Harry had successfully made it out of Hogwarts, but that was really the only thing going for him at this point. The portkey had unceremoniously deposited him almost a mile away from the castle and he had landed directly on his injured shoulder. He was currently lying on his back in the middle of the forest doing his best not to move. The pain he was experiencing in his slashed eye was bad, but it was severely lacking compared to his shoulder. It was so strong that he could feel his body trembling and he was biting his lip almost to the point of drawing blood.

He lay on the ground unmoving several more agonizing minutes. Harry knew he needed to get back to the castle, but his body was protesting against it. He felt completely devoid of energy; he was still trembling, but less now from the pain and more from the harsh winter weather. The blood that had been trickling down from his eye had begun to freeze and harden and he had no feeling in his eyelid at all. With one last, extremely taxing effort, he tried to roll onto his good arm, but the sudden jostling tweaked his separated shoulder and he fell onto his back once again, the pain making him lightheaded. Harry's last thought as the pain overtook him and the blackness seeped in was that he was going to freeze to death in the middle of the forest and no one would ever know.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

He thought that he was dead at first, but then he felt a hand pushing back the hair on his forehead. He noticed that the hand was petite and tried to open his eyes to see its owner. His left eye opened with little trouble, but he wasn't able to open the right. Panic set in and he immediately feared that he had lost his vision, but a soft voice calmed his worries.

"Don't worry Harry, your eye is fine," the voice said. "Mum put some potion on it and wrapped it to keep it closed."

Harry looked to his right with his one good eye and saw his little sister sitting in a chair that had been pulled directly next to his bed. He instantly recognized the look on her face; a combination of fear, sadness, and anger. Her eyes were rimmed red, indicating that she had been crying. He hated seeing her like that and normally would have gathered her into his arms, but his shoulder was still slightly stinging so he settled for reaching out and grasping her small hand. "Hey what's wrong V?"

"You frightened me, that's what's wrong," she squeaked out. "Uncle Sirius came back holding onto some old book and told Dad that you hadn't come back. Mum and I overheard them talking when Dad said that you had gone to Hogwarts."

Harry stared up at the ceiling and sighed, "That can't have gone well."

"No, it didn't go well at all," Vera confirmed. "Mum screamed at Dad for a few minutes then she punched Uncle Sirius in the face for leaving without you. Then she started crying and told them they better find you or else. They left quickly after that and an hour later they carried you back here. You looked horrible."

Harry laughed dryly, "I definitely feel better than I did, not that that's saying much."

"And I should have left you as you were found for lying to your mother like that," Lily Potter scolded from the doorway. "I swear to Merlin Harry James Potter, you had better not do it again." She walked over and carefully took a seat next to Harry on the edge of his bed. Harry could tell that she was more worried and disappointed than she was actually angry.

"I know I should have told you, but in my defense Dad told me not to," Harry mumbled trying to do some damage control.

His mother's faced switched to an angry scowl. "I'm well aware of that Harry and trust me he hasn't heard the end of what I have to say on the matter." Her look softened and she reached up to run her fingers through his hair. "I'm just glad that you're alright. Now let's try and take that wrap off of your eye. It's been on there long enough for the potion to work." She bent down and reached behind Harry's head to untie the bandage. He felt it break loose and then the scratchy material fell away from his face.

Harry slowly forced his right eyelid open, and although the bright light that invaded his eye was painful at first, it also assured him that he still had his vision. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and waited several seconds for his eye to adjust and gain focus. He got his first good glimpse of his surroundings, and looking through the window he could tell that it was dark outside. "How long have I been out for?" he asked his mother.

"Quite a few hours," she explained. "I made some food if you're hungry. You can come to the kitchen or if you don't feel up to it I'll bring it to you."

"How come I never get to eat in bed?" Vera pouted.

Lily gave her a stern look, "Because you've never done something as stupid as sneaking into Hogwarts and returned barely alive. And you never will if I have anything to say about it young lady."

Harry looked over at his sister and offered her a smile. "That's alright V; I think I can make it to the kitchen." Harry looked back at his mother. "Is Dad here or is he at his office?"

"Your coward of a father has retreated to his office with your Uncle to avoid anymore yelling from me. I'm sure he'll be back soon to check on you. I've got his couch all fixed up for him to sleep on."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "I hope he gets back soon. I want to know what he's planning on doing with the book we retrieved."

Lily shrugged, standing up from the edge of the bed. "I don't know Harry; you'll have to ask him about it when he returns. Come to the kitchen when you're ready and I'll heat the food up for you."

"Thanks mum," Harry said as his mother exited through his bedroom door. He was left alone with his sister who was looking at him now with a questioning stare. "What's wrong?"

She hesitated for a second, but then asked, "Are you still going to able to take me flying this week like you promised?"

Harry gave her a wry grin. "And here I though that you were actually upset that I had been hurt, but you were really just concerned about your prospects of going up on a broom. I should have known," Harry shook his head and sighed dramatically. Vera looked extremely affronted at his accusation, but Harry quickly soothed her by grabbing her hand. "I'm just joking V. As for the flying, I'll try my best, but something big is going on and I might have to help out Dad again."

Vera raised an eyebrow at him, "You really believe Mum is going to allow you out of here? Good luck with that." She stood up from her chair and placed a kiss on her brother's cheek. "I am really glad you're ok. Now are you coming to the kitchen?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, hold on." Harry looked under the blanket that was covering his body and checked to make sure he was adequately attired. His armor had been removed, but he was still wearing his athletic pants and a thin shirt. He pushed the blanket off to the side and slid his leg off of the edge of the bed. He rotated his previously injured shoulder a few times to test his mobility and was satisfied when he only experienced some slight discomfort. Standing up, he walked over to the wall where there was a small mirror hanging. Looking into it, he closed his right eye and saw just a faint white line over his eyelid where he had been slashed. If it was a choice between a small scar and his vision, he would choose another scar every time. He grabbed a green sweater and slipped it on before following his sister out of the room.

A half hour later, Harry was sitting at the kitchen table with his empty plates sitting in front of him. He was just finishing a cup of tea when his father walked into the kitchen. James looked at him and a smile graced his face when he saw that his son was alright. His smile quickly left though when he peered around the kitchen and tried to look in the sitting room.

Harry instantly knew what was going on. "If you're hoping to avoid Mum then you don't have to worry because she's in your bedroom reading. Although she did tell me to let you know she left an extra pillow out for you on the couch."

James shook his head and took a seat across from his son. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," Harry responded. "Mum did a good job of patching me up. She wasn't too happy with you though."

James snorted, "I think her not being happy with me is a huge understatement. It took poor Sirius an hour for his nose to stop bleeding. Not that I can really blame her for hitting him, I can't say that it wasn't tempting when he showed up with the book and not you."

Harry interrupted him, "You can't blame him Dad, I forced him to go. Getting that book was extremely important."

James looked at his son completely frustrated. "That's just it son, that book is important, but you are much more so. I hate that stupid prophecy just as much as you, but the fact still remains that it exists. Every time you go out in the future, you need to think about that you're the only one who can take down Dumbledore. It's not fair, but that's life. You need to promise me that in the future you won't even think about sacrificing yourself. Promise me Harry. Promise that you won't extinguish our only hope of taking back our lives."

Harry listened to his father and felt the anger burning within him. He hated that prophecy, hated everything about it. Why was his life so much more important than everyone else's? He couldn't put his life on the line like the others because he was their only hope. Would he be able to sit back and watch someone he cared for die? Could he watch as someone threw a killing curse at his friends or family and not jump in front of it? He knew that the answer was no, but he would say what his father wanted to hear just to end the discussion.

"I promise."

James nodded, "Thank you son. Now we can move onto the matter of the book that you and Sirius recovered. We've been studying it for the past few hours and we think we have most of its features worked out. There are names in that book that range from hundreds of years ago up to the present. It has the current addresses with the names along with the lineage so we were able to find all of the muggleborns from the past seventeen years. Some of them are dead and some are out of the country so we were able to compose a list of the ones still here. All in all there were only five names on the list."

"How are we going to retrieve them?" Harry asked.

"We're going to send someone to each of the homes to inform the families of the situation and discuss the options. They will be brought back and either decide to stay here or we'll help them out of the country."

Harry stared at his father with a hopeful expression, "Who are you sending to get them?"

"I've handed out four of the names and locations to four of my best men."

"And what of the fifth?" Harry pushed on.

James didn't speak at first, but reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. He placed it on the table in between them. "What happens with the fifth is up to you. Either you can decide to take it or I'll find someone else. I know you're much more than capable so I want you to do it."

"Of course I'll do it," Harry said starting to reach for the parchment, but before he could his father placed his hand atop his own.

"Before you take that name, I want you to remember your promise—no unnecessary risks."

Harry nodded and picked up the piece of parchment. He heard his father in the background telling him that he needed to go early tomorrow morning, but his attention was transfixed to the paper. Using his thumb, he pushed the folds of paper apart and got his first look at the name. His only thought was that he had never heard a name like it—Hermione Granger.