A/N: Hey people! I'm back!!!

Lady Rayvyanne: Thank you!!! This chapter is for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Key:

"……" speech

…stuff…: thoughts or mental monologues

# Parseltongue or beast speech#

Stuff…written stuff

IT'S SHOWTIME!!!!

"What a Hero Needs"

Chapter #4: A Lending Hand (part 1)

Just as the stranger disappeared, multiple pops were heard. Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix had arrived a second too late.

Their eyes widened as they saw the mess that Number Four had become. There was absolutely nothing left, everything had been destroyed. The ceiling looked as if it were about to collapse, the walls were blackened and charred and the furniture had been blown up into pieces. Tonks, as clumsy as she was, tripped over something and looked back to see what she had accidentally stepped on …and screamed. As soon as the other members saw what had made her screamed, they paled… There, mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable, lay Petunia, Vernon and Dudley Dursley, all dead.

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Several minutes before…

Albus Dumbledore had been in his office doing paperwork when a strange sphere-like gadget on top of one of the shelves started to spin and whirl madly, emitting a noise that sounded awfully close to that of a hag's screech. He suddenly felt sick. For with that alarm, came the worst... Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, had been attacked.

Quicker than any other man his age could ever be, the Headmaster stood and rushed to the fireplace, throwing Floo powder into the fire as he went.

"MINERVA MCGONAGALL'S OFFICE!"
As soon as Professor McGonagall saw his grim face, she knew something had gone terribly wrong.

"Albus? What happened?"

"Minerva, if you could please gather the Order," seeing her questioning look, he added, "It seems Privet Drive has been attacked."

Blanching, McGonagall proceeded to follow his request, hoping against hope that nothing too horrible had happened to one of her best students (though she would deny it if anyone asked).

Present time…

Now, as they watched the destruction that the Death Eaters had left behind, Albus Dumbledore and the Order realized that they were too late. Suddenly, Remus Lupin, who had not spoken a word since the loss of his only remaining friend and brother, snapped his head up.

"Harry!"

He ran up the stairs and stopped short upon sensing a coppery smell, blood…Harry's blood. Letting out an anguished cry that snapped the rest out of their daze, Remus opened the door where he sensed Harry's smell was stronger.

He was met with a sight he would never forget.

The room was tiny. The sheets, floor and walls were covered in dry blood and the window was boarded up. He whimpered, over the past few years he had known Harry, he had often heard the young man (for he had come to realize he was no boy) Harry had always tried to avoid going back to the Dursleys claiming that they hated him, only to be ignored and sent back to them again. He now knew why he had said that… it had all been true.

Behind Lupin, the rest of the Order members gaped at the conditions the Boy-Who-Lived had been forced to live in. A single thought ran through all their minds.

We failed him…again.

Nobody saw the painful expressions of two of their members. Albus Dumbledore's eyes no longer shined with the twinkle he was known for, but with tears of shame and pain. Oh, Merlin! I left him here against his will even though he gave me more than enough reasons… Why did I ignore Lily's warnings? I should have checked on him …

Beside him, Severus Snape, ex-death-eater, Potions Master, spy for the Light and the man who hated James and Harry Potter with a passion, watched in shock and disbelieve as the gentle werewolf crumpled to the floor in tears. Potter lived here? He just couldn't believe it. He had thought the brat was as spoiled and arrogant as his father had been because of his fame but here he was, in the same brat's room, and he was utterly horrified. What so-called human being could do this to a child? Why didn't anyone see the signs? Why didn't I see them? The unusually short stature, the "apparent" shyness, and the lack of a healthy appetite… they had all been signs of the terrible abuse Harry Potter had been going through since his parents' death.

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Some time later, many miles away…

Harry opened his eyes and found himself floating in black nothingness. There was a feeling of calmness and security in the empty void; it was as if there was nothing to worry about. There was no homework, no nightmares or visions, no expectations and, most importantly, no war and certainly no Voldemort. He closed his eyes again, determined to stay in the peaceful blackness forever.

Of course, with his luck, it was not to be as he wanted.

"Wake up, Child."

Once more, Harry opened his eyes.

There, standing in front of him, surrounded by a soft light, stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Dressed in an off-white sleeveless gown that reached past her ankles, the timeless-looking woman smiled lovingly at him.

Harry gasped as realization flooded over him. He could barely believe what his eyes were seeing, but his heart was screaming at him, telling him it was true. He just knew remembered that face smiling down at him when he was very little, her long auburn curls falling like a curtain to protect him from the rest of the world.

It was her face that he saw every night in his dreams and nightmares… It was the face of his mother, Lily Potter.

"Mum?" He asked in shock.

Lily's smile grew.

The next thing the dark haired young wizard knew was that he was wrapped in his mother's arms, sobbing as she consoled him. He cried for all that he had suffered, for all those he had lost, for his friends, his godfather and for the parents he never had the chance to meet. But most of all, for the first time in his life, Harry Potter cried for himself, he cried for the pain he had felt when his aunt called him "freak" and for the fear he always felt when his uncle struck down at him with his belt, yelling at him for the most insignificant mistake he made or for having better grades than Dudley. He cried for the loneliness he had been left in when no one dared to become his friend or even talk to him for fear of being rejected and bullied by his cousin's gang. He cried for the fate a monster called Lord Voldemort had thrust upon him.

"Mum, I just can't go on!" He sobbed, "Why did it have to be me? I'm only fifteen! Couldn't it have been a grown-up man who really knows what he is doing?"

His mother smiled sadly, "No my son, you were the Chosen One... There is something about you that made Voldemort fear you."

Harry looked up, surprised to see that his father and godfather had joined his mother.

"Even though you have never known love, you seem to love everyone around you, no matter their circumstances. You are the one who can defeat him." James Potter hugged his tormented son.

"But- H-How?"

Sirius Black pointed at the teen's heart, "We will always be with you, even if we are dead."

"By the way, my child," continued Lily, "You are no longer fifteen…"

"WHAT?!!" Harry's eyes almost popped out of its sockets.

"Just how long have I been here?"

The three adults' eyes shined with amusement at his shock.

"You've been unconscious for almost two weeks. That means you are sixteen tonight. We are able to be here with you, in-between worlds, because we are to guide you through your Coming of Age."

"Coming of Age? What is that?" The young man asked, sensing the capitalization of the term. His question was met with silence.

At first, his parents and godfather looked shocked. But then, their expressions turned into anger. James and Sirius looked as if they couldn't even talk if they tried. It was Lily Potter who broke the awkward silence.

"HE NEVER TOLD YOU??!!" Harry understood who she was talking about. He shook his head.

"Told me what, Mum?"

By then, the beautiful red-headed woman was shaking in anger.

"THAT'S IT!" she burst out furiously, "Albus Dumbledore, I swear you will be wishing you had never met me by the time I'm done with you!"

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Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk back at Hogwarts, deep in thought. Where has Harry disappeared to? I hope he's fine, he just has to be .He is the one I need for my plans at defeating Tom once and for all. Only then can I succeed. He frowned.

It is true that Albus Dumbledore was currently the most powerful and well-known wizard in the wizarding world, but what nobody knew was that he really wasn't the grandfatherly old man he seemed to be. No, Albus Dumbledore was a manipulator, an expert at transforming every situation into a chess match without anyone noticing. Blue eyes suddenly shined with unsuppressed anger. And my Queen piece has just disappeared right under my nose.

While he was muttering and cursing under his breath, the Chief Warlock never realized that his manipulations had finally been noticed… by none other that his most important pawn, his Queen piece, otherwise known as Harry Potter and his deceased parents, who guarded him even after death.

The Headmaster felt a sudden chill and turned around to see weather the window was open. How odd, it is closed. Wonder why it is cold all of a sudden… The ancient wizard did not have to wonder for long because as he turned around, he found himself facing an angry-no, a furious-looking spirit that resembled someone he knew far too much to be comfortable.

Dumbledore gulped nervously, something he had not done in ages. When Lily Potter was mad, the saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" could not be ignored, and for the first time in his life, Albus Dumbledore realized he had really messed up.

Oh, shit.

It was a beautiful day outside. Too bad a certain Headmaster wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Who ever said no one could ever give one of the greatest wizards of the time a proper dressing-down? It seemed as if a certain pretty red-headed spirit had been able to do just that…

A/N: Hope you like it! Please review!