Life Goes On

The sun rose slowly the following morning. Harry was up long before the sun ever began peaking above the horizon; in fact he had barely gone to sleep. The sunrise painted a beautiful picture of the Conejo Valley for the Boy-Who-Lived. It allowed him to take his mind off his thoughts and focus on something simple and true. It reminded him why they were still fighting this never-ending battle. Why the next generation and the subsequent generations to follow would continue to fight the exact same battle. It had nothing to do with power or with superiority, but with protection of beauty, of purity.

Growing out of the rock he sat on was a tiny green bud. The plant looked scrawny, as if it would not survive the arid, harsh conditions of its surroundings. Then the light hit it.

The bud burst open revealing a golden flower, shaped like a rose. The stem seemed to grow lush, brilliant green leaves in a matter of seconds. A tiny butterfly landed on the flower and idly began to feed from the nectar hidden deep within the blossom.

"Harry. Harry!" The voice shouting his name steadily grew louder and louder. Harry slowly regained consciousness, but the pain shooting from his leg threatened to push him back into the shadows. "HARRY, snap out of it!" The owner of the voice slapped him hard on the face. After a few tentative blinks, Harry's eyes sprang open in surprise. What he saw made him panic; he thought he had died!

Standing above him was Brendin Will and Ethan Long. Both wore tattered clothes, but looked better for wear than Wyatt or himself. Brendin's hair would have reached his shoulders if it were not for the curl right at the end. Ethan's hair was sitting in his mid-back and completely covered his eyes. Harry's magic told him that these two young men near him were indeed who they appeared to be.

"How?" He choked. Harry spat out the phlegm and saw that it was blood red.

"Never mind that." Brendin took charge. "What happened?"

"The demons…they took your brother. We fought them, but we lost." Harry muttered. He was struggling to breath. It hurt every time he took a breath.

Brendin nodded, wincing with Harry. "Ethan, find my brother. He's probably near the magical void. I need to find out where Harry is injured.

Ethan disappeared out of Harry's line of sight as he felt Brendin's hand touch his sore leg. Brendin quietly warned him to be prepared. Before he could even process the command, the pain quadrupled in intensity. Harry spotted the arrow, covered in blood get tossed. Brendin then moved up to his chest.

"Does this hurt?" Brendin gently pressed against his ribs, one at a time.

Harry sucked in a breath and hissed, "Yesss," through clenched teeth.

Brendin nodded decisively to himself. "A broken rib. And from the color of your that," Brendin pointed that Harry's phlegm, "it punctured your lung."

Harry cringed, another visit to Madam Pomfrey.

" What is wrong with Wyatt?"

"The dagger was poisoned." Harry forced himself to not show that he was in pain.

Brendin nodded. "We need to leave."

"That could prove a lot more difficult than it sounds." Ethan replied, his arms laden with an unconscious body.

Harry tried to sit up but the pain was too severe for him to. He remained lying down s Caleb was laid next to him. Although the younger boy was grimy and deathly pale, he seemed to have no major injuries.

"Send Ethan back. Tell Leo that he needs to hurry." He said to the now worried teens. He pointed at the arrow and his wand. "Take those back with you, then they won't ask so many questions."

About half an hour later the chamber was fill with angry, frightened, and happy adults. The three injured boys were escorted back to DC so the mediwitches and wizards could heal their wounds properly since Leo partially healed Harry and Wyatt. Around midnight, the medical personnel released Harry and Wyatt from their care. Caleb was sent to the local hospital in the Conejo Valley.

Once he and Wyatt arrived back at Hermione's house they immediately questioned everyone about the whereabouts of Brendin and Ethan. They were told by time and time again that the two teens had arrived with Leo and Dumbledore. Both men had escorted the two teens to the east wing of the house and warded off that particular area. None of the men who went into the room had come out yet; although Hermione swore she heard the crack of a house elf around dinnertime.

Both teens still had not been seen by anyone that Harry had spoken to when he left the house to go for a walk. He knew that the parents had been contacted, as he had been the one to see Fawkes off. No one else besides him and Dumbledore could control the moody phoenix. Kyle, Daelan, and Casey had arrived at the house about an hour later along with Jack, Amber, Ashley, and Ethan's parents. Leo had greeted them and led them to the room without allowing them to talk to anyone else.

Next to him, blue lights appeared in a swarm. The orbs took their form to reveal a heavy eyed Wyatt. Wyatt looked at Harry and then sat down and looked at the sunrise.

"It is calming."

Harry simply nodded, too wrapped up in his own thoughts and problems to really pay any attention to the sunrise or Wyatt anymore.

Wyatt faced Harry. "Do you know what happened yesterday? I mean, how did three lousy demons defeat the two most powerful fighters for the light?"

Harry stared back out over the valley. "We're not at our top at the moment. You only gained your powers back recently, and I only woke up a few days ago.

Wyatt shook his head. "That is not an excuse. And I don't believe it's the truth."

"You tell me if you find anything." Harry said absently.

Wyatt nodded grimly. "I will. I will."

"Harry, Wyatt. They're out." Leo's calm kind voice echoed in their head.

"Want some help?" Wyatt asked extending his hand.

"No thanks. I will apparate."

They arrived back in the kitchen of the Granger household. The adjacent dining room was packed full with teens, adults, and pets. Perched on opposite sides of Draco's sleeping dragon were Harry's two loyal owls. Hedwig, his trusted companion since his first visit to Diagon Alley, was a snowy owl with a jealous disposition and a tendency to take things too personally. The only owl she would allow Harry to use—and not be offended by it—besides her was his rare golden eagle owl, Holly. He had only received Holly a year before from an anonymous stranger. Each owl had a letter strapped to their leg and where patiently waiting for their owner to return. Harry nodded in their direction and they took off. Holly landed on his right shoulder while Hedwig landed on his outstretched left arm. He conjured up some owl treats for them and removed the letters. "Thanks girls." Both owls, relieved from their duties, took off and went off to find their cages.

Harry placed the letters on the kitchen counter before joining the festivities. Piper had whipped up a feast for the celebration breakfast. Harry, following everyone else's example, took a plate from the pile and dished up some pancakes, eggs, and took an orange from the fruit basket. He sat down just behind his cousin and Brendin.

"…So what have you been up to?" Harry caught the end of Brendin's side of the conversation.

Kyle shrugged. "Nothing much. I've been busy catching up on schoolwork; my dad decided to home school me. I've been hanging with Harry and Hermione a lot along with Draco and Ron when they are down here. Daelan's been keeping me busy with basketball."

Brendin laughed. "He got you to join after all your thoughts on the subject?"

Kyle smiled. "Yeah, well, things changed rather dramatically after you disappeared. Casey positively hated my choice to sign up but he seems to have gotten over it."

"You're a good player by the way." Harry butted in.

Kyle blushed slightly. "A big complement coming from the person who has watched like, two games and has no clue what is going on."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah…well at least even I knew that you should only score in your own hoop."

Kyle punched Harry on the shoulder. "I did it once and it is not like it went in."

"That was only because the idiot on the other team blocked it." Kyle just shook his head and returned to his meal. Brendin stared starting at one Potter and gradually moving to the other.

"Relax, Brendin. We aren't fighting." Harry clarified when he figured out the look on the blonde's face.

"Could have fooled me." Brendin muttered. This caused Harry and Kyle to snort into their eggs. They both quickly became the center of attention.

Harry pulled out his wand and with a wave of the wooden tool cleaned up the mess on the floor and on his and Kyle's faces. He pocketed the wand. "You can all return to your own conversations." Everyone laughed at the rather corny joke but nonetheless followed the raven-haired boy's advice.

"So Brendin, are you going to keep your hair like that?" Hermione joined in the conversation by changing the topic.

Brendin shrugged. "I don't mind it, but I'm not sure my mom would approve."

"Hey, there sport." Brendin whispered softly into his younger brother's ear. Brendin stood awkwardly next to the bed as a groggily Caleb opened his eyes.

"Hey, Brendin." Caleb murmured sleepily. "What you doing here?" He spoke slowly and barely opened his eyes.

Brendin smiled and ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Ever the morning person. You helped rescue me, remember."

Caleb's eyes lit up but his expression saddened almost as quickly. "I guess I did not do that well."

Brendin sat in the chair next to the bed. "You were excellent, Caleb. From what I was told you held your own in the cave. Everyone is very proud of you. We will have a big celebration on the beach as soon as you get well, ok?" Brendin's big-brother mode was in overdrive.

"I'll do my best." Caleb nodded, his eyes closed. "I'll do my best."

Brendin nodded and placed an encouraging smile on his face. "That is all we can ever ask of you, Caleb…All we could ever ask."

Caleb did not reply and moments later the doctor came into the room and ushered Brendin out. He joined his family in the waiting room. His girlfriend, Leia, wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder when he sat down beside her. The doctor led away his mom. Brendin pulled Leia into his lap and put on a brave face.

"He is a fighter."

Leia placed her head on his shoulder. "Yes he is."

The doctors discovered a blood clot in Caleb's head and were worried that it might cause a rupture. This would place a lot of pressure on Caleb's brain and would lead to a stroke and possibly, death. The doctors believed Caleb's best hope for survival would be the surgical removal of the clot. The only problem with it was that it would all have to be done without magic. Magic used so close to unprotected brain tissue would cause memory loss and possible paralysis. While Leo and another elder would be on stand by to heal Caleb if anything went terribly wrong, the doctors had told them that Caleb had a very slim chance of coming out the other end not changed for the worst.

Everyone rushed to the hospital when the doctors had phoned. The hospital staff allowed only the immediate family, Brendin's girlfriend, and Leo to stay. The rest had to return home and wear themselves out with worry there. The staff was apprehensive about magical exposure. To which Harry had promptly spat at and swore so profusely even Ron reddened. Harry had to be escorted off the hospital premises by two burly Aurors.

Harry sat in his bedroom at the Grangers' house fuming. He was mad, madder than he had ever been in his life. He felt like he was back in fifth year with everyone keeping secrets from him. Harry knew that Caleb was all right and that there was nothing he could do for the kid if anything went wrong, but the idea that he could not be there with Brendin and his family infuriated him. Without realizing it, he was pacing the room like a caged tiger. Then without warning, the desk before him shattered.

Hermione came rushing in. "What on earth happened here?"

Harry waved the debris out of his way. Coughing: "I guess I was more angry than I thought."

Hermione shook her head and looked at Harry as if he was a disobedient son. "Fix it."

Harry closed his eyes, focused on amending the molecules together. Slowly, the desk began to reform, but then shattered again. Harry pulled out his wand and tried to do it the old fashion way with a spell. The sawdust covering the room did not even move. Hermione whipped out her wand and flicked it deliberately; nothing happened.

"Harry James Potter, you fix this or it is your head I'll have!" Hermione said with bitterness.

Harry couldn't help but smile. Hermione steadily aimed her wand at him, "One sound…"

Harry nodded and waved his hand nonchalantly and the desk reformed. Hermione, now seething, stormed out the room. Ron entered shortly after.

"What did you do?"

Harry frowned. "Nothing. The desk blew up and neither of us could repair it."

"Then…how's it sitting unharmed against the wall?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know."

There was a short knock on the door and Wyatt entered "Emotional rebound. Your powers are tied to your emotions. You were subconsciously blocking any magic from destroying your expressed anger. Once you were no longer angry you could repair the desk without a thought."

Ron frowned and Harry stared at Wyatt with his mouth open.

"The price of having active magical power." Wyatt simply said. "Mrs. Granger told me to give you these." He handed Harry two letters.

"Oh, thanks." Harry sat down on the bed again. "Forgot about these."

The two letters were sealed with the American Ministry of Magic's seal. One had been written in the familiar messy writing of Hagrid; the other was the small neat handwriting of Cho Chang. Harry placed the one from Cho on the table and opened the one from Hagrid first. It had been awhile since he last saw Hagrid, almost three months. Hagrid had been given a mission by Dumbledore to investigate the appearance of a new dragon species in South America. He had not been seen or heard from since. Dumbledore informed Harry that he would be the first to know if something went wrong, but that hardly set Harry's mind at ease. Harry unfurled the letter:

Dear Harry,

I terribly sorry to hear about the Order's defeat but Dumbledore had informed me that things are slowly being reorganized. He is hopeful that we might be able to return to England by the end of the school year. That is the reason I am writing this letter. Dumbledore has reassigned me and a few other members of the Order to sneak back into Europe. He hopes that we might be able to contact those still loyal to the old ways and organize them.

I sent your birthday present with. Dumbledore told me that your power would be growing rapidly over the year and that your wand might be too weak to handle your new power. He hinted that your wand is still important in the war so I got to thinking. The emerald stone when fused onto your wand will help it handle the stress.

Hagrid

Harry picked up the tiny box that had slid out of the envelope unnoticed by him earlier. The box was made of a well-polished blood red wood and carved on the top was a Griffin with a lightning bolt in the background. The inside was covered in black velvet and sitting dead center was a penny-sized sliver of emerald. The lid of the box had what Harry guessed was instructions but they were written in Spanish.

Wyatt sat down next to him and Ron moved closer to see the item inside the box. Wyatt raised his hand and the instruction manual found itself in his grip. "This is a power crystal from ancient times. Used only by those who are worthy." Wyatt read aloud. "Well, that's helpful."

Ron looked at the crystal. "My great-great uncle was an archaeologist. He studied ancient Peruvian culture. Only the high priest was allowed to have a crystal on his wand; it supposedly allowed him to use a very advanced form of wand magic."

Harry nodded. "Did he figure out how it worked?"

"If he did, do you think we would be so poor?"

Harry grimaced. Money was still a sore spot for Ron.

Ron continued. "Speaking of money, that artifact must have cost a pretty knut. I knew Hogwarts paid well, but that must've cost Hagrid a year's paycheck."

Harry looked back down at the tiny jewel. "Dumbledore must have paid for it. He, after all, told Hagrid to buy it for me."

"Well besides the price, how's it going to be of any help to us? I doubt any wand-maker knows anything about this type of magic." Ron and Wyatt carried on about the power crystal as Harry fell distracted by the next letter.

Dear Harry,

I got the message you sent when you woke up. I'm so glad, but it does not change anything. I have been assigned to the infiltration squad and will be returning to England by the end of the week. We are going to move as soon as Dumbledore returns from his trip to where ever he goes these days. I hope to see you before then, but if I don't, Happy Birthday.

Love,

Cho

Harry waved his hand and the letters disappeared, causing Ron and Wyatt to jump. "Sorry." Harry got up and placed his present on the desk before leaving the room.

"What's up with him?" Ron said. Wyatt shrugged and orbed out. "Well, that's just great!"

Harry sat down next to the pool. He slowly raised his right hand up and twirled it in the air and a whirlpool began to form in the pool. He pushed himself up and raised his hand over the water and brought it cracking down on to his leg. The water reacted violently and separated into two sectors leaving a bone-dry path between the two. The two walls collapsed after a few moments and Harry found himself breathing deeply.

"Controlling that much water is very exhausting, Harry."

"Leave me alone." Harry turned to face Wyatt. "Can't you see I want to be ALONE?"

Wyatt nodded knowingly. "I got that much from the telepathic message you are broadcasting to the world."

"THEN WHY DON'T YOU LISTEN?"

Wyatt brought up his shield as lightning struck down from the sky. The shield buckled under the power of the strike and Wyatt orbed out of the way. Where he was standing was a ten-foot deep crater. "You need to learn to control your power…or take a major sedative."

Harry glared at his equal. Wyatt smiled and with a twitch of his nose the crater covered itself up. Harry deflated and smiled at Wyatt's attempted to make him smile. "Thanks."

"I know what you are going through. They are my charges. This is also my duty."
"Yes, but you aren't losing control."

Wyatt's eyes focused on the ground. "That is hardly true. I am just not new to the craft. My emotions no longer trigger my power as easily."

"OH! Thanks for calling me a neophyte." Harry stated sarcastically. "That makes me feel sooooo much better."

Silence fell down between the two of them. Harry started to walk away deep in thought again.

"We will find out what happened in that cave."

Harry spun around. "How did you —?"

"It is the same thing that's bothering me."

"It's just the icing on the giant cake." Harry spat. "Caleb, Voldemort, Dumbledore, our friend back there, Cho…" Harry covered his mouth.

"Cho is going-with." Wyatt said simply. Harry nodded. "She is a powerful witch…when she concentrates. She'll be fine."

"If I could not stand up against him, what chance does anyone else have?" Harry moved close to Wyatt, his eyes flashing.

Wyatt backed down. "It was her choice, Harry."

"Oh, and what difference does that make?" Harry looked Wyatt directly in the eyes.

"It is not your responsibility." Wyatt placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Others are going to fight in this war whether we are on the front line or not. We cannot stop every death, every bad thing."

"But why not?" Harry asked desperately. He shrugged Wyatt's hand off and walked further away from the house.

Wyatt stared at Harry. "You can not be serious."

"Dead." Harry looked at Wyatt. "I'm fed up with war and pain. I want out."

"They are dead, Harry; my mom and aunts vanquished them."

Harry shook his head. "They are too powerful to be killed by the Charmed Ones and it is not like the idea can be destroyed." Harry waited for Wyatt to catch up with him. "How else do you explain what happened in that cave? They are the only ones that could possibly mess with our memories."

"So what are you going to do—"

"Now?" Harry shrugged. "Nothing. They need us for something; so we have to wait for them."

"I'm not going along with this."

Harry carried on walking. "Just wait until someone you love is about to die. You dad almost fell under their promise; what makes you think you'll be able to resist? Wyatt, a life without the bloody titles of Boy-Who-Lived and Twice-Blessed. A normal life."

Wyatt flipped through the Book of Shadows. The manor was deserted; his entire family had remained in Southern California. He just could not sit and wait. He had returned home after the almost disastrous walk with Harry. He had been able to talk Harry into telling him about any move he made to contact the Avatars. The book was acting up again. When he reached the page with the description of the Avatars, the book would turn its pages to the summoning spell for Belthazar.

"I don't want to summon them, damn it." He seethed. Shutting the book, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I know you're here, and I am not ready to accept that it is the only way."

A distorted, ghostly head appeared behind Wyatt. "You will be in the end."

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Wyatt's roar caused the Manor to shudder and a wave of pure energy issued from his hands.

The head simply absorbed the attack. "We thought that the returning of your sister and cousin proved to you that we are not evil."

"You need me and I know that I have to be willing to join the Collective. I am not ready!" Wyatt brought up his shield.

"That shield is useless against us." The head disappeared.

Wyatt collapsed onto the ancient couch that was one of the few possessions of the Halliwells that had survived all the demon attacks over the centuries. "Your family has been fighting the same battle for all that time." Wyatt shook his head. He looked at the book and it burst into flames. The flames died out and the book sat on the pedestal unharmed. "If I cannot destroy this destiny what makes you think you can change it?"

"Who are you talking to, Wy?" A familiar voice rang out through the attic.

"Grams! You're supposed to respect my privacy." Wyatt said jokingly as he stood up to hug his mother's grandmother. "It has been awhile."

Grams smiled. "Yes, it has. Your mother forbid me from visiting uninvited, but I believe that even she would make an exception in this case." Wyatt frowned. "You are losing your way, Wyatt."

Wyatt took a guarded step back. "I am not turning EVIL!

"That is not what I meant, dear. You have forgotten why you were bestowed these wonderful gifts." Grams smiled. "You are losing faith in our cause."

"We are losing the war, Grams. Nothing I do is going to change that. If we win this battle with Voldemort, other more powerful evil will take his place." Wyatt sat back down heavily and placed his head in his hands.

"And worrying about the future is futile, Wyatt Mathews Halliwell." Grams became very stern. "The future changes with every choice we make. Yes, the duality can seem like a losing battle when you look so far into the future, that you miss all the good it brings. Your parents tried to bring an end to the duality and the only thing that changed was they lost their choice, their free will. Everything became a preprogrammed process; there was no emotion of any kind. You can only feel happy if you can feel sad, Wyatt."

Wyatt nodded. "I know all that. But it does not change the fact that if all I feel is sadness and fear."

Grams hugged Wyatt tightly. "What you need is a break from the war. Go and spend a day on the beach just being a normal everyday teenager. Your destiny can wait that long." Grams became transparent and disappeared in five golden lights.

"Why are we doing this?" Harry complained. "We should be getting ready not fooling around."

Cho sighed. "This could be the last day we spend together, Harry, for a long time. And you want to spend it with our noses in books?"

Caleb had recovered from the surgery at a remarkable pace and his parents had agreed that Brendin and his friends could go to the beach to celebrate with Caleb if the doctors said it was ok. The doctors had told them to wait one more day for any strenuous activity but going to the beach would be just fine. Harry had argued profusely against the trip but nobody was on his side and then Cho had arrived the morning of the trip.

Wyatt had secretly orbed his car down from San Francisco much to his mom's annoyance. Along with Daelan and Harry's cars, they headed off to the beach. They took the scenic route so Caleb could sleep on the way there. He was still tired even a week after the surgery. It was a quick time to recover from a major operation, but the doctors were still confounded by his symptom. Everything else was healed, but Caleb up until the day before, Caleb could barely drag himself out of bed.

Brendin had almost called the whole thing off but for the fact that Caleb had told him not to.

"I'll be fine, Brendin. So I won't surf. I'll enjoy watching the rest of you." Caleb had insisted with an encouraging smile.

Their parents were not all that thrilled about having to allow the trip.

"You promised!" Caleb had shouted when his mother told him that he was still too weak to go to the beach.

They arrived at the beach and eagerly unpacked the cars. The girls went off to claim a spot while the boys, carrying the various items of play, followed. They set up camp. Brendin and Kyle slipped into their wetsuits and went out to surf for a bit. Daelan, Casey, and Ethan headed off to the caves down the beach, dragging Wyatt and Chris with them. Ginny, Hermione, and Ron took Draco's new skim board out for a test drive. Harry and Cho went for a walk to catch up; mostly Harry wanted to talk Cho out of going on the mission. Caleb lay under their umbrella watching his brother catch waves; Draco was keeping him company.

"Do you have any idea what's up with Wyatt and Harry? They seem a bit off to me." Draco inquired as they watched Brendin fall off his board.

"They took their defeat hard. Well, that is Hermione's answer for it, but I think there's more to it than that." Caleb flicked his hand at the fly that zoomed past. The fly burst. "Ugh! Gross."

"How did you do that?"

Caleb shrugged. "I burn things…Brendin can blow things up."

"Try it again." Draco prompted.

Caleb focused his eyes on an apple that had rolled out of the food bag. A seagull was slowly approaching it. He raised his hands and motioned with the same way he had with the fly. The apple shook—which thankfully scared the seagull away—before it exploded, sending apple puree every way.

Draco nodded. "Well, it is certainly different from Brendin's or Wyatt's power."

"It looks painful." Caleb said disappointed.

"What's with the tone?" Draco cleaned the mess from the apple with a tiny flick of his invisible wand. "I thought you would be happy about gaining a new power."

Caleb nodded solemnly. "I wanted one that wouldn't hurt. I don't care if I will only use it on demons; they should die quick and painlessly."

Draco smiled. "Don't worry about that. They caused a lot more pain and suffering than your power will ever cause."

"So…how are your parents holding up with everything?" Kyle asked as they waited for the next wave.

Brendin motioned for them to head out deeper. "They don't like the idea of me hanging out with all of you, especially Harry and Wyatt and the rest of the Hogwarts crew."

Kyle watched a small sand shark swim under them. "They don't trust them?"

"They hate them. My mom is out right refusing to allow me to practice my most basic powers." Brendin looked at Kyle who was smiling. "Oh, you think this is all funny?"

"Well, we are supposed to not use our powers unless it is to protect an innocent."

"I didn't say that." Brendin motioned with his hand and a flame sprang to life. "I don't know if my powers have grown or atrophied. The last time I used them was the attack."

"What about in the cave?"

"And that." Brendin brushed the hair out of his face. "All I did was blow two demons up."

"Two demons that damn well almost killed the two most powerful fighters we have."

Brendin frowned. "That bothers me too."

Kyle turned his board around and got ready to catch the next wave in. "Well, let's go."

Brendin smiled and followed suit. "You're buying us dinner."

"Why?"

"Because I'm beating you to shore."

"Cho why are you joining this mission?" Harry asked once they were out of earshot of the rest of the gang.

"Not this again!" Cho said, exasperated by Harry's worry. "I told you I was assigned."

"But why you?" Harry pressed forward, not getting the hint. "Why not someone with more experience?"

Cho took Harry by the shoulders. "I am not well known. Voldemort will not suspect me as easily as…let's say Douglas or Romulus."

Harry shook Cho off. "So you just accepted it!"

"No!" Cho half shouted. "I told Dumbledore downright that I do not want to go back to England."

Harry frowned. "What changed your mind?"

"You." Harry stared at Cho shocked. "I remembered that you have been fighting Voldemort since you were one."

Harry frowned. "Yes, but it's my destiny…"

"Harry, I am not going to debate this with you." Cho said firmly. "I am leaving tomorrow along with the rest of the team. I want to do the most I can to make your job easier."

Harry turned to face the ocean. "Fine."

Cho spun him back around so he faced her. "Oh! Come on, Harry!" She placed her hand on Harry's cheek. "You're not mad at me?"

Harry smiled. "That would be too difficult a task."

"Good." Cho brought out a box from her pocket. "Then this will make it even harder." She opened the box and inside was a gold ring with a strange writing on it. "Can you read it?"

Harry stared at the inscriptions and slowly decoded it wordlessly. The writing was difficult to read as it was not clearly carved but he was able to decipher it with some help of prior knowledge.

"One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them." Harry read the Elfish inscribed on the gold ring. "This is a replica of Sauron's Ring from The Lord of the Rings."

"Yes, it is." Cho placed it on Harry's left small finger. "I know how much you enjoyed those books."

"I just feel like I can relate to Frodo." Harry said defensively.

Cho placed a finger over Harry's lips. "I understand. The ring will store up to half of the wearer's magical potential. You can use the stored power in a battle if you are running low."

Harry looked at the ring and then at Cho with wide eyes. "Thanks." His voice must have shown he was upset.

"What is it, Harry?"

Harry smiled. "Nothing, Cho."

"I got that ring all by myself if that is what you are thinking." Cho said with her hands on her hips in mock anger. "Dumbledore had nothing to do with it."

"Wyatt is right. That pose does make anyone look like a toddler." Cho smacked Harry on the cheek, softly. "What was that for!"

Cho grinned, leaned in and kissed Harry. "I just want you to survive all this."

"I know." Harry took Cho's hand in his own as they continued their walk down the beach. "I want you to survive as well."

"If I don't Harry, promise me that you will not give up. You must keep fighting."

"You won't die!" Harry said with unyielding resolve.

"Promise me."

Harry looked into Cho's eyes; the eyes that made his heart jump all those years ago on the Quidditch pitch. Inaudibly, unsuccessfully swallowing past the bludger in his throat, he answered, "I promise."

"Good." The ring's etchings glowed red before disappearing. "The writing will appear whenever you are giving up. It's a little charm of my own invention."

Harry's lip quirked in a smile. "You don't trust me?"

"Harry James Potter, you know full well I don't trust you. Why do you think we never became a couple?"

Harry's smile grew bigger. "Gee, I thought that was because you were too afraid of commitment."

Cho laughed. "I proved that wrong that night remember."

Harry grew red. "Yeah, well, we didn't do anything."

"Because you didn't want to."

"And you wanted to save yourself until you got married." Harry said a bit loudly.

Cho hesitated. "That is true as well."

"Good." Harry said simply. He replaced the smile on his face. "Because I don't want anyone else to have you." Harry waved his hand and a black box appeared in hand. "Ever since I saw you on that Quidditch pitch all those years ago, I knew that I could never love anyone the way I love you, Cho. Even through everything that we went through the next two years I never truly gave up hope. And then you chose me to protect you that night last year. I knew then that my heart would break if I ever lost you. It has taken me all this time to gather up the courage. Cho, will you marry me?"

Cho, hands shaking, opened up the box and gasped. In it sat the perfect gold ring with a diamond mounted in the middle. Around the rest of the band were a hundred tiny ruby and topaz stones. Surrounding the diamond were four smaller diamonds with a green tint. Harry removed the ring and looked at Cho.

"Yes!" She slipped the ring on while Harry's stood motionless. She leaned in and kissed Harry again this time, longer and more passionately. "YES!"

Harry could barely breath. "Y-y-yes?"

Cho nodded excitedly. "Of course! I would love to marry you, Harry."

Harry smiled. He looked out on the ocean savoring and engraining the memory deep into his brain. He allowed his eyes to wonder off the deep blue sea back to Cho who was grinning almost as much as he was and then past her.

Out in the distance behind Cho back closer to camp, Harry spotted a cloud of dust rising. After a few more seconds he heard a thunderous boom followed by screaming. Without thinking, Harry started to run toward the commotion.

"Harry, wait for me!" Cho shouted.

Harry did not hear her. He was too focused on getting back to the others before something happened. He ran. He did not notice that the screaming had grown silent or that around him lay injured bodies. He kept running.

Out if nowhere a fist flew out his him. He ducked in time and threw a kick of his own. The green ugly demon took the hit square in the chest but was unfazed. Harry felt like his leg had hit lead. The demon took a step and in the next instant was behind Harry throwing a punch at his head. Harry felt the hit connect and his face hit the sand.

"Impedimenta!" screamed someone.

Harry rolled over to see the demon's foot an inch away from the back of his neck. The hit would have broken his spine! He stood up and concentrating on his anger, touched the demon. The demon unfroze from the spell and screamed in agony as Harry's hand melted its skin before finally vanquishing it. Harry looked around and spotted why his anger took that form. Caleb was battling another demon similar to the one Harry had been fighting except this one had horns.

Cho ran up beside Harry. "You ok?"

Harry nodded. "Where is everyone?"

"There is a cluster closer to the ocean and Ron and Hermione are a bit up the beach fighting two more of these things."

"Manticores," panted Caleb. The manticore he had been fighting was now a pile of ash. "Appeared a few seconds after that black haired boy."

Harry and Cho spotted the boy Caleb was pointing out. He was fighting side-by-side with Wyatt and Chris. Harry watched the three boys fight for a moment longer. "Do we know him?"

"I've never seen him before." Caleb answered simply.

Cho shrugged. "He seems to know Wyatt and Chris's fighting style, though."

"Since when did you become an expert on fighting styles?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"That was my major field of study while preparing for the Order." Cho informed. "Shall we join them?"

Caleb stayed behind while Harry and Cho rushed into the battle. They vanquished another three manticores before reaching Wyatt and Chris. Wyatt and Chris grabbed Harry's hand and without a word all three of them froze the scene around them. The manticores froze and then exploded. All the muggles froze as well along with Cho and the new boy.

"Well, I guess you were right." Chris let go of his brother's and Harry's hand. The scene unfroze once the circle was broken.

"Good. They are dead." The new boy said barely breathing heavily as he surveyed the beach.

"And now you are going to explain yourself, Osric!" Wyatt said evenly as he watched whitelighters orb in to help clean up the mess and erase memories.

"Not here." Osric shook his head and began to head back to the remains of their "camp."

Wyatt grabbed his shoulder. "You are going to explain all this. NOW."

Osric looked Wyatt in the eye. "If I wanted to escape, I already would have."

"What…" Harry began.

Wyatt motioned for him to be quiet. "I'll explain what I know when we get back."

Osric nodded his agreement. "We should pack everything up and head back to a secure spot. The manor is out of the question…what about…"

"We will talk at Hermione's house." Wyatt said simply.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Chris asked. "Considering…"

Wyatt nodded. "The only other choice is Headquarters and there, we will lose control of the situation."

Half an hour later everything and everyone sat in the living room at the Grangers' house. All the adults were out except for Tonks who was guarding the entrance to the estate.

Osric was a boy around Wyatt's age with long black hair that sat just about his eyes and collar. He had a scar on his right cheek and his nose looked like it had been broken at least three times. His right eye was a deep electric blue while his left was almost pitch black. He sat comfortably between Wyatt and Harry. "…I have been tracking those demons ever since they killed my dad a year ago. I remembered your promise, Wyatt. So I came to ask for your help but then they attacked."

Wyatt nodded. "So they killed your dad after promising you they would not."

Osric's face showed his sadness for a split second. His eyes glazed back over into the steeliness Harry noticed when he first saw the boy. "Not directly. They sent him to a man who worked for Voldemort. Voldemort had been asking around for a person willing to kill these five teens. My manticore family took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. They got rid of the only good influence in my life and got Voldemort off their backs."

Brendin looked up. "How exactly did your father die?"

"I don't know. The plan was for him to drive a car into the car carrying the five teens on their way back from the beach." Osric frowned in thought. "I know the crash occurred but the car my dad was driving disappeared."

A dull gold minivan was driving through the Malibu Canyon; the passengers were happily discussing what they had done at the beach when another car coming the opposite direction swerved into the van. The driver of the silver Honda CRV jumped out of the car moments before the crash and disappeared while the car itself had also seemingly gone up in a flash of smoke. The van was in bad condition and the front two wheels were off the edge of the cliff. The driver, Jack Will, had slammed on the brakes and the car stopped rolling further over the edge but he was quickly slipping into shock. The other members in the car were knocked out all except Jack's son, Brendin. Brendin carefully opened his door and saw the ground some many feet below him. He shut his door quickly making the car jump another inch over the edge.

Carefully, he crawled into the back and opened the right sliding door. Once outside, he felt even more confused as this was the third car accident to affect his family or close friends and now it had happened to him. He was only fourteen and he could not deal with another death in his life. He knew he had to do something or the car was going to roll over the edge and take his dad and friends with it, but what? His dad's cell phone had flown out of the window upon the impact and had fallen down the cliff. The next payphone was almost five miles back and he was certain that he wouldn't be able to crawl that far. It was strange though that there wasn't a single car on the road, it was usually extremely busy this time of the summer and as far as he could see, that was only hope.

Brendin turned to see if anyone else was awake and saw his dad slip into unconsciousness. With the brakes no longer stopping the wheels the car slowly edged further and further over the edge. Brendin paled and his legs, which were already felt like jelly, gave way; he landed with his chest up in the car and his waist down outside. The car stopped suddenly, the back right wheel was caught against a rock. Brendin let out a sigh of relief but regretted doing so as his chest screamed in pain. The pain subsided and slowly he pushed himself up and turned so he could sit down on the floor of the van. For the first time he realized that he was covered in small cuts and some still had the fragments of glass in them. One in his right hand began to bother him and the pain only increased, and he delicately pulled the shard out and was surprised to see that the glass had cut into the lower bone of his thumb. But as for how deep the cut was, there was very little blood and he could still move it, which meant at least in his chaotic mind that there was nothing wrong. Brendin carefully stood up and tried to walk, but his legs refused to support his weight; with a sigh of defeat he sat down, gently. A groan caught Brendin's attention and he turned to see who was waking up. The boy who had been sitting behind him and whom he was very good friends with groaned again and ever so slowly opened his eyes.

"Casey, you ok?"

Casey tried to move his head to answer but stopped, as it was too painful. "I…I don't think so," he struggled to say; his voice cracked and was very, very soft. He tried to move but ceased the attempt with a shout of pain. "How is everyone else?" Moving his head slightly to try and keep the pain to a minimum, he turned and saw Ethan with his arm covered in blood and bent at an extremely abnormal angle, which made Casey sick.

"He's in pretty bad shape and so's my dad," Brendin looked at his dad before turning away, "one of us has to try and reach a payphone." Brendin saw the other teen pale at hearing the news.

Casey, ignoring the pain, began a futile attempt to wake Daelan, the oldest of the teens, then Ethan; both were unresponsive. Giving up, he turned to the newest member of the group who had immediately fit in, Kyle. To Casey's surprise, he was awake and his gray eyes were glowing, the best way to describe them; he stared straight into Casey's brown eyes and both of them turned their gaze toward Brendin. The hazel-eyed boy fidgeted under the gaze of his two friends, but mostly because of Kyle's gaze, who had a twinkle in his eyes.

Casey then turned his gaze back to Kyle, "Did I just hear you in my head?"

Kyle nodded, "I don't know how I knew I could do it but I do know that we need help." He moved to sit next to Brendin and waited until Brendin turned to look at him in the eyes, "and I believe you can help in that respect."

Brendin snapped back to the present. "We were the teens your father was sent to kill."

Osric gasped. He shook his head. "That's not possible. They told me he succeeded."

Wyatt placed a comforting hand on his old friend's shoulder. "It would not be the first time a demon lied."

The adults returned from their meeting up in San Francisco with the entire Order. They pulled Osric out of his conversation with the teens to hound him with questions. He was released from questioning around two-thirty the next morning. With the moon as his only light, he made his way out of the house.

"They trust you then?" Harry asked. Osric had just walked through the sliding door to the south patio.

"Yes." Osric stared at the moon. "Do you?"

Harry pointed at the brightly burning Mars. "That is supposed to mean that the war is going badly for the Light. I shouldn't trust anyone, never mind a half demon." Harry turned to see Osric's reaction. Osric remained still as a statue. "But, yes, I trust you."

Osric smiled. "You are a wonderful, powerful wizard and a loving man, you will make a good husband."

Harry's legs gave out from under him. He stumbled but caught himself. "How do you know?"

"Why else would you be out here tonight after an exhausting battle?"

"Bloody demon powers." Harry muttered.

Osric laughed. "Manticores only have super strength and speed as powers. I was lucky enough to be born with the power to create energy balls. Only the elite demons can mess inside a person's mind."

"Then how did you know?" Harry asked again.

"I noticed Cho's ring and how touchy the two of you were." Osric then pointed at Harry's ring. "And your ring is on the wrong finger, so you could not be married."

"So you are highly observant?"

"An unfortunate side effect of moving at the speed of light." Osric looked up into the sky. "Could you conjure up some hot chocolate and two chairs? My throat is dry and I hate standing."

Harry was glad for the change of subject. He still was not sure how he was going to explain everything to all his friends. He pulled out his wand and waved it gracefully through the air and two wooden chairs popped out of thin air along with two empty mugs. He tapped the first mug and steaming hot chocolate poured out of the tip of his wand. He handed the mug to Osric before filling his mug with Chai Tea of Starbucks' creation.

"I don't know what I am going to do when I go back to England." Harry muttered to himself. "I'm hooked on this stuff." He said louder to explain himself to Osric.

Osric mouthed an, 'oh' before taking another gulp of hot chocolate. "You could always order the stuff and have it shipped to you."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Harry smiled happy to be able to discuss something simple and ordinary for once in his life. Nothing to do with magic or his destiny or his important future; just tea, pure and simple.

The next morning the Granger estate was packed with Order members, family, and members of the Magical CIA; about a hundred people in all to feed, meet, and keep quiet. Tensions were running high which meant that an explosion was bound to occur. An explosion could mean magical exposure and the Cleaners were defiantly keeping an eye on things. Amidst all the commotion and political "howdy-dos", a small group in the hundred was celebrating quietly.

"Excellent, mate." Ron said as he clapped Harry on the back.

Harry and Cho had announced their engagement to their close friends during breakfast. They both agreed that the engagement should remain a secret for as long as possible but it would be unfair for their friends to not share in their glimmer of hope.

"So I guess this places the ball in your field now, hey Ron?" Wyatt asked playfully. Ron and Hermione went beet red. Everyone burst out laughing.

"I am first going to finish my education before I even think about getting engaged. Not that anything is wrong with it." Hermione said the last part quickly to Harry and Cho.

"We won't get married until I am finished with my schooling if Dumbledore decided to continue our schooling." Harry said to which Hermione smiled gleefully.

Cho nodded. "We are hoping that the whole war should be done by that time."

Caleb, being the youngest, asked the question everyone was avoiding. "So are you still going Cho?"

Cho and Harry shared a look. "I decided to go at least until Dumbledore is able to find a replacement. I told him last night that I wished to remain closer to Harry to help him in his physical training."

"And I'll make sure he hurries up on finding a replacement." Harry muttered. He watched the old wizard talking animatedly with McGonagall and Snape. His and Snape's eyes met and Harry's scar gave weird a twinge. Snape smirked and refocused on his conversation. Harry rubbed his scar absentmindedly not realizing the complications.

"What's going on, Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously. Harry just frowned, so she elaborated. "Your scar is bothering you."

Harry removed his hand as Hermione said the words. "It's nothing, Hermione. I've just got a headache." He lied. He knew that Hermione wouldn't like the truth; the fact that Snape had caused his scar to twinge.

An old wizard from the CIA took the stage and got everyone's attention by causing the microphone to squeal. He was an old man who bent over double and leant heavily on his cane. His voice was scratchy and annoying to listen to. "Thank you for your attention. I have just been informed that it is time. The delegates expect to see us in half an hour so we'd best get a move on." That was all code for 'the CIA member in England had caused a distraction and they had a window of ten minutes to sneak into the country' hopefully undetected.

Harry and Cho walked up to the back of the line that formed in front of a witch who was handing out portkeys at a fearful speed. Harry kissed Cho on the cheek as she received her portkey. "I'll see you in a bit." He whispered before she disappeared.

AN:

Sorry for the long time between updates but that is life. Just to warn you the sub plot that has been started in this chapter will include the deaths of some major characters. I have to make this war realistic don't I?

Next Chapter –

Sirius?

Dumbledore gives Harry some information

San Francisco, baby!