A.N. - Hey guys :) Well, my Internet is back, much faster than I expected. And after taking a few hours to finally solve some problem I had with uploading, I finally got it working with some good advice. Hope you'll appreciate it. Updates should be more constant now, not absolutely strict, but you should expect at least one chapter a week. Enjoy :)

Chapter 2

With a deep breath Harry pushed the door open, almost flinching as his eyes closed involuntary. For a few moments he stood there like that, tense and ready for something to strike him. Slowly, the strain started leaving his muscles as his green eyes fluttered open hesitantly. He sucked in sharply as he looked at the wall in front of him, where he could see a broken photo rim hanging desperately, almost falling because of the aged old-fashioned nail that was holding it in place.

His eyes were drawn to the scorched torn photo inside of it. He could distinguish a young man and a woman, holding each other while smiling happily. His fingers traced it gently, drinking in their features that were so familiar to his own.

When Harry came out of his trance, he finally noticed a very odd thing about the photo; it wasn't moving. He frowned in confusion as he looked at it. The teen was able to determine that it was indeed a photo taken by a wizard camera, not a muggle one. He never heard or saw a magical photo that didn't move. It was quite surreal. Harry wasn't sure why he was making such a big deal about it, but it felt like it was important. weren't the photos enchanted by experts and were supposed to never stop unless...

Wait. What if a violent magical outburst could even break the tight enchantments that the magical photos were so known of? Was the backlash of deflecting the Killing Curse that immense? It was quite a peculiar thing for Harry and he wasn't even sure why.

Why was that small detail bothering him so much? Was it the fact that in some way, seeing a thing that was set in stone, like the moving photos, not being so absolute made Harry realize how abnormal that encounter with Voldemort all these years ago was?

He felt that cruel and cold presence inside of him again, slowly pulsing and expanding in the deepest and darkest corner of his body and consciousness. Harry couldn't bring himself to understand what it was, as if something fogged his mind when he tried to think about it. A sigh escaped the weary teen, knowing that the Dark Lord was most likely gaining a bit more fragment of control over him every passing second. That terrifying knowledge just made him even more determined about his first objective, to learn occlumency.

Harry decided to explore the second floor later, already feeling mentally exhausted from just that small encounter. He promised himself to continue later, to explore his parents' bedroom.

He descended down the rickety stairs, wincing after every screeching protest the old wood made. He made a bee line to the kitchen as he felt his hunger catching up with him. After a few minutes of rummaging through the various cupboards and drawers, Harry reached a conclusion: there was nothing to satisfy his growling stomach.

Harry marched out of the house, with his invisibility cloak around his shoulders.

The teen slowly walked down the path from his house to the main street of Godric's Hollow, seeing the sun slowly rising as the sky was getting brighter for the new day, knowing a new chapter of his life just started.

Harry tensed as he heard voices ahead, but relaxed when he saw it was only the villagers who greeted each other as they milled around. Strangely, he could see that some of them were wizards and witches, while others were muggles. It made him wonder if said muggles were aware but concluded that it was highly unlikely.

The village itself was quite active for such an early hour, which Harry determined as 6 am in the morning from a passing muggle's wrist watch. Many villagers, young and old, were already strolling busily down the streets and shouting greetings to each other. The atmosphere was refreshingly cheerful and almost careless, unlike the tense and stressful one that Harry got accustomed to in the last couple months. It was almost surreal that the village that was the place where the most important event of the war against Lord Voldemort has taken place seemed to be so unaffected by the ongoing war.

Harry chuckled bitterly at the irony, making sure to stay at a safe distance from all the people, but he found it getting harder and harder by the minute as the street got fuller with lively activity. With a quick decision, he slipped into one of the stores, which looked like a place where he would be able to find supplies and it was unnoticeable enough for him to hopefully do his business in peace.

The room he entered was dark, which was Harry's first impression. Quite a contradiction to the warm sunshine lit streets outside, the store was dark and cool. It was illuminated by a dim light that seemingly didn't have a source, as Harry observed while taking in his surroundings.

Making sure not to waste more time than needed, Harry quickly made his way to the various shelves, swiftly grabbing the items he needed. Not noticing the figure coming behind him, only to be startled when he heard a feminine steady voice, "can I help you young man?"

Harry swirled around, his wand already in his hand and pointing at the source. It was a woman, in her late thirties from his guess. She was wearing a dark grey jacket with jeans and combat boots, her blond hair cut short and her grey eyes brutal. He couldn't really pin point it, but she seemed to be extremely familiar in a way.

"You know that your fancy invisibility cloak is useless, boy, when you stomp around like a blasted troll." Harry flinched from her harsh tone. Now he knew she was a witch.

He had no time to dwell on the fact that he was detected and caught by a witch; he had other matters to worry about, like being flung against the wall by said witch. He crashed loudly against the wall behind him, feeling his back crack in protest, groaning as he thought about the bruises he was going to have later.

The winded wizard stared at her raised wand with his green eyes wide open, realizing his cloak was not near him at all. Harry gulped. He had a feeling this was going to be extremely painful.

Any reviews, comments or criticism are welcome and will be considered and answered.