of the deal that he had made with Voldemort and the goblins to prepare him for his new life before he cut his last ties with the Wizarding World.

Of course, he was sure that if Voldemort had been made aware of where exactly Harry had decided to begin his new life, he might not have been as supportive, muggle hater that he was. As such, he doubted very much that the Dark Lord, or anyone from his old life for that matter, would even think that he would choose to be in this place.

Harry grinned as he leaned against the window, the barest hint of red barely touching the campus grounds of the Air Force Academy.

Yes, he, the Boy-who-lived, or the freak that would make nothing of his life, had joined the muggle military, and not just any muggle military, but the United States Airforce instead of the RAF. Even his uncle would have been hard put to say something disparaging, sans his country of choice of course, since his uncle considered the military a respectable career.

The idea was that he needed something that he could work his saving-people-thing out on, and build a future for himself as far away as possible from the looming war that had already started, albeit quietly, in the UK. One of the stipulations from his agreement with the Dark Lord was that he had to be out of the country for the next 10 years, though beyond that stipulation, Voldemort would not be allowed to personally interfere in his new life once it started, unless something really dire required him to step in (the dark lord's stipulation among many) and the occasional communications that couldn't be helped thanks to their shared mental link.

Of course, neither Harry nor the Goblins, who had taken Harry in during his preparation and hidden him from the Ministry and the Light, believed that the man would let him go completely without trying to find out where he was and influence his life subtly, being the epitome of Slytherin qualities made that an easy thing for one such as Voldemort. But so far they uneasily believed that they had foiled the man for now.

So Harry had decided to return to the muggle world under a painstakingly wrought new identity, and after vigorous tutelage by goblin instructors in the things that he had missed in the muggle world, it was intensive, and many illegal potions, rituals and time turners were applied to push his learning the most it could magically go.

By the time that his necessary time at Gringotts (staying within a special vault that was designed for purposes such as Harry's) he was ready to greet the new him.

He'd been ushered, under glamour, to an airport after he had a recap meeting to explain his new identity, what he was to expect, and sign over the change of his finances (more than half of the Potter vault and the entirety of the Black vault to King Ragnarock upon completion of the Goblin's services while the other money was converted into muggle money and placed in the necessary venues to start Harry's new life).

Harry mentally smirked as he thought of the poor goblin disguised as a rather short "uncle" that had taken him to the muggle airport where he would leave for Manhattan, he had been very uncomfortable with the crowded muggle hustle and bustle. When he arrived in America he was to take a bus to another station where he would then meet the school bus that was shipping in the latest batch of cadets for the school year. The Goblin had looked visibly relieved when he had walked onto the airplane and made a hasty retreat, apparently muggle technology also made the goblins rather uncomfortable.

This is what led to Harry's present moment, as he was drawn out of his reminiscence by the deep southern drawl of the Assistant Headmaster of the school, both him and the 23 other new recruits that stood in a loose line, but tightened up under the man's heated glare.

"Good morning cadets, I am Major Gregory Howsly, I am the Assistant Headmaster to the Air Force Academy, or AFA for short. Since your bus arrived so early in the morning, you all will be assigned to your dorms and roommates (no you cannot change roommates!) and then run through stockpile at 0900 to get your uniforms and so on. You have already missed Mess 1, which starts promptly after Reveille, you will have to wait until the next one. You then situate your new supplies and change uniform and attend orientation in the main assembly hall where you will listen, and listen intently, to the speaker and then a march through the grounds with a senior cadet to show you where everything is and explain a bit more how we do things.

"Afterwards you will attend to Mess 2 at 1230 then afterwards return to your dorms to get your things in order and get acquainted with your personal living arrangements, then Mess 3 at 1820. Afterwards you will be recalled to barracks where your rooms will be inspected and then corrected where needed so you are made aware of how we expect things to be presented. Today will be your only leeway cadets so learn well! Afterwards you will be given time to review your timetables and study before your first classes of the day and then lights out at 2200."

Then the man smirked at the nervous teenagers, "starting tomorrow…you will start formally and any laxness or leeway allotted to you today, in difference to your arrival time and it being your first time to step foot on campus as cadets, will be gone. Now, this is how you march…"

After giving a brief demonstration on the proper way to march, they stood in formation and once Major Howlsy was satisfied, marched them out towards the residence building.

'Yes,' Harry reflected, as he kept time with the others, 'this was certainly going to be interesting.'

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Harry's roommates for the foreseeable future were 2 other boys, both from mixed backgrounds.

The first was a boy of average height with heavily muscled legs and lean frame of a professional runner (which he was) by the name of Ferdinand Whirlton. He had butterscotch coloured hair and narrow deep-set burgundy eyes under thick eyebrows with the deeply tanned complexion of one who spends a lot of time outdoors. He was a bit uptight, but otherwise more like the diet coke of Percy Weasley, thus more tolerable. He was nicknamed by their other roommate "Ferdy," much to the boy's irritation.

Manuel Jenksy was a year older then Harry's current de-aged physical age, an easy loping figure with a distinct mixed heritage who preferred Manny for short and vigorous handshakes with an air that reminded Harry of the Weasley twins, though his nose more Snape-y.

Harry, meanwhile introduced himself to his two roommates with his new name with the same ease as the other two boys introduced themselves, though he still marveled even now sometimes at the ease he had come to identifying with his new self. He had changed a lot in the year and a day away from humanity in the care of the goblins under the occasional not so tender ministrations of the Dark Lord.

The new Harry was still rather short, but he was less scrawny and gaunt then he had been. His skin was paler than it had been, nearly as white as an egg after spending so long underground with a complexion that was already rather pale to begin with, though it was less pasty then it was from his cupboard days.

His glasses were also gone, his eyes having been fixed by an illegal dark potion courtesy of the Dark Lord (Voldemort's reasoning was that if Harry was to be a Lord he wouldn't insult their vaunted position by having such a glaring weakness as near nearsightedness in a fellow Lord), another ritual moved his scar, though didn't get rid of it, to his right hip. With the addition of good food and exercise outside of a broom, such as extensive training in hand to hand with goblin guards and working part-time feeding guardian dragons and other beasts, he'd filled out a bit (and gained a few new scars, such as one just below his right cheek from a rather irritable griffin) he looked vastly different from the waif-like rabble rouser a year ago. He barely needed any of the permanent alteration potions when it came time, just a slightly more angular chin, higher cheek bones.

He ran a hand through his short, nearly bald hair. He'd had his hair shaved to the skin yesterday, going full out in the hopes that his stubborn magically infused hair would give him some time to remain professional, but when he had woken up early the next morning, a little before 6am wake up, and had been dismayed to find that the haircut had not taken, he had been forced to pull out the special magical razor he had bought before going to the goblins, to hastily shave his head in the shared bathroom before his roommates woke up and discovered his regrown hair. This would later be part of Harry's morning routine, making Harry glad that the razor was touted as being forever sharp bladed and unbreakable.

Afterwards, Harry had quickly gotten clean, made sure that his end of the room was in regulation order, and got dressed in his uniform along with his other fellow yawning roommates, then the three hastened to Reveille and stood at attention while the flag was raised.

At 0620 Harry and the others attended Mess 1, or breakfast, and joined the line for a tray full of rather delicious looking grub.

At 0740 am he joined the others for formation and inspection. Harry's uniform and general presentation of himself was examined by his superiors. He was pleased that he got most of it right, though he had not had his tie completely tied right and accepted the mild reprimand as was his due. Ferdy passed with flying colours (apparently his father, three uncles, and one aunt were all in the Air-force so he was somewhat prepared) while Jenksy (third and youngest son of a single father who taught chemistry at a high school) was reprimanded for more than his tie. Ferdy would stuffily offer to show Jenksy later the proper way to dress according to regulations. Jenksy would hide Ferdy's favorite shoe polish in his sock drawer, watching the frantic searching the next morning with a large grin, and dress more or less correctly anyway, though there would always be something just slightly off to elicit at least one comment from a hawk eyed inspector.

At 0755, Harry had Block 1, Science, not Harry's favorite subject but he scraped by enough to satisfy his science tutor during his year of prep, a retired muggle science teacher that had spent a year with Harry in a time dilation field and had his memories erased and returned to his domicile just minutes after he was taken in real time.

At 0925 Block 2, Math, something that the goblins, unsurprisingly, had no trouble with and something that Harry was acceptably average in, much to the Goblins disdain.

At 1045 Harry had a 15 minute break which he used to get a snack and take the necessary potions assigned to him by a Gringott's healer, that had been condensed and placed in capsules (cleared with the school) that contained the usual round of potions that he was required to maintain his health, repairing the damage of his years with the Dursleys. He was horrified to learn that his body had suffered some permanent damage in more than just height thanks to the Dursleys. Weak immune system, weak bone density, and lung scaring from all the times he was sick and left untreated or inhaling cleaners, dust and old paint. Only his magic had kept some of the worst symptoms at bay, supplementing for things that he should have been working naturally for him. The potions would relieve the constant pressure on his magical core. He had been told that any longer and his core might have become irrevocably damaged. He would need to stick to the medications until he was at least past 17 years of age, once his magic had matured (and the slower rate of aging in a wizard and witch began) before he could go off them.

Luckily, with the potions, he could function physically as much as any of the other recruits. The healers were optimistic that once he was off them, and if he took care of himself, a significant enough portion of the damage already caused, as well as allowing his magic to run normally for what it should be at at his current age.

At 1100 Harry had Block 3, History class. Again something that was upgraded during his time with the goblins, but not overly needed, as it was mostly book work and the occasional test or two here and there sent to a, fortunately for her, not kidnapped muggle professor from a private school in France.

1220 was Mess 2, Formation followed by lunch at 1230, where Harry soon discovered an instant love of pizza. Both roommates were shocked that he had never had it before then; Harry's excuse was a rather old fashioned private school and strict relatives, which was somewhat true as the Dursleys, while having had pizza many times before, had never allowed Harry to eat any, though he didn't mention that.

At 1345 Harry had his first academic lab where he learned geography and topography, something that Harry was somewhat familiar with, as maps were essential if he didn't want to accidentally fall into an abyss somewhere while traipsing in the labyrinth underbelly of the Goblin Nation, and the goblins themselves highly valued these skills as it always lead to some form of treasure or expansion of the underground goblin citadels.

1430 was the second academic lab, computers, one of Harry's weaker points, being in the magical world and all, there wasn't much opportunity for such things. Thankfully, Ferdy was quite good with them and offered to tutor him, which Harry readily accepted.

1530 was the start of athletics where Harry would be doing anything from swimming to American football (a singularly odd thing to call the sport when everyone else believed Football to be something else), to lacrosse. He would also be learning fighting techniques, shooting, and other more military exercises during that time as well.

At 1850 Harry and the others joined up for Mess 3 formation then supper where Harry was pleased to find more pizza waiting for him, though he reluctantly ate the bowl of salad that Ferdy sternly ordered him to eat, saying that he needed something healthy to balance out all that cheese while their table mates laughed.

At 1900 was the recall to barracks where they would stand outside their rooms and filled out their planners, which would be inspected and then at 1930 they would begin study hall 1, 2,3 for a few hours, which was basically reviewing, studying, and doing homework.

At 2130 they prepared for bed, laughing and making faces at each other in the mirror, with Ferdy being chased, sometimes squealing in disgust, by Manny who would try to give him a foamy toothpaste kiss (more for the toothpaste then any issues with it being Manny) while Harry would watch on from the sidelines as he polished his shoes for the next day, listening to music with his headphones.

Then, exhausted and aching, they would squirrel under the covers with lights out at 2220 hours.

After a week of this, laughing, learning, sore muscles, good food, hard work, reprimands and praises, Harry, or as he was now, Harry Grey, felt more content then he'd ever dared think possible in his young life.

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A/N: review and let me know what you think!