A/N: So here it is, finally. I got a new laptop since the old one broke on me and had to rewrite the first chapter. It isn't much but its enough to get the ball rolling. I want to try to get Chapter 2 and maybe even Chapter 3 up before school starts in a week and a half. No promises though.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling and all the companies who purchased the rights to publish the series. I wrote this for fun. I get no profit from this. Yadda, yadda, yadda; so forth and so on.

Chapter 1 Independence

Harry Potter didn't bother to knock because technically it was his home and one did not need to knock to enter their own home. Still that did not prevent the Dursleys from staring at him with their mouths open when he entered the kitchen. They knew when he was coming home, he had made sure to send them a large owl stating when he would be coming home, and made sure to state he did not need a ride since he had his own. He also made sure the owl he chose had a bad bowel problem but that was besides the point.

He took several steps into the room and just stared at his family. They stared back at him, not even noticing as Remus slipped into the room behind Harry. Remus was there to witness what was going to happen between nephew, and aunt and uncle. Harry had told him of his plan for the summer, and though he was worried about most of the plan, the beginning would probably give him some amusement.

Uncle Vernon couldn't take the silence; his usually red face, becoming a darker shade. "Well what do you want? Why the hell are you just staring?"

"Sorry uncle, just remembering how much I hate seeing your fat and ugly face," Harry answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

Vernon purpled with rage. "I should have drowned you when I had the chance, you ungrateful bastard."

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda. And for shame uncle, my parents were married when I was born."

Vernon Dursley didn't like the smirk on his nephews face. He stood up, struggling slightly at doing so. "You have no right to disrespect me in my own house! You're lucky we still let you live here!"

Dudley for his part looked on in boredom. He and Harry had formed a truce last summer when the much smaller teen helped Dudley train to be a boxer. They weren't friends but the animosity that used to exist between them was gone. For all Dudley cared, let Harry get his few verbal shots in and then let the teen be on his way. All his dad was doing was drawing out the inevitable, which was Harry being out of their lives forever. He may not have been the smartest person but Dudley could tell after this moment, Harry would never step foot in Number 4 Privet Drive again. Otherwise, his cousin would not be so antagonistic.

"I don't want to live here uncle. In fact I don't think I'll live here anymore."

Uncle Vernon started laughing hysterically. Harry looked on in slight fear. Not because he was afraid of his uncle. No, he was afraid he might have finally broken the man. After years of seeing Vernon close to the breaking point he had always wondered when Vernon Dursley would snap, maybe this was finally it.

"Where are you going to go boy?" Vernon got out between chuckles. "You have no other family; no place to go and no money to support yourself! You're nothing!"

Now it was Harry's turn to laugh. Vernon stopped when the one person he didn't want in on his joke got in on his joke.

"I never told you uncle? I'm rich! Hell I'm bloody loaded. How much do I have Remus?"

For the first time the Dursleys noticed the shabby wizard leaning against the kitchen doorframe. "If you want to convert it to pounds, that would come out to a little over 200-million pounds."

"Two ... two hundred…" Petunia stuttered out, putting her hand to her chest and staring at her nephew with wide eyes.

"Yup. See my dad came from an old, rich family and made a lot of money as one of my world's top law enforcement officials. Not to mention the flat in London, the summer home in southern France, the manor in western Wales and the house in northern Wales."

Vernon could only gape in shock at his nephew, falling backwards into his seat, which creaked under the weight. It seemed they finally took notice of the finely made clothes Harry was wearing and the new glasses that sat on his face.

"You wanna know what sucks for you guys? If you had only been nice to me growing up, maybe treated me with some respect, you guys would probably be seeing some of this money. But you know what they say, you reap what you sow."

Harry turned to leave but stopped and turned back toward his so-called family. "I can do magic now. Since my world is in a war my government felt it necessary for teens my age to be able to practice defense. There are so many things I've dreamed of doing to you guys ever since I learned I could. I won't though. See you aren't worth it and to be frank, I just don't care about any of you, at all. Lucky for you I suppose.

"Oh and Aunt Petunia, your dad's real name wasn't Evans, it was Kingston. He was a squib, which is a non-magical person born into a magical family. I've claimed headship of the family last year and just thought I'd let you know. Dudley should watch out, since magic runs in his blood he has a higher chance of having magical children. Hopefully you would treat your grandchildren better then you treated your nephew if that is the case, but I guess we wouldn't know until it happened."

Aunt Petunia looked shocked at the news while Dudley looked slightly terrified. Harry exited the kitchen with Remus right behind him.

"You didn't tell them both houses in Wales were destroyed in the last war."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Semantics. What they don't know won't hurt them."

Neither of them talked again until they were both seated in Harry's car. Remus turned toward his "nephew" with concern.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure Remus. I can't stand living with them and it was time I broke free, despite what Dumbledore says. Besides if I'm going to be a part of this war I'm going to need my independence."

"You can always live with Sirius and I. You know that right? We did originally move here to be there for you in the summers."

"I know and I thank you guys for that," Harry murmured. "I don't know which one of you tried to convince me to move into your place more. Don't worry though, I'll be fine."

Harry started the car, put it into drive and pulled away from the curb. He started on his way to the Marauder's house, only a block from Number Four.

"What now?" Remus asked.

"After I drop you off, I'll head to London and move into the flat I own, and you, Sirius and my dad lived in for a year and a half after you guys graduated. I'll improve the wards around it, find a gym to keep in shape and maybe even a dojo to learn some more hand-to-hand combat. Then I'll train my ass off in dueling, go around recruiting members for the Order and try to enjoy myself."

"Stay in touch Harry. Neither Sirius nor I like the fact that you're going to be on your own for a while. And try to find another roommate to live with. That flat has enough room for three and you might get lonely being by yourself the entire summer."

Harry nodded at Remus' word, knowing how much the werewolf worried over these kinds of things.

"I'll connect my floo to yours through the Ministry so we can keep in touch easily. Maybe I'll contact Dumbledore, see if he can't use his powers as Minister to make things go a little quicker and easier."

Remus smiled at the car pulled up in front of the house he shared with Sirius. He reached over and gave Harry a half-hug.

"Try to do that. I expect to hear from you in a few days, whether it be through the floo or a letter."

Harry smiled back. "Of course, Remus. Tell the mutt I'll be in contact."

The goblins of Gringotts made life a lot easier for wizards trying to get by in the muggle world. Passports, licenses, the necessary papers needed to complete such and such a task; all were something the goblins could do easily, for the right price. Sirius had done all the work for Harry, acting as a middleman for the goblins and the Boy-Who-lived. The goblins had found the paperwork for the flat in London, filled out by James Potter when he had leased it at the end of his seventh year, as well as every copy of the lease when it was renewed. They also provided Harry with several forms of photo id, like a library card to the London library and a school id to Hogwarts, the private school for talented young men and women to refine their crafts, to go along with the New Zealand driver's license he had gotten from Sirius last summer. They drew up emancipation papers for the muggle world, signed by his legal guardian, Sirius Black, to be filed upon Sirius' discovery of non-guilty which would be happening in a few days. This would give him the status of adult in the muggle world, so no one could do anything to the fifteen-almost-sixteen year old living by himself in London.

The owner of the apartment building had been shocked to see Harry walk into the building. It was like he was back eighteen years in the past; staring as a charming young man named James Potter approached him about leasing one of the nice and expensive flats that occupied his building. When James Potter had left the flat for the last time, bringing his roommates, the rowdy Sirius and the quiet Remus, with him he had known he would never see the teen again and he was right; after reading about his death in the paper two years later. Still every year the lease was renewed, presumably by either a family member or a lawyer, and he was given the rent for the entire year on January second, every year for the pass eighteen years.

Now James Potter's son, who looked so much like his father it was remarkable, was looking to take up living in the flat. The teen had the lease and several forms of id, including a driver's license from New Zealand, which was very odd indeed. Still everything was in order, including paperwork about the emancipation papers that had been filed and were in the process of being reviewed for approval. He warned the teen that if the emancipation didn't go through he wouldn't allow him to stay in the flat unsupervised, and he expected to see the results in a few days.

Harry nodded his head, assuring the man that everything would go through. He took the key, told the owner he could find the flat on his own, and hefting his trunk after him, set off to find his new home for the summer.

The door to 3G was the same dark green as every other door. The inside of the flat, Harry decided, was probably the same as well, if severely outdated. It was a two floor flat, with the top half being a loft that looked out over the living room. The living room was a large open area with several worn leather couches and a large wooden coffee table littered with scorch marks, probably from spells. Several side tables sat at the ends of the couches. A small fireplace, not big enough to floo through but big enough to floo-talk, sat against one wall. The kitchen was separated from the living room by an island of counters. The out-of-date appliances that littered the kitchen looked ancient compared to the relatively new ones from the Dursley's kitchen. Everything was from 1978, including the Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones dishes and silver wear. There was no table to eat on; instead several bar stools surrounded the island.

A hallway broke off of the living room, exactly opposite of the front door. The hallway was rather small and contained three doors. One door lead to a full bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower. The other doors led to two bedrooms of equal size. Both had queen size beds, a desk and chair, and a large wardrobe. One room was colored blue and tan, tame colors, which Harry guessed was Remus' old room. The other room was colored a bold green and gold, which Harry guessed was Sirius.

Upstairs, which one reached via an iron-spiraling staircase, consisted of a sitting room with its fourth wall being an iron railing that when looked over allowed one to see the couches and fireplace below. The sitting room had several empty bookcases, a few bean bag chairs and a ratty looking futon. There were two doors in the sitting room. The door on the left led to the master bedroom. It had a king size bed, a large wardrobe, a dresser and a desk with a chair. The room was colored red, darker then Gryffindor's red, and silver. The door on the right led to a large bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, shower, toilet and sink, which also had a door that went to the master bedroom.

The first thing Harry decided, after plopping his trunk down at the end of the king size bed, was to visit Gringotts. Unfortunately it would have to wait until tomorrow morning. It was late, a little pass nine o'clock. The wards set up on the flat were decent, from what Remus had told him, but they could be broken easily enough if someone had enough skill or power. Harry knew a few protection spells, which he had studied up on after finding out about the Potter family's supposed affinity for Runes.

He set about inscribing some runes into the door and door frames of not only the front door, but his bedroom as well. He did the same to the four walls of the flat, and its large window that overlooked downtown London. There wasn't much one could do, rune wise, without some base material like bones or gems, to anchor and power the wards. Still a few runes to strengthen the structure would be just fine and might give him time against Death Eaters trying to blast their way in. He also drew a simple perimeter alarm around the doorways, nothing that would last forever, but it would last the night and alert him if anyone crossed the premises or dispelled it.

He slept soundly that night, a smile on his face as he thought of being rid of the Dursleys forever and dreams of Hermione entertaining his sleeping mind. The next morning, when he awoke, he quickly showered and went off to Gringotts. The Leakey Cauldron was about twelve blocks from his flat. It was a walk but it wasn't so bad. It even gave him time to examine the neighborhood around him, giving him a chance to pick out potential places to eat and hang out.

Gringotts assured him they would send their best ward builders to enchant and ward his flat with the best defenses possible. It would cost him, several hundred galleons in fact, but what was the whole point of money if you weren't alive to enjoy it? After paying he was assured that at exactly three o'clock in the afternoon, two ward builders would be at his house to set up the wards.

Leaving Gringotts and stepping out of the Leaky Cauldron into the busy streets of muggle London, Harry decided to explore. He discovered a gym several blocks from the Leaky Cauldron that offered lesson in jujitsu, kick boxing and boxing. He stepped inside, looked at all the high tech equipment and talked to the muscular guy behind the desk. He left with a promise to return the next day, once he had everything set in order.

Only a block from his flat there was a little cafe that people seemed to be passing over in favor of the larger restaurants and the fast food chains. Harry wasn't much for crowds so he decided to stop in for lunch. A few people sat here or there but most of the tables were empty. Harry hoped it wasn't because the food was terrible.

One of the waitresses, a middle-aged woman, waved at him to sit down at any table he wanted. He picked one near the back, sitting so he could see the entire café and not worry about anyone sneaking up on him. He was Harry Potter and he was vulnerable in a muggle café. He didn't want to be completely stupid.

A much younger waitress, probably only a year or two older than him, approached his table. She was a few inches shorter then Harry, had curly brown hair, hazel eyes and a pretty smile.

"Hi! My name is Brandy and I'll be your waitress today. Here is your menu. Would you like to order your drink now?"

Harry took the menu and smiled at her nervousness. "Hello Brandy, my name is Harry. And I don't need a menu."

He handed the menu back to her as she stared at him in surprise. "You don't?"

"Nope, because you're going to pick what I'm eating."

"I am?" Harry nodded his head. She bit her bottom lip and looked at him uncertainly. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"No allergies."

"Is there any type of food you hate eating?"

Harry thought about it for a second. "Hummus."

She let out a little chuckle. "You don't have to worry about getting that here."

"Well that's good then."

"I guess I'll get you…"

Harry held up his hand, stopping her from telling him what she was going to order for him. "I'd like to be surprised. Just put the order in and bring it out."

She bit her bottom lip again. "What if you don't like it?"

Harry laughed. "Then I'll pay you to throw it out and I'll order something else."

"And you're sure about this?"

"I'm so sure I could get a PhD in sureness."

Brandy shook her head as she walked away, looking back at him over her shoulder. Harry smiled as he saw her looking, making her blush.

Harry whistled to himself as he made his way down the hallway to his flat. He felt a little guilty flirting with the waitress and wondered what Hermione would say if she knew he had done it. Then he saw who was sitting against the door to his flat and he felt even guiltier.

"Hermione, how did you know where I was living now?" Harry asked as he approached her.

"Harry, please."

She didn't have to say any more because Harry knew exactly what she meant. She found out because she was Hermione. She stood up as he came to a stop in front of her. He leaned in to give her a kiss which she returned with a little hesitation. He gave her a strange look but she just shook her head. She had been acting weird since the incident in the forest and he tried to ask her about it but she always seemed to change the topic. He supposed she would talk about it when she was ready.

"Let me show you the new place."

Harry took out his key and open up the door, the magic on the key putting all the active wards on the front door into a brief period of hiatus, which would activate again when the door was closed. He showed her around the apartment, indicating that he was going to be replacing pretty much everything in the apartment.

Hermione held up a Grateful Dead plate and raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Your dad was a Dead fan?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so. Didn't think he knew much about muggle music but Sirius told me they used to party in the muggle world so it makes sense that they'd know some music."

Harry's watch beeped, causing Harry to glance down at in surprise. 2:50 flashed back at him, giving him ten minutes until the curse breakers got there.

"Are you expecting someone?" Hermione asked.

"I got some ward builders coming over to ward the flat. They should be here in about ten minutes."

Hermione's face lit up. "I always wanted to see ward builders work!"

"Well, I guess here is your opportunity. I'll tell you what, I'll feel a lot safer once these wards are up."

"It was a little foolish leaving the protection of the Dursleys. they may have been terrible human beings but at least you knew no one could get you there."

There was a polite knocking at the door. Harry peeked through the peep hole and saw a familiar shade of red and a female he had never seen before.

"Harry?" Bill asked in surprise when Harry opened the door. "When Gringotts said it was a high-profile client, I didn't think they meant you. Hello Hermione."

"How are you Bill?" Hermione asked.

"Good," Bill responded.

Harry looked at Bill in slight confusion. "Hey Bill. I thought you were a curse breaker, not a ward builder."

"I am but I do know a few things about ward building too. I know a lot about setting up Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek wards, which many people don't know here in England. I guess Gringotts figured with who is probably to attack you, something more complicated to take down would be better than standard wards of pure power."

Harry nodded his head in agreement before remembering his manners. "Please come inside."

He stepped back and let the two Gringotts employees into his flat. They both looked around, probably sizing the place up and trying to find the best places to layer the wards. The female handed him a scroll and asked him to look over it.

"Standard warding contract to be signed by the warders and the wardee. You state that you paid the fees agreed upon and that you will allow the warders to do their job on your premises. The warders agree that they will perform their duty to the best of their abilities without knowingly and purposely leaving a weak spot in the wards or messing up a ward scheme. Warders also agree to a term of silence when it comes to where the wardee lives, the ward scheme they set up and where the runes and stones that anchor the wards are placed."

Harry half-listened to the woman as he read over the contract. Everything was as she said it was. Nodding his head, he accepted the quill handed to him. He quickly signed the contract, wincing as his signature cut into the back of his hand, signifying the quill as a blood quill. Bill and the woman, who he quickly learned was named Serena and Gringotts best warder, signed the contract as well.

Hermione wasn't the only one who wanted to see wards put up. Harry was curious about setting up wards as well. They followed Bill and Serena as they set up the wards. That quickly turned to just Bill as Serena seemed to be annoyed at their presence. They learned about the use of a controller stone and the runes carved into it, to regulate the wards. How power and support stones went hand in hand to keep the wards running at full capacity; amongst other things Harry had only brushed on.

"There we go." Bill murmured, his voice tired after two hours of rune etching. "Nothing that will kill but anyone who tries breaking into here without fully taking care of the wards will suffer some nasty injuries."

Serena stepped forward and handed Harry the whittled bone of a dragon. He could easily make out the runes carved into it, due to the dark red blood that had been sucked into the rune carvings. It was Harry's blood and was necessary to make him master of the wards. The control stone, which was an emerald littered in runes, was the same way.

"Only those who you invite in can enter these wards. You must give them express permission to enter, otherwise the wards will activate. If you are going to have someone come here a lot and don't feel like having to give them permission every time, you can add them to the wards by getting a drop of their blood on this master stone."

Harry accepted the stone. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome Mr. Potter."

"No problem Harry."

Harry walked them to the door. "Tell Ron to send me an owl," Harry told Bill.

"Sure thing. Do you want me to not tell mom you're no longer with your relatives? She might start a witch hunt to find you and drag you to the Burrow if she finds out you're living by yourself in London."

Harry shook his head. "You can tell her I'm not at the Dursleys. If she really wants to know, since you now are contractually obligated not to say anything, tell her to ask Remus. You did the ward scheme so it should be safe in here."

Serena was standing in the hallway, tapping her foot impatiently. Bill glanced at her before leaning in close to Harry.

"I enchanted the window to be an escape route. When the wards are breached, the window will let you and anyone keyed to your wards or invited in here by you, to pass right through. Others will have to break through the other enchantments on it in order to follow. Serena doesn't know. Just because she can't tell people the ward scheme, doesn't mean she can't tell them to keep guards by the window."

Harry nodded at Bill's words, glancing quickly at Serena who stared at the two of them with some suspicion. He wondered if Bill was just being cautious or if the oldest Weasley child didn't trust Serena. "Thanks Bill."

With that the two ward builders were gone. Harry held up the master stone to Hermione. "Let's add you to the wards now."

Harry took Hermione's hand and gently prodded her ring finger with his wand. She flinched a little as her skin was pricked and blood swelled on her fingertip. Hermione pressed her bloody finger to the dragonbone and watched as her blood was soaked in by the master stone.

Harry smiled. "There we go. Now you can come and go as you please."

Hermione returned his smile with a small one of her own. "My parents are going to be taking me to Canada in a few days. That's one of the reasons I came over here."

Harry nodded his head. Hermione's parents always took her on vacation in the summer. He didn't expect this one to be any different. "Can you spend the night? Will your parents mind?"

She bit her lip as she looked at him, noticing the desire in his eyes. She hesitated. "I'm sure I can. I'll just have to let them know."

"That's great! I'd offer to cook but there is no food in here. We can go out to eat, on a real date. We didn't get many of them while at Hogwarts." Harry had a huge smile on his face; one that he couldn't get rid of if he tried. It felt great being away from the Dursleys and being able to do his on thing.

He still had some things he had to do. Visit the Ministry to set up a floo connection, although it would only be for floo-calls. He also wanted to replace all the out of date stuff with more up to date appliances and furniture. The living room was also big enough that he wanted to set up an area to practice spell work and dueling. The Room of Requirement back at Hogwarts had spoiled him with all the space it had given him.

It was a little after five in the evening. Most Ministry workers left at five, after their eight-hour shifts. He would have to wait for tomorrow to get his floo hooked up. However, muggle stores didn't close for another few hours. That gave him plenty of time to go out and get new appliances, dishware and furniture. He had to remember to ask Sirius and Remus about the Grateful Dead stuff.

However, none of that mattered right now. He was going to spend some time with his girlfriend. When she left, then he'd take care of everything else.