Return to the Alley

If Harry had expected that arriving at the Burrow would allow him to push aside the events of the past few months he was sorely mistaken. Upon his arrival with the portkey he was confronted with the damaged caused by the Death Eaters soon after the Weasley's had dropped into hiding. Most of the possessions they had left behind had either been looted or damaged. Charlie and Bill had already gone through and lifted a number of residual curses but even now the family were uncovering more and Ginny discovered that the resident ghoul was missing. Harry sincerely hoped it was merely hiding out somewhere as the family and in particular Ron had become quite fond of it

All of this was further compounded when Percy located the Weasley family clock. It was one of Harry's favourite objects in the house; there was a hand for every member of the Weasley family and the hands pointed to the activity that that particular family member was engaged in. Mrs Weasley became distraught when she found Fred's hand had turn black and dropped from the clock face. Later when Bill and Charlie arrived carrying Fred's body Mrs Weasley had to be taken to her room and given a sleeping draught in order to calm her down.

Fred's body was laid out in the living room and Mr Weasley and George set up a vigil on a couch that Bill transfigured for them. Hermione, who was also staying at the Burrow, informed Harry that this was a part of wizarding tradition

"From the time a wizard or witch passes they must be watched over by a loved one until their funeral, which traditionally takes place on the third or fourth day after their passing" she informed him "Professor McGonagall held vigil over everyone at Hogwarts until they were claimed" Harry could easily see her performing this duty. She may have been a strict disciplinarian but McGonagall loved her students dearly and their welfare was always top of mind for her.

Feeling uncomfortable as a spectator to another family's mourning Harry and Hermione decided to go to bed early, Charlie and Bill had already put the various bedrooms somewhat back to rights but there was a lot of damage still to repair. The next few days promised to be long, full of hard work and sorrow.

As Harry lay in bed he found sleep hard to come by, he couldn't help wondering who had sat vigil over his parents. There was so much he still didn't know about his family and he realised that the majority of people who knew them were no longer alive to tell their tale. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity to Harry, he drifted off to sleep.

XXXXX

Choosing instead to stay up with his father and brother, Ron never made it to bed that night. If he had he would have quickly woken his best friend from his nightmare filled dreams. Instead Harry endured that night in solitude and, thanks to the silencing charm that he had habitually placed on his door, the Burrow remained completely unaware of the soul wrenching cries issuing from within Ron's bedroom.

When Harry awoke in the morning he felt anything but rested, thrashing about all night had caused his limbs ached and his throat was raw from screaming. As he thought over what he could remember of his nightmares horror began to overwhelm him. Needing to escape and distract himself, Harry quickly made his way to the bathroom.

This room too had been trashed with all the fittings having been torn from the room, in the corner a blue orb, that Harry had been warned was a containment spell, projected out from the wall enclosing some sort of dark magic, its glow provided the only illumination in the room. He was thankful when he found that the shower had been repaired and was able to take refuge beneath a torrent of blistering hot water.

He didn't know how long he stayed in the shower but when he emerged he felt slightly better, the aches in his body had lessened by a degree but Harry was still exhausted. After drying himself off and dressing he turned to leave when someone starting banging on the door

"I don't care who's in here! It's been more than half an hour and…." Ginny faltered as Harry opened the door

"Sorry Gin" he muttered as he tried to exit, he found himself pushed up against her as made to squeeze past her stunned form. He reached a point where he was unable to proceed any further without rubbing a part of his anatomy, which was already becoming excited, against her. Frozen in what was quickly becoming a compromising position it was a moment before Ginny realised his dilemma and moved back to give him space

The pair stood on the landing outside the bathroom each unsure of what to say to the other. Harry knew what he wanted to say but now that he was here, at the Burrow, with Fred's dead body lying on the next floor down, it felt inappropriate to be bringing up restarting a romantic relationship. The timing was all wrong, the creature within him that always responded to Ginny's presence growled its displeasure. Harry wished he could convey what he felt but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead the pair of them remained standing silently on the landing looking at each other.

The deadlock was broken as Ron came up the stairs "Harry mate, Hermione wants you to come help in the kitchen, apparently I'm rubbish at that sort of stuff and she won't let me help her"

Harry turned to Ron and was about to tell him to give him a moment when he heard the bathroom door close behind him. Looking back at the door he sighed and followed Ron down the stairs.

Entering the living room Harry looked over to see Mrs Weasley had joined Mr Weasley and George on the couch. Fred's prone form lay in front of them atop a white silk bedding, he appeared to almost float on top of it. The room was covered in a blanket of flowers and Percy was standing next to a stack of conjured glass vases and methodically untying bundles of stems, placing them in the vases before Charlie, using his wand, directed them to any free space in the room. Harry could see owls lined up at each of the windows, every one of them carrying a new bouquet.

"They started turning up first thing this morning" said Ron as the pair watched Charlie at navigate his way back to the owls "Hundreds of them, people can't make all the funerals cos there's too many of them so….." he trailed off as he gestured towards the flowers "The giant flytrap in the corner is from Hagrid, apparently he can't leave Grawp alone at the moment, afraid he might run away"

Ron directed Harry towards the kitchen before leaving to help Charlie and Percy. When Harry reached the door way he quickly recognised that Hermione was in over her head cooking breakfast.

"Hermione? Do you want a hand?" asked Harry

The withering glare he received was enough to tell Harry that he should've just jumped in and helped rather than ask stupid questions. He surveyed what Hermione was trying to make: sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, toast... Harry grimaced when he saw she was also frying mushrooms. For the past eight months they had lived off whatever fungus that they could find growing nearby. If Harry never saw a mushroom again it would be too soon. Deciding to make a start he tipped the now burnt pan of sausages into the trash. Realising that all the equipment was uncharmed he asked Hermione about it

"Well yes, it had all been stolen hadn't it" she snapped "I had to go into the village and buy some food and pans" she was still glaring at Harry when she continued "By the way I still haven't forgiven you for not seeing me about the curse wound"

"Look I'm sorry, I kept meaning to ask you to look at it but I kept getting distracted" Harry began pushing the sausages to the side of the pan before adding some bacon.

"Still you're going to make this up to me" she said unequivocally

The pair continued on preparing breakfast, as they worked Hermione made plans for a trip to Diagon Alley. They needed more supplies for the rest of the household and she wanted to take the burden off of the Weasley family. When Ginny came down from her shower and overheard their conversation she invited herself along too explaining "Look I won't survive being cooped up in this house like this. I need to get out, I need to be doing something"

Having finalised their plans together a mischievous looking Hermione rounded on Harry "I know what your punishment is going to be. You are coming with us"

Harry, who had been imagining having to write notes for her while she devoured endless volumes of texts from the library, couldn't help laughing aloud at her proposed 'punishment'. Seeing Hermione's angry expression Harry schooled his features and explained "I'm sorry Hermione, but I don't see spending the day with one of my best friends and ... well... Ginny as being much of a punishment. I mean I know you two might talk about girly stuff every now and then but it's not that bad"

Ginny might have bristled slightly at not being referred to as one of his friends but he failed to notice when he saw Hermione's mischievous look return, too late did Harry realise that he had gone right where she had wanted him to "Oh don't worry, me and Ginny will have plenty of time to talk about 'girly' stuff. You however will be too busy carrying everything we buy to worry about our conversation and there will be no magic involved" Harry was going to protest this requirement but thought better of it. Figuring he was still getting off lightly he nodded his agreement to her condition. "Also we will not be visiting Quality Quidditch Supplies or any of the other shops you want to go to. You Harry, are there to carry everything for us – I repeat no magic allowed and... and... no complaining either. In fact no speaking what so ever unless spoke to. Are we clear?"

Harry humbly submitted it would damage his friendship with Hermione if he refused and he owed so much to all of his friends that he was more than willing to do this, even for what he thought was, for the most part, an imagined slight.

Although the banter in the kitchen may have been light-hearted the mood of the house was still one of deep felt grief. Having finished cleaning up after a cheerless breakfast that nobody really touched Harry found himself apparating into Diagon Alley with Hermione and Ginny. There had been an awkward moment when they discovered that the Burrow's supply of floo powder had been pilfered and the trio had decided to apparate. The awkwardness came when they realised that Ginny would have to be side-along apparated. Both Harry and Hermione had instantly offered to do it resulting in a pregnant silence as she didn't respond to either offer. Finally Hermione had just taken a hold of her wrist and, as Ginny shrugged at Harry, apparated her away.

When Harry looked around from the apparition point he found the two girls waving at him from near the entrance to the apothecary. Making his way over Harry examined the Alley for the first time since their conspicuous exit from Gringotts Bank, it was covered in confetti and streamers making it obvious that a large street party had been held last night. He didn't bother wondering at the reason, numerous discarded Daily Prophets were scattered throughout the alley with POTTER PREVAILS printed in bold.

He had heard stories of the unbridled celebrations that had occurred back in eighty-one and he could imagine that this time around few people would have held anything back. Judging by the lack of people present the party probably hadn't ended until very recently and most of the public were at home sleeping it all off. Harry didn't mind this one bit. The less people around the better; he wanted to remain as anonymous as possible.

A few shop owners stood in the door ways of their stores chatting. There were still a number of undesirable number one posters up and evidence of many more having been torn down, there was even one of Ron and Hermione "Wanted for Questioning" Harry had to smirk at that.

Most of the buildings that he could see were closed and boarded up, including Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Feeling his emotions beginning to stir beneath the surface Harry forced himself to look further down the alley but his view fell upon the entrance to Gringotts. It still appeared the worse for wear from having a dragon smash out through its front doors.

Avoiding the tail of a Hungarian Horntail, Room filling with magically replicating cups, Aragog's nest

Harry was brought back to reality by Ginny

"Harry you alright?"

"Huh oh just remembering our ride on that Dragon" he said this with an amused smile at Hermione

This statement perked Ginny's interest "That's true! You guys actually raided Gringotts on a dragon, everyone was talking about it at school and I didn't know what to believe"

Hermione hushed Ginny while Harry took a quick look around. While he didn't want attention from anyone, he really didn't want to come to the attention of the goblins, especially after the warning delivered by Kingsley. Seeing that the coast was still clear he returned his attention to Ginny's expectant face

"Yeah it's true…."

Further explanation was cut off by Hermione interrupting and prodding Harry in the shoulder "Now remember Harry, you're just a porter on this trip, no talking" she chided and turned to move towards the Alley

Ginny gave Harry a wry smile from behind Hermione's back before shaking her head and joining her friend

'Today is going to be a long day' observed Harry to himself before falling in behind the other two

XXXXX

Two hours later and Harry was struggling under the burden of eight heavy bags. The weight wasn't so much of a problem as the bulk was. The number of customers shopping in the Alley had picked up significantly and he was having trouble keeping up with two girls as they flittered from shop to shop. Despite this Harry was enjoying spending time away from everything in what he was almost tempted to describe as a care free environment.

Ginny was keeping him entertained with a continuous run down of all the social changes that had happened at Hogwarts; who was dating who, what the latest gossip was. Harry noticed however that she avoided mentioning anything about what had actually happened while the trio had been away and that she would often become quiet for a few seconds before moving on to the next item of interest. Not once had Ginny mentioned either of the Carrows or Snape.

The two girls were trying to keep the excursion light hearted but Harry often felt that their conversation was strained. Ginny especially would take on a sombre mood and glance covertly towards Fred and George's boarded up shop. When Harry noticed her doing this again he wished he knew what to say, instead he settled for placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up gratefully before continuing on with the group's errands.

They were leaving a small wizarding kitchen store and Ginny had just finished describing the latest scandal (in which Lavender Brown had been seen leaving a cupboard with Anthony Goldstein, when Anthony was supposed to be going out with a sixth year Hufflepuff) when a woman in bright yellow robes suddenly latched onto Harry's arm

"It's you isn't it!" her awe filled eyes doing the customary flick up to his scar "Harry Potter! I just knew it"

The woman grabbed Harry's hand forcing him to drop the bags he was carrying and started profusely thanking him for defeating the Dark Lord. Not knowing what to say he looked to his two friends for help but discovered he was being separated from them by a fast growing crowd. Soon others began clamouring to touch and talk to their 'Saviour' he felt his clothes being tugged on and more than one person tried to actually touch his forehead. An elderly man in muggle attire attempted to hug Harry. Feeling beset on all sides Harry did the only thing he could think of and thrust the bags of shopping at his assailants and began pushing his way towards Hermione and Ginny.

Hermione had quickly drawn her wand and was standing back to back with Ginny. Both were using their shield charms to fend off the overeager mass of admirers.

Pushing his way towards the pair Harry began feeling anxious. He wasn't sure why but an overwhelming urge to protect his friends caused him to redouble his efforts to get to them. Approaching the girls the sudden movement of a wizard lunging towards Hermione forced Harry to react.

Acting purely on instinct he dove straight into Hermione and simultaneously attempted to send a stunning spell at her attacker. While the stunning spell was effective in rendering her aggressor unconscious, it failed to halt his forward momentum. As all three of them crashed to the ground just behind Ginny, Harry felt a sharp pain in the front of his right shoulder

Hermione was quick to her feet and started forcing the overeager crowd back. Harry however was suddenly feeling weak and was unable to raise himself up and so lay where he fell. He could feel a sharp pain pulsating out of his shoulder and a pool of warmth spreading from the area. Eventually he forced himself to roll onto his back and gripped his injured shoulder. The movement had caused a violent pain to explode from the injury site and was accompanied by the sensation of something grinding against bone. He recognised the warm sticky liquid he found under his fingers as being blood and discovered the source was a thin blade protruding from just below his collar bone. Looking up he watched as a team of Aurors arrived outside of Fortesque's closed ice cream parlour and began clearing the area.

A woman who saw the blood coming from his shoulder screamed and other onlookers who could see the blade itself began pointing and yelling. Suddenly, as if an order had been given the crowd dispersed. No one was going to wait around and see if this was another Death Eater attack. Ginny was still standing over him in defence, but with the removal of the immediate threat she scrambled down to his side. She started trying to tend to him as Hermione raced off to find an Auror to help them

With a look of concentration Ginny was using her fingers to probe around the edges of the injury "Merlin Harry how do you always end up like this? I swear you spend more time with the majority of your blood on the outside of you rather than the inside… Well it's not bleeding too much so I don't think it's hit anything… How bad does it feel?" her hands were now press firmly around the blade on top of the wound.

His mind was not exactly functioning normally and Harry's thoughts began wandering. Just as he finished thinking that Ginny was too practiced at doing this type of thing Harry remembered what she had asked. It was supposed to be hurting, it had hurt to begin with, but now it didn't. In fact it felt kind of numb and was beginning to tingle.

Harry looked over to the object sticking out of him "I think something's wrong with my shoulder Gin"

Rolling her eyes she smiled and continued to apply pressure to his injury "Yes Harry there's a dagger sticking out of it"

"No Gin, I mean I can't feel it anymore, my whole arm has gone numb"

Hermione who had just returned crouched down beside him began squeezing his hand "Can you feel this Harry"

Unable to feel anything except a slight burning sensation he shook his head. A sense of déjà vu began to surface as he remembered the Chamber of Secrets and the effect of the Basilisk venom.

Ginny lying on the chamber floor, Being taunted by a young Tom Riddle, Basilisk fang striking his leg

Zoning back in Harry suddenly began understanding the similarities, he was very lethargic and his breathing didn't feel right. Feeling his consciousness slipping he grabbed Hermione's arm and used the last of his strength to pull her close and whisper "Poison" seconds later he passed out.

XXXXX

When he opened his eyes it took Harry a few seconds to figure out he was back at the Burrow. More specifically in Ron's room judging by the plethora of orange Chudley Cannons posters that covered the wall. This was twice in two days he had woken up after being attacked; at this rate he wasn't going to survive the week. Seeing a fuzzy face nearby he reached for his glasses and felt them being handed to him. Putting them on he smiled as Hermione's stern face resolved into focus

"Don't ever scare me like that again Harry Potter" she scolded

Slowly sitting upright Harry reached up to feel his bandaged shoulder; it didn't feel sore but when he rotated the joint it felt very stiff. He looked over and seeing Hermione eyeing his bindings he couldn't help remarking "So does this make up for everything, I mean I went and took a knife for you"

Obviously not in the mood for cracking jokes she began lecturing "It's not funny Harry, don't you dare joke about this. Do you know how close it was? It was touch and go even at St Mungo's. Merlin Harry! Ginny and I were so worried and when we brought you here Mrs Weasley went into hysterics, she was screaming and you know what she's like when she's upset, the healers had to give her another calming draft"

"It's not like I meant to get hurt Hermione, I was trying to protect you" at this her expression softened and she relented "I'm sorry Harry I shouldn't be having a go at you, but you scared us" she dabbed away at her eyes before continuing "And thank you"

Harry smiled as he nodded. After a pause he asked a question that had been puzzling him "So why am I here not a St Mungo's?"

Hermione explained that St Mungo's was still dealing with the aftermath of the Hogwarts battle and that there had been retaliatory raids by surviving Death Eaters including an especially bad one near Exeter that had filled up the wards

"As soon as they had figured out the poison and gotten most of it out of your system they said we could take you home and let you sleep it off"

"So it was a poisoned blade then?"

"Dipped in Aconite" confirmed Hermione

Harry recognised the name but couldn't remember what it was, thinking of the symptoms he experienced and what he could recall from his potions lessons he took a guess at its common name "Wolfsbane?"

"Well done Harry, now do you remember what to use to counter act poisoning with Wolfsbane?"

Typical Hermione thought Harry, turning this experience into a learning opportunity. One day she really would make a great teacher "No idea"

"Come on its second year potions... … Fine you use boiled Mandrake leaves and you combine that with salamander's blood, hair from a tarantula…." As she carried on listing ingredients Harry couldn't help thinking that he would rather not have known all of this. He grimaced as Hermione continued and informed him that he would have to drink this concoction once every few hours for the next week. With malevolent glee she added "Kreacher is making your next dose now"

Preferring not to think about the prospect of drinking boiled Mandrake leaves Harry asked "When did Kreacher arrive?"

"A few hours ago, just after lunch. He's helping Mrs Weasley organise everything for tomorrow…" Harry noticed her tone was slowly dropping "Fred's funeral is going to be first thing in the morning. We didn't want to set anything else in stone without you but the Ministry has set Tonks and Professor Lupin's funeral for just after lunch and we thought you'd want to attend that one"

Harry simply nodded in acknowledgment before she solemnly continued "McGonagall wants the Order to have a short memorial just before that, for everyone they've lost. Also we've been invited to a number of the other funerals but there's only a few in the afternoon"

Knowing that the funerals were coming had not helped Harry prepare for this. There were so many, but he knew he would probably only be able to attend one or two. Harry confirmed with Hermione he would attend the Order memorial and after a discussing the invitations for the other funerals decided on attending Colin Creevey's "I feel like I should attend them all, it hardly seems fair not to" he concluded

"I know Harry; I think Colin would appreciate you being there, he really looked up to you"

If Hermione's words were aimed at making Harry feel better they missed their mark. He knew it was normal to feel sorrow and sadness for the recent events, but years of living under the strict authoritarian regime of the Dursley's had simply beaten out his ability to show what they termed 'inappropriate emotions'. Because he felt a lump rising in his throat Harry returned to his preferred stratagem for dealing with being upset, he straightened up and pushed on for a new subject "So where is everybody else then?"

Harry watched as concern flittered across Hermione's face. She would want to direct the conversation back towards its previous subject. Hermione knew him too well for him to fool her but Harry was well disciplined in avoiding these types of conversations and persevered with his preferred topic "I mean I would've expected at least one of the Weasleys to be here"

He watched her nod in acceptance of his change in subject but could tell Hermione was cataloguing this topic. She might be prepared to let it drop for now but she was certainly going to bring it back up later on. As he watched her Harry was suddenly made nervous by the look of feigned indignance that Hermione now affected "Is that so Mr Potter?" she asked with arched eyebrows "Was I not the person you wanted to wake up to Harry? Or perhaps I'm not the right girl?" her look of indignance had now changed to a mocking half smile

Harry knew where this was going. He and Hermione were very close friends, not that he and Ron weren't, Ron is his best mate but when it came to personal things he tended to be a bit closed off. Hermione however was very good at reading him, willing to listen and able to talk about subjects that her boyfriend would prefer to avoid at all costs. Recently they had been able to open up to each other concerning their private feelings for a certain pair of red heads.

Feeling a blush rising on his cheeks Harry countered "I don't know what you're on about Hermione. I was just thinking that since this is your boyfriend's bedroom, that he would have been here"

His blush was quickly matched by hers as she rolled her eyes "Yeah right Harry, I couldn't count the number of times I saw you up, late at night, watching the Marauder's Map. You can't tell me you were planning something to do with Hogwarts because we didn't decide to go there until the last moment. Tell me Harry did you ever really stop liking her or was this whole thing one big noble sham?"

Slumping his shoulders in defeat Harry avoided looking over at Hermione he wasn't going to be able to turn this around on her and he just could bring himself to talk about where this conversation was headed "Don't Hermione, just don't" he pleaded half-heartedly. Normally he would overcome his ingrained awkwardness and be able to share this kind of thing her but everything was so confusing right now. Harry just wanted time for everything to settle down.

"You really need to talk to her. I know you Harry; if you don't talk to her soon you'll bottle everything up inside and wait for her to make the first move"

Harry still remained silent, choosing instead to inspect a hole in the Cannon's duvet he was sitting on. He didn't want to admit she was right. Anyway the last time had been different he though, she had been going out with Dean and he had also been worried about Ron's reaction. He wished Hermione would just let it go, but this wasn't to be as she continued "I'm pretty sure she feels the same way about you Harry. I don't think you have anything to worry about"

"I have nothing to worry about? Nothing to worry about!" This simple statement must have touch some unknown raw nerve because Harry found himself giving vent to all his worries "What if she doesn't actually feel that way about me anymore Hermione? What if I've changed too much? What if she's changed? What if she's moved on? What if… what if…" having worked himself up Harry was now found himself struggling for breath

Hermione quickly pushed him onto his back "Breathe Harry, Breathe. Merlin Harry your heart is going faster than a firebolt, look at me! You need to calm down!" she grabbed his chin and forced him to look directly at her "There's still poison in your shoulder Harry. Getting excited will spread it further through your body. You need to calm down"

Harry closed his eyes and breathing deeply practiced his rudimentary occlumency techniques. He fought the sense of panic that had overwhelmed him and after a few minutes of concentration he was able to bring his heart rate under control. A slight tingling in his shoulder gave evidence to the further spread of poison residing there.

"Your body is still weak, so it can't handle the stress; you have to keep your emotions under control"

When Harry opened his eyes he focused on the ceiling. Hermione released her grip on his chin and sat back down on the side of his bed. Seeing her concern he relented a little and quietly explained "The reason I haven't said anything is the timing. What am I supposed to say 'Hey Gin sorry about Fred, fancy going out with me again?' It's just not the right time ok? Now can we talk about something else?" looking over to Hermione he waited for her submit to his wishes. He knew she meant well, she had always been supportive of him and he felt bad for trying to shut her out.

With a gentle sigh Hermione took up the original subject "So you wanted to know where all the Weasleys are… Well Mrs Weasley and George are still sitting with Fred. I don't think George will leave his side until tomorrow, to be honest I don't know how he's going to handle it"

Harry knew she was right, he couldn't imagine losing either Ron or Hermione but they had only known each other for seven years. Fred and George had obviously been joined at the hip since birth and Harry kept coming back to the same conclusion; with Fred's death George had lost a part of himself.

"Bill and Fleur have gone back to Shell Cottage, I think they really wanted some alone time" continued Hermione "Charlie and Ron went out on an errand this morning, they haven't been back. Percy is with Mr Weasley, who's in a meeting at the Ministry, from what I've heard Kingsley's having a hard time just trying to find bodies to occupy chairs let alone reform the government. Percy might get his job back or at least another job with the Ministry. Oh and then…. There's…." Hermione slowly stopped talking as she got to the final Weasley

Taking another calming breath Harry swallowed his frustration. Hermione was just looking out for his health but at the moment he was under control "I'm fine Hermione" holding out his wrist for her to feel his pulse he continued "you can talk about Ginny. I'm not that bad"

Pushing his hand away she slowly picked up where she had left off "Yes well, then there's Ginny…. Um… well… she's out with… well you see…"

Harry huffed in annoyance, she was dodging around the subject and that was beginning to get on his nerves

Hermione finally gave in "Fine… um, she's outside... showing-your-protection-detail-around-the-grounds"

At first Harry didn't hear what she had said, but he had a lot of practice listening to her rushed explanations and had taught himself remember the diatribe as a whole and then figure it out piece by piece afterwards. When he finally deciphered her hurried final statement he sat up and looked at a very sheepish looking Hermione "Kingsley did WHAT!" Harry fought valiantly to maintain his head but lost and began to vent "I don't need protection! WHY IN MERLIN'S NAME! I… I… I…" in his weakened state it didn't take much for Harry to start hyperventilating again

There was absolutely no way Harry wanted to have a bunch of babysitters watching his every move like the Order had for years. He had come of age so as far as the wizarding world was concerned he was an adult. He couldn't believe that they were going to treat him like a child just because he got a little scratch on his shoulder. This was totally unacceptable.

"Harry!" snapped Hermione "Calm down, Breathe! You need to…" whatever he needed to do was cut off by an Auror bursting into his room. Harry recognised him as one of the team who had turned up at Diagon Alley.

"Miss Granger you were told to keep him calm" reprimanded the Auror, reaching into his robe the Auror pulled out black crab-like object and to Harry's chagrin grabbed his chin and thrust it into his mouth "Chew Harry!"

Not knowing what the wizard had put in his mouth Harry hesitated, by now however he was struggling to breathe and the Auror became more insistent "Come on Harry I need you to trust me" seeing no other option he bit down into the unknown object in his mouth. Whatever it was, it was soft and squirted out so much liquid that Harry had to quickly swallow. He barely had time to register that the liquid tasted similar to aniseed before the room swam before him and he fell back onto his bed. He was overwhelmed by a kind of euphoric paralysis. Unable to move as a myriad of shapes and images danced before his eyes Harry heard the far off sounding voice of the Auror speaking to Hermione "Give him a couple of seconds, then he'll be back with us"

As his world righted itself and the kaleidoscope of colours and images dissipated Harry slowly sat back up. Unfortunately whatever the Auror had pressed into his mouth was still there and beginning to move. Figuring it was better out than in Harry spat the object onto the bed in front of him where it began to move.

"Well done Mr Potter" commended the Auror as he picked the item up and put it in a jar with nine others "most people swallow the Chizpurfle after a trip like that, which can lead to some interesting consequences" Picking up the jar Hermione looked fascinated by these creatures. Harry however was sure his insides were doing flips as he remembered reading that a Chizpurfle was a parasite found in the fur of some magical creatures.

"Now these are our little secret, you need to be careful with them and only use them if you're losing control. Keep them in the jar at all times, keep them away from anything magically important like ya wand and try not to swallow one. I really shouldn't be letting you have these" said the Auror taking the jar from Hermione "They're dangerous and I'd appreciate it if you guys wouldn't tell anyone I gave them to you"

He placed the jar of chubby large fanged critters on the table beside Harry's bed before extending his hand "Mr Potter I think introductions are in order, I'm Damien Fournier head of your detail"

Fournier looked to be in his mid twenties, tall and well built with short golden hair that looked as if he spent a great deal of time spiking it up every morning. He had deep gruff voice and seemed to exude confidence.

Harry shook his hand "It's just Harry" Fournier nodded before Harry continued "I'm sorry but I don't need a bodyguard or anything like that, you're just wasting your time here"

"As much as I would like to respect your wishes Harry. Unfortunately the Minister himself personally ordered my team here and he outranks both of us, so basically we both don't have a choice in the matter" while saying this Fournier had risen from his crouch next to the bed. He was now alert and standing facing the door, wand in hand. Casting a glance around the room he looked back to Harry and whispered "Does this family have a house-elf?"

"I have one" responded Harry not knowing what the problem with that was

Nodding Fournier quickly jerked open the door to find Kreacher standing there poised obviously for eavesdropping. Having been caught off guard the elf stood frozen for a moment before moving into the room as if nothing had happened, he was carrying a large glass flask with a reddish-brown liquid slowly churning inside. "Master Harry Sir, I has your potion" The ancient elf bowed low as he presented the concoction to Harry

Taking the flask in both hands Harry thanked the elf and tried to dismiss him. Kreacher however had other ideas "No Master Harry, madam Weasley forbid me to return, unless that you had swallowed the entire dose one way or the other" he made this last comment almost menacingly. Harry could well imagine the elf trying to pry his mouth open and forcibly pour the foul looking liquid down his throat.

Harry thought about pulling rank on Mrs Weasley but a quick look at Hermione told him he would endure more grief than it would be worth. She had been a staunch advocate for elf rites since her fourth year when she had established S.P.E.W. and Harry knew he would never hear the end of it if he began ordering Kreacher around. He hadn't even wanted the elf in the first place but his godfather Sirius Black had bequeathed a property to him and he came as an attachment. The ancient house elf was however growing on Harry and he knew that the potion was for his own good.

Taking a quick sniff Harry instantly regretted the action and grimaced at the three expectant faces that were watching him. The copious amount of time he had spent in the hospital wing over his school career had taught him the best way to deal with potions was not to know anything about what was in it and to swallow them in one go. He had broken his own cardinal rule and now wishing that he didn't know the ingredients Harry took a mouthful. It was worse than he expected, the taste was somewhere between what he imagined a dogs foot and an old car tire would be like. To make matters worse the consistency was almost chewy.

"Yeah its foul" acknowledged Fournier "But it's gonna keep you alive. Leave elf, I'll make sure he finishes it" Hermione bristled at the somewhat dismissive tone the Auror used but Kreacher simply bowed to the three of them and back out of the room "You finish that Harry and I'll talk ya through your protection detail"

Harry, who was stuck in what he was sure looked like a slow motion chugging contest, tried to nod in response. The motion may not have actually been perceivable to the others but Fournier began explaining the set up to Harry anyway.

His protection detail consisted of Fournier, who was the only Auror, in charge and four DMLE officers – Connor, 'Paddy', Smith and Roberts. They would be working out of a flat that they had acquired in Ottery St. Catchpole. At all times there would be a member present on the grounds at the Burrow. If Harry wished to leave the grounds he had to clear the trip with the officer present or Fournier at least three hours before hand and any trip was subject to Fournier's approval. Outside of the Burrow he would be escorted by three of the detail at various distances and had to carry an emergency portkey wherever he went.

Still struggling to finish the thick gloppy liquid Harry snorted through his nose in disapproval of what he saw as a curtailing of his freedom. He was finally able to do whatever he wanted and not sit at the beck and call of the Dursleys. Harry had been looking forward to being able to be with his friends without having to worry about his responsibilities and now he was going to be subjected to another set of restrictions.

Devils snare enveloping him, being petrified in the Astronomy Tower, Aragog's children

"I know this seems like a lot" continued Fournier "and to be honest I didn't think you needed a protection detail either. But it was explained to me that it wasn't just for you Harry. It would be a public relations disaster for an already fragile Ministry if something were to happen to you. More importantly the detail is there to maintain order should another incident like today's happen; people could get hurt trying to get near you Harry. So we're there for the public's protection as much as yours"

Swallowing the last of his potion Harry turned to Hermione. He had no disillusions to his own short comings; he was often a hot head and was sometimes too quick to action rather than thinking things through. This was why Hermione fit perfectly within their trio, she was reluctant to act without thinking things through and at times like this Harry valued her judgement "Do you think this is a good idea?"

Sitting up straight and giving a resigned smile she confirmed her opinion "I do Harry, it's an inconvenience but apart from that everybody wins"

Rolling his eyes in exasperation Harry gave his reluctant approval. Settling the arrangements for tomorrow Fournier left to attend to his duties, his jar of Chizpurfle's still writhing away on the table.

An hour later Ginny joined them bringing Harry's dinner and his next dose of antidote. She appeared to take malevolent glee in forcing him to consume it before producing a copy of the Daily Prophet "You made the front page of the paper again"

SHOW DOWN IN DIAGON ALLEY

Passersby were stunned to witness once again the heroic actions of The Saviour of the Wizarding World as he battle against a group of Death Eaters who launched a surprise attack in Diagon Alley this morning. Coming to the aid of his friends Hermione Granger and Virginia Weasley, Harry Potter – in a blaze of spell fire, single handedly repulsed numerous opponents before being viciously struck down by a cursed dagger.

Ministry Aurors soon arrived on scene and secured the area. Witnesses saw an unconscious Potter portkeyed to St. Mungo's were sources report that close family and friends are gathering to sit what is believed to be a death bed watch…..

"Accurate as ever" quipped Harry discarding the Prophet

"They've come a long way from what they were calling you in fifth year" noted Hermione as she gathered the paper of his bed

"Still haven't learnt to spell my name right though" grimaced Ginny, she scowled at the others as they snorted at her discomfort, it was well known that she hated her full first name "Shut it you two"

The three teenagers dropped into a comfortable silence and spent the rest of the night reading snippets out of the Prophet and talking quietly. Occasionally Mrs Weasley would stop by to ensure Harry was resting and that the girls weren't disturbing him before returning to be with Fred and George.

The girls were just about to get up to go to bed when Ron trudged into the room. He looked mildly dishevelled and completely exhausted. He explained that he had just returned from running an errand with Charlie and complained that it had involved traipsing all over the United Kingdom. A sign of his weariness was that he barely reacted to the news that there had been an incident at Diagon Alley; he simply asked Hermione and Ginny if they were ok and after receiving assurances that they both fine merely nodded to Harry before collapsing face first on top of his bed.

Once the girls had left and bid them both goodnight Ron raised his head up enough to look over in Harry's direction "Why is there a jar of bugs on the table?"

Harry picked up the jar and regarded the creatures in question. There were ten of the small crab-like creatures crawling around the bottom of the jar. Every so often one would look at Harry and rush at the glass to bare its fangs him "I have to bite one if I get too worked up, there was something on the blade and I'm not allowed to get over excited" he explained

"You really ok? Nothing's going to fall off or anything?"

Knowing that Ron only wanted to know if he should be worried Harry satisfied him saying "Nah it's just a scratch really, you can read the Hollywood version of it in the Prophet"

Ron yawned "Maybe tomorrow" he rolled over to get comfortable "You know what Harry? I think at some point or another you've rescued nearly everyone I care about. Someday I'm going to have to repay that debt"

Taken aback slightly by this Harry failed to respond. He wanted to say something but Harry couldn't quite put it into words. Ron was his best mate, he and his family meant so much to Harry that he couldn't describe it. Not knowing how to articulate this to Ron Harry remained silent and the pause continued until soft snores starting issuing from the sleeping form of his best friend. Ron's comment had been innocent enough and well intended. But mentioning people they cared about brought back the reality that tomorrow, they would be burying more of their dead and so many of the people Harry cared for, were gone. Feeling the weight of their deaths Harry tried to get some sleep.

For the third night in a row Harry's nightmares returned. This time they were worse, instead of warped and distorted memories his imagination had begun twisting his fears. Time and again Harry watched as Ginny, Ron and Hermione were brutally killed, the Weasleys tortured, friends turned into Inferi.

Waking up drenched in sweat Harry struggled to suppress his rapidly thundering heart and uncontrolled breathing. His shoulder began to tingle once again and without thinking he reached for the jar of Chizpurfle's. Harry extracted one as fast as he could and without hesitation shoved it in his mouth and bit down hard. Succumbing once again to the blissful effects Harry relaxed as he watched the psychedelic show that accompanied it.

Coming back to reality Harry spat the parasite back into the jar "sorry little buddy but I needed that" he whispered. The 'little buddy' in question seemed to hiss at him and sprang towards his face. Harry quickly placed the lid back on the jar and placed it on the table. Thinking back over the short experience Harry idly thought he could get used to using those. Straight away his mind reeled at this, these parasites had been repulsive to him this afternoon and yet now he was considering biting into them on a regular basis. Harry understood now why Fournier didn't want the fact that he had given them to Harry advertised. He quickly resolved not to use them again and pushed the jar away from his reach.

Looking out the window at the stars and moon Harry figured he had slept for less than an hour. He knew however that there was no chance of returning to sleep that night; even now when he closed his eyes Harry was greeted with horrific scenes and could feel his anxiety returning. Hearing snores still emitting from the other side of the room Harry was relieved that Ron had been blissfully unaware of his episode. Harry got up quietly and made his way downstairs.

Only a few lamps were still burning when he stepped into the living room. Harry could just make out Mrs Weasley curled up asleep with her husband on one of the couches. George, who was seated on the other couch holding his brothers hand, looked up and motioned for Harry to join him. Sitting down next to George, Harry contemplated the prone form in front of him.

His eyes never left his twin as George started speaking "I remember the day we met you Harry... You were this lost little kid who didn't know anyone, didn't even know how to get on the platform"

It was Harry's first time at Kings Cross station. He smiled at the memory "Yeah I remember. You and Fred were playing mind games with your mother. It was the first time I met any of you guys"

"We were so innocent back then Harry. I think your biggest worry was how to get on the train for school. All me and Fred cared about at that point was what our next big joke was going to be… … I've been sitting here for two days and all I can think is how much I wish I could go back to those days… … but we can't can we?" asked George in despair

Harry watched as tears coursed their way down George's cheeks. Not really knowing what to do in this situation he put his arm around him. Harry considered the entire Weasley clan as his own adopted family and it tore at him for them to be hurting so much.

"How do you do it Harry? Death and destruction have followed you everywhere for as long as I've known you. How did you deal with it?"

George's words struck home. Harry didn't know what to say. It was true every year for the past seven years someone around Harry had either died or come close. Quirrel, Mr Weasley, Ginny, Cedric… … the list went on. For the first time in an age Harry felt himself on the brink of crying. Until this time George hadn't taking his eyes off his twin's body but he turned to Harry now "You haven't have you?"

Slowly shaking his head Harry calmed himself enough to speak "There was so much destruction, I don't think I had time to deal with anything else" His voice cracked slightly as he spoke. Harry may not have had time before but it was all coming back to him now and he had to strenuously suppress everything just to stay in control. Feeling anxiety beginning to inundate him, Harry fought the urge to return to his room and use the Chizpurfles.

"I'm so sorry George… I can't imagine…"

Shuddering sobs raked George's form and Harry pulled him further into his embrace. It was all too much and they both sat there immersed in the pain they felt for those they had lost. Sometime later Harry realised that George's sobs had quieted down. He listened as friend's breath hitched in his sleep. Following the wizarding tradition Harry took over the vigil for Fred's body and spent the rest of the night awake on the couch.