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And so it continues...



Week in review - Part II

/Ottery St. Catchpole - The Burrow/

Harry found himself face down in the dirt. This wasn't someplace that he found himself unaccustomed to being at, because he was her quite often whenever he used wizarding forms of travel. Usually, he grumbled; mostly to himself, tried to find something that resembled dignity in the vain hopes that nobody had witnessed his folly and quickly righting himself in case there was anyone nearby. Fortunately, upon this arrival, Harry found himself to be blessed and alone.

He knew that there would be consequences. There were always consequences. What he did to Hermione, while minor, was unforgivable on that same minor scale. He rushed off without the most proper of proper good-byes. But, to be honest with himself, had he been proper then he wouldn't have found himself with the courage to actually pluck up the bullocks and leave. He had jobs to do which is why he found himself not far from The Burrow.

Harry had a lot of things that he was thinking about at the moment, but now his mind was a jumble. There were betrayals from his long and distinguished past that still plagued his mind. Ginny had betrayed him by opening that ghastly diary and then later opening the Chamber of Secrets. Ron had been more subtle in his jealousy fourth year and his abandonment in seventh, but then this had been a second chance of sorts. He had planned it carefully. Sometimes, and this was what had ached in the center of his being, the most carefully laid plans find themselves in ruin. He couldn't let that happen. Among many other things Harry found himself in later years to be somewhat of a control freak. Harry hoped, now, that while those later years had provided him experience, knowledge and with that power, that his years, now, that he looked forward to would be numbered and laden with happiness.

To say that Harry Potter was on the miffed side would be acomplete down-play upon what he was really feeling at the moment. One thing stood out about all others. Harry was important to Albus Dumbledore, but everyone else was expendable. A tragic loss for the greater good, Harry could almost hear Albus rationalize. It made his blood absolutely boil. He tried to rationalize that Albus, thinking himself wizened and ancient, thought of himself as the Leader of the Light. The problem with that rational is that, in war, there wasn't any light or darkness, only varying shades of grey, on the obscure.

War was just that, war. Its purpose, to kill one's enemy and destroy their ability to wage war. Without that singular perspective all hope would be lost. Albus was lost with the certainty that he believed anyone whom wished to seek redemption within their heart would truly be granted asecond chance. The problem with his train of thought was that this had become his mantra, or dogma. Therefore, he believed that everyone, deep down, sought the means to make their wrong things right. In battle, Albus held back, and it cost lives. In the cold after battle; and in the anticipation of an upcoming battle, he approached people as if they were pawns. With that mindset he allowed himself detachment from real life horrors. With that firmly in mind, he was still shocked at the level of preparedness of Hermione Granger's family home.

There hadn't been a single ward in place at the Granger residence. No thought whatsoever to the possibility that her life might be in danger. Voldemort was back. Harry thought that had been perfectly clear upon returning with Cedric Diggory's body after the third task of the Triwizard tournament. He had told the headmaster about Voldemort, and while Cornelius Fudge had been present. His pleas fell upon deaf ears in spite of Barty Crouch Jr., a man thought to have died in Azkaban prison year's prior, lay in a bed mere feet away. Harry Potter had serious feelings for Hermione and Albus knew, yet when it came to providing her protection there wasn't even a guard.

Harry temporarily distracted himself with thoughts of Hermione and what he had done to her before leaving. It brought a wide grin to his face that actually made his cheeks hurt. The smile was unstoppable and uncontrollable. He hadn't known Hermione to be deliberate in her pranking, but then thought of her absolutely exquisite mind. She as "/scary brilliant,"/to quote Ron. There would be consequences, he knew. It wouldn't be as bad as one would expect, but he had an inkling of an idea of what kind of Marauder Hermione would be, if so inclined. Looking up the path, Harry caught sight of movement from the shadows and immediately recognized the figure approaching as one Bill Weasley.



"Harry, it's good to see you. Would you mind explaining to me, again, what we are doing tonight and why Mum and Dad, let alone, Ron, Ginny or the Twins couldn't be privy to this arrangement?" Bill asked, suspiciously. The suspicion and anxiety in Bill's voice could only make Harry sigh in hesitation. He thought that he could trust Bill, but then again, with his past, he had to play things with constant vigilance.



"Good to see you too, Bill, with your succession of questions, I thought for a moment I was standing in front of a male version of Hermione." Harry answered back with a smile. He thought for a moment, while measuring Bill on his response. Which way should I go with this and I need to be quick. Bill's parents are exceptionally loving ones, but at the same time very proud. "How are you parents when it comes to receiving charity?"

"Ah! I see. Yes, I supposed that might be the reasoning. Well, let's see what you have and what you plan on doing." Bill said, watching Harry as he pulled a small box. He placed it on the ground and then stood back. With a wave of his wand, he quickly enlarged it and pulling off the lid. Harry grabbed a handful of crystals, before handing one carefully over to Bill.



Bill looked on in shock at one of the crystals in his hands. There were Egyptian glyphs interwoven with ancient Elven script, but it didn't stop there. Gobbledygook scripts were present there as well, interwoven, but not overlapping. Bill looked at Harry now in complete and utter shock. He dropped the crystals as if they burnt him, and quickly reached for his wand, pointing it between Harry's eyes, with shaky hands.



"Who are you?! Answer ME!" He said nervously only to be shocked again as Harry just stood there and smiled at him. For a moment, before willing his hair to shrink exposing the now faint and familiar lightning bolt scar, Harry didn't say a thing.

He decided to step back, offer himself as non-confrontational and see what Bill would do. Bill's wand never wavered. They were at The Burrow, Harry rationalized and Harry knew each and every member of that family to be protective of the other members, save Percy the git. Sighing, he took astep back but that proved to be the wrong thing to do entirely.

"Stupefy!" Bill shouted, and while the range was in close quarters, Harry immediately dove out of the way, while wandless and without incantation cast a cone of silence.

Bill immediately countered with an attempt to through up his own set of wards and was immediate shocked as Harry rapidly and with no immediate sense of having to struggle through them ripped his wards to shreds. Bill answered with a string of curses that Harry knew to be Egyptian. Bill wasn't going to go quietly, and the curses were clearly in the dark arts category, which slightly shocked Harry. Not that he knew the curses, but that Bill had to bullocks to actually throw them. Harry quickly countered, randomly, curses that came his way, while maintaining a detached attention to them and dodging when applicable.

Bill looked at Harry absolutely horrified. He expected to be able to break his defenses almost immediately. To have, both, his wards and the spell strings taken apart as if they were an inconsequential house fly made him take stock of his life expectancy.

While Bill didn't let up one bit, the problem that he was finding was that the strings should have worked. They have worked in situations with dark wizards in the past, and many of them having been death eaters. If this was a death eater he was facing, he feared that his family wouldn't survive the lone attach.

Getting frustrated, now, not wanting to leave his family, Bill delved deeper and deeper into his knowledge of curses to bring down the enemy. Darker and darker he went, and when he saw that the bone crushing curse and the entrails expeller didn't work he broke, "AVADA..."

"STOP!" Harry said, and with that a force was unleashed within him that literally through Bill back, which scared Harry to the point that he had to beg his magic not to hurt him. He watched in horror as Bill was through thirty meters across the field and closer to the front gates of The Burrow. Seeing that Bill was immobile, still conscious but unable to move. He approached him slowly seeing the look of panic in his eyes slowly change to resign.

"Bill, relax..." He said, quietly. Seeing him unconvinced, he took a deep breath before continuing. "I swear on my life and my magic that I am Harry James Potter, born to James Harold Potter and Lily Marie Evans July 31st, 1980." Harry watched as a flash of blue indicated that the magical oath had sealed. He watched as Bill visibly relaxed.

"This..." Bill pointed to the one crystal that he managed to still have in his grasp. "This shouldn't' even be possible."



"Well, it isn't yet. Let me say, it isn't possible now, but it will be. I've created them to help. To help you... your family, and my friends."



"I am going to need a bit more in the form of an explanation." Bill said, trying to appear reluctant, but Harry saw through it and immediately, with a wandless gesture, a flash of magic produced another impenetrable cone of silence.

"In 1998 I killed a Voldemort possessed Ginevra Weasley and created a Horcrux from the only thing that I had on me at the time. I thought that I had lost everyone. Your family... my friends... the headmaster... everyone was dead. When I finally was able to destroy Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle later that year, well, I had a lot of time on my hands and did nothing but research. I wanted to find a way, anyway to go back and right what happened to a more amicable situation. Ten thousand years, Bill, but I was able to send my Horcrux back in time. Unfortunately, as things don't always seem to go the way one would hope that they would go. The Harry in front of you was not the first recipient of my Horcrux. It went to a relative in the year 996 A.D., or to be more precise Godric Gryffindor received it. With that Horcrux, Godric managed to learn a great many things. Some things he shared, some he didn't, and with the knowledge that he gained, he used it, when Salazar Slytherin went wrong. He put it in the trust of the house-elves of Hogwarts to wait for this summer to deliver. There was one purpose of this Horcrux, and that was to provide the knowledge to myself so that I didn't have to go through its creation again."



"Harry, it's a bit much to take in, but for the moment, let's say that I am willing to believe what you are saying, and don't think for a moment that we won't revisit what you mentioned about my baby sister." Bill warned. He looked at Harry, really took a good hard look and noticed that this wasn't the same boy that he had seen at the end of the tournament. His eyes were filled with both a confidence and a resolve. Smiling for a moment, "How'd you make the crystals?"



"My uncle works for Grunnings, which is a Muggle producer for a wide variety of drills. I used a diamond-tipped micro-drill, and had to hand-produce each of these individually."

"Blimy Harry... That must have taken ages." Bill said, and when Harry held up his hands revealing the heavily calloused finger tips, he knew; at once, that Harry had done this himself. "Tell me about my sister, then?"



Harry nodded resolutely, before looking at Bill a moment. "Remember the events of her first year? Did anyone ever tell you what really happened?"



"I believe that there was some business having to do with acursed diary." Bill said in a questioning tone.



"One of Voldemort's Horcruxes." Harry said quietly.



"Horcruxes as in plural?!" Bill blurted out looking towards Harry to see a nod of affirmation. "How many exactly did that blighter make?"

"Six, including the one that used to be in this scar." Harry said pointing at the faded scar on his forehead.



"Used to be?"



"Only one Horcrux per person, when I released mine, instead of a soul piece taking over the host, I was flooded with ten thousand years of information. Kind of like a Muggle program called, "This is your life." All the information flooded me, not to mention a slight boost in my magic and poof, Tom's tidbit gone and a more happy Harry."



"Okay, sorry for getting off topic, but if Ginny was dealing with a Horcrux in a diary, and you destroyed said diary, how exactly did my sister, or does my sister get possessed in 1998?"

"She kept a page after she discarded the book and before Icould destroy it. A single page in that book undamaged was the only place that the Horcrux had left to return. She must have it hidden somewhere, either here, or back at school. It will be something that I'll be looking for, this coming up year."



"Well, if there's anything at all that you would like for me to help you with, in that regard, please let me know. I would prefer my sister healthy, dark lord free and happy. Besides, you know that she's always had athing for you."



"I am seeing Hermione, you know?" Harry retorted.



"Ron won't be too pleased with that one, I can assure you. He was doing nothing but talking about Hermione and how beautiful she looked at the Yule Ball, since his return home. I'd only been here today to tell mum and dad about the ward upgrade, but he was still going on about it."



Harry was fuming at this point. Ron had assured him that he was okay with the fact that Harry and Hermione, collectively, are now acouple. That, now, seems to have been a lie. Harry didn't have time for games and had to formulate how to deal with young Ronald Bilius Weasley. He couldn't have petty jealousy come into play here, not this year of all years. Too many things could go wrong if that scale was tipped again.

Ron was a time bomb, and now, he apparently thought that he could play life itself as if it were a game of chess. There was already one master manipulator that he was forced to find a way of containing and he didn't have time for an amateur.



"Harry, are you alright?" Bill said, gently placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder.



"Yeah, Bill, I'm fine." Harry lied, looking up at Bill's face, and at Bill's raised eyebrow, he conceded. "Alright, maybe I'm not fine, but I will manage. I still plan on doing this for your family even if Ron's going to be a prat in the future."



"And Ginny?" Bill wondered.



"Bill, I have the ten thousand year old memories. I'm not sure what to say about that. I don't think that it was her fault or choice, really." Harry said looking at Bill's disbelieving face, before revising. "Honestly, I have no claim to your sister and am currently in a relationship, besides it is a bit awkward dealing with what I have to at the moment. You sister has, at this point, not been really able to hold a conversation with me whatsoever without a stutter or placing a body part into a dish of butter." Harry finished, which brought a bark of laughter from Bill.

"Harry, I'm sure that Ginny couldn't help it, after all Mum used your story as a bedtime fairy tale for both Ron and Ginny. They've grown up their whole life being told of your great deed." Bill finished but watching his face sink lower and lower knew that this hadn't been the best way of putting things.



"So what you're saying is that both of your younger siblings are nothing more than fan boy and girl, and despite any headway that I may have made with Ronald or Ginny for that matter, they're always going to see me as afifteen month old baby whom was placed in his crib by his soon to be dead mum and didn't have a clue as to die properly when the green light struck me in the head? Bugger that, Bill. What kind of devious plan can a fifteen month old cook up to defeat the darkest Dark Lord that the country has ever seen, could you clue me in because my first memory was being placed in a cupboard at the age of three for accidentally wishing for Dudley's teddy, which he had been neglecting at the time."



"Easy Harry," Bill tried but saw that a head of steam was coming at him full force. "Don't shoot the messenger to spite the message. This was what they had grown up with and you could probably attribute their acts of awe or jealousy towards you as being akin to Robin Hood or King Arthur. It was a bedtime story."



"More likely than not that many parents used to tell their children after what happened on Halloween. I haven't a clue what happened outside of a brief recollection of a woman screaming and a flash of green. What isn't being told is the way that I was raised, and believe me, had the parents had the full account of my life it'd be marketed as a horror story, not a fairy tale. Look Bill, I don't mean to take it out on you but since I've come into this wizarding world I seen most people in awe of me for something that Icannot remember and the celebrity status is really a huge joke."



"You're a celebrity regardless. Didn't you mention something about an ancestor receiving your Horcrux? I'm sorry, but what was his name again, because it sounded vaguely familiar." Bill couldn't help his sarcasm but it wasn't brought forth angrily.



"Point taken." Harry conceded. "Look, let's get to work, and get these crystals in place. I really hate focusing on my life or lack thereof, and I did come to get a job done."



"Alright, what do you need from me at this point?" Bill asked a bit hesitantly.



"Show me the lay-lines for the wards. We'll install the crystals ten meters outside of the wards, so that they don't interfere with your existing ones." Harry said, without use of his wand, summoning crystals to hover in a great circling orbit just slight above his head level.



"Here's the outer most point of the wards."



"OK, you walk the boundary. I'll walk ten meters outside. Let's get this done as I've still a few more houses to hit tonight."



"Where else are you planning to visit, if you don't mind me asking?"



"Well for today, I've got Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom to visit before calling it a night. I've got the Abbotts and Bones tomorrow, the Creevy's, Finch-Fletchy, and McMillan on Friday."



As they walked the border of the Burrow, Bill watched as ever so often one of the orbiting crystals would rocket into the ground. He was completely amazed at Harry at this point. He knew that Harry would be powerful, but at the moment he was demonstrating a confidence and power that he estimated to far exceed that of even Albus Dumbledore. It was the nonchalant way that Harry went about his job that really made him notice that while what he was doing shouldn't been something that a nearly fifteen, year old should be doing with a wand, let alone wandless magic. He, himself, could only perform the simplest of spells learned in first and second year without using a wand and even then it took a great deal of power to produce anything note worth. Secondly, it left him exhausted.



"Bill?" Harry asked, looking at him with worry. Noticing that Bill's far-away look suddenly focused on him, "Um, I'm done... Are you alright?"



"Sorry about that Harry, it's just that you've kind of laid a bit much on me and I guess that I am still taking it in." He admitted sheepishly.

"It's still just me, Bill, still just Harry. So, how are you getting along with Fleur, then?" Harry asked with a sudden devious glint in his eyes, and upon ending his question noticed that even Bill Weasley, curse-breaker extraordinaire was not immune to ears turning red. Harry barked out a bit of laughter, before stifling it at Bill's scowl. "That good, then? Well, tell her I said hello and that I wished her well. I have to get to Luna's now. Take this..." Harry said, handing Bill the two way communicating mirror.



"Wait." Bill said, suddenly sounding somewhat panicked. Harry turned towards Bill, whose appearance matched the sound of his voice. "Um, not that I don't trust you Harry, but how can we be sure that this works?"



"Listen, Bill, if it's reassurances you're in need of, that these new wards will do what I say they will do, then give me just five seconds."



"But..." Bill started, but immediately Harry raised his hand as if to ask for patience.



"Four... " Harry stated and paused, watching the agony of anticipation that was clearly etched on the face of William Weasley. Taking in a deep breath, Harry reached into his pocket. He placed his hand on a very special rune stone, activating the sequence which would call a very special guest.



"Three..." Harry said, and then insured that both he and Bill were within the boundaries of the Burrow's wards. It wouldn't do well for ademonstration should the intended spell not be intercepted by the newly installed wards. He watched Bill closer still. Bill was bristling now in away that reminded him of his much larger uncle.



Two..." William's flesh could, now, not be distinguished from that of his hair. Harry thought that he looked somewhat demonic and had he been the sort of person whom was inclined to be afraid of that sort of thing, he wouldn't still be standing here.

"HARRY!" Bill yelled now, looking as if his head might just explode at any moment.

One..." At the sound if incoming apparition, Harry immediately took a defensive stance. The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling and standing on end.



"POTTER!!!!" Severus Snape screamed upon making eye contact with his caller. Harry made a diving motion, and for a moment thought that this clever, in his mind, rouse wouldn't bear fruit. Then, Harry watched with a sense of utter incredulousness in Snape's predictability as the tall and somewhat greasy man whipped his wand, took aim and sent a silent spell which could only be Sectumsempra.

William Weasley paled when the wards acted just as Harry described them to have. Severus was yanked into then hovering a good two meters off of the ground. He looked at Harry with a new awe. He watched as Harry, with lightning quick reflexes pulled out his wand and quickly banished Severus out of the ward, knocking the man unconscious in the process. A quick Obliviate and instructions that he had just missed Potter later, Harry turned to Bill looking for acknowledgement.

Upon receiving it, he turned around and walking back until he was outside of the ward lines and popped away, landing in Luna's front yard.

"What the bloody hell took you so long Harry Potter!?" Luna screamed, catching Harry by surprise while nailing him solidly between the legs with a kick that announced once and for all that she wasn't holding back athing.



A/N: I think that is a good place to leave this chapter.