SIX

Dudley caught the hint of the whisper 'Sirius.' Before Harry was back on his feet and bolting past him and out into the night.

'Oi! Where are you going?' He yelled after Harry, but Harry ignored him.

Harry had had all of his things in his trunk, shrunk down in his pocket, or in his pouch, since the afternoon. Not trusting the timeline to differ Harry had been ready to leave with only a moment's notice. The only thing he had left behind due to the rush was Hadwin's cage, but that didn't matter, as he would be returning to the wizarding world.

Actually, it wouldn't have really mattered to Harry at all had he been thinking of it, which he wasn't. His sole thought was chasing the big, black and shaggy dog that was gaining distance from him and was going to disappear into the night.

'Wait Sirius!' Harry yelled out. The dog seemed to almost trip, and Harry got a little closer 'Sirius. I know you're-' Harry's voice dwindled off, as the dog had rapidly changed into a man, spun on the spot and disappeared. Harry was too far away to latch on, and he couldn't track it without using his wand and getting expelled.

It was too late.

Harry had run nearly four blocks in chasing Sirius, and sunk to his knees panting half from the run, and half from emotions.

He was an idiot.

As soon as Sirius broke free Harry had been planning on using the time turner so he could meet him when he first broke into Hogwarts. Harry had completely forgotten that he actually saw Sirius before that. He remembered so clearly thinking he'd seen the Grim, and being worried about it, that he didn't associate the memory with Sirius at all. He associated it with Death.

He was an idiot.

He could have set a trap. Hell, he could have just left a note, or changed his Aura and stunned Sirius. Harry was kneeling on a pebble driveway and felt his fingers curl around the stones that were embedded at their base into the concrete. His magic ignoring the pain or strength needed. He ripped up a handful and threw it down in anger, his magic swirling around him and in an effort to calm down he dragged it back to extreme neutral. In the back of his mind he knew he was being ridiculous, but he had been so close. So close to his Godfather. So damn close to understanding and a hug that meant something and… Argh! Harry threw another impossible handful.

The rock landed on the road and exploded across the bitumen with a loud crash and a… pop.

Harry was up on his feet facing the other direction, wand drawn and in dueler's stance in just one breath. The look on the newly apperated Auror's face would have been hilarious, if Harry wasn't too angry to care.

'What!?' Harry snarled.

'Harry Potter!' said Auror stuttered in surprise. Harry snarled again. He didn't recognize this man, and wasn't surprised at all, as he was a noisy apperator, was far to close to a possible perpetrator, and didn't have the sense to even draw his wand. He definitely wouldn't still be around in the years Harry had originally become part of the force. If the man survived the coming war he would quickly be delegated to desk duty.

Harry ignored the Auror and drew his magic into himself. Realising what had happened, Harry purposely bled his Aura around where Sirius had been, blending their residual magic until tracing the apparation would be impossible.

That was the dangers with someone who was well trained in altering their Aura, and why, under normal circumstances, they were usually watched far more carefully than even ex-Unspeakables (few that there were). Of course no one knew he could do it this time around.

'Where is your partner?' Harry asked cautiously. He purposely let his mask slip a little, letting his puffed state and exhaustion bleed through. He needed this whole thing to come off as accidental magic through anger. He would have to cover Sirius' tracks.

'What partner?' The Auror glanced quickly behind Harry to the left. Harry couldn't help but snort.

'For pity's sake Liam!' a voice growled.

Harry almost groaned aloud. Moody. It had to be bloody Moody.

'Potter.' Moody acknowledged, stepping out of his disillusionment calmly. Somewhere at the back of his brain Harry was impressed. That was a skill not many could master.

'I thought you retired, Moody?' It was surprise that made Harry reply, and only his excellent Slytherin mask that stopped him from cringing immediately after. How should he even know who Moody was?

'It's nice to meet you too.' Moody didn't sound like he meant it, and was looking at Harry suspiciously. 'I'm helping with this Black business as a favor to Dumbledore. But that's not why we are here.'

Harry had to stop his eyes from narrowing. That hadn't happened last time.

'Reeeally?' Harry drawled sarcastically, 'Well you're a bit late in either case.'

Harry's mind was running a million miles a minute. Knowing all the facts, he was highly suspicious of Dumbledore's involvement, and thought it couldn't be at all good for Sirius. After all, Dumbledore should already know Sirius was innocent. Unless the Potters were even worse than Harry thought (still a possibility, as Harry didn't really have the most positive indications to go from).

At any rate, he needed to give Sirius every second he could. He could only hope the man would be sensible enough to leave wherever he apperated from quickly, and by muggle means.

'What's that supposed to mean Sonny?'

Most would be cowering at the menacing face Moody put forward, but Harry had a) seen it many times before, and b) Gone face to face with Voldemort. Which was far worse.

'Only that it would have been nice to have you around a little sooner. I could have died.'

'Well unlicensed apparation will often do that.' Liam interrupted. 'I'm frankly surprised you aren't splinched.' He didn't sound surprised. He sounded awed. Mentally Harry sighed. Great. Another fan-boy.

Moody's magical eye was spinning rapidly, but his good one was focused right on Harry.

'You didn't apperate did you?' He barked out. To Harry's side, Liam flinched. Harry just raised one eyebrow. Frankly, he was rather impressed with Moody's logic. Wizards weren't usually known for it. That wasn't to say he was going to make this easy. He had a Godfather to give a head start to, after all.

'I could have died, you know.' Harry repeated instead of answering.

'Where is he?' Moody barked,

Harry raised the other eyebrow, paused, then gave moody a wide-eyed (yet sarcastic) innocent look. 'I didn't apperate.'

'GRENCH!' Moody yelled suddenly, making Liam jump again, almost twice as high. Harry felt a tiny bit of pity for him. 'Get Bones here this instant. This is a code seven!'

'Wh- what?' Liam spluttered out, obviously put on the spot and confused. Moody shut his eyes with stretched patience.

Harry couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes. 'Aggressive sighting of an escaped criminal or wanted felon: Backup needed.' He probably wasn't meant to know that, but he had done a slight impersonation of Hermione reciting a textbook, so he'd probably be okay for an excuse even if anyone bothered to look too closely. Moody gave him a once over, but didn't comment, stomping off to meet the incoming crew.

Things moved rapidly from there. Soon Amelia, a team of Hit-wizards and nearly twenty Aurors were swarming the neighborhood. A large muggle deterring ward was spread, and no less than six people had interviewed Harry so far. Harry not only managed to give them no useful answers, he also managed to confuse them even further.

'I saw him in the bushes. I recognized him from the muggle news and just ran. He chased after me. He was gaining on me and yelling something. I couldn't think properly. Then he caught up to me. I don't know what happened. He seemed to just stop with me at wand point, then he smiled and apperated out. I thought I was going to die.'

They ate it up.

Boy-who-lived faces Black down and Black flees.

Gods, Skeeter was going to be horrible.

Eventually Harry was rescued by the Minister for Magic himself (who surprisingly had more sense than to mention Harry already knew Black was after him personally). Harry had not once in his life been glad to see Fudge before today. He had forgotten how annoying Aurors were. On the bright side, Sirius had gotten away, and Fudge was very distressed that Harry had come so close to being attacked, and that his Aurors couldn't even chase Black down for Harry. He apologized almost once a minute for going on an hour. It took a lot of effort to stop Harry from smirking. It seemed Fudge had a soft spot for Harry. Apparently the polls had been friendly to Fudge despite the breakout.

Harry even allowed one photo of Fudge, himself and Liam as first on scene (the last slightly disgusted Harry, but Moody plain refused to have his photo taken).

The night eventually ended (or rather the morning begun) around sunrise. There was one last awkward moment when Bones approached Harry and offered to personally escort him home.

'Ah, about that boss-…' A deputy Auror spoke up awkwardly.

'What's the problem Ella?'

Ella looked rather upset, and glanced at Harry with a sorrowed look. Comprehension filled Harry's eyes.

'Ah. Let me guess. I'm not exactly welcome back home?' He drawled.

'What?!' Amelia looked appalled. 'What do you mean you're not welcome? You were almost killed! Actually, why isn't your Aunt here already?'

Ella looked even more uncomfortable, and eventually her partner spoke up.

'They were asleep when we got there Boss. Didn't seem to even care he was missi-' he cut off from an elbow to the ribs from Ella as she glanced pityingly at Harry.

Harry hated pity.

'Well, there's nothing new there. I am meant to be staying with friends in a few days; I'll just stay at the Leaky for tonight, then head there tomorrow.'

Amelia seemed to have finally caught on and was staring at Harry aghast.

'But- but-… What about you're family?'

Harry went from a tired little child to a sneer (that wouldn't have looked out of place on Snape's face) in an instant, surprising the circle of Aurors.

'What family?'

That seemed to leave Amelia entirely speechless, and in the mean time Fudge decided staying at the Leaky cauldron would be an excellent idea, and Harry was whisked off by side-along and deposited in a comfortable room looking over the alley. Fudge made Harry promise not to go out into the muggle world again before school, said he'd be in touch and to mail him when he arrived at his friend's house.

Harry would possibly have been more amused by the whole event if he weren't so tired. So other than a nod to Hadwin, (who just like Hedwig had, arrived just before Harry) Harry only stripped to his boxers and just fell asleep on the covers.

He had one last tiny bit of déjà vu before he clonked out when Apep mumbled .:It's been a very weird night, Harry:.

Harry was woken up by a too-cheerful-Tom the next morning, far earlier than he would have liked. Tom had been instructed to bring Harry a late breakfast, courtesy of Fudge. The minister had left him a note with more encouragement to stay in the wizarding world, and had attached a copy of the morning paper's main story.

BLACK STILL AT LARGE

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today, however he has been sighted in Surrey.

'We are doing all we can to recapture Black,' said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, 'and we praise the magical community on remaining so calm. There was a small incident last night, but Mr. Potter handled it as best that could be expected.'

Further sources indicated that the incident involved a face off between Sirius Black and Mr. Potter, however in general the ministry is being quite tight lipped. The security conscious approach has been praised by several members of the International Federation of Warlocks, even some of those who frowned on Fudge sharing Black's identity with the Muggle Prime Minister.

The ministry would like to remind magical citizens, again, that Black is a serious threat, however remaining calm and contacting your designated ministry contact is the best plan of action. Master Zehlli, a specialist in the mind arts from the Janus Thickness ward spoke on Black's probable mental state.

'An Azkaban inmate loses rationality around the three year mark on average, however this reflects on mental stability more than regular thought process. Unless Black is threatened, he will statistically speaking be more probably remain sane. There is only speculations about why he attacked poor Pettigrew all those years ago, however it was considered a personal rupture in cognosis, rather than a preordained disorder.'

Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of his Godfather, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. He vaguely remembered thinking that in this photo Sirius looked like a vampire, and the memory made him snort. Harry had now actually met several Vampires, and other than paler complexions there wasn't much difference between them and your everyday wizard. However, almost every one Harry had met had been over at least two hundred years old, so most of them were a bit old fashioned. Harry suspected that very few of them would let their hygiene routine slip so far as that of an escaped convict. The pictures in his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes had been truly misleading.

Sighing Harry decided that now he was awake he might as well make use of the day. There was something he had been putting off for a while now, and with the increasing security on himself, Harry suspected it would be better done sooner, rather than later. He pulled his invisibility cloak out, annoying Apep by stuffing it in his pouch with him for easy access.

Downstairs Harry told Tom that he would be grabbing a few things around the alley before heading straight to his friend's by floo from Gringotts.

'Why don't you take the Knight Bus from here?' Tom enquired, 'The fees will be outrageous from Gringotts floo.'

'My stomach and the Knight Bus don't get on so well.' Harry put on a queasy face. Tom nodded in understanding, but remained annoyingly nosey.

'What about if you came back here, then took the floo. I have an opening around twelve. You could-'

'Thank you.' Harry interrupted, 'But I have things to do in Gringotts, and the security would be appreciated.'

'Where are you going then? I'll have to tell Minister Fudge where to-'

'Minister Fudge shall receive my owl as soon as I arrive at my destination.'

Harry didn't remember Tom being this pushy, and decided he would mark it up to him being worried, and let it go.

Once he was in Diagon he headed straight for a quiet side alley, sending a slightly sad look at Fortescue's wishing he had time for an ice-cream and chat for old time's sake. But Harry didn't know how long he would be, and was due at Luna's at four thirty.

As soon as he was in a quiet corner he glanced around making sure no one was looking, then pulled on his invisibility cloak. He changed his Aura to that of Harris Noir, and then he headed down Knockturn. He headed straight for Msaw Ætare. Dalvin recognized Harris Noir's Aura, and easily accepted the need to be invisible. He pointed Harry in the direction of the floo directory next to the fireplace and said to just floo out when ready, he'd just charge it to Noir's account.

A moment or two later Harry cast a quick glamour and stepped into the fireplace.

'Hangleton Railway station.' Harry whispered clearly stepping through the flames and out of Knockturn. He arrived in a small anti-chamber that was invisible to muggles. He neatly tucked his cloak back into Apep's pouch (getting more grumbles), before heading out into greater Hangleton. He was hoping to avoid any magic until he reached the shack, partially because collecting another Horcrux would probably be exhaustive, and partially because he didn't want to stand out or leave any sort of magical signature.

The woman in the ticketing office directed Harry two blocks away where he could hire a bicycle, and Harry purchased a copy of a tourist brochure and a map, which he tucked in prominent view in his back pocket.

He managed to hire a bike for only ten pounds, and headed off on the main road toward Little Hangleton.

Having never been taught to ride a bike as a child (As if the Dursley's would have allowed Harry on one of Dudley's bikes, even if Dudley hadn't managed to destroy almost all of them on his first day of ownership), the Weasley brothers had taken it upon themselves to teach him. Naturally this involved a slightly tinkered with bike, as theirs lived in Arthur's shed when not in use. Stretching his legs along the road out of town Harry was pleased to note that he was just as capable of riding a bike that didn't have cushioning charms in the seat, nor levitation and propulsion charms for when he got tired. He did bemoan the loss of the second after the last large hill, but upon reaching the top he was pleased to note he actually recognized exactly where he was. He was also happy to note that he wouldn't even need to visit Little Hangleton itself, as he recognized Riddle manor the next hill over, and at the dip between the two hills the lane that Harry had walked along in the memory of the ministry worker veered off to the left.

Once in the lane Harry ditched the bike under some useful shrubs and headed forward on foot. It wasn't long until the gate to the Gaunt shack came into view. Harry paused about ten meters out and closed his eyes. He was hoping to cheat the system a little, but wasn't at all sure if it would work.

Slowly his Aura got Darker and Darker, until it was as close to as Dark as he could make it. Then Harry let it grow, and grow. He had been practicing monitoring Aura levels all the previous year, mostly for Slytherin political reasons, but also because in the back of his mind he'd had this task ahead of him.

If a blind, but magically sensitive wizard had been present he would be cowering in fear. As far as magic was concerned, as Harry stepped forward, Tom Marvolo Riddle opened the front gate to the shack.

.:Who goes there?:. A garden snake popped up and blocked the path.

Harry opened his mouth to explain, but Apep beat him to it.

.:Silence you little imp. What right do you have to question my master?:.

Deciding that not having to reveal himself as a parselmouth was a boon Harry hadn't considered, he let Apep continue.

.:Your master cannot pass without a sacrifice:.

.:He knows that!:. Apep sounded snooty and appeared to turn his head away in disgust. In reality he got close enough to Harry's ear that he could whisper .:You did know that didn't you?:.

Harry nodded, and pulled out a sharp knife he had re-appropriated from Petunia's kitchen. He nimbly cut his finger and let a single drop run down the knife before putting his finger in his mouth. He flicked the knife and the blood landed on the door of the hut. It glowed gold for just one moment before the lock clicked.

The gold glow surprised Harry, as it indicated parselmagic. He frowned and didn't step forward.

Harry had been back here in the original future. After the war he had sat down with Hermione and Ron for a long-overdue chat about all of their adventures, a sort of counseling for each other, Harry had come to the conclusion that leaving Tom's Horcrux defences up was just plain dangerous. Especially if anyone managed to figure out that Tom had had some. Even if there was no longer a locket to be found, there was still a cave full of inferi. The same went for the cursed hut (though it was more a danger for accidental discovery). The fact that Ron hadn't joined them in taking down the defences was the first of many hints that things were going downhill between the trio, but at the time they had been oblivious.

In fact, the last time Harry had been here he and Hermione had been discussing the possibility of Ron proposing. There had been lots of unnecessary jokes about rings thrown in to the bargain, as the Slytherin ring was protected mostly by ring-wards. It had been an odd day, but it had stuck with Harry.

Harry still didn't step forward, and frowned at the door. Deciding to give mage-sight a go, Harry concentrated on focusing his magic around his eyes. He still couldn't hold it, but the image of magic in use flickered in and out just enough for Harry to confirm his theory.

That had been a destructive ward.

'Well fuck.' Harry groaned to no one in particular.

This made things a lot more complicated. A destructive ward was essentially a one-use ward, and it was usually put up as an alerting mechanism around warding that was left un-supervised. Voldemort had no-doubt thought himself the only one around with the ability to talk to snakes. Despite what Dumbledore had said the first time around, Harry now knew it was an inherited trait that ran through blood-lines, and was either active, or wasn't. Even using James Potter was out.

In terms of affecting the time-line, this wasn't good. It would have been impossible for Dumbledore to get into the shack without fresh blood from a parselmouth. As Harry hadn't been to the shack before Dumbledore, it meant Tom must have returned to check on his horcrux. Harry could only assume it was when he was residing at Riddle Manor, and for his own sake, he could only hope that it was once Tom had a body back. Being a destructive ward, it wouldn't re-generate, and Tom would know someone had been through his wards as soon as he got to the door. What's more, he would know that that person was a parselmouth. That didn't exactly leave the possibilities wide open.

Harry was now working on a tight schedule for either getting all of the Horcrux in one place, or learning how to do highly complex parsel-wards (with no books and no mentors to learn from). Either prospect wasn't good.

Harry let out a small, frustrated growl, but figuring he was already this far in, he may as well, he stepped forwards and pushed open the door. The moment he was in the hut he could feel Tom's magic. It was Tom's too, not Voldemort. There was only a subtle distinction, but Harry had been close enough to part of Voldemort's soul to feel it. It was odd, as he assumed that the ring had been placed in the shack well after Tom Riddle ceased to exist. The close-by Horcrux was letting off that odd buzzing-whisper that Harry could always hear, and Harry could already feel the compulsion to put on the ring calling to him through the three remaining layers of wards. He increased his Occlumency walls. This might be harder than he'd thought.

The next ward was pretty nasty. It required you drain it manually, seeping a great deal of a person's magical core. It wasn't permanent, but would certainly leave Harry a lot weaker for a few days. There were ways around it, but Harry knew that while the ministry couldn't track his individual signature outside of the monitoring zones around his place of residence, they would probably be aware if there was a sudden spike of magic in an area devoid of wizard homes. They would probably just assume that it was a pre school-aged child with a bout of accidental magic, but there was a chance that they might come and investigate, and that was the last thing Harry needed.

He sighed and stepped forward, running magic down into his wand as if he were about to cast, but not actually starting, then slipping the wand into the edges of the ward. Harry let out a surprised yelp when the drain started. He really should have expected it to be nasty, considering who put it in place, but the pain surprised him. Gritting his teeth he managed not to pull his wand back out, and just had to wait it out. The pain, which seemed to center itself around his heart, slowly increased over time. Harry was starting to worry that he would actually pass out, but right at the last minute, it stopped. The ward shattered, and Harry let out a shaky breath.

That had taken a huge toll. Really, it was becoming less and less surprising that Dumbledore had been tricked by the compulsion curse. It seemed silly enough on it's own, but Harry imagined that if he didn't have a combination of two timeline's worth of power - one of them adult, then he would only have 20 or so percent of his magic left available. He estimated Dumbledore would have been left with just over that.

The next ward was simple, yet devastating. It was a silencing barrier, and was impossible to take down. They were nasty little things, Bill had told him that the Egyptians had favored them quite a lot in ancient times, and had often used them in conjunction with wards that were easily displaced, but only with talking, singing or generally making non-magical, verbal noises. In this instance, Tom had obviously just wanted the witch or wizard to have to revert to non-verbal casting. The ward was a concave one, so the silencing would only work whilst you were inside it. Harry snorted. There was an obvious flaw here for anyone who was willing to sacrifice someone else, and Tom had entirely overlooked the possibility of multiple people breaking in together. Harry found himself somewhat disappointed with Tom, but tried to push the feeling aside.

As it was, Harry stepped through the ward without pause. Non-verbal was his specialty.

The final ward remaining was, of course, equally as nasty as the last few. A nightmare curse weaved in with a false hope charm. Usually the two would just cancel each other out, but it explained even further why Dumbledore had put on the ring. Next to the compulsion to use the ring it was deadly. Harry frowned in concentration, he was getting tired, but it was crucial he got through this last part un-harmed, and without destroying any curse on the ring.

'Apep, you remember our deal?'

.:Of course, although I still don't like it:.

Harry didn't really like it either, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He pulled a thick silk cloth from his pocket, wrapping it around his hand, increased his Occlumency walls as if he were under the strongest attack, and stepped through the ward. Darting forward he snatched up the ring and backed through the ward.

It was odd, and reminded Harry of being under the imperius curse. It was almost an out-of-body-experience. His brain still worked on normal logic, and sort of watched in horror as his body re-lived finding out his parents were alive, then reached to put on the ring because it believed the resurrection stone would show them and prove them dead. The distance between his hand and the ring was closing fast, and internally he was panicking, but he was stuck in the trance-like state, and couldn't do a thing. Right at the last minute, he felt a sharp jab of pain above his elbow and his body reeled back in shock.

His mind collected itself and seemed to line back up with his body. It was a totally bizarre feeling. He stared down at how close he had been to death with horror.

.:You can thank me as many times as you like:. Apep preened.

Harry rolled his eyes, then set to bandaging the bleeding wound on his arm.

'We agreed upon it before hand, so I won't let you gloat for too long, however thank you.'

.:Ungrateful brat:.

Harry rolled his eyes and scooped the ring up with the silk cloth, pulling a bag made of the same material out from his pouch to drop it in to.

'Come on, Luna calls.'

.:Yes, and you can't ever deny her can you:.

Harry refused to answer.

A/N: Sorry about the long wait! I didn't actually mean to leave you with a cliff-hanger. There was a slight scare with my computer crashing and refusing to re-start. I thought I'd lost all my files completely as my back up hard drive read as corrupted when I checked it as well! Thankfully when I got my compute back and running none of the data was lost. So on the down side you had to wait ages, on the up side, there is still the rest of the story to be had! :p

Enjoy, El.

P.S. Sorry about the double update. Hopefully fan fiction will include formatting this time. Man computers hate me right now.