Harry opened his eyes. There he stood tall, thin and hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupiled eyes staring at him… Lord Voldermort stood in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing steadily at Harry.

"Harry Potter" The calm and cold voice of the Dark Lord sent a shiver through Harry, as he remained unmoving. Bellatrix's eyes widened significantly as she dropped to her knees and began to bow to the dark figure.

"Tom Riddle" Harry said loudly, his hand clenched around his wand as his heart thundered repeatedly "Finally come to do your own dirty work"

"Among other things" He whispered, a small smirk spreading across his serpent like face "I must say you are very difficult to find, even more difficult to kill"

"Likewise" Harry snorted "I see finally having a body after so many years has done you some good"

"Quiet!" Voldermort shrieked, his smirk transforming into an ugly sneer "I have not entered the Ministry of Magic, merely for a battle of wits… I seek something far more important"

"And by tricking me into coming here, you thought you could kill two birds with one stone" Harry said coldly

"I would explain the reason for my being here… But my plans are beyond your understanding. You see what i seek is of more importance than you could possibly imagine"

"And you just don't care about how many lives you destroy getting it… HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU'VE KILLED!" Harry's throat felt raw as the words escaped his mouth. Voldermorts stare turned dangerous, his figure physically shaking with restraint

"No," the Dark Lord replied quietly, "were not so different, you know… what happened to us when we were kids… you could of just as easily become me"

"No, i would never become like you" Harry said disgustedly, his wand held tightly, prepared for a sudden attack

"Well that's where you're wrong… and now it's time to get what i came for"

"You're not getting anything from me… you're not getting anything from anyone ever again" Harry pulled the loose shards that remained in his pocket, dropping it at his feet. Voldermort snarled, his wand shot up instantly as he sent a jet of green light at Harry. The spell ricocheted off a golden statue, the head exploding into pieces and the shard's landing at his feet as he threw himself behind cover

"You have been a constant thorn in my side, but that ends now!" The sound of his footsteps echoed around the atrium as he got closer and closer to Harry. Bellatrix watched the scene in glee as if she had found a very delectable treat and was shaking with anticipation.

"No friends… No family… you're all alone" The cold voice whispered, he now stood only a few metres away from the teenager. Harry quickly threw a strong reductor curse at Voldermort, who deflected it easily.

"He's not alone!" Neville's voiced called out, his intimidating demeanour broken by the bloody mess that was his face

"Nev" Harry murmured, dreading filling his body as Voldermorts gaze locked onto the blonde stubby boy

"Bella, deal with the distraction" Voldermort whispered

"Of course, my lord" She got to her feet, drawing her wand and facing Neville. The sound of spell fire following shortly

"Leave him alone!" Harry shouted from behind his cover. Neville's screams rang through the hall as Bellatrix screeched the torture repeatedly "You want to fight? Fight me, let him go"

"Bella, release him!" Voldemort commanded. Immediately the screaming ceased. "Show yourself, otherwise your friend's suffering continues" Harry stepped out from behind the statue, his raised wand pointing at the Dark Lord. The grinding sound of the elevator shaft played in the background as Harry slashed his wand towards Voldermort, his cutting curse dissipating along the shield the Dark Lord had raised. Harry bombarded him with spells, each one being blocked with quick precision, the sound of magic crashing on magic rang through the air as if cannons were being set off. Harry knew he was outmatched, he was throwing his strongest spells at the cloaked figure who merely batted them away with relative ease. Bellatrix was thrown through the air, landing ungracefully on the floor as Sirius, Lupin and Kingsley stood in front of the elevators, the tips of their wands glowing. They instantly began to shoot spells at Voldermort, who gracefully weaved between each one and returned with his own attack. Harry ducked as Bellatrix sent a nasty purple flame above his head. She was close enough that she decided to forgo her wand and instead latch onto him, her sharp nails digging across the back of his neck as they fought for dominance. Years of neglect in Azkaban had left the crazed woman, frail and weak as Harry practically threw her through the air.

Voldermort was duelling Sirius, Lupin and Kingsley. Three on one, though it mattered not as the Dark Lord controlled the flow of the fight with ease. Sounds of erupting fire filled the hall as multiple people in dark suits stepped out of the floo, their eyes widened as they took in the snake-like figure that stood before them. Shocked gasps echoed over the sound of battle. Voldemort grabbed his best lieutenant and apperated with a quiet pop.

"Harry, are you okay?" Sirius asked as he approached him. Neville was being attended to by Lupin and Kingsley. Instantly a searing pain burst through his scar. He was dead, pain like none other proliferated through every nerve ending in his body. He saw flashes of crimson eyes and a hate that wasn't his own rack his body.

"Kill me!" Blinded and dying, Harry felt words that weren't his own spill out of his mouth. He used the Occlumency lesson Snape had taught him and focused on his unbridled anger. Harry began to spasm, his consciousness flashing and stars appearing before his eyes. It wasn't working, it was making it so much worse. This was it, he was dying and he hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. He thought back to meeting Ron and Hermione on the train, his conversations with Sirius as they laughed about the stories he would fondly recount about his parents. Most of all, he thought back to Daphne. Her blonde sparkling hair and bright blue eyes; her musical laugh and flowery smell that would send goosebumps cascading along his skin. He wished he could see her one last time. He wished he could tell her how he felt. Harry's heart filled with emotion, the creature's coil loosened, the pain gone; Harry was laying face down, shivering as if he was surrounded by a block of ice. Sweat soaked through his clothes as he reached for his glasses which had come off throughout his episode.

"HARRY!" Sirius' voice managed to break through his foggy mind "Please be okay… talk to me!"

"That sucked" Harry whispered, his limbs groaning in protest as he made to roll over and stand. He opened his eyes slowly, a crowd of people surrounded him (seemingly forgetting the 'mass murderer' that kneeled before them) they each shared a look of worry as they took in the features of the frail boy.

"He was there!" shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, pointing at the exact spot Voldermort had stood "I saw him, Fudge"

"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!" Fudge gibbered "Sirius black… some… someone arrest him!" no one moved sending Fudges incredulous look as they had seen the man duelling the Dark Lord

"No, you can't!" Harry stood up, groaning as he made his way on shaky legs "He's with us, he's always been with us… Pettigrew is alive" He knew he must sound insane and the way he currently looked probably didn't help his case either.

"What utter nonsense… the boy is confused… arrest him!" still nobody moved "I am your Minister of Magic, for christ sake"

"All in favour of no confidence in the leader" Kingsleys voice rang out the atrium, instantly all wands were raised, their tips glowing a bright light. "Correction…you were the Minister of Magic but your post has been suspended… i suggest you leave the Ministry and get your affairs in order Cornelius"

Harry turned away from the scene, Neville seemed to be getting treatment from a Medi-witch as she handed him potion after potion. He walked over to the shaking boy and kneeled beside him

"You were so brave, Nev" Harry gave him a tired smell "Your parents would be proud… i know i am"

"Thank you, Harry" The shy boy blushed, he held up his broken wand "grans going to be mad, this was my fathers"

"It's my fault you were even here, I'll take the blame. First chance we get, we will head over to Ollivanders and pick you up a new one, on me."

"I can't let you do that i'll ju-"

"You saved my life today Nev… please, it's the least i could do"

"Okay, thanks… looks like we kinda did save your friend" Harry turned and saw Sirius swarmed by reporters, who were scrawling in their notebooks rapidly as he gave his story. Harry couldn't help but smile, it seemed today was not for nought.

"Harry!" A female voice called out, Harry turned and saw Daphne running towards him. He took her in his arms and breathed in her heavenly scent. Tracey, Ginny Hermione and Luna followed behind closely, beaten and bruised. Hermione and Luna were offering comfort to the other two as they wept silently. Something was wrong. Harry looked down into Daphne's tear filled gaze and her lips began to tremble.

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked desperately, Tracey letting off a rather sharp cry at his name "Someone say something!"

"He's gone… they took him!"

—-

DAILY PROPHET

HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED-RETURNS

Yesterday afternoon, an attack took place in the Ministry. Multiple people were badly injured and thousands of galleons worth of destruction. But that is not the worst that befalls the wizarding world. You-Know-Who has returned, the escaped convicts from Azkaban now stand by his side once more. The Ministry is working effortlessly to ensure the safety of civilians and to put a stop to him once more. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davis, Luna Lovegood and Ginevra Weasley were all Hogwarts students and all involved in the incident. Sirius Black was also caught at the scene, his guilty sentence now in question as multiple witnesses caught the man duelling with You-Know-Who himself. He will stand trial within the week, before the Wizardgamot. Ronald Weasley has been confirmed missing as of yesterday, his friends state that Rodolphus Lestrange seemingly took the unconscious boy and escaped to an unknown location. The Aurors continue to work tirelessly until they bring the boy home.

Harry threw the paper into the black lake, it floated slowly towards the centre until it disappeared completely from view. He sat back down, resting his back against the trunk of the tree as he closed his eyes, feeling the warm sun bathe his face in its comforting spell.

"I thought I would find you out here" Harry turned, Daphne stood next to the tree. She had seemingly snuck up on him with cat-like quietness and was now gazing at him with a concerned look

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't be in there… all the apologies, all the stares… it's too much, too fast" Harry sighed, closing his eyes once more

"I understand" Daphne replied, sliding down next to him and under his arm, nestling into his shoulder as she did so

"I'm so sorry… for everything" Harry whispered, hating himself for how vulnerable he sounded

"None of this was your fault" Daphne said firmly "We all made a choice, no one was forced"

"It's just… if i had listened to Hermione or thought things through properly, maybe… maybe Ron would still be here"
"You can't blame yourself… you don't get to blame yourself" Daphne replied, a hint of irritation in her voice

"Daph-"

"No Harry, stop it" Daphne said, sitting up "I'm sick of you constantly blaming yourself, it's not fair on you or the people around you… You didn't know ask for any of this"

"I know!" Harry said, a little louder than necessary "I know, i just… i just miss my friend… and i can't stop thinking about what they must be doing to him"

"We will get him back, Harry" Daphne replied, rubbing his back and resting her head against his shoulder "I promise"

—-

Harry moved swiftly down the dungeons, the putrid smell attacking his nostrils as he turned the corner and rapped on the dark oak door.

"Come in" Harry stepped in the Potion master's office, closing the door quietly and staring into the eyes of the teacher that had caused him so much pain in the past

"Potter" Snape said, his tone trying to convey his surprise "what can i help you with?"

"I just wanted to know of Professor Dumbledore's condition"

"He is… he's recovering well" Snape replied

"What happened to him?" Harry asked

"I think that is a conversation you and the Headmaster should have between yourselves when he has fully recovered"

"Right" Harry said, he turned around heading towards the door

"Potter… Harry… i'm sorry about Mr Weasley"

"I'm sure you are," Harry sneered. "I'm sure you're also sorry about telling Tom Riddle the prophecy or about bullying me for the past five years"

"Potter you have no id-"

"Or how you're responsible for almost every bad thing that has happened to me for the past fourteen years… wasn't bad enough that I had to be left with them bumbling apes, you also feel the need to make disparaging remarks about my father every chance you get and yet your the reason i don't have one"

"ENOUGH!" Snape bellowed "you have no idea what you're talking about… you weren't there, during the war. I had no choice"

"You always have a choice… goodnight Professor" Harry said quietly closing the door shut as he exited the potion master's office. For the first time in a while Harry felt a small spark of justice had finally been granted

—-

The harmonic downpour littered the roof of the Hogwarts Express, nature's white noise cascaded through the compartment, littering it with sound that the residents refused to produce. The morose mood had been a constant at Hogwarts, so much so that they were going home to start their summer early. At Least he was staying with Sirius and the rest of the order. The thought made a small smile spread across his face, but was squashed down as he looked to the empty spot next to him. It had been five days since the incident. Five days since he had seen his best friend. Mrs Weasley's reaction was branded into his brain, he still heard her echoing cries in his sleep as he was plagued by the worst night terrors possible. Harry stood up and left the compartment without a word, searching for the trolly witch as his stomach gave yet again another rumble.

"Potter!" Draco's voice came from the opposite side of the train

"Malfoy" Harry replied coldly

"You better watch yourself, Potter" Malfoy replied snidely "Change is coming and when it does you better pray it does not find you"

"Are you threatening me?" Harry replied testily

"Not threatening… warning… the Headmaster isn't always going to be around to save you" Malfoy sneered

"I don't need Dumbledore… you might, if you get in my way" Harry said, turning away from the blonde boy and continuing his search. He returned, sharing some Pumpkin pasties and Chocolate Cauldrons among the group who gave their thanks.

"You must be glad about staying with the order" Hermione offered, breaking the silence in the cabin

"Yeah i think it would do me some good being with Sirius for a while" Harry replied

"And my parents said i can visit whenever i want" Daphne offered, kissing Harry on the cheek

"I'm just happy to be away from the Dursleys" Daphne's nose scrunched up at the name

The train began to slow down and the landscape began to brighten as the downpour dissipated. The Hogwarts express pulled into Kings Cross, the wheels passing over the joints in the rails causing a continuous clicking and clacking until the train stopped with an almighty whistle. They reached for their luggage and pulled it out of their compartment, lining up behind the students in front of them as they each made to leave the train. They finally managed to exit the train and search the crowd for familiar faces

"Grans here I've gotta go… i'll see you guys soon" they waved Neville off as his grandma embraced the boy fondly

"Mum, dad!" Astoria called out, she sprinted towards a tall dark haired man who picked her up and spun around. A petite woman stood by his side, she had long blonde hair and dark eyes. Her face exuded warmth as she turned her gaze over to him. Daphne grabbed his hand before his stomach could unscramble and dragged him over towards her parents. Now that he was closer, he started to really take them in. The man stood a good six foot, he was broad shouldered and had an intimidating look about him. His hair was dark with streaks of grey cascading through it, his eyes a familiar blue as they began to analyse him. The woman on the other hand looked the spitting image of Daphne, but in this case she had shorter hair and darker eyes. She also stood a couple inches shorter than her daughter and had very few wrinkles

"Harry, these are my parents" Daphne said "Mum and dad… this is Harry"

"It's nice to meet you both" Harry outstretched his hand towards the man who gave it a firm shake. He did the same to Daphne's mother who swatted it away and pulled him into a hug. Harry awkwardly wrapped his arms around her

"We've heard so much about you" The woman said kindly "Im Jasmine Greengrass… and this is Cyrus, my husband"

"Harry!" Sirius's voice broke through the crowd as he walked up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The order following close behind.

"You must be the Greengrass family, i am Sirius Black" He also moved to shake their hands "I must say you did a splendid job raising these fine young ladies"

"They take after their mother" Cyrus said, his voice was rough and firm but not in an unpleasant way

"Ah i see" Sirius laughed "Well we must be getting this one back home, we've got a big day planned and not a lot of time… I have invited Daphne to come round for the summer at some point but don't feel the need to agree, we will completely understand if not"

"I'm sure we wouldn't be able to keep her away even if we tried" Jasmine laughed once more "Right, we must be going as well. It was lovely to meet you Harry"

"It was lovely to meet you too" Harry said, the woman practically dragged her husband away but not before he gave Harry a small smile.

"Meeting the parents is always hard, atleast you got it out of the way" Sirius murmured to him

"Tell me about it"

—-

Harry laid on his bed at Grimmauld place staring up at the dusty ceiling, watching as a spider in the corner of his room captured a fly and prepared for its next feast. The murmuring from the floor below had been a constant nowadays. The order would have constant arguments about their next plan of action. Throw in the hysterical Weasley family and all you had was outright chaos. A sharp wail pierced the ceiling, rattling the cobweb and the spider which sailed down on its string. Harry sat up in a huff, exiting the room and slowly making his way downstairs, the sound of arguing continuously growing louder. Harry stepped into the dining room quietly, nobody taking notice as they continued with their quarrel. Neville who had insisted on going ever since his Grandma had joined the order gave him a short nod.

"We must rally our supporters, building an army is the only way we will win this war-"

"We first need to find a new place for the order, one that is far safer than this dump… one that is more secure and easier to defend incase were under attack, i suggest we go to-"

"I'm not going with you" Harry said, cutting Sirius off as everyone in the room turned to him

"What?" Moody's gruff voice spoke up

"I made a promise to Ron, that i would always be there for him, i have to go after him" Harry replied

"Hey kid, look around you" Moody said "We just got our asses kicked… you think about where your headed"

"I'm not asking anyone to come with me" Harry replied

"Harry listen to me" Neville spoke up now, standing up from his chair "I've known Ron for… well as long as i can remember, so if there was anyway we could help him, trust me i would be standing up there next to you… but this what your talking about, it's impossible"

"More like suicide" Kingsley spoke up

"Maybe… but I know who I am now… besides it's not just about Ron, it's about all of us… it's about everyone the Death Eaters have ever taken, every one they will take… they will never stop… they will never stop so i'm going to stop them… i'm going to kill Tom Riddle" Silence fell over everyone as they stared at the boy before them

"I must admit, I would like some revenge," Tonk said, smiling at him. Moody's magical eyes swirled in its socket as it gazed at Harry critically

"Well, it's a good speech kid… so what's your plan?"

Harry Potter and the Silence of Oppression

Book two- coming out soon