Disclaimer: I own no part of this story except for the plot and spell work. J. K. Rowling owns everything else, including dozens of hours of my life that I am dedicating to this story.

Author's Note: Sorry again for getting this chapter out later than I wanted to. Senior ceremonies took up a lot of my time once more but never fear. I am now an official graduate of high school and I don't have too much planned for this summer. I am leaving for Cancun on Thursday, but I'll be back in a week and ready to update again. Expect one last update before I leave on Thursday and, until then, enjoy.

Chapter 10: Retribution

Harry awoke the next morning feeling as if he had fallen off his broomstick; fallen of his broomstick several times over. Harry groaned as he lifted himself up and out of bed. There wasn't any part of his body that didn't hurt and Harry could feel pain in places that he never knew existed.

"One hell of a way to start off the bloody morning." Harry gave a grim smile, knowing that he was lucky that he was able to start the morning at all after yesterday's attack.

Overall, the Aurors had fared very well. "Hell they did better than I could have even dreamed for." The Death Eaters had taken a heavy toll in the battle at the Ministry. There were thirty-three confirmed dead, with another twelve taken as prisoners. However, this accomplishment had not come without a cost. Seventeen Aurors had been killed in the battle against Voldemort's followers. Despite nearly a three to one casualty count against the Death Eaters, Harry couldn't help but feel that the loss of any life was unacceptable. Harry had known that there would be deaths and also knew that they should have lost a lot more than seventeen Aurors against the superior Death Eater numbers, but Harry was getting tired of sending people to their deaths. The constant loss of friends and family was beginning to wear on him and Harry wondered if this war was ever going to end.

Harry was supposed to speak at an interview this afternoon, praising all who had fought against Voldemort and honoring those who had died in the Ministry attack. He knew that it was the right thing to do and had even accepted that he was the right person to do it, but that didn't make it any easier to face the inevitable questions that would occur during the interview. Afterwards, Harry needed to travel to Hogwarts to speak with Dumbledore. He had briefly spoken with Dumbledore last night and planned to meet Dumbledore in Hogsmeade shortly after the interview. Overall, it was looking to be a long day already.

Harry hauled himself to the bathroom where he took a long, hot shower. Afterwards, Harry felt quite a bit better and quickly threw on some clothes. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was a mess but what else was new. In fact, it looked almost a little too tidy so Harry deliberately messed it up. Harry remembered seeing his father do the same thing in Snape's Pensieve and felt a smile cross his face. He looked remarkably like his father, in every aspect except one. Harry gaze turned to his sparkling, green eyes. So unlike his father's hazel pair, Harry's emerald eyes set him apart from his father. Harry loved his father dearly but was glad to have inherited something from his mother; other than her strict abidance to the rules.

Harry's mischievous streak had definitely come from his father, though Harry knew that Ron, Hermione, and himself had gotten in nowhere near as much trouble as the Marauders. The Marauders had lived up to their names and teachers across Hogwarts had feared the four best friends. The boys had been brilliant and imaginative, not a good combination for students and teachers who were part of the many pranks the young boys had pulled.

"And then Voldemort had to come and mess it all up," Harry thought bitterly. Harry had asked Remus about the threat of Voldemort while the four boys had been at school. Voldemort was beginning the gain power during the boys' seven years at Hogwarts and murders had occurred while they had been in school, though few and far between. Still, at least one person, either student or professor, at Hogwarts was always left with the death of a family member whenever Voldemort struck. Harry's grandparents, on his dad's side, had been murdered during James' last year at Hogwarts. They had been Aurors and were killed while in pursuit of Voldemort. In the end, there wasn't a person at Hogwarts who didn't know who Voldemort was.

Harry shook his head, clearing his mind of the dark thoughts. After another cursory glance at his reflection, Harry decided to get out for a while. He grabbed his wand from his nightstand and placed it carefully in his pocket. Harry locked the door of his small apartment and joined the steady stream of pedestrians traveling through London.

Harry knew that Mrs. Weasley had been disappointed that Harry wasn't staying at Grimmauld Place any longer, but Harry felt that it was time for him to get out and start a life of his own. Harry knew that he couldn't let the fear Voldemort rule his life and that it was time for him to get away from the protective Mrs. Weasley and the other members of the Order. Harry knew that he was putting himself in more danger by leaving the protected Grimmauld Place, but Harry couldn't take the risk of Voldemort attacking the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix because it was where Harry was staying. Harry had made arrangements to rent the apartment the morning of his apparition test. He hadn't planned on trying to find one so soon, but had run into Mundungus Fletcher. Fletcher had a friend who was looking for someone to rent the apartment out to. The deal was too good to pass up and Harry quickly accepted the man's offer. As soon as Harry gave him the first rent payment, his landlord had to leave town suddenly so Harry was sure that he was just as crooked as Mundungus was.

The apartment, while not great, was adequate in all aspects. It was quite large enough for Harry who had lived in a cupboard for several years of his early life and gave him the privacy he wanted without being so large that it made him feel isolated. There was a small kitchen, which Harry didn't think he would ever use unless he got Mrs. Weasley to teach him to cook, a sparsely furnished living room, and two bedrooms. The two bedrooms shared a single bathroom, but that didn't really matter since Harry lived alone. Harry offered Hermione the second bedroom but she had refused. Harry couldn't really blame her. It would seem too strange to have the two of them together without Ron around. The "terrible trio" was down to two and Hermione didn't need a daily reminder of what she had lost.

"Hermione! I forgot to go check in on her this morning."

After assessing the damage done at the Ministry, Harry had been forced to undergo a medical examination at St. Mungo's. The nurse had pronounced that there was nothing seriously wrong with him. She gave him a blood-replenishing potion for the blood he had lost before he could heal the wound as well as a pain killing potion that Harry had forgotten to take last night.

"So that explains the severe pain I was in this morning," Harry thought with a grin.

Hermione, however, hadn't been as lucky. She had been forced to stay overnight at St. Mungo's so that the mediwizards could monitor her condition. The mediwizards had assured Harry that there were no major problems with Hermione's condition, but that they just wanted to keep her overnight to make sure. Hermione would be released this afternoon and Harry had promised to come and visit her this morning.

Harry walked into a dark alley and hid himself from sight. As soon as he was sure that no Muggles would see him, Harry apparated with a pop to St. Mungo's waiting room.

Harry walked up to the front desk and asked to see Hermione Granger.

"She's still in the room she was in yesterday Mr. Potter. I'm sure that you can find your way."

The receptionist was a very pretty young witch, probably only a few years older than Harry. Harry saw that she blushed as she said his name and took a quick glance at the nametag she had pinned to her robes.

"Thanks Megan," Harry said with a smile.

The witch blushed furiously and Harry gave her another smile before walking down the hall to the elevator at the end. He was alone in the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor. Harry exited the elevator and knocked on the third door on the left side of the hall.

"Come in," a quiet voice called.

Harry entered the room to see Hermione sitting in bed eating breakfast. The sight of food reminded Harry that he still hadn't eaten anything this morning himself.

"Harry," an obviously delighted Hermione said.

"How are you doing Hermione?"

"Much better. The mediwizards said that I'll be able to go home this afternoon."

"Excellent news; that means that you will be able to come with me to the interview I have to be at today."

"Now Harry, I realize that the interview I got you with Rita Skeeter might have gone to your head a little," Hermione began in a teasing voice.

"Yes Professor Lockhart."

The two dissolved into laughter at the thought of these memories and Harry was glad that he could still experience moments like this. The war had forced him to grow up so fast and the realization that he could still laugh and joke around was a comfort.

"Actually Harry, I have my own interview to go to this afternoon." Hermione said with a mischievous grin.

"And it would be where?"

"I can't tell you, but I guess I'll give you a clue."

Harry nodded his head signaling for her to continue.

"Well, I'm not going to be with you."

"Okay. What else?"

"I told you that I would give you a clue, not several," Hermione said, clearly delighted to be able to keep her secret.

"Alright, well, if you wouldn't mind, please tell Dumbledore that I might be a little late."

Hermione's jaw dropped and she sputtered as she tried to figure out how Harry had known who she was meeting.

"What—where—how did you know that was where I would be?"

Harry gave her a wry grin, "Well, by saying that you would not be with me, you inadvertently told me that you would not be anywhere at the Ministry, as you knew exactly where my interview would be. Upon confirming this fact, I deduced that you would not be near as excited as you are right now if you had been called up for anything other than a book fair presented by the National Bookworm Association."

Harry nearly burst out laughing at the look on Hermione's face but quickly continued, "Now, as I know that the NBA is having their finals in America right now, I could rule them out as a factor. Now, many more factors presented themselves, such as 'spew', the Gilderoy Lockhart fan club, and 'studyaholics anonymous', but they were all negated by the next bit of information. Because today is a Friday, I was able to rule out all of the others because today is the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Therefore, as I know that you are a Quidditch fanatic, you would be clearly taking advantage of Dumbledore's gracious offer in asking you to come to Hogwarts merely so that you could watch the Quidditch match that Ginny is playing in."

Hermione looked like she was trying to add it all up until she reached the fact that she didn't love Quidditch. She was about to protest loudly when she suddenly mused out loud, "Wait, Ginny is playing today isn't she?"

Harry gave a short nod and hoped that she wouldn't goad him about knowing the trivial fact.

"Perfect, that means I can watch Ginny today; which is something you will not be able to do because you have a meeting to be at."

"Ah, but you have to realize that I have connections with a certain individual at Hogwarts and I have been insured that the match will not start until after I have had adequate time to arrive from my interview. You, however, will not be able to watch the match unless you stay well past the time that Albus said you would likely be leaving."

Hermione was about to retort that she would definitely be staying to watch Ginny when she fully realized what Harry had said. Hermione's voice lowered to a dangerous level as she said, "Wait, did you just say, 'the time Albus said you would likely be leaving'?"

Harry gave her a cocky smile and quickly raised his wand.

"Collocorpus. Accio wand."

Harry began to laugh as Hermione realized that she was now stuck to her bed with no means of releasing herself. With another wave of his wand, Harry conjured a book out of thin air.

"You're lucky that I happen to keep this with me at all times Hermione. I know that you have a while to wait before you get released, approximately five hours or so, and the thought occurred to me that you might need something to do."

Harry cracked the book open and Hermione thought that it wouldn't be too bad. At least he had chosen a book to pass time rather than anything else. It was at this moment that Hermione read the title, Quidditch through the Ages.

Hermione let out a loud squeal and the pretty nurse from the front desk walked in. Hermione opened her mouth to protest but Harry quickly put a silencing charm on her.

The witch, though thoroughly confused, gave Harry a smile and asked, "Is everything alright in here?"

Hermione began to attempt to break the binding charm but had little success. Unable to get a cry for help out, Harry took advantage of her silence.

"Oh yes ma'am, we were just having a discussion about the finer points of Quidditch."

"Oh I see. Is there anything you need?"

"Well..." Harry began. "…no, there's no need for you to do that."

The witch seemed eager to help Harry in any way and quickly pressed him, "No, it will be fine. What do you need Harry?"

She blushed furiously after calling him by his first name and Harry gave her his best smile before continuing. "Well, I forgot to eat breakfast before I came up here to see Hermione. Is there any chance I could get something to eat?"

"Of course, I'll be right back." The witch left the room and Harry turned and looked at Hermione. Her eyes were wide with shock and Harry gave her a wink before turning back to the nurse that had re-entered the room with a tray full of food.

"I didn't know if you wanted a hot or cold breakfast so I went ahead and brought you both."

"That'll be wonderful Megan. You're an absolute life saver." Harry gave the witch a charming smile who seemed as if she might catch fire if she got any redder. She gave Harry one last smile before exiting the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Harry turned back to where Hermione was still staring at him in disbelief. He slowly peeled a banana and took a bite before continuing where he left off.

"Chapter One: The Evolution of the Flying Broomstick."