Two Broken Souls Heal Together

Hello everyone!

I have this story also up on the site fanfiction.net but felt that if it disappeared there I still
have it here as a backup. I am also going through the chapters and maybe change some small
things, mostly spelling and such.

There will be slash later in the story but not for a while. I will say this now so everybody
knows, NARUTO will not be paired with anyone, firstly he is too young to even think about it,
and secondly this story will not go on so long that he will grow enough to be in a serious
relationship. There will perhaps be some puppy love thrown in but not any more than that.

Wordcount: 6343

Summary: Harry discovers a kindred soul when he rescues a young Naruto from a mob beating
him. Will Konoha be ready for a Jinchuriki trained by the savior of the Wizarding world?
Eventually Harry/Zabuza

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto. I make or earn no money on this fanfiction.

Two broken souls heal together

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."
- Sir Winston Churchill

Chapter 1
"Normal speech"
"Snake speech"
"Fawkes"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Prologue

A large black eagle sailed through the sky above the high trees only to land on top of the
highest one. It watched the village below sleep as the sun was slowly rising. The eagle sat there
for hours as the village people woke up and started their work for the day. No one paid any
attention to the black eagle, but if they had, they would have seen an intelligent glint in its
shining green eyes. Perhaps they would have become suspicious, but as no one saw it, they
continued without knowing they were being watched. The eagle stopped watching the people
and stared for a while at the four heads, which were carved into the stone on the mountain
beside the village. Again, if one looked closely one would have seen a stunned and awed
expression on the its face, if one looked very, very closely of course.

Suddenly, the eagle took to the air and sailed towards the mountain. The bird took his time,
enjoying being in the sky and the feeling of freedom it gave. Just as it sailed over a darkened
alley, a pain filled cry reached the mysterious eagle. Unable to ignore what it had heard, the
eagle flew towards the sound.

As it came closer, the bird saw about ten people gathered around something. Unable to see
what it was, the eagle flew closer and spotted a patch of yellow and red. Instantly, the bird
picked up the scent of blood and saw the yellow spot curl into itself. To the horror of the eagle,
the yellow spot appeared to be a body of a 4 year old boy covered in his own blood. The village
people screamed at the boy, and at the same time hit and kicked him without holding back.
The eagle dived towards the mass of people with a shriek and opened up it claws to use them
against everything and everyone they could touch. The villagers screamed and tried to hit the
attacking bird, but it was too fast for them. A couple of ninja launched some kunai, but again,
the bird was too quick for any of them to hit.

The mass of people started to back away from the attacking bird, deciding to give up on
torturing the demon child for the day. At last, the only ones left were the young boy and the
now calm eagle. The boy whimpered and shuddered and the eagle knew that he had to do
something otherwise the boy could die.

Slowly, the eagle transformed into a man the height of 5'7" with midnight black hair and
glowing green eyes. The man got on his knees and held out a hand over the beaten boy's body
in an attempt to heal him. As the man was doing this, the boy turned his face to the stranger
and watched the man with unmasked fear in his eyes. The man noticed immediately and tried
to soothe the boy.

"Shhh, it's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm only want to help you." The green eyed stranger held out
his hand slowly again, showing the boy that he had no weapon and did not want to hurt him.
He smiled gently and lowered his hand when the boy nodded and closed his eyes in exhaustion.
When the boy spoke, the stranger almost did not hear him because his voice was so weak and
low. "Who are you?"

"Me?" the man replied, "My name is Harry Potter."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
First chapter

Harry Potter was officially bloody sick and tired of the wizard world altogether. After everything
that had happened, Harry wanted nothing to do with them any longer. All he wanted was to get
away from them, far away. But of course, when did anything happen when he wanted it to?
After the final battle in Hogsmeade against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Harry wanted to be
left alone. He had seen too much death, killed too many people and almost everyone he loved
was gone. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Sirius, all gone in battles, killed right in front of
him.

He only had Remus left; but he had his wife, Tonks, and newborn son Teddy. A family of his own
was the one thing Harry always wanted and wished for, from the minute he realized that the
Dursleys wouldn't love him as a family should.

One would think that when he had fulfilled the prophecy that he would be left alone, but no.
People stalked him when he ventured outside his house, so he stopped going out as much as
possible, to avoid them. People sent owls with letters about marriage, blood adoption, parties
and countless other things. In the end, Harry was forced to set up wards against owl mail,
letting only those he'd approved in.

To make matters worse, the Daily Prophet wrote articles about countless interviews with Harry
that had never taken place. They all wrote about his heroic deeds, and how he would always be
there to save the day. But Harry wanted nothing of that; he just wanted to be left alone.

Harry would always blame himself for not finishing off Voldemort sooner. Maybe then he could
have saved his loved ones. If he had begun his training earlier and worked harder maybe he
could've protected them. But when Harry thought back on what happened, he realized that it
was ridiculous. Ridiculous that the young boy he was then could have ever beaten the most
powerful dark wizard, in over a century, all by himself.

No, Harry and his closest friends trained hard together, getting to know each other so well they
could almost read each other's minds. They were his sisters and brothers, the family he'd
always wanted but never could have. Ron and Neville were his brothers in all but blood, the
same with Hermione and Luna. They were his sisters in every way that truly mattered.
They did everything together, fighting, spying, laughing and just living. They moved as one.
When they graduated from Hogwarts, all of them moved in together and lived as a family in the
Potter manor, which Harry had gotten control over when he had turned seventeen. The years
together from age eighteen to Harry's twenty-first birthday, were the happiest he had ever
experienced.

Sure, they trained and worked hard to become stronger, but their camaraderie and support let
them know that they would be there for each other, which was such a wonderful feeling. As
time went by, both Neville and Harry became quite good at wandless magic. Sadly, the others
did not have enough magic to be able to use it themselves, but did not begrudge their success
with it.

They set out to master the Animagus transformation and with diligence, unrelenting training,
and studying, they finally mastered it after a year and a half. After that, they trained both in
magic and in their animal forms. Because, to be able to fight in both seamlessly, with only a
momentary pause switching between forms in battle, could give them a slight advantage if they
found themselves in a sticky situation. Their animal forms meshed with both their personality
and talents perfectly.

Ron transformed into an Irish setter; a large dog with a playful and happy demeanor, great
endurance, but was still friendly and very sociable. Irish Setters, they learned, were often
mistaken as being stupid because they were very stubborn. They all agreed, with the exception
of Ron, that it fit him perfectly, though Ron was definitely quicker to anger and more aggressive
than his Animagus form. Red streaks in the fur and blue eyes were the characteristics which
colored Ron's animal transformation.

Hermione's form was the Australian Stock Horse, well known for their intelligence, courage,
toughness, good stamina and calm temperament. It suited Hermione's personality very well.
She absolutely loved being able to run fast in her form. The whole body of the animal was the
exact color of Hermione's hair, something which made it easier for her to blend in with other
animals, especially other horses, as brown is very ordinary color for horses.

Neville's form surprised them all, for he became a Cinnamon Bear. While most of these bears
were black, Neville's form was dark brown. He quickly found a new fondness for honey and
berries, which greatly amused the others because, before the completing the transformation,
Neville loathed honey like the plague. These bears had a well-deserved reputation for their
fierce protection of their offspring and highly aggressive tendencies when protecting them or
feeling threatened. Their strength and aggression left few opponents without severe injuries or
broken bones.

Luna quirky personality extended to her transformation. She became a clear, white Albino
squirrel. Like all squirrels she was sneaky and inquisitive, she was also faster than most as her,
and her coloring made her easily spotted by predators. Luna mostly transformed into her
animal form when she wanted to play a prank or spy on anyone.

Harry's form was no surprise to any of them, he become a black eagle, also known by its
scientific name Ictinaetus malayensis. They were birds of prey, meaning that they were
predators that hunted their food, primarily from the air using their keen eyesight to spot prey.
Because Harry's form had such good vision it automatically corrected his own, something he
loved the best about his form. His form's talons and beak were extremely hard and sharp. His
powerful wings effortlessly allowed him to stay aloft in the sky for several days if needed, with
minimal energy expended. Harry's exotic emerald green eyes were the only feature marking
him as a wizard in animal form rather than a true eagle.

They had everything worked out to destroy Voldemort. Nothing had been taken for granted or
left to chance. They knew that if they failed, all of them would probably die. The day Sirius died
taught Harry the price of making rash decisions and he had promised himself to never make
that mistake again. Harry was not afraid to die, but he couldn't even think about it happening to
the others without getting a gut wrenching feeling of despair. The thought of being left alone
without his brothers and sisters seemed unbearable to him. They would always be his reason
for living and fighting.

Their plan had worked, but at the last minute something had gone wrong. None of them had a
spare moment to find out what exactly went wrong, but the result was devastating. It was a
victory for the light and the end for Voldemort, but for Harry it was a personal failure and a
tragedy. His family, his sisters and brothers, all died protecting him while he finished the spell
that killed Voldemort.

The guilt and shame would never leave him for as long as he lived. Harry couldn't bear to
witness the people that celebrated the fall of the darkest wizard in modern time. He saw no
reason to feel happiness or joy. Harry felt an empty black hole in his chest and it constantly
threatened to swallow him whole if he let his guard down.

XXXXXXXXX

Three years later, Harry found himself sitting on his black leather sofa in front of the open fire,
which gave a soft glow as the heat from it warmed the room while he drank a glass of fire
whiskey. It was three in the morning and he had woken from the usual nightmare. He had
nightmares just about every night and he would wake in a cold sweat, his body shaking
uncontrollably and tears flowing down his face.

It had been nine years since Sirius' death in the Department of Mysteries, but he still had
nightmares about it, and it still shook him to the core. The guilt had not left him. Everyone had
tried to tell him that it was not his fault, that he had just been a child at the time, but he could
never truly believe them. That's what had woken him today and he felt too shaken up to sleep
any longer. Instead, he thought back on his life, trying to remember when and where
everything went downhill.

On his seventeenth birthday, he had inherited his family homes, Potter manor along with
Grimmauld Place from Sirius, who had named him his heir, just in case. Money that had not
been touched for years was suddenly his to use, and it was more than Harry could spend in four
lifetimes.

He'd spent most of the past three years inside the manor, going out only to visit his friend's
graves. He felt no need for company or to speak to anyone. A visit from Remus and his family
was always welcomed, but Harry couldn't muster up any energy to pretend to be happy to see
the small family so content with each other. They tried to get Harry to visit them at their home,
just to get him out of the manor and to start living again, but he would always politely decline
the offer.

It felt as if he was waiting for something to happen. Harry had no idea just what it was and it
drove him insane, well more than he already was at least. He hated waiting; he wanted
something to happen, just to feel something other than grief and depression. It felt as though
he was waiting for someone to come, maybe it was his magic trying to tell him something. It
had done many unfathomable things in his life before, so why not this time too?

In the last two years, the feeling had surged several times, and it left him feeling more and
more confused. So he just stayed in the manor waiting for something to happen. Waiting to
fight, waiting to live, waiting to die. How he hated waiting, he much preferred action to waiting.
At least when one was moving, one did not have time for apprehension to sink in, for fear to
take over or doubt to sink its claws into them. When one was on the move, all one needed to
do was concentrate on the task at hand and nothing else. In battle one couldn't afford to think
of anything else, one could only react.

The manor was smaller than the Malfoy's, but Harry wished it was even smaller, because
without his friends and their voices in the manor, the echoing silence made it felt too big and
lonely.

The whole house was protected with strong wards, both old ones, created at its foundation,
and new ones he paid the goblins to add. All in all, Harry felt very safe in the manor, but he
would never feel happy in it again. There were too many happy memories in it, and all of them
made his heart ache just thinking about them.

The many rooms in the house had been decorated in various shades of red, yellow and deep
green. If it was not so damn big, one could describe the atmosphere in the house as a homey,
almost cozy, feeling.

The first floor had the kitchen in it, dining room, three offices, a salon and a sort of common
room to gather in. On the second floor there were eight bedrooms and almost as many
bathrooms, many which were connected to the bedchambers. The bedrooms all had king sized
beds topped with silk sheets, huge pillows and goose down quilts. All of the rooms had large
windows, making them light and airy. The library and study room were also located on the
second floor. In the basement, there was a large fully stocked potions lab and a wine cellar.
Harry took a sip of his fire whiskey, feeling it burn as it made its way down his throat. He
chuckled darkly to himself, Hermione had always nagged at him that he drank too much, not
that it made him quit. He and Ron loved the fiery drink too much to stop drinking it. She should
see him now. His long, dirty hair, which hung down his back, was uncombed and his eyes were
bloodshot with weariness. The black trousers he wore with a grey sweater looked like they
needed a good wash. He certainly didn't seem to fit his new title of Lord Potter, The-Man-Who-
Lived.
He couldn't help but remember the final battle that took place in Hogsmeade almost three
years ago. He could still hear the screams in his dreams, screams by both men and women as
they were tortured and killed. The sight of the red stained ground, that reached to as far as he
could see, and bodies lying everywhere tormented him constantly. Some of the bodies had
faces he knew from school, some he'd never seen before. There were death eaters, students as
young as fourteen and as old as nineteen. Order members, teachers, villagers and countless
other uncounted dead and injured littered the ground. Much against his will, the last day he
saw his chosen family alive and together replayed in his mind.

*******Flashback*******

The Headmaster had been informed by a spy and alerted the school that the Death Eaters would
be attacking Hogsmeade in a few hours. Adult and students alike knew that if they lost the
village, the castle would be attacked and likely fall soon after. The entire school was in a flurry
of activity with the evacuation of the youngest students, while the upper years busied
themselves setting up the defenses. The Heads of houses gathered their students and proceeded
to portkey as many of younger years as possible away to safe locations. They did not bother to
worry about the laws they broke creating portkeys without Ministry permission. The only
thoughts in their minds were on protecting as many students as possible.
Harry and his friends had a plan ready to execute, when the time was right. It was a dangerous
plan, a risky plan, but anything less wouldn't be guaranteed to work, and it was unlikely they
would get a second chance to destroy Voldemort permanently. This was what they had trained
for and they were determined to succeed.

In the midst of the chaos and preparation, they had slipped away to spend, what would be, their
last hours together without the interference of others. They fully understood the danger and
they had known that they would likely die, but Harry promised himself to try to keep them
unharmed, or at least alive. He put his trust in his family and his self to destroy Voldemort, and
kept their plan a secret from everyone else.

It had helped that they had seldom seen other people after their graduation from Hogwarts, at
least until they had been called to fight. Ron and Hermione had kept in contact with their
families at Harry's insistence, but no more than necessary. Both Neville's and Luna's remaining
family had died over the years and both wanted nothing to do with the rest of the Wizarding
world. They had all agreed that, as far as they were concerned, the rest of the world seemed as
abnormal to them as aliens from a distant planet would. Or perhaps it was the other way
around?

The one exception was Anthony Goldstein, a Ravenclaw graduate who had been a member of
the DA, who was their informant. He owled them weekly to keep them up-to-date on what was
going on in the rest of the world; he also visited from time to time. He knew that they had plans,
just not the detail. He also knew better than to pry or tell anything that he did know, and for
that they were very grateful.

Most would have thought they would have at least informed their former Headmaster, Albus
Dumbledore. They would be gravely mistaken. By luck and sheer chance Ron and Neville
overheard a conversation, in which Dumbledore and Minister Fudge had talked about what they
should do with Harry after the war. The agreement that the two men came to was not pretty or
in any way conducive to Harry's long term health. It had taken hours to calm down the two
nearly hysterical boys.

They were so upset by what they had heard, that they burst into the dungeon classroom and
dragged both Harry and Hermione out of their potions lesson, ignoring a nearly furious Snape,
who looked fit to be outraged by their audacity.

When Ron and Neville attempted to explain, they were nearly incoherent, speaking at the same
time and making no sense at all. Hermione, fed up with their garbled babbling, shut them up
and got them to calm down enough to speak sense with a sharp slap to the head for both of
them. When Hermione finally got the story out of them it was an understatement to say she
upset. She was incensed to put it mildly. After that, they cut all ties to the Headmaster, even if
the old coot didn't notice, he could fall over dead for all they cared.

XXXXXXXXX

Harry had, one day in his sixth year, wandered off to spend some time alone in the forbidden
forest, sick and tired from the whisperings of students about why he wasn't out and fighting
Voldemort. Like he could defeat a man who could rival Albus Dumbledore in both skill and
strength? He was, after all, only sixteen years old, no matter how mature he was for his age.
After wondering around for more than an hour, he stumbled across a clearing well hidden from
the world. The middle of the clearing, which looked like a round circle, was covered in soft green
grass with only a few small branches on the ground.

It proved to be the perfect place for him to hide until he could deal with the world again. Only a
few weeks later, Harry decided to share his place with his closest friends. Soon the clearing
became the official place they gathered at when they wanted to speak of their plans for the
future or just wanted to escape. It was somewhere where the headmaster didn't have any
paintings or other spying devices.

Surrounding the clearing grew high Glossy Buckthorn bushes and large black cherry trees. The
trees were in a constant full bloom with white, gray and cream colored flowers. A distinctive
cherry-like aroma of cyanide filled the air lovingly. The Glossy Buckthorn was also on full bloom
with small greenish-white flower, that if you were close enough gave of an aroma of soft vanilla.
The bush filled out the spaces where the trees couldn't and together they formed almost a doom
around the clearing. Hermione speculated that their own, personal, magic affected the plants
life and kept the clearing from withering as long as they continued to spend time there. Neville
was understandably fascinated by the theory, but sadly never got the chance to study it.

That was where the gang had gathered just a few hours before the battle. They were all
prepared and dressed for battle. Both girls had carefully gathered their hair in a tight knot so it
wouldn't get in the way. All five had the same black style in both pants and jackets. The only
thing that was different was the colored lines in the jacket. Harry's was a bright gold,
Hermione's a glossy yellow, Luna's was shiny purple, Ron's had blue and Neville's was deep red.
All in all, they looked like a team.

"Does everyone know what you're supposed to do?" Harry asked the group for the hundredth
time. He already wished he could do this alone and send the others home into safety, but
knowing that wouldn't happen anytime soon, he settled for making sure every detail was clear
and remembered.

"Yes, stop nagging, please Harry. We all know what to do!" Ron annoyingly exclaimed loudly,
sending a mild glare at his black-haired brother.

"Ron's right you know, as much as it pains me to admit..." An indignant "Oy!" was heard from
the background. "...we have gone over the plan thousands of times," Hermione finished calmly
while throwing an amused glance at Luna's way, who looked possibly bored.

"Yeah, yeah, but it can't hurt being careful can it?" Harry countered hotly.

"Of course not Harry, but I think Ron will fall asleep if we go over it again." Luna's dreamy voice
rang clearly through the clearing.

"I will not! I'm not that bad at concentrating!" came the immediate answer from Ron, looking
quite offended at the insults being tossed at him.

"Fine, we won't go over it again. Just...be careful alright?" Harry spoke softly while seeking eye
contact with everyone, one at a time.

"Harry, you of all people should know how strong we are. While we all realize the danger, we
are not weak teenagers anymore, we are trained young adults. You know this," Neville replayed
confidently, to which Harry nodded hesitatingly in answer.

"Yes, I know, but still, you are all I have. I can't lose you all now," Harry spoke quietly while
gazing intently at the ground, feeling his emotions getting the better of him. This was what they
had trained so hard for. Every wound, drop of blood and sweat were for this day and moment.
They couldn't fail now because he was being a coward.

The others all felt their green-eyed brother's pain and shuffled closer. Hermione took his left
hand and while Luna grabbed his right hand. Ron and Neville both stood up, and put a hand on
his shoulder. They were silent for a couple of minutes before Ron decided to break the tense
atmosphere that had created itself in those minutes.

"You know, even if we do die it's not like we disappear completely. As long as one of us survives,
that person will live for those ones who could not. The memories we have created together will
live on inside the survivor's heart." Ron spoke with an unusual serious tone he didn't often use.
He gazed at his brothers and sisters to make them see that he was sincere.
"Ron, that must be one of the sappiest things you have ever said." Harry laughed, but the
gratefulness shining in his eyes betrayed him.

"Well sorry for being the serious guy for once!" Ron's face and ears were bright red and he
sniffed embarrassed. The others chuckled and giggled slightly despite the serious situation, the
tense moment disappearing.

They continued to chat with each other about things that had nothing to do with the war.
Things like good old memories from their school time and other funny moments in their life. An
hour went and soon Hermione declared that they had to go. Slowly, everyone stood up and
stared in silence at each other, hungrily sucking in the sight of each face in case they would
never see it again. On a silent order they began to walk back to the castle together. They all
walked as close as they could, all touching each other slightly, sometimes only a brush of the
hands or shoulders.

Too soon they exited the forest and saw a large group of blue clothed people, indicating that
they were a member at the order of the phoenix. As they come closer Harry spotted Albus
Dumbledore in the middle of the group seemingly giving out orders. He scowled darkly, which
made the others notice the headmaster as well.

Harry's group stopped a few meters away from the larger group and watched in silence as the
old man turned his attention to them. Immediately, as the man laid his eyes on them, a twinkle
in the old man blue eyes began to shine, and he adopted a 'grandfatherly' look and fondly
watched the small group.

"Harry, my boy!" Albus called while putting up a soft smile. Mentally, Harry gnashed his teeth in
frustration at the greeting from the old goat, as if they had a grandfather - child bond or
something. Luna seemed to notice his distress and softly took his right hand and squeezed
tightly. Comforted, Harry relaxed somewhat and was able to notice the barely hidden anger
behind both Neville and Ron's masks of calmness.

"Headmaster", came Harry's short greeting while carefully hiding any emotion on his face. The
others said nothing, content to let Harry say what was necessary. None of them would mind if
the old fool were to drop dead, but they all knew that if the old man died, the war would turn
even more unpleasant for the light side.

'The light side!' Harry snorted to himself. If one knew where to look, one would find that the
supposed light side was not that great after all. They all hid behind pretty lies and disguises to
fool the innocent.

"My boy, it's a pleasure to meet you again. I just wish it was under different circumstances.",
said the old headmaster while mentally trying to figure out how to get the boy under his control
and, later on, kill him off if it was deemed necessary. He could not use his legilimency on any of
them because he was almost sure all of them knew occlumency to some extent. Shaking himself
out of his thoughts, he was able to see Harry force himself to nod and smile. Somehow satisfied
with the meager answer, he spoke out loud after giving the chosen one a grandfatherly smile.

"Today, my friends, will be the last day the Dark Lord walks this land and we will be free again.
We shall fight as one and win as one. The victory will come for the light. The light will always
triumph in the end!"

At the end of the speech, the crowd cheered and clapped their hands at the supposed great light
leader. Only Harry and his siblings were silent and glanced briefly at each other. With a silent
promise to be careful and to stay alive they, as one, disappeared with muttered words as
activation to their portkeys. Each portkey took them to a special designed place that would be
the beginning to their plan to destroy Voldemort.

Unfortunately, they didn't know that the next time they would meet all together again would be
the last time.

*****End of flashback*****

Harry sighed deeply and took a sip from the fire whisky with only a little bit left at the bottom
of the glass. Had he known beforehand what would have happened, he would have tried harder
to keep the others away from the battle. Not that it would have done any good anyway. The
others were too stubborn for their own good. But Merlin, he still missed them, their voices, the
arguments, the knowledge of being loved and being not alone.

He missed Hermione's voice while yelling at Ron or Neville for being an idiot or doing something
stupid. He missed the way she almost always seemed to know how he felt, and just knew how
to fix it or make things to seem better than they really were.

He missed Ron and his petty fights and bickering about useless things that they always seemed
to get into no matter what. The way Ron was so embarrassing and clueless with both feelings
and girls. The warm feeling he gave when he thumped his hand on Harry's back as a reassuring
way to say 'I'm here for you buddy whether you need me or not'.

He missed Luna's strange way at explaining things with nargles or other weird animals that no
way existed outside her own dreamy world. She, too, had a unique way of knowing how he felt
and could comfort him with a gentle squeeze on his shoulder or hand. She always was calm and
never got angry at any of them, no matter what they did or what happened.

He missed Neville's awkward tries to comfort him when a particular nightmare awoke him in
the dead of night, and his encouragement to talk about it every time. Neville's being was a
silent strength and a place to lean on for Harry and he always felt safe in the company of Neville,
knowing that Neville could protect both of them should it prove necessary.

Still, the most he missed were the times they were all gathered together. Playing or training
together with them soothed his hardened soul and gave him a chance to breath and relax fully.
Harry always thought that he had a few cards short of a full deck from the start of his childhood,
but with them, his family, he felt whole for the first time.

To have them so brutally ripped from his life felt like something was tearing him apart, even
now three years later.

Harry always tried to remember the good times, the times which were filled with laughter and
joy, but his memories of their deaths always haunted him, and destroyed his happy memories
of them. Over the years, he had cursed himself several times for sinking into depression and
loneliness. They wouldn't have wanted this at all. They would have wanted him to enjoy being
alive and free, even if it was without them. Like Ron had said, he should live not only for himself
but for them as well, because they could no longer do it themselves.

His deep thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang. Without jumping at the sound or even
turning around, he addressed the creature.

"What do you want Dobby?" His voice was almost toneless, only holding a little warmth for the
kind and friendly house elf.

"Master Harry Potter sir! The phoenix Fawkes is awaiting you in the library sir!" Dobby yelled
out excitedly while bowing so low that his ears were touching the floor.

"Fawkes? How did he get past the wards, or more importantly, what does he want?" Harry
murmured quietly to himself, but the house elf somehow heard it anyway.

"So sorry Master Harry Potter, but Dobby doesn't know! Bad Dobby, bad, bad Dobby!" He
started to hit his head against the nearest wall, but was stopped quickly by Harry who had
expected the move from the elf.

"Stop now, Dobby. No harm done. I will go to the library. Can you make me a cup of blueberry
tea and give me it to me later? I have a feeling I will need it," Harry asked the House elf after
calming him somewhat.

"Of course, Master Harry Potter sir!" Dobby answered happily; with that, the Elf quickly poofed
to the kitchen to fulfill his master's order.

After a few minutes, Harry arrived to the large library and stopped abruptly before going in. He
tried to imagine why the powerful phoenix would appear here but came up with nothing. In
fact, when Dumbledore had died in the last battle, the Phoenix had seemingly disappeared.
Harry knew better than to believe that the intelligent animal had died, but he had no idea
where he could have disappeared too for such a long time. Taking a deep breath, he opened
the door and walked in.

Inside the library were rows after rows of books. All kinds of books, that had been gathered
over years since the beginning of the Potter line, maybe even earlier. Though the Potter's
collection did not have many books on dark magic, because the family had always been on the
light side and if a family member did turn dark, they would not have been able to inherit the
manor. The library was painted in a typical Gryffindor dark red color and golden armchairs were
located in every corner and in the middle of the room. They were plushy and soft to sit on.
They had fallen asleep in them, while reading or researching some book late at night, more
times than Harry could count.

Harry's searching eyes immediately found the Phoenix, who was resting on a table in the middle
of the room. Harry absently noticed the book next to the animal hadn't been there last time he
left the library. Turning his attention to Fawkes again, the bird chirped happily. The bird took to
the air and quickly landed on his shoulder. Harry petted the Phoenix lightly and the bird cooed
softly.

"What do you want, my beautiful friend?" Harry asked, puzzled while watching the bird enjoy
himself under Harry's soft caressing.

Fawkes butted lightly at Harry's head and pointed slightly at the book on the table with his wing.
The young wizard quickly understood what the bird intended for him. He walked forward and
picked up the book on the table. With a shock he recognized the book immediately. The book
with the title "Ducem ad Aliena Mundos" had all five of them read countless times together,
and suddenly he knew exactly what Fawkes wanted him to do.
Harry turned his head around to watch the bird perched on his shoulder sadly. He caressed the
Phoenix softly and whispered gently, but it was heard through the whole library despite the low
tone.
"So it is time for me to finally go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So that was the first chapter! I hope you all like it! The next chapter will come up when I get
the time to look it over.

Bye everyone, see ya in the next chapter.

Next chapter: Preparation
~~Gloriosa Lily~~