Chapter 9

Emerald green eyes fluttered open and stared at the dark ceiling for a few moments, only to be closed with a groan as a sudden bright light filled the room. He could hear two matching groans answering his as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden light change.

His initial instinct was to check for his wand. To his relief, he found it lying a few inches away from his right hand and he quickly picked it up.

Harry swiftly scrambled to his feet once he remembered that he wasn't the only one in the room, pointing his wand at the two figures that were still shaking off their disorientation. He relaxed his grip once he realized it was Remus and Kingsley. Harry frowned thoughtfully, trying to recall what happened before he lost consciousness.

It came back rushing to him; the argument, Godric's Hollow, the odd witch and their talk, the ambush inside the house, getting overwhelmed. The teen looked around nervously, looking for any signs of threat, finding not even one in the spacious room. It looked suspiciously familiar, the gray walls and overall dark features of the room made Harry feel nostalgic in a very odd kind of a sense.

The young wizard shook himself out of his thoughts, leaving them for later, preferring to go and check over the two older men. The three of them were absolutely unharmed, not even sustaining one injury from the attack. Kingsley and Remus agreed that before losing consciousness, they heard a very loud crash and felt the whole house shaking. There was no sign of their assaulters. However, one important question was raised by the three of them:

"Where are we? And what happened?"

Harry looked around again for a moment, and it suddenly clicked.

"This is the room where I stayed at before my 3rd year, in the Leaky Cauldron!" He exclaimed in shock, seeing that the two wizards did start to recognize the general interior of the famed wizard pub.

"This isn't a safe place, we are in the heart of the death eater community." The former senior auror stated while trying to look for a safe escape route.

Remus looked at Harry for a few seconds with an unreadable look in his eyes. Before he could open his mouth to speak, something caught his attention and he pointed at it.

"What is that on the table?" The trio looked at the random items that were scattered on it. When Harry recognized the familiar old piece of parchment of the Marauders' Map, he rushed to pick it up, only to be stopped by the dark-skinned auror.

"Always check items for magical manipulation before picking them up, Harry, first rule of auror training." His deep voice had a stern edge in it as he unconsciously slipped into a very familiar role of his, an auror trainer. The teen flushed in embarrassment as Kingsley turned away from him. Remus caught his eyes and gave him a comforting smile, only to be replaced with a regretful frown as Harry avoided eye-contact.

"Alright, they're clear; there's a note addressed to you Harry."

Harry hesitantly walked over to the table, putting his reliable Marauders' Map in his pocket. He did not see the surprised look Remus had on his face. He put a hand to his chest and to his relief, he felt the locket's unholy weight and presence.

Indeed there was a small folded piece of paper (Not parchment? Harry wondered) with his name written in what seemed like a black pen. He unfolded it carefully , unsure if he wanted to even know what was expecting him.

Dear Harry,

This wasn't exactly the way I wanted us to meet, but fate does have that wicked sense of humour. It has happened to me many times. Our discussion in my small humble shop was short yet enlightening. I cannot recall the last time I actually heard a wizard having logical plans for his future, or in your case, the Magical world's future. While I cannot openly support you, for reasons I regretfully have to keep secret, I still decided to help you in other ways. Don't forget about what we discussed, it is very important. All of your possessions were recovered by me and brought back to you; everything else is in the ruins of the house now. I borrowed your Invisibility Cloak for a while, hope you don't mind. I'm giving you a chance to become your own self, without any expectations. Start out anonymously and make your own name, let the world discover the real you.

Good luck, you'll need it.

LL

Harry frowned in confusion. He did realize that it was that strange woman who wrote the letter and most likely rescued them, but he didn't really understand why. She just kept talking about the future of the Magical world and fate, and what was the whole 'making his own name' all about? And he did mind the fact that she hasn't returned his cloak, it was more than essential at times like this.

"Harry... I think you might want to see this." He heard Remus' shaky voice behind him. The teen turned around to see the two wizards staring at what seemed to be a newspaper. Remus looked very shocked, which contrasted with Kingsley's slight frown.

The young wizard slowly walked towards them, unsure what it was that shocked the two older wizards. He prayed that everyone he knew was still alive; that it wasn't an announcement of a death of someone close to him.

He was fortunately correct, yet unfortunately wrong in the same time. Harry could've sworn his jaw hit the floor when he saw his own face on the newspaper, with Kingsley's and Remus'. When he read the main headline, he swore quietly.

Ignoring the "language, Harry," the teen quickly snatched the newspaper from Remus' hands. His eyes ran desperately upon the paper, trying to make sense of the impossible.

"Yesterday, when the wizards and witches of the wizarding world were occupied with their usual business, quite a historic event happened at Godric's Hollow. Our Ministry's spoke man, Mr. Marcus Flint, has recounted the events that are bound to have an immense effect on our world. They may be as big as the one caused by the fair and just Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and will make our world an even better place.

Harry Potter, Undesirable No. 1 and the main disruptor of peace since the sinister Albus Dumbledore, has finally faced his deserved justice. Death. According to Mr. Flint, a group of foreign mercenaries, the Silver Death, has tracked Potter at his late parents house. He was accompanied by Remus Lupin, a werewolf former teacher at Hogwarts and a very known supporter of the tyrant Dumbledore as well as a member of a terrorist organization. His other companion was former Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebot. The wizard was another terrorist and a muggle protector, clearly shown by his position as the muggle Minister's personal guard.

A brief duel took place at the ancient historic place. The trio was caught absolutely off guard by the tactical geniuses and their amazing skills. The three dead bodies were found and brought to the authorities, who confirmed that the Potter threat is indeed long gone.

Marcus Flint was quite adamant that Potter's little attempt of anarchy did nothing but disturb the building calmness and peace that was slowly setting upon the wizarding world. After the many injuring years caused by many selfish members of the society, most noticeably Albus Dumbledore, the wizarding world should see this as the long-awaited era of healing and peace."

The article went on for a few more pages, praising many members of the magical society that "helped and contributed to the wizarding world's good" and the usual pile of political dung. Harry kept staring at the words in silent shock, the words that announced his certain death to the whole world.

'I hope no one is worried about me.' Was the first thought that came into his mind, but he squashed it bitterly, knowing that no soul will miss him. What came out of his mouth was expected, but it accented perfectly the current atmosphere in the room.

"What the bloody hell is going on?"

Remus looked at him for a moment, as if he was planning to admonish the teen for his language another time. He caught himself mid-sentence, simply chuckling and turning his eyes to the letter in his hand again.

"Well, Harry, from what I can guess, this LL character that you seemed to know plays a big role in the explanation for what is going on." The werewolf said quietly, his eyes regarding him with curiosity, asking for an explanation.

They found themselves sitting down on the chairs that were set in the middle of the humble room, facing each other.

The young wizard closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose in concentration.

"I met her when I went to explore the village for supplies. She duelled me at first. I almost got killed. Then she recognized me, told me she was my mom's 'Ravenclaw study buddy'" He said slowly, watching the older man's visage, hoping to find some kind of a light of recognition.

The former professor's tired features crunched in thought, he seemed to be on the brink of discovery, yet he couldn't quite reach it.

"How did she look?" He asked after a few moments.

"She had grey eyes, if that helps, she was blonde as well. I don't really know how to describe it, but it just seemed to me like she had a tough life, and she was pretty powerful." Harry explained haltingly, realizing that even if their encounter was unique, her appearance didn't have any kind of a feature that left an impression.

His fingers made their way to his temple, Remus looked extremely concentrated yet frustrated. Even though his eyes were closed shut, their restless movements were clear as a day.

"I just... I don't understand this. I can recall a person like that clearly, I know she was there, at Hogwarts with us, she was in Ravenclaw and she was extremely witty. A troublemaker too, that was the reason she got so well with us and Lily at the same time, even if we couldn't stand each other. She was the main factor that brought our little group and Lily and her friends together." A fond smile made its way to his face, only to be replaced with a look laced with frustration as he looked at both of them.

"I can remember all of this, every single detail. But when I try to think about her name or even her face, there's nothing, blank, not even a sliver of information."

"It sounds to me like a memory charm Remus, it matches all the known symptoms. It's a complex one, if it covers only some details." Kingsley spoke. His many work occasions with the obliviators helped him gain a very large extent of knowledge about memory charms and their function. Even when he thought about all the cases that he ever witnessed, he couldn't recall something as odd as this.

Remus looked angry and confused for a moment. Knowing that part of his memory was forcefully taken shook him to the very core. He turned to Harry after a few moments.

"So, what was exactly that you talked about? In the letter, she seems to be really passionate about whatever it was."

Harry looked nervous, his hand coming up and rubbing the back of his neck. The two men were not sure what was going on, but the teen avoided eye contact, preferring to look at the wall behind them.

"Uh," the teen took a deep breath, not really sure what to say, "we talked about raising a rebellion, some kind of an army to be able to fight Voldemort." He felt guilty for practically lying, but he justified it as telling the truth, just not entirely. At least he didn't directly lie.

Kingsley nodded thoughtfully. "The few remaining sane aurors were discussing a familiar idea to that, but we are too few. Even if we might have the advantage of skills and will, it is almost impossible without a stable bulk that can support us."

Harry and Remus nodded in agreement.

"That's why we discussed it, you see the mission Dumbledore gave is really important, but it's only a part of the equation. Even if we completed it, the tides of the war would've stayed the exact same, just with a long list of unnecessary casualties for our side." The young wizard spoke passionately, a thing that impressed the senior auror; the teen was clearly not naive.

"I think it would be more productive, Harry, if you shed some light on this top secret mission the professor gave you." Remus suggested.

Harry looked conflicted between the promise of not telling anyone and the logical part of his mind that argued about the stupidity of keeping it a secret. Finally, the wizard nodded and launched into a long and detailed explanation of Tom Riddle and his journey for immortality.

The reactions of the two older men ranged from surprised to downright disgusted. Harry took out the locket and let them look at it. They were hesitant at first to touch something that was tainted by dark magic, but their curiosity won in the end. After passing it around for a couple of minutes, the two agreed that indeed there was a dark presence inside of it. That was the final proof of Harry's story.

"Yes, I have to agree that finding and destroying these Horcruxes is a very critical mission. But, it should go hand in hand with the task of raising a rebelling army. One should not be ignored for the other, because we won't reach victory if we only concentrate on one of them." Kingsley said, to the agreement of the two wizards.

A silence hung for a few long moments as they contemplated the whole idea. Harry spoke after a few moments, looking at the newspaper again.

"How did she do this?" He gestured towards the article. "How was she able to make the magical world believe that we're dead? With witnesses none the less!"

"It is quite easy to answer this question Harry, considering the extent of the modification of Remus' memories." Kingsley answered him, causing the man in question to grimace. Said grimace morphed into a horrified expression as something clicked.

"Dora is going to kill me! She must be worried sick, especially with the baby coming. I have to-"

His panicked talking was cut off when Harry put his hand on his shoulder, trying to make him relax. Kingsley's words further put his worries to rest.

"Don't panic too early Remus. If we are planning to make this whole army idea work, I suggest contacting the band of aurors I talked about. Auror Tonks is one of them."

The werewolf sighed in relief and nodded, noticing that Harry was looking at him strangely.

"I see that you have reconsidered my advice Remus. What made you change your oh so noble decision to protect her?" Harry asked him, the slight frost in his tone making the older wizard flinch.

Kingsley slowly made his way to the farther corner of the room, realizing that they needed privacy. He waved his wand, making a quill and ink appear, as well as a bit more than a dozen pieces of parchment.

Remus looked at the angry teen in front of him, finding himself to be speechless even if he wanted to have this conversation in a long time. He did his best to recover.

"You did, Harry. After thinking about what you said, I realized that by 'protecting' her, I was simply hurting her and most likely endangering her even more. I'm sorry, Harry, I should've listened to you from the start. But, it's hard to do when you think that you're the one who's right." Remus said, regret filling his words as he looked at the younger wizard.

Harry's tense shoulders slumped and relaxed as he heard the last part, knowing that he himself was stubborn about his decisions in many occasions, even if he was wrong.

He looked at the last living link to his parents; one of his father's best friends and smiled faintly.

"It's alright, Remus, we all make mistakes because of our stubbornness." Ginny's face flashed in his mind but he batted it aside, trying not to think about her.

Remus smiled back at him, before suddenly looking nervous.

"While we're on that subject, I wanted to ask you something."

When he saw that he had Harry's attention, he hesitantly continued.

"The baby is going to be born really soon, and well..." he took a deep breath.

"Would you accept the offer of being his or her godfather? I know that the chances of any of us surviving are slim, but I want to make sure that someone will be able to look after him or her. I can't think of anyone who could in that role more than you Harry."

The young wizard looked surprised and shocked. It took him a few moments to reply, but when he did, his voice was low and filled with emotion.

"Of course Remus, I'd love to-"

He was unable to finish the sentence as he suddenly dropped to his knees with a pained yell. His hands rushed to his scar as Harry felt it burning and sizzling in agony.

He could hear Remus and Kingsley calling his name worriedly, but before he could reply, his vision went black and he could feel himself in a different place.