A/N:

Well, here it is at last – one year on from 'Harry Potter and the Year of Silence' – this is the first chapter of my sequel. Set in an AU universe, it follows the first four of JKR's books, then my book 5 fic. Now, because JKR's ideas far exceed mine, it would be rather stupid of me not to use them for my own devious purposes e.g. Grimmauld Place will be featuring here, because…well, what a name!

Hence I disclaim any right to anything taken from the Harry Potter books, they belong to J. K. Rowling and in now way or shape taking credit for them – she is a genius. Some ideas in here are mine though, so if you see something and like it – drop us an e-mail to see if I'm happy for you to use it – the answer will most likely be yes (the only time it won't is if the particular thing is essential to my plots/nefarious schemes.)

Summary

If you didn't manage to read 'Year of Silence' there's a few things you should know before reading this, and here they are:

This is a H/G novel, with a bit of R/H thrown in and who knows what else coming into the mix. People who liked the Seamus/Lavender incident in YoS will be happy to know there's more in this. In YoS I used my original character, Julian Kilmorie, as a wizard 'bodyguard' for Harry, to help the plot along and lay the way for further projects. He died at the end of YoS to save Harry and Ginny from the Cambirer demon, a shape-shifting monster of my own creation.

In the end though, something altogether different saved them, but even I'm not sure what that is yet (okay, small lie – it will be explained in this fic!). Throughout YoS Harry and Ginny came together, conveniently keeping Ron & his brothers out of it until the end of the year, when Harry and Uncle Vernon fled the scene at Paddington. Now, the story continues…enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Destruction of Hope

Chapter One: Unwelcome News

Vernon Dursley turned to the next page in his paper with an odd sense of contentment. The windows of number four, Privet Drive, were open and a cool breeze was blowing in, and a disgusted sigh from the kitchen told him that his wife, Petunia, was still observing their neighbours as they hosted a small garden party. It was, all in all, a perfectly normal night for the Dursleys, thank you very much. Surprisingly so when you considered that their nephew, who was forever scaring the family with his abnormal ways, was in the house.

Harry Potter sat opposite his uncle, reading the Daily Prophet with the same unease he had felt all summer, flicking the pages backward and forward. A year had passed and still he heard no mention of Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard responsible for the murder of Harry's parents, Cedric Diggory and numerous wizards and witches who had opposed him. Lines of concern crossed Harry's forehead as he continued to read. In Harry's last year at Hogwarts one of his professors, a wizard assigned to guard Harry, had been killed by a demon that Voldemort had unleashed. There was no news of it.

The only ray of light cutting through the cloud of misery that had descended over Harry for the summer was the almost constant bombardment of letters he'd been receiving from his friends, of which, admittedly, only half of them had been readable. After two dustbins had melted, Aunt Petunia had reluctantly given Harry a bucket of water. Now Hedwig threw any Howlers he received straight into the bucket to ignite harmlessly apart from the odd wisp of steam, which thankfully the neighbours failed to notice. Even if all the letters had been relating to killing Harry in various ways, he had found no better entertainment then listening to a watery chorus of Weasley brothers as they shouted themselves silly.

The reason Ron, Fred, George, Bill and Charlie were sending Harry so many Howlers was their younger sister, Ginny (The only reason Percy hadn't sent any was because he was too busy at the office). And it wasn't just Howlers that Harry had received from the twins, who seemed to have developed new and exciting ways of putting explosives into innocent looking parchment scrolls.

Luckily for Harry, Hedwig had stopped taking letters from the twins after a note had sent her cage flying across the room when it went off. Errol hadn't been so fortunate when delivering another, and his feathers were transfigured into rather fetching blue scales as the jinx in the letter went off as he landed on Harry's desk. At least I know where the Galleons have gone, Harry thought to himself with a small smile, wondering what else Fred and George might have invented in the past few months.

During the course of the past year Harry and Ginny had been drawn together, sharing experiences that had bonded them in a way far beyond friendship. Unconsciously Harry brushed his hand over his shirt, running his fingers over the smooth gemstone he wore on a silver chain around his neck, a similar teardrop shaped Liefgema hung around Ginny's neck, and through them they shared all their feelings. Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, had given Harry the Liefgema. He had passed it on to Ginny as a present, and over the summer Harry had been wondering whether that had been Sirius's intention all along.

With that thought Harry plunged into his melancholy state once again, because, despite writing to Sirius several times over the holiday, he had received nothing in return. The fact that Sirius hadn't appeared in the papers was something Harry was glad of, considering that, apart from a few witches and wizards, the whole country thought Sirius was a convicted murderer who had escaped a high security prison two years previously. What the Muggle population didn't know was that the prison was the fortress of Azkaban, a desolate place where numerous wizards and witches, some of whom had aided in Lord Voldemort's first reign of terror, were imprisoned.

And now he was back, 'Terrorising the world', Harry thought bitterly as he finished scanning the page he was reading. 'And does this bloody rag, have any mention of it-'

'Will you stop doing that?' Uncle Vernon grunted, as Harry flipped over the pages once more with little success at being subtle.

'Just looking for some news,' Harry replied vaguely, before finally folding the paper flat and dropping it on the floor beside his chair. Sighing discontentedly he stood up and left the room, considered heading for the kitchen before Dudley's backside came into view, the rest of his enormous vastness immersed in the fridge..

Leaning against the wall of the corridor he watched Dudley trundle back outside into the summer morning. Shaking his head at his cousins lumbering bulk, Harry wondered at just how there wasn't the sound of bacon frying as the sun hit the monolith of fat, before he making for the kitchen. He entered, deliberately treading heavily to let his aunt know he was coming, a fact she acknowledged by continuing to stare out the window and into the neighbours' garden. Harry spent a few seconds rummaging through the fridge until he found a leftover sandwich from lunch he had hidden behind something healthy earlier, knowing full well Dudley would go for the Gateaux instead.

Chewing off a slightly stale corner, Harry meandered back down the corridor to the lounge before stopping at the doorway. 'Would you like anything to eat?' he asked, aware that the only reply would very well be another request for peace and quiet.

In reply Uncle Vernon muttered something that sounded awfully like 'mimblewimble', a word he'd used once before, in the face of a very angry Hagrid. Looking around the corner, Harry saw that his uncle's face was as pale as it had been then, and his bushy moustache was running through a very interesting series of exercises. After a few more seconds of gasping and repeating his impression of a squashed mouse Uncle Vernon finally managed to get out a sentence that Harry could understand.

'There's...Ha...head...the...in...fire...?'

Following his Uncle's panicked stare, Harry looked into the fireplace where green-tinted flames and a head, a very familiar head, had sprung out of nowhere.

'Sirius!' Ignoring his spluttering uncle, Harry kicked aside his paper as he knelt down by the fire, only just remembering not to put a hand into the flames. 'What are you doing here?'

'I've got to be quick Harry, Mad-Eye is already on his way to you, should fly in with Remus soon.'

'Wait, who'll be flying in?'

'Don't interrupt, there's no time – Fudge just tried to arrest Dumbledore, now there's a group of Aurors in St. Mungo's.' Sirius added the last part with a satisfied grin that flashed quickly across his face.

'Fudge tried to arrest him? Where's Dumbledore now?'

'It doesn't matter. He's around.' Sirius replied, pausing for a minute before continuing. 'Harry - they're after you as well - some rubbish about subverting the Ministry of Magic - spreading lies and disinformation. Harry-' Sirius cut across his godson's sudden splutter, 'you don't leave the house - don't go with anyone unless it's Mad-Eye or Remus - and if the Ministry does turn up there...' instead of finishing Sirius just flashed Harry a wry grin. 'Take care of yourself, we all know you can.'

'Wait, Sirius!' But Harry was talking to the fire once more as his godfather disappeared in a swirl of ashes and the flames returned to their normal orange flutter. For a second Harry could only kneel there, gazing into the fire as it passed colourful patterns over his blank face.

Before he could run the conversation back through his head again, the flames took on another green tint and another familiar face appeared, that of Percy Weasley.

'Percy? What–' Harry was cut off by a loud knock at the front door as Percy cleared his throat, and then a louder thump as Uncle Vernon, now very, very pale, jumped upwards in fright, bumping his head on a lamp.

'Harry, open the door and let the Aurors in.' Percy said quietly, his eyes not looking into Harry's but instead flickering around nervously. 'They're taking you into…protective custody,' he added, seeing the look on Harry's face, 'just let them in.'

'What if I don't?' Harry asked in reply, keeping his voice steady as he continued staring into the fireplace where Percy's head sat uncomfortably. Percy smiled, but only for a few seconds longer.

Harry saw a hand grasp Percy's shoulder and pull his head out of whatever fireplace he was using. It was replaced a second later by the face of Cornelius Fudge, the Minster for Magic. 'Potter! If you don't open that door then Ministry officials will be forced to use…force!' Fudge spluttered, in an incoherent rage. 'Now go and op–'

Before Harry could say anything in reply, a wave of water suddenly flew over his shoulder and hit the flames with a sizzling hiss, dousing the fire immediately. Looking behind him, Harry saw his Uncle wielding the water bucket that had held several of his letters, scraps of red paper were scattered damply over the logs in the fire's grill.

Uncle Vernon's face was a mix between utter fury and downright terror, not since his fourth year had Harry displayed or encouraged any large amount of abnormality in the Dursley household, and now the fireplace was speaking to him! To make matters worse Harry was encouraging the flames by speaking back to the faces that had appeared in them, and now the damn doorbell was ringing itself into a frenzy.

Over his Uncle's shoulder, Harry saw Aunt Petunia walking down the hallway, intent on opening the door as the ringing bell became a constant tone in their ears. Seeing Harry's eyes widen in realisation, Uncle Vernon turned around in time to see his wife grasp the handle of the door. Simultaneously, their mouths opened to cry out 'NO!' as she turned the handle and opened the door.

A second later Aunt Petunia fell backwards in the hallway having completely fainted away. Pushing past each other, Harry and Uncle Vernon arrived in the hallway together, prompting the already anxious Ministry wizards in the doorway to jump in further surprise. It was very easily a nightmare for the both of them. Harry knew he couldn't do anything to oppose them, and his Uncle knew that no one in the street could have failed to see the two fully-caped wizards with their tapered hats. They were also, Harry noted, carrying wands by their sides.

For a second no one spoke, the wizards' mouths gaping at the furious titan of a figure in the doorway, Uncle Vernon gaping back at them, and Harry looking between both parties to see who would form a word first. It was one of the two wizards who broke the silence, 'F-for y-your own protection…' he began, quivering to a halt as Uncle Vernon's face turned a shade of beetroot.

'Change your clothes,' Harry said, his face whitening as his Uncle's teeth began gnashing together.

'C-change our cl-clothes?' the wizard stuttered, his face creasing in bafflement and anxiety as a low rumbling began to emanate from Uncle Vernon.

'He means dress as Muggles,' the other wizard said, whose voice was calm in comparison. Tapping his wand against his leg, the wizard shimmered in a haze, then his long cloak shortened into a jacket. The haze lifted, and the wizard was wearing a black suit. His stuttering colleague de-fogged a second later, wearing a deep purple suit.

It matched Uncle Vernon's face.

The second wizard cleared his throat, looking from Harry to his uncle. 'It would be a good idea if we could talk alone, Potter.' Even as he said this, Uncle Vernon turned redder and the growling increased.

'It's not my house,' Harry replied warily, watching the wizard impatiently tap his wand against his leg again. 'You'll have to talk to my Uncle,' he added, flicking his eyes sideways to observe the trembling volcano that was Uncle Vernon.

The wizard finally noticed the distorted rage on Uncle Vernon's face, and stepped back from the doorway, pulling his colleague backward as well. 'Perhaps we should give you a few minutes,' he said, putting his wand into his pocket and his hands against his sides. Nodding to them, Harry shut the door, then his eyes, preparing for his Uncle to explode.

He didn't. The purple colour gradually faded from his face, and it returned to its usual blustery red. Harry almost found it welcoming.

'Help me take your Aunt upstairs,' he said, a hint of the growl still there. Kneeling down, he lifted his wife's head and shoulders with ease, and nodded to Harry to indicate that he should take her feet. Between the two of them they carried Aunt Petunia upstairs with ease. After setting her down on the bed, Uncle Vernon nodded Harry toward the door, grunting as his nephew was almost out of hearing range. Harry turned back to meet his uncle's eyes as he spoke. 'No trouble,' Uncle Vernon said softly, 'if you can manage it.'

Harry gave his uncle what he hoped was a reassuring smile, then shut the door quietly. Leaning against the wall he shut his eyes again and let out the deep breath he'd been holding. 'One problem down,' he said to himself, pushing off the wall and walking into his room. Opening the trunk at the base of his bed, Harry picked up the familiar length of wood that lay on top of all his clothes. 'One problem to go.'

Walking down the stairs, Harry took another deep breath before reaching for the door handle.

'Where you going?' Dudley's voice cut into Harry's thoughts as he prepared to turn the handle, and he spun around, wand in hand. Dudley jumped backward as if he'd been stung, his eyes widening as he stumbled against the banister.

'Don't yell,' Harry snapped before Dudley could shout out, 'just get upstairs to your parents room. No matter what you hear, don't come down. And keep your dad up there as well.' Harry searched his terrified cousin's eyes, shoved his wand up his sleeve and took a step forward. Even though Dudley flinched, he didn't back away from Harry, just looked into his cousin's eyes. 'No matter what.' Harry repeated, then gave Dudley a gentle push up the stairs.

Despite his size, Dudley moved at Harry's touch, and waddled up the stairs. Harry heard the floorboards groan as his cousin moved overhead, waited until the noise had stopped and then counted to ten. Taking another deep breath, he checked that his wand was lodged just inside his sleeve, and then he opened the door.

The two wizards stood on the lawn, the one in the black suit talking softly to the wizard in purple, who was still trembling slightly. Looking back toward the house the black-suited wizard noticed Harry, and with a jerk of his head to the other wizard, they both walked back to the door. Standing in the doorway Harry just looked at the two wizards, eventually settling his gaze on the purple-suited one. 'You were saying?' he asked, keeping his tone light.

'For you own protection,' the other wizard said, drawing Harry's attention back to him, 'and by order of the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, we are hereby authorised to take you, Harry James Potter, into protective custody.' Observing the lack of reaction from Harry he tried to lock gazes with the young wizard. 'Effective immediately.'

'In other words?' Harry asked, tightening his grip on his wand as the wizard let out a grunt of disbelief in response.

'You're to come with us, Potter' he muttered, emphasising his point by reaching forward to take Harry's shoulder. As his fingers passed beyond the threshold of the door, a loud cracking sound caused the three to flinch suddenly. Between Harry and the wizards, a light blue mist of light had appeared, just beyond the fingertips of the black-suited wizard.

'That wasn't me,' Harry said as the wizard stepped back swiftly, his wand suddenly in his hand.

The Ministry wizard raised his wand to waist height, aligning the tip so it pointed directly at Harry. 'If you offer resistance, we have been authorised to take you by–' his words were cut off by another loud crack, this time from the road. A grin appeared on Harry's face as he looked past the Ministry wizards, and they turned to follow Harry's gaze, which had settled on two men now walking up the path to the doorway.

Looking as if they'd just arrived from a fancy dress party in comparison to the suited Ministry wizards, Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody and Remus Lupin strolled toward the house. 'Do you think this would count as resistance?' Mad-Eye casually asked Lupin as they halted in front of the flabbergasted Ministry wizards.

'What?' managed the black-clothed Ministry wizard, his wand now wavering over the two new arrivals.

'Now if I were you, sonny Jim,' Mad-Eye growled, 'and let me tell you how glad I am that I'm not, I'd put that wand down before you get hurt or… you hurt yourself.' He followed up this little speech with a grin that twisted his scarred face hideously as his eye twisted and turned madly in its socket. 'Potter's coming with us, or he's going nowhere.'

'Y-you can't do that Mad-Eye!' the other wizard managed to stammer, before Mad-Eye's singular glare made his face pale considerably.

'And you can't remove him from his home,' Lupin said, his usually mellow voice hard and unyielding. 'Not by any means.' With this he pushed passed the Ministry wizards, both of whom seemed to be mesmerised by Mad-Eye's whirling eyeball, and walked up to the threshold. 'Stand back, Harry,' he said, his tone back to normal, 'just in case this doesn't work.' Before Harry could ask what, Lupin stepped forward into the blue mist…and passed through.

Mad-Eye grunted and began to step forward, snapping the Ministry wizards out of their daze. Both snapped up their wands, but Mad-Eye was faster, 'Impedimenta,' he snarled, flicking his wand at their chests. They froze as the jinx washed over them, and both were propelled backward into the doorway by the force of Mad-Eye's spell. As their bodies touched the azure mist there was a terrific blast of light, and Harry felt a ripple of energy pass through the hallway as he shut his eyes against the glare.

When he opened them again a second later, he saw Lupin standing in the doorway, his wand drawn and his other arm held across the door, blocking Harry's view. 'Stay back a second,' he said, reading Harry's mind as he was about to step forward. Lupin put his arm down a second later, and beckoned Harry forward. 'You okay, Alastor?' Lupin asked, his tone now light with humour.

'I'll be better if you could lift this pillock off me,' Mad-Eye grunted, from his position on the pathway. He lay flat on his back, with the frozen body of one of the Ministry wizards on top of him. The other wizard was lying rigid further down the path, a look of surprise on his face.

Lupin stepped out the house, turning to bar Harry's way again before he could step outside. 'If you leave the house you're outside Dumbledore's protection, Harry. Sorry.' He added the last part with a rueful grin, 'If you can light us a fire somewhere, we'll be in as soon as Mad-Eye's back up on his foot.'

'That's not funny, Remus.' Mad-Eye muttered, trying to push the Ministry wizard off him with one hand while the other held a wand at the ready.

'We'll be inside in a minute,' Lupin said to Harry, his mellow smile firmly in place. Harry grinned back and walked into the lounge, stopping by the drenched fireplace. Sweeping away the embers that lay in a film of water, Harry picked up the matchbox to light the few coals that remained. He opened the box, but instead of matches falling out, an inch of water and drenched sticks landed on the carpet.

'Don't matter, Potter,' Mad-Eye said as he stomped in, his wooden foot making a dull thumping noise on the carpet. Flicking his wand towards the fireplace, he sent out a stream of red sparks that flew into the logs and set them on fire. Flames licked up and the water around the fireplace evaporated in a thick steam that fogged Harry's glasses as he hurriedly moved back.

'Alastor', Lupin said wearily.

'What?' the ex-Auror asked, looking back toward the fire. 'It's burning isn't it?'

'So's your leg,' Lupin said calmly, digging around in his pockets as he did so.

Mad-Eye followed Lupin's glance. 'Oh.'

He then began a short and frantic stomping dance to put out the small flame that was licking around the base of the clawed foot.

Pulling a packet from the pocket of his pitifully shabby robe, Lupin took a pinch of Floo powder and pitched it into the pyre. The lounge flickered in an emerald light as the powder turned the flames green, and without any hesitation Lupin knelt down, took off his hat, and put his head into the fire. 'Versari protego!' Lupin said, and with a small snap a similar blue mist to the door blanketed the walls of the chimney.

'Making sure the Ministry don't spy on us,' Mad-Eye said as Harry looked at him questioningly, 'seals the hearth so no one can look in.' Drawing his cloak up, the ex-Auror took a seat on Aunt Petunia's sofa, letting out a sigh of content as he lifted his false leg off the floor. 'That's better,' he muttered, then he pulled his flask from beneath his cloak and took a swig, watching Lupin as he began to talk quietly into the green flames.

'I guess that means you don't want a cup of tea,' Harry said, sitting down in the chair opposite Mad-Eye with a grin as the older wizard chuckled.

'Getting through okay, Remus?' Mad-Eye asked, both eyes focusing on Lupin briefly, then the magic eyeball flipped over behind Mad-Eye's head.

Pulling out of the fireplace, Lupin put a hand through his hair, shaking loose the ash that had settled there while he spoke. 'Dumbledore's at Grimmauld Place,' he replied, 'he says we should just stay here – he'll contact us in a little while. For now we just keep an eye on Harry,' he added, watching Mad-Eye's other eye twitch around.

'The other two are getting up,' he said to Lupin, who walked to the window and drew back the netting to peer out on the pathway. Harry heard two dull cracks, then he saw the shoulders of the other two wizards relax. 'Gone,' Mad-Eye muttered, his eye flipping back onto Harry as his face twisted into the familiar, gruesome smile.

Lupin stepped back from the window, smiled at Harry then slumped into a chair beside the fire, glancing at the green flames. In the pale light he looked more tired than Harry could recall from his third year, even around the full moons. 'So, now what?' he asked, switching his gaze between the two wizards until Lupin leant forward in his chair, bringing his hands together.

'We wait for Dumbledore.'

It was the best news Harry had heard all summer.

Further A/N:

Many thanks to my betas Kvader: (who you may know as FPW) and Bart (yes, him). Particularly they should be recognised for helping me get the time of day right with helpful comments (such as MORON! IDIOT! and FOOL!), also for the scene with Mad-Eye's foot catching light and the wonderful alliteration based on the letter 'p' that followed.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone who can't eat bacon butties again following the description of Dudley in the sunshine. Don't hurt me!