Posted: December 10, 2004

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter and am not using this story for financial gain.

The Bonded

Chapter Eight

All things being equal, Harry would have much rather been spending his summer vacation in Tahiti on the beach with Ginny. Relaxing on the pristine sands with a good novel and a neon blue or green drink with a tiny umbrella in it. The waitress would bring Ginny and his dinner right out onto the beach and the married couple could eat as they watched the sun disappear beneath the crystal blue waves of the sea. Then maybe afterwards they would catch a cinema or simply rent a movie and snuggle up on the hotel bed.

As it was though, Harry was stuck once again at the Dursley's residence for some sadistic reason that was unknown to Harry. Dumbledore had refused to tell Harry exactly why the Dark Lord had attempted to kill him when he was but a year old and just as doggedly avoided explaining why Harry had to return to the Dursley's for the summer. He knew that it wasn't for lack of options. The Weasley's had written twice, asking if he would like to spend the summer with them and Hermione had also offered as well, so it most defiantly wasn't that.

No…it had something to do with the wards that surrounded this house. When Harry had first returned to Private Drive he had taken the time to classify and catalog all the protections that were placed along the house. At first he had been amazed at the amount of wards that he lived behind and the amount of power that was being produced by them. He searched for many hours before discovering that they were being powered by a small gem that was placed on the roof of the house. It was the main focal point of most of the anti-Apparation and Portkey wards, as well as the alarms and magic detectors.

By far though, the strongest of the wards tied into Harry and Petunia themselves. He didn't have a clue about how or why it was setup, or even what it was supposed to do but he did know that it was tied to him and his aunt and to a small extent, Dudley as well. Loathe as he was to admit that he was tied to his cousin in anyway, magical or not, Harry concluded that it had something to do with the shared blood between them as relatives.

But now one more person has my blood… Harry thought as he lay in bed one night waiting for sleep to come. Voldemort has my blood running through his veins. My mother's protection was useless at that graveyard…does this mean that this…this…this blood ward is useless as well? And if so, why did Dumbledore send me back into danger?

It was a quandary. There were so many variables to think of, objects and actions to consider, that it would be amazing if anybody save Voldemort himself knew what was going to happen next. Fudge had made certain that the wizarding world would be even more unprepared for any sort of confrontation, even going so far as to give the aurors extra vacation time in an attempt to show that everything was fine in his fake, perfect, political world. His bumbling could prove fatal in the future. Even the mages were cautious after the loss of one of their own!

Cedric… Harry had tried not to dwell on what had happened; he had tried to tell himself that Cedric was prepared for that risk, that he was ready to give his life up for his superior officer. He was a soldier doing his duty. It didn't make writing his letter of condolence any easier.

There had been no wife, no children to pass on Cedric's medals of bravery and valor. There had been no one to present the Phoenix Flag and feather to at the funeral. It had broken Harry's heart to see Cedric's parents crying for their son and not be able to tell them that Cedric was a brave and honorable man. How he wished that he could have told him that he died for noble causes and that his sacrifice could save many lives in the war to come. Indeed, if the prophecy was true, then Cedric had saved the entire world. Harry wished he could have revealed everything.

It was revealing things that truly had Harry worried now. With the way things stood in the wizarding world right now, Voldemort could easily crush any resistance and conquer the British Isle in a matter of days. The mages and possibly the sorcerers would need to step in and protect the wizards should anything go wrong but the wizards would have to step up as well. However, with Fudge in the way Harry would have little power in the way of persuasion to convince the wizarding world that Voldemort had indeed come back. Dumbledore's word carried a lot of weight but even that would not be enough this time. They needed someone with authority over Fudge and someone the people could see as a leader. They needed the Lord Phoenix.

Dazna was absolutely against the idea of Harry revealing his position as a mage and the Lord Phoenix, but Harry knew that he would win eventually. As Dazna continued to see the wizards were doing nothing his argument weakened, his points becoming less and less with each debate. He was, however, absolutely adamant about having the mage council's support before Harry revealed himself to the wizards. Harry could see the sense in it. It was much harder to argue with a man about position when he had nearly five hundred trained mages at his back.

Harry knew that the time had come for the mages to come out of their hiding and join the war that was surely brewing on time's horizon. It was time for him to take his place as the Lord Phoenix and protect the magical community as best he could. It had to be done and soon, preferably before Voldemort made his first move. It would not do to be caught flatfooted in this war.

Harry bolted upright in his bed. There was a person…no a few people that were magical out in the Dursley's front yard. They must have walked there because as far as Harry could tell…all the wards were still intact. He glanced at the small clock with the broken face that sat next to his lumpy bed on a makeshift light stand composed of a box and a few books. The Dursley's would never allow Harry to have anything that was actually comfortable or new. It would go against their very religion.

The clock numbers read nine fifty-five. Early enough in the night for some people to be out in the streets, but late enough to hide amongst the darkness if one was up to no good. Harry didn't know if the five people in the front yard were hostile but just the same, he did not know if they were friendly and that was far more important. He pulled the covers back and stepped into some jeans, foregoing a tee shirt in exchange for speed. At the last second he grabbed his wand and crept out the door. Magic was forbidden during the summer holidays but Harry wasn't going to let a stupid rule like that get in the way. Besides, it was for underage wizards, and he was a twenty-two year old adult mage.

His bare feet made no noise during the walk down the staircase and past the stairwell entrance into the main living room of the Dursley's private residence. Harry could feel the people walk up to his front door and he ducked behind one arm of the davenport, hoping that these late night visitors wouldn't end up waking the Dursleys. Harry almost reflexively felt for his sword and knives but they were still tucked away in the bottom of his trunk. It wasn't often that Harry went into battle unarmed and he wished he had the added comfort when he went up against whoever was standing at the front door.

The customary knock never came and Harry heard the lock click open from a whispered spell. He watched as the door slowly swung open and revealed two wizards with their wands at the ready. After a quick scan of the room, they separated and let the other wizards in from the outside before shutting the door and locking it once again.

There were five of them in all, the two in front had the slight, slender builds of females, the taller of the two seemed to be handling herself a bit clumsily and Harry was surprised she didn't make anymore noise. To the girls' left, stood a rather tall wizard, Harry estimated him to be about six feet two and with his hood down, Harry could easily see that the man was bald. On his opposite side, was a rather large man that stood in a hunched sort of way, he was staring at the ceiling as if looking for something and turning around slowly. As the man turned, Harry heard the sound of wood on wood and quickly glanced at the man's legs.

It's Mad-Eye, Harry thought. Deciding to be a bit more daring, Harry carefully extended his aura to scan all of the dark robed wizards. It was a great surprise when all five of the wizards and witches whirled around and pointed their wands directly at the spot where Harry was hiding. Oops… Harry knew that they had him now and any attempt at subversion or stealth would be unsuccessful.

"Who's there?" asked a slightly hoarse voice from the third and final male member. Harry's hopes leapt, that was Professor Lupin's voice. He knew that it was improbable for Deatheaters to polyjuice both Remus and Alastor, but he couldn't just take the chance. He quickly cast an obscuring spell on his body to block the magical eye that Moody, or the Deatheater impersonating him, was sure to have. Then he slowly began to magically construct a shield around his body while he searched his brains for options.

Sneaking around or using stealth were definitely out the window. Obscuring spell notwithstanding, Moody could still visually track Harry and now that the other wizards knew he was there they would be actively scanning for his magic. Subterfuge was also a no go. If these really were Deatheaters than no amount of coercing or storytelling would get him to safety. Even direct assault was not a viable option. If these were friends he did not want to harm them and there was still no blocking the three unforgivables should they turn out to be the enemy.

The only thing he could do was somehow prove beyond all possible doubt that these were friends or be forced to subdue or possibly kill them all. A sign and countersign was the best way but nobody had felt the need to warn him that wizards would be coming over to his house. The best he could come up with was having Lupin answer some type of question that only the true Remus would be able to answer.

However, with the escape of Wormtail in his third year of Hogwarts, much of the information that Lupin knew could be passed on to any of the Deatheaters via the sniveling rat. All information having to deal with his parents, the Marauders, or Sirius was out. As was most of the events during Harry's first three years at Hogwarts, the traitor had actually been present at those times. Unfortunately though, that was pretty much everything Harry could think of.

There was a loophole though; Remus was extremely intelligent and Harry doubted that there were very many Deatheaters that could match the werewolf in a contest of brains. Besides, the Deatheaters would be extremely impatient and would want to leave as soon as possible, making a better chance for them to make a mistake. Being careful to remain hidden, Harry shifted slightly to gain a better view of Remus' face. "How is the map to Hogwarts drawn?" he asked.

Remus looked confused for a moment but there was no irritation on his face. Harry was certain, Deatheaters or not, that the five people had figured out who he was by this point. They would have to be morons to have not and woe onto the Deatheaters if Crabbe and Goyle senior were among the five.

A sudden look of realization flashed across Remus' face and he gave a proud sort of smile and replied, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

That was good enough for Harry, and unless they were to kill him on the spot, he would most likely survive long enough to get to safety should he be making a mistake. He pocketed his wand in the waistband of his jeans and stood silently, flipping the light switch beside him as he did so. "It's good to see you again, Professor. Have you been well?"

"As well as could be expected, Harry." His former professor answered tiredly. "And please, it's Remus."

Harry nodded, "Very well than, Remus. Perhaps you could explain why you and four other extremely dangerous wizards were doing sneaking around in the Dursley's front lawn this late at night?"

"We're here to get you out, Boy," growled Mad-Eye. "With Voldemort on the loose we need to get you to a safer location, we're taking you to the Burrow."

Harry was surprised, both by their destination and Moody's use of Voldemort's name. "So you're my guard then," Harry said, he gestured to the others. "Who are they?"

"Well…" Lupin spoke up. "I'm sure you already know Alastor and I…" he continued on at Harry's nod. "And this is Nymphadora –"

"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," interrupted the taller of the two witches. She had a pale, heart shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of pink. "It's Tonks."

"– Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only," finished Lupin. He pointed to the bald wizard Harry had noted earlier. "This is Kingsly Shacklebolt and the pretty one on Tonks' right is Jennifer Dodge."

The said girl blushed lightly, "Remus, you flatterer."

Remus gave a boyish grin that seemed to fit naturally despite his prematurely aged face, "Not at all, Jennifer. I speak merely the truth." The woman giggled softly and blushed a little more. Flirting aside, the werewolf turned to Harry and his face took on a serious set. "It is a dangerous night for us to do this Harry but we have no other option. There is good reason to believe that Voldemort will be assaulting Privet Drive tonight. The five of us are going to get you out and then more will come for the Dursleys and prepare for any type of an attack."

Harry nodded, "How are we doing this then?"

This time, Mad-Eye spoke up, "We'll be taking a Portkey. It isn't authorized so if we get caught, things won't be pretty." The grizzled man let out a soft growl from his throat. "But still, better that then let Voldemort's spies onto what were doing here tonight. Besides, the Minister may be incompetent but even he wouldn't put the Boy-Who-Lived behind bars." As much as Harry hated to admit that he got special attention it was true. Fudge would be committing political suicide if he arrested Harry.

"Then I'll run up and pack my things," Harry commented. "How much time do we have?"

Mad-Eye glanced at a small, golden pocket watch that he pulled from the folds of his robes and said, "They will be ready for us in ten minutes, so we should leave in about eight minutes." Harry suppressed a smile at Moody's flash of paranoia but knew that it was the best tactic they had, just incase something was out of place. "You nip up to your room and pack your kit. Tonks will go with you."

"Right," Harry replied with a sharp nod. He looked at the bubbly, pink haired witch and motioned with a sweeping hand up the stairs. "After you," he said politely. The young witch smiled and took Harry's offer, walking up the steps slightly clumsily. She didn't make much noise though and for that Harry was immensely grateful. If the Dursleys were to wake and find five wizards in their house….Harry shuddered slightly. Once they reached the top of the stairs Tonks gave Harry a questioning look. "It's this one," Harry said pointing to the door on her right. She nodded and stepped into his room.

Harry was glad that he had cleaned that day and that his room was in good shape. While he didn't keep his living space as pristine as the rest of the household he did like his things to be organized. His desk had the Charms essay that he had been working on earlier that day and several of his schoolbooks were displayed neatly between two bookends in one of the corners. His trunk sat at the foot of his bed his clothes and extra school items already packed inside. There were a few pictures here and there and it was these that Harry started gathering first. Tonks asked what she could do to help and Harry indicated the books on his desk. "If you could gather those up we'll be done in a few minutes."

A few words were exchanged between the two as they packed up quickly. Harry found out that his guard was composed of Aurors with the sole exception of Remus. Mad-Eye had been brought back to service after the incident last year and Tonks jokingly added that he was trying to regain some pride after being captured by Crouch Junior. Tonks herself had graduated Auror academy two years before and Jennifer a year after her. Harry was surprised to find that they were the only graduates in the last three years.

"Being an Auror is a demanding job, Harry," Tonks was telling him as they carefully carried his trunk down the stairs. "After Hogwarts, it's another two years of intensive training and class work followed by a year apprenticeship with active duty. Not very many people are up to the challenge and most drop in the first two months." Harry nodded as he listened to Tonks talk. He hadn't known that Aurors were so few in number and began to wonder if Wizards even had a protection system at all.

Moody looked at his stopwatch again and glanced around. "Alright," he said gruffly. "Gather 'round and grab onto the Portkey." It was a small book that seemed to be a cheap romance novel from where Harry stood. "Everyone have a hold?" Mad-Eye asked. "Yes? Alright then, here we go." Moody tapped the book once with his wand and Harry felt the hook behind his navel before speeding of to the Burrow and his wife once more.

When Harry hit the ground lightly after the Portkey came to a stop, his body seemed to be reacting on autopilot, ducking and curling up into a forward roll and popping back up in a defensive stance. Belatedly, Harry wondered why his body had acted so automatically and turned to see what was behind him. His training was all that saved him from being hit with a bright red, angry looking spell. He dropped to the ground once again and rolled to his stomach, taking in the scene around him.

The Portkey had dropped them off in the middle of a war zone. Everywhere Harry looked there were small battles being waged and curses of every kind being shot to and fro. The Aurors that had came with Harry quickly adjusted to the situation, Tonks and Jennifer coming over and protected Harry while Kingsly, Mad-Eye, and Remus all joined the battles taking place. A quick count and a scan of his surroundings gave Harry all the information he needed.

There were twenty-four attacking wizards with various levels of skill, both muggle and magical. Each one was dressed in black robes and had pure white, skull like masks adorning their visage. Judging by the amount of dark magic they were throwing out and their masks, Harry felt pretty confident in being able to label them as Death Eaters. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters had the upper hand at the moment. There had been about seven defenders originally but two were incapacitated and a third fighting only at half his ability. The addition of Harry's guard brought the number of capable defenders up to ten leaving them still outnumbered by more than two to one.

The Burrow loomed in the background and Harry could plainly see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley defending their front doorstep with the rage of lions. Looking at the windows he could see the scared and anxious faces of the Weasley children watching the battle. Among them, he spotted his wife's face looking straight at him a concerned look on her face. He gave her a smile of reassurance and a small nod before getting to his feet and brushing off.

"Harry! Stay down!" shouted Tonks as she shoot an unknown spell towards one of the Deatheaters. "We can't have you getting hurt."

Harry simply ignored her and looked around the battle field once again. Rules be damned, Harry was not going to let this go on any longer, Dazna would just simply have to accept it. Of course, this would mean moving their time schedule up but this might actually be turned to their advantage. Carefully, Harry slid his wand back into his sleeves and slipped into a combat stance.

"Damn it, Harry!" Tonks yelled again. "Get do–" Tonks cut off as she watched Harry's clothes change with a snap of his fingers. Garbed in his fighting outfit, Harry snapped his fingers once again and his sword appeared in his hands. With speed and skill of long practice Harry quickly tied it to his back before turning and facing Tonks.

"You won't need to worry about me," he said politely to the now gaping Tonks and Jennifer. "I'll be able to handle myself. You two make sure you don't get killed, okay?" Jennifer and Tonks swore rather colorfully when their charge blurred into action and headed straight for the closest Death Eater. They didn't know what the fool boy was thinking, how he had changed his clothes, or where he got that sword from but they did know that he wouldn't be able to take on all those Deatheaters, Boy-Who-Lived or not.

When they turned back to chase after him, to their shock they found that Harry wasn't in need of any help. He had approached the first Death Eater from his blindside and a quick one-two combo was enough to drop him like a stone. The next was taken down by a quick low sweep and a stunning spell at point blank range. Remus, who had been fighting off the two Harry had just downed, looked up from his duel with another to see who his helper was. Harry smiled and gave him a wave before moving into action once more, chuckling at the look on his ex-professor's face.

The third Death Eater seemed to be more competent than his first two opponents, probably still a new recruit but a more experienced one. He dodged Harry's first two spells but was unable to counter the third and fell to the ground in a stupor, knocking the back of his head against a rock on the way down. He had, regrettably, enough time to get out a small cry of warning to his companions though and several more of the black robed wizards turned towards Harry, wands at the ready.

Harry sported a feral grin and got ready to play some more. After all, he may have looked like a fourteen year old but sometimes looks can be deceiving, especially when dealing with a fully trained War Mage.

Ginny watched calmly from the window as she watched Harry, her husband, tear through Voldemort's troops with ease. At first, she had been frightened when he and the rest of the party Portkeyed in right in front of a curse. She let out a sigh of relief when Harry darted and rolled forward responding to the threat even though he was unaware of it. It didn't seem to take Harry very long to identify the situation and react accordingly. Ginny sighed as she watched Harry fighting as a mage; they could hide the truth no longer.

She stepped back behind her brothers as they continued to stare out the window, Bill and Charlie tossing a hex of their own every now and then, and whispered a sleeping spell and promptly cast it on her brothers. She didn't like attacking her brothers from the back like that but it was the safest way for them to stay alive. She didn't want any of them following her out on to the battlefield or overreacting to what she was about to do.

Like Harry, a quick snap of the fingers had her garbed in appropriate attire and another snap had her twin daggers in hand. Harry had shown her how to summon her daggers to her in case a situation like this ever arose. She spun the daggers around in her hands a couple times, getting used to their feel once again. She had by no means slacked of in her training but finding time at the Burrow to do so alone was nigh impossible so practice was scarce. She sheathed her daggers and calmly walked over to the front door where her parents stood, fighting with fierce abandon.

"Excuse me, Mom, Dad…but I really should be helping Harry take care of those Death Eaters right now," Ginny spoke softly but there was a hint of steel in her voice.

Arthur and Molly shared a worried look. They had noticed Harry's arrival and subsequent fighting against Voldemort's shocked troops. Already he had taken down six of the Death Eaters and showed no signs of stopping. The efficiency that he stopped the Death Eaters with and the immense degree of skill, both martial and magic, in which he moved gave the Weasley parents absolutely no doubts about the power of the mages. Logically, they could see and understand the need for Harry to have combat support especially from someone who knew his abilities and limitations. But even though they had the knowledge that Ginny was an adult mage, it was hard to give up on the image of the young girl that they had seen and interacted with all her life.

Ginny could see the hesitation in her parents eyes and spoke, "Harry will be able to handle himself. I doubt that even without your help that the Death Eaters could overcome him. But they're wizards, you're wizards" Ginny emphasized hoping to remind her parents of exactly who she was. "He needs a mage for back up and cover fire and I'm the only one here that can do that. Please, let me get out there." Ginny inwardly cheered when she saw her parents sigh and step away from the door, leaving space between them for her to get outside.

Molly gave a sniffle, "Oh Ginny dear, please, be careful."

"Don't worry, Mum," Ginny gave a cheeky grin. "You should probably start dinner, it won't take Harry and I long to weed the front garden." Ginny waved her hand at her parents and cast an invisibility charm on herself. It wouldn't hold when she started attacking but it would be good for getting in position. Sneaking up behind a small group of the wizards battling against Mad-Eye and a tall, bald wizard she had never met before, she dropped the invisibility and using her dagger as a focus, hit the Deatheaters with powerful stunning spells.

Mad-Eye focused his good eye on her and she saw it widen slightly with surprise before he moved on and helped Remus get out of a nasty situation. Veterans were almost never surprised and if they were, it sure didn't last long. Turning her attention back to the battle as well she saw that between Harry, herself, and the Aurors, there were only seven Death Eaters left now as Mad-Eye and Remus took down two more. Across from her, she saw Harry stalking the remaining enemies like a lurking tiger. She grinned and fell into that predatory gait that Dazna had taught her as well; oft times intimidation could win half the battle.

It's an odd thing…Arthur thought to himself as he watched Harry and Ginny circling the remaining Deatheaters like stalking cats. How much my perception colors things. Arthur knew Harry better than most of the wizarding world. His youngest son had once asked if a friend from school could come over and Arthur had been shocked to know that the friend was Harry Potter. Then, when that messy-haired child had arrived on their doorstep one summer morning, watching all the hustle and bustle of the Burrow with wide-eyes, Arthur took it upon himself to get to know the boy better.

It had shocked him to learn that both Harry and his only daughter were married and mages as well. He had also felt a surge of disappointment when he realized he had missed out on so much of her life. He never got to walk her down the aisle, or torture her first boyfriend when he picked her up for a date…oh how he had planned for that day. He would be sitting on the couch with his wand in clear view, maybe magic up one of those muggle contraptions that the fathers usually used….what were they…shockums? No…a shotgun, that's what Harry had told him.

Yes, he and Harry had spent countless summer nights, staying up around the dieing fire and talking about various topics, mostly muggle contraptions. Harry was one of the few people that would simply sit and patiently explain whatever Arthur wanted to understand without getting frustrated with his overeager attitude. He had learned a lot about Harry during those times, even about some of his time on Phoenix Isle.

Still, for all their conversations and all their understanding, Arthur still viewed Harry as the savior of the wizarding world, the Boy-Who-Lived. He had always thought that Harry would be some type of shining beacon for the wizards of the light and defeat evil as if it were a piece of tissue paper in the wind. Watching Harry now, it was easy to for him to slip back into that propaganda and sensation that was Harry Potter; to simply ignore that this was the child that he had spent those late nights with.

Oddly enough, as easy it was for him to accept and relax when Harry was in immanent danger, he could not do so with Ginny, and from the grip his wife had on his arm, she could not either. Every time a spell or hex was shot in Ginny's direction, he could feel Molly's grip tighten and her breath hitch, he shared the same apprehension and fear, then the stark relief when his daughter easily dodged or deflected the curse. It was nerve wracking and he almost wished that he could just barge out there and pull her from harm's way but stopped himself each time from acting. He could only muck the situation up even further by doing that. For now, all he could do was watch and take pride in the skills of his daughter.

The Death Eaters were down to three now. Harry and Ginny continued to circle their pray. The Death Eaters, deciding that their fear of whatever Harry and Ginny had in store for them outweighed their fear of reporting a failure to Voldemort, quickly apparated away. Harry and Ginny both straightened up and looked at the spot where the cowards had fled from. Arthur saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked to his left. His brow furrowed as he saw a rat scurrying around. That looks an awful lot like Scabbers, he thought silently. But I thought Ron said he died two years ago…

He didn't have long to question though as the rat mutated into a short, rotund man right before his eyes. As he watched, the man pointed his silver hand at Ginny's unprotected back and muttered a spell of some kind. A bright neon blue light shot out of the tip of his pointed finger and ate up the distance between him and Ginny at an astonishing pace. Horrified, Arthur tried to get out a warning, "Ginny!"

Harry relaxed as the last of the 'prey' vanished, apparating to an unknown destination. Looking about him, he saw Mad-Eye and the rest binding the unconscious Death Eaters, snapping their wand, and occasionally binding wounds received so as to make sure the prisoners would remain questionable. His gaze was pulled away from Remus conjuring ropes around a small group by Arthur's panicked scream.

"Ginny!"

Harry whirled around just in time to see a bright neon blue ball of light slam into the small of Ginny's back. He watched as his wife's eyes went wide with shock before fluttering closed and her body going limp. Harry was by her side and holding her in his arms before she even began to fall. Quickly erecting a powerful shield over the two of them on case her attacker tried something else, he laid her light body on the ground and checked her over, letting the Aurors handle whoever it was.

An immense sigh of relief crashed through him when he saw that Ginny was still breathing and there was no outward physical injuries nor could he feel any pain through the bond. It appeared as if she was merely sleeping and nothing else. Still, Harry refrained from trying to waken her; the color of the spell was unlike any he had ever seen before. Sure there were a few spells that gave off a blue light but it was always of a darker variety, not the neon blue that hit Ginny.

Dispersing the shield Harry stood up and looked at an anxious Arthur and Molly. "She's fine," he said noticing the instant look of relief that washed over both their faces. "But I want someone to take a closer look at her just to be certain. I've never seen a spell like that before and I want a professional to give their diagnosis." Harry looked behind the worried couple and saw Remus and the rest standing there, looking worried and confused.

Molly spoke up, "I'll floo Madame Pomfrey immediately, she'll be able to help." She turned to go inside but Harry stopped her.

"Don't bother Mrs. Weasley," he said. "I've got better resources." He pulled a small phone out of his pocket and thanked the genius that decided to issue them to all the mages on Phoenix Isle. He dialed a quick number that was far longer than most. A second later a pleasant female voice came on the line. Quickly, he rattled off some orders, "This Captain Harry Potter, Id: Alpha-six-Charlie-Bravo. I am located at Captain Ginny Potter's current place of residence and am in need of an immediate strike team and medic crew. She is in need of medical assistance. Repeat. I am at the Burrow and need backup and a doc."

"Roger that, Captain Potter. Strike team and Medics should be arriving momentarily. General Sylvan has been alerted to your situation and is on route," The dispatch hesitated here for a second and continued. "I pray that your wife is fine Commander…out."

Harry closed the connection and pocketed the phone once more. Drawing in a deep breath, he held it for a second and closed his eyes. Letting it out he, opened his eyes and turned towards Arthur. "Who was it?" he asked in a tone as cold as death.

Arthur's face became almost as hard as Harry's. "We don't know, he got away," he growled. "I saw the man myself, he was a rat animagus but he looked a lot like Scabbers."

"Pettigrew…" Harry ground out.

"You know who it was?" Arthur asked, surprised.

Harry nodded, "His name is Peter Pettigrew –"

"The man murdered by Sirius Black?"

"The same though the roles were actually reversed. Peter was the one who betrayed my parents and killed those muggles, framing Sirius and, I am sorry to tell you this, hiding out with your family as Scabbers for twelve years." Harry's fists clinched and his voice dropped dangerously low. "But I can assure you…the next time I see him he will not live out the day."

Arthur stepped back, whether from the realization that he had been housing a mass murder or from the tone in which Harry spoke those words, Harry didn't know. Whatever the reason, Arthur's reaction served to jolt Harry out of it just as he felt the squads of mages teleporting in. The wizard Aurors gave up a startled cry and raised their wands in defiance but the mage strike team quickly and efficiently disarmed them, ready to deal some damage to the ones they thought responsible. Harry's voice stopped them cold.

"Stand down!" Harry roared.

"But Sir!" one of the lieutenants protested.

"I said stand down!" Harry continued to yell, overriding his subordinate's objection. "These wizards are friends!" He glared at the soldier making sure his order was followed. The mage seemed to deflate and lowered his hand from Moody's face. Harry gave a small nod, "Who's your leader, soldier?"

"Lieutenant Commander Stephens, Sir."

Harry nodded in approval; Jill had helped Dazna out when training Harry on many occasions. "Lieutenant Stephens," he called out. One of the mages that had surrounded Moody looked up and made her way towards Harry. Jill was a tall woman, with long legs making up most of her height which was an impressive five ten. As always, her honey colored hair was tied back that touched her lower back. She wore the standard mage uniform, loose black silk pants tied off at the ankles and a tight fit black turtle neck that had the single silver bar that designated her rank attached at her neck. A phoenix holding its wings protectively around a tower was the insignia for the mage army and it was embroidered on her left shoulder. Underneath it was her name written in silver.

"Sir?" Jill asked, sheathing her sword as she did so.

"Lieutenant, I want you to send three men to secure the area, one mile radius. Have the medics start working on Ginny immediately and patching up any who need it. Have the rest of your men guard the prisoners and take up defense locations in the immediate vicinity. You're on me." Harry's orders were followed quickly and precisely, three men jogged off towards the forest to check the perimeter and the rest did their jobs well. Satisfied that everything was followed through, Harry turned and walked over to where the Aurors and Weasley parents stood. All the boys were still sleeping thanks to Ginny's spell.

As Harry approached, it was Tonks that asked the first question. "What's going on Harry? Who are these people? Why did you run off and where did you learn to fight like that? Can you really do advanced wandless magic? Is –?" She was rambling and Harry could see in the others' eyes that they wanted answers to these questions too.

Harry held up a hand to stop Tonks' babbling, "I know that you have questions and that stuff may seem a bit strange to you but I'm going to ask that you wait for a little bit while I finish up things here. Dumbledore and Fudge will be arriving soon and I need to set a few things straight with them." The group looked about to protest but Harry stopped them, "I promise I will tell you everything you need to know but later."

Jill tapped his shoulder and Harry spared her a glance. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "Sir, perimeter had been secured and General Sylvan is here."

"Good, tell your men to continue a roaming patrol out there and escort Dazna up here. I want to talk to him before Dumbledore or Fud–" A cry of outrage rang out through the night and Harry and Jill whirled around to see what was going on, Jill stepping a bit closer to Harry to better protect him. The sight that met their eyes was almost comic.

"I am the Minister of Magic and I demand that you release me at once!" Fudge was being held back by one of his mages and the two Auror bodyguards that came with him were on the ground being held at sword point. Fudge was struggling for all he was worth and his face was a bright red from his yelling. "I'll have you in Azkaban for this, mark my words!"

Harry hid a small smile at the situation and walked forward to 'greet' the Minister. "Why Minister Fudge!" Harry called out jovially. "How good of you to join us. We had been expecting you but I honestly did not think that you would be arriving so soon."

Fudge gaped as Harry greeted him as if he was here for nothing more than tea. Shock only lasted for a moment before giving way to anger. "Is this your doing Potter?" he asked. "Your wand will be snapped for this alone, just you wait. I order you to call of these goons this instant. Let me go!"

"Now, now, Minister, let's not be too hasty. Also, I would ask that you refrain from calling my Lieutenants…'goons.' It's not very polite." Harry had a small smile on his face and spoke calmly and lightly, knowing that it would infuriate the minister even more.

"Lieutenants?" Fudge asked in a shocked voice.

Harry let the smile slip off his face and heaved a large sigh. The Minister had been a good man when he was voted into office. The people of the wizarding community had made a good choice when voting him into office. It was his plans and ideas that got the wizarding world back on its feet and thriving so soon after the Dark War. He was very good at politics and knew how to play the game.

Eventually though, he had become too entrenched in the power of his office, swayed by the power of Lucius' gold. He had forgotten somewhere along the line that he was there to serve the people…not rule them. Harry still had hopes for the man though, the people followed him once and with luck, they would do so again. However, before that could happen things would have to change and one was the man's attitude. "Yes Cornelius, my Lieutenants."

Fudge sputtered in outrage, "You will address me as Minister, young man!"

Harry shook his head, "No Cornelius, I do not fall under your province of government. I can address you in anyway I see fit."

"What do you –" Then Fudge saw the Aurors standing by Ginny and the doctor, watching the exchange between Harry and the minister closely. "You Aurors, I command you to arrest Harry Pott –"

"Cornelius Fudge!" Harry roared allowing his power to envelop him and flow about him. The very air around Harry began to crackle and pop with suppressed energy. "Do not assume that your word is law. You do not have authority over me!" The ground around him began to shake and depressions were beginning to form all around him from the force of his energy. "If you force this issue, it will be your last mistake in the capacity of Minister of Magic. Do not clutch so tightly to your office that it slips through your fingers like grains of sand!"

Fudge let out a soft whimper as he looked upon the power that was Harry's to control. Even the aurors seemed to only be able to gape at the display. Many had seen powerful wizards before during their tenure as aurors, but the amount of energy Harry was putting off right now was beyond any wizard that they had ever seen save perhaps Dumbledore or Voldemort. Minister Fudge may have been their boss but even if Harry's strike team not been there, they would have had plenty of doubts at being able to arrest the young man that stood before them.

Harry relaxed and let his magic flow back into him. "You were a good man once," he spoke softly to Cornelius. "Show me…show the world that the man you used to be still exists. Don't let yourself be controlled by your feelings of self-importance." The Minister looked at Harry with fear and respect in his eyes, still struck speechless by the threat Harry had given. Harry sighed to himself, it would have to do…for now.

Harry turned away from the minister and began to walk back towards Ginny when he heard an amused voice coming from his left. "Quite the show you put on there, Lad. I'm surprised the Minister didn't wet himself," the figure chuckled lightly.

Harry laughed along, "Sure looked like he was thinking about it though." He turned and looked at the man full on. "You got here quicker than I thought you would Dazna."

Dazna's eyes turned cold and his face hardened. "They attacked you and Ginny, Harry. Attacking my family is not something that I will tolerate." Dazna seemed to shake out of it and a smile made its way onto his face once more. "I see that you two managed to handle everything else just fine though. How is Ginny doing?"

Harry let out a long sigh and his shoulders drooped a bit. "Pettigrew hit her with some kind of spell that I've never seen before. She has no outward signs of injury but I'm still worried."

Dazna patted Harry on the back, "Of course you are, Lad. Come on…" he gestured towards the medic. "Let's go see what we can find out."

The pair walked over to the Medic. The man wasn't tall but still stood over Harry by a few inches. "Oh good, General, Captain. I was just about to look for you."

"How is she?" Harry asked quickly.

"From what I've seen so far," the medic said. "She appears to be fine. Do you know what spell hit her?"

Harry shook his head. "All that I saw was that it was bright blue in color."

"Bright blue, hmmm…" The medic drew his fingers across the side of his chin several times, lost in thought. "I haven't heard of such a spell before. I'd like to take Captain Potter to the Isle where we can get some specialists checking her over. We have better equipment there as well."

Harry nodded, "Very well. Prep her for transport and leave as soon as you can."

"Yes, Sir." The medic snapped to a salute before turning and appropriating three mages to help him leave.

Harry rubbed his fingers over his temples slightly, "Dazna, could you do me a favor?"

"Of course, Lad." Dazna replied immediately. "What do you need?"

Harry gave his adopted father a small smile, "Go with them and watch over Ginny for me. I would go myself but I still need to talk to Dumbledore when the old coot arrives."

Dazna nodded, "It would be my pleasure." The mage turned and started walking over to Ginny. "Take care of yourself Lad, and don't worry, she'll be alright."

Harry watched the medic and mages get ready to leave before continuing on towards the Burrow, he needed to be ready for when Dumbledore arrived. He was about to ask Jill to fetch some more guards when he was interrupted.

"Sir!" Jill spoke pointing behind him. Harry sighed and turned around.

Dumbledore sighed. Or he would have had his molecules not been traveling at the speed of light towards The Burrow. Apparating was a difficult task for many witches and wizards. Breaking down one's molecular structure into a stream of electrons, and then forcing them to travel to a new destination and reconstruct took a goodly amount of power. Not so much that it exhausted or tired them out…just enough to make four or five consecutive jumps in a row an impossible task for most people.

With a small pop, Dumbledore appeared in the front yard of the Weasley house, wincing ever so slightly. Consciousness and thought, lacking physical substance, stayed aware during the apparating process. It seemed that it took him longer and longer to reconstruct his body as he got older. He supposed that it was inevitable. Everybody got older and at some point, death was waiting. He feared not for his passing though. He had led an eventful and productive life.

When he had first turned eleven in a small village near the coast in northern Scotland, he had received his Hogwarts letter. It was amazing that after so much time had passed he still remembered that day so clearly. There had been astonishing news that day. The Americans had engaged in civil war. Scant fifty years after they had ended hostilities with Britain, they were fighting amongst themselves. The owl that had delivered his letter had been a beautiful brown barn owl and he could clearly see the Hogwarts crest sealing the envelope in his minds eye.

The letter had been a surprise to him but not his family. Albus had been away under an apprenticeship with the local blacksmith when his elder brother, Aberforth was admitted into Hogwarts. The magic in his family had seemingly skipped over two generations on his father's side. His father, having been a squib, was as unaware of the wizarding world as his muggle mother. His great-grandmother had come by the next day and explained to him many things about the magic world, both good and bad. In the end though Albus had gone and studied at Hogwarts with his grandmother parting some advice to him that he had never forgotten.

"Never trust your eyes and beliefs around witches and wizards, Albus," she had told them in a voice wearied with years of use. "When magic is involved, anything is possible."

It had been in his sixth year that Albus' life found solid direction. The entire school was abuzz with the news of a guest speaker coming to Hogwarts. While this was not an extraordinary occasion in of itself the speaker himself was. Nicolas Flamel. The renowned alchemist and only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone. Dumbledore had been anticipating the day with everybody else and when it finally came he sat as close to the front of the great hall as he could manage.

The man that came out on the stage, the man with the hazel eyes, had not been what Albus had been expecting. He had expected some grizzled, gruff man, who despite his brusque attitude would be extremely knowledgeable, if hard to get along with. No…this man was young – scarcely a few years older than himself. Lean and sinewy, he wore very elegant looking tunic and breeches and a smile that seemed to make you like him. Albus had not been thinking of a man that was currently somewhere around five hundred and twenty years of age to look like this.

The man's face was pleasing enough to look upon, gentle in appearance, with his wavy brown hair falling to his shoulders. It was the eyes however that seemed to draw you in. Eyes that held so much knowledge and experience, eyes that seemed to look right through into your very soul. They swept the room of crowded students and locked on Albus. For that moment, Albus thought that his entire existence was being weighed and measured. It was but a moment later that the man spoke, his voice calm and placid, "Do you know what the true purpose of Alchemy is, child?"

Albus felt the indignation well up at being called a child but forced it down. Compared to Nicolas, he was but a child. "No sir, I can't say that I do." A brief frown flickered across Nicolas' face and Albus couldn't help but feel that he had disappointed the man. He spoke up once more, "But I would be most eager to learn, sir."

The smile on Nicolas' face grew and he gave a hearty laugh. "I bet you would child, I bet you would."

It wasn't long after that, when Albus graduated and soon was an apprentice of the great alchemist. They were some of the greatest times he ever had, studying with Nicolas and unlocking the secrets of the universe. Many of his most important discoveries had come about during that time. But nothing had been more important than Erin.

It had been love at first sight for the wizard. Erin's violet eyes had captured him in their beauty and her long, dark hair entranced him. It had not taken long for him to get married to the wonderful woman and a year later they had a new addition to the family. With his wife and daughter by his side, Albus knew that he was content and happy in life.

But in the late eighteen eighties, disaster struck. Albus had already made quite a name for himself and a young dark magic user had seen him as a threat. A group of assassins had been sent to his house while Albus was away. They brutally tortured his wife, making his daughter watch. Rape was but one of the atrocities that had happened that night and when the men had had their fill…they left her, broken and bleeding to die, taking his daughter as hostage.

When Albus had found out what had happened, a rage such as he had never felt before filled him. He could not clearly remember what happened the next few months but he did remember the screams of the assassins and the pain in his daughter's eyes as the fledgling dark wizard killed her in front of her father. If it hadn't been for his friendship with Nicolas, Albus doubted that he would have ever been able to move on after that. The pain of their absence had never left him but he found that teaching children had helped dull the loss of his daughter.

And now look at me, Albus thought to himself. Headmaster of Hogwarts. Erin would be proud… Lost in his thoughts, Albus had missed the fact that the few Aurors that had come with him had been stunned and bound and that his own wand was no longer in his hand but the hand of a twenty something year old man in front of him.

Dumbledore blinked. Once…then twice. He looked around him and saw the Burrow in the background, scorch marks from various spells marring its surface. To his right, the guard he had sent to pick up Harry was watching over a large group of unconscious Death Eaters. Including the one currently holding his wand, there was a group of people he didn't recognize, clearly standing guard and protecting…Albus looked around some more…Harry?

His young student was currently yelling at Cornelius with fierce abandon. So shocked by the display of power around the young boy, Dumbledore did not notice the minutes pass until the Boy-Who-Lived was coming over and standing in front of him. It wasn't until he heard his name called that he came around. "Huh…what…?" his befuddled mind was incapable of processing what was going on.

Harry looked at him with his eyes that reminded him of Nicolas once again in how he seemed to look through your very soul. Only a moment had passed but it seemed like an eternity before the youth nodded and turned to the pretty blonde girl on his left.

"Memory wipe everybody but Dumbledore, Cornelius, Molly and Arthur. The medics are taking Ginny back to Phoenix Isle, alert me the moment something changes." Harry ordered.

Alarmed, Dumbledore looked around and saw the familiar red-headed girl, unconscious on the ground, a small group of people huddled around her. He turned back towards Harry, "Harr– "

Harry raised a hand, "Not now," turning back towards the girl he continued. "Have a team sent out here to fix and strengthen the wards, and alert Dazna that there's been a change of plans and I've gone back to Phoenix Isle with Professor Dumbledore here." The youth paused and seemed to think of something. "Remus mentioned that there might be an attack at the Dursley's, send a squad over there for the night and have them help the Dursley's move in the morning."

"If they refuse, Sir?" the girl asked.

"Then convince them," Harry stressed. "If necessary remove them by force but they are to have left the premises by 1300 hours. I want the squad to remove any trace that either I or the Dursley's ever lived at number four and securely ward the new house. Memory wipe all the neighbors and Vernon's coworkers…I want it to look like we never even existed. As much as I dislike my relatives I won't have them getting killed because of me."

The blonde girl snapped to a salute, "Yes, Sir!" She faltered for a second, "Umm…what about the Minister, Sir?"

"I'll be taking him with me as well, send one of your men back with him and take him to the council hall."

The girl nodded and left, allowing Harry to turn his full attention over to Dumbledore. The aged wizard tried once again to talk to Harry, "What is going on, Harry?"

The young man gave him a look and said, "I'll explain it to you later, for now…we need to leave." Dumbledore frowned as the young man took his arm and the familiar feeling of apparating washed over him.

Warden's Rants:

New Characters: Yes, some of the characters I have used in this chapter and may use in subsequent chapters are in the fifth book of Harry Potter. Though I will not follow fifth book cannon, as evidence by the chapter above, I do like a few of the characters and I decided to use them. Most of the other items from the book, I will not be using however. If you don't like it…deal.

Dumbledore: I just wanted to make a note and ask you what you though about my slight character development around Dumbledore. Did you like it, hate it? Tell me.

Cat: My girlfriend Cat is also a writer and she has decided to try her hand at a few stories. We work well together as a team and she often proof reads my stuff and I proof read hers. So she will have her own little rant section at the end of my stories and her stories might be making their way onto my sites as well. She had a FFnet profile but I don't know if she had any stories yet.

Website: I have finally gotten enough space and bandwidth to finalize the for of the website. Rants by me, Cat, and possibly Tytianne will be posted up there. Also does anyone have a particular scene they want drawn out? I'll have some time over Christmas break to make a few drawings to post.

Questions: All questions are being answered in my FAQ section on my website. Check my author's profile to get there.

Cat's Rants:

Hello: This really doesn't have anything to do with the story. But I'll get to do plenty of that later on. I do have a FFnet profile, 'Warden's Cat' if anyone is interested (don't laugh, I think its cute!). Hopefully you'll be hearing much more of me as time goes by. See ya!

Tytianne's Rant: Mwahahaha! Yet another chapter written, typed, checked, tweaked, and posted. Hope you guys have as much fun reading this as I did.

Flaming Reviews: Okay, now I know that Warden should be the one to deal with these but as his beta reader I feel the need to at least say SOMETHING! There were a couple people who reviewed after the last post that had some issues with this fic. DEAL WITH IT PEOPLE! Like I've said before, this is a FAN fiction. That means the author can do what they want with it. Also, these characters are NOT perfect by any stretch of the imagination. That is human nature. One review said something about teleporting out of the situation in the prev. chapter. The two mages didn't do that because it would have blown their cover and after that Harry was trying to get around Cedric's death. I would like to say something to anyone who has written a Flame review for this fic, or plans to at any rate. Read a little closer people and you won't have a reason to Flame because there're clues and answers to your "problems" all over the place. It's part of my job to ensure that those clues and such are there. So get OVER it!

Whew. I feel better. See you next chapter and remember to watch Warden's website for updates and stuff. You might even find a few blurbs from me there. Who knows?