Molly Weasley bustled around the kitchen in the Burrow before dawn, preparing breakfast for all of her children minus two. If you were to ask her about the events of the past several days she would be hard pressed to answer properly. Though she remembered everything that had transpired, it was like she had been seeing it all through some sort of haze. She was still having difficulty accepting that Arthur was gone which was only compounded by her daughters disappearance. But that wasn't what was bugging her.

What had caused her to lay awake all the previous night, staring at the ceiling, was the fact that she couldn't figure out what in the world had possessed her to betroth her Ginny to the Malfoy brat. Something had happened the day before when the Order had all apparated off somewhere with the Headmaster in what, he claimed, was an attempt to regain her child. He said he had a way of tracking Harry that had suddenly became active. Molly had been only too happy to allow her oldest sons to go along, hoping they might tear a few strips off of The-Boy-Who-Lived for kidnapping her only daughter and interfering with her family business.

It had only been a few minutes after they had popped away that her feelings changed. Suddenly, her mind was clear once again and she felt sick to her stomach at what she'd said and done. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't happy that her daughter was married at the age of fourteen and that's why she was confused that only moments before she was content in the fact she had signed that contract to the Malfoys. She had always felt that Harry was like one of her own sons and hated the burdens that had been placed on him. She had always hoped that he would have noticed Ginny in a few years and eventually ended up as her son-in-law. Why had she said those horrible things to him and acted that way. She should be grateful that he had saved Ginny again. And that was the thing that made her feel the worst. He had saved Ginny from her. Molly was tempted to blame the stress that Arthur's death had caused but deep down she knew something else was going on. Something sinister. To be honest she didn't trust herself anymore and that is why she thought it might be for the best that Ginny was missing with her new husband. If she knew one thing about Harry it was that he would give everything and anything for those he considered family.

With those thoughts in mind, she called down her family and served them breakfast. Smiling sadly while she watched her two eldest spoke intently, the twins whispered quietly, plotting something unbeknownst to everyone else, and her youngest son focused intently on the food before him. She hoped they could all make it through the coming war without her family suffering anymore. Stifling a sob she gazed out the window of her family's home, sending a silent prayer that her missing son, despite their recent differences, as well as her newly married daughter and her husband would be safe.

Gellert Grindelwald paced around the headmasters office of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seething in anger. First that little brat had upset all his plans concerning Ginevra Weasley. They hadn't been long term plans as he'd never cared that the little girl had harbored feelings for Harry but when he had shown signs of returning them this year, he had begun to plan.

The death of Arthur had presented a perfect opportunity. Taking advantage of a distraught Molly had been all too easy. Temporarily dismantling the dangerous mail redirection wards on Grimmauld Place had ensured that the letters from the Malfoys, laced with compulsion charms, made it to her safely. Then a personal trip to 'pay his respects' where he placed a confundus charm of his own on the Weasley Matriarch and the contract was signed and ready to go

What he never expected that the muggle-raised and Gryffindor-brained Harry Potter found a way to break the supposed 'unbreakable contract.' Not only that, he succeeded in avoiding his suspicions while simultaneously strategically putting his plan into action where it would prove to be the most detrimental to the Malfoy family and in extension Voldemort. Grindelwald had been hopeful that the Malfoys might have been useful in the future but they were currently still in a coma.

Surprisingly that wasn't what had worried him the most. He had been most concerned with Harry taking up his Lordship. He knew that it would now be a lot harder to keep him under control. That's why he had spent the night after Harry's marriage, coming up with plans to deal with these new developments, unconcerned with his missing status. He knew Harry would have to turn up eventually and that's when he would strike.

But that of course would not be. He had been completely caught off guard and suitably panicked when he found out that his missing students and order member had found the location of his greatest secret. On top of that, the boy had escaped him again! With the prisoner! Dumbledore should have died long before he was able to make it out of the building, but he'd found the shattered remains of the collar. Just thought that Harry, and he was certain that it had been Harry, had the power to break the binding forcibly sent shivers of fear up his spine. Apart from that, he really didn't want to know what he'd done to blow a whole that size in the considerably thicker wall.

So, somehow Harry had seemed to become more cunning overnight, somehow he had learned of his lordship, information he had been purposely hiding from him and placed compulsion charms on Sirius not to bring up with his godson, somehow he had learned the truth about life debts, and somehow he had been informed where exactly to look to find evidence of his greatest secret. Information that no one other than himself was supposed to know. Now they had Dumbledore, a whole 'nother source of information about himself and magic in general. The real problem with all of this though, was that there was nothing he could do about it. He felt exhausted after the destruction of the collar. He realized now that he had become far too dependent on the steady stream of energy it had provided over the years, and coupled with the magical backlash that its destruction had caused, he was currently operating at far below what used to his normal, even in his original body. He had just barely been able to obliviate the memory of visiting Nurmengard from the order members who had gone with him. For the first time in a long time, Gellert Grindelwald didn't know what to do next. Harry Potter was seemingly out of his reach and was currently holding all the cards. One thing was for certain though. He had been successful in keeping his power for many years and there was no way he was going to let some lucky teenager ruin things for him without first putting up one hell of a fight.

"He's awake," Ginny's voice came from the other side of the tent, breaking up Harry's conversation with his godfather. Looking towards the sound of his wife's voice, he saw her helping the old man to amble over towards their small kitchen table. Before he could even think about moving, Sirius was up and at their side, taking most of his weight. Ginny free of her burden, walked over and gave Harry a quick kiss before seating herself on the bench next to him.

"Thank you my boy. Thank you," Dumbledore said, sounding slightly out of breath as he was assisted into a seat.

"Can I get you some food Albus? We've got some leftovers from breakfast?" Sirius asked.

"Some toast would be most appreciated. I don't want to eat too much right away. My old stomach may be a touch delicate for a while. I'd also take some tea if you have any." Dumbledore smiled kindly when Harry's godfather inclined his head at the request. Something seemed different in the smile though. It was not the same one Harry was used to. It was somehow... warmer… more inviting, not the chaotic twinkle that he had come to associate with his eccentric Headmaster.

Turning his gaze on the two younger people in room he continued, "I believe I confused you two with someone else I once knew. I apologize for that, I wasn't all there yesterday. It's just that, standing together, you both looked remarkably similar to another young couple that graduated from Hogwarts many years ago."

"Yes I noticed you calling us by my parent's names and was confused but don't worry about it. How long were you in there? A couple months? I've been trying to figure it all out. I couldn't sleep last night very well. I know I should have realised that you had been swapped out for an imposter! All I could think of that it must have been the beginning of this year. That's when you stopped looking me in the eye and started avoiding me."

"Ah… Lily and James' son. That explains it. You must be Harry I presume?"

"What? I've course I am! You know tha-" Harry was suddenly cut off as Ginny gave his arm a squeeze.

"Harry I think you aren't getting it. Remember what I said yesterday, I don't think the Headmaster has been held captive for a few mere months. You may not have even really met him until yesterday," she said glancing toward the aged wizard.

"I remember what you said yesterday but that just can't be true!" Harry responded emphatically, "I've known Albus Dumbledore for five yea…" He trailed off, again paling slightly, as he thought it all over again but then continued in a small voice, "please don't tell it was all a lie."

After a moment of silence his head finally snapped up fixating on Dumbledore with a pleading look. "I'm sorry to say that yesterday was the first time I've seen you since the time your parents invited me over to their house, shortly after your birth. Though when my… captor… decided to come by and pay me a visit, he would often talk about you and many of the plans he had laid."

"It was Grindelwald right? We heard you say the name Gellert yesterday and it was the only thing that seemed to fit. We all thought he was dead though?"

Dumbledore looked away and to Harry's shock it was the first time he'd ever seen a look of shame cross that face, "Yes, it was. Gellert and I were… close… close at the end of my Hogwarts days. We had a falling out soon after my graduation and went our separate ways. Him to become the dark lord that the world came to know so well. I think that was why I delayed so long in going face him. I knew deep down that I was the only one with the power at the time to pose him a significant threat but I was leery of facing my old friend. I was convinced he would see the error in what he was doing and cease his action yet the death toll continued to rise. It wasn't until another one of my close friends and his family were killed in the muggle London Blitz that I realized the problems my inaction had caused. Gellert and his followers had killed thousands of witches and wizards but the muggle dictator that he had helped rise to power had started a war that had killed millions of muggles as well. It was at that time I resolved myself to do it. I would kill him. He was too dangerous to keep alive. So I tracked him down, and I challenged him to a duel. It was probably the hardest thing I'd ever had to do but I won. He lay there unconscious at my feet but I couldn't finish it. He had been my friend. I couldn't take ano… take his life. I locked him in his own prison and left him there. The people of Britain assumed that he was dead and to my shame I did nothing to correct them. I began to go back and visit him regularly. To my surprise, soon after being imprisoned, he began to act like the man I'd once loved again. I wasn't daft enough to let him free but I began to tell him things. Seek his advice on certain matters and told him of things I was worried about. To my embarrassment, he had been plotting the whole time. One day, in early 1980, I believe, after speaking to him of a prophecy I'd just heard delivered, he surprised me. Using a flaw he had found, he broke free of my security enchantments, leaving me momentarily dazed. He was able to take my wand and force me into his cell which he came back to reinforce several days later."

"You've been stuck in that cell for almost 16 years!" Ginny exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

"Is that how long?" He inquired. "I had begun to lose track over the years. Fortunately Gellert made the same mistake I had. He liked to come and visit, taunting me with what he was up to. This was probably the only thing that kept me sane."

"We'll need to discuss what you know about Grindelwald's plans. This whole situation has blown up way larger than I had ever imagine but this is starting to make some sense of strange things that have happened," Sirius interjected. "But we can talk about that a little later."

"This is a big bloody mess! How has he been able to pull this off for so many years? Is he constantly under polyjuice potion?" Harry asked exasperated.

"Sad enough as it is to say, Gellert probably knows me more than anyone else, and would be able to pull off a very convincing act. The longer it goes on, the less suspicions anyone would have as well," Dumbledore explained. "No, he did not use polyjuice either. He was attempting to make this long term and that would be exceptionally hard with a potion that must be regularly taken. The risk of discovery would be too high. Gellert used a ritual to fashion a fake body for himself in my image, to which he transferred his soul. I always had more power than Gellert and even I would have had to have used most of my magic to control that body. For that reason he placed that obsidian collar around my neck. It created a connection between the two of us where he would siphon all of my magic into himself. This allowed him to run around at his full strength plus whatever was leftover of my own. This all but ensured that I had no chance of escape. The collar should have been impossible to remove before my death."

"But I did remove it…" Harry said weakly.

"Yes you did Mr. Potter… you did indeed. You have a gift. It makes me wonder if this is the power that the prophecy spoke of."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?"

"The very prophecy that caused Gellert to decide to escape after hearing it. The same prophecy that I am told caused Voldemort to come after you and your parents. The prophecy about you. You summoned the very fires of creation yesterday. Something I spent many years of my younger life searching for. Pure Phoenix Flame."

A/N: Here you guys go. I finally had time to update. It's a bit of a short chapter but I wanted to give you guys something. It's been pretty busy lately. I had to write 4 mid-term exams, then about 3 essays and now I am already preparing for finals. I'm not sure when I'll have time to update again before the end of April but I'll do my best. I've had several new plot ideas but I've held off on writing those for now because I don't want to get distracted from this story like I did with Fellow Champion. I don't think this fic will end up being very long but we'll have to see. I have a Harry Potter / Dresden Files crossover fic coming after this is done and ideas for both a time travel and dimension travel fic as well. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter by leaving a review! Thanks for reading.