A/N – I've really got no excuse…lol. It's been like 3 ½ months. Ugh…I could say that it was because my schedule this semester includes two college classes and I've had almost too much work. I could also say that I've been nearly constantly immersing myself in the job search (strange that people aren't much on hiring 16 year old males; I wonder why) and these would be true but honestly, I still had plenty of time to write.

In any case, as a sort of repayment, here are two new chapters. Also, you guys might want to go back and reread chapter 5 because it has had a complete overhaul. I like it much better and I think you will too. I also changed the last part of Chapter 7; I didn't care much for it and decided it was stupid. And the last part of Chapter 4 was changed because that was idiotic too. But I think I finally purged this story of stupid stuff. You'll see what I mean if you go back and read it.

Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited while I was away! And those that reviewed received a special place in my heart!


Chapter 8 – Graveyard

March 23rd, 1996

Hermione looked sadly at the many vacant spots in the Great Hall. Hundreds had vanished over the past few months and they left glaring spots where they had once sat.

Of course she knew that the students had not simply vanished, knowledge she had used to try to defend Dumbledore to the ministry, unfortunately to no avail. The disappearances had not gone unnoticed by the ministry who attempted to put Dumbledore in Azkaban. Needless to say, they'd failed.

She gave a temporary glare over towards Susan Bones which was either unnoticed or ignored. She sighed and went back to her porridge. It just didn't taste quite the same.

Angelina…Alicia…Bem…Parvarti…Harry; how many more would she lose? Anger welled inside her as she cursed Harry Potter for all he was worth. Their deaths had been caused by him.

The logical side of her brain regained control and started, for what must've been the third time this morning and countless times in the past three months, rethinking her actions.

Part of her believed she should be next to Harry, fighting side-by-side with him. Perhaps he truly wasn't a murderer. She should be by his side comforting him, making up for her mistake. He'd been her best friend for years, something only he could boast. Ronald Weasley certainly couldn't.

But then there was her other side; the side bred from years of teasing and a lack of self-confidence. Dumbledore was the leader of the light and he knew what was best. If he said Harry had gone rogue, then it surely must be true. Heck, even Ron, as barbaric as usual, slandered Harry just about every chance he got. He did come from a wizarding family after all.

A muffled shout of "Hermione!" brought her back into the real world. "You haven't touched your porridge for the last two minutes and we have to get to that troll's class soon, remember!?"

The flicks of food that accompanied his words and the horrible grammar with which he spoke drove Hermione into a right foul mood. She was about to give him a sound tongue-lashing when she realized she simply didn't have the energy. She stood and left without another word, feeling rather blue about the whole situation.


"Crucio!"

With a swish of a wand and a single spell, Amelia's defenses crumbled. She fell to the floor, right beside the bodies of her parents.

Lydia, Edgar's wife, lay dead in the foyer, having charged the death eaters as soon as they battered their way through the dozens of protection enchantments that were cast on the front door. Silent tears for his wife still poured down Edgar's cheeks, as his head lay detached on the floor, severed from his body.

Her other brother, Ambrose, lay burned alive and his blackened corpse smoked in the corner. Eva lay in the doorway to the lounging room, having taken a killing curse.

Over the sound of her own screams, the auror trainee could make out the distant screams of her nieces and nephews undoubtedly as they realized the death of their parents. One by one, they were silenced by a flash of green light.

Finally, the death eater grunts let up the assault on her nervous system. Her vision was still mildly swimming and she was shivering with aftershocks from the feared torture curse.

Susan. She was still sleeping in the lounging room. She knew she simply didn't have the strength to fight off all the death eaters, but the two grunts that bore over her on the other hand…

Quick as a flash, Amelia had grabbed her wand and blasted her first adversary to dust. His dying scream surely alerted the rest of the death eaters prowling the hallways of her childhood home, and she knew she needed to hurry.

The second death eater fumbled with his wand, but rapidly found that he wasn't quick enough as a severing charm severed his head, much in the way that Edgar had died.

Not willing to waste any more time, Amelia limped into the lounging room to see baby Susan peacefully sleeping despite the noise. Without hesitation, she grabbed her, grabbed the nearest item, a pillow, and cast a Portus onto it.

As the portkey activated, Amelia could just make out the enraged violet eyes of her would be killer.

Amelia awoke in a sweat, one worthy of the dream she had just experienced. It was horrid having to relive the death of her entire family, and the dream seemed to be recurring in a greater frequency.

She shivered once more as she viewed the clock. Harry was likely up at this point, and she knew he'd likely need all the support he could get today.


Harry sat lazily on his bed. It was morning, but he wasn't quite ready to get up yet. His night had been anything but restful, nightmares had plagued his mind from the moment he drifted into unconsciousness.

He picked up the book he had been reading last night, A History of Magical Warfare, and turned to the page where he'd left off.

The American Revolution was perhaps one of the most interesting events in world history, as a new, fledgling nation bravely fought off the most powerful nation in the world. It continues to baffle muggle historians to this day as to how such an understrength nation could possibly have emerged victorious against such a military giant. Many attribute this to the stellar leadership of one George Washington, and while I do not refute this claim, I dare say that it was another of his abilities that the war was so justly won.

To adequately understand just what attribute I speak of and how this relates to the magical community, we must delve into the story of Washington himself.

Consistent to history, Washington was born to one Augustine Washington in Virginia. Contrary to popular belief, he was born not of the second wife of Augustine Washington (Mary Washington) but actually of the first wife, Jane Washington nee Butler.

Now most of you are probably not familiar with the Butler family, but they were at one point a powerful family of purebloods in Wizarding England. But perhaps I have gone quite a bit off topic.

Washington only learned of his heritage many years after he had entered adulthood, but he never quite adapted into the wizarding world that had grown in the colonies. With the colonies on the verge of collapse, Washington finally embraced his wizarding heritage and sent pleas to Wizarding Britain.

The Wizengamot was divided, as it so often is, into three factions. The first, led by Septimus Malfoy, wanted no part of the conflict. The second was led by Lachlan Dumbledore who preferred to aid the rebellion. The third was led Ignatius Prewett, who actually wanted to help the queen squash the rebellion.

After months of brutal debating, the Dumbledore's and Malfoy's sides tied, and Minister Crowdy decided to send only minor help to the Americans. Much of this came by way of the Potter family, who contributed hundreds of thousands of galleons…

Harry put his page marker in the book and set it down. It was a good read and all, but it was rather in depth and the author had often proven to go off on tangents.

He had better get up, today was an important day after all. His feet had just touched the chilly floor when the door slammed open. He had his wand out and pointed at the intruder in a matter of seconds, only to find Amelia in her bedclothes. He blushed and dropped his gaze.

"Up and at it; it's breakfast time!"

She'd been going for more of a kindly, joking voice, but found it to be rigorous and demanding as usual. Something she'd have to work on…

Harry sighed and followed Amelia downstairs. They exchanged pleasantries and Amelia started uncharacteristically talking. Harry for the most part ignored her, as he knew her well enough now that she was clearly nervous about something.

Upon entering the kitchen, however, all attempts at chat seized. "What in Merlin's name…?"

'What in Merlin's name, indeed,' Harry thought in agreement. The entire kitchen was covered in flour, except for two suspiciously human shapes on the wall. Sirius and Remus slowly emerged from behind the island, covered from head to toe in flour.

"Eh-heh…" Sirius laughed, somewhat frightened. "There's actually a really good explanation for all this…"

Amelia was holding her temper rather well. "Well let's hear it then," she growled through clenched teeth.

Sirius pushed Remus in front of him and all eyes turned to the poor werewolf. "Well we were trying to make pancakes and…uhmm…things got a little out of hand. He hit me with a bag and then I did…"

Amelia didn't listen to another word, as she hexed the bollocks out of the two screaming males. Harry was nearly doubled over with laughter.

After she was finished with the two crying men, the house elves took over from Sirius and Remus and made a somewhat decent amount of pancakes. Sirius was quote: "voraciously hungry" and took out most of the pancakes by himself. Harry was just proud that his godfather (or cousin, or whatever he was at this point) could use such vocabulary.

All-in-all, breakfast reminded him that he had a family, one that supported him. He needed that, especially with how bloody the war had become, a war that was partly his fault. If only he'd been selfish for once in his life, maybe Cedric wouldn't have died.

Another barb was thrown at Sirius, bringing Harry out of his morbid thoughts for another laugh with his family.


Amelia watched morosely from the garden where Susan and Hannah played many times in the summer after their first year, as hundreds of new features were added to the rolling hills of the Bones' estate. Hundreds of tombstones that would soon commemorate some of the bravest souls she had ever seen and was likely to ever see.

The Ossuary would truly live up to its name now. Currently, the legion dead were being laid to rest. She felt bad for the parents of the children, they blamed Dumbledore for the disappearance, when perhaps, the blame lay entirely with her.

In all honesty, Harry was definitely the main cause. There was no need to have children fight; they had a perfectly capable auror force…

But did they? Those kids, who'd only a few weeks of training– really a few days – had taken on an enemy that the aurors and hit wizards had quite a bit of difficulty with, and won against situations way out of their control.

Harry gave her an inviting smile to join his group. Amelia gave a polite nod and declined his invitation; she'd had enough of the two remaining marauders for one day.

As horrible as it sounded, Amelia was actually glad that Harry had gone to Azkaban. Her life would most likely be the same boring rotation it had been for years. She would get up and go to work every day, trying to do her best despite Fudge's tight budget for the department, and come home late at night, only to do it all over again the next day.

He'd brought a light into her life even when the darkness was all around them. Perhaps this pending marriage was not as horrible as it first seemed. That's why she was so nervous…

Harry was unusually quiet as chatted Sirius and Remus chatted amiably next to him. They'd helped him through a lot, being fun surrogate uncles, and Harry's trauma from Azkaban (which he thoroughly denied even existed) was nearly extinct.

But today, he seemed to be distancing himself, obviously not trusting of himself. While he'd shown this behavior before, this seemed…simply different. She had seen on it many aurors faces; many had been forced to use dark magic to survive on a mission and felt horrible about it afterwards.

While she was of course a light-sided witch, she completely understood the institution of dark magic if the situation applied for it. No, in her opinion, it did not make you a bad person, it meant you had survived.

There was no need for terrible thoughts like those on such a morbid day. Amelia changed her thoughts over to Susan. The red-haired girl stood numbly with her head downcast, not attempting at all to join any groups of conversing legionnaires. She was utterly devastated by the loss of almost every single one of her dorm mates and according to the group of girls closest to her, something Amelia's proficient eavesdropping skills had immediately picked up on, she'd barely eaten anything and had skipped the majority of her classes.

In all her years with Susan, she had no clue how to help the poor girl. You'd think being basically her mother, she'd know at least what to do to cheer her up, but she was quite saddened to admit that she didn't even know Susan's favorite colour.


Susan stared at her feet, internally rebuking herself for being weak, but unable to do little more than wallow through past memories.


"He's the Heir of Slytherin; I'm sure of it," Justin whispered conspiratorially in her ear. Her young and naïve mind, eager for gossip and not yet seeing the error of her ways, led her to nod her head in furious agreement.


Ernie kissed her lips gently with his own as they sat in the beautifully manicured gardens only open during the Yule Ball. Making sure that her aunt hadn't sent spies to watch her (she wasn't keen on the idea of teenagers engaging in such a "provocative" sport), she grabbed Ernie's head and smashed her lips much more forcefully against his.

After a moment, Ernie gave her a dazed smile. "You're beautiful, Su."


Megan gave a screech as she was unceremoniously thrown aside by a speeding bullet that was soon revealed as the horribly rude redheaded Gryffindor: Ronald Weasley. "Get away from Scabbers you devilish cur, you!" he yelled to the orange-maned cat that chased his scampering rat.

Harry Potter came up behind them, his glasses lopsided due to running, and offered Megan his hand. With a huff, Megan took it.

"Sorry 'bout all that. Ron's a little bent out of shape right now," he said and rushed off after his friend.

"Thanks for helping, Su," she said in her usual huffy attitude. Susan laughed.


Susan slapped Wayne light-heartedly on the arm as she descended into giggles.

"Ow, Suzy! What was that for?"

Susan's girlish giggles quickly transcended to a look of rage. "Suzy!?"

Hannah kicked them under the table. "Back to what you were saying…"

"Oh right. So Granger starts yelling at Weasley, telling him that next time he should've asked her first. Poor bloke still has no clue what she's talking about!" Wayne gossiped and the three friends burst into uncontrollable giggles.


"He's just soooooo super cute!" Leanne shouted in awe. The three of them had to duck as the target of Leanne's current affections looked in their direction.

"And he just so happens to be dating Cho Chang," Hannah whispered viciously.

"Details," Leanne said, peeking once more over the table as she waved off Hannah's concerns. "Besides, my friend Katie says that Potter's got eyes on Chang. He'll do some heroic thing and save her and she'll fall for him, leaving Cedric for me."

"Uhhm…I don't think that's quite how it works," said Susan laughing.


Susan kicked her legs as she sat in the train compartment alone. She was quite nervous; her auntie hadn't told her much about Hogwarts at all. Suddenly, the compartment door swung open. A blonde-haired girl of similar height stepped in, struggling with her luggage.

Susan stared at her the entire time while she struggled to put her trunk above her head and finally left it on the floor when she didn't have the strength to pick it up above her head. The mysterious girl sat down taking heavy breaths before finally opening her vibrant blue eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't even notice you. Hannah Abbot," she greeted holding out her hand. Susan hesitantly took hold of it. Hannah only smiled. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."


Tears cascaded down her rosy cheeks and splattered against the grass that had been trampled many summers by her and Hannah's feet. All of her friends were gone; her brothers and sisters who she'd been through thick and thin with. It was suddenly much colder. Why couldn't it have been her?

Familiar arms wrapped around her from the side and Susan knew immediately who it was. She was determined to not let him cheer her up; she'd much rather wallow in her self-pity.

"I'm sorry, Su…if I'd only been more rational…" Harry began, but Susan quickly cut him off.

"It's not your fault and you know it!" she roared and several legionnaires jumped back in fright. "Stop trying to blame everything on yourself! The world doesn't revolve around you, you know!"

Harry drew back as if stung and Susan glared at him with fury. His eyes hardened.

"Nor does it revolve around you," he stated calmly but angrily. "I've lost people too. Angelina and Alicia weren't my bunkmates but as we played Quidditch together, we might as well have been. Bem was quirky but he was always a good friend. Hell, I even lost my parents!"

"As did I," Susan argued with a challenge but the fire in Harry's eyes was already starting to dim.

"I am sorry, Su; I'm just trying to help you see that you're not alone. You've got us."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Auntie Amelia smile and nod her head. Behind Harry, Sirius gave a toothy grin and a thumbs up. Remus gave only a slight nod but a smile played on his lips. The other legionnaires each gave a smile and nod and Nymphadora nearly tackled her into a bone-crushing hug.

The coldness melted away, replaced with a bright warm feeling. Needless to say, Susan began another deep waterworks session.


Dumbledore cleared his throat. All talking immediately ceased.

"Has anyone heard from either Remus or Sirius?" All heads shook to the negative.

While he didn't make it clear to the sheep that clustered around the table (he had to keep up appearances and all), he was seething inside. He needed to keep them close so they couldn't be poisoned with the truth.

'Perhaps they found out my plans?' he mused. If so, he was already compromised, but he doubted it as he was sure Fudge would've already sent the hounds after him.

"Any word on Harry then?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She looked worried.

"Sadly, no; there hasn't been a sign of him in months I'm afraid. Either he's dead, or he's joined Voldemort. If it's the latter, hopefully we can return him to the light before he becomes to tainted."

Like he actually believed that hogwash. Actually it was quite worrying; he had no clue where young Harry was, but if he had joined the dark, there was little they could do to bring him back. Dark magic was simply to captivating. It's not like Dumbledore wanted him back anyways. No it was much better this way.

"Has the auror department found anything about Sirius or Remus?" Dumbledore asked turning to Kingsley.

Kingsley nearly growled. "You've already asked that, haven't you, Dumbledore? And I shook my head just like everyone else." Kingsley Shacklebolt stormed out of the room and the floo activated moments afterwards.

Dumbledore hid a smirk. Gryffindor's always were best at wearing their hearts on their sleeves'. Personally, Dumbledore had never been much for it, yet it proved to help him quite a bit. Perhaps Kingsley, the investigator, needed to be investigated.


Harry gathered the remainder of the legionnaires together, many had went back to school to catch up on school work.

"I've just talked to Amelia and she's confirmed it; no more lessons." The 'awws' were clearly evident in their faces, but no one spoke a word.

Harry sighed. "It's been great guys it really has, but it was never meant to be like this. I just wanted to provide a front for the magical community to hide behind while they got their 'ducks in a row', so to say. I never meant for over three hundred of us to die, but I promise, their deaths will be remembered."

He glanced at Susan and she gave him an encouraging smile. "But we've done it. Fudge has more than doubled the revenue in the Auror Department and they're preparing for war. We've done it."

There was the occasional high-five, but the overall mood of the group remained somber. "Now we can sit back and watch the fight…"

Harry wasn't expecting the downcast expressions that crossed the majority of the faces. "If you ever need us, don't be a stranger," a voice he recognized as Cho Chang's permeated from the crowd. There were several nods, before the group as a whole migrated towards the Bones' Manor floo.

Harry sighed and walked towards the cliff that overlooked a breath-taking view of the North Sea and sat down on the soft grass. Susan sat down beside him with an equally loud sigh.

"Weren't you complaining a couple weeks ago about how behind you were on homework?" he asked, grateful for the company, but mindful of his surrogate sister's grades.

She snorted. Her eyes were still wet and ugly black tracks of mascara cut a trail through her cheeks. "Grades don't really matter much when you're fighting a terrorist."

'Too true.'

They sat in silence for an indeterminable amount of time. It was rather chilly but Harry didn't mind as he was busy watching the beautiful waves form and hit the coast. The manor was located in Northumberland, sandwiched between the River Coquet and the North Sea. It was truly a fantastic spectacle.

"I best head back. Contrary to what I said a few minutes ago, I do actually care for my grades. I'd hate to see Greengrass's face when she takes fourth spot in the year."

Harry nodded his head and gave her a farewell hug. "Be safe, Su. The ministry's all over that place."

"Don't worry about me, I can handle it. Cheerio, Harry! Oh and no brooding!" she said as she reequipped her happy face.

Harry only smiled and returned his attention back to the sea. Would she ever be alright? He took her friends from her. And yet she still trusted him, comforted him.

'Just like the rest of the legion.' They were great and all, but sometimes it really bothered him. Were they just simple sheep following him, their shepherd, to the slaughter? He thought about it for a moment.

No. They decided to join and they did everything asked of them and more. They were the true heroes of this war.

He knew he wasn't a hero. He tortured Lestrange into insanity. He was dark. He would never join Voldemort of course (that'd be rather counter-intuitive by this point), but what if he did actually manage to defeat Voldemort. Would he become the next Dark Lord, starting this cycle of hate and destruction all over again?

"Harry!"

Amelia. She'd probably looked all over the property for him and Susan had directed her this way. Harry stood with a stretch and made his way over to an increasingly nervous-looking Amelia.

Brilliant. Whenever she was feeling a negative emotion, it usually transferred to anger.

"Where've you been!? Do you know how long I've looked? This property has well-over a thousand acres, you know!"

"Sorry, I was down by the coast." Harry found it best to just reply truthfully and without annoyance or vitriol.

She deflated and looked decidedly nervous again. "I…I think it's time," she said cryptically.

Harry thought he had a pretty good idea of what it was but decided to have a little fun anyways. It was the only time this would ever happen in his life, after all.

"Yes, it is getting about lunchtime, isn't it? I'm feeling some Chinese, myself."

She stared at him dumbfounded and Harry couldn't help but to crack a smile. Her expression quickly turned to that of an enraged lion.

"When I get done with you, you won't have a ring finger!" she announced before chasing him around the yard while casting stinging hexes. After a few minutes, they collapsed on the ground beside each other and Amelia was giggling harder than he'd ever heard before. Harry smiled. Perhaps there were better things in life than being just sad.


"Ana, you have done an excellent job, my dear."

Ana shivered in excitement at her lord's praise; she'd only heard praise like this when he was speaking with Bellatrix. Said person leaned against the wall, scowling directly at her. She should probably be worried that the dark witch would seek retribution, but the Dark Lord wouldn't allow her to touch his most coveted servant, would he? She directed a smile at Bellatrix, who huffed and left the room.

Voldemort laughed at the display of rivalry. Ana was an excellent informant and without her, he wouldn't have been near as successful in this war. She made him look like a genius. On the other hand, Bellatrix had done just as well on her muggle raiding. Hundreds of…subjects…now occupied his torture chambers.

In the end, he'd have to choose Bellatrix simply due to her blood. But Ana needn't know that.

"So my dear, have you any news?"

"Yes, mi lord. I have the schematics to the Ministry building as well as information about the Department of Mysteries itself."

Even Voldemort was surprised at this. "Stellar, dear Ana. Perhaps someone deserves a promotion?"

Ana cried with joy at the praise she was receiving. She felt a little bad about rating out her friends, especially Kingsley and Amelia, but she did plan to survive this war. And become Voldemort's right hand woman at the end.

"Pettigrew, come here!" Voldemort shouted. Even in his voice, there was power, so much so that the room shook.

Pettigrew scampered in and quickly bowed. "You called master?"

"You've been faithful, Pettigrew. For that, you shall be rewarded."

Pettigrew jumped up in pride. "Thank you, master!"

"Avada Kedavra," Voldemort said absent-mindedly. Pettigrew didn't even have a chance to move. Nagini immediately moved to enjoy her meal.

"Now, about that promotion, dear…"


A/N- Review! Basically a filler chapter but Chapter 9 is pretty good. Or at least I think. Hmmm...that thing about an author going off on tangents...that doesn't sound familiar to me at all. XD