Yay Chapter Four, sorry it took so long…I've been rather busy. For the last three Chapters I forgot to thank everyone for their reviews! Thanks! And since the pairing of GinnyHarry has come into question, if you want to see any other pairing (not slash, sorry I don't do slash… at least not yet) please leave a pairing name when you review! H/Hr, HP/NT ,or keep it GWHP. What ever wins I will and work it into the story. It doesn't even have to be Harry Potter, if you want to see Hermione and Snape in the future leave it in a review. I can't promise it will end up in the story but I'll try. I have a second story in the wings (well more some notes on a piece of paper) and the pairing will not be HPGW. Also I hope this chapter is better written, (constructive criticism is welcome!) On to the story!
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Harry slowed and stopped at the entrance of the enchanted forest that lay not too far from the burrow, about 5km. He had meditated there; it was sort of his private place. He lay down on the grass catching his breath after a rigorous amount of exercise; he wasn't used to this sort of training, what 10 year old would be? He listened to the nature around him, the birds chirping and even the wind that whispered in his ear. His eyes closed with a smile on his face and began meditating to find his magical core, to become in tune with it as he once was.
"Hey Harry!" yelled Ron. "Where have you been? Its almost after breakfast and I'm starving!"
Harry opened his eyes which were filled with laughter, Ron never changed, food was still the first thing on his mind. "Around, I had some stuff to take care of," he said as he stood up, he was surprised that Ron had even managed to find him, the fact that he did not sense it shocked him more. During that short period of time when he was being trained by Moody, he was told to be cautious of everything. He took that lesson to heart, if he had not been so foolish the first time around, Sirius wouldn't have died. Ever since then, he focused on every little detail. By his second teacher, a centaur, he was taught that meditation kept his magical reserves expanding and kept all the magic he had under control.
"Come on," yelled Ron who was now running just ahead of him. Harry snapped out of his day dream and grinned. "Well, let's see who can make it back first, I'll bet you a chocolate frog!" The pair took off running, back to the burrow, the place that held Harry's fantasized life and Ron's breakfast.
This began a repetitive routine for Harry, much like the one he had when he was training to defeat Voldemort. The days passed quickly, Harry spent the days laughing which made them pass even faster. He got to know the Weasleys as well as he did in his past. He befriended Ginny earlier in this time realizing that she was never shy, only embarrassed around him when she had her crush. It was really more of a fantasized crush more then anything, she had fallen in love with boy-who-lived every since she was a young girl. Her brothers had always taunted her so she ran out of the room anytime he was there. It was not till later that she loved Harry, the real Harry. He, Ron and Ginny had all become close friends and enjoyed playing pranks on the rest of the family; some of their pranks even gave the twins a run for their money. They had become like the next generation marauders, but Harry never really mentioned it.
Harry woke up realizing July 31st came around very quickly. He didn't care much for his birthday; it just meant he was officially 19 in the future but only 10 years old here. There wasn't anything exciting happening this year; he still had a full year until he received his letter to Hogwarts. Bloody hell, how he couldn't wait for that particular day. Although nothing amusing or dangerous was going on, Harry decided this would be the perfect excuse to get his next necromancer stone; all he had to do was convince the Weasleys to take him to Diagon Alley and let him wander about. After all, who could resist a 10 year old wizard with his best puppy face? His next idea was to some how get some books from his home library. This was a top priority but what he really longed was to talk to Flaza, Godric and Rowena. He couldn't just bring home a phoenix, let alone as one as beautiful as Flaza. He knew he could talk to her through his master-pet connection but that wasn't the same.
He longed to gain knowledge, to learn things from his private library. While training, he had pretty much read every book in Hogwarts, except for those that were banded, destroyed or just very rare. Professor Dumbledore had even given him permission to enter the restricted section any time he wanted to. Harry sighed as he got up at 5am and dragged his feet to the washroom. He picked up his red toothbrush and began brushing his teeth, his eyes narrowed. He stood staring hard into the mirror looking at what appeared to be him; the several weeks since he had begun working out had done a number to his body. Where there was once nothing, there was now nice muscle beginning to form, biceps, abs, Harry had the whole package. Although he probably would admit that it looked weird having such a nice body on some one so young, Harry really didn't care. It felt like his old body, the one that let him take down a 100 death eaters in one go. He threw on some clothes and headed downstairs to the empty kitchen, no one was up until at least 6:30am, Mrs.Weasley usually came down then. He grabbed a single apple and headed outside where the sun was only beginning to come up. He took a breath and began to count the number of sit ups.
It was about 3 hours later, around 8:30am, that Harry realized his body had had enough for one day. He stood up after finishing his latest rep of push ups and relaxed; he felt all the tension leave his body as the rejuvenation potions enter his veins. The sun was now brightly shinning, it was the beginning of a beautiful day. Harry, now feeling the effects of just having an apple for breakfast, decided to head in for a real Weasley breakfast. Walking through the front yard, Harry knew something was up; it was too quiet with all the Weasleys home. He prepared his mind for an attack, forgetting that this time was still safe, unaffected by Voldemort's tortures. He moved slowly and cautiously toward the door and listened to hear Ginny murmuring in the kitchen. This meant that everything was fine. Harry straightened up and walked casually into the kitchen.
"SURPRISE," came a deafening yell from at least 8 people. Harry gapped at the sight, all the Weasleys together smiling, and truly happy. It had been a long time. Even Charlie and Bill were there, he had not met them before hand in this world but smiled warmly at the two elder Weasley brothers. "Wow," he managed with a smile, in truth he had not been expecting anything like this, he had told no one it was his birthday. "Thanks everyone," he added quite meekly, despite having parties before hand, he never got used to them. The only real one he had had been last year, when he had turned 18, before he was always at the Dursley's or in seclusion because of his maturation.
"Are you going to open presents or not?" blurted out Ronald as impatient as ever, Harry just grinned at Ron's reaction. "Ronald! Mind those manners!" said Mrs. Weasley as she whacked the back of Ron's hand with her wand. Ron recoiled and rubbed his hand, a scowl on his face present and a nice, red reminder on his hand.
"Really, you didn't need to do this for me; you've already done a lot for me"
"Oh but we insist dear," said Molly as she handed Harry a large package. "I'm sorry Arthur isn't here but the Ministry called him in again." Harry nodded,
"It's alright Mrs. Weasley, I understand, it's not like I haven't met him." Harry had met him the previous week, the only difference between the Arthur he met back in the original time was that this one had a little more hair on his head. The first conversation consisted of muggles and how they lived, Harry didn't mind explaining everything, he was just happy to be in the presence of everyone again.
After opening all the presents and eating a satisfying breakfast, he let Ron go through everything he got. Ron's eyes scanned everything, the Berti Bott's every flavour beans from the twins, A Hogwart's History from Percy, Ron gave him a book on Quidditch and Mrs. Weasley gave him a dark green sweater with an H on the front.
"Hey Harry! You missed this one," yelled Ron as he threw a small package at Harry. His hand reacted instantly as he caught the package just before it hit the ground.
"Awesome Harry! That was some catch,"
"Yup, next time be a little more careful!" ignoring the fact that his catch was worthy of a good seeker's.
Harry placed the package right before his eyes, examining it and found a small note hidden beneath a flap of gold wrapping paper. Happy B-Day, read Harry in rather sloppy writing as he pulled it off and set it aside. He opened it carefully to reveal a small prototype of the Nimbus 2000, much like the one he had of his Firebolt.
He knew it was from Ginny and ran out of the room before Ron even realized what the present was. He found the young red head girl working in the garden, her hair shimmering in the sun. He walked up behind her and gave her a big bear hug, he was resisting the temptation to kiss because he knew it was inappropriate at their ages right now, 9 and 10. She blushed, "I'm glad you liked it Harry, it took a long time to find it-" The rest of her sentence was inaudible thanks to Ron's shouts.
"Harry, HARRY, come here quick!" He glanced at Ginny sympathetically who nodded for him to go and he walked back to the building. Ron was at the door looking at the two people that were approaching the burrow. One was unmistakably Dumbledore will the other looked very pale and sickly, his clothes hung off his body and his hair was all over his face. Harry smiled, he recognized that look anywhere, it was Sirius. His heart leapt in his chest and waited for the two to come inside. Dumbledore's eyes met his, his had the trademark twinkle that seemed to be always present. Harry's eyes then shifted to the other wizard who's eyes were dark and haunted but that wasn't his fault, Harry looked at him, the lingering aura that Azkaban had was clinging to him. He had probably just gotten out.
"Harry, you've grown so much since I saw you last time, well you were only 1 at the time and running around everywhere," laughed Sirius as Harry blushed. 'Great, I free him just to get tormented by humiliating baby stories.' In truth he was grateful to have his Godfather back. "This is the best birthday present ever," muttered Harry as he hugged in which caught Sirius by surprise. Harry realized what he did and blushed even deeper red than before. Sirius threw a bag at him. "We stopped at the Dursley's before, you didn't have much stuff." "Yeah, they weren't the greatest relatives," scowled Harry.
"Harry, I believe you have some explaining to do," said Dumbledore.
"I believe you are right, professor, let us step outside for a moment," muttered Harry regaining his composure and motion for only the older wizard to follow,
"Harry, wait!" called Sirius as Harry and Dumbledore stepped aside, "Kiddo, where do you want to live?"
"Godric's Hollow," came the instant answer,
"Are you sure, I mean your parents-" said a shocked Sirius, he never thought that Harry would want to live in the very spot his parents were murdered.
"Sirius, we should celebrate their life, and not mourn their death, they gave hope to so many people. I'll go with the headmaster so he can restore the building,"
"Do what you want Harry, as long as Albus agrees. I'll be enjoying the sun, I haven't seen it in many years," said Sirius as he turned his head toward the light coming from the window. Dumbledore and Harry left the burrow and a happy Sirius, Molly was shocked about having the ex-convict in her kitchen but seemed to accept it remembering the night all the aurors and the minister were here.
They climbed to a high hill and from there apperated, Harry stood behind the tall headmaster so that no one from the burrow would see him apperate.
The two landed at the end of the small village, they had to walk from there. Their pace was a rather slow one as the two talked.
"I'll take care of the place since only a true Potter can take care of the place."
"Harry, you shouldn't be doing magic, they'll be able to detect you," Albus said as he looked at the boy. Harry looked back at the older wizard and smiled, "I'm ashamed that you don't recall," he shock his head in mock disappointment. "The tracking devices are placed on children's souls, not how old their body is," Dumbledore smiled, "Sometimes I think you aren't as old as you really are, but don't you need a wand?" Harry answered although his mind was not on his magic, it was on trying to stay calm while he opened his parent's graves again. It was hard enough the first time, but now he was an emotional child and he didn't know how he would react. He hid all these doubts beneath a mask of confidence.
"Wandless magic, my dear Albus," was all he said as he sped his pace up a little more. "How did your know about Sirius,"
"I learned about Sirius in my third year, he was still in Azkaban then. He had escaped and since many still thought he was a Voldemort supporter, everyone thought he was coming after me. After some help from my father's invisibility cloak, I found out from a conversation between Minerva and Cornelius that he was my Godfather. Later on I found out he was innocent. We captured Pettigrew at the Shrieking Shack with the help of Remus but he escaped when we left the building, it was the night of the full moon," Harry said while lowering his eyes and shaking his head. "Remus transformed and Sirius protected us to the best of his ability, he was injured severely and eventually the dementors found him. Using a time turning, Hermione Granger and I saved him and from then on he was on the run."
Dumbledore thought over the story, "Dementors at Hogwarts? I assume you were affected severely,"
"I collapsed every time they came too close, we had a quidditch match that year when they appeared, I slipped into unconsciousness and fell almost 200 feet from my broom. After that Remus taught me how to do the patronus charm,"
"You learned the patronus charm at the age 13? An amazing feat," muttered Dumbledore, Harry heard something about him being 19 or 20 when he mastered it
"What about Lord Voldemort and how many times did you defy him?"
"I defeated him just hours before I chose to redo everything, all the deaths were the result of the last battle," Harry paused for a moment, "I met with him 6 times."
Dumbledore stared in awe at the boy, defying the dark lord not just 3 times like his parents but 6 times and at such a young age.
"Now since that is cleared up may we return to the task at hand?" Dumbledore nodded as he noticed that they had stopped walking. Harry said nothing more as he approached the fence surrounding the area and stared at the rumble that lay before him. His breath was shallow; he didn't want to do because it was tearing a piece of him apart. He repeated in his mind that it was necessary.
"I'm sorry," his voice just above a whisper, he was apologizing a lot these days, mainly for allowing everyone to die. He conjured a beautiful, single, red rose and lay it on the fence before he walked onto the property and worked on the rubble.
Dumbledore stared at the boy, he saw the longing in his gestures before realizing that some where inside he was still aching for his parents and a family that he loved. 'He must have lost a lot,' thought Dumbledore.
"You have no idea," whispered Harry into the wind as a tear ran down his face. He smiled weakly as he remember the mirror of erised sometimes wishing that they were alive and proud of all that he had done. With a flick of the wrist, part of the rumble rebuilt itself. Albus walked up to the boy and lay a hand on his shoulder, "Harry, you don't have to do this alone…again," Harry's head snapped at the word again, by his eyes showed no indication that he understood. First the main rooms were fixed, the bed rooms followed by many invisible rooms that Harry wished to remain private.
He placed some wards on the house. Finally, he cast an illusion charm so that from the outside the place would still appear untouched since that faithful night. He invited his professor in and frowned that he did not have Dobby, the poor elf was still with the Malfoys. In the future Harry let him serve him because he had grown fond of the elf despite everything he had done in Harry's life. He did everything well and made some of the best tasting tea. Harry retreated to the kitchen boiled some water, set out some china and levitated it to the main room where Harry saw Dumbledore getting too close to the room that contained Godric's and Rowena's portraits. Fortunately he was only examining some of the many objects in that room.
"Would you like some tea, Albus?" asked Harry gently placing the tray on the table. "Raspberry I assume?" asked Harry, while Dumbledore looked at the china set and chuckled, "You know me too well," he said as he sat down.
After passing sometime chatting, Albus went and got Sirius who was astounded by what had been done to the building, it was practically in its original state.
"Sirius, I'll take my leave, you and Harry have a lot to catch up on " said Dumbledore as he turned to leave the house, his eyes twinkling as usual. "Watch the boy," he will prove to be quite the handful." With a swish of the cloak he was gone; Harry had keyed him into the wards to allow him to pass through,
"Strange man that Dumbledore, strange but brilliant and usually right," said Sirius as he looked curiously at Harry and then at the clock. "Go to bed Harry, its starting to get late." He realized that he was right, what he thought was only a few hours had been practically the whole day.
"You're a growing boy and you need your sleep." Harry sighed, dragged his feet upstairs waiting for Sirius to go to bed so he could see his ancestors, Flaza, who had probably sensed the placed had been rebuilt and his library.
I'm sorry this took so long to get up but here it is, please pick a pairing from Harry for the future, I would prefer one of the following: HP/NT, HPHG or even keep it HPGW but I've kind of stopped liking that pairing… but if you want I can continue writing it with that pairing. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, lots of stuff to do as usual and last but not least
PLEASE REVIEW!
