A/N: All right, you've all convinced me. :P Here's Chapter 2 tonight instead of tomorrow. :P I don't think too much happens in this chapter but, oh well. :P I'm sure it's fine. LOL. Hope you like it. Thank you so much for the great responses to this story already. :]

Harry Potter gave a sad sigh as he looked around the Great Hall in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There had to be over one hundred people at the ceremony. He looked to his left and met eyes with one of his guardians. Sirius Black put an arm around Harry who leaned into him. Harry looked to his right and saw the sad faces of his friends.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were beside him. Then it was Ginny Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Molly and Arthur Weasley, then Bill and Charlie Weasley. Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley were all crying while the others were looking to the floor sadly.

Harry looked to his left again and stared at his second guardian. Remus Lupin was looking to the floor, his hands folded in his lap. Harry didn't think he had ever seen his friends and uncles look so sad before. He wondered how he looked. Did his expression show pain? Sorrow? Guilt? Did it show the million things he was feeling? He doubted. He was always the one to mask his feelings. He could be extremely depressed on the inside, but look so happy on the outside.

Harry gave another sigh and turned his attention back to the front. Ten minutes ago, Harry had stopped listening to the speech being given. He didn't need to hear it. He had heard four speeches just like it only months before, one only days ago. This was the sixth one he had to listen to so he tuned it out. He knew he should listen because it wasn't for just anyone. It was for one of the greatest people who had ever lived. He did care, he really did. It was impossible not to care. He just didn't want to hear the speech he had heard five times over already.

Harry leaned into Sirius a bit more and closed his eyes as his uncle kissed him lightly on the forehead. He would shut his eyes then, when he opened them, it would all end. It would all have been just a nightmare. He was more used to nightmares than these ceremonies. He was getting used to the ceremonies a lot more though. Not that he wanted to.

"…he was a great man, a great wizard, a great friend, and he will never be forgotten. Thank you," the one who had been speaking sat down and music started to play from nowhere. It was sad music and Harry wished they would turn it off. He closed his eyes once again. Maybe no one would notice if he just slept or just snuck out of the Hall. No one would notice except Remus, Sirius, Ron, and Hermione. The most observant people of his life ever.

The music grew louder and sadder then began to quiet. Finally the music stopped and everyone stood. Harry stood with them. Everyone folded their hands and bowed their heads. Harry followed suit. He was becoming an expert at these, not that it was anything to brag about. He would have rather never experienced one, but here he was. Sitting through his sixth one. The large group of people stayed how they were for another thirty seconds, then everyone began to slowly go outside. Harry sat down instead. He didn't feel up to walking much. Besides, his ankle was still sprained from an incident two and a half weeks earlier.

Harry didn't look around or move. He was barely aware that he was breathing. He just stared at the red and black chair in front of him. Very slowly, he came to and looked to his hands in his lap. They were shaking badly and were pale white. His breathing seemed to be getting faster and he started shaking even more. He couldn't hold it back anymore. He put his face in his hands and the million tears he had locked away, spilled over in rivers.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. Not bothering to look at the face belonging to the hand, knowing who it was, Harry turned into him and continued crying. The person wrapped his arms around Harry tightly and began to quietly whisper in Harry's ear, trying to calm him down. It seemed like hours to Harry before his tears began to slow. "Maybe you should go home. Get some sleep." the person murmured. Harry shook his head. He wasn't leaving. "Remus, over here," Harry heard the person holding him say.

"What is it, Sirius?"

"Bring Harry home. He needs to sleep. He says he doesn't want to leave, but he should," Harry shook his head again, more vigorously this time. "See? Come on, Harry. Go home. I'll be there soon. Sleep."

Harry opened his mouth to argue but no words came out. It was like someone had cut his vocal cords like they were brake lines on a car. He sighed and let Remus help him up. They walked through the Hall, Sirius behind them, then outside.

"See you later, Sirius," Remus said and continued walking with Harry. "We're Apparating," Harry nodded. He had figured as much. That was almost the only way they could travel. Harry limped down to Hogsmeade village then Disapparated with Remus. He opened his eyes and they were in front of their house. Two-story, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a library, kitchen, dining room, living room, a drawing room, a study or den, an attic, a basement, and a guest room.

"Come on," Remus started to the house, Harry behind him. He opened the door for Harry who limped in. Harry went straight for the living room and sat on the sofa. Remus stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee and stared at Harry. "You have to talk sometime. This has been going on for four days. You can't stay silent forever. Besides, Sirius and I miss your voice. We miss talking with you," Remus said and Harry looked at him. His expression didn't change at all. "Same with this. No laughter. No smiling. No talking. Nothing. You can't go on like this. You have to at least talk or smile at the least," Remus stated. Harry looked to the floor then back to Remus. Remus shook his head then went to the window in the living room.

"I don't know what we're going to do with you. You haven't said a word in four days and no one knows why. The hospital doesn't even know. If you would talk then we'd know why you haven't been saying anything. Then we could help you, but you won't say anything. Not even to Sirius or Ron or Hermione. We're all really worried about you," Remus said as he stared out the living room window. He turned to Harry who was staring at him sadly. "Don't look at me like that. You know you have to talk if you don't want to get admitted to the hospital for six months. If you don't want that to happen, then talk. Please. I'm begging you to talk," Remus sat by Harry. The boy stayed silent. "Whatever. Just go to bed and try to get some sleep," Remus shook his head then went outside. Harry watched his uncle leave then went to his room.

Harry sat on his bed. He wanted to talk. He really did. He didn't want to go to the hospital. He had a week before he would be sent to St. Mungo's. He would talk by then. He would force himself to speak. Harry sighed and lay down. He fell asleep just as he heard Remus come back into the house.

"Harry's been acting different lately. It always seems like he's going to say something," Remus told Sirius. It was three days after Dumbledore's funeral. Sirius and Remus were sitting in the living room while Harry was in his bedroom.

"Well, let's hope he talks soon. He has four days left before the hospital takes him," Sirius said. "Do you hear something?"

"Like what?"

"Listen."

"Sirius. Remus," It was very quiet and very hard to hear, but they could faintly hear it. They were being called. "Remus. Sirius."

"Is that—" Remus started. "Is that Harry?"

"Sounds like it."

"Sirius," It was a bit louder now. "Remus."

"That's Harry," Sirius said. They ran up to Harry's room where Harry was sitting on the floor. His back was to the door and he was still whispering their names. "Harry. You're talking again," Harry jumped, stood up, and faced them.

"Harry? Come on. Don't stop," Remus said.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized. He walked to his uncles and hugged them. "I should have talked a long time ago and I'm sorry." he said as they parted.

"Don't worry about that. Just never stay silent ever again. Promise?" Sirius answered.

"I swear."

"Why did you stop talking for a week, pup?" Remus asked as they went downstairs.

"Dunno. When you told me Katie and Dumbledore had been murdered, I couldn't think of what to say. Then every time I wanted to talk, I couldn't. It was like I didn't have vocal cords or something," Harry tried to explain.

"Oh well. You're talking again. That's all we care about," Sirius sat on the sofa with Harry while Remus went to the library. He went to the fireplace. He threw in Floo powder then stuck his head in.

"Hermione? Ron! Ginny? It's Remus!" Remus called out.

"Hey. What's going on?" the kids appeared.

"Come on over. Sirius and I have a surprise," Remus disappeared and the kids went to their friend's house. "Come on. In the living room," Remus led them through the house.

"This is an amazing house, by the way. It's beautiful," Hermione said.

"Thanks." It wasn't Remus who had answered. It wasn't Sirius either. The kids gaped as they looked at Harry.

"Harry?" Ginny gasped.

"What? You're all acting like I've never said a word before," Harry grinned. Hermione ran to Harry and jumped on him in a hug. "Whoa! Hermione! Can't—breathe! Umm, help. Please. Anyone!" Harry gasped for air. The others laughed.

"You're talking!" Hermione shouted.

"I know. I kind of figured when Sirius crushed me in his own hug with Remus," Harry smiled. Hermione finally let Harry go.

"Good to have you back, mate," Ron hugged Harry as well.

"Good to be back. Can they stay over for a bit or, er, the night?" Harry asked.

"Yes, they can," Remus nodded.

"Sorry. Can't. I'm going to Luna's for the night, but I'll see you later, Harry. Bye," Ginny said and went home.

"Bye. Come on. Let's go upstairs. We'll be good!" Harry called down to Remus and Sirius.

"Thank God he's talking. I didn't think he ever would," Sirius sighed.

"I know. It's amazing," Remus agreed. He looked to the window. "Isn't that Kingsley's owl? Well, the Ministry owl he always uses?"

"Yeah, it is," Sirius opened the window. "I have to go."

"Murder?"

"Yeah. Guess who by."

"Voldemort or Death Eaters?"

"Neither."

"Greyback?" Remus breathed. Sirius nodded. "I have to come with you."

"That's what it says."

"Let's go."

"I'll tell the kids," Sirius ran up to Harry's room. "Hey, kid."

"Hey."

"Look. Remus and I have to leave for a bit. We'll be back soon. You know the rules. Be good. Leave the house standing," Sirius kissed Harry's forehead while the teen giggled with his friends.

"Okay, bye, Sirius," Harry chuckled. Sirius left.

"This is seriously a brilliant house, mate," Ron said.

"Thanks. I like it. It's almost like the cottage with a few refurnishing."

"You mean a lot of refurnishing. Your bedroom is huge," Hermione gazed around Harry's room.

"Yeah, I know. At first it was the master bedrooms. They wanted big rooms too, so they charmed them to be bigger," Harry laughed. It felt good to laugh and talk with his friends and uncles again.

"Anyone we know?" Sirius asked Kingsley.

"Depends."

"On?"

"On if you know your kid's friends or not. In other words, who he's friends with, who he's not. That deal," Kingsley answered.

"Well, we taught him for two and a half years each, so we have an idea," Remus put in.

"Did he know a Hannah Abbott?"

"Yeah. I don't think they were close. She was in Hufflepuff. She was in the DA, I know that. I don't think they were close though. Moony?"

"I don't think so either. All I know is that Harry taught her in the DA last year."

"Well, Greyback came in, killed the mother, snooped, found and killed the kid, then killed the father. Quick kill, but brutal. When he killed them, he did it slowly," Kingsley sighed.

"How long have they been dead? Who found them?" Remus wondered.

"Two days. A friend or neighbour or relative or something came over. Walked in when they didn't answer then ran out screaming and crying. Called the Ministry right away," Tonks had appeared beside Kingsley and answered the question. Kingsley glared at the witch who smiled. Sirius and Remus frowned at their behaviour.

"What the hell was that? Tonks, I haven't seen you look at someone like that since Jason Dawlish." Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. Tonks giggled and Kingsley grinned.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"Are you two—no. Are you two together?" Sirius gaped. His mouth was open and his eyes were wide. Tonks nodded.

"No. Way," Remus gaped with Sirius.

"For—for—since—how—you—since when? Since how? Since—since—since!" Sirius said loudly.

"Well, that was clear. Anyways, since before Harry's birthday. A week before," Kingsley answered.

"Why? You don't have a problem with it, do you, Sirius?" Tonks crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. "Because we all know you were uncomfortable when you found out about Harry and Ginny," she added.

"No, of course not. I'm fine. I'm happy. Yeah. I'm gonna check with forensics or whoever they are. Be right back," Sirius left. The others laughed.

"He's shocked. He'll come around. He really is happy for you, as am I. Congratulations. I should check on him. One minute," Remus walked off. "Hey, Padfoot!"

"What?"

"You know what," Remus stood beside Sirius who was staring into the woods. "Aren't you happy for them at all? It's your cousin and second-in-command."

"Exactly why I'm not. They should have said something."

"They don't need your consent like Harry did when he was younger. Even now, Harry doesn't need our consent either."

"It would have been nice to have a heads-up."

"Sirius, they're adults. They can do what they want. I know it's hard to accept that Harry's sixteen and will be seventeen in the course of a year, but it's life. We knew this would happy when we adopted him. We knew what we would be in for when he grew up. Now he has. It's the time we feared all his life. Soon, he'll be old enough to live on his own and he will. He'll get married, have kids, have his own life and family. We can't stop that from happening and you know it," Remus told him.

"Voldemort can. He'll stop it. He'll destroy Harry's life until it's gone."

"You don't think I haven't thought of that? That's what I'm concerned about. Not Kingsley and Tonks. Not Harry's seventeenth birthday in a year. Voldemort destroying all that before it has a chance to start is what's worrying me."

"We should get back. You can go home if you want. I need to stay here," Sirius stated, heading back to Kingsley, Tonks, and the other Aurors.

"I need to go to the Ministry. I won't get home 'till late. You?"

"Late. Should check on Harry."

"If we go, he won't be happy that we're checking in on him."

"Good point. Hey, Tonks!"

"Yeah?"

"We need you to go to the house. We want you to check in on Harry and his friends. Bring this to the house and if they see you, just say I told you to put that in my room because I'll be late."

"No problem."

"Thanks," Sirius handed her a folder and she Disapparated.

"He's gonna find out you know," Kingsley pointed out.

"Shut up. I know. Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" Sirius said.

"If you told me what to do, yeah, but you haven't, so no."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Just go do something." Kingsley shrugged and walked away.

"Nice going," Remus stated.

"Shouldn't you be at the Ministry telling people to tackle centaurs or something?"

"Whatever. See you later, Padfoot," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Bye," Remus disappeared.

"How do you think Hogwarts will do without Dumbledore?" Ron asked. He was on the sofa with Hermione and Harry was in a chair. Harry had noticed that his friends had been acting odd around each other. They hardly fought anymore and Ron always agreed with Hermione. While thinking, Harry was flipping through the channels on the TV. He finally settled on That 70's Show.

"Not sure. Won't be the same, that's certain," Hermione said.

"No kidding. Hey, guys. I'm not going back for my seventh year. I'm leaving after sixth," Harry said.

"Ow! Damn it!" they heard someone curse.

"Tonks? What are you doing here?" Harry asked when he went into the kitchen.

"I had to bring some stuff here for Sirius. He's gonna be late. Same with Remus," she lied.

"They told you to check in on us?" Harry guessed.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Everything ok here?"

"No one's dead and nothing's on fire, so I think we're good," Harry said sarcastically.

Tonks laughed. "All right. I have to go. See you later, Harry," Tonks went to the door.

"Tell them we're fine and they'll come back to a house," Harry said. She nodded and laughed again. "By the way. Congrats on you and Kingsley," Harry grinned.

"What? How—"

"I figured it out at the party. Pretty obvious. To me anyways."

"Course. Thanks. See you later." She was gone.

"Ridiculous," Harry shut the door and went back to the living room.

"Checking on us for Sirius and Remus?" Ron asked.

"What else?" Harry grinned. He sat back down and started talking to Ron and Hermione again.

"So, what were you saying before Tonks came, Harry?" Hermione said.

"Umm—" Harry thought. "Oh yeah. I'm not going back to school for my seventh year. This is my last year for now," Harry told them again.

"What? Why?" Hermione frowned.

"I have to finish what Dumbledore started. I have to get the Horcruxes, destroy them, and then defeat Voldemort. Besides, Hogwarts is going to be in the hands of Voldemort and the Death Eaters in no time anyways. There won't be a Hogwarts left to go back to," Harry explained.

"You can't just ditch the school," Ron stated.

"I'm not. Sort of, anyways. I have to do this. I have to finish it. You two can finish school. I'll go back when this is all over. I just can't go back for seventh right now."

"You don't have to go it alone, mate," Ron said.

"This is the one thing I have to do alone. I can't risk you two getting killed while helping me. Go to Hogwarts and finish. I have to do this alone. No sidekicks this time. No trusty steeds," Harry grinned. His friends gave a small laugh.

"There's no way in hell I am going back there when Voldemort's running it," Ron shook his head.

"I'm not going when Voldemort's there. And I'm not going back if you're not there, Harry," Hermione added.

"Guys—"

"Harry, we're not letting you walk around collecting and destroying Voldemort's soul. We're definitely not letting you walk straight into his hands either. Not alone, at least. We're going to be with you and you cannot stop us. We're best friends. We've done everything together since first year. The Philosopher's Stone. The Chamber of Secrets. The trials. The kidnapping. We've been through and done too much together to stop now. We're helping you, Harry, whether you want us to or not. We're going to be there," Hermione said.

Harry was looking at the floor then switched his gaze to his friends. They were right. Of course they were. They had been through everything together. It was too late to end that.

"All right. You're right. You'll be with me. Thanks, guys," Harry smiled at them and they smiled back.

"We couldn't let you have all the fun and action while we sat in corners cowering in fear," Ron joked. The others laughed. By the time Remus and Sirius got home, the kids had cleaned up and gone to bed. They checked in on the kids, said good night, and then went to bed.