Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the Potter-verse. Everything you recognise belongs to the magnificent Ms Rowling. I do, however own any characters you don't recognise.

A/N: Another update! This chapter seemed to write itself almost, and I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out – and at over 3,000 words too. The next chapter may take a little while to write, as I've been dreading it for ages! So I've decided to get this one out and done, and maybe inspire myself to do the next one.

Y'know all authors love getting reviews, I'm definitely no exception! So thank you for making me smile each time I read them :D

gallandro-83 – I'm glad you find it interesting, you should find out in a few chapters (I'm not going to be specific, because then I'll just end up proving myself wrong!)

Surarrin – I actually snorted when I pictured that! I hadn't actually had anything planned, but that is so funny! I might have to use it at some stage. Lol… I'm still laughing at that image!! Do you think he would be ditzy?

Zaxxon – thanks :)

Larna Mandrea – Okay, I have a big grin on my face after reading your review again! At this stage I'm planning on focusing mainly on this story, and probably writing one chapter of Ethereal Time to every two or three of this one. I thought Six Feet Cold might have been the one you'd read, it's the one I've seen around the most. I know I've read a few, but at the moment the only one I can think of is Finding Himself by S. S. IDGET although that doesn't have too much band stuff in it. If I can think of any more I'll let you know, but for now that's all my annoying brain will let me remember!

cariluv – give up? Voldemort? Hmm, I suppose he could give up, but then he wouldn't be much of a power hungry villain, would he? I guess it really isn't his third rise quite yet, as he's still only a soul in a stone, but he's trying really hard!

And to the person who cursed me after chapter 8 – I'm hoping the curses will be lifted now, please? They really are starting to tickle! And there was no cliffhanger on the last chapter and none on this one either!

Once again, thank you! And don't forget to press that little button at the bottom!


Fulfilling Prophecies

Chapter ten

October 29th, 2000

It wasn't long after Harry rejoined the group in Dumbledore's office that they all moved down to the Great Hall, where the Sunday evening dinner was about to start. Since it was the last weekend before Halloween, and the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, most of the students were filled with excitement, speaking loudly about what they had bought and where they had been. The students wearing Gryffindor colours were by far the loudest, just like when Harry was wearing them, although we didn't have much cause for celebration most of the time.

It was hard for Harry to see all the students looking so carefree and happy when he had was just getting that taken away from him – again. Harry had never had a real childhood, before Hogwarts he was ignored or made to work at home and bullied by his cousin at school, and once he started Hogwarts, well nobody could call what he went through 'normal'. Facing Tom Riddle in some form or another four times in his first five years, twice in his sixth – one for an extended amount of time, and another three times in his seventh. In truth, Harry hadn't thought of himself as a child since before the end of his fourth year, he'd had to grow up too quickly then.

Following the headmaster and the professors, Harry walked silently next to Remus who respected his need to readjust himself. Slowly as they walked, students noticed who the new person was with their familiar professors. Whispers began to race ahead of them as they all told their friends that Harry Potter was at the school. As the general public didn't know much about his 'disappearance', rumours had run rampant for a year before dying down to only the occasional one when there was no other story. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Harry ignored the looks he was getting and continued to follow along to the hall, taking a seat between Snape and Remus near the end of the table.

Seeing most eyes in the hall focused on the youngest person at the head table, Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat briefly, effectively gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. "As you have all most likely noticed, we have someone with us who hasn't been seen for a while. Mr Potter has been spending time in the muggle world for a period of relaxation, but he will now be spending time at Hogwarts. I ask that you do not bother him too much if you see him around, as he does have things to do with his time. Thank you for your time." The headmaster sat down and there was a slight pause before the Great Hall erupted in applause, with a few wolf-whistles as well. It was times like these Harry was glad he didn't blush, otherwise he would be a bright Weasley red.

Once the applause had died down, and the meal was underway, Harry found himself relaxing slightly. There was nothing he could do to stop the knot of tension in his stomach, but he at least managed to eat and have a good conversation with both Severus and Remus about what they had been doing over the past few years. It turned out that they were both involved in researching the stone, Harry already knew Remus was – he was organising it since he had no other teaching duties besides the occasional tutoring session that was arranged – but he had thought that Severus would be too busy with teaching to spend much time on it. Remus told him that Snape was actually one of the best researchers on the team, which the potions professor dismissed with a casual wave of his hand. Harry, though, could see a slight smile at the compliment from the werewolf. Its funny how much people can change, Harry mused to himself; I bet Sev never imagined he would be friends with a Marauder, or a Marauder's son.


Dinner seemed to pass quickly, and Harry soon found himself back in the Headmaster's office, sitting on the edge of his desk ready to give everyone their jobs. The same group that was there before were sitting in the same seats, looking at Harry.

After a quick moment of insecurity (I'm too young to be doing this!) Harry turned first to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Kingsley, I need you to be in charge of defence. You'll need to use contacts amongst the aurors to put them on alert without letting everyone know, it would be good if we could deal with this quietly, it really would save a lot of panic. Find good aurors you know that can be discreet, and when we know where the rituals are going to take place we'll head in with a team. Also make sure that if we fail to stop them, the division can be put on alert for Hogwarts and other major areas. We know where the main attack points are, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. The ministry is also a large target as this time round the government isn't going to sit back and let Voldemort take over.

"I would also like you to select two students from each year level fifth year and up in each house who are good, level-headed students. They need to be good in your class, but not necessarily the best. We need to make sure that if nothing goes as planned and Voldemort ends up attacking Hogwarts, we have students who can help moving people out of the castle, or at least out of the way. Don't tell them the real reasons why, but teach them the basics of strategy and some more advanced defence magic. If it looks like things are heading that way we can tell them more, but otherwise they'll just be having extra lessons." Harry thought for a moment, checking against his mental list to see if there was anything more he wanted the DADA professor to organise, "I think that's all for you to arrange Kingsley, let me know if you have any problems talking with the students, I might help out there. Let me know once you have your team of aurors too, I'll talk to them as well." Kingsley nodded, his instructions were reasonably straightforward and he had nothing to ask at present.

Turning to the next person around the room, Harry spoke to the tiny Professor Flitwick. Harry had never spent as much time with the Charms teacher as most of the other teachers, but he had still had extra lessons and conversed with him at staff and Order meetings and was on first name basis with him as with most of the staff. "Filius, I need you to head up the research team now. Pull whoever you want into it, though I will be getting both Remus and Sev to do other jobs as well, so they won't have much time to spare on it.

"I need you to research ways Voldemort could get his magic back. I'm almost certain he won't have any powers if he is brought back, in which case he will need to do some serious magic to remedy that. I will be attempting to confirm my suspicions over this tonight, I believe Albus still has all of my original notes on the stone and the magic involved?" Harry turned to the Headmaster in query, and when Albus nodded, turned back and continued with his instructions. "I will also be bringing in some information to help us find where the rituals are taking place, hopefully this evening or early tomorrow, depending on how long it takes, and will need either you, or somebody else you appoint, to work through what I give you. I will want to approve of them before hand though, so make sure it is someone trustworthy and not given to gossip."

Everyone was looking confused at Harry's order, so he decided he'd better tell them the reason now. "The information is going to be given to me by Ron. He came to me last night in a near hysterical mood, trying to apologise for something. When I felt the pain in my scar this morning I knew he had somehow gotten the stone and handed it over to the Death Eaters." Gasps rang round the room as Harry once again managed to surprise some of the most controlled wizards he knew. "My suspicions were confirmed when I confronted him. Since I was too angry at the time to get the full story, he is writing it down for me. I imagine he will be very busy writing down every last detail, he wanted to make amends for his mistake."

"Mistake?! How could that be a mistake?" Snape's scowl was in full bloom as he spoke, and Harry noticed that both Flitwick and Shacklebolt shrank back a bit under the potion master's anger. If the situation had been different, Harry would've complimented Severus on his ability to make a top ex-auror cringe, but now wasn't the time, so he sat calmly, waiting for the man to die down. "I knew that boy was an idiot, but really, I expected him to have sense enough not to do that!" Snape's anger relented a little in volume, and he snapped out, "how did he manage to find the stone to hand it over in the first place? I didn't think you told him."

Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "That's one of the things we will hopefully be finding out. As far as I'm aware, the only person here, besides me, who knew where the stone was, is Dumbledore."

"But, I knew, you told us just after you had hidden it." Minerva said, gesturing at those present in confusion.

"No, I never told you where it was. I told you five that it was hidden in a cave above Hogsmeade, I told some of the other teachers that it was at the bottom of the lake, some of the other Order members thought it was kept in a vault at Gringotts, and there were other groups told different things. We had to satisfy you all that it was safe, while making sure that if someone did break, the Death Eaters would think they knew." It had been a point of contention between Harry and Albus, the latter still clinging to his old method of not saying anything, while Harry wanted to lay false trails to make it even more difficult to find. Harry had, of course, won the argument. Now, however, it was a moot point, and Harry didn't feel the need to bring it up any further.

"I want whoever reads through his notes to be discreet and not go blabbing about what he did. The same goes for all of you as well. He will get what's coming to him for what he did, but it is not up to you lot to dish out the punishment." Harry spoke with authority, and they all nodded, however reluctantly.

"Right, moving on then if you have no questions Filius? Good. Your turn now, Minerva, I'm going to get you to head up a second research team to work on two things. The first is all the old research that was done on finding a way to stop Voldemort for good. The situation will be different this time as he hopefully won't have time to get back up to strength and replace all those spells he had on himself. So there should be something amongst all that lot which will destroy both his body and his soul – and his magic if he has it. That's the first lot of research; the second lot is a bit different. I want you to look through newspapers, both wizarding and muggle, going back a couple of months. Note down anything unusual, disappearances – people and objects, robberies, anything that could be more than it seems. Also anything that is to do with people with known connections to Voldemort, going back about a month earlier still. You'll most likely have to arrange two teams to manage this, but I want you to organise both of them and make reports of what you find for both Albus and me." The transfiguration professor nodded very stiffly and formally, making Harry realise how controlling he must sound. Oh well, no time to worry about it now, he told himself.

Finished with Minerva, Harry turned his attentions to the next two wizards, Remus and Severus. "Remus and Severus, I want you two to work together to an extent. You are both going to be doing some information collecting for me, and so it would be best if you compare what you each find." The two nodded, they had experience doing the sort of 'information collecting' Harry liked. They called it spying, eavesdropping, bribery and many other things, but their younger, unofficial leader thought 'information collecting' sounded much better – and more innocent. "Sev, you'll need to try and find out what you can from known Death Eater contacts. You'll have to be careful who you talk to, but make sure you aren't caught by any unsavoury characters." His voice shaded with concern, Harry looked directly at the man he had come to respect, making sure he wouldn't just go off and get himself in trouble – not that he would unless he thought it absolutely necessary. Seeing the man nod, he knew he understood his concern. He turned to the werewolf, "Remus, I need you to go to see some of our allies. They might have heard something, had some disappearances, anything like that." It was understood by allies Harry meant the werewolves that had fought for their side, as well as the better of the vampires, and a few other select dark creatures who weren't as dark as everyone thought. Remus had been the contact for them, seeing as they trusted him due to his condition. "I might also ask you to speak with a few of the Order members, depending on how everything else goes. But for the moment, concentrate on the others."

Beginning to feel tired, Harry looked to Dumbledore. He had never really given the headmaster orders before, at least not in the same way he gave them to others. The two usually worked together arranging everybody else. "Albus, we'll need to call up some of the Order. I don't want everyone back if we can help it, I don't want to ruin the lives they're rebuilding. I also don't want the Weasley's too involved, though I know they will be to an extent they shouldn't know what Ron did, it would tear their family apart. Do you think you can arrange for a brief meeting with some of the members as well as the rest of the staff, or whoever you think should be made aware? It really needs to happen tonight, and as long as you don't mind me not being there, I think you should try for that. Otherwise, perhaps early tomorrow?" The headmaster agreed, and seeing how tired Harry was becoming, told the others he would speak with them later.

With the office empty but for Dumbledore, Harry and Fawkes, Harry allowed himself to show how he really felt. He collapsed in a comfortable armchair opposite Albus, and closed his eyes.

"I don't want to do this again, Albus." He spoke softly, a heaviness filling his voice that shouldn't be there. "But I know I have to, and I have to do it with strength and confidence."

"That may be true, Harry. But you don't have to do it alone. Not everyone expects you to be a hero all of the time."

"That may be true, and I appreciate what everybody else does, it's just that this should never have happened. I defeated him, destroyed his body and locked away his soul, killed most of his supporters and still he's there. I really hope we can stop him before anything happens, I don't think I could stand to go through it again, and this is only the second war for me! I don't know how you've managed to live through three already and still have the ability to go in for another." Harry spoke with respect for the old man in front of him, who had gone through so much, and was still offering advice.

"We go through what we have to. This is what my life is, and I'm grateful for all that I've had a chance to see and do. If to have that I have to fight for what I love and believe in, then I will do it." Albus came around the front of the desk and sat in a seat next to Harry, placing a hand on his knee in comfort. "I remember feeling exhausted after the war with Grindelwald was over. I felt like all I wanted to do was spend the rest of my days peacefully with my remaining friends, I wanted to never face the harsh realities of life again, even though I knew I should, but I decided I wouldn't. I ran away and didn't tell anyone where I was going. I spent a year away from home, living in the muggle world much as you have been doing." Albus was reminiscing fondly now, "I met an amazing woman, Clarissa. She was beautiful, intelligent and caring. We fell in love and got married, after which I told her of my life. She, incredibly, understood, though she was a little shocked. In turn she told me something she had just found out about herself. She was dying of cancer. I will never forget the way I felt then, learning that she had only a short time to live." Harry was shocked. He had never known any of this, and doubted that anybody else did either.

Continuing on, Albus wiped a stray tear from his eyes, "on the last night she was alive, she told me something that changed my whole viewpoint on things. She said that it was my responsibility to do go back, to offer hope to my world and show them that things could go on. 'Always remember what you have, what you have had, and what you can give to others', she said to me. And I do, every day. Whenever I find myself succumbing to exhaustion, wanting to give up, I think about everything I can still do to make things better for others and find the strength to go on." Sitting back up straight, the headmaster reflected for a moment before returning to his place behind his desk.

"Now, I believe you said you wouldn't be able to attend a meeting tonight, is there anything you need before you go?"

Smiling and feeling much better for the pep talk, Harry met the headmaster's eyes. "Unless you know an easy way of telling one of your best friends that you're a famous wizard who has fought a Dark Lord and survived to do it all over again?"

Chuckling, Dumbledore said, "Ah, yes. If I remember correctly that can be a rather awkward conversation. All I can do is wish you the best of luck, Harry. I'm sure she will be fine with it in the end, no matter how much of a temper she has." Shaking his head, Harry marvelled at how the man seemed to always know more than he was told, he was very perceptive.

"Well then, I guess I better get an early start – it might take a while." Harry stood and headed for the door, "I'll come back and see how the meeting is going when I get back, shall I?" Harry knew without being told that the meeting would be held tonight, and that it would be a long one. One hand on the door, Harry turned back and said, "Thank-you Albus. For helping me find my strength." The old man just smiled kindly and let his eyes twinkle.