OK Here we are again. Judging from the amount of reviews and added watchers to the previous version of this tale, I'm guessing that most of my readers haven't reached Chapter 28 yet. For those of you who have and are now reading this story, and for those of you who say "Screw that old stuff and bring on the new" here is Chapter 2. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The next day Harry spent most of the day in his room, pacing back and forth. Occasionally he thought he saw a flash of color go by his window, but every time he looked out the window, wand drawn and ready, he saw nothing out of place except the track of hoof prints that continued around the house.

The Dursleys grew increasingly more nervous as the day drew on. Uncle Vernon kept sitting down only to jump up again as if he had sat on a pin and continue pacing. Aunt Petunia was going around the house continuously, making sure there were no valuables that she hadn't locked up. Dudley on the other hand, kept doing something Harry would have found most strange. He kept walking up to his cousin's room, and raising his fist as if to knock, only to turn around and hurry back to his own room.

Their neighbors spent the day making a point to wander by Number Four, muttering about the tightly drawn shades, the trampled garden and lawn, and the dark haired boy that kept sticking his head out the window and sweeping a thin stick back and forth. That, they all thought, must be the Potter boy; the one who attended St. Brutis' Acadamy for Incurably Criminal Boys. What a shame that he spent his day trying to hit birds with a stick.

At 11:00 PM, Harry shouldered his Firebolt and walked downstairs. The Dursleys were all waiting in the living room, and they all looked as nervous as Harry felt. Order members were supposed to arrive at 11:15 to collect the Dursleys, and more at 11:30 to collect Harry.

Precisely at 11:15, there was a knock on the door. Harry got up to go open it, and was mildly surprised when Dudley followed him to the front hall. His cousin hung well back as Harry opened the door to reveal Daedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones, the two Order members that were going to take the Dursleys to their new house. Harry glimpsed a black Town Car idling on the street outside. Uncle Vernon grumbled a bit about the move as they loaded up the town car. Finally, they all stood on the walk, facing Harry as he stood in the door.

"Well boy," Vernon said, looking slightly uncomfortable, "Good luck and all that." Harry nodded and wasn't surprised when his Uncle turned and climbed into the car without another word. Aunt Petunia looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out how. She kept opening and closing her mouth, until finally she rushed forward and hugged Harry very awkwardly before rushing back to the car. Blinking in astonishment, it was a moment or two before he realized that Dudley was standing in front of him.

"Er, so long," said Harry a little awkwardly when Dudley didn't say anything.

"Oh, yeah," Dudley grunted, and then to Harry's great surprise, he held out his hand, "Thanks for… you know…" Dudley muttered. Harry smiled and gripped his cousin's hand.

"See you around Big D." Harry grinned as Dudley grinned back.

"See you." And then he was gone, and the car was turning the corner at the end of the street.

Harry sighed and walked back into the house. It was another minute before a large group of people landed in the back yard on an assortment of vehicles. The people who were going to guard his life stepped into the gleaming kitchen. Arthur, Bill, Ron, Fred, and George Weasley, Remus Lupin, his wife Nymphadora Tonks, Fleur Delacour, Mundungus Fletcher, Mad-eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hermione Granger, and last, and most massive, Rubeus Hagrid.

"All right," Moody said, as everyone squeezed into the kitchen, "Here's the plan." He withdrew a large flask from his coat and motioned for Hermione to get 6 glasses out of the cupboard behind her. "We're going to leave in seven pairs," he went on, glaring at Harry who had opened his mouth to protest, having recognized the contents of the flask as Polyjuice Potion, "Our six decoy Potters, Ron, Fred, George, Fleur, Hermione, and Mundungus, will each be paired with a protector." Mundungus let out a little whimper at this, but Moody silenced him with a glare as well. "Your hair, Potter," Moody growled. Harry sighed and pulled out a few strands and handed them to Moody. "Drink up!"

The six decoys drank and in a matter of seconds, Harry was looking at six replicas of himself. Harry felt his face turning red as all six decoys, without even bothering to turn around, started to change into the spare robes Moody had brought.

"Right then," said Moody when they were all ready, "Fred, you're with Arthur on broomstick. Fleur, you're with Bill on Thestral. Hermione, same for you and Kingsley. George, you're with Lupin on brooms, as are Ron and Tonks. Mundungus is with me on broom, and Harry, you're with Hagrid on the bike." Harry nodded. "You all know the plan, once we get airborne everyone makes for their portkey at top speed." Moody motioned for everyone to follow him and they all trooped out onto the lawn. Harry climbed into the side car of the motorcycle, gripping his wand in one hand, and his Firebolt in the other. As Moody raised his hand in preparation for liftoff, there was a great roar overhead. Fourteen heads snapped skyward as the dementor induced mist vanished in an instant.

Harry was completely unprepared for what was happening above them. Seven gigantic shadows were wheeling impossibly fast among numerous cloaked figures on broomsticks. The fourteen people on the ground watched as ten Death Eaters surrounded one of the shadows and sent ten green jets of light shooting at it. Harry gasped, and heard many of his companions do so as well, but the thing, which had looked as if it had no time to maneuver, had suddenly vanished, only to reappear above all the Death Eaters and covered them with flame. Instantly Harry knew what it was the Death Eaters were facing.

"Change of plans," Moody called out, "we're going near ground level. If there are dragon's about, the Statute of Secrecy is the least of our problems. GO!" On his signal, everyone leapt into the air and no sooner had they cleared the hedge then they rocketed away. Something didn't feel right to Harry though. His scar began burning and suddenly he knew, without a doubt, that Voldemort was nearby, but he was not fighting the dragons. He was flying low, following after a pair of figures on broomsticks.

"Hagrid," Harry called, "keep going, I'll catch up in a bit!"

"'Arry, whaddya think yer doin'?" Hagrid called. But Harry had already freed his broom, jumped onto it, and sped straight up towards the dragons. Aiming at the first Death Eater he could find, he pointed his wand and cried the first spell that came into his mind.

"Expelliarmus!!!"

"That's him!" "Don't kill him!" "Get him!" "After him!" Jets of red light shot into the space he had occupied an instant earlier, and by the light of the stunners, Harry saw that it wasn't just a dragon he was flying towards. There was someone on its back. The figure of a boy, who must have been half Harry's age, stood up and leaned to one side. His mount instantly turned in midair, exchanging its nose for its tail and diving in the opposite direction passing by Harry with mere centimeters to spare. The Death Eaters who had been chasing Harry were forced to scatter as the dragon drove right through the center of their formation. And then as Harry himself turned and shot back towards Hagrid, he saw the dragon spit fire towards the ground. He had a split second flash image of Voldemort, before the Dark Lord was engulfed in the fiery stream.

The Death Eaters all around gave a wail even as all seven dragons disappeared. It took Harry a minute to spot Hagrid, and he only did so by the expanding brick wall that three Death Eaters had just crashed into. Even as he put on a burst of extra speed, he saw the last Death Eater dodge a net only to fly into a jet of what Harry was certain was dragon-fire that had just been propelled out the exhaust pipe.

Harry came up level with the motorcycle again and tapped Hagrid on the arm to let the latter know he was okay. Hagrid led him on for another five minutes and then set down in the garden of a rather normal looking house.

"Wha' was the big idea, 'Arry, flyin' off like tha'." Hagrid asked angrily, as they trudged up the garden walk towards the back door, "I had ter use all them tricks Arthur and me put on the bike to get away from the lot that chased me."

"Sorry Hagrid," Harry said, instantly feeling guilty that he hadn't been there to help Hagrid, who was sporting several bruises, "I didn't see that bunch coming up behind you until I'd turned around."

"Ah, don't matter none," Hagrid said as he knocked on the door, "Importan' thing is yer safe."

Harry nodded grimly, "Voldemort knew I was moving tonight," he said.

"Tha' he did," Hagrid grunted, "We'll look inter it once we get back to headquarters." Their conversation was suspended as a blonde man with a rather large stomach opened the door.

"No trouble then Hagrid?" the man said, glancing around the back garden as Harry and Hagrid entered the house.

"Lot's o' trouble, Ted," growled Hagrid as he squeezed through the door, "Death Eaters knew we was moving, and You-Know-Who himself turned up. If it hadn't been fer the fact they lost control o' their own dragons, we probably wouldn' have made it."

"Dragons?" Ted Tonks asked, glancing at his ceiling as if one was going to tear the roof off.

"They didn' follow us," Hagrid said, "I reckon You-Know-Who did some kind of spell to disapperate the lot of em, after they went berserk an' all." Harry didn't add anything to this. Somehow though, he reckoned the dragons hadn't been out of control, nor had their riders had any love for the Dark Lord.

"Ted?" A woman called from the next room, "It's nearly time for the portkey, are Harry and Hagrid here yet?"

"We're coming," Ted called, and led the way into the kitchen. Harry jumped as the woman in front of the table turned around. Andromeda looked disturbingly like her sister Bellatrix, but in the next instant she had smiled and the resemblance was lost.

"Here we are," she said, gesturing to a hairbrush that was sitting on the counter. Hagrid and Harry each took an end of the hairbrush. In a matter of moments, it glowed blue and Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel as the portkey yanked them off their feet.

Feel free to correct any glaring fact errors, like if I used the wrong object for the portkey. I haven't had the time to dig up my copies of The Deathly Hollows and figure out which one has the pages printed in the right order. Please review, and I'll see you again next week. Ciao.