The two stood side by side outside a familiar house. He stood still, staring unseeingly at the large black door as the woman beside him waited patiently. Hermies sat silently on his shoulder, his large yellow eyes locked onto the house before him.
Hermione stood still, not wanting to rush him into a house that, due in part to her actions, held a great amount of pain for the young man beside her. She waited patiently, her eyes scanning the street around them as she stood. She turned as she heard a sigh from Harry, and saw him walking heavily toward Grimmauld place. She quickly stepped forward, falling in place behind him, her robes flowing behind her slightly as she stepped up the old creaky wood steps.
The pair entered the house silently, Harry's brow rising slightly as he saw the new Grimmauld Place. The once dark and dim hallway with the old thread bare rug had been transformed into a warm and hospitable house now. The carpet had been replaced with a deep maroon rug with golden trim, and the walls were adorned with lanterns every few feet to light the dark interior. The entire room gave off a sense of welcome that had Harry feeling slightly out of place. He stared straight ahead as Hermione stepped forward, passing into the kitchen quickly, her liquid brown eyes glancing back at him as he walked stiffly down the hallway.
He stepped into the kitchen, which thankfully was deserted at the moment. With a silent beating of wings Hermies took flight, landing on the horn of some type of bear like creature hanging upon the wall near the door. Looking to the wall across from him, he could see the faint outline of what looked to be the entire order crowded into the dining hall. He smirked slightly as he walked ahead of Hermione, turning the door knob and quickly entering another hallway, redone in a similar taste to the entry hallway. He glanced at the witch beside him, who had been strangely quite through out the day, not that he was complaining.
"So," He grunted out slowly as they walked toward the dining hall door. "Who redid the house?" He suddenly felt her stiffen, her whole body stopping.
"So," She said quickly, "You can see!" She brought her hand to her mouth, as if scared her outburst would anger him.
"Of course I can," He said hauntingly, cold fury in his voice. "I couldn't let myself a burden to everyone.." he trailed off slightly as he saw her turn her eyes away, but with his enhanced vision he could still see a single tear saturated with magic slide down her cheek before he turned toward the Dining hall door before him.
Hermione reached toward the door but he quickly grabbed her hand and put a finger to his lips as he listened to the heated argument through the door. He could easily make out Dumbledore's voice, as well as the angry voice of Mrs. Weasley and Professor McGonagall.
"I refuse to set such limits on my students!" Dumbledore argued, his voice calm but full of authority.
"Albus, How are we supposed to ensure their protection without limiting certain freedom's?" Harry could make out the frustration in McGonagall's voice, so he quickly assumed this was a common argument.
Without a word he let go of Hermione's hand, and motioned for her to open the door. He waved her forward, and waited as he saw Dumbledore and the rest of the Order look up suddenly, most likely wandering why Hermione had entered the room looking so apprehensive.
Without a word he stepped out of the shadow's and joined her, waiting as the Order burst into noise, whispers and shouting breaking out suddenly. He smirked at the surprised look in Dumbledore's eyes, the twinkle in them subdued to the point of near non existence. The boy-who-lived stood silently, a bored sigh escaping his lips as he waited for the order to quite down.
He glanced over to McGonagall slowly, who looked the same as when he had left, despite a slightly fuller head of gray hairs. She was still a sharp witch, and one of the most talented Transfiguration teachers he'd ever known.
Suddenly Mrs. Weasley stood and with a nervous ringing of the woman's hands she started to speak. Harry, however, beat her to the punch.
"Mrs. Weasley. I"m sorry but the time for someone to worry about my weight and cuddle me has long since passed. I'm sorry.." Quietly, she sat down, her flaming red hair hiding her face as she caught the meaning of his second apology. He studied her for a moment, noticing the deep dark circles under her eyes and the unhealthy sheen to her skin, as if she hadn't had a day of relaxation in months, which was quite possibly true.
"Harry.. My boy," Dumbledore began slowly, his eyes analyzing Harry quickly.
"That's quite enough Dumbledore," he said, a bit more anger in his voice than he meant to let show. "I'm just here to help find Hermione's parents and than I'll be gone again. And no I will not change my mind!" he said as he saw Hermione and McGonagall both look to him with an edge in their eyes.
"Now what's been going on in the war?" He said without hesitation.
"Harry surely we can talk about this later? Surely you want to see your friends or rest?" Dumbledore asked slowly, hoping the young man who trusted him so implicitly would surface. However his hopes were for nothing.
"No Albus.. I'm not here to see my friends, I just want to find her parents and get back to my Bloody life!" He yelled loudly, his eyes seeing the magic roll off him for a moment. He saw Hermione stiffen roughly in front of him and attempted to reign in his emotion's, assuming he had bothered her for a moment. He took a deep breath and focused on Dumbledore.
The old man sighed, running his fingers through his beard for a moment before he contiuned."Quite frankly were losing Harry. The Death Eater's are every where, the Ministry has fallen, and Hogwarts is the last major stronghold we have left. The Order is down to 200 members while Death Eaters are in the hundreds." The old man sighed as he stared into Harry's blank eyes.
"Do we have any idea's on any Death eater hideout's?" Harry asked furiously, his mind racing wondering what the Order had been doing since he left.
The Order turned as one to look at Snape, who had escaped Harry's notice until that moment.
The man looked exactly as he remembered, except for a long black scar traveling from the bottom of his jaw to just above his cheek. His hair fell lank and long down his shoulders, pooling down his back. His robes where of the deepest black, despite several stains which Harry could see glowing from here, meaning they were most likely potion residue. He sat forward slightly, his usual sneer on his face, just below his long crooked nose.
"Unfortunately Potter," The greasy haired man said in a long drawling voice, "I have no information that could be of.. use to you.." He trailed off as he noticed the angry look being directed his way. Before he could say anything he found himself with a large staff inches from his face.
"Now Snivellus... You wouldn't be holding out on me would you?" Harry asked menacingly, the Emerald at the tip of the staff glowing a deep purple. He smirked as the pale wizard in front of him lost several more shades of color, before swallowing loudly.
"Oh wait.. I do know of Three bases that they could be held at.." Snape muttered, as the Staff flashed a brilliant purple. The man snapped his eye's closed, waiting to feel pain from in front of him, only to realize the staff had just let out a flash of light and returned to Harry's side.
After a moment of silence Harry finally snapped, "Where?"
Snape eyed him with distaste before flicking his wand and making a map of Britain appear, along with three large X's of where the Granger's could be. He looked forward unblinkingly, almost as if waiting for Harry to turn his way once again.
Harry, however, had his eyes locked on the map and was noting the locations of the bases quickly, the map glowing a deep purple due to the conjuration magic behind it, rendering the map see able to his magical sense. He dispelled the map quickly before he looked to Dumbledore with a slight glare.
"I'll be back old man.. And I assume you'll wish to talk to me?" He said, knowing he was right.
"Harry, please reconsider. We don't have very much information on these bas-"
Harry cut in suddenly, leaving Dumbledore silent for a moment. "And who's fault is that? From what I can tell the entire time I was gone you were sitting around with your bloody thumbs stuck up your-"
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked, appalled at the anger in his voice.
He merely glanced at the brunette before Dumbledore cleared his throat, drawing his attention back to the white haired mage.
"I insist Harry, that you should wait until the Order can get more information on the Granger's Whereabouts." The elder mage gave his grandfatherly smile, almost as if he believed Harry would agree. Harry bit off a bitter laugh, his eyes giving Dumbledore a deep loathing look.
"Calm down Harry. Take a deep breath and relax."
Harry sighed, sucking in a deep breath as he slowly counted to three before he bit off a quick thanks to Hermies.
"Albus.. I most certainly agree," Harry noted Hermione's distraught look, and Dumbledore's face turn into a pleased smile, before he contiuned. "But we both know I'm not to good at 'Waiting'. If you try to stop me," Harry said suddenly, as he saw Dumbledore's aura tense, as if ready to be unleashed in a moments notice. "You will not only fail but most likely look like a fool in front of your little 'club'. So don't!"
Without another word Harry turned, his staff heavy in hand waiting for an attack that never came as he strode from the room. He distantly heard a light step following behind him and his smile at besting Dumbledore slipped into his mask of indifference as he turned to face Hermione once again. She was shocked to see him turn around so suddenly, she had hoped she was being quite.
"I know where your parents are now. I'll have them safe soon, so you don't have to follow me around so insistently." He said scathingly, not quite looking at the girl before him.
She bit back a nasty retort, her eye's tightening at his anger toward her. "I want to go with you!" She blurted suddenly, looking him in the eye as he studied her for a moment.
"No," He said quietly. "I'm going to do this alone." He turned and walked into the entry hallway, smiling slightly as Hermies resumed his position on his shoulder. He turned toward the door before Hermione grabbed his arm, causing his entire body to stiffen. She quickly let go of his arm, looking down before speaking.
"Than be safe Harry," He gave her a deep look, milky eyes catching chocolate brown. "I already lost Ron.. I know you hate me but I didn't mean to push you away like that and-" She trailed off as she saw him staring intently at her.
"Not now Hermione. It's years too late for that. After I see your parents safe I'm leaving." He turned and opened the door and before she could beg him to change his mind, he vanished in a crack.
Remus leaned back slowly, sighing as the conversation drifted to Hogwarts safety once again. This was a constant source of argument between Dumbledore and the rest of the Order. He simply refused to intrude on his student's freedom's unless it was a live or die situation. He sat forward suddenly, a familiar smell catching his attention. The source of the smell was on the tip of his tongue, just on the edge of his recognition. Before he could think over this the door's opened and the smell multiplied a hundred fold. He looked past the visage of Hermione into the hallway where he could just hear the slow breathing of an unseen person standing in the hallway, just out of his view.
His mouth fell open in shock as Harry stepped forward, but it wasn't the Harry he had seen three years ago. The last time he had seen Harry, fear and uncertainty rolled off the young boy's frame in waves. He had only recently been blinded among several other things so it was easy to understand why. But now.. Now the man who stood before him radiated strength.. and anger.
The man before him was several inches taller than the last time he had been seen. His black hair was several inches longer, resting across his shoulders haphazardly. He was wearing a tight gray shirt, and brown cotton pants, both of which looked self made. In his hand was a chest length staff, the top of which set a large perfectly rounded Emerald. He was sporting a five o'clock shadow, and a fierce look in his eyes, a look Remus would hate to be directed his way.
Remus sat in shock as he listened to the heated argument between Harry, Dumbledore, and to a lesser degree, Snape. Before Remus could register the fact that Harry wasn't back for good he had turned and fled the room, with Hermione in tow. As the aged werewolf stood to follow him, Dumbledore waved his wand and the door slammed shut suddenly.
Remus turned to Dumbledore, a look of disbelief on his face.
"What Albus? Open the door, I need to see my Godson!" He ordered, anger creeping into his veins as Dumbledore sat pensively.
"Remus I don't think that would be good at the moment. Harry is obviously quite angry-" Dumbledore's eyes widened as Remus interrupted.
"Oh I agree! He's very angry, and from what I can tell you are the cause of it! Now open this door before I blast it open!" He snarled, his eyes darkening. Without a sound the door swung open and without a look back Remus bolted through the doorway, making his way to the kitchen.
She stared out the open door silently, before a voice behind her snapped her out of her trance. She quickly shut the door and turned to face Remus.
"Hermione?" He asked hesitantly, his brow furrowed slightly. "Where is Harry? I have to see him.." He grew silent as he saw her stunned face. "What?"
"He already left Remus. He's going to attack the Death eaters!" She cried shrilly suddenly, as if it just occurred to her he was attacking an entire base alone.
Remus leaned against the table for support. First Harry had been blinded by Voldemort, than suddenly one day he had vanished, and now he was stepping into certain doom. It was days like this that Remus felt he had let Lily and James down the most. "Why would he insist on going alone?" He asked despairingly.
Hermione looked down suddenly, her eyes avoiding his any way possible. She started to walk by him but he reached out and snagged her passing arm, her startled eyes meeting his.
"Hermione?" He whispered slowly. "Why do I have this feeling you know why he left?" He said steadily, his voice even. He had always wandered what was so horrible that his godson would have run away like that.
She chocked back a sob as she calmed herself, readying herself to spill one of her worst memories to the wolf before her.
Harry sat motionless, his body hidden in the shadows of a large group of tall trees to the west of the first Death Eater stronghold. Even from this distance the Mansion before him was ablaze in magic, throwing the house into fine detail.
The mansion was large, probably three stories tall with dozens of rooms. From this distance he could see several statues atop the mansion with Sentinel Charms upon them, giving them the dangerous ability to sound an alarm at any time. He could make out only two Death Eaters, and both were positioned on a balcony hanging from a large window on the second floor.
Harry waited patiently, his eyes roaming the mansion, waiting for Hermies to check in. Several seconds ticked by before he heard his familiar whisper in his mind.
"There are three more guards on the southern wing, none of which are in sight of each other. Most of the back of the mansion is shrouded in darkness, so you should go in this way." Hermies chimed in, sounding sure of himself even in Harry's mind. Harry chuckled slightly as he gripped his staff and blended into the forest behind him, silently making his way around the back of the mansion. Slowly the first of the guards came into view and with an almost blood thirsty growl Harry rose his staff and slammed it to the ground.
The guard before him sank to his knees, before falling to the side unconscious. With a forward flick of his staff the fallen guards wand zoomed into his outstretched hand. He snapped it idly as he stalked into the shadows of the mansion, his eyes on the two remaining Death Eaters. The dark haired figure stepped forward, his staff glowing a desolate blue as he swung it in a large arc toward the two death eaters. Simultaneously the pair of Death Eaters clutched their throats before collapsing moments later to the ground. With a quick summoning spell their wands fell to the ground broken.
He smirked silently as he slid along the wall, coming to a window. He carefully studied the wards swimming across his vision, noting two anti-intruder wards tied to an immobilization ward. He quickly neutralized the wards and put up a personal silence ward, rendering him silent to anyone more than a foot from he silently made his way into the side room of the large sprawling mansion he could easily make out a magical painting of what looked to be Gregory Goyle, and what looked to be his father.
'So this is the Goyle mansion..' Harry thought to himself, freezing the portrait as the inhabitant's eyes widened. He couldn't have them running off to warn anyone now could he? With a quick look around he crept to the door way, focusing on his magic sight, pushing it's range farther. Just outside the hallway from what he could tell, sat two Death Eaters, their backs to him. Farther down the hall more vague shapes sat, but from this range, he could only see an indistinguishable wall of magic.
Harry silently edged the door open, and threw two stunners out, knocking the two men standing guard out cold. He quickly scooped up their wands as an alarmed cry rose up from the end of the hallway. Harry turned, holding his staff by the middle, the Emerald at the end flashing a brilliant white as an opaque shield bubbled into existence. He stood unblinkingly as several curses slammed into the shield, a loud gong sound ringing through the hallway.
An arrogant voice reached his ears as the room grew silent.
"I don't know who you are but you made a huge mistake coming here. The Dark lord doesn't appreciate break in's!" The familiar voice of Lucius Malfoy called out.
"Oh stuff it! Diruo!" Harry roared slamming his staff forward, a deep purple blast rocketing down the hallway.
Lucius slashed his wand to the side hastily, redirecting the curse into the hallway wall halfway between the Death Eaters and Harry. The wall crumbled under the curse, pouring dust and plaster into the hallway, eliminating sight for the Death Eaters. Harry stepped back and forth as curses of every color flew his way, several of which radiated such power they nearly blocked out other smaller less powerful curses. A killing curse flew so close to him, he could feel the chilled breath of death breathing down the back of his neck.
Harry ducked and dived, twisting the thick staff in his hands, dodging blind fire curses as he retaliated in kind.. He took a deep breath, his hand coming up to wipe sweat off his brow.
"Scindo Stupefy!" Harry roared, gritting his teeth as his staff vibrated roughly, a large stunner flying down the hallway. As it cleared the dust cloud, the spell split into three separate stunners. Lucius cursed as two fell to the spells, the last spell directed back at Harry. Another swish of his staff and two wands zoomed into his hand, which quickly joined the other broken three. Lucius jabbed his wand at the Dust could, a powerful wind blowing through the room, clearing the hallway.
"Come now Lucius.. Surely you can do better than that?" Harry taunted playfully, side-stepping a poorly aimed killing curse, as he felled another foe with a Reducto. Lucius and the remaining Death Eater grew desperate, relying more and more on the killing curse, until green curses were all that were sent his way. Harry's brow furrowed as he slammed his staff on the ground, a golden brown light streaking across the floor until it circled the pair. Lucius ran forward as the Death Eater inside the circle flew up and slammed into the ceiling, landing in a crumbled heap.
Lucius stabbed his wand forward, black smoke billowing from his wand, pouring down the hallway and encircling Harry. Harry clutched his throat briefly, fighting back the panicked chocking feeling as the air was literally ripped from his lungs. Harry gasped as he swept his staff like a broom, the black cloud dispersing.
With a loud snarl Lucius ripped his sleeve back, as Harry fired off a stupefy, urging his spell faster. Laughing triumphantly, Lucius dropped, his wand touching the Dark Mark, which was darkening quickly. Harry threw up an anti-apparition ward, but he could already see the wards taking a beating. Harry took off around the corner, his magical sight scanning every room, wildly looking for any sign of the Granger's.
Harry stepped into a small room, offset from the center of the mansion. He gripped his staff tightly, focusing with all his energy on extending his sight as far as he possibly could. His heart leapt as he found what looked to be people in the dungeon below him. Harry slammed his staff on the ground, a large circle appearing in the floor in front of him.
Harry landed in what looked to be a dungeon in the bottom of the Goyle family Mansion. Around the room sat several large instruments, most of which had liberal blood stains on them. The raven haired man wrinkled his nose, the metallic scent of blood flooding his nose. He quickly crossed the dungeon, making his way to a large wooden barred door. He tapped on the aged oak quickly, waiting for the door to open. A moment passed and Harry silently opened the door and quickly stepped inside. He looked around slowly, counting a total of seven people scattered in different jail cells in various states of pain.
He crossed the room quickly, popping open the doors to each cell. He focused on each prisoner, checking their bodies for injuries, and healing them as best he could, until the seven were some what mobile. Looking around he picked up a loose stone laying on the floor and quickly turned it into a port key.
"Are any of you the Granger's?" Harry asked hopefully, his heart sinking for a moment as the entire group shook their heads.
One old man in the back seemed to be thinking hard, and a moment later he replied, "They were here though! They got taken to another place several days ago though.. Malflon manor I believe?" The old man croaked, his eyes full of gratitude.
"Do you mean Malfoy manor?" Harry grinned as the old man nodded quickly. "Thank you sir...?," "John Andersen" The old man supplied.
"This is a port key to a safe place. When you get their you'll be healed and we can get you somewhere to go. Sir," He said, directing himself at John once again. "Can you please find a woman named Hermione Granger that her parents are safe and I'm heading after them next?"
John nodded with a smile and started to respond to Harry, but he suddenly held up his hand and cut the John off. Harry stared into the distance for a moment before his head snapped forward, a sense of emergency in his eyes.
"You have to leave now! Get out of here!" Harry screamed, his eyes drawn to the floor above them. With a worried last look, John and the group of survivors vanished in a dim blue light.
Harry's eyes tracked a tower of black magic steadily drawing closer, and with a angry growl, Harry apparated to the floor above, his staff held tightly, magic swirling around the emerald tip.
"Hello Tom." Harry said with a mock bow, his eyes never leaving Voldemort's surprised features.
A/n: First Action scene so how did I do? If anyone has any advice or suggestions please share so i can make this a better story! Besides that how does everyone think I handled the Order? It's obvious Harry has been betrayed pretty heavily but I'd love to hear some people's ideas of what happen? Give me your opinion and I'll let you know in a PM if it's close or not ;)