Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

Just a few hours later Harry was outside with Rudolphus Lestrange making their way to one of the ward stones, their robes trailing lazily behind them. Without any common subjects to talk about neither had tried to initiate a conversation after the Dark Lord had called them together. The first ward stone was placed in the stone wall signifying the border of the property. The first stone was easily distinguishable from the rest of the wall, but was nonetheless well hidden as it was placed as deeply as possible while still being accessible.

Under close scrutiny of Rudolphus, Harry was allowed to take the ward stone form its hiding place. He carefully placed it on the ground in front of him and sat on his knees in front of it. Closing his eyes, he called to his magic, just like he would do when he prepared for a wandless spell. "In protection of these grounds, I invoke a blessing.", Harry called out loudly with amazing depth in his voice, likely caused bythe magic he used.

Harry took a knife from the inside of his robes, but before he could offer some blood for the protection spell to work, Rudolphus had moved towards him. Before the man could reach him however, Harry still very much in tune with his magic had flicked his wrist and send Rudolphus flying into the stone wall. "Magic, hear my call. May this blood protect those within these grounds, so that only those with goodwill may enter", Harry cut his left hand and placed the bloody appendage on the ward stone, before laying down the knife and continuing his blessing. "May this magic protect those within these grounds, shielding us from spells of harm", Harry now placed his right hand on the ward stone as well. "Blood and magic combined, I invoke this blessing, may it draw from blood of mine and blood of my line." Bluishlight was emitted from the ward stone and spread through the grounds quickly before residing into the dirt. Harry looked slightly worn out, but stood up anyway and placed the ward stone back into the stone wall only several feet from where Rudolphus had landed.

"What have you done, Potter!", Rudolphus exclaimed while standing up. He quickly drew his wand and pointed it towards the boy. "We should have bound the ward to both of our lines or not to our blood at all! Do not think for a moment that the Dark Lord will allow you to remain in charge of that ward!" The man was clearly enraged, but Harry chuckled only lightly.

"There is nothing wrong with my ward, Rudolphus", Harry said moderately insulted by the man's outburst, "even the Dark Lord would agree with that. I can even say that he complimented me on the fact that I thought to use a different wording when casting the ward so that it would include him in the ward, since he did use my blood to resurrect himself during the third task of the Tri-wizard tournament." With that Harry turned around and started walking towards the next of the total of seven ward stones.
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Once inside, it was late in the afternoon and Harry went towards his own rooms to recuperate from the powerful magic he had just cast. The moment he stepped into the main room, he heard the familiar cooing sound of his owl, Hedwig. He ran straight towards the new large cage in which she sat and started petting he through the bars. Hedwig in turn nipped her master's fingers playfully while enjoying the attention she got.

"Hello girl", Harry said, stroking he once more, "Thank Merlin, you're alright!" Hedwig cooed once as if to confirm his statement before she calmed down once more and started eating some of the food in the bowl. Harry then noticed the note left on the desk. The handwriting was small and cramped, just as Harry was used to seeing his professor's handwriting.

These letters arrived for you while you were out with Rudolphus. The Dark Lord rid them of the tracking spells that were on them, so you do not have to worry. I believe the owl that brought them is yours, she has been given a cage in your rooms and may stretch her wings occasionally on the grounds. Please discuss this with me first.

Harry was excited; Hedwig had been at Hermione's the whole summer, since it wasn't safe for her at the Dursleys. Therefore it was likely that at least one of these letters was from Hermione. It was exactly this that had Harry on his toes. He was looking forward to seeing his friends again, or at least to hear from them, but he didn't know what they had heard from the Order or what they thought of him now. Pulling out the first letter from the envelope, judging from the handwriting, it was Hermione's.

Dear Harry,
I hope you that you receive this letter in good health. We have been worried sick about you ever since you have been abducted from your family. While I have always told you to trust professor Snape, I did this because professor Dumbledore had complete trust in him. Professor Snape has betrayed that trust by taking you, Harry! You should try to get a message to us or Headmaster Dumbledore directly. If you can reveal our location, he will help you escape!
Hold on Harry!
~ Hermione

He was surprised about the contents of the letter, he had expected her to try and figure out where he was. However, he hadn't expected so little concern. It was like she was more concerned with making him look at Snape differently, than to ask him how he was feeling. Ginny and Ron's letters were not much better, although Ron's was almost comical to read as he was more concerned what Slimy Snape was doing to him, than with the political changes that had occurred. Then again, he hadn't really been thinking about them now either. After Sirius' death and the horcrux thing, his head has been filled with more pressing matters. Now that everything was settling down a bit, he should probably concern himself more with the dangers his decisions have brought to him and his friends.

The next two days were increasingly tense, as more and more Death Eaters took their residence into Malfoy manor in response to the increasing threat of Dumbledore's Order invading Headquarters. This caused Harry's freedom to be increasingly limited, which had him somewhat on edge. Luckily Severus was able to keep him somewhat entertained by practicing some of the more vital defensive and offensive spells both wandlessly and wordlessly. However, distraction was only able to compensate for a finite amount of anxiety, therefore by breakfast time on the 3rd of August Harry was done with waiting. Luckily for Harry, but also the rest of the residents in Malfoy manor, the waiting game was over.

A large booming sound could be heard throughout the manor's grounds and everyone was on high alert in seemingly an instant. Harry had been ordered to stay by the Dark Lord's side during the attack, which would allow Voldemort to keep an eye on the boy and keep him from being manipulated by Dumbledore. Therefore the Dark Lord with Severus and Harry in his wake was making his way to the front garden of the manor.

However, before they had reached their destination the cracking sound of the outer apparation wards could be heard. Death Eaters swarmed the grounds in response to the Order members that were running towards the manor. Soon all Death Eaters were engaged in a fight with one or more Order members, while the Dark Lord kept to the background, observing the fights, when suddenly a spell sped towards the trio.

The spell was easily deflected by the Dark Lord as soon as it was noticed. In response to this attack both Harry and Severus took a more defensive stance. Soon it was clear that this spell had originated from the leader of the Order, Albus Dumbledore himself. "Good day to you ,Tom", the Headmaster said approaching the Dark Lord slowly, wand in hand, "it seems you were well prepared, just as you always were." While Dumbledore was clearly trying to decrease some of the tension, Tom would have none of it.

"Let's skip the pleasantries, Dumbledore", Voldemort said immediately, threateningly aiming his wand at Dumbledore, "What business do you have here?" The smile that the Headmaster had been sporting faded away into the serious face of an old man. During their short conversation, some of the fights had stopped as the participants were early awaiting what would happen between the two leaders.

"I have come with a proposition, Tom, from which I believe we will both benefit", Dumbledore began, while in the mean time he was also looking at Harry. His student was currently standing next to his former Potions professor, whom he had believed could not get along. The scene before him made him doubt that statement, as they now stood back to back, protecting and trusting each other.

"I don't believe you have anything to offer me that I could be interested in", Voldemort said, while a smile began to form on his face, "besides of course, your head on a silver plate." The last part was said as dreamingly as a Dark Lord could be and only added to his sociopathic image. "Now, now, Tom. Let us not get ahead of ourselves here", Dumbledore began sounding serious as he said this, "You have yet to hear what I have to offer."

"Yes, that is true", the Dark Lord agreed, "However, I already know what you want in return." The Dark Lord switched his attention from the Headmaster to the young man standing a few steps behind him. A sliver of terror appeared in Harry's eyes, while the young man was convinced that Voldemort would surely trade him away if something more valuable presented itself. The Dark Lord himself surely doubted whether there existed a more precious thing than the Potter boy, a living horcrux, whom had already become neutral and may even be convinced to join the Dark side.