Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Broken

Two days.

It had been two days since Ginny Weasley was kidnapped while visiting Hogsmede village.

Two days since her boyfriend Harry Potter had disappeared in a rage to find her.

Two days, and no sign. No hint of where either of them were. Owls sent couldn't locate them, scrying yielded no results, the Auror's were clueless, and even Severus had heard nothing through his network.

He'd been summoned the night after Ginny had been taken, but only asked to brew certain potions and then told to return.

The first day had been frantic at best, chaotic at worst.

Hogwarts was in chaos, the ministry was demanding answers while getting in the way, and the Order had so little to go on there was nothing to be done.

The second day was even worse. The same questions, the same demands, but nothing new to report. Now the newspapers had gotten involved, speculation ran rampant from the heartbreaking notion of their deaths, to the salacious suggestion of them eloping on some distant shore.

But still, no answers, no leads, and for poor Arthur and Molly no hope.

It was on the dawn of the third morning when everything changed.

Breakfast had just begun. All the students were in attendance. After the abduction, it was decided that all students needed to have an added layer of protection and therefore were being escorted to and from all meals and classes. The Ministry wanted to assign Auror's to this job, but he'd declined citing their greater need defending the wider community and instead assigned professors to the task.

Conversation in the Great Hall was muted, especially at the Gryffindor table. From his seat at the head table he could see their drawn faces, a few even with tears. Young Ronald was the only Weasley left at the school, and his face clearly showed his distress. Barely touching any food, he was being comforted on one side by Mr. Longbottom, and the other by Ms. Granger.

Turning his gaze to the head table, he looked at the two additions at the far end. Arthur and Molly had been here very late last night, and had ended up sleeping on the couches in his office. Before sending them home he invited them to have breakfast.

Albus was just about to force down some eggs when a crash echoed through the hall. It took him a moment to place the sound, someone or something had thrown open the doors in the entrance hall.

Quickly rising to his feet he drew his wand and was about to issue some orders when the doors to the Great Hall burst open as well.

Only thanks to a distant part of his mind that recognized the blood coated figure standing in the doorway prevented him from casting.

The figure stood still, bloodshot eyes surveying the room slowly. His clothes, where not torn, were covered in blood. There was a bulky sac tied to his waist. However, the most notable thing was what he carried in his arms.

There, in stark contrast to his filthy appearance lay Ginny Weasley. Her body lay still, her arm dangled by her side and her eyes gazing up at nothing.

Nobody moved, nobody spoke.

Albus ripped his eyes away from the dead girl and took in the figure once more. Where before there was strangeness now he saw recognition. Even under layers of blood and dirt he could make out the features of Harry Potter. Yet something was different.

His eyes, no longer a bright vibrant green, were dull and dark. There was a ghost like quality to his face that made him uneasy.

Without a word Harry began walking slowly forwards. Still no one spoke, no one moved. An anguished scream broke this silence a moment later.

The wordless cry came from Molly Weasley as she desperately tried to rise to her feet and begin running at the same moment. Arthur was only a step behind her.

Harry continued his slow pace up to the front of the room, unaffected by the noise. Molly and Arthur met Harry just about the middle of the room. Harry gently lowered Ginny to the floor in front of Molly who fell upon her daughter crying and pleading. At the Gryffindor table Ron was shakily rising to his feet, disbelief covering his face. At his side Hermione held her hands to her face and looked horrified.

Dumbledore found himself walking towards the scene, though he didn't even remember leaving the table.

He stopped a few feet away. Molly was fully draped over her daughter crying. Arthur knelt by her side holding the both of them, his shoulders were shaking violently. A moment later a shaky Ron knelt beside them, his expression lost and disbelieving. Arthur quickly grabbed his son and pulled him into the family embrace.

And before all of them silent and unmoving was Harry Potter. Dumbledore expected the boy to be shedding tears as well, but he was very still and oddly calm.

For the longest time no one said or did anything while the family grieved. Dumbledore was about to quietly dismiss the students to give them some space when Harry spoke.

"It…it was a trap". He paused, "I tried….I tried to save her, but I was too late."

Molly continued to sob over Ginny's body, but Arthur lifted his head towards Harry. There was no malice nor condemnation in his eyes, but neither was there any forgiveness. He wanted answers. Harry met his gaze and continued.

"They wanted to lure me in. They knew I'd come if they took her. So a team grabbed her from the village. Shortly thereafter I received a message about what they had done and what they planned to do to her."

"I couldn't let that happen, so I after getting outside of the wards I used my connection to Voldemort to track them down. It wasn't easy, and took me an entire day of searching. I only had a general sense of his direction and so I did short range apparition jumps hoping to get there in time."

"It was a rundown old farmhouse in the middle of the woods. While I couldn't see anyone around I could feel the dark magic about the place. As quickly as I could, I snuck into the house through a broken window. I finally found them in the basement, all standing around her…"

He stopped and swallowed thickly. "She was alive. They'd been taunting and torturing her, but she was alive. As soon as I entered the room they all parted for me. It was obvious then that they knew I was there the whole time. That's why I met no resistance, they wanted me to see."

"She lay on the floor in the center of a large room, the death eaters surrounding her. Voldemort sat upon his throne observing it all. He said nothing, just smiled at me before raising a finger commanding Bellatrix to kill her."

"That was it. No speeches, no taunting, just her death with me as witness."

The whole room was completely silent. Everyone wanted to hear what he had to say, not wanting to miss a single detail. For his part Dumbledore's mind was spinning. How did Harry find Voldemort, how did travel so far when he'd only just learned to apparate, and how did he survive. He'd obviously been tortured given his appearance, but he wasn't showing any sign of it.

"It all happened so fast. One moment I had entered the room, the next she was dead. I saw the spell hit her, saw the light leave her eyes, saw her last breath. I went to her side, but there was nothing to be done."

At this he fell silent and said nothing more. Albus, much like the rest of the room, wanted more information. What happened next? How'd he get away?

Into this silence another voice spoke up. Shaky and gentle, but nonetheless clear Professor McGonagall spoke while moving to Harry's side, "Come Mr. Potter, we must get you to the Hospital Wing." Albus had never even heard the women rise from the head table nor make her way towards them. Continuing on, she addressed the room at large, "All students are to return to their dormitories until further notice. Prefects please lead the way".

Several students made halfhearted attempts to rise and follow her instructions, but most were unable to move. Eyes locked on the display in the center of the hall no one wanted to miss anything more. Perhaps realizing that as long as he was present no one would follow her instructions, Minerva reached down to help Harry rise speaking again, "Come Mr. Potter. We must get you to the hospital, you are covered in blood."

"It's not mine".

Silence.

Three simple words froze everyone all over again. Albus felt lost, most unusual for him. He hadn't been able to get his bearings since Harry had barged in, therefore it took a few moments for this comment to sink in.

McGonagall was similarly distracted, but hesitantly asked, "What do you mean Mr. Potter?"

Raising his eyes from Ginny's body where they had rested since he had finished speaking to Mr. Weasley, he met Minerva's gaze directly. "The blood, it's not mine."

"But if not yours then…" her voice drifted off, afraid to finish the question.

"The Death Eaters. They weren't just going to let me walk out of there." His voice was even, far too even for such a conversation. This unnerved Albus more than the boy's ability to track Voldemort, or even apparate so far. "Voldemort wanted me to suffer. Killing Ginny in front of me was just the start. He gave a grand speech about his supposed superiority and inevitable victory and then decided it was time for my suffering to continue."

"He began with a Crucio, but in my state of shock I barely felt it. Voldemort was…displeased. After several more attempts, he decided that his time could be better spent. He left with instructions that I be alive but compliant upon his return."

The words, calmly and methodically delivered, sat in the quiet room. Minerva was still standing slightly bent with her hand stretching out to the boy. The implications were clear. Harry was left to be tortured, and given some of the death eaters likely in attendance it would have been gruesome.

Finally mastering himself, having been caught off guard so far, Dumbledore spoke up, "I've very sorry to hear of your ordeal Mr. Potter. It is for that very reason that we need to get you to the hospital wing right away. After Madam Pomfrey has had a look at you we can discuss how you escaped".

Turning away from the scene and trusting Minerva to guide the boy to the hospital wing his eyes sought out Severus. No doubt Voldemort would be displeased with the boys escape. Plans needed to be made, defenses set in place.

However, once again, Dumbledore was stopped when Harry spoke up. "I didn't escape. I was surrounded, I stood no chance. Besides, she was dead…there was no point. So I did the next best thing."

Into the silence, Professor McGonagall asked the only question, "What did you do Mr. Potter"?

His answer was direct, "I went through them".

"What do you mean"?

"They wanted me to beg, to scream, to flee…instead I attacked. With both wand and fist, magic and blade, I waded through them as quickly and viciously as possible". Minerva's face had lost its color as he continued the grim explanation, "They were only caught off guard for a moment, but by then several of their number of already fallen".

"Macnair was my first victim. He had been standing with his back to me loudly detailing all of things he wanted to do to me. Separating his head from the rest of his body silenced him quite efficiently. The fact that the severing charm went on to take out Rabastan as well was a bonus. The distraction it caused Bellatrix was enough to end her life with a knife across her throat, with the benefit of letting her watch on as moments later her husband was cut down, a blasting curse taking out most of his stomach".

"The fools they were they gave little thought to bind me, instead relying on the crucio's to bring me down. They had no more luck than Voldemort did. Four more fell before me before one decided to change tactics and subdue me with other methods".

"They tried to block, summon, trap, and stun me. One even tried the killing curse, but ended up killing one of their own. It didn't matter what they threw at me though. I wasn't going to stop, I wasn't going to submit, and I wasn't going to be merciful". For the first time his voice had changed, turning cold and sharp.

Dumbledore continued to stare at the boy trying to understand. He was saying that he single handedly took down all of those Death Eaters in an enclosed space. These were adults with years of magical training, most with actual combat experience. Despite his growing power, he should not have been able to survive, let along succeed.

Harry continued his tale, his voice returning to its previous monotone, "More and more of them fell. Some to my wand or blade, others to their own spell fire. A few even tried to escape, though the wards prevented them from apparating, and the only way out of the basement was through me".

Harry turned his gaze to Dumbledore, looking eyes with the old wizard. "I don't know how long the battle lasted, but when I was done, they all were unmoving. I picked up Ginny's body and left the cottage".

"By this time evening had fallen. I was too exhausted to apparate straight back to Hogwarts, so I began retracing my previous jumps. It went faster than before as I knew where I was going, but still it was slow".

He fell silent, his story now told his eyes returned to Ginny's unmoving form.

Arthur continued to gaze at the boy. His expression could have been cut from stone. Then, slowly, almost hesitantly, he reached up and put his hand on the boys shoulder. Their eyes met and Arthur gave a single nod.

The boy had done all he could to save his child, had done more than the Aurors or the Order in truth. No one had been able to find where they had taken Ginny, but Harry had found her, had been there for her, avenged her, and returned her body to his family.

The hall was completely silent by now. Even Molly's sobs had subsided, replaced by silent grief.

As quietly as possible McGonagall began pulling Harry to his feet. Not trusting her voice, she began guiding him from the hall.

Each step echoing in the silent hall. Many eyes remained glued to the family grieving on the floor, while just as many followed the boys retreating back.

…..

It was nearly half a day later when Dumbledore was able to make his way to the Hospital wing to check on Harry.

After his departure from the Great Hall, Dumbledore rallied himself into action. He had the other professors escort all students back to the dormitories, Professor Sinistra filling in for McGonagall who was still with Harry.

Once the hall was empty he decided to leave the grieving family for the moment, asking a house elf to stand watch to make sure they were undisturbed and to notify him should they need anything.

He then went to his office to call the Aurors and the Order members. Amelia had sent a team of Aurors out to track down the cottage. Thankfully, Harry's apparition trail was fairly easy to track, especially since it was still quite fresh. He asked Moody to join that team as well. His magical eye would be an asset if it came to a fight.

Other order members were tasked with tracking down the rest of the Weasley family and escorting them to the castle.

Both Amelia and the Minister were demanding to talk to Harry, but he was stalling them for the moment. The boy was clearly in shock and would need sometime to face his own grief as well as come to terms with his actions. Enemies they may be, but killing anyone leaves a mark on person, killing many far more so.

Dumbledore cleared his head of such dark thoughts for the moment as he stood before the Hospital doors. Pushing them open his eyes quickly sought out Harry. Seeing the boys usual bed with the curtains drawn hiding him from view, he decided to check in with Madam Pomfrey first. Crossing the ward to her office, he knocked on the door and entered upon hearing her call.

"Headmaster", was her only greeting. Her tone was clinical and short, what he'd come to expect from the woman.

"Poppy, good afternoon. I came to check on Mr. Potter, how is he?"

Meeting his gaze for a moment, she sighed before answering. "Physically he's fine. Once I got him cleaned up and out of those filthy clothes, I only found a few cuts and bruises. His magic was more concerning. He was magically exhausted, and probably pushed things too far, but with plenty of rest for a few days I believe he'll make a full recovery".

"That's good news I suppose," He replied. "Is he awake yet, I'd like to speak with him?"

She glanced at the wall where she had a diagram of the Hospital ward that depicted each bed with a line for the patient's name. With the exception of Harry's, all were blank as there were no other patients. Next to the bed was a block of information that was constantly being updated by a series of charms she had cast on the boy.

"It looks like started waking up about 10 minutes ago. Strange, given his condition I would have expected him to sleep until tomorrow morning". Her voice trailed off in thought as her eyes continued to read the various notes here spells where generating.

Deciding to leave her to her work, Dumbledore began moving back into the ward calling out, "Thank you Poppy. I won't keep him for long."

She barely acknowledged him as he began walking to his bed. Once by the bedside, he gently pulled the curtain back enough to enter.

Harry lay there his eyes open and staring at the ceiling. He was in a clean hospital robe and his face and arms were free of the blood and grime they had previously worn, though his careful eye discerned that this was a product of a cleaning spell rather than from soap and water. Such spells were very useful, but never as effective.

"Hello Headmaster", harry spoke up, showing that despite his current condition he was quite aware of the man's presence.

"Hello Harry", he replied. "How are you feeling?"

Dumbledore almost winced at his own question. The boy had just witnessed his Girlfriend be murdered, and had killed an unknown number of Death Eaters. He was likely not feeling very well at all.

Thankfully, Harry decided to ignore the question.

Moving on, Dumbledore decided to push on. "Harry, I know that it will be unpleasant, but I need to ask you some questions about what happened. We have Auror's on their way there now to deal with any Death Eaters that may remain, and to secure the site, but any details you can provide will be helpful".

Still staring at the ceiling Harry's answer was short and direct, "I didn't leave any alive Headmaster".

Pain built in his chest as he considered the boys words. If he had truly killed all of those people he would likely bare the guilt for the rest of his life.

"My boy…", he trailed off, for once at a loss of what to say.

Harry slowly sat up, and reached down to the ground on the opposite side of the bed. He pulled up the filthy sack that Dumbledore had previously seen tied to his waist.

A sense of dread began to settle over the Headmaster as Harry met his eyes and said, "Voldemort may have made the first strike in this war Sir, but I made the second".

Taking the sack from his hands Dumbledore could not think of any response. He turned his attention to the sack itself and with trembling hands, he untied the rope securing it shut and peered inside.

There, staring back at him was the head of Bellatrix Lestrange. Beneath her severed head, he could make out the golden hair of Lucius Malfoy.

With a look of pure horror, Dumbledore looked back at Harry's face. The boy had laid back down and returned his own gaze to the ceiling. There was no smirk or hint of satisfaction, nor was there grief or regret either.

They boy had cut through his enemies and then removed their heads as a message to Voldemort.

The war may have just started, but already Harry had changed everything.