The Lost Angel: When I Leave the World Behind Chapter 18: XVIII, a harry potter fanfic

May 31, 2004

1:53 PM

The Entrance to the Ministry of Magic

As Harry and Hermione Apparated to the spot that Ron had designated, they saw Ron approaching them a look of worry etched on his face. Moving quickly, Ron made his way to them.

"Good, you're here." Ron said, taking a few deep breaths as he obviously tried to calm himself down.

"What happened?" Harry asked quickly, knowing that they were running out of town.

"He just waltzed right in and pulled Percy and half of his office right out of their offices. He magically bound them and then marched them into the Atrium. A few Aurors tried to stop him but he just blew through them. As it is, I'm not sure if they're dead or not. After that, another group of about twenty tried to charge him but he just blew them away. I know that group is fine. Once he was done with that, he amplified his voice and said that if Hermione didn't show up within fifteen minutes, he was going to start killing hostages."

"How many minutes do we have until he kills the first one?" Hermione asked with worry.

"Two. Three at the most." Ron replied. "We need to think of something."

"No we don't." Harry shot back. "Hermione, you and I will walk in. I will publicly challenge him to a duel in exchange for the lives of everyone in the Ministry. If he accepts, I can beat him."

"Can you, Harry?" Ron asked skeptically. "He kind of threw you around last time."

"That was last time." Harry replied boldly. "I've learned. Anyway, if he accepts, I beat him. If he doesn't, he'll look like he's afraid of me and I might be able to rally some support to defeat him using the whole group gathered in the Atrium."

"Sounds like suicide." Ron replied.

"I don't think so." Hermione said with a smile. "We know that Noah won't deny Harry's challenge."

"Right." Harry said before turning to the two of them. "Get any DA members that aren't already here. Tell them that they need to be placed around the Ministry with their coins. If I lose, activate the coins and Ron, you will coordinate an attack that will take him down. My goal is that, even if I don't win, I physically tire him enough that he won't be able to defend all of you."

"Will do, Harry." Ron replied.

Looking between the two of them, Harry realized that it was entirely possible that this would be the last time the three of them would ever be together. Suddenly, flashes of memories from age eleven to now came rushing to him. From the troll in the dungeon and the Shrieking Shack to the Department of Mysteries and the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry couldn't imagine his life without the pair of them.

"Guys..." Harry started before he was suddenly attacked by a huge hug from Hermione.

"Don't say it." Hermione whispered in his ear. "You will survive. You always survive."

"I'll do what I can." Harry whispered back as he looked at Ron. All he got from his oldest friend was a simple nod of the head. It was the most communication he would get from Ron but in the end, it was all he needed. Knowing their time was running low, Harry broke away from Hermione, avoiding her teary gaze.

"It's time to go." Harry said softly before turning and walking into the Atrium, flanked by his two best friends. The scene in front of him was terrifying. The place where there had once been a statue had been replaced with a crudely carved stone throne where Noah had placed himself, towering over the crowd that surrounded him. Beneath him was a cage that had obviously been magicked into the room. Inside the cage was Percy Weasley and fourteen other terrified looking Ministry workers. As they walked in, Noah was in the middle of a very important speech.

"Harry Potter is dead." he said boldly. "You should have known not to put your trust in such a coward. You would have been better of just running and hiding. Instead, you put your greatest defender against the likes of me and he was destroyed! Today marks an important date in the Wizarding World! Today begins the reign of The Lost Angel, the last of the Seraphim!"

As Noah continued to shout his speech, Harry and Hermione made their way closer to the front of the crowd. Noah was so engrossed in his speech that he was ignoring that the greatest threat to his existence was slowly marching his way closer to them. Finally, the pair reached the front of the crowd as Noah continued.

"Time is up! I have asked for Hermione Granger and I do not see her! Therefore, I shall do as I said and kill one of these pathetic creatures below me."

Knowing that now was his time, Harry spoke up.

"You will do no such thing!" Harry shouted, stepping into the open space between the circle of people and the throne where Noah was seated. "Hermione Weasley is here! But that doesn't matter! I, Harry James Potter, challenge you, The Lost Angel, to a duel to the death in exchange for the lives of every person in this room!"

Following the voice, Noah whipped his head around to see Harry standing before him defiantly. His initial reaction was a dark chuckle followed by leaping down from his throne, landing only a few feet from Harry.

"You dare challenge me?" Noah growled. "I will not accept a challenge from someone like you, Potter."

Whispers echoed around the room as the news of his denial made its way around the room. Sensing that the tide of the crowd was obviously with him, Harry spoke up again.

"I thought you said that I was already dead, Noah." Harry said mockingly. "Don't you want the opportunity to prove that you aren't a liar?"

Suddenly, the whispers turned into shouts and taunting, exactly what Harry had hoped for.

"If you plan on ruling these people, they at least want to know that you can beat one lowly wizard." Harry added, continuing to mock the ancient being in front of him who was slowly progressing more and more into anger. "That is, if you actually can beat me, since you only seem to be capable of hurting me."

Finally, the straw that broke the camel's back had fallen.

"I accept your challenge, Harry Potter." Noah growled, a rage burning deep within him that Harry could see emanating from his very being.

"Then you swear that if I lose this duel, not one other person in this room will be harmed." Harry said, pressing Noah to ensure that he would get exactly what he wanted. Harry extended his hand, indicating that this was to be magically binding.

"I swear." Noah said, roughly shaking Harry's hand before turning around and marching off the steps between them, giving them some space. As everyone else in the room realized what was about to happen, they took several steps back. Harry took this opportunity to ensure that he was the champion of everyone in this room.

"The man in front of you was in charge of Grindelwald, Lord Voldemort, The Jester and The Frenchman!" Harry shouted. "This man is responsible for the death of hundreds of our countrymen! I know that he doesn't look old enough to have done those things but I promise you, it is true! If you haven't believed a single thing I've ever said, then believe me when I say that this is the most dangerous man in the history of our nation!"

"I've seen it!" came a voice from the crowd that Harry recognized as Hermione's. "I've seen his power and heard the testimony, he's telling the truth!"

While Harry's words alone had not struck up much of a reaction, the support of Hermione Granger's words, the woman who had famously testified against Harry Potter, seem to validate them. Instantly, the room shrank away as fear grasped the room. Suddenly, everyone in the room knew the stakes of what was going to happen. Harry Potter and this mystery man who had supposedly trained every Dark Wizard of the last century were going to duel to the death.

"Potter, your words are strong." Noah said roughly. "However, words will not win you this duel."

"They won't need to." Harry said as he withdrew the Elder Wand. Harry knew that he was playing with fire, risking the possession of the Elder Wand to Noah. However, if Harry couldn't beat Noah with the power of the Elder Wand, then he had serious doubts that anyone could have beaten him anyway.

Taking one last deep breath, Harry raised his wand and fired. Instantly, Noah sidestepped the attack and fired one of the quickest barrages that Harry had ever felt. He could tell that Noah was trying to end the battle quickly. He could also see that he had certainly trained The Jester as he was utilizing her favorite technique of overwhelming her opponent with offense.

However, Noah had made one fatal mistake with that. He had taught Harry how to defend it. Side-stepping, rolling and shielding, Harry dodged or blocked every single attack that Noah threw at him. As his frustration grew, so did the intensity and frequency of his attacks. Eventually, it ended up being one solid stream of assaults that Harry was fighting against. While he was doing well at defending, Harry knew that he had no chance of winning this duel if he wasn't able to attack. However, just as Harry made an attempt to attack, he felt an Exploding Curse hit his left hip, causing his hip to crack and blood to flow freely.

Collapsing to the floor, Harry rolled away, knowing that the second he hit the ground Noah would aim to kill. Sure enough, as he rolled away he saw several flashes of green hit just behind him. Waving his wand, he did his best to heal his injuries and then again used his wand to launch himself into the air and onto his feet. Continuing the motion, Harry leveled his wand and fired.

"Aguamenti!" Harry said as a jet of water came rushing out of Harry's wand and towards his opponent. The water hit Noah directly in the face, knocking him off guard. However, he recovered quickly and again launched another barrage of attacks.

Already Harry could feel his muscles and his magic start to resist him when he fired another curse. Harry knew that he had to hold on and to ignore that feeling, fighting as he continued on defending himself. Unfortunately, a Banishing Charm hit Harry directly in the chest, throwing him the length of the room into a part of the circle of people that had surrounded them.

As Harry hit the ground, he felt his body ready to give in. He was exhausted from spending much of his time defending himself and couldn't seem to convince himself to get up. He knew that Noah was coming for him. He knew that more than likely, Noah wouldn't play nicely and end things quickly. Harry felt everyone around him scatter which was a strong indication that Noah was close.

"You did better earlier today, Potter." Noah said as he knelt down next to him. "You simply cannot recover that quickly. You're tired, you're weak and you are beaten. Now, do me a favor and just let me kill you and end things right here."

Harry sat silently, thankful that Noah respected him enough to not torture him before he killed him. Harry had never felt so tired and never been so ready for everything to be over. He was going home. He was going to be able to see his parents, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, Lupin, Fred, Tonks, Cho and everyone else that had left this world for the next. To be honest, with as broken and exhausted as Harry's body was, Harry did not fear the world that lay beyond. He was sad that the world would be subjected to the leadership of someone like The Lost Angel but he knew that eventually someone would take him down.

The world would not end with the death of Harry Potter, of that he was certain. Just as Harry closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate, the voice of Hermione Granger screamed over the silence in the room.

"Remember what he did, Harry!" she shouted. He could hear the fear and sadness in her voice. "Remember who he killed!"

Suddenly, Harry thought of that list of people that he had been excited to see. His parents were killed by Voldemort, Cedric by Pettigrew, Siruis by Bellatrix, Lupin had been murdered by Dolohov as had Tonks. Fred was killed by MacNair and Cho had been personally killed by Noah. In fact, of that list, only Dumbledore had chosen his death. All the rest of them had been killed by Noah or someone who worked for him.

Then, in a moment, Harry realized that every terrible thing that had ever happened in his life was tied to this tyrant. Opening his eyes, he saw Noah kneeling over him, his wand in hand and moving as his mouth began to utter the words that would end his life. As Harry watched, he felt an energy that he had never felt before. In a flash, Harry's wand rose up and a green jet of light blasted Noah directly in the chest.

Instantly, Noah's body was thrown up and launched across the room and landing at the base of his crude throne. However, as Harry got to his feet, he saw that not even that had done the trick. At least not entirely. As Harry stood, so did Noah. However, the center of Noah's robes smoked and Harry could see that there was something in his eyes that he had never seen before.

Fear.

Knowing that this was his time to press what advantage he might have, Harry made the ultimate gamble. Reaching into his robes, Harry withdrew his one wand, leaving it in his left hand and paired it with the Elder Wand in his right. Harry had practiced this before but had never thought to use it in an actually duel. Now, the pace that he wished to fight at required something like this.

Aiming his wand at the ground, Harry launched the first spell of the new duel.

"Glacius!"

Instantly, all the water that Harry had put on the floor earlier turned to a thick layer of ice. Harry, having spent much time in Alaska defending Barrow from vampires, had learned how to move well on ice without losing power or agility. Noah had not had the same training. The moment the ice formed, Harry moved forward.

"Crucio!"

"Confringo!"

"Incendio!"

"Expulso!"

"Stupify!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expulso!"

"Confringo!"

"Crucio!"

The speed at which Harry's spells were coming made even watching the duel difficult. However, it made it even more difficult for Noah. Harry knew that Noah was a powerful wizard and each every one of his protege's had been trained by him and none of them specialized in defensive magic. They all believed that their massive advantage in magical ability would mean that they wouldn't need to defend themselves. Normally, they were right.

This time, Noah was wrong. As Harry continued to press, Noah slipped all over the ice, taking attack after attack. By the time that Harry let up, Noah was bleeding, burned, had several broken bones and could barely stand from the pain. Smiling, Harry decided to continuing to press his advantage. This time, he focused on attacking him much like he had trained his people to do so.

After breaking through his defense, Harry magically banished Noah into the wall behind him. His body hit the wall so hard that it caused the entire massive Atrium to shake for a moment. Once Noah hit the ground, Harry kept on him, throwing him from wall to wall. Several times, Harry even sent him through the walls into the next room only to Summon him back into the room.

Finally, several minutes later, Harry stood over a broken and beaten Noah. Despite the magical reserves of the being in front of him, as he had said, he was just as susceptible to physical injury as the normal wizard or human. All you had to do was get past the magic.

"Get on your knees." Harry ordered. Through a broken jaw, Noah mumbled something.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

This time, Noah was only marginally more clear.

"Prrease ret me go." Noah begged without moving his mouth. "I promise I rreave you arrone."

"Oh, it's too late for that, Noah." Harry said, disgust creeping into his voice. Harry had never felt so powerful and so in control in his life. "You had opportunities over two thousand years to leave us alone. Instead, you decided that you wanted to take over the world, starting here. Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to put up with that. Now, get on your knees."

With much effort, The Lost Angel did as he was told, placing himself gingerly on two knees which may have been broken.

"You are defeated." Harry said as he leaned in to whisper in his ear before standing up and aiming his wand directly at his head. "Go to hell."

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry shouted, feeling the power behind the words and knew that for the first, and hopefully last time, Harry truly meant the words that would kill the man in front of him. The green jet of light hit Noah directly in the head. However, just like the previous time, Noah did not sag and collapse into death. Instead, he kept himself propped up, staring Harry in the eyes and laughing madly behind his broken jaw.

"I tord you that you did not have da magic to kirr me." Noah said madly.

Feeling a rage that he had never felt before, Harry lined up again. This time, he didn't fire just once.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Five more times, the green flash hit Noah and five times, he did not go down. Instead, he stared madly and laughed at Harry as he stood in wonder at the creature before him, exhausted and angrier than he had ever been in his entire life. However, Harry did notice something. Every time Harry hit him, he appeared to end up a little weaker like Harry was destroying parts of his magic.

Also, the more Harry hit him, the more unintelligible the Lost Angel's words got. Now, Harry didn't understand a single word that he was saying.

One more time, Harry lined up, this time aiming for where his heart would be.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Again, another five times. This time, however, the attacks had a noticeable effect. Noah looked up at him, a noticeable look of fear on his face. Maybe he was looking at death, slowly heading down the tunnel. Deciding that he was going to ensure that he was going to finish the trip down that tunnel, Harry attacked. Only this time, he didn't stop at five or ten or even twenty. In fact, Harry had no idea the number of green flashes he saw. With both wands firing as quickly as they could, Harry lost count rather quickly.

However, Harry did remember seeing the one thing he had been looking for. After one particularly powerful green jet struck Noah, he shouted slightly, almost a release of sound more than an actual shout. Following that release was his body going completely limp to the ground. Instantly, Harry saw Ginny, who he hadn't even known was there, race out of the corner of his eye and crouch down next to Noah's body. After several seconds, she confirmed what he had already thought.

"He's dead." she replied, tears in her eyes.

Tears of joy. Suddenly, Harry watched as Noah's body disappeared, fading into nothing but dust. Finally, the man who had tortured Great Britain for nearly eighty years was gone.

"Thank god." Harry replied before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

September 1, 2004

9:45 PM

Barrow, AK

Looking at his finished product, Harry couldn't have been prouder of himself. The house that had burned down all those months ago back when he knew nothing of The Lost Angel had been rebuilt with the occasional help of some friends. Harry had been in St. Mungo's for nearly three weeks until his magic levels re-stabilized after his duel with Noah. Apparently, Noah had been correct in that it would take almost all of his magic to kill him. Thankfully, it had been almost all of his magic.

After his time in St. Mungo's, Harry had instantly made his way back to Barrow where everything had began for him. Unknowingly, his battle against Noah had began in that house as had his love for Cho.

Over the past three months, his friend's had been sure not to mention Cho too much around him. As it was, Harry missed her desperately. She had been the person who had brought him back to being a human being rather than just a weapon to kill vampires. If there was any person that Harry would have thought that would have been the person to bring him back, Cho would not have been high on that list.

Thankfully, he had been wrong and honestly, she was the one to thank for that. Unfortunately, there was no one to thank now. Almost every night, Harry woke up with nightmares of Cho's body being flung into the Lake. Several times, he thought he had heard her voice, felt her hand on his skin and even felt her lips on his. In the end, Harry knew that this wasn't possible.

Cho Chang was gone. Apparently they had had a memorial service for her while Harry had been unconscious at St. Mungo's. When he left the hospital, he went to her gravesite. She had been buried on the lawn of Potter Manor according to her own wishes. On that day that Harry had visited with her for hours, sobbing to himself, mourning the loss of the person who meant the most to him.

However, after the mourning was over, Harry decided that Barrow was the place for him once again for a couple reasons. Firstly, it was as far away from Potter Manor, the Ministry and Cho Chang's grave as he could be. Secondly, there was some amount of investigation that Harry wished to do when he got there. While he spent his time rebuilding his home in Barrow, he also set out to search Noah's house.

What he saw when he got there made him angrier than anything he could have imagined. There was nothing there. The house itself was absolutely empty. No bed, no furniture, nothing. Instantly, Harry suspected that someone had moved everything but when he had really done his research, he found that no one had been in this house in years. While Harry had known that Noah had come to Barrow specifically for him, he had never thought that Noah wasn't really living there. For some reason, that thought made him incredibly angry.

After Harry finished marveling at the house that he had rebuilt almost entirely by hand (save for a few magical adjustments to make cutting and nailing easier), Harry walked to the outskirts of town to a cliff that overlooked the sea to the north. Looking out, you could see nothing but water. Harry didn't know how long he had been standing there, simply staring into the void when he heard someone come up from behind him.

"How's it going, Harry?"

Harry turned around to see Ginny Weasley walking up behind him. Taking his arm, she held herself close to him, attempting to steal some of his body heat to stave off the cold. For almost the entire time that he had been in Barrow, one of his friends had been there with him. His thinking was that they believed that if they didn't stay with him, that he would disappear again, never to be seen by any of them.

The truth was that Harry had no intention of fleeing and hiding from the world permanently. He simply needed some time to breath and the cold and ice of the north coast of Alaska was once again perfect for that.

"I would be lying if I said I was fine, Ginny." Harry said softly.

"No one expects you to be fine." Ginny said. "You lost the love of your life. That couldn't be easy on anyone, let alone someone who has already lost so much."

"I guess I should be better practiced at losing someone then."

"I hope not." Ginny replied. "No one wants you to become a machine."

"I guess."

For several minutes, the pair just stood there. As time passed, Harry thought back to six years ago. Despite the cold, Harry would have done anything to be standing here with Ginny, away from the rest of the world, knowing that his greatest enemy had been defeated. While the thought was still nice, it wasn't the same.

Even though Harry and Cho hadn't spent a lot of time together and they were really just starting to test the boundaries of their relationship, there was something hidden just underneath the skin of their relationship that made things so much greater than a normal starting relationship would have been. Just thinking that the two of them hadn't gotten the opportunity to really explore each other within their relationship burned Harry to the core. It left him breathless and shaking with an anger that was more than simple rage. It was a question of fairness in the world that burned him. The world seemed to have its place for Harry and it wasn't one of happiness and joy and love. Certainly he had his friends to support him and they were great but Harry desperately wanted someone for himself, someone that he could share anything with.

He had had that with Cho. However, the world didn't seem to want that for him. Instead, he was to be a soldier, a defender of the peace and his friends and family. If that was to be his life, then Harry would simply have to accept that as it was.

"How was the first match?" Harry asked softly.

"First two matches." Ginny corrected. "Oliver and I played pretty well both matches. We won the first match again Falmouth 210-30 but it should have been over much quicker. McBride missed the Snitch four times before he finally caught it. We were only luck that Falmouth's Seeker is dreadful."

"Who is it?"

"Galvin Gudgeon." Ginny said with a smile as she spoke the name of her Seeker with the Harpies last season. "She was terrible."

"I'm sure she was." Harry replied as he turned to lead her back to town. "What about the second match?"

"400-100." Ginny answered dully. "Puddlemore flattened us. I think they intentionally told their Seeker not to look for the Snitch."

"Who is their Seeker?"

"Terrence Higgs." Ginny replied. "Remember him?"

"Yeah, he was a Slytherin seventh year when I was a first year." Harry said with a smile. "I think he was the only member of their team that didn't try to cheat excessively."

"Yeah, he seems to be a pretty decent guy and he's a pretty good Seeker although he does tend to have a rather foul mouth during the matches."

"Just remember to have your wand and the next time he mouths off, just hex him." Harry suggested.

"I don't think I can do that. This isn't the Hogwarts League anymore, Harry." Ginny scolded him, albeit with a smile on her face.

As sun finally started to fall over the horizon, the pair reached town. Navigating their way down the snow-filled main street, they finally made their way to Harry's house. Once there, Harry led Ginny through the door of his house where they quickly went their separate ways to shower and change clothes for the evening.

Harry finished first and made his way to the living room where he picked up the copy of the Daily Prophet that he had Flooed to him everyday. Surprisingly, there was little mention of anything of worth and nothing on the disappearance of Harry Potter. For weeks after the battle, the Prophet had speculated as to what Noah was. None of the guesses were even close and Harry wasn't about to give them the real answer. Watching them guess was simply too much fun.

Once Ginny finished, she too came downstairs and placed herself next to him on the couch.

"When is the next match?" Harry asked, not looking up from the paper.

"We play Chudley on Friday." Ginny replied softly. "Why?"

"I think I'll make it back for that game." Harry answered, finally putting the paper down to reveal an evil smile. "No better time to than against Chudley where I can freak out your brothers and play against Viktor before he retires."

"You are seriously going to play your first Quidditch match in nearly eight years, with no practice, against one of the greatest Seekers to ever played the game?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Ginny, I just killed an angel. Viktor Krum will be nothing." Harry said with a hearty chuckle. "Just don't tell anyone."

September 3, 2004

Pride Pitch

6:55 PM

Portree, UK

As Harry stood in entrance to the stadium, he couldn't remember being more excited. For the first time in eight years, Harry Potter was going to be playing Quidditch and this time, he was getting paid to do it. For the last two days, Harry hadn't been able to stop smiling as he thought of the reaction on Ron and George's faces when he came out of the entrance tunnel.

Harry had snuck back into England earlier this afternoon via a Muggle airplane from New York City to London. The entire ride there, all Harry had been able to think about was Arthur Weasley and his lifelong desire to find out how aeroplanes stayed in the air. Tears rolled down his eyes as he thought of all the other silly Muggle things that Arthur would have liked to see in Barrow. Unfortunately, Harry would never get to show him any of them.

Once he had been in London, he had immediately made his way to Potter Manor. As he expected, Tracey Davis was still there, basically operating as the home owner until Harry's return. He briefly spoke with her before telling her not to tell anyone that he was home. Then, he made a brief trip to the lawn to see Cho's grave before returning inside to enter her room. Harry had decided several hours before that he wanted something of Cho's to keep with him on the Pitch. After all, it had been her words that had convinced him that he didn't have to be an Auror after the battle with The Network was over.

As he entered the room, he instantly saw what he wanted: a necklace that Cho had worn almost every day. It was silver with a crest of Ravenclaw hanging from it. It was elegant yet not overly complicated, just like Cho had been. Placing the necklace in his pocket, Harry left the house to go to Portree.

He arrived at six o'clock, greeted by Ian, Oliver, Ginny and the rest of his new teammates. He recognized most of them for having played on other teams in the past. As he got dressed, Ginny gave the instructions for the match.

"Krum is the one we need to worry about." Ginny started. "Harry is plenty good enough to keep up with him but let's give him some help. Beaters, don't even bother with playing the Quaffle or their Chasers. I want ever Bludger you hit aimed towards Krum, got it?"

The two Beaters, Finbar Quigley, formerly of the Ballycastle Bats, and Joey Jenkins, formerly of the Chudley Cannons, smiled and nodded.

"Oliver, you do what you do."

Oliver, standing stoically in the corner of the room, simply nodded his head.

"Chasers, as we've worked on all week, their Chasers play terrible one-on-one defense. So, when you get the Quaffle, press them."

The other two starting Chasers, Catriona McCormack and former Slytherin chaser, Marcus Flint, both of whom had played their whole career in Portree, nodded in confirmation.

"Reserves, don't expect a lot of action tonight. I think this game is going to be moving too quickly for a lot of subs."

The three reserves, Alicia Spinnet, Troy Duvall and Stephen McBride, all stared blankly, obviously trying to avoid a look of disappointment.

"Harry, just catch the damn Snitch before this thing takes too long."

"I'll do what I can." Harry said with a smile.

That had been almost a full hour ago. Now, Harry stood behind the rest of the team, waiting to be introduced. The buzz of the stadium was incredible and it made the hair on Harry's neck stand on end. He could hear the voices of little kids come to watch Quidditch legend Viktor Krum play. There were plenty of rumors that, despite Viktor's still relatively young age, he was playing on retiring after this season. The reasons behind that were unclear but what was clear was that he appeared to be going around playing on a sort of "goodbye" tour.

Well, Harry planned on letting people know who would replace him as the best by the end of today's match.

Suddenly, the announcer's voice echoed over the crowd.

"Good evening and welcome to this British and Irish Quidditch League match between the Chudley Cannons and the hometown Pride of Portree!"

A swell of cheers roared from the crowds and Harry grinned as the stadium itself seemed to shake from the noise.

"The Cannons enter today's match at 2-0 with the Pride at a record of 1-1. Now, the introductions for the Chudley Cannons! For the Cannons, we have Snyder, Calland, Knight, Oxley, Newell, Yates and Krum!"

Despite the fact that the Cannons were the away team, a scream went over the crowd as the Cannons, and more specifically Viktor Krum, were introduced. However, match that scream was also a descant of "boo!" that matched it in volume.

Now, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to be on that pitch so much that he was ready to skip the introduction and just go out and play.

"Now, for the Pride of Portree, we have our Beaters: Finbar Quigley and Joey Jenkins!"

At the front of the line, Harry saw Finbar and Joey scream out of the tunnel and into the crowded stadium beyond to torrid screams.

"Next, we have our Chasers: Marcus Flint, Catriona McCormack and last year's Most Valuable Player, Ginny Weasley!"

This time, three brooms raced out into the crowd to even louder shouts. As they flew around the stadium, Harry could hear shouts of "MVP!" along with banging and stomping in the stadium.

"Our Keeper, coming to us from the Puddlemore United and last year's Most Oustanding Keeper, Oliver Wood!"

"See ya out there, Harry." Oliver said with a smile before taking off into the stadium and his own set of cheers. Looking out, Harry was the only person left in the tunnel. As he realized this, he looked down at the necklace of Cho's that he was wearing.

"This is it, Cho." Harry said with tears forming in his eyes. "This is for you."

Then, for the last time, the announcer's voice rang out.

"Tonight, we have a special surprise! The newest addition to the Pride of Portree is the biggest free agent signing of the past decade! This player played for five years at Hogwarts, leading his team to a winning record every season and a Quidditch Cup in his third and sixth years! This man defeated The Dark Lord and The Lost Angel, not three months ago! The Seeker for your Pride of Portree, The Man-Who-Lived, HARRY POTTER!"

Mounting his broom, Harry bolted out of the tunnel as quickly as he could. The explosion of sound that hit his ears as he did was deafening. The whole stadium seemed to explode with sound. As Harry flew around the pitch, he looked up to the Top Box where he saw two redheads. Deciding that he had time before the start of the match, Harry raced up to the Box where George and Ron Weasley sat, dumbfounded.

"You could have told us you were playing today!" Ron shouted at him, smiling from ear-to-ear. "Why this game?"

"I could never miss the opportunity to put the Cannons back where they belong?"

"And where is that?" George asked harshly.

"The bottom of the league." Harry said with a grin before leaning over the railing and shaking both of their hands. "Good luck, gentlemen."

"I hope you fall and break your leg." George replied with a grin.

"Knowing me, it's not out of the ordinary." Harry answered before taking off to set his location before the match began. As he reached his spot, Viktor Krum extended his hand. Harry took it graciously.

"I vas vorried that I vould never get to play the legendary Harry Potter." Viktor said with a smile.

"Not to worry, Viktor. You'll get your chance."

"So it seems." Viktor said before turning back to the referee.

Harry turned as well just in time to see both the Quaffle and the Snitch released. Instantly, Harry took off towards the sky where he could get a much better view of the game. As he looked down, Harry was still amazed to see the speed of the game. Finally, establishing his place, Harry listened in to the announcer.

"...Weasley has the Quaffle, passes it to Flint, back to Weasley and to McCormack. NO! It's intercepted by Snyder who passes to Calland and on to Knight who throws it back to Snyder but not before Weasley picks it off. Weasley races to the other end where she moves past Snyder and Oxley. A quick spin and a pass to Flint, WHO PUTS IT PAST YATES! GOAL! 10-0 Pride!"

As Harry listened in to the announcer, he decided he was going to try something absolutely insane. Slowly, Harry started drifting to his right, as if he was trying to get a better view on something. As he expected, Viktor did the same.

Viktor was marking him.

Taking a deep breath, Harry decided to make his move. Diving slowly at first, Harry suddenly pressed his broom to the floor, aiming straight down. Unlike the last time he had tried this maneuver, Harry was wearing goggles. Looking behind him, Harry noticed that Viktor was following him, screaming down as quickly as he could.

For as long as he could, Harry pressed down. Then, with still 100 feet until he hit the ground, Harry pulled to his left. He knew that Viktor wouldn't be convinced he was chasing the Snitch if he simply dived straight down. The Snitch never moves like that. So, Harry pulled to his left, arching high towards the sky before rolling back to his right and down towards the pitch.

Viktor was gaining on him as he completely his final roll to the right which was exactly what Harry wanted. This time, only being sixty or seventy feet from the ground, Harry dove straight down, pressing his broom to the ground as quickly as he could. Then, with only inches to spare, Harry broke up towards the crowd and then back again away from them.

Looking back, Harry was surprised to see that it had worked, sort of. While Viktor wasn't laying on the ground, he was trying to pick himself out of the bleachers. As Harry watched, he realized that Viktor didn't know where his broom was. Looking up at the scoreboard, Harry saw that it was 60-20, Pride. Deciding that he finally had time to scan, Harry flew to the sky again where he perched himself to search for the Snitch.

Several minutes later, Viktor came up next to him, looking angry and disheveled. For the next few minutes, Harry just watched the match as Ginny continued to dominate the game, scoring for goals to put the score at 100-20. Then, just when Harry thought he saw a wristwatch glowing in the lights of the stadium, Harry realized it was not a watch.

It was the Golden Snitch.

Bolting towards it, Harry looked back and noticed that Viktor wasn't following him. Obviously, he thought that Harry was trying the same tactic again. Unfortunately for him, Harry wasn't. Screaming after the small golden ball, it seemed to know it was being chased. Just as Harry got to it, it took off in a strange winding pattern. Breaking his direction, Harry took off after it.

After chasing it for several seconds, Harry realized that he was being followed by Viktor. Now, Harry had a decision to make. Did he continue to follow it, leading Viktor to it or did he try and throw him off, risking Viktor realizing the trick and keep following the Snitch? Quickly, Harry made the choice to keep pressing forward.

High into the sky, the Snitch climbed, giving Viktor the opportunity to catch up with Harry. Suddenly, the Snitch dove with Harry and Viktor diving after it neck-in-neck. For several seconds, the Snitch remained just out of reach as Harry and Viktor fought for position. Then, just as quickly as the match started, Harry added another boost to his broom, launching himself forward and grasping his hand around the Snitch.

Instantly, the stadium exploded with sound. As Harry slowed himself down and landed, he could hear the announcer shouting.

"...amazing! Potter outraced Krum to the Snitch! The Pride win 270-40! Good things are coming, Pride fans, if Harry Potter has anything to say about it!"

His teammates surrounded him, celebrating their victory. As the celebration continued, Harry noticed Viktor come into their huddle. Leaning in, Viktor whispered into his ear.

"I half only been beaten once before in my life, Harry." Viktor said roughly. "I do not like it. Maybe retirement is not in the future for me."

Smiling, realizing what kind of rivalry he had created by beating Viktor today, Harry smile and shook Viktor's hand.

"Bring it on." Harry replied boldy before going on to celebrate the victory with the rest of his team.

September 4, 2004

8:00 PM

Potter Manor

The next evening, Harry decided that he was going to host a small dinner party. Nothing open to the public and nothing fancy, just dinner among friends. The guest list was rather small. Obviously, Harry was there. Then, there was Ron and Hermione, Ginny, George and Angelina, Percy and Penelope, Bill and Fleur, Charlie and Ileana, Luna, Tracey and Neville. Basically, the guest list included those that Harry would consider close friends or family. While Tracey was new, and she was finally planing on moving out of Potter Manor, Harry had been around her long enough to merit an invitation to this dinner.

The dinner had started at seven. While the food was fabulous, courtesy of Winky, Harry thought that the collection of people there was better. In fact, they were the middle of a fantastic conversation.

"So you aren't going to run for Minister of Magic next term?" Charlie asked his brother at the far end of the table.

"I don't believe so." Percy replied. "I know that it was kind of my life goal but I'm not exactly a fan of how I got the job."

"Perce, you shouldn't let that decide whether you want to do i again." Bill said. "If you want the job, you should do it."

"I'm just not certain I want it anymore." Percy replied. "I mean, with the baby on the way, I'm not certain that I want to be raising a child and running the country at the same time."

"That's certainly understandable." Hermione replied. "By the way, I've been meaning to say something."

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I was going to do it whenever Percy retired but since he's not running again, I will."

"What?" came several people around the room.

"Whenever the election occur, I intend to run for Minister of Magic." Hermione declared boldly.

Instantly, the room exploded with applause and celebration as everyone congratulated Hermione on her decision.

"I'll support you through the whole thing, Hermione." Percy replied. "Unless I end up screwing something up and then I'll stay out of your way."

"I appreciate that." Hermione replied before turning to Harry. "What do you think?"

"Hermione, I think you'll do wonderfully." Harry answered with a smile. "Wouldn't you be the youngest Minister of Magic?"

"Not quite. Not unless another election is forced before the end of the year." Percy replied. "My hope is that it would be at least another two years so that we can establish some things before I leave office."

"Plus, your thinking more along the lines of Muggle politicians, Harry." Hermione said. "It's not altogether that rare for people of our age to hold higher offices in our world. We just hold on to them longer then. Take Dumbledore for instance. He was named Supreme Mugwump at age 30!"

"Wow." Harry mused quietly. "I'm certain you'll do great either way."

"Thanks, Harry." Hermione said.

"I hear that Draco Malfoy completed his community service." George replied. "Did the smelly little ferret bitch and moan while he did it?"

"Not really." Ron replied. "He just sat down and did it. I've heard some rumors that when his probation is up in two years, he wants to run for Minister of Magic as well."

"Well, god help us if that happens." Ginny said to the laughter of everyone around the room.

For the next several minutes, Harry blanked out of the conversation. Instead, he thought about all of the people that could have been at their table this evening and weren't.

Interrupting the conversation, Harry stood, much like he had during their last meal here, glass in hand.

"Everyone, I would like to say something." Harry said as the room quickly quieted down. "I'm very thankful that I have all of you in my life. I know that without you, the odds that my life would have taken a much darker road are very high. However, I can't help but think of every person that we've lost on the way here. My parents, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Arthur, Molly, Fred, Dumbledore, Colin Creevey and so many others. This journey has cost us as many lives as it has saved. But, if there is one thing that I am thankful for, it is that you were the ones who are here. Without you, I would be lost as would so many other people around our world. For that, and for surviving, I thank you and I want you all to know that I love each every one of you."

Having said his piece, Harry took his seat. Just as he did, Hermione stood up.

"I am also thankful to have you all. You adopted me into the wizarding world when I was alone in it. However, none of us would be here without Harry."

Suddenly, Hermione turned and spoke directly to him. He could feel his face getting hot with the attention he was getting from the room.

"Without you, Harry, we would all be dead. Whether it be by Lord Voldemort or The Lost Angel, we would have been murdered. You did everything you could to give your life for all of us. Thankfully, it wasn't meant to be but the gesture is not lost on any of us. We have occasionally turned our back on you and we haven't always done everything to earn your trust but I know that we all know that it is only our best interests in your mind. Harry, we know that you don't have a family, at least not one that's blood related to you. But know this, we are your family and we would do anything to pay you back for everything you have done for us. We would do anything and still not even come close to being able to pay you back."

Hermione reached down and picked up her glass. In turn, everyone else in the room lifted their glass as well and looked towards Harry.

"To Harry Potter. He is the Man-Who-Lived, The Boy Who Conquered, The Chosen One and The Golden Boy. However, to us, that matters little. To us, he is a friend, a brother, a confidante, an ally and someone who we know would never betray. He is always there when we need him and despite any odds, will never back down to help us. In truth, there is not a single person in this room that is good enough to call him or herself a friend of Harry Potter. And yet, Harry graces us all with his presence today, letting us know that we truly are his friends. We only hope that we can be good enough to make it worth your while in return. We love you, Harry. Not because of what you've done but because of who you are."

Finishing her teary-eyed speech, Hermione nodded towards Harry and then took a drink. Around the room, everyone followed her example. As Harry looked around, he realized that he hadn't brought to his home a collection of friends and of acquaintances.

He had brought together the only family that he had ever known.

For him, that was all he would ever need.

A/N: This is the end of "The Lost Angel: When I Leave the World Behind." I hope you've enjoyed reading it just as much as I've enjoyed writing it. There will be at least one sequel to this story that I intend on starting right away. So, if you put me on Author Alert, within the next few days, you should get an alert about a new story.

Again, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you. If you have any concerns or questions, send in a review or PM me!

Thanks,

Zac