DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. I barely own Taylor Ross. Leave me alone

2. The Ally

After the break-in at the Ministry, everyone knew that Voldemort had come back. I had had an earlier warning, because of my proximity of Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, and Bill Weasley. I had not only been searching for Harry Potter, but I had been exterminating Death Eaters where I could find them. I was becoming a vigilante, even though it was technically part of my first assignment as a Wizard Slayer. I had secret tools that none of the British had. A knife that drained the life from victims, shuriken or throwing stars that silenced the people they hit, and an amulet that pointed me towards the most evil of people. These had served me well in the six years after the Potter's untimely death, and the disappearance of Voldemort. And I realized that they would continue to aid me in my fight against these new Death Eaters.

The Order of the Phoenix welcomed me with wide arms, for many reasons, one of them the fact that I kept a certain thief, Mundungus Fletcher, on his toes. I was assured that at one point I would be able to meet Harry Potter, and that time could not come soon enough for me. I met the rest of the Weasley Family, other Aurors, and had the brief fortune of meeting Sirius Black, whom I had connected with immediately. When he died, I was furious, and immediately went in search of his killers.

I knew that his killer had been Bellatrix Lestrange, the cousin of Sirius Black. I searched high and low for her, getting information from both the Ministry and Fletcher's comrades. Finally, after almost a year of searching I found her hiding in a safe house. And unfortunately for her, the secret keeper owed me a favor.

I entered the house quietly. I wore black, and a mask that some people would call a ninja mask. My only weapons were my soul sword, my knife and my shuriken. I encountered a few Death Eaters in the halls, wandering around. I silenced them permanently, and continued on. At last, I found Bellatrix.

"So, someone has ordered my death, have they? And they sent a muggle ninja to do it. How quaint." Bellatrix said as I walked into the lighted room. I straightened, and drew my soul sword.

"Bellatrix Lestrange, you are charged with the murder of Sirius Black, the assault of Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom-" I started, holding my short sword in my left hand, while drawing a star with my right.

"I did my time for the Longbottoms." She interrupted.

"Very well. But you have also used the Unforgivable Curses, and, as I have just said, they are unforgivable. For that, you must die." And with that, I threw the star, switched my sword to my right sword, drew the small knife with my left, and charged. The small star was deflected by a spell, and was followed by another spell, aimed at me. I raised my sword, and deflected the spell. We were apparently evenly matched

"Adava Kedavra!" Lestrange shrieked, and the spell washed over me. I spun my sword once, to attract her attention, and plunged my knife into her black, withered heart.

"Bellatrix Lestrange, you have paid for your crimes with your death. Rest in peace, and may you be sent to Hell." I said as I withdrew my knife from her chest.

I finally got the chance to meet Harry Potter at Bill Weasley's wedding. It was not as happy as it could have been, because just weeks prior, Albus Dumbledore, Harry's friend, protector, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts, had died at the hands of a supposed ally. I added another name to my ever-growing list of known Death Eaters, as I presented a wolfish Bill with a marvelous set of black lacquered samurai swords. As I told him the enchantments surrounding them, my eyes were attracted to his new wife talking to a trio of students. I knew one of them to be Ron Weasley, Bill's youngest brother. There was a girl next to him, and beside her, a young boy with thick glasses, jet black hair, and a strange scar. As Bill told me how he had become so wolfish, I watched as Fleur, Bill's wife gave Harry a hug as she sobbed, and I swear I heard her tell him to be careful.

After I said goodbye to Bill, I went over to Harry.

"Harry Potter? My name is Taylor Ross. I would like to tell you that even though I only knew your godfather for a short time, I could tell he was a great man. He has been avenged." I said, shaking his hand. At these words, Harry's eyes widened and filled with tears. He blinked them away, and thanked me heartily. I nodded, and took the soul sword that was always at my side out of my sash. I kneeled to Harry, and offered him my sword

"Harry Potter. I am sworn to protect you, even if that means giving my life to you. This I pledge as the only Wizard Slayer in England, and I swear it as a Samurai."

Harry stood shocked, not knowing what to do. The girl nudged him and told him to accept. He blankly did so, and I stood up and replaced my sword. The girl introduced herself as Hermione Granger, and Ron shook my hand, already knowing who I was. After all the introductions were made, I pulled Harry off to one side, and told him my story.

I showed him all of my tools, and finally shoved a small ring into his hand. He put it on, and I told him that while he wore it, we would be linked. We would know where the other was, if the other was in danger, and most importantly, we would have access to the other person's abilities. He did not know it, but he would also gain my health, my near-immortal status, my experience, and most importantly, my magic resistance. He would be impervious to any magic spell sent at him, and he would simply think it was him. And that's the way I would prefer it was.

Currently, I am in search of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. I have found and destroyed the cup of Hufflepuff, and I am on the trail of Ravenclaw's ring. A reliable source told me that a woman by the name of Narcissa Malfoy had it in her possession, and I gladly followed the trail. I was eager to meet the woman whose husband had caused so much suffering, and Harry was equally eager to find Draco Malfoy, the son of Narcissa, whom Harry blamed for the death of Albus Dumbledore. So we set out in search of vengeance and an item of power.

When we arrived at the Malfoy's Mansion, I sent an owl to the other members of the Order, telling them where we were. When the owl was sufficiently away, I drew a small bracelet from a pouch that stayed at my hip, and handed it to Harry. I told him that it would act as an invisibility cloak, and he looked at it. I wrapped my face in the black silk that formed my "ninja" mask, and dropped my long sword into the pouch. Harry stared at it, and I told him that the pouch's contents were in a special plane of existence. He shrugged, and we went forth.

We immediately ran into resistance. The Death Eaters ignored Harry, and sent spell after spell in my direction. I tapped a rune on my short sword, and time literally stopped. I was the only one unaffected. I moved leisurely, taking off my mask, and looking into my pouch for my long sword. Then, I walked about cutting the wizards' and witches' wands into small pieces. When I was done with that, I tapped the same rune again, and time resumed. I stood, grinning at the spell casters, as they blankly stared back. Then, with lightning speed, I leapt forward, and slashed at two wizards. They dropped, and another witch dropped with similar slashes on her chest, face, arms, and legs. I glanced at Harry, and decided it was his work, and not another Slayer come to help, even though I would have gladly welcomed such aid.

After the Death Eaters were either dead or unconscious, Mad-Eye Moody came with a group of Aurors to collect the scum. He glanced at Harry, who still wore the bracelet. He grunted good luck to us, and we continued inside, accompanied by a pair of Aurors I had never seen. Alastor assured me they were good, but I glanced them over, and saw fear in their hairless faces. I shook my head, and gave them both amulets that would give them a small measure of resistance to magic.

We found the Malfoys in their sitting room, also accompanied by a pair of wizards. As the Aurors squared off against their counterparts, Harry and I squared off against our quarry.

"Well, Taylor, long time no see." Narcissa said, sneering.

"I thought you had died, you old snake. Oh well, too much ask for I suppose. Guess I get the pleasure of acting as your Reaper." I retorted, drawing both my swords. Narcissa and I circled each other, looking for an opening. I knew that she was no match for me, but there were certain habit that I had yet to get rid of. Harry and Malfoy did the same, already casting spells at each other. Narcissa seemed quite occupied with their battle, so I obliged her. Contrary to the clichéd idea of putting yourself between your opponent and your charge, I maneuvered her closer to the battle, so that instead of having a clear shot over my shoulder at Harry, she would have to turn around in order to cast a spell. She did not seem to realize this, and began to turn. I tapped another rune on my sword, and a ghastly green finger leapt from my blade. It struck Narcissa square in the back, and she screamed in pain. I charged, and she twisted around to face me. But instead of mortal dread on her face, a grin was placed there. I stopped short, truly surprised, and my surprise was increased tenfold when she screamed "Crucio!", and I doubled over in pain, dropping my swords. She walked towards me, and stopped inches from my head.

"Now, now, Taylor. You can't possibly expect me to not hit you? Ah, but you put too much faith in your natural resistance. Don't you see? I set a trap. The Death Eaters outside blasted you with spells that lowered your resistance to a level that I would be able to hurt you at. What do you say to that?" she said, laughing.

I stood, and stared at her. Then, simply, I smiled. Narcissa's smile was wiped from her face, replaced with a look of wonder. Then, my knife, the life-stealing blade, plunged into her belly, and she dropped.

"I say die, Narcissa, die." And she did just that.

"No! Mother, no!" screamed Draco. Momentarily distracted, he turned to see Harry Potter staring at him, pointing his wand at him.

"Good-night Malfoy." He said, and then screamed "Petrificus Totalus!"

Draco Malfoy dropped to the floor, rigid. I walked over to one of the Aurors, and ended his fight against the Death Eater with a slash across the Dark Wizard's throat. I turned to see that the other Auror had just dropped his opponent with a particularly powerful curse. I then walked over to Harry, who stood next to Draco's body.

"What should we do with him, Taylor?" Harry asked, looking up at me. I was being forced to play the judge. The two Aurors nodded at me, which I took to mean whatever, it's your job, and we're just here to make sure you do it.

"He's your rival, Harry. Do what you want to him. Just-" I paused, hoping against hope that he would listen. "Just do the right thing."

Harry stood over Draco for a few more moments, and leaned down. He stood up again, with the Malfoy boy's wand in his hand. He gave the wand to me, and I promptly snapped the wand into two pieces, then four, then eight, and finally into sixteen, using my knee when necessary, and finally my razor sharp soul sword.

"He can't do any harm without it, and death's too good for him. I say we imprison him." He said quietly. An Auror spoke up, and asked,

"Wot, you mean like Azkaban?"

"No, I mean the Imprison spell, the one that will keep him under the earth in a glob of glass." Harry said, still quiet. He looked up to me, and I nodded. I knew that what he was talking about was an incredibly difficult spell, and not fit for wizards like the ones around me. I drew my soul sword one more time, and pointed at the boy.

"Before we imprison him, let's give him the freedom of movement back." I said, looking at an Auror. He obliged with the counter jinx, and stepped back as Draco roared back to life.

"You filthy Mudblood! The Dark Lord will kill you! You're dead, you're all dead!"

"Malfoy, for the last time, shut up." Harry said, and I tapped the rune needed for eternal imprisonment.

As the Aurors cleaned up, I drew my long sword and gouged out a large X over the spot Draco had been laying.

"Why are you doing that?" Harry asked me.

"Well, there are ways of freeing an imprisoned soul. And I think I'm the only person in this country that knows of it. But, just in case…" I left off, and fished a piece of paper out of my pouch. I put it over the X, and the X disappeared. In its place was a large obsidian pillar.

"Obsidian is often connected with death, Harry. As such, I use these like my mark, to show where I have defeated a particularly difficult foe. But in fact, obsidian also has specific magic powers, like the power to see into alternate planes. The young muggle Arthur used a seeing stone of obsidian to see the future, when he would become king. That stone was given to him by Merlin." I told Harry on our way out. He absorbed all this like a sponge, and then he asked me a startling question.

"Isn't the pillar like the Dark Mark, then? Showing where you've been, who you've killed?"

"What! Well- No, I- But- Ah, it's not like that at all! Don't you get it? Obsidian has the power to see, and I use pillars of obsidian. I haven't killed my foes at all, just imprisoned them. If you look closely into those pillars, you'll see my enemies, trapped under the earth!" I shouted, scaring a pair of passing wizards.

"Oh." Harry said simply. I stared at him for a moment, and gave up, shaking my head. I met with Moody for a while, and told him what had happened. When I told him about the trap, he laughed and said, "Got you there, didn't they?" He quieted down after a while, but still occasionally chuckled at the though of the 'mighty Wizard Slayer' doubled over in excruciating pain. I walked away from him, and returned to Harry, who was fiddling with a Galleon. I stopped as he set a date, a time, and a place on the coin, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Ready, Harry?" I asked, "We still have to get your school stuff. And yes, you are going to school, I don't give a damn about who's Headmaster or Headmistress, or Head Idiot. If they have a problem with me, they have a problem with the American Government, and a mental problem of their own. Now, let's get you back to the Dursley's, they'll want to see you, and I want to meet them," I said, with a glint in my eye. For once, after everything we had been through and done, Harry finally looked happy. When I asked him why he was happy, he simply responded that the Dursleys would like me for sure. For some reason, I seriously doubted that.

A/N: Review, please, or so help me lads and lassies...