I do not own Harry Potter, only the OC

Hello guys, Badger here. Back again. New chapter. New energy for upcoming chapters. I don't know what has been going on, but the last few chapters have been delayed for one reason or another and this chapter is no different. This should have been published yesterday but my laptop was going through weird glitches and random crashes, delaying this chapter slightly, as I lost progress several times and had to rewrite the chapter several times, so I probably forgot a few things along the way. Thankfully the glitches and crashes have now been sorted out, so it shouldn't happen again. Fingers crossed.

I hope you guys enjoyed the previous chapter, even if I didn't. As I said in the previous chapter, there has been a small time jump to Christmas. Saves a lot of chapters filled with pointless filler. I hope you enjoy this one and I'll see you at the end.

Chapter 71

Ripped Pages

The next couple of months passed, with no signs of another attack from Voldemort or his followers. Whilst most people were beginning to relax more, as each day passed, there were still some who kept their guard up and remained alert at all times. Besides the odd private lesson, or Hogwarts Institution Sessions, there was little to no activity happening in Hogwarts. Even Pansy revealed to James that she was unable to find anything from either Malfoy or Nott. Still, James kept a close eye on the two. Something that made Luna make a joke, asking James if he had eyes for a different blonde. James responded by simply giving Luna a kiss, seemingly unfazed. It wasn't long until they found themselves back on Platform 9 ¾ for the Christmas Holidays. As they were saying 'hi' to Sirius and Remus, they were approached by two people. One of which Harry instantly recognised.

"Harry Potter" The man said, extending out his hand "I was told about what happened…I'd like to thank you…if it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't be here now"

"Mr Weasley…" Harry replied, shaking his hand "You don't have to thank me, I didn't do anything…I just had a vision about the attack…"

"But you alerted someone, did you not?" Arthur Weasley asked, a small smile on his face

"Yeah but…" Harry trailed "I guess I see your point"

Arthur smiled, before his wife Molly gave Harry a hug. A hug that felt more like a vice like grip, as she seemed to be trying to crush his bones. The woman reminded Harry of Mrs Albright, in terms of appearance, but Mrs Albrights hugs were better. Also, whilst Harry didn't know the woman in front of him and didn't want to assume, she seemed to look a little bit overbearing.

"Thank you" The woman said, a few tears down her cheeks "Thank you, so much"

"Umm…you're welcome" Harry replied, unable to speak much, due to how tightly she was holding onto him

The woman squeezed him tightly for another more seconds, before letting go and Harry could breathe easier once more. Arthur and Molly thanked Harry once more, before saying their goodbyes and headed off, looking for their children. Harry cracked his back slightly, as it felt stiff and almost felt like it was out of place, before he noticed James, Sirius and Remus smirking at him slightly.

"What?" He demanded

"Oh nothing" James replied in a sing song voice "Just that you experienced, what some people call, Molly Weasley's death grip"

"You're not serious are you?" Harry groaned, looking at his friend with a bemused look on his face

"No, he's not" Remus spoke up, chuckling slightly "However, Molly has always been known to slightly crush people when she hugs them…and you got to experience it for the first time"

Harry rolled his eyes, before practically forcing the others through the barrier, before they tried making jokes at his suspense, where, several feet away; two hooded strangers were watching, disillusioned and hidden from view.

The next few days passed by as normal, with Harry and James spending, practically, all their time together, whether they were receiving private lessons or just hanging about Grimmauld Place. Tonks had been allowed to move into Grimmauld Place, as her tenancy agreement on her flat had expired and had nowhere else to go. Harry and James enjoyed her company and found her fun to be around. Things seemed normal at first, but after a few days, Harry began to experience strange dreams in the night. They were of the Ministry and something was leading him down a corridor, towards a strange door. However, before he could reach the door, he would wake up in a cold sweat, with a splitting headache. As he and James decided to share a room, his startled cries when this happened, also woke his friend up. Harry had told James about what he saw and James instructed Jinx to leave a glass of water and a pain relief potion on Harry's bedside table every night should something like this happen. James didn't think Harry's dreams were that concerning right now, but asked Harry to let him know if they got worse. Sometimes Harry felt like James was mentor, rather than a friend or brother. But he didn't mind.

Snape came to Grimmauld Place every evening, to give Harry more occlumency lessons. Harry had made massive improvements over the last few months but still had some length to go before he was fully protected from any possible attacks. The two were in a small room on the first floor of the building, and Snape was currently looking through Harry's defences, seeing where he needed to make improvements. James was also in the room, but he was asleep on a small loveseat. He had been busy lately, reading through his father's journals and all kinds of books he found in the buildings library. Snape nodded, as he left Harry's mind. He was impressed with what he saw, but had seen areas that needed improving, though he had something else on his mind. Something he wanted to try.

"Harry, if you don't mind, I would like to test something" He said, putting his hands behind his back

"What is it, professor?" Harry asked

"I'm sure you remember our first lesson, you threw me out of your mind, almost effortlessly" Snape replied "I want to see if we can test it further…see if it can be used against any attacks, should they get through your shields"

"Okay…what do I need to do?"

"You need to have you shields lowered" Snape instructed, as he readied his wand "As I go through your memories, try and force me out like you did then"

Harry did so and soon found himself assaulted with images of his past, just like last time. He saw the Basilisk, his encounter with dementors, Voldemort killing his parents and several images of all the abuse he went through at the Dursleys, from lashings with a belt, to being beaten by his uncle. This was enough for him to lash out, forcing Snape out, his waves of magic sending a few objects flying. Somehow, James didn't wake from his slumber, even as a few books and slips of paper went flying around him. Harry shook off the slight headache he felt, as he looked at Snape.

"Why did you make me see that?" Harry demanded

Snape slowly straightened himself, as he picked his wand up off of the floor.

"I do apologise Harry" Snape said, calmly "However, I believed, you would only be able to throw me out, the way you did, if you saw some of your worst memories, as I don't think you'd try to throw me out, if you saw something mundane, like yourself flying a broom, or practicing a spell"

Harry nodded slightly. He may understand the reasoning behind it, but that didn't mean he liked seeing those memories. He'd just rather forget about them.

Voldemort stood in front of his followers, looking at each and every one of them, a smile on his face. Those that had been in Azkaban for over ten years had made a full recovery and now, needed to be trained and tested slightly, to properly see if they were fit enough to fight. He had plans for them. He had a plan on how to get the Prophecy. He had sent a few visions to Harry as he slept, through their mental link, of the door, to the Department of Mysteries. He could feel Harry forcing himself out of the visions, indicating he was receiving them. However, if he was to lure Harry to the Prophecy, he will need to find a more effective way of getting him there. A thought for another time.

"Lucius" He said suddenly, facing the long haired blond

"Y-Yes my Lord?" Lucius spoke up

"When the time comes, you will be the one to lead a group of Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries, when Potter has successfully been lured to you" Voldemort instructed "Think of it, as a way to redeem yourself from you past failures…and you Pettigrew…"

"My Lord?" Pettigrew spoke up

"You will join him" Voldemort replied "You may have escaped punishment for your failures, but should you fail me again, I have instructed Michael to kill you"

Pettigrew looked at the man, who stood next to Voldemort, in fear. Michael was looking at Pettigrew, a dark smile on his face and a blood lust in his eyes. Michael wanted to kill Pettigrew. Badly. Pettigrew had been around the man long enough to know what kind of person he was. The man terrified him. He was like the male version of Bellatrix LeStrange and the woman already terrified him on her own. Now they were, essentially, two of them. Pettigrew could only hope he didn't fail the Dark Lord.

James yawned, as he looked at the book in front of him, the pages illuminated from the small lamp beside him. The book in front of him was about all forms of Dark Magic. James knew from things he heard and read, that Voldemort used all kinds of dark magic and rituals during the war and believed looking through books the Black Family owned could help them find out what they were, so they could counter it. He wasn't sure how long he had been reading, but knew it was late at night…or early in the morning. One of the two. As James turned the page, he noticed something in the inner margins. He ran a finger down the crevice between the pages, where his suspicions were confirmed. Pages had been torn out of the book. He wasn't sure what could have been written on the pages, but it couldn't have been good, if someone chose to rip the page from the book itself. He was going to ask Sirius about it. He might know what it was.

Yeah, in my opinion, this chapter was better then the previous. But what did you guys think.

Harry meeting Mr and Mrs Weasley was something that was supposed to happen a lot sooner in the story, but was something that I forgot about, like a few other things along the way. Like Harry and James' Animagus ability. I do plan to include their abilities at some point, I just can't find a good place as to where. Speaking of Harry and James. The moment when Harry says he sometimes sees James as a mentor, is kind of a little jab at the story, as to me, it feels like it, when I reread some previous chapters.

I'm not sure how many chapters it will be until the Department of Mysteries, but I am currently writing and rewriting the draft chapter, so be prepared for it. Anyway, onto the:

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER - It was weird that James found a book with ripped out pages...what do you think was written on those pages? [Leave you answers in the review section below]

That is all for now, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you in the next one.

Badger out.