Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling. Also this story is inspired by 'A Shattered Prophecy' by Project Dark Overlord.
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Chapter Thirty Seven
It was a day that Lord Voldemort had hoped would never come. He had always feared that the truth might make itself known to Harry. Lord Voldemort had always pacified his own fears by deciding that if Harry was ever to learn the truth, he would simply oblivate his mind and start over. Lord Voldemort knew that if too much time went by then the memories would be harder to oblivate, but memory charms could be used to make Harry forget.
What Lord Voldemort hadn't taken into account was the emotions that would arise within him at the thought of Harry abandoning him. When Lucius and Bella had reported back the happening of the day, Lord Voldemort had been extremely upset. But the moment he lost all endurance was when the image of Harry destroying his Horcrux had come into Lord Voldemort's mind. Seeing one seventh of his soul being destroyed and by none other than his own Harry, was something Lord Voldemort would always remember.
At the present time, Lord Voldemort was standing in the midst of his followers. His hand holding his wand was trembling as Lord Voldemort struggled to calm the rage building within him, so that he could give out instructions to his Death Eaters. It was their fault that Harry found out the truth. How could Malfoy not realise that someone was following him? Why did they not successfully oblivate Harry and bring him back home?
Harry had destroyed the Horcrux that Lord Voldemort had given to him with so much trust. Harry would pay for his insolence.
"Bring him back to me" Lord Voldemort commanded.
The Death Eaters bowed their heads and their voices rang out as one.
"Yes master"
"Understand this, I want Harry back alive!" Lord Voldemort commanded.
At these words, the surrounding Death Eaters looked at each other in confusion. Some figured that maybe Lord Voldemort wanted to kill the traitor by his own hands. The Death Eaters filed out of the chamber. Only two Death Eaters remained behind. When they were left alone, one of the Death Eaters spoke out.
"Master, you want him back alive? I don't understand"
Bella's voice sounded worried and heavy. Bella was heart broken at Harry's betrayal, but she belonged to Lord Voldemort. She could never disobey his direct command. Bella had been hoping that by some miracle, Lord Voldemort might spare Harry's life. Maybe if she got Harry back, the Dark Lord would be contented with wiping his memory clean. That way Bella could remain her master's loyal servant and have Harry with her again.
"Yes, Bella. I want him back alive. I have spent too much time and effort into raising him, making him stronger. I won't throw all of that away so easily. Harry will be brought back to me. He will have his memory modified so that everything can go back to being normal again."
At this revelation, Lucius cleared his throat to speak. His throat was still hurting from all the screaming he had done earlier. The Dark Lord had punished the senior Malfoy for his failure to notice that Harry was following him and for his failure to bring Harry back to the Manor. It was while he was convulsing in sheer agony, under the crucio curse, that the memory of Harry destroying the Horcrux had been brought out by Lord Voldemort. Needless to say the pain Malfoy had felt as the torture curse was intensified, was enough to make Malfoy spiral into unconsciousness. He had been brought back to consciousness by Bella, who had also been punished by the Dark Lord for the first time in front of Lucius.
"A thousand pardons my Lord, but, what about Harry's impertinence with destroying your possession"
Malfoy flinched at the dangerous look Lord Voldemort had thrown his way. He mentally berated himself for speaking out loud. However, Lord Voldemort didn't throw any curses his way.
"Harry will be punished accordingly. After he has served his punishment he will have his memory erased and modified. I need him in this war. I will not tolerate Dumbledore getting his hands on him. Bring me Harry! And bring him back to me soon or else prepare for your painful departure from this world!"
Lord Voldemort left the speechless and petrified Death Eaters standing as he walked out of the chamber.
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Harry had apparated back into those woods. He didn't know how he had managed to wandlessly destroy that Horcrux. He had felt an amazing amount of magic build inside him along with his rage. He had thrown that Horcrux at the Death Eaters and at once he had willed that Horcrux to turn to dust. He wanted that Horcrux destroyed. Harry had figured that somehow, his powers must have caused the Horcrux to burst into flames and then turn to dust.
Harry walked aimlessly further into the woods. He had no idea where he was. Harry saw a small opening in a dark cave. Harry dragged himself to the cave and sat just at the mouth of the cave. The air was cold and Harry only just realised that he was shivering from head to foot. Harry's mind was still swimming with all that had happened to him today.
His entire life had been one huge lie. Lord Voldemort wanted to kill him when he was only fifteen months old. Bella and Lucius had been involved in all the lies as well. They had never cared for Harry. They had put him through tough training regimes, taught him dark curses and made him kill at the age of ten. Harry put his head into his hands as he bit back the emotions that surged through him. 'How could I have been so stupid?' he bitterly thought to himself. 'The most feared wizard in the world who takes life so easily, the wizard whose name most can't even say due to fear! I believed he was a loving father! He was someone who would protect me' Harry thought to himself. He knew that it wasn't really his fault. He had grown up in the midst of lies. He couldn't really be expected to see through Lord Voldemort's mind games and lies, but Harry was at a point where his fragile mind was ready to snap. He had to blame someone, why not himself.
Harry thought about the Potters again. He remembered the photos and presents that he had found. Harry slipped the photo out from his robes and looked at the smiling faces of the Potters. James and Lily Potter. His parents! Harry looked at the faces of the two people he had grown up hating. The innocent people made out to be monsters. They had loved Harry. Even after Harry left them at Hogwarts, even after Harry had tried to kill James! They still continued to love him. Harry shuddered as he thought about what would have happened if Sirius hadn't saved James that day on the cliff. Harry would have killed James Potter, his own father, for no reason. Harry put the photo back into his pocket. He had to figure what he could do. Where could he go?
Harry knew that he couldn't go to Godric's Hollow. Even though he was certain his parents would take him back, Harry wasn't sure he would be able to even look at them in the eye. After everything Harry had said and done to them. It was too much. The other reason Harry couldn't go to them was that he knew James and Lily would try and protect him from the Ministry. Harry knew that the Ministry would find out and would take Harry away. Harry didn't want to go to Azkaban, not yet anyway. His parents would get into trouble with the Ministry for trying to help Harry. No, that wasn't an option. Harry didn't want the Potters to go through any more difficulty than they were going through already because of him.
Harry wasn't going to go to Dumbledore or the Order. Whatever had happened, to open Harry's eyes, Harry still hated the Order and the Ministry. They had given up on Harry fifteen years ago, when he was taken by Wormtail. Why should Harry do anything for them!
Just as these thoughts were going through Harry's mind, Harry's scar erupted in pain. Harry had been mentally preparing himself for this. He knew the rage Voldemort was going to feel once he learned about Harry's disappearance. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been when Harry had he Horcrux around his neck. Harry remembered Bella's theory about his scar hurting because of the Horcrux being so near him. 'I guess she was truthful about one thing' Harry thought bitterly to himself.
Suddenly the pain intensified, so much so that Harry let out a muffled cry and fell to the ground in agony. His head was going to explode with pain. Harry knew that this pain was because Voldemort had found out that Harry had destroyed the Horcrux. Even though the pain was intense and Harry was crying out painfully, he never regretted his actions. 'I would do in again in a heartbeat' Harry thought as he spiralled into unconsciousness.
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James and Lily walked out of the fireplace at the Order headquarters. They brushed off the soot from their robes and looked around. Dumbledore had called am emergency meeting at 9pm. 'What happened now!' thought Lily worriedly as she quickly made her way over to the living room. Damien had already been sent to the burrow that morning. He was staying with the Weasley family for the next couple of days. Hermione Granger was also there and was planning on making the boys work hard on their study assignments. James and Lily had spent the entire day with the Weasleys as well. In fact James and Lily had just arrived home about an hour ago when they got the emergency meeting message.
Lily prayed that nothing bad had happened. But she knew that Dumbledore would never call a meeting this late in the evening if there wasn't something big happening. However Lily had no idea just how big of an event had taken place earlier that day.
Lily saw that many of the Order members had not arrived as of yet. The only people in the living room at the moment were, Dumbledore, Snape, Remus and Sirius. James and Lily sat down next to Dumbledore.
"Where is everybody?" Lily asked as she sat down.
"They'll be here soon" Dumbledore answered.
"I asked you to come a little earlier than the rest. I think you should hear this first" Dumbledore continued.
Lily felt her heart sink as she heard Dumbledore's words. This had to be something bad about Harry. It just had to be. James and Lily held their breath and looked at Dumbledore, urging him to tell them what had happened with their eyes.
"The hour is late but the information that I have received has to be shared immediately"
Dumbledore looked directly at James and Lily as he spoke the next words.
"It's happened. Harry has left Voldemort for good"
James heard the words leave Dumbledore's mouth, but didn't quite believe them. He felt Lily grab onto his hand and he was aware of Sirius and Remus's reactions as well, but James himself couldn't quite believe what Dumbledore said was in fact true.
"What?" the question came out of James's mouth as nothing more than a whisper.
"I only received this news an hour ago. Severus came to see me and reported that Harry had been away from Voldemort's manor for the whole day. When he did return he went to see Bella in her room. After what seemed like a heated argument Harry left the manor in a towering rage. Severus said that he was told by other Death Eaters that many of them had been blasted away from the door by Harry. It seemed Bella was trying to stop Harry leaving but Harry wouldn't listen to her. A short while later, Severus and many other Death Eaters were instructed by Bella to follow her and Lucius. They were told to surround Harry but not to harm him."
Dumbledore stopped here to look at Snape. The greasy haired wizard was sitting quietly. He seemed to be observing the Potters reactions to Dumbledore's words.
"When they did find Harry, he refused to go with Bella and Lucius. From the conversation that took place it sounds like Harry met someone who told Harry the truth about his childhood, the truth about how and when he was taken from Godric's Hollow. Harry escaped and the Death Eaters were forced to go back to Voldemort empty handed." Dumbledore finished.
James felt like his heart was going to burst. He was feeling a number of emotions at the moment. The joy at hearing that Harry had finally left that monster was overwhelming as was the happiness that Harry had learned the truth about his childhood. That is wasn't his parents that had hurt him when he was a child. But at the same time, James felt a huge amount of worry and anxiety at Harry's whereabouts. Where was Harry going to go? Surely Harry would come back home to Godric's Hollow. He knew the truth about them, then why would Harry not come home? James also felt true fear for his son now. Would the Ministry give Harry a chance to explain? Would they allow him a second chance to live a life that he should have had in the first place?
"Harry is now in an even more vulnerable place than before. Not only is the Ministry and the Order after him, but now Voldemort and his Death Eaters will also be after him. It is now imperative that we find Harry and keep him safe from both Voldemort and the Ministry. Once Harry is with us, we can sort out something with the Minister. But I'm afraid that just now, Minister Fudge is not willing to listen to a single word that I have to say" Dumbledore said quietly.
"I know that this is hard for both of you, for all of you. But please don't see this as a set back. This is a wonderful thing, Harry has learnt the truth. He will no longer be used by Voldemort. Once Harry is back with us, we can sort out all other issues. We just have to get to him before anybody else does" Dumbledore spoke directly to James and Lily. Remus and Sirius sat quietly as well, trying to digest this information.
"Who…who was it? The person who told Harry the truth. Do you know who it was?" James asked quietly.
Dumbledore looked at James for a moment before answering.
"It was Peter Pettigrew"
At once all four heads snapped up.
"Peter!" Sirius spat the name as if it were plagued.
"Yes, Sirius, it was Peter who told Harry the truth. Where and how he convinced Harry of the truth, I don't know. But according to a comment made by Lucius, Wormtail had spoken with Harry." Dumbledore replied.
Snape sat quietly as the rest talked and discussed Harry. Snape wasn't even sure why he was sitting at this table. Dumbledore was doing a fine job in retelling Snape's findings. But Snape knew that once the meeting was officially started, his memories would be used to show to the Order members.
Shortly the members of the Order arrived and Snape's memories were used to show the confrontation between Harry and Lucius. When the Order saw Harry remove the Horcrux and destroy it, there were some very audible gasps. James and Lily sat motionless as they saw their son looking devastated and completely broken. They could see the anger and hurt shinning in his eyes as he looked at Bella. They could see the shaking of his hands as he threw the Horcrux in the air. Harry didn't know what he was doing. He was too distraught. That much was visible. James knew that Harry's world had come crashing down around him. James wished that he could find Harry. He wanted to comfort his son. He wanted to make Harry feel safe, something that Harry hadn't felt for some time now.
At the end of the meeting, the reactions were pretty much predictable. Some Order members were ready to look for Harry, to capture him for the Order. Others, like Alastor Moody, were convinced that the memory was nothing more than a trick by Harry and Bella. A trick to make it seem that Harry had rebelled, so as to confuse the Aurors.
"Come on Albus, can't you see through this charade! Harry was convinced that there was a spy in Voldemort's ranks. He didn't trust Snape! That much was obvious when he was at Hogwarts. Don't you think that maybe, they pulled this trick in front of Snape so that he would go back to report to you, and you will order Harry not to be hurt, but captured without harm. It would mean that the Aurors would be arresting Harry and not trying to kill him. It would also mean that Harry could double cross us again like he did last time when he was at Hogwarts." Moody said loudly.
"Alastor, I think you're over analysing this. Harry would have no reason to fear the Aurors. Voldemort has been given a sentence similar to Harry. 'The kiss upon capture' Yet Voldemort doesn't bother to hide himself or stop his reign of terror. Harry doesn't fear this sentence. Whatever you have seen in Snape's memory if true" Dumbledore tried to convince Moody.
In the end many Order members agreed with Moody. Others were uncertain if this was a trick to get to the Aurors and avoid the 'Kiss' or if it was genuine that Harry had left Voldemort. James and Sirius had literally fought Moody out of the headquarters because of his hurtful words.
The only thing that was in the three marauders minds was to find Harry, before anybody else does.
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It had been three days since Harry's rebellion against Voldemort and still there was no sign of him. Snape had reported that the Death Eaters were having no luck in capturing Harry either. There was no sign of him. It was as if Harry had simply disappeared from their world.
James and Lily were getting more and more agitated with everyone around them. They couldn't understand where Harry could have gone. Why hadn't he come home to them? They had decided to tell Damien everything. Ever since the pensive incident, James and Lily took the chance to explain everything to Damien.
"He hasn't contacted you at all?" James had asked Damien every day.
"No, dad! If he does I promise I'll tell you, okay!" Damien would reply in an agitated tone.
It was around 6pm on the fourth night after the last Order meeting, and all three Potters were at Godric's Hollow. Damien was sitting with all the study work that Hermione had given to him the day before. Lily was busy preparing dinner and James was left talking to Sirius about what their next step should be at finding Harry.
Suddenly the phone rang and Sirius jumped at the ringing sound.
"Merlin! Lily, why do you insist on having that heart-attack-causing-machine in this house?" Sirius asked as he massaged his chest where his heart was.
"It's only a telephone, Padfoot" Lily replied from the kitchen.
"James, please get that for me" Lily shouted as she continued to prepare food.
"What for? You know the only person who uses that stupid thing is your sister. She'll probably go into a fit if I answer the phone" James replied.
It was true. The only reason the Potters had a muggle phone in their house was because Lily's sister, Petunia, had sworn that she would never contact her using the magical way. If Lily wanted to speak to Petunia of if she wanted Petunia to keep in contact with her than she would have to get a telephone. Lily had agreed only to have peace and quiet. Petunia was a pain but she was her only sister. After Lily's parents had died they had made Lily promise that she would look after her sister. Lily thought that if nothing else that it was nice to phone and find out if everything was okay with her sister Petunia Dursley.
It was rather odd that Petunia was calling her at this time in the year. The only time Lily got a phone call from Petunia was around Christmas or Dudley's birthday. Since March wasn't the time for either, Lily was surprised at the phone call.
"Just answer the thing!" Lily said rather annoyed.
"Alright" James sighed as he got up from the table and moved towards the phone.
"If its Hermione, tell her I'm almost done!" Damien shouted over at his father.
"Yes sir" James mocked as he reached over to answer the ringing phone.
"Hello, Potters residence" James said as he picked up the receiver.
There was no answer. James listened for a reply but no one spoke. It was clear that someone was on the other end as James could hear the sound of traffic in the distance.
"Hello? Hello?" James repeated looking confusedly at the phone. He knew he was answering the phone in the correct manner, as it was demonstrated to him by Lily and in all honesty, it wasn't that difficult.
"Hello, is anybody there?" James asked again, a little annoyed now.
"Who is it?" Lily asked from the kitchen.
"Don't know, there's no answer" James replied.
James was just about to hang up the phone when he heard a response on the other end. It was a sound that he never thought he would hear, not like this anyway.
"Dad"
James felt his heart stop as he heard the word been spoken. It was said very quietly and James could feel the pain in the voice. James clung onto the phone, his heart was thumping heavily in his chest.
"Harry?" James whispered, unable to make his voice louder. After a moments pause, Harry answered.
"Yeah, it's me"
James felt his knees buckle as he heard his son's voice. He sounded so tired, so exhausted. James wanted to say so many things. He wanted to ask if Harry was okay, where he was, how he was, but all James could manage was a question in a weak voice.
"Harry! Are you alright?"
Harry took a moment to answer again. He seemed to be unsure of his words.
"I'm…I'm okay. I just wanted to say that…that I'm, I'm sorry!"
James was startled for a moment. Sorry! Sorry for what. Why was Harry apologising? He hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't his fault that he was taken by Wormtail so many years ago. It was James's fault for allowing Wormtail to come into his home and to take Harry away from them. Before James could ask why Harry was apologising, Harry spoke again.
"I should have given you a chance. I…I should have listened to you. I'm sorry that I never gave you a chance. I'm sorry for everything! Everything I said and did to you"
James understood what Harry was talking about. Harry was feeling guilty over the incident on the cliff. Harry had tried to kill James. If Sirius hadn't saved him, James would have died that day. 'That's probably why Harry never came home. He's too ashamed!' James thought to himself. In all honesty, James had completely forgotten about that incident. After learning the content of Harry's pensive and then the search of 'Alex' and the discovery of the Longbottoms, James had completely forgotten what had happened between Harry and himself that day on the cliff.
"Harry, listen to me. You don't have to be sorry. I don't blame you. You didn't know the truth" James tried to comfort Harry.
Harry didn't respond but from the sound of Harry's breathing, James could tell that Harry was breaking down.
"Harry, where are you? Tell me where you are and I'll come to get you" James said urgently. At this point Sirius, Lily and Damien were crowded around him. They had heard James say the name 'Harry' and had rushed towards James to listen to the conversation.
"No" Harry responded quietly but defiantly.
"Harry, please you don't understand. You are in danger! You have to let me help you" James said desperately.
"You can't help me" Harry replied. His voice was a lot stronger now, but James could feel the hurt in the tone Harry was speaking in.
"I don't want you to get into more trouble. I can't just come home and hope that everyone will leave me alone. It won't work like that! If I come home, the Ministry will take over and want you to hand me over to them" Harry said quietly.
"And you think that I'll do that?" James asked.
"You won't have a choice. If you don't, they'll throw you into Azkaban as well. You can't get involved. Damien needs you. M-mum needs you!"
James felt his heart leap painfully again as Harry called Lily 'mum'
"Harry…" James stared but Harry cut him off.
"I just called so that I could say sorry. If there was any other way, I would come home in a heartbeat. But I gave up my chance when I ran away from Hogwarts. No one will give me another chance. No matter what you tell them"
"Harry! No! You misunderstand. You will get another chance! Harry, please just tell me where are you. You need to stay safe Harry. Everyone is out looking for you. You can't beat the Death Eaters and the Aurors!" James tried desperately to convince Harry in letting James help him.
"Don't worry, dad. I'm very good at hiding" Harry said and James could imagine the sad smile on Harry's face.
"Harry, don't do this. Please!" James begged.
"Goodbye, dad. Don't put yourself into more trouble because of me"
"Harry, No! Don't…" James stopped talking as he heard the sound of the phone being disconnected.
James let go of the receiver and stood staring at the phone.
"James! What happened? What did Harry say? Where is he? How is he? James! Answer me!" Lily shouted as she tried to get answers from him.
"Prongs?" Sirius asked as James collapsed onto the sofa.
James looked at the three pale faces staring at him. It took him nearly twenty minutes to repeat his conversation with Harry. At the end of which, all of them were in tears.
"He can't just hide! Where is he going to go? Where is he going to sleep? How is he going to survive with no food? No! Harry can't survive like this! You have to find him, James. We have to find him" cried a hysterical Lily.
"Well, at least we know one thing" Sirius said thoughtfully. The three Potters looked at Sirius.
"Harry's not in the magical world. He's in the muggle world. That's why he used a muggle telephone to contact you. He knows that the magical communication systems would be heavily monitored. So he couldn't take that risk. He must be in the muggle world" Sirius finished his explanation.
"But where did Harry get the money to make that phone call?" Damien asked.
"Good point! I think it's time we went looking for 'Alex' again" Sirius said quietly.
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"I think you've gone bloody mad!" cried Draco as he looked at his friend intensely.
"Draco, there's no other way" Harry replied calmly.
"Yes there is! Do what I'm saying. Get your ass out of here!" Draco said again.
Harry sighed and sat down. The two boys were standing in the small building that had been Harry and Draco's favourite secret playing location. It was a good distance away from the Riddle and Malfoy manor and Harry was certain that no one knew about it. Harry had only stayed here for a few nights. He had already made arrangements to stay elsewhere. It was too dangerous for him to stay in the magical world. At least in the muggle world, very few people recognised him.
Harry was shocked when he saw Draco appear here that afternoon. He had not thought that Draco would even be able to guess that Harry would come here.
"Listen, Harry! You can't stay here" Draco tried again.
"I know, I'm going to be leaving today." Harry replied as he absent-mindedly rubbed at his throbbing scar.
"No, I don't mean that. I mean you can't stay here! In this place any longer. You have to leave the country. Go away. Go anywhere, just as long as it is away from here"
"What would I gain from that? Voldemort would find me wherever I go, Draco. Leaving the country is not an option for me!" Harry said angrily. They had been discussing this point for the last hour now.
"So what are you going to do? Hide here for the rest of your life. Try and stay one step ahead of the Dark Lord! How long before someone catches you? If not a Death Eater then an Auror will catch you. Harry, mate, you've got to open your eyes. You're dead meat if you stay here. Father told me that the Dark Lord has some very nasty plans for you once he gets his hands on you" Draco said in a fearful voice.
"Well, he'll have to get his hands on me first!" Harry said in a bitter tone.
"Harry, what are you planning on doing for the rest of your life? Running away from him and the Ministry?" Draco asked the raven haired boy.
Harry looked at Draco, his emerald eyes locking with grey ones.
"Life? My life was taken away when I was ripped from my family, Draco. Voldemort took everything away from me, my childhood, my parents, my family, my future, my life! I'm going to take everything away from him. He took away what was important to me. Now, I'm going to take away the most important thing to him!"
"What's that" Draco asked quietly, as he saw the emerald orbs burning with revenge.
Harry smirked before answering.
"His immortality"
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