Chapter 11 My Way

Okay, thanks for all the reviews. I mean that.

I did want to note that I am not getting notices that I have PMs. I note from other authors that it's a ffn thing. So, if you are sending PMs then it might be a moment before they are replied to.

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Harry went back to his room and studied the book for hours. He had heard many people try to call for him, but they all soon gave up when he didn't answer. Regulus' room was great, only he and Sirius could enter it. Well, and the house elves, but the others could not. They could come to visit with him in the lead, but if he wasn't with them, then they didn't even know where it was. Sirius had set it up the first day he was here. After he had talked to Ron and Hermione, he told Sirius that he wanted a place to hide. So, after Sirius had taken care of Buckbeak, he charmed the room. Harry was grateful for that bit of spell work.

The book on Occlumency was amazing. The part he was reading was very comprehensive. Thanks to Moony's personal insight on how his own mind was protected. The basic principle was that you envisioned an animal, like the werewolf, in your head. The creature would roam your mind in miniature, then if someone breeched your mind it would expand to its normal size. Imposing itself larger than life. Nothing but teeth and anger.

You can have a whole pack in there, wandering around. The main job was to 'train' them to hurt or destroy anything that entered. That was the hard part. Harry wasn't sure if that hurt the person in real life, but if it kept Snape and Dumbledore out of his head, he could live with them being scarred.

The book said that it was easier if you had an Animagus form, but if not, than any dangerous animal you were familiar with would work. Harry, who was a sadistic little prick when it came to protecting what was his, decided that the alien, from the movie Alien, would work.

The only reason he knew the movie was because he had snuck into hallway, out of sight from the living room, to sneak peeks at it. He had to scurry back to his cupboard many times when Aunt Petunia got up to get her 'men' their many snacks, but he still got to see the creature. He had been fascinated with it since.

He knew loads of movies by doing this. His relatives thought he was so cowed that they never even realized he was just plain sneaky. Stupid fools. The hat wanted to put him in Slytherin for a reason.

After he would get these sneak peeks, he would then go to the library and try to look up the book from of any movie that caught his interest. There were tons of them, and most of the time they were better than the movie. He had a lot of things he could add, Bigfoot, Freddy Krueger, Cujo, to name a few, but he stuck with the alien for now. He could just imagine what people would think if he put the whole of that American author, Stephen King, in his head. He did a full body shudder from that thought, perhaps not.

Settling on what he wanted, he sat on the bed and started to picture it in his mind. It took the better part of an hour but soon there were a swarm of aliens roaming around his head. Hissing, snarling, and sniffing around. They were transparent at the moment, but, according to what Moony wrote, with practice they would become more lifelike.

The book also said that you had to picture your mind, memories and things you didn't want people to know, in some sort of structure. Either a house, a dome, a cave system, or building of some sort. Harry thought that his cupboard was a great place. It so unassuming that anyone who didn't know his childhood, would never even glance at it. So, he put everything precious thoughts and memories in there, and let all the bad stuff hang around #4 Privet Dr.

If the alien didn't keep them out, meeting his relatives might. Vernon was scary enough when he got to yelling. Even Snape didn't reach his uncle's shade of purple. Sometimes, it looked like Vernon was an alien too. Only more like Jabba the Hutt, or something.

He wasn't sure which was worst.

He hadn't quite gotten it all set up when he heard a knock on the door.

"Yeah," he called, stretching and cracking his back from sitting so long.

"Harry, come on, it's time for dinner," Sirius said, opening the door. "Have you been at this the whole time? Harry, you don't need to get it right in one go," he said, joining Harry on the bed.

"I know, but I've almost got it set up," Harry said, stretching his legs, which had gone to sleep from sitting cross-legged for so long. "You should see what I've got going on in there. Not yet, I've not set it up all the way. But I will, you just watch."

"You've got time. It's still weeks before you head back to Hogwarts," his godfather said, patting one of his legs.

"I was thinking about that," Harry hedged, swinging his legs to the side of the bed and folding his hands between his knees. "I don't know if I want to go back," he confessed, peeking to the side through his bangs.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, worried that Harry might have finally had enough. Not that he was against it, just the opposite. He'd do anything to spend more time with his godson.

"Well, every year something happens to me," Harry said, almost in a whisper, like Sirius might not believe him. "Usually I face something, every DADA professor, Moony included, had tried to do me in. If Ron's right, then the Ministry is doing it this time. I don't want to go a whole year looking over my shoulder. If my luck holds true, it'll be the new DADA professor will be the culprit," the tired boy said, laying back on his bed and staring at the canopy top. "My luck sucks," he sighed, putting his arm over his eyes.

"I get that. Both Moony and Moody have told me about your run ins with the past professors, and I'm still mad at Albus for letting all that shite happen. But I have to know, are you sure? What about your friends?" the dogman asked, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him up so they could see one another.

"As much as I love my friends, they might be safer without me. I mean, they don't get into trouble on their own. It's usually them following me around that gets them hurt," the poor teen sighed, leaning his head on his godfather's shoulder.

Sirius jerked up his shoulder, making Harry sit up straight so he could read his face. "From what you and the others have told me about all your near-death experiences, I have to confess I was thinking along the same line. You not returning, I mean. However, you have to be really sure this is what you want. If it is, you have my full support. Heck, I'll hire tutors. Don't worry about your OWLs, we can get you passing those with straight O's. I know Remus and Bill would help. Maybe even the rest of the group I brought back. But, Harry, you have to be sure," he said, looking into the boy's eyes. All he saw there was exhaustion.

"I'm 85% sure this is what I want," Harry said with conviction.

"Albus won't like it," came the necessary warning.

"He can bugger off. You're my guardian," was the reply.

"Okay, think about it for a few days. Talk to your friends," Sirius suggested, giving him a one-armed hug. "I'll support you, no matter what you decide."

"Yeah, okay. I guess I should get more opinions," Harry said with a sigh. Then he stood up and started walking out the room. "Dinner?" he asked as Sirius joined him.

"Dinner," the other man confirmed.

And the two went downstairs to join the rest of the house.

The group of treasure hunters hadn't returned yet and Sirius was getting worried. He tried to hide it from the kids, but they could tell something was up. They kept shooting looks at him. He would just smile at them and then share a concerned look with Andi and Ted. They too were worried about their daughter, but they didn't want the kids to know. There was no need to let them know, right yet. It would be better if they were told that it was all over, and they no longer had to worry about the Dark Idiot. That's what they were shooting for anyway.

"Harry?" Ron asked between bites. "Can you tell us what you guys talked about?"

"Really, Ronald, at the dinner table?" Andi scolded, snapping more than she usually would. She would probably be tightly wound until Nymphadora came back.

"Now, now, Andi," Ted said with a chuckle, keeping the mood light. "It's normal to be curious," he finished, patting her hand.

"He can wait. There will be no discussion on the war, or anything related to it, at the dinner table," she snapped, glaring at her husband.

"You heard the lady, keep those questions until dinner is done," Sirius said, smiling at his cousin.

She harrumphed and went back to pushing food around her plate.

The conversation turned to Hogwarts, and Harry declined to make comment. The main question for everyone there was who was going to be the DADA professor. No one really knew and the letters hadn't come yet. So that topic petered out and talks turned to Quidditch.

It was just as Kreacher served afters, that Bill, Remus, and Moody came through the Floo. They looked like they had seen battle, with torn and burnt clothes and ashes and dirt everywhere.

"Oh, Merlin, what happened?" Andi asked, getting up, pulling her wand, and waving it at the trio.

The kids all scrambled to help, but they were shooed away by Andi. They all stood by the doors and watched as she waved her wand over the tired men. They were itching to ask questions but knew from prior experience that those would go unanswered.

Even Moody was too tired to stop her, and he hated anyone pointing their wand at him. They shuffled to empty chairs and collapsed.

"That was one well warded shack," Bill said, glancing at the kids.

"Did you get it?" Sirius wanted to know as he poured some firewhiskey for them.

"Sirius wait until I'm done. They may need potions," Andi scolded, waving her wand over Bill, who seemed the worse for wear.

"Fine, but they're there when you need them," the dogman said, putting the glasses in the middle of the table. "So, did you get it?" he asked again.

Moody reached over and snagged a glass, waved his wand over it, and then chugged it down. "Aye, we got it. Gives us a mo., and we'll take it to your safe," he said after blowing flames from his mouth. That did the trick.

The kids looked at each other, and as one, they turned and left the room. They knew the adults wouldn't talk to them. They were almost to the stairs when Hermione stopped and held Harry back.

"You guys go on," she said to the others, grabbing Harry's elbow. "I want to talk to Harry," she finished, dragging the unresisting boy to the library.

Harry sighed in resignation and followed along.

"Tell me what Sirius told you," she all but demanded the minute the door closed.

"No," was the curt answer.

"But, Harry, I need to know so I can tell you what to tell others," she said, stomping her foot.

"No, you can hear what I'm going to tell everyone," Harry said, folding his arms and glaring at her. "I don't like my friends demanding things from me. I thought we talked about you trying to be my mum. My mum is dead, and you are not her ghost."

"But…"

"No, that's final," he said, turning and walking from the room. He knew that the information he was going to share had to be minimal, and that anything that got out had to be stuff that he didn't care if Dumbledore knew. And what he said was true, while he loved Hermione to death, she could be quite pushy when she wanted information. She was just going to have to learn to take no for an answer. He was in charge of what he told anyone, not her.

He was glad he had sussed it out with the twins and Sirius beforehand.

He went up the stairs and joined the others in the twins' room. They were chatting about Hogwarts and who the DADA teacher would be when entered and he sat down on one of the beds, leaning against the wall and tilting his head back to look at the ceiling like it had the answers.

Hermione came slinking in a few minutes later. It looked like she had been slapped with a fish and she was thinking hard on what that meant. It wasn't often that anyone denied her information. Especially not those her age. Harry had always told her what was going on in his life, and she was confused as to why he would hold back now. Was that she was pushy? Or did he know something that might hurt her if she found out? She didn't know, and there was no way to find out, and it was frustrating her.

"Can you tell us now?" Ron asked, looking at the three in the know. "I mean, if you can. I know that there are somethings that you guys might not be able to tell us. Sirius did mention that there was harmful stuff in what he told you guys. But I'd really like to help if I can," he added, hoping that Harry wasn't in trouble again, but he'd be there if his best mate needed him. He knew Hermione would be too, even if they didn't have all the information.

Harry took a deep sigh and sat up straight. He looked at his friends and smiled. He knew that even if they weren't on the same page, he could count on everyone in this room.

"All I can tell you is that there's some dark magic in my scar, and Bill is taking me to the goblins to get it removed," he answered as vaguely as he could, while sounding like he was giving a secret.

"They didn't tell you what kind of magic?" Hermione asked, leaning forward to make sure she heard every word. Her hands twitched like she was dying to go and find out what could solve the problem.

"No, just that it's in my scar," the dark-haired teen answered with a shrug. Come to think about it, Sirius didn't mention what it was. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to know. As long as, it was removed he really didn't care.

"Why didn't Dumbledore know?" she inquired instead, biting her lip in confusion.

"Bugger me if I know," Harry said with a bit of a scowl.

"I'll bet he did," said Ron, thinking hard on all he knew about the Headmaster. "I mean, how could he not? He's always going on about Harry having to be some sort of champion. Yeah, he knew," the redhead finished, tapping his chin.

"I'll bet you're right," Harry sighed, then thought a moment. "Which is why I'm thinking of dropping out of school," he said, taking in everyone's reaction. "Well, one of the reasons."

"Harry, you can't…" Hermione started, only stop when Harry held up his hand.

"And you can tell what I can and can't do, why?" he asked with a lifting of his eyebrow. He wasn't being mean, but really, sometimes that girl.

"Oh, well, what I meant was, well, that you really shouldn't," she stuttered out. "Education is really important, and you need your OWLs to get a job."

"I know that, Hermione," he snapped at her. "I am not stupid you know. Don't you think I talked this out with my godfather?" he asked with a bit of scorn, then sighed. She was only trying to help. "Sorry, it's been a bad day. Well, not totally bad, but with this news that there's something in my scar… I'm just a bit short tempered."

"I'm sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I? I didn't mean to sound bossy, I'm just worried," she finished, reaching over and squeezing his hand. "I know it must be difficult, but Harry, are you sure?"

"Hermione, I know you worry, but still…" he left it hanging. "Anyway, like I told Sirius, I'm 85% sure that this is what I need to do. He told me to discuss it with you guys, but unless you give me a really good reason…" he trailed off again.

"I think you have the right idea," Ron said, thinking that maybe for once his friend might have a good school year, even if he wasn't at Hogwarts. Merlin knows, Harry never had one before. Every year Harry was there, was a bloody nightmare.

"What about Quidditch?" Ginny asked, thinking hard on what Hogwarts would be like without Harry. She wasn't sure she liked that picture, but if it made Harry happy, then she'd support him. But she wanted to make sure he really wanted that. "And the rest of us," she continued, pointing her fingers at the youngest in the room.

"I was thinking on dropping that anyway, because like Hogwarts' DADA teachers, Quidditch seems to want to do me in too," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"True," she agreed with a small smile. "Well, I, like Ron, support you. You might get a howler from Mum, though," she warned.

"I'll send one back if I do," he promised.

Hermione opened her mouth, then snapped it shut, thinking hard on what she should or should not say. She had already blundered twice; she would really be pushing the limits if she did it again.

"I wonder if," George started, looking to his twin,

"we should," Fred went next, sharing silent communication with his twin,

"drop out,"

"as well," they finished together.

"Think about it," George said, this time looking at his siblings.

"We can stay here," the other twin said, also gaging his brother and sister.

"with Harry,"

"help teach him,"

"And finish our educations too," they said together.

"Not to mention," one twin said, with a wicked grin,

"the wonderful,"

"amazing,"

"never beaten,"

"Marauders are here," they said with great praise.

"In my opinion, you two are adults, so you can do what ever you bloody well please. However, I'd run that by Sirius first. It's his house," Harry said, beaming at his lookalike friends.

Ron and Ginny slumped; they knew no matter how much they begged they would not be able to stay. They shared a look and sighed.

"Harry, what about Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, once more biting her lip.

"What about him? Sirius is free, and my legal guardian. I already talked to him and he'll support what I want," the teen said smugly.

"He's the headmaster," she said a bit firmer.

"Yes, and if I drop out, he won't be mine," Harry stated, folding his arms. "Tell me this, what has Dumbledore ever done for me? For all he goes on about having my best interest at heart, he has never, and I do mean never, stopped any of the rumors that have spread throughout school, or the wizarding world. I mean, he could have, at any time, told everyone that I did not put my name in the goblet, or that parseltongue was not evil. He didn't, instead he let me suffer."

"I'm… I mean… well…" she stopped. Everything he said was true. The Headmaster never once stopped Harry from being ridiculed. "You're right of course," she conceded. "Like when Ron said the Ministry was trying to kill you, I just wanted it not to be true. He's supposed to protect us. It's his job to make sure the school is safe. It's not, and if I could, I'd stay too. But, I think I'll stick with Ron and Ginny, because I know that their mum won't let them stay." She nodded her head decisively, knowing that she made the right choice.

"Thanks, Hermione. If Harry's not going to be there, we're going to have to stick together. Can you imagine what Malfoy is going to say?" Ron said, a look of disgust on his face as he pictured the blond harassing him and his sister.

"Well," she huffed, folding her arms and sticking her nose in the air, "I'll just have to sock him in his kisser again," she said.

The whole room broke out in laughter at the thought of Hermione dropping Draco Malfoy like she had done in her third year. Talks turned to other things, after they played with that image for a while.

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Meanwhile, back in the kitchen. Andi had done all she could for the three treasure hunters. They hadn't been as bad off as she first thought, but there were many bruises and scratches that she healed.

"Andi, now that you've healed them, I have to talk to these guys. Can you give us a few? I don't want to drag them to the study until they are a bit… livelier," Sirius asked, still sitting at the head of the table.

"Okay," she said, tucking her wand in her sleeve. "Come, Ted, let's let these men do what they must. Sirius, you will tell me as soon as Nymphadora shows?" she asked, waiting for her husband to join her.

"I'll send her straight through," he promised.

The Tonkses left.

"It was a bitch," Bill said, answering the question before it was asked.

"How so?" Sirius asked, pushing the glasses of firewhiskey towards the weary men.

"Tom is a marvelous curser. His knowledge of obscure dark curses is vast. How do I know this?" Bill asked rhetorically. "The curse on the ring hasn't been used in over five hundred years."

"What kind of curse?" the dogman asked, shooting back one last whiskey.

"A withering curse," Moody answered, while Moony put his head on the table and closed his eyes. "Remus and Bill fought over who was going to put on the ring. The compulsion charm on it was that strong. Good thing I'm impervious to such curses. But it took a lot for me to separate these two and bag the ring," he explained, then forgoing the whiskey Sirius poured, he tipped his flask.

"I'm sure you did great," Sirius said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm not all there, body or mind. I got it done, though," the one-eyed man mumbled, still sipping from his flask. He was too old for this shite. Constant Vigilance was exhausting.

"He saved our lives," Bill said, thumping the older man on the back. "Put a sticking charm on everyone's chair," he requested.

Moody didn't even bother to ask; he just waved his wand, and everyone was stuck by the seat of their pants.

"Great, everyone hand Moody your wands," the redhead said, handing his over.

Moony sat up, looked at Padfoot, then the two shrugged and handed the one-eyed man their wands.

"Okay, thanks, now can you levitate the ring to the middle of the table? Just out of reach," Bill inquired, twitching in his chair to see how stuck he was.

Moody looked at him for a full minute, tucked everyone's wand away, and then floated the bag with the ring to the center. Another flick of his wand the bag fell open.

Everyone, bar Moody, leaned forward, so Mad-Eye stuck their shirts to the back of the chairs.

Bill, fighting the compulsion now that he knew it was there, took a deep breath and centered himself. He waved his hand over the ring, in many different movements. These were spells that were required to learn wandlessly by all curse-breakers that worked at Gringotts. If you couldn't do them, you didn't get to go to sites that might have antique treasures. You only got to work at the bank itself until you did learn them. If you hadn't learned them by your second year, you were let go.

After five minutes of casting, the ring flared bright and the compulsion was gone. Bill slumped in his chair. Sure, he knew how to do it, but wandless casting took a lot out of him. He didn't bother with the withering curse, now that the compulsion was gone, it could stay. Though, he did want to study it.

Everyone sighed a huge sigh of relief.

"That was nasty," Moony said, once more trying to put his head on the table, but his shirt was stuck fast. So, he leaned his head back instead.

"Yeah, it's shite like that why curse-breakers never, and I do mean never, work alone," the oldest Weasley child said, waving his hand and putting the bag back on the ring. It just folded up, like a Venomous Tentacula over a bug. Then the cord wrapped around the top and they all relaxed.

"I didn't know you knew wandless magic," Sirius commented, wiggling around in his chair. The sticking charm was prickly.

"Only a few things. The goblins insisted," Bill said with a sigh. "Box?"

"Kreacher," Sirius called. "Bring me a box, please," he requested when the elf appeared.

With a snap Kreacher vanished, and an iron box appeared on the table.

Bill levitated the ring in it and closed the lid. "You can release us now," he said, turning towards Moody, whose wand never faltered.

A swish later they were all released from their chairs. Then without being asked, he handed their wands back.

Just then the Floo flared, wands went up, and Tonks came out of the flames. Kingsley followed her. They too looked like they had been fighting.

"We've got a problem," they both said, falling into chairs.

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I know the alien had been done, though I can't recall which stories I have read it from, but I love that image.