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Walking Free

A Late Night Walk

Harry had checked the newspaper everyday since the incident in Diagon Alley to see if it mentioned anything about him being in London; however, it had been a month since he had bumped into Ron by Gringotts and he had not seen or heard anything about it. Since, he had been more careful and had rarely set foot in the wizarding community.

He was sat in a soft armchair in the small living room of a flat he had purchased shortly after acquiring his money. The flat had two small bedrooms, an open plan kitchen/lounge and one bathroom. Harry had slowly begun to fill the place with furniture, giving it a more homely feel. He had placed pictures of his parents around the flat and had filled the bookcase with books from which he was studying.

Harry had now successfully completed the syllabus for his sixth year and was well past half way of his seventh year material. He already knew most of the defence against the darks arts work, which included patronuses, and the bits he did not know came very easily to him. Although some his spells were not perfect, Harry was satisfied.

Harry placed the potions book on the table and sighed. He had never been very good at potions, especially because of his teacher, professor Snape, who hated Harry from his first year because of a grudge he held against Harry's father, James, who had been in Snape's year at school. The potions in the book were complex and without the right equipment, Harry could not even attempt to make them.

Harry slowly got up from the armchair but a searing pain from his scar caused him to fall back into the soggy seat. The pain was so immense that Harry felt it take over his body.

First he saw black. A cold darkness, his skin crawled, an almost painful feeling. Then a laugh. A long, hard cackle. Harry cringed, the laugh then turned into a hiss that faded into the never ending shadows. The laugh died on Harry's lip, but he had not been the only one laughing.

He turned to a dark figure across the now candle lit room. Its face was covered by a white mask and body framed in a long black cloak.

'We think we have found the boy, my Lord.' It said.

'Good, good.' Another laugh followed before Harry spoke again. 'We will attack tonight. What is the location of the boy?'

'We believe he is somewhere in a muggle town, on the outskirts of muggle London. We still do not know the exact location of his residence, however, we have see him often in the area and are quite sure he will come tonight. Lucius believes he might know the location of the boy's dwellings. The boy has been taking regular trips around the town. Especially in the evenings.' The Death Eater seemed pleased with his information, however, his brow furrowed as he spoke up again. 'We must be careful though, surely the boy will have his allies?'

'What do you think the point of sending him to Azkaban was, Rodolphus?' Voldemort was seething. 'It was not only to get him out of the way but to turn his precious Order against him. Now he has no one to go to. Without their protection he can be more easily…disposed of.'

'Oh, yes, my Lord. I-I forgot. Yes…but…but what about the Aurors? Surely they would notice such a large magical disturbance in a muggle area?'

Harry was suddenly overwhelmed with happiness, which was not his own.

'I have already sorted out this inconvenience. The Aurors are a bit caught up at the moment, thanks to Lucius. I don't think they will be much of a bother to us tonight.'

'Are you sure of their absence, my Lord? The Order, I mean. ' the first voice spoke up again.

The silence in the room was heavy and thick. Harry felt a slow anger build in him as he turned to glare at the Death Eater in front of him.

'What do you mean? Are you doubting your Dark Lord?' Harry said in a slow, smooth voice that made the man quiver.

'N-no sir.' The man shrank back as he stuttered. 'I just thought that the Order would come to fight us, despite what they think their saviour has done.'

The Dark Lord thought about this a moment before smiling. 'I do not fear of their presence. The boy will come and I will catch him. He has no chance. Not even that old fool Dumbledore would save him now.'

As Harry laughed, the darkness lifted and he found himself back in his living room, crumpled on the floor.

Gasping for breath, Harry bought his mind out of Voldemort's. There was going to be an attack tonight. An attack on him. He had to be prepared.

The attack had been on Harry's mind for the entire day. After hours of going over the different possibilities, Harry decided that there was no way he could inform anyone of the pending attack. He was truly on his own.

Harry looked up at the clock. It was nearly ten in the evening. He figured this time was as good as any. The attack was probable in full succession, but the real action wouldn't happen until he, himself, arrived on the scene. He was, after all, what everyone was after. Again. Some things never change.

Grabbing his invisibility cloak and wand from his bedroom, Harry left his flat, locking the door behind him. Not knowing exactly where Voldemort and his followers were waiting, Harry slung the cloak over his shoulders and set off for his usual, late night walk through the park.

Harry looked around. It was eerily quiet. The only noise was from the rustling leaves as the wind blew through the branches. He hadn't see anyone so far but suspected that they were near. Harry just had to wait until they showed.

Harry then began to worry. What if the Death Eaters didn't appear until they saw Harry? They might be waiting till he made an appearance before they attacked. It was strange. Harry was sure that the Order would have found out about the attack someway, and that they would have been there, fighting. Maybe they still didn't know. Maybe he should have informed them of Voldemort's plans. Harry was doubtful that he could stop Voldemort now without coming forth and ending up being seen.

Still standing under the cover of the dark trees and hidden by his father's cloak, Harry looked around him slowly. There was no one to be seen. He tried to listen carefully to see if he could hear any spells being cast nearby but alas, nothing could either be seen nor heard in the warm September night.

He was alone. Or so he thought.

Only moments later a loud crack sounded, just metres from Harry. It was then followed by another and another. The night air was filled with cracks and bangs for what seemed, an eternity. Harry staggered back into the shelter of the trees and watched closely.

As Harry had guessed, at least twenty Death Eaters were standing together, not far from his hiding spot. They seemed to be rather flustered and stressed. He was sure he could also see the greasy hair and large, hooked nose of his old potions teacher. Harry then caught onto two or three voices from the crowd.

'Where is he?' one growled.

'He was supposed to be here.' spoke another.

'Damn boy!'

'He wasn't at his house when we went just minutes ago. He has to be around somewhere!'

'He obviously knew we were coming. Maybe that's why he left his house and hasn't shown here.'

The cloaked figures then started to move further away and it became harder to hear so well. He only managed snippets of the continued conversation, but he could tell that the Death Eaters were still at a loss.

'…..the Dark Lord….on his way…..kill' these few words were the most often repeated throughout the group. Voldemort must be coming shortly and Harry had to be ready.

Harry jumped when he heard another loud crack and a tall figure appear. It was shortly followed by at least ten more. He looked to his left and saw the members of the Order. Some of them he recognised. The first to arrive had been Dumbledore. As Harry looked, more and more began to appear. Harry recognised most of them but among them was Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, most of the Weasley family, including Ron, Hermione and Moody. He could also see another familiar face. He felt a strange kind of relief when he spotted Remus Lupin among the group. Harry had missed Remus a lot. Even when Sirius had been alive, Harry had thought of the werewolf as another father figure. He was kind, caring and had always been there for him.

Harry was almost surprised when another hooded figure emerged from the darkness. As he came closer, Harry could start to make out the creatures face. A small smirk was set upon the think lips and his red eyes peered out from under the hood of the cloak. Voldemort looked around and smirked when he saw the members of the Order all gathered together. The Death Eaters were soon surrounding his back, wands raised.

'I see you have come prepared.' his cold hiss of a voice whispered, directed at Dumbledore.

'I believe we are ready. Are you Tom?'

Voldemort laughed aloud and soon the whole huddle of Death Eaters had joined in. Voldemort then raised a hand to silence them and the air was filled with nothing but the whisperings of the wind among the trees.

Voldemort slipped a hand into a pocket in his cloak and pulled out his wand. He held it up and pointed it at Dumbledore.

'Where is the boy?' he snarled across the park to Dumbledore.

'We do not know of his whereabouts. We have not had any contact with him since he escaped.' Voldemort frowned. He did not believe this was true.

'Liar! You have taken him! Where is he?' The Dark Lord shouted. 'Where is the BOY?'

Harry then stepped forward and removed his cloak.

Voldemort and Dumbledore's eyes turned towards him as he walked out from the trees to face the Dark Lord.

A look of surprise flashed across Voldemort's face but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Harry had still seen it though.

'Hello, Harry. It is good to see you again. How long has it been? Three years? How was Azkaban for you? Enjoy your stay.'

Harry tried not to let this affect him but he found it harder than he remembered not to let Voldemort's words get to him.

Harry quickly glanced around and noticed that the Order members had begun to fight the Death Eaters. He then refocused his gaze on the now approaching Dark Lord before him.

Voldemort took a step forward, now only a few feet away from Harry. He had not changed much since Harry had last seen him; his red eyes still held a look of cruel happiness and his nose remained snake like.

Harry did not flinch as the wizard approached him but remained still; his wand pointed at Voldemort and his green eyes fixed on the red ones.

Harry saw Voldemort's thin lips curve into a small smile before he felt his scar burst open for the second time that day; however, the pain was so much worse than before. He felt as if his skull was being stabbed repeatedly in the same place. Waves of pain hit him as he felt an animal rise inside him, wrapping itself around his insides. It felt exactly as it had three years ago, in the atrium of the ministry of magic, when Voldemort had tried to possess him.

Harry dropped his wand as he became aware of a hand squeezing his upper arm. A cold whisper met Harry's ear.

'Look at what they've done to you, Harry. They sent you away and when you come back, they desert you. Look at what you have become. You could be great you know. You could become a great wizard. Don't let your old friends stop you. It's so simple. One spell and you could be free from them. It's so easy, Harry. Just two words.'

A fire spread through him as Voldemort had grabbed Harry's arm. He felt Voldemort turning him round to face the Order; however, in the darkness, he could only make out Dumbledore. The pain was so intense that Harry could not suppress the groan of agony that escaped his lips. As it slipped out of his mouth, he heard the voice again.

'Look at him, Harry. Remember what he did to you. You can kill him, you know. It is so simple. I will even let you use my wand.'

Screaming for release inside, Harry let out another cry. Water began to seep out of his now red eyes as he looked pleadingly at his old headmaster. His legs began to tremble.

Before Harry could even begin to control his body, he heard a loud spell being cast in his direction. The grip on his arm was suddenly released as Voldemort defended himself against Dumbledore's spell and Harry dropped to the ground.

Harry slumped down onto his stomach and breathed deeply. His scar still seared with pain but he could once again take control of his own mind.

Gasping for breath, Harry grabbed his wand from the ground beside him and began to aim endless hexes at the Death Eaters who were now surrounding the Order. Voldemort had moved away from Harry and was duelling with Dumbledore. Harry stood and ran towards the commotion. A few Death Eaters saw his approach and turned to fight him off.

Harry managed to dodge or shield himself from most of the curses but a few cut and scrapped against his body. As Harry was busy defending himself against at least three of Voldemort's followers, he didn't notice when another appeared from his right. He was so occupied that he almost didn't feel it when the cutting curse hit his chest, slicing his skin. Harry staggered back, not turning his back on the Death Eaters but quickly made his way towards the trees once more.

Putting a hand to his chest, he took a few deep breaths before running in the opposite direction to where another group of the masked figures were surrounding his old school mates. Harry quickly set about hexing and cursing in all directions. Only moments later Harry heard a loud crack. Looking to the left Harry realised he could no longer see Voldemort. He had vanished.

Harry heard several pops as the Death Eaters vanished. He stood clutching a tree, panting, as he tried to steady himself. He felt a warm substance flowing down his stomach and realised that there was also a large cut across his abdomen. Placing his hand over the wound to staunch the blood flow, he began to move away from the fight scene.

There were numerous aurors and order members still there. He was sure some of them had noticed him and were hanging around to try and find him. Walking as quickly as he could without causing the wound to bleed more, Harry left the park and turned into a road lit by a large street lamp.

Pausing under the lamps rays, Harry lifted his shirt to get a closer look at the damage; however, his inspection was cut short when a figure turned down the street, facing Harry.

Harry's heart speed up as if it was trying to jump out of his chest. Standing in front of him, barely ten feet away, was Albus Dumbledore.

'The area is littered with ministry workers; it was foolish of you to come tonight, Harry.'

Your reviews have been great! Thanks! Please keep reviewing so i know if you like it and what you think!

Jedi Knight 3- Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to wait and see. :)

Slytherin66- Maybe the Auror department was desperatly running out of people! I love Ron!

Princess Patterson- Harry and Draco are not friends just yet but Draco is trying to make amends. As for Ron and Hermione, Harry may forgive and forget but you never know! I'm glad you are enjoying it! Please review:)

Next chapter should be up soon!