Harry awoke the next morning with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hastily got dressed and raced down from his dorm room. He jumped out the portrait of the fat lady and made his way to Dumbledore's office. Trying to catch his breath he shouted the password "Gummy worms" and headed up to see the Headmaster looking very tired.

Harry was almost scared to ask the question that had been haunting him, "Sir is everyone okay, I mean the Dursley's are they dead" Harry held his breath waiting for the Headmasters reply.

Dumbledore studied Harry ruefully. "Please sit down. Harry this will take a few moments for me to complete the full story, so please allow me to finish once I start and then you can ask your questions" Dumbledore said while holding up a hand to keep Harry from speaking.

Harry just nodded.

"Sadly yes, Voldemort murdered your family last night, apparently by using your blood to resurrect himself he was able to bypass the protection. Arabella Figg, Hestia Jones, Mrs. Longbottom, Frank and Alice Longbottom, and 15 muggles were also murdered last night. The Granger home, the Lovegood home and Quibbler presses, and the Burrow were also attacked last night. The Granger's and Lovegood's are out of the country right now so all that was destroyed were the homes. All of the Weasley's plus Fleur were able to hold the Death Eaters off until we arrived." Dumbledore finished and waited for Harry's reaction to all the tragic information he had just provided him.

Harry had been holding his breath since Dumbledore had said his friends were attacked and finally was able to take a short breath at the knowledge that they were all at least still alive.

"Sir, was anyone hurt, I mean besides the ones that are dead?" Harry found himself holding his breath once again.

Dumbledore watched the concern etched across Harry's face, "Only some minor injuries, nothing long-lasting." He had hoped this would raise the boy's spirits somewhat but alas, it did not.

Sadly, in an almost whisper, Harry spoke "This is all my fault. They were attacked because of me" he paused to catch his breath and fight back the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes, "Miss Figg and Hestia Jones because they were watching over me. The Dursley's died because of the blood bond I had with them. The rest because they went to the Ministry with me that night and he knows that they are my closest friends, they are the only real family I have." Harry finished with an ache in his heart that could be heard through his words. This kind of pain bore deep into ones soul. Dumbledore knew this kind of pain all to well and it crushed him to see Harry suffering it at such a young age.

"Harry everyone who is not a Death Eater will be attacked sooner or later. We are in a war and many will be lost by the end of it. …Both good and bad. We can morn those who have fallen but do not dishonor them by blaming yourself. All the people affected by the tragedies of last night chose to be at risk. Yes Harry, even your aunt. She knew the risk of taking you in." Dumbledore stared across sorrowfully at the boy, no, young man before him.

"I know Sir it's just, some of last night would have been avoided if I had made my friends stay behind. I tried to get them not to go, I knew it was a risky and didn't want them to come along but they would let me go alone. I mean I killed Sirius, I nearly killed Hermione, Merlin only knows what those brains did to Ron, Ginny got a busted ankle, and Neville got a broken nose and a broken wand" Harry stopped realizing that Dumbledore had gotten up to sit closer to him.

The Headmaster stared determinedly into Harry's eyes willing him to see the truth, "You forget that you also helped capture eleven Death Eaters, kept Voldemort from getting the prophecy, and alerted the rest of the wizarding world of his return. I also want you to understand that Sirius chose to come to your aid that night, nothing, and I do mean nothing would keep him from being by your side in a fight. You did not kill him Harry, Mrs. Lestrange did."

"Sir, you captured the Death Eaters, kept Voldemort from killing me and held him off till Fudge and the others showed up," Harry retorted with a look of shame on his face.

"Harry you give an old man far to much credit" Dumbledore chuckled.

Harry stood up and started pacing the room. This reminded Dumbledore of how James would pace when trying to work out a problem and made the old man smile with thoughts of Harry's parents.

Harry saw Dumbledore smiling and thought the headmaster might have finally lost it. He shrugged it off as that was just Dumbledore. He continued in his train of thought and asked he most pressing question,

"What do I do now?"

"Well Harry the castle is yours only Professors Hagrid and McGonagall know you are here. I did assure Remus and Molly you were safe, but I did not tell them where you were. Molly insisted on seeing you but I held her off for the time being, which might I say was not an easy task. I thought it might be best to keep quiet right now. With your resent tragedy, I felt you might want to be alone for a while. You will have to excuse me Harry, but I must be off to the Ministry I feel that today may be most troubling" Turning towards the fireplace Dumbledore Flooed to the Ministry.

Harry then went back down and had breakfast. He took the Daily Prophet and began to read. The headline itself made Harry's stomach churn:

He Who Must Not be Named Personally Murders the Boy Who Lived's Muggle Family

As Harry read through the entire paper he also encountered stories about all the attacks from the previous nights, some even had photos of the destruction. The Lovegood's home and business was burnt all the way to the ground, absolutely nothing remained.

To go along with these stories, they had also printed recounts of Harry's encounters with the dark lord. Harry was unsure how they had gotten the information on some of those but supposed it wasn't exactly a secret at Hogwarts.

There was also a short story at the bottom of the page saying that some thought that Sirius Black might have been innocent. Harry's heart sank at seeing his dead godfather's name in print. Harry scanned the page for another subject to take his mid away from the pain and found it:

Fudge Demanded to Resign

Harry made his way through the article, which he thought was a little to kind to Fudge in general but served its purpose in requesting his resignation. He the folded up his paper and looked around the great hall. Feeling lonely and needing someone to talk to he headed for the nearest friend, Hagrid.

Harry made his way down the hillside to the small cabin that sat near the forest. He was glad to notice smoke was coming from the chimney. He walked up to the house and knocked. Immediately Fang began to bellow out loud thunderous barks. Harry smiled to himself thinking it was good to be home. Hagrid opened the door and took one good look at Harry before pulling him into a crushing hug.

Letting go, the half-giant greeted Harry, "Gud to see ya Harry, wundrin if yad stop bye. I herd about tha muggles. I'm real sorry Harry. The Longbottom's were gud peolple too. They will be missed. How ya hold'n up?"

"Okay, I guess. I mean I'm sad their gone but I never really felt like they were my family. My friends have always been more family to me then them. I feel really sorry for Neville, He lost his Gran and any hope that his parents might recover." Harry answered honestly.

" Jus' like you to be thinking of others in a time like this. Well, what are ya plans, Harry?" Hagrid looked proudly over at Harry

" Right now to sit down and have a talk with my friend, if he has time that is" Harry hopefully looked over at Hagrid.

"Always Harry, always" Hagrid replied with a small tear in his eye at Harry calling him friend.

There discussion lasted a few hours. They talked about Grawp's progress, the upcoming school year, Quidditch, Madam Maxime (Whom Hagrid had been steadily owling) and just life in general.

Feeling his stomach grumble, Harry decided to make his good byes and head for lunch. He was smart enough to not let Hagrid know he was hungry. He didn't feel much up to a trip to see Madam Pomfrey today in the Hospital Wing. After Harry had stuffed himself with the delicious lunch he decided to take a fly on his broom.

It was a beautiful summer day. The light breeze blew threw his untidy hair and whipped through his clothes keeping him cool while the summer beat down on his face and back. He made several trips around the Quidditch pitch clearing his mind of all thoughts. He flew around some parts of the castle just enjoying the enormity of the grounds.

Harry noticed he was passing by Dumbledore's office window and decided to see if the headmaster was back. As he peaked in the window he noticed Dumbledore pacing around the room obviously lost in thought.

He anxiously stuck his head inside the window so the headmaster could hear him "Um, sir," Dumbledore turned in surprise, but Harry continued " I was wondering if you might have the time to update me on what is going on with, well, everything?"

" Well, Harry I must say I am glad to see you but you gave me a slight fright" Dumbledore's twinkle in his eyes seem to beam out at him, "I may have to consider a Password for my window, though until now I have not had a use for one. Please come in, or down, I'm not sure the proper greeting through a widow " Dumbledore and Harry both had large grins on their faces as they started to each take a seat.

The headmaster began talking as Harry listened intently. Dumbledore informed him that Fudge had reluctantly resigned, realizing he had no chance of holding onto his office. Amelia Bones, Amos Diggory, and Dolores Umbridge (probably by a Death Eater) were quickly nominated for the position. He also informed Harry that Rita Skeeter would be by tomorrow morning to do the interview for the Sunday edition of the Daily Prophet. He also let him know that the election was being held on that next Monday.

Harry finally felt like he was being informed properly on what was going on around him. He found himself starting to little by little regain his trust in Dumbledore. He knew that the old wounds of Dumbledore hiding things from him would probably never completely go away, but still they were heading in the right direction.

Now it was Harry's turn to talk. Feeling a more comfortable around Dumbledore, Harry had a few requests he wanted to make.

" Sir, would it be possible for me to get a set of muggle weight equipment? I would like to start getting in better shape." Harry finished his first request and awaited the answer.

Dumbledore was impressed again with his pupil's ability to surprise him, "I do not anticipate that to be a problem, but I sense there is another request you want to make."

Harry was again in awe of the man sitting across from him. He did not feel him enter his mid but yet Dumbledore somehow knew. "I would like to have someone start training me on a regular basis over the summer. Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley or Mad-Eye would be great."

The headmaster agreed to check into the availability of those Harry had chosen and to get back with him in a few days with some sort of schedule.

Next, Harry suggested that the practice some more on his Occlumency. They began their routine of training and soon Harry was able to block him out for longer periods of time. At one point he was able to hold Dumbledore off for an entire 10 minutes and sent another Jelly-legs jinx at him (he knew that was his favorite).

Satisfied with his progress Harry decided he was once again hungry. He made his way down to eat. He was beginning to wish he had someone to eat with. It made the meal more enjoyable with someone to talk to.

He again began missing Ron and Hermione but mostly Hermione. Ron was usually to busy stuffing his face to actually have a conversation with, but Hermione always had something to say or to talk about. He really wished they were both here right now. At least Ron was entertaining to watch. He could clear three times the food as Harry in the same amount of time. It was quite impressive actually. Harry sat there finishing his dinner and thinking of what Hermione and Ron might be doing.

After finishing his supper Harry decided to start with his physical exercising. He started warming up by doing as many push-ups and sit-ups as he possibly could. He didn't know how long it would take Dumbledore to get him equipment and he didn't want to waist anymore time. After that, he then headed outside to jog around the lake. Harry figured he jogged around two miles, give or take a little.

Harry made his way back up the staircase (thinking this was a work out in itself) and into his room. He grabbed his nightclothes and headed for the showers. After a very long and relaxing shower, Harry laid down in his bed and began again to read through some more of his book. He found himself nodding off again, and quickly put his book away on his side table. He again began to clear his mind of all thought and before he knew it he was fast asleep.