Harry found himself in a domain of bright mist. A world of muted sensation: even the ground gave off no particular feeling to his bare feet. The mist was strange indeed, indefinite in shape yet still clearly attempting to take on a structure of some kind. Harry could see nowhere to go, nothing of interest to see. Nothing but the bright, nearly formless void to walk across. At least his desire for clothes had been answered.

Some time later, he'd spoken to Dumbledore, he'd seen the mangled remains of Voldemort's mutilated soul. Dumbledore had long since left (though time wasn't easy to perceive here), Voldemort was nowhere in sight, and Harry had simply continued walking through the misty place he'd come to see as a sort of vapory incarnation of King's Cross.

It wasn't long before the walking turned into recollection and contemplation. Contemplation about his life up to this point and what to do if he went back. Harry had almost wanted to chuckle. Wasn't one's life supposed to flash before their mind's eye before they died?

"Seems I can only do things in the strangest of ways," he mused aloud. The sound of his voice quickly faded away, not echoing off the surrounding matter, leaving Harry feeling empty and alone.

Dumbledore said he could go back. He'd made it out to be a choice. For the first time, Harry saw the chance to truly put Voldemort behind him. To release the tension he always carried with him. But that would leave his friends and everyone else at the mercy of Voldemort.

He stopped walking and closed his eyes. "It's never really a choice, is it?" Harry was certain that Dumbledore knew he couldn't find it in himself to move on like this. It was the Prophecy all over again, the answers the late Headmaster would give always pointed to the same conclusion. He was starting to wish someone else had appeared…

Harry had forgotten this misty place would answer his desires. A short distance ahead of him, he saw a sort of rustling on the surface of the mist. It was shifting, taking on a humanoid form, its hair elongating and the face becoming more defined and familiar. In seconds he recognized who it was.

"Mum?" he said in disbelief. Harry rushed forward to close the distance between them.

But no matter how fast he ran, the figure of his mother floated backwards away from him faster than he could catch. Eventually they reached a large, familiar archway. His mother faded once she passed through it, though he caught her sad smile before she had gone. Harry gave up in bitterness.

"It's time to wake up, Harry…" he heard her say despite her absence.

Harry was jolted out of his sleep. Despite his heavy breathing, he quickly reached for the parchment beside his bed and began recording his strange dream. After a few days of such odd dreams that he couldn't quite remember, Harry had decided to try and write them down so he could figure out what was bothering him. He hadn't even meant to take a nap, it was the middle of the day. But even so, the recollection of his near death vision was at the forefront of his mind.

After finishing writing it all down before he forgot it, Harry placed it within his school trunk. He grabbed his wands and proceeded to leave Gryffindor Tower to spend one last day assisting with the repairs of the castle. It was more of an excuse than anything. Had he really wanted to, the Elder Wand could have been used to fix the place in a day. But he'd had the nagging suspicion that the ones with the answers he sought were here at Hogwarts.

Harry ignored the nagging question in his mind. That being, "What was the question?"

Hermione and Ron briskly made their way to the Headmistress's office. It was a sign of Hermione's worried state that she didn't respond to any greetings from the passerby. Luckily, the gargoyle statue that normally guarded the office had been toppled and let them through with little more than a sarcastic remark.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall said confusedly. "Did you need something?"

Hermione rubbed her forearm nervously. "We need to speak to Dumbledore's portrait. It's… private."

McGonagall's lips thinned slightly before saying, "You no doubt know this, but portraits aren't the people they portray. They're clever imitations but they won't be able to tell you anything more than they learned from their subject."

"I know professor, but it's the best chance we've got."

The Headmistress inclined her head. "Very well. But make it quick, there's much work left to return the school to working order."

Once the Headmistress had left down the staircase, Hermione and Ron sought Dumbeldore's portrait. It was surprisingly difficult, as the portraits of the previous Heads of the school lined the entire wall behind the Headmistress's desk with no rhyme or reason to their ordering. Eventually, Ron spotted the portrait labelled for Dumbledore. But like many of the portraits, the canvas was empty; Dumbledore had apparently gone off.

Ron groaned in annoyance. "Now what do we do? We can't search the whole castle, it'd take ages to find him."

Hermione walked up to the portrait and said in a clear voice, "Professor Dumbledore." To Ron's surprise, the painting of the late wizard appeared at her call, seeming amused at who had summoned him.

"Ah, Miss Granger, Mister Weasley. A bit young to be playing Headmaster, no?" he said, blue eyes twinkling.

"Professor, we need your help," Hermione said anxiously, with Ron nodding. "It's about Harry."

Dumbledore's expression became serious at her words. "What seems to be the problem?"

Hermione wrung her hands momentarily before casting an Imperturbable Charm around she, Ron and the portrait, as a few of the other past Heads of Hogwarts had returned to their portraits to see what was going on. "He's pushing everyone away. He broke up Ginny, he barely talks to anyone that's not a ghost and he's not being open with anyone. Half the time he's just looking at that… that damn wand."

Dumbledore's portrait began stroking his lengthy beard as it thought over the situation. "Strange, Harry told me he would return the wand to my tomb. Did he change his mind or perhaps return to retrieve it later?"

Ron shook his head. "I don't think so. The only time he really leaves Gryffindor Tower is to help restore the castle. He has been rather chatty with the ghosts lately. Didn't you say he just talking to Nick this morning?"

At Hermione's nod, something apparently clicked with Dumbledore. "Have you seen either of the other Hallows with Harry? Perhaps the Stone?"

Hermione couldn't answer it, but Ron could. "Now that you mention it, I saw him looking at some kind of rock late the other night."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Ron. "Why would you be watching Harry at night?" A moment later, she seemed more annoyed upon realizing something. "And if you knew he was looking at the Stone why didn't you tell me? That can't be good!"

"Oi, don't bite my head off," Ron said defensively. "I didn't know it was a Hallow, I've never seen the Stone before. It just looked like a black rock. Besides, I only saw because he was having fits in his dreams again."

Hermione found this distressful. "But Voldemort is dead. So why…"

"Miss Granger, you must calm down," Dumbledore said to prevent her from building up a head of steam in worry. "The real me perhaps never considered this possibility, but I suspect the Hallows are putting a sort of psychic pressure on Harry. That might explain some of his change in behavior."

"But why?" Ron asked. "They're cool and all, but aren't they just enchanted items?"

"This is speculation of course - no one's ever come into true possession of more than one Hallow, let alone all three," Dumbledore began, sounding a bit like an excited academic. "But perhaps there was indeed more to being the Master of Death than I had considered. It may be a sort of duty that the Hallows be used. If that's the case then his changes may be due to the Hallows trying to get Harry use them, though for what purpose I cannot yet fathom."

After considering the his words for a few moments but not finding a course of action in her thoughts, Hermione asked, "What should we do then?"

"Maybe we could get his mind on other things?" Ron suggested. "You know, get him outside all the despair and death. Harry tends to catch the sullens after anything bad happens, but maybe a job or something would help get his mind off it all."

Hermione smiled at his suggestion and gave Ron a brief kiss on the cheek. "Sounds like a plan. Kingsley's looking for new Aurors to fill the ranks isn't he?"

As Ron nodded, Dumbledore's portrait said, "Excellent. I do hope Harry feels better soon. He's lucky to have friends like you two. If you continue to make an effort, I'm sure your presences will help. Do come to me again if you need further assistance!"

They bade the painting farewell and left the office. As they walked back in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, Ron spotted a familiar shade of light blonde hair. As he suspected, it was Luna Lovegood walking in their direction.

"Oh, hello Ron, Hermione," Luna said in the airy, serene voice they'd grudgingly come to adore. "The two of you are in a hurry. Did you run across an Umgubular Slashkilter I forgot to remove?"

Suppressing a sigh, Hermione said, "No Luna. We're just trying to find Harry. He's been having a rough time since the war ended."

Luna's expression saddened for a moment, a rare thing to see on her face. "He's been besieged by Wrackspurts lately, no wonder he's so out of sorts. I saw him speaking with the Grey Lady near the Ravenclaw dormitories, a whole colony of them seemed to be infesting him."

Having heard enough, Hermione picked up the pace when she heard Luna's assessment, and quickly made her way towards Ravenclaw.

"And there we are, Mister Potter," Flitwick said as he finished inspecting their work. "That was quite the wandwork, I couldn't have cast that Charm better myself."

Harry smiled halfheartedly. "Thanks, professor." It hadn't taken much to restore the physical damage done to Ravenclaw Tower. The Elder Wand hungered to be used and Harry found it annoying at how needy the wand could be, jealous whenever Harry would spell with his phoenix wand. He'd been about to cast a Breath Refreshment Charm with his original wand when the Elder Wand began to vibrate in his pocket until Harry caved and used it instead.

Besides the Mending Charm, there were various enchantments around the Ravenclaw dormitories that needed to be redone after the damage the castle sustained in the battle. A discovery that did not surprise Harry in the slightest was the massive bookcase in the common room that needed to have its Auto-Alphabetizing Charm redone after he magicked it back together. "I think I'll leave the Animation Charms on the doorway to you. That's a bit beyond my skillset and besides, I'm no good at thinking up philosophical puzzles."

Flitwick waved him off. "That's quite alright, it takes a certain kind of personality to do it properly. But I must ask, do you plan on doing your NEWTs? I do believe the Ministry is offering them later this summer to those who wish to take them."

Harry shrugged in reply. "Haven't figured out what I want to do yet. I don't see myself returning next year so maybe."

Flitwick's shoulders drooped slightly. As he reached to shake Harry's hand, he said, "It was an honor to teach you, Harry." Remembering all the fun he'd had in Charms over the years, Harry smiled and said, "Don't tell McGonagall, but your class was always my favorite."

As Harry walked away from the Ravenclaw dormitories, the Grey Lady appeared beside him again, still bearing the expression of curiosity she'd sported since the end of the battle. "Are you leaving?" she asked sadly.

"I - yeah, I am."

Though obviously disappointed, the ghostly woman said, "Do visit, OK?" Harry agreed to do so. With most of Hogwarts back in shape, Harry decided he'd head back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place to figure things out. He still had the nagging feeling that whatever he was looking for was at Hogwarts, but there's was no real explanation he could give to McGonagall to allow him to stay. Hero or not, she'd probably assume he just wanted to hide away in the castle.

"Harry!" called out a familiar voice, shaking him from his ruminations. The source turned out to be Ron jogging toward him, with Hermione just behind him. "You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye were you mate?" Ron asked with a knowing smirk.

Flushed at being called out on his haste, Harry said, "Sorry. I've just not felt myself lately."

Ron patted his shoulder and said in a slightly too cheerful voice, "And that's what we're going to fix. This has all been horrid and it's downright impossible to just ignore."

"What's your point?"

"My point is you need to get out, Harry. Get a job, find a place in the world. You know, find you," he said. "I'd mention how you should pick up a nice girl like I have, but I'm still pretty put out that you dumped Ginny like that. What the hell man?"

Though it came out as a joke, Harry knew Ron and Ginny were right to upset. "Look, Ron, I -" he began.

Ron interrupted, "It's not me you need to explain things to."

He couldn't really argue against that, leading to a momentary silence. Hermione, who had been watching the two in silence spoke up. "What will you do? Staying cooped up won't be any healthier for you than it was for Sirius." She couldn't help but notice Harry had the Elder Wand out, which didn't help her worry.

Ron nodded in agreement. "Hermione's right, mate. Kingsley's letting those of us who fought get a straight path into the Auror force. Thought for sure you'd have jumped at the chance by now."

"What about you? You wanted to be an Auror too," he replied evasively.

For the first time, Ron's somewhat forced cheerfulness cracked to reveal the grimace he'd clearly been suppressing. "I decided to go help George at the joke shop for awhile. After Fred - you know, he's hurting even more than the rest of us. I'm going where I feel I need to. His funeral is this weekend, in case you didn't hear."

Harry nodded, envious of Ron's certainty though not of his pain. "I'll be there," he said. Knowing they wouldn't let up if he didn't give them something to prove he wasn't going to hide away, Harry said, "The NEWTs… The Ministry is offering them to everyone who missed them the passed year. I'm thinking about taking them."

Surprised at what he said but proud nonetheless, Hermione asked, "But if Kingsley is temporarily waving the NEWT requirements why take them?"

"Because I'm not sure I want to be an Auror anymore, I'm a bit burnt out on chasing Dark wizards at this point. Thought I might as well keep my options open."

Ron gave him a strange look, saying, "Good luck with that. I'm sure you'll tell me how they go." Harry couldn't blame his disinterest; the OWL exams had been stressful enough.

Hermione moved passed Ron and gave Harry one of her patented bear hugs. Harry returned it, though not as strongly at first. After a moment, however, he found himself holding her tightly and trembling slightly. When she pulled back a short time later, Harry felt a bit emptier, though he didn't understand why. He thought he was on the cusp of a breakthrough, but it slipped through his fingers.

Ignoring Ron's slight scowl at their spontaneously tender moment, Hermione softly said, "Im glad someone is thinking ahead. Please stay in touch, Harry. We're worried about you."

"Don't worry, I'll invite the two of you over after giving Number 12 the once-over and recasting a Fidelius."

With the two seemingly satisfied, Harry told them goodbye and called for Kreacher, who had been ensuring Number 12 was clear of any intruders or traps, and restoring any damage done when the Death Eaters had managed to get in.

"Master Harry has summoned Kreacher?" the house-elf enquired, inclining his head into a slight bow.

"Is the house safe to enter?"

The aged elf nodded. "The Death Eaters pillaged what little the sneak thief left behind, but Kreacher has fixed the damage they did. They is not leaving any nasty enchantments behind."

"Must've realized there's was nothing of worth left there. I'll meet you there in a bit," he said.

With a nod and a loud crack, Kreacher Disapparated to the Black home Harry had inherited from his godfather. He could have gone with him, but Harry decided to get a last look at Hogwarts. The portraits, the suits of armor, the enchanting enchantment on the ceiling of the Great Hall, even the occasional trick stair. Harry found himself a bit saddened that he'd probably never see them again. But then recollections of the war came. Fred dying, Lupin being killed by Bellatrix, Lavender being brutally murdered by Greyback, and a year before that Dumbledore's chosen death at the hands of Snape.

Shaking his head to stop the morbid thoughts, Harry found himself at the Hogwarts for what he thought was likely the last time. Despite knowing he had to leave the school, his gut was telling him he was leaving behind something crucial to understanding his dreams and the listless state he couldn't rid himself of. But at that moment, both the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone began vibrating in his pocket, with an intense headache occurring at the same time. He pulled both of them out of his pocket and glared at the objects.

"Ya know, Ignotus Peverell really did luck out. The Cloak is never this needy, it just sits in my trunk like a good magical object," said Harry, annoyance in his voice. He cast a quick Lumos to satisfy the Wand; the Stone seemed satisfied as long as it was held every so often.

With one last glance at Hogwarts castle from beyond the gates marking the boundary of its protective enchantments, Harry Disapparated to his house to prepare to take his NEWTs later in the summer. "Ron was right, it's time to figure things out."

(3 Months Later, September 1998 - Whitehall, London)

Harry had never been one who greatly excelled in school. He'd done well, and in some areas, great even. But he always performed better when there was a concrete goal to shoot for.

The day he'd returned to Number 12, he'd owled the Ministry about taking his NEWTs in late July. It wasn't a tremendous amount of time to study, but he still wanted to at least shoot for something in the near future. Ironically, it was something Nick had said that gave him an idea for a job to go for. And once the idea had taken root he couldn't get it out of his head.

He'd tried to meet up with Ron and Hermione often, especially the latter given she was taking the exams as well. Her study schedule had become even more extreme, with revisions and practice exams being common sights around the Burrow. It turned out to be a godsend, however, as the Ministry department he was shooting for recommended having an understanding of the basics of Arithmancy. Despite the limited time, Hermione had been all-too-willing to have one of her friends learn the subject. Ron had gotten annoyed after seeing her teach Harry the subject so often, though his remarks weren't too cutting.

All things considered, Harry was pleased with his exam results. He'd aced Defense and Charms, and had scored high in Transfiguration, Potions and Herbology. He'd not been jealous when Hermione had aced everything with "Outstandings", because what else would she get?

He knew his friends were still worried about him, as he'd often space out with a Hallow in hand. And once he realized he'd been waking Ron up when he slept at the Burrow, he'd taken to spending most of his nights at Number 12, which made Kreacher happier at least. Hermione suggested a Dreamless Sleeping Potion but had been very concerned when he declined them. His dreams had been instrumental in helping him lay down a goal to reach, and his dream log helped him keep track of it all.

Harry focused on the present as he grabbed a bit of Floo Powder and transported to the Ministry atrium. Upon his appearance, dressed in the blue robes of the department he'd successfully gotten employed at, people who saw him started whispering and pointing. Subtle, that. He'd kept out the public eye for a reason.

Mercifully, he'd reached the elevator quickly as its doors opened. A cool, feminine voice asked which floor he was heading for.

Nervously rubbing the Stone he'd had inlaid in a ring, Harry said, "Level Nine, Department of Mysteries."

(A/N): I feel so stupid. I thought I published this like two days ago, but it's been sitting in my documents. Glad I noticed this morning, sorry!

I wasn't totally satisfied with this chapter, mostly with the transition to Harry's new job in the Department of Mysteries. But, hopefully it was passable enough as I needed it to be quick given this isn't a very long story. Anyway, have a guess at what you think is going to happen next.

:-)