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Chapter Text

It was a warm 9:00 AM morning of July 5, 1996, and Harry Potter was one, angry teen wizard because he was forced (for the umpteenth time) to return to the Dursleys. He was pondering his thoughts while mopping the kitchen floor. Professor Dumbledore claimed that Harry was safer with his relatives than anywhere else despite the way the Dursleys treated him. After Dumbledore revealed a prophecy claiming that Harry or Voldemort had to kill each other for the other one to survive, Harry was angry that the headmaster continued to interfere with his life. Harry refrained from destroying the headmaster's office, but he still had enough of being used as a pawn. To add more fuel to the fire, Harry's supposed best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, told Harry that they were instructed not to contact him so he could 'grieve for Sirius,' even though Harry needed someone to talk to. Ron and Hermione's only lame defence for it was that Dumbledore 'said so.'

'This is the final straw!' Harry thought in anger, finally having had enough of being treated like a pawn and the hero while getting almost nothing in return. 'I've had enough with the ole coot's meddling with my life, he has no right to tell me how I should live my life. If Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley wanna continue worshipping Dumbledore, then they can just forget about interacting with me. I know Mrs. Weasley tried to control activity in Sirius' house and that was rude, she had no right to do that in someone else's house and I know she treated me like a child by trying to help Dumbledore keep me in the bloody dark. I should've known that Hermione would betray me again if it meant being told information while I'm kept in the dark and getting books, so what'll stop her?'

Harry's anger towards Hermione was just as bad if not more so. It hurt to realize that Hermione never genuinely cared about him and that she loved books more than anything (possibly except for Dumbledore, who she deeply idolized). It was enough to make him want to cry, but he refrained because the Dursleys 'taught' him that crying was a sign of weakness, that it never helped anyone regardless, and that it would make his punishments worse. The more he thought about it, the more Harry realized that Ron and Hermione were also more concerned with maintaining their privileges as Hogwarts prefects than they were over Harry's needs and safety.

'I shouldn't have forgiven Ron for abandoning me in the Triwizard Tournament, he didn't even really apologize for that.' Harry continued pondering his thoughts. 'He just admitted that someone was out to kill me in a rather half-hearted tone of voice, not even close to being heartfelt. I also know what Ginny's ulterior motive is: to eventually marry her hero, the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. She won't be getting any chances to date me; I know that she always sucks up to me when she does 'nice things' for me. I even know that she set me up in the Chamber of Secrets disaster by deliberately making herself to be the damsel-in-distress to have me 'rescue' her. Endangering everybody at Hogwarts and almost getting several students, possibly many more, killed made her totally irredeemable. I also know Ginny doesn't hesitate with the name-calling because she dubbed Luna's degrading nickname 'Looney.' If most people in Magical England want to continue seeing me as their saviour one day and turn against me the next, they won't be getting my help anymore. They need to deal with Voldieshorts and his death-eaters themselves and stop relying on me.'

As Harry continued pondering his thoughts, he realized that Luna and his fellow Gryffindor Neville Longbottom were the only ones who tagged along with him for the sole purpose of being his friend and looking out for him. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were only sucking up to him and just wanted undeserved forgiveness. Harry began laughing some as he began planning to leave the country and away from the negative influences of those who betrayed him. Since the Dursleys were away in London for the day to celebrate Dudley 'passing' his fifth year at Smeltings, Harry was free to laugh and even be happy (since otherwise it would've been risky, knowing the Dursleys would’ve clobbered him just for enjoying himself). After he finished mopping, Harry went through his relatives' house to get all of his stuff packed and never return. Harry even planned to make sure his soon-to-be former head of house understood that he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts for his sixth year.

Once he got his stuff packed into his trunk (and a written note for Dumbledore put under his pillow) and double-checked to make sure he had all of his belongings, Harry grabbed his trunks handle, set it up onto it's wheels and began dragging it behind him while carrying Hedwig's empty cage in his other hand. Upon opening the door, Harry peeked his head out and checked his surroundings. So far the coast was clear, so he continued out and over to a safe area to summon the Knight Bus. Harry had no idea that Mundungus Fletcher (identified by his short stature, having bandy legs and long, straggly ginger hair) was sleeping close by the Dursleys house due to his snoring, even though he was supposed to be on watch. As soon as it was safe, Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the street to summon the Knight Bus (a purple triple-decker bus with large wheels).

'This could be the right time to plan which countries I can visit,' thought Harry, as the Knight Bus began carrying him and some other passengers to different destinations. 'As soon as Hedwig returns to me, I'll explain to her to stay behind for fear of our safety. Maybe Neville can look after her if he and his gran are alright with it. It's time she be informed that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are just as untrustworthy as Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley. I'll even let Neville and Luna know what I plan to do, since they're trustworthy enough. I'll even let Fred, George, and Lee know, since their joke shop was started because of me. They know it would be too risky to betray me after everything I did for them. I'll go to Gringotts first and see if my parents left a will, since I know they had to in order to name Sirius my legal guardian and godfather.'

After making four stops along the way, the Knight Bus stopped in front of the Leaky Cauldron (since that was where he planned to go). After getting Harry's trunk off, Stan Shunpike (the conductor who had a few pimples on his face) bade Harry goodbye before the bus drove off and disappeared. Harry began walking up to the door to open it, but the door flew open before he could (luckily, he was out of the door's range, so he didn't have to worry about getting hurt). Behind the door was revealed to be a girl with shoulder-length platinum-blonde hair hanging down, bright-blue eyes, and was dressed in a sky-blue short-sleeve polo shirt, a pair of light-gray jeans, and a pair of gray trainers. Harry recognized the girl before him as Fleur Delacour's sister, Gabrielle, and she appeared to be closer to his age, unlike what she looked like on the day of the second task in the Triwizard Tournament.

"It's great to see you again, Harry!" Gabrielle greeted him with a smile.

"It's great to see you too, Gabrielle!" Harry greeted back, returning the smile. "You look different compared to the last time I saw you."

"Alot has changed since." said Gabrielle. Then she looked at Harry's trunk behind him and his owl's cage in the other hand and asked, "How come you have your stuff with you?"

"It's a long story," Harry explained. "Which was why I came here to go to Gringotts because I needed to see if they left a will for me."

"I see," said Gabrielle. "Maybe we'd better talk inside because talking with the door open will attract unwanted attention."

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement before following Gabrielle inside. Upon walking inside, Harry saw that the patrons stopped talking and faced him when he came in. A glare from Gabrielle resulted in everybody going back to minding their own business. The innkeeper, Tom, even looked over at Gabrielle in amazement. Gabrielle led Harry over to an isolated table, where they decided to sit across from each other. Harry decided to refrain from telling Gabrielle about his treatment at the Dursleys (for now, at least) because there could be someone close by who wouldn't hesitate to take that information back to Dumbledore. Gabrielle happened to conjure up what she told Harry was a privacy bubble, much to the raven-haired boy's relief.

"Anyway," Harry started explaining. "I came here so I could go to Gringotts to see if my parents left a will for me. My relatives despise me with a passion and have made that clear for as long as I can remember. My parents wouldn't have approved of me going there and Dumbledore defied that. I left my relatives place and have no intentions to go back. I plan to leave the country and get away before I lose my sanity."

"Why would Dumbledore force you to go back to your relatives if they hate you and you hate them?" asked Gabrielle.

"Dumbledore claimed that I was safer there than anywhere else," Harry replied. "Also claiming that he cast something called the Bond of Blood charm. He even told me some kind of prophecy explaining that neither Voldemort nor I can live while the other survives. That and my godfather's death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange was the final straw. It made me realize that Dumbledore is using me as a pawn. Ron and Hermione telling me that they were forbidden to contact me made that even more clear, especially with their lack of emotion. What's more outrageous is that Dumbledore didn't ask me if I wanted to be a part of his plan, he just forced me to do it and likely won't take 'no' for an answer."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Harry." said Gabrielle in a soft voice, reaching out and squeezing his hand in a comforting manner. "Fleur and I both know what it's like to be used or viewed as an object or even a prize. That's because we're quarter-veela, we have extreme outer beauty and veela allure. Our mother is half-veela and she's gone through the same thing me and Fleur are going through. We desire mates who go for inner beauty and friends who like us for who we are rather than for what we are. That makes it stressful for us and it stunts our physical growth. I may have looked like an eight-year-old at the time of the second task in that tournament, but I turned fourteen ten days earlier. When we find a mate who goes for inner beauty, we begin to catch up on our physical growth. After you saved me from the depths of the Black Lake, I began catching up on that. It even made me realize that you're one-in-a-million. For those who are full-veela or have the veela traits, the last of our physical growth will be caught up if we can get a passionate kiss from our chosen mate and it'll even unlock our full magical potential."

Harry was taken aback by the revelation and it made him even more furious with Dumbledore, Molly, Ron, Hermione, and even Ginny for keeping him ignorant of the wizarding world, which even made him happy that he decided that his friendships with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny was severed for good (even though Ginny wasn't really his friend, since she was a brown-noser for the Boy-Who-Lived), and happy to have stopped trusting Dumbledore and Molly. Harry got a little scared when he realized that Gabrielle likely chose him for a mate even if she didn't say so. Still, he wasn't upset by the revelation since Gabrielle was proving to be a nice and kind girl. Plus, she wasn't forcing him to do anything he didn't want to do, unlike the five manipulators who were now on his hate list. Harry even saw that Gabrielle was shedding tears, as she likely began deducing what Harry's life outside of Hogwarts was like. Harry could feel his heart breaking to see the quarter-veela before him in tears, a sight that he could never take well. Then he took a breath, having decided to show some Gryffindor courage.

"Gabrielle," Harry began asking. "Am I your... chosen mate?"

"Yes," Gabrielle admitted. "You're one-in-a-million and Fleur speculated that you're one of the 25% of wizards to be immune to the veela allure."

"What would happen to those with veela traits if they don't see their chosen mate after a certain period of time?" asked Harry, getting an icy feeling in his spine.

"We'll eventually sink into depression," stated Gabrielle. "It'll gradually worsen after a year of not seeing them in person, given how difficult it is for those with veela traits. That was why I came to visit Fleur since I needed that to help distract me and I even planned to go out into London. But in the back of my mind, I knew that I miss you since you're my chosen mate. When we crossed paths moments earlier, I was excited to see you again. I kept it under control because there was no need to squeal in excitement and I didn't want to attract unwanted attention for the both of us."

"I can't imagine a depressed look on your face, Gabrielle." Harry replied as he shuddered at the thought. Then he continued on, "If we're gonna share a kiss, I'd rather do that somewhere private."

"Maybe you can rent a room for today," suggested Gabrielle. "That way we can put up privacy bubbles in your rented room and go from there."

With a smile on his face, Harry cancelled the privacy bubble around the table he and Gabrielle shared before they got up and approached Tom. After paying the price for one night, Harry and Gabrielle followed Tom upstairs and over to room eight (since it was available). As soon as they were in, Harry and Gabrielle locked the door before adding the privacy bubble. Harry felt his heart beating in a mixture of fear and excitement and it made him stop in his tracks.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Gabrielle, her voice warm with concern.

"Yeah," stated Harry. "Just a little scared by this. I'm afraid that I'll mess it up."

"I understand," said Gabrielle in a soft voice. "But my maman told me that if you keep waiting, you'll never find out. Maman is french for mom."

Harry nodded his head to show that he understood. He took a deep breath and summoned his Gryffindor courage by planting his lips on Gabrielle's. Then they began their passionate kiss, with Gabrielle's hand cupping Harry's face just as Harry placed his hands on her waist. As the two continued kissing each other on the lips, Harry felt pain coming from his scar (pain that was higher than the Cruciatus Curse exposure) just as it turned into a dark-purple colour. Even with his face scrunching from the pain, Harry withstood it for the sake of making the kiss a really good one. Then he and Gabrielle glowed in and were surrounded by gold light. It was a good thing that they added the privacy bubbles since it prevented the glow of gold light surrounding them from shining through the window and from underneath the door where the other patrons could see it. Then a mist of dark-purple smoke escaped from within the scar as it screamed. Several items all over England which included Helga Hufflepuff's Cup in the Lestrange's vault in Gringotts, the Gaunt's Ring in the Gaunt shack, Salazar Slytherin's locket in Regulus' room at Twelve Grimmauld Place, and Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement had the same dark-purple smoke rising from the items they resided in and gradually dissipated in a chain reaction. As a matter of fact, Voldemort's snake Nagini was writhing in pain for several seconds before she disintegrated in the dark-purple smoke, then the smoke ultimately dissipated, much to the dark lord's shock.

"What just happened?" Voldemort demanded from his death eaters who weren't incarcerated (or re-incarcerated for a few).

They were in the meeting room at Lestrange Manor (since Bellatrix escaped recapture and was now a fugitive), going over plans for the Second Wizarding War. When he witnessed Nagini's demise, Voldemort began panicking because he couldn't understand what had happened. The death eaters in attendance began backing away in fear, knowing that the dark lord was on the verge of losing his temper. The death eaters couldn't come up with any explanation as they, too, were shocked by Nagini's demise. That didn't stop the darkest wizard of the century from throwing out Crucios at the death eaters closest to him while demanding answers for Nagini's demise. The gold light was still surrounding Harry and Gabrielle even when they finished their minute-long kiss and collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, taking deep breaths as they laid on their backs. They were still conscious as they saw the dark-purple smoke above them.

"Gabrielle, was that smokey thing probably within my scar?" asked Harry, once the dark-purple smoke dissipated completely.

"It might've been." Gabrielle deduced. After they caught their breath and sat up, Gabby looked at Harry's forehead to find the scar 95% invisible. It was enough for her to widen her eyes in shock and replied, "Yeah, it appears that whatever the dark-purple smokey thing was had been residing in your scar. Your scar is almost completely invisible now."

Harry got up onto his feet and lowered a hand to pull Gabrielle up onto her feet, then she led him over to the bathroom mirror. When he faced the mirror, Harry pushed his bangs up to get a good look and indeed, his scar was almost totally invisible, much to his relief.

"Do you think our kiss must've had something to do with that thing getting removed?" asked Harry.

"I believe so," Gabrielle deduced. "If that passionate kiss is to imply it, then the power of love also helped remove it."

"What shall we do now, Gabrielle?" asked Harry.

"Let's get your parents' will read, Harry." said Gabrielle softly. "You can call me Gabby if you wish. Friends and family call me Gabby since it isn't a mouthful to say."

"Okay. I just wasn't sure if you preferred Gabby or Gabrielle," said Harry. "I will call you Gabby from now on. I apologize for calling you Gabrielle."

Harry gave Gabby another kiss on the lips to prove how sorry he was. She accepted the kiss and when they were done, Gabby assured Harry that he didn't have to apologize. Harry pulled his wand out to help Gabby in cancelling the privacy bubbles, but he found his wand not working right. So, it was time that he needed to make a trip to Ollivander's after the reading of his parents' will was taken care of. So, Gabby cancelled the privacy bubble and unlocked the door with the unlocking charm due to it being locked by a spell. Then they left the room and over to the entrance to Diagon Alley. Harry used his wand to tap the brick wall three up and two across to see if that worked and it still worked since the bricks began rearranging themselves. When that was finished, Harry and Gabby stepped out into the shopping district and began heading for the marble building known as Gringotts Wizarding Bank while holding hands.

Concurrently, Albus Dumbledore (identified by his silver beard and long silver hair, as well as his blue eyes and half-moon spectacles) was just returning to his office at Hogwarts. He finished another meeting for the Order of the Phoenix at the Burrow and the headmaster returned to continue monitoring his silver instruments. One of them monitored the blood charms around the Dursleys' house and the other one monitored the tracking charm he placed on Harry the night he brought him to live with his 'loving' family. Upon sitting down, Albus widened his eyes and dropped his jaw in shock to find both instruments have stopped working. Albus started panicking especially with the instrument monitoring the tracking charm having stopped (due to it emitting green smoke), since that meant he couldn't keep track of Harry. The silver instrument monitoring the blood charms was emitting gray smoke, which meant that the charms had collapsed and stopped working.

'Where the heck is Harry?' thought Albus. 'Better check his family's house, Mundungus will know if something happened since he's on guard duty.'

Hoping that it was all an overreaction, Dumbledore fire-called Molly at the Burrow and asked her to head over to Privet Drive and that he would meet her there. Once the headmaster apparated over to an alley close to Privet Drive, he and Molly transfigured their outfits into muggle clothing before emerging and heading for number four. Once there, they saw that the Dursleys' were out somewhere because their car wasn't in the driveway. Hearing some snoring, Albus and Molly followed the source and saw that Mundungus dozed off, it even looked like he'd been napping for quite a while.

"Fletcher!" Molly half-shouted, causing the man to jolt awake.

"Huh?! Did I miss something?" asked Mundungus groggily.

"Yes, you have!" snapped Molly. "Harry is gone and we have no idea where he's at."

"What do you mean?" Mundungus replied. "He's fine, no yelling or window breaking or anything along the lines."

"His family isn't home," Molly snapped again. "It's too quiet, so don't sit there telling me that everything is fine!"

"We'd better go inside and find some clues," said Albus. "Surely Harry had to have left something behind that give us a hint on where he went."

So the three adults headed into the backyard, unlocked the back door, and began searching throughout the house to find something that would let Albus and Molly know where Harry was. The three adults made it upstairs and over to the smallest bedroom, since the door was still open. They were confused by the cat flap next to the door and peeking in they saw the remains of bars over the window (something they should've seen from outside, but they ignored it to focus on entering the house).

"Harry won't trust us again, Albus!" Molly commented. "It'll be too late to apologize to him."

"He's still safer here than anywhere else, Molly," said Albus. "He must fulfill his destiny, it's for the Greater Good after all."

Molly stood in her spot thinking the situation over for a minute. It seemed like she was having second thoughts and reconsidering her involvement in the Greater Good plan, but ultimately she shrugged her shoulders and continued helping Albus and Mundungus look for clues to Harry's whereabouts. Albus lifted the pillow on the bed up to find a folded-up piece of parchment. The headmaster picked the note up, unfolded it and showed it to Molly and Mundungus. The note read:

You lost, old man! I finally realized that you were using me as a bloody pawn in your Greater Good plan. Did you really think I wasn't going to find out as soon as you revealed that prophecy to me? You never asked me if I wanted to be a part of it, you just practically forced me to do it and never took ‘no’ for a bloody answer. I'm leaving to start a new life far away from this shithole of a country where I'm despised by my relatives and most of our world treating me like a hero one day and despising me the next while expecting me to play the bloody hero whenever a threat flares up. I'm starting my new life far away from here with no intentions of returning, deal with your problems yourself. Do not come after me to convince me to return because the answer will always be 'no.' Make sure you pass that message to your minions, so they know not to interfere with my life. Take care of your problems yourself and quit having me deal with them, that's the ultimatum.

Harry

The three adults just stared at the letter, paste-white with fright to find out that Harry was leaving their problems to themselves (especially Albus and Molly). The note didn't even leave a clue as to where Harry was planning to go, causing Dumbledore to sweat profusely because (in his mind) Magical England needed their saviour to keep them safe from the darkest wizard of the 20th century. Knowing that the Dursleys were bound to be back any moment, the three adults reluctantly left the house through the back door and locked it before leaving for the alley to apparate back to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts. Once they were there, Albus and Molly took turns ripping Mundungus a new one for napping on the job of guarding the Dursleys' house and giving Harry the opportunity to escape.

Chapter Text

Harry and Gabby spent the next half-an-hour or so at Gringotts since Harry didn't just have his parents' will to read, he also got to read Sirius' will (something Dumbledore also neglected to tell the raven-haired boy). While Harry was now Kreacher’s new master, Twelve Grimmauld Place was going on the market (also mentioned in the will, since Sirius knew that Harry likely didn’t want Grimmauld Place, especially with Harry having his family manor). Harry also found out that his unwilling participation in the Triwizard Tournament resulted in him becoming emancipated due to it being meant for adults and the minimum age for emancipation happened to be thirteen. Harry even got the paperwork signed before Ragnok could get it delivered to the ministry. That one required Harry's blood signature and when Harry explained his experience with the blood quill (even showing the back of his hand with the scars to prove it) to Ragnok, the head of Gringotts told Harry that he could sue Dolores Umbridge, a witch who looked like a toad in pink cardigan who loved nothing more than to abuse her power. Harry decided he wasn't going to press charges against her because he was already planning to leave the country. 

Harry was given a new key after he had his trust vault cleared and even a debit/credit card that could be used in the muggle world. After leaving Gringotts, Harry and Gabby headed for the owl post office so Harry could apply for a magical passport, which worked like a muggle one and as a bonus, magical passports had charms on them to look like muggle passports just (just like the debit/credit card) in case wizards and witches who were muggle-raised wanted to travel by muggle means. Plus, magical passports would take a couple weeks, maybe a month tops, to be made depending on the circumstances. Harry and Gabby smiled at that, especially Harry since it gave him an idea to take Gabby on a cruise liner. Harry decided to keep his Potter account open for this Gringotts chain, but he was thinking about transferring the Black money to a new vault once he made it to the USA (but didn’t fully decide on it yet). Once business at the owl post office was taken care of, Harry and Gabby headed for the Ministry of Magic so Harry could fill out emancipation documents in Amelia’s office, since she was the head of the DMLE after all. As soon as that was done, Harry and Gabby headed back to Diagon Alley to find a clothing store that sold muggle clothing.

"Gabby," Harry started asking. "If your parents approve of it, would you like to join me on my vacation?"

"Yes, I'd be happy to!" Gabby replied in an ecstatic voice. Then she continued on in a normal voice, "Maman and papa would love to personally meet you. Perhaps we can stop in France first and maybe spend a couple days there before we leave. What country do you plan to go to?"

"I was thinking of the United States of America," said Harry. "The further I am away from Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Granger, and the two youngest Weasleys, the better and the more relaxed I'll feel."

"Sounds like a plan, Harry!" Gabby replied, again in an ecstatic voice.

'After Gabby and I finish shopping for clothes,' thought Harry. 'I'll head to the Daily Prophet and get my goodbye words published and have it wait until September second before it gets published. Since everyone in magical England won't see my departure coming, they'll just expect me to come back and continue playing the bloody hero. Then I'll head to Ollivander's and get a new wand, since my old one doesn't work for me as well.'

Harry and Gabby spent around half an hour purchasing some outfits and even swimsuits just in case they wanted to go swimming during their vacation. Once that was done, Harry and Gabby's respective clothes were put in separate bottomless shopping bags, with Harry paying for it (since the Potters were some of the richest families in Great Britain, richer than the Malfoys). Since the Daily Prophet office was closer to the clothing store, Harry and Gabby headed there so Harry could tell the editors there what he had to say to most of the citizens in Magical Britain, which was enough to make Gabby smirk. The chief editor, Barnabas Cuffe (a tall man with gray hair and fair skin), looked up when he heard the bell ringing to signal visitors entering the building. Barnabas saw Harry and Gabby walking up to the counter with stern expressions, making the chief editor realize that the two meant business... big time.

"Hello, Mr. Potter!" Barnabas greeted. "What may I do for you and your friend today?"

"To inform you that I can sue the Daily Prophet," Harry informed the chief editor (who was turning paste-white with fright). "Since Rita Skeeter still works here and has slandered me countless times and worst of all, she never asks me for permission to use my name to print those cock-and-bull stories about me, she just goes ahead and does it like it's no big deal."

"Anything I can do to convince you not to?" asked Barnabas, trying to remain calm as best as he could.

"Yes," stated Harry. "I'm willing to spare you from being sued if you fire Skeeter from her job, since she'll do anything to keep me in the spotlight against my will. And if you can find a writer here who is more concerned about the truth, I'd greatly appreciate it."

The chief editor immediately got up and asked Harry and Gabby to follow him. He led the teens over to one office and knocked on the door. A couple seconds later, the person (who sounded like a woman with a husky voice) called for her visitors to come in. Upon walking into the office, Harry saw the name on the plaque on top of the desk that said: Florence Bennett. Florence had brown hair that was in an elegant bun and she appeared to be in her mid to late thirties, possibly early 40s. She seemed to be tall for a lady, but it was hard to tell because she was sitting down behind her desk. She was dressed in a white long-sleeve blouse and likely a black shin-length skirt over black tights, and black high heel shoes. Florence was also wearing a pair of reading glasses, but she pulled them off and set them down next to a stack of paperwork and gave Harry and Gabby a warm smile.

"Hello, Mr. Potter!" Florence greeted, getting up onto her feet and holding a hand out. "I'm Florence Bennett."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am!" Harry greeted back, shaking Florence's hand.

Barnabas left the office to give the three some space, just as Gabby made her introductions with Florence. Then Florence sat back down in her chair while Harry and Gabby took their seats in front of the desk. Harry already knew what he wanted to say in his article, but he decided not to have anybodys' names published since he wasn't willing to sink to Rita's level. Instead, if he needed to allude to any person, Harry was going to just give some descriptions to let the others guess who he was referring to. However, Harry decided to just have it be a bitter farewell letter to let Magical England know how much they screwed up.

"So what may I do for you today, Harry?" asked Florence.

"Well," Harry began explaining. "I wish to have an article published about how I feel about the majority of Magical England. I even asked Barnabas to look for a writer who cared more about the truth than cock-and-bull stories."

"And I'm the right person for that, Harry," assured Florence. "I care more about the truth than lies, since lying about anything doesn't get you anywhere. Would you like this article to be in interview form?"

"No thank you!" Harry politely declined. Then he clarified, "Just a long-overdue rant in letter form to show the majority of Magical Britain the error of pushing my buttons the hard way."

"When would you like this article to be published?" asked Florence.

"Around lunchtime on September second please," said Harry. "Since I'll already be out of this country by then."

"Where will you leave to, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Florence.

"Well, probably to the United States, since the further I am away from my manipulators, the better," stated Harry. Then he turned to Gabby and continued, "But first, stopping in France would be better. I'll need to meet Gabby's parents properly, since they've been wanting to for a while now."

As soon as Harry was ready to tell Florence what he wanted written in the article, the journalist put her reading glasses back on and wrote down everything Harry said in regards to giving Magical Britain the wake-up call they needed. After Harry gave Florence everything he wanted said to be published, he and Gabby thanked the journalist for their time before leaving. Harry made sure to inform Barnabas of the article he wanted published and told him to wait until around lunchtime of September second before the publishing. The article ended up costing one-hundred-and-fifty galleons, but Harry paid double to better ensure the article wouldn't get published until the desired date. Then Harry and Gabby left the Daily Prophet office and began heading for Ollivander's Wand Shop. Harry opened the door and let Gabby walk inside the wand shop first. When the bell rang to signal customers, Garrick Ollivander (a fair-skinned elderly man with silver eyes and shoulder-length white hair) looked up from the paperwork he was going through and greeted Harry and Gabby with a smile.

"Hello Mr. Potter, Miss Delacour!" Garrick responded in a warm voice. "How may I help you?"

"Well," Harry explained, pulling his wand out and showing it to the wand maker. "Earlier today, some unexplained phenomenon resulted in my wand no longer working properly."

"Alright, let's find you a new wand, Mr. Potter." said Garrick with realization.

Harry handed his bag of new clothes to Gabby before she walked over to the waiting chairs and sat down on one of them. Harry went through trying five wands that just didn't want him before Garrick walked over to a shelf that contained a single gold box, pulled it out and walked back towards the counter. Then he opened the box, pulled the wand (which was gold in colour, counting the handle, and had the top of the handle embedded with rubies) out and handed it to Harry. When he grabbed the wand's handle, Harry felt some warmth flow through the wand and into his body, meaning that the wand chose him.

"That's also a holly wand," Garrick informed Harry. "It's really rare to find or construct any in gold colour. The wand's core is a sliver of bone that came from a Hungarian Horntail."

Harry widened his eyes in shock when he found out, but came to realize that his fighting against a Hungarian Horntail in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament had to have played a role in the wand accepting him. Even Gabby had a surprised expression on her face, since Fleur told her what kind of dragon Harry had to face. Garrick even gave Harry and Gabby a wand holster each on the house before Harry paid for the wand. Then Harry holstered his wand just as he and Gabby (who also holstered her wand) left the wand shop. They passed by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but it didn't look like there was anything going on inside. So Harry and Gabby continued down the walkway to return to the Leaky Cauldron. As Harry and Gabby passed by Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, they spotted a familiar asian girl with shoulder-length black sitting at one of the outside tables eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Harry knew that the asian girl was Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw student who finished her sixth year. Feeling bad about their fight several weeks ago, Harry whispered to Gabby that he was going to apologize to Cho and the young Delacour girl nodded her head in both acknowledgement and approval before she and Harry walked up to the table Cho was sitting at.

"Hey, Cho!" Harry greeted, resulting in the asian girl lifting her head up to face the raven-haired boy.

"Hey, Harry!" Cho greeted back with a smile. "You and Gabrielle can take seats if you'd like."

"Thank you, Cho!" said Harry and Gabby in unison, as they took seats across from the Ravenclaw girl.

"How are you doing, Harry?" asked Cho.

"Better and more relaxed now, since I don't have Dumbledore and his helpers on my tail." said Harry with relief in his voice. Then he apologized, "I'm sorry about that fight we had, Cho. That was uncalled for, even if the emotional baggage thrust upon me hit an all-time high."

"I'm sorry, too, Harry!" Cho apologized in a sincere voice. "We should've been mature about it, but that was also a moment where my emotions got the best of me."

"Did the boils across Marietta's face go away, or are they still there spelling out 'sneak'?" asked Harry.

"She still has them and she's been trying to keep them covered," Cho explained. "It was really hard for her, too. She even told me how the toad tried shaking her for information in a violent manner, making Marietta even more regretful over snitching. Marietta will sometimes cry herself to sleep on some nights before going to sleep."

"Dang!" Harry replied in a mixture of shock and regret. "I can't believe that I even said that Hermione's jinx was a good one. How could I have been so stupid to have said that? I was even behaving like a five-year-old at the time of our fight, I find it harder to believe it now. Even if my emotional baggage was at it's highest, the fight and taking Hermione's side was uncalled for. I now realize that she bullied me into being the leader for Dumbledore's Army, which was the worst name for the organization and I was happy with calling it the defence association, especially with Dumbledore not being involved in it at all."

"At least you're admitting that you were in the wrong, Harry!" Gabby assured him in a comforting voice, gently squeezing one of hands to help Harry relax. "When you do that, people will respect you more."

"Gabby's right, Harry, you admitted your mistakes, and I even admitted mine." said Cho. "So Hermione never told any of us about the parchment we signed our names on being jinxed. I wouldn't be surprised that Granger compelled Marietta into snitching on all of us to test if the jinx worked the way she intended. Granger bullied many other students and she never gets punished for it, instead she passes herself off as the victim while painting the real victims in a negative light. Ronald likely does the same thing because of his insensitive comments, being insensitive to others' feelings, and gross table manners. That's why you never got to have many friends because those two bully others into staying away from you so they could keep your friendship all to themselves.”

"I've finally realized what their real intentions were," stated Harry. "Better late than never, but I still realized what kind of people they really are. My friendship with them has been permanently severed."

"What about Ronald's sister? She goes off claiming that you two were destined for each other." Cho replied.

"I'll never be interested in Ginevra, she's just as bad as Ronald and Granger," said Harry. "Ginevra only does nice things for me when it's beneficial for her. I can tell that she's only sucking up to me and I really hate that, combined with her staring and blushing madly in my presence because it's rather creepy. Plus, she spends 95% of the time ignoring and/or keeping her distance from me. She’s always been the ultimate BWL fangirl, and she’s never gonna see me for just Harry."

Harry and Cho even shook hands to make their apology clearer. Since Cho still had quite a bit of ice cream in her bowl, Harry asked Gabby what flavour she'd like. After Gabby requested cotton-candy flavour ice cream, Harry got up to get himself and Gabby some ice cream. Harry requested bubblegum flavour ice cream and told the employee to get a bowl of cotton candy ice cream after he told him that that one was for his girlfriend. Once he got the ice cream, Harry returned to the table he, Gabby and Cho were occupying and set Gabby's bowl of ice cream in front of her. A couple of spoons appeared right next to Harry's and Gabby's ice cream bowls so they could use it to eat the tasty dessert. It wasn't long after that before Harry, Gabby, and Cho received some more visitors. Neville Longbottom (a brown-haired portly boy who was one of Harry's fellow Gryffindor students in his year) and Luna Lovegood (a Ravenclaw girl with shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair, silver eyes, a necklace made of butterbeer corks and radishes for earrings) showed up and greeted the three. Harry, Gabby, and Cho allowed Neville and Luna (who were holding hands) to join them.

"I won't be returning to Hogwarts," Harry informed Neville, Luna, and Cho. "I've had enough being put in danger and being seen as a hero trying to save our world, especially with most of our fellow students treating me like dragon dung. They've just proven themselves to be ungrateful bastards."

"I'd do the same if I was in your shoes, Harry," stated Neville. "It really isn't fair to have you do the tasks meant for adults."

"And Dumbledore forcing me to do those things made it worse," said Harry. "He doesn't want me to live a wonderful life. Ronald, Granger, and Ginevra are told all kinds of information that Dumbledore has in store for me while keeping me in the dark. No more playing the hero for me, it's time those idiots who refused to have an individual thought learn that the hard way and come to accept reality."

"What do you plan to do, Harry?" asked Luna.

"Get out of this country before I run the risk of losing my sanity," said Harry. "France will be my first stop, so I can properly meet Gabby and Fleur's parents and maybe get permission to have her tag along with me to the United State of America. I'd love to invite you three along as well, but I'd need your parents or guardians' permission."

"No, you and Gabby have your alone time, Harry," said Neville and Luna in unison. "Besides, that could make Dumbledore and any of his minions suspicious if we were to leave at the same time you left."

"You won't need my parents' permission, Harry. I'm already seventeen, and have been for three months," stated Cho. "But I'm going to let you and Gabby have some time to yourselves."

"It's nice to see you without Weasley or Granger for once, Harry!" four familiar voices chorused.

That resulted in Harry, Gabby, Cho, Neville, and Luna turning their attention to the source of the voices. The voices came from four Hufflepuff students in Harry and Neville's year: Susan Bones (who had shoulder-length bright-copper hair hanging down and light-brown eyes), Hannah Abbott (who had blue eyes and blonde hair in long pigtails), Ernie MacMillan (a stout-looking blonde-haired boy with hazel eyes), and Justin Finch-Fletchley (a brown-haired boy with brown eyes). After receiving permission, the four Hufflepuffs joined Harry, Gabby, Cho, Neville, and Luna at the table. Then Harry and Gabby took turns telling them about their kiss, how it unlocked more magical power for them, how Harry rescuing Gabby resulted in her choosing him as her potential mate, and how it allowed Gabby to catch up on the rest of her physical growth after her kiss with Harry managed to get rid of the stress having veela traits came with. In fact, Harry and Gabby even explained how they were planning on leaving the country for a long-earned vacation but planning to stop in France first so Harry can meet Fleur and Gabby's parents. That left the rest of their friends surprised because of their widened eyes, but they came to understand and accept it.

"Where do you plan to go after your time in France is up?" Ernie asked Harry and Gabby, making sure not to be too loud.

"The United States," stated Harry, following Ernie's example. "Gabby and I will want to get away from Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Ronald, Ginevra, and Granger and stay as far away from them as possible. It appears as though they were the masterminds in keeping me as friendless and miserable as possible."

"Harry and I will probably stay in France for at least a couple days or at least spend a couple days with my parents," said Gabby. "Since they have been wanting to meet Harry for quite a while now. That may be the right time for me to sign some documents so I can become emancipated."

"Granger and the two youngest Weasleys were the reason nobody tried going near you, Harry," said Susan. "Those three were, and still are, arrogant and selfish; not to mention that they bully anybody into staying away from you just so they could rub it in everyones' faces that they got to be friends with the Boy-Who-Lived while nobody else could get the chance. Granger even threatened to bring Dumbledore in if the other students refused to go away. Those three were so terrible that very few would want to go near them."

"I did finally figure that out," said Harry. "I just can't believe how stupid I was to continue going back to them when they've been double-crossing me all this time."

"No need to dwell on it, Harry," assured Gabby, grabbing a hold of his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. "Better late than never."

"Would you like to have some people spy for you, Harry?" Hannah offered. "Even if it may be difficult to spy on Dumbledore since he's usually in his office outside school feasts and meals, some of us can help keep an annoyingly close watch on Ronald, Ginevra, and Granger, if you want."

"It would be a great way of giving them some payback," said Justin. "Since they always made sure they stayed close to you 'for your own protection,' as they put it. Granger likely stayed close to you for her own protection, so she won't have to deal with all the other students voicing their hatred towards her."

"Granger is definitely the poster child for being a teacher's pet," stated Susan. "Not to mention that she's also the class A hypocrite with so many double-standards that it’s not even close to funny."

"We can even give you a life and magical oath if it makes you feel better, Harry." Cho suggested.

"No, no, you don't need to do that," said Harry. "I don't want you to have to take those oaths unless it's a last resort. If Ronald, Granger, and Ginevra do ask you questions regarding me, you can always play dumb by pretending not to know what they're talking about."

"That would make those three frustrated," said Susan with a smirk. "But it'll be funny for most of our fellow students, since Granger, Ronald, and Ginevra are already outcasts enough as it is."

"Playing dumb would definitely help give those three a taste of their own medicine!" Hannah concurred.

That had the entire group laughing at the image of Ron, Ginny, and Hermione getting frustrated anytime they'd try to ask someone if they knew Harry's whereabouts. The four Hufflepuffs then remembered that they had business to take care of, so they said their goodbyes to Harry, Gabby, Cho, Neville, and Luna before walking away.

"Neville, would you be willing to look after Hedwig for a while?" Harry asked, before explaining. "Since she's too recognizable, I'm concerned that if I were to write letters for you, Luna, Cho, or anybody that it would make it easier for Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Granger, Ronald, and Ginevra to try and track me down. They'll know Hedwig's identity and Dumbledore especially will even try to cast a tracking charm on her before following her to where my location may be and try to guilt trip me into being the one to defeat the darkest wizard of the century. Dumbledore may even try to intercept the letters if it means tracking me down somehow. I can pay you so you can have enough money to get her owl treats if it makes you feel better."

"I don't see why not," said Neville. "But you don't have to pay me, Harry. I'd be happy to take care of Hedwig for you for a while. If I remember right, her favourite food is bacon?"

"Yes, she'll do anything for bacon," Harry confirmed. "You give her bacon, she'll be your friend for life."

"If it helps, Harry," Luna suggested. "We can take turns looking after Hedwig for you, that way it'll make it harder for your manipulators to try and find who Hedwig's secondary caregivers are, should they ever figure it out."

Harry nodded his head in agreement with that suggestion, as did Neville, Gabby, and Cho. It wasn't long before Hedwig spotted Harry and flew down to drop something in his lap. Spotting the Hogwarts logo on the envelope, Harry realized that it was his OWL results before he started stroking Hedwig's feathers affectionately after the snowy owl landed on his left shoulder (since Gabby was sitting by his left). Then Hedwig leaned forward as if to give Gabby permission to stroke her feathers and Gabby did so, laughing as she stroked Hedwig (who was hooting in approval and with affection). It took a few minutes for Hedwig to warm up to Neville, Luna, and Cho, since she wasn't sure if they had intentions to harm him or not. After Neville, Luna and Cho finished their introductions to Hedwig, Harry turned to his owl to tell her what she needed to be prepared for.

"Hedwig," Harry began filling the owl in. "You're going to have to stay here in England for a while. Neville, Luna, and Cho have even offered to take turns looking after you. If you were to deliver me mail while I'm in the United States with Gabby, that'll make it easier for Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny to track me down if any of them were to cast a tracking charm on you. Your snowy appearance will make you too recognizable, so staying here in England will keep you safe. That's why Neville, Luna, and Cho have offered to take turns watching you to throw my manipulators off track. Don't worry, you'll get to spend some time with me and Gabby before we leave for France tomorrow. Before that moment, I'll be writing a letter for Professor McGonagall and have you deliver it. Then after that, report to Longbottom Manor so Neville can keep an eye on you."

Hedwig hooted in understanding before Neville stroked her again as a way of letting her know that he was more than happy to look after her. Hedwig even realized that it was time for her to even find better people to associate with and that was a first step in that direction. Soon it was time for the five to leave the ice cream parlour, so Harry and Gabby said their goodbyes to Neville, Luna, and Cho while promising that they would remain in contact. Neville and Luna headed off towards another part of the shopping district while Harry and Gabby saw Cho heading for Flourish & Blotts. After they were back in Harry's rented room in the Leaky Cauldron and he put the scroll with his OWL results in his trunk, Harry got out some parchment and a pen (since Harry wasn't up for using a quill and dipping it in an ink bottle) to write a note to Professor McGonagall because she needed a wake-up call just as much as most of magical Britain. Harry gave Hedwig some more affectionate stroking before tying the letter for his soon-to-be former head of house to Hedwig's legs so she could deliver it. Then Harry wrote a note for Neville explaining that the cage was for Hedwig for her to sleep in. Then Harry put the cage right by the bathroom door and attached the note there so he could have it delivered later, since he knew that Neville was spending time with Luna.

"Shall we go out into London, my sweet lady?" Harry asked Gabby.

"Yes, we shall, Harry!" said Gabby as she and Harry shared a smile.

Then they left the room and subsequently the tavern to explore London for a while. Harry even assured Gabby that they wouldn't have too much to worry about out in Muggle London, since the media in the wizarding world wouldn't think of going out into the muggle world just to look for him. That allowed the two some time to themselves without being hounded, greatly relieving them, given Harry being seen as the Boy-Who-Lived and Gabby being seen as a potential trophy wife due to her veela heritage giving her extreme outer beauty. Exploring London even gave Harry and Gabby the opportunity to think about where in the United States they wanted to visit.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile at the Burrow, Molly was just coming home through the floo network with Albus in tow. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were in the living room getting the long table set up for another meeting with the order. The three teens spotted Dumbledore and Molly looking all flustered, much to their surprise because they thought that everything was under control.

"Mum, what happened?" asked Ron.

"Fletcher!" Molly replied in an irritable voice. "He had been sleeping on the job and now, Harry left his family's house without any sort of clue as to where he may be."

"So you ripped him a new one?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, Albus and I both did." Molly told her daughter.

"When will Harry be back?" asked Ginny, pretending to be worried.

"Hopefully soon, sweetie!" Molly assured her daughter. "He's just pretty upset about the events of the previous year and losing Sirius. But he'll come around and come here as soon as it's his birthday."

"But where is Harry?" asked Hermione.

"We don't know, Hermione," said Molly. "He could be anywhere."

"But he's still in England, right?" asked Hermione.

"More than likely," Molly deduced. "He can't be far from Privet Drive."

"Maybe Ron, Ginny, and I can ask his family," Hermione suggested. "Maybe they know where Harry is and we can ask them for any leads."

"Shall we have dad join us, mum?" asked Ron.

"Your father left with Fred and George to celebrate the grand opening for their joke shop," Molly informed her youngest son, some irritation in her voice. "They left for their vacation and will be gone for a month. I wonder where Fred and George got the money anyway, since I didn't approve of them opening a joke shop."

"Molly, we need to get back on track," Albus reminded her, Hermione and the two youngest Weasleys. "Harry is the key to taking Voldemort down."

"Oh, right!" Molly replied with realization. Then she turned to Hermione and continued, "Yes, go over to the Dursleys and ask them for any leads to Harry's whereabouts. If you find Harry anywhere, instruct him to return to his home and assure him that we'll come get him on his birthday."

"I'll send word to Tonks to keep a lookout for Harry," said Albus. "And she can give me information as to what happened to Harry, if she finds any or if she spots him anywhere."

Hermione and Ginny nodded their heads dutifully before going to Ginny's room. Ron began heading up to his room, but he was deep in thought. He seemed to be coming to his senses about the situation regarding Harry and realizing that Harry wanted none of his fame nor did he want to be at the Dursleys. However, Ron ultimately shrugged his shoulders before going to his room, proving that he was going to obey his mother and Dumbledore in getting Harry back to the Dursleys rather than take the chance to redeem himself. Ron wasn't in his room for very long when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to find Hermione and Ginny waiting for him.

"Come on," said Hermione, gesturing for Ron to follow her and Ginny. "We'll take the Knight Bus over to Harry's family."

With that decision made, Ron followed Hermione and Ginny out of the house and over towards a road approximately forty feet from the Burrow. Hermione whipped her wand out and pointed it toward the road to summon the Knight Bus. A horn went off and a minute or so later, the Knight Bus (which was a purple triple-decker bus on a gigantic set of wheels) drove up and stopped right beside the three teens. After Hermione paid for the fare for the three of them, Stan Shunpike (a pimply man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties) allowed them on the bus. Hermione told Stan that she, Ron, and Ginny intended to go to Privet Drive in Little Whinging before rejoining Ron and Ginny. Then the bus took off, making some stops along the way and after ten to fifteen minutes, the bus arrived at Privet Drive. Ron, Hermione and Ginny got off the bus and headed for the Dursleys' house. The three spotted the Dursleys getting out of their car and walking up to the front door. The teens walked slowly towards Number Four to give the Dursleys some time to get inside. Then the three approached the Dursleys' front door, with Hermione knocking on the door thrice. The door opened and it was revealed to be Harry's aunt Petunia.

"What is it? What do you want?" barked the Dursley matriarch.

"To ask if you have any idea where Harry is." said Hermione.

"We don't know and we don't care," snapped Petunia. "Now be gone with you!"

"Will this be enough for you to let us in," said Hermione, handing a couple fifty-pound notes to Petunia. "So we can search Harry's room and find clues as to where he wandered off to?"

"Alright," said Petunia reluctantly, taking the money from Hermione. "But don't take too long."

Petunia opened the door wider to allow Hermione, Ron, and Ginny inside before returning to the living room. Vernon almost blew his top when he saw more 'freakish' people until Petunia showed him the money Hermione bribed them, thus Vernon settled down as he sat in his chair. Hermione went to search the cupboard under the stairs while she instructed Ron and Ginny to search Harry's room for clues. Upon opening the cupboard door, Hermione spotted a worn-out mattress with dried-up spots of blood on it. She even spotted carvings of birthday cakes on the wall that had 'happy birthday Harry' inside them. Unaware that Petunia spotted her whipping her wand out, Hermione silently cast some spells to clean up the blood spots on the rug and get rid of the carvings of cake on the walls, thus making it look like the Dursleys weren't abusive to Harry.

"What were you doing?" Petunia asked.

"Just cleaning up the blood on the mattress," stated Hermione "And even getting rid of carvings of birthday cakes that said 'happy birthday Harry' on the inside. You know, trying to help make it look like you all are decent people."

That resulted in Petunia breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that there was no more evidence to suggest that Harry had been abused in the house. Petunia even told Vernon about it and he was also expressing joy that the actual proof of their abusive treatment towards Harry was no longer in the cupboard. Then Hermione walked upstairs to find Ginny waiting right outside Harry's room with the door open.

"There's remains of bars over the window." Ginny informed Hermione.

"We'll deal with that in a minute," said Hermione. "We'd better help Ron look for clues to Harry's whereabouts."

Then she walked into the room, while Ginny stood there for a little longer. It appeared as though she was getting second thoughts and realizing that Harry hated it here as claimed. However, Ginny just shook her head for several seconds as if to say that Harry was going totally bonkers and being unappreciative towards his ‘family.’

'When it's his birthday,' thought Ginny with a grin. 'I'll remind mum that she needs to pick Harry up from here. That way it'll look like rescuing him was my idea. Then Harry will realize how much we're meant to be and we can have our happily ever after.'

Having thought her part of the plan over and smiling triumphantly, Ginny entered Harry's room to help Ron and Hermione in searching for something that could pinpoint where Harry ran off to. When she peeked under the bed, Hermione reached under and began feeling the underside of the bed in case Harry hid something there. It didn't take the bushy-haired girl very long to find the piece of loose floorboard, especially when her hand touched it and it sort of creaked, with Hermione lifting it up and finding nothing and making her realize Harry could hide something there (unaware that he used to do it in the past, but she didn't care either way). Then she pulled her wand out to silently cast another spell to make sure Harry couldn't wrench it up to hide something there again. Hermione had no idea that, while she was getting on her stomach and whipping her wand out to take care of the floorboard problem, that Ron was checking her out by staring at her butt with the pair of jeans covering it and giving it a snug fit. Ginny saw that and tugged on Ron's ear to get him to stop.

"Snap out of it, Ron!" Ginny whispered fiercely. "We're here to look for something that'll help us find Harry."

Ron rubbed his ear as he began searching through Harry's desk drawers, which by that time Hermione finished casting the spells to keep the loose floorboard in place. Then she slid herself back some so she could get back onto her feet. She spotted Ron going through one of the desk drawers before going to help Ginny in searching through Harry's wardrobe. Even then, there still wasn't any evidence pinpointing where Harry skedaddled to.

"Bingo!" Ron blurted out.

Hermione and Ginny turned around to see Ron peeking into the top desk drawer. Thinking that there was a clue after all, Hermione and Ginny darted over just as Ron reached in to pull something out. What Ron picked up was a bingo card and he began examining it in confusion. Hermione was infuriated to see the bingo card and she punched Ron on the arm for 'wasting time,' causing Ron to wince and grasp his arm while rubbing it. Since the search turned up zero results, the teens had no choice but to leave Harry's room (or former room now) and head for the living room.

"Are you finished?" asked Petunia.

"Not yet," said Hermione. "I just need to conjure up some bars over Harry's window. I also found a loose floorboard under his bed that may have allowed him to hide his stuff in, so I took care of that. Now repairing the bars over Harry's window is left to prevent him from escaping once he returns."

Vernon and Petunia widened their eyes in shock to have found out that 'the freak' had been hiding something underneath a loose floorboard located under his bed. But the adult Dursleys relaxed since they knew that Hermione got rid of evidence that could get them arrested for child abuse. Vernon and Petunia walked over to the back door and opened it to allow the teen access to the backyard. Then Hermione pulled her wand out again and conjured up some more bars over Harry's bedroom window before casting charms to ensure that they couldn't break easily. Once they got their business at the Dursleys taken care of, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny left the house and began searching for a safe place to summon the Knight Bus and take it back to the Burrow. Once they found one, Hermione summoned the bus again, paid for the fare for herself and the youngest Weasleys before telling Stan to have the bus take them back to the Burrow. As soon as they arrived back at the Burrow, the teens spotted Albus and Molly outside in front of the front door.

"Did you find any clues that Molly, Fletcher, and I may have missed?" asked Dumbledore.

"No," Hermione explained. "But I did get rid of evidence of the Dursleys abusing Harry and even got some more bars conjured up over his bedroom window to help them make sure Harry can't escape and fulfill that prophecy. There was also a piece of loose floorboard under his bed, so I took care of that as well."

"Excellent job, Miss Granger!" Albus praised.

"We still haven't found Harry," stated Molly. "We know he's still here in England somewhere. Albus sent word to Tonks while you were away and she's trying to track him down."

"Mum," Ginny began explaining a part of the plan she thought of. "With Harry going back to his family, I figured out that when we go to pick him up on his birthday, then I can tell him that rescuing him was my idea. That way he'll be so appreciative that he'll finally realize how much he and I are meant for each other."

"That's wonderful, Ginny." Molly praised her daughter.

Then they all went back inside to continue getting the house ready for another meeting with the order. The five manipulators had no idea that they were just risking biting off more than they could chew, since it never entered their minds that Harry didn't want to play the hero anymore and instead have Magical England deal with Voldemort themselves. Not just that, but they also had no idea that Harry requested the article to be published in the Daily Prophet the day after the 1996-1997 school year began. By then, Harry and Gabby would already be out of England to parts unknown to most of those still attending Hogwarts.

------

Professor McGonagall was in her office at Hogwarts going through some paperwork when she heard a tap coming from her window. The stern deputy headmistress looked over towards her window and spotted Hedwig with a letter for her. After relieving the snowy owl of it's burden, Hedwig flew away and over towards Longbottom Manor while Professor McGonagall walked back to her desk and sat down. Then she tore the envelope open, pulled the letter out, unfolded it and began reading it. McGonagall felt the colour draining from her face over what the contents of the letter were, as it said:

Hello, Professor McGonagall,

Just to let you know that the 'hello' was meant to emphasize how pissed off I am with you for treating me like a crazy person for dismissing all of my suspicions about something bad getting ready to happen. Not only that, but you've been giving me disproportionate retribution for even the tiniest infraction or for almost no reason at all. My days of attending Hogwarts are over and Dumbledore already knows this because I left a note for him to find explaining why I'm leaving and never coming back. I think my parents would be extremely furious with you for treating me like shit pretty much since my first day at Hogwarts and I did absolutely nothing to deserve it and you even allow Snape to treat me and Neville the same way and not lift a bloody finger to have him fired.

Even if you tried before, you didn't do a good job because I know that Dumbledore claims that Snape is an effective teacher, but his actions prove what kind of person he is, ruthless, mean, selfish, and spiteful. Anytime Draco Malfoy and his goons caused trouble, I know Snape was always around the corner just to punish the victims and allow the bullies to get away with their misdeeds scot-free. You even let the same group of bullies to pass out those degrading buttons about me to the school. I'm not playing the hero anymore, don't even try to find me and convince me to give you all another chance.

The final straw for all that came when you told me that Umbitch had a high position in the ministry and that I should keep my head down. That so-called advice never worked because the power-abusing toad of a woman was doing anything and everything she could to make me miserable and Dumbledore even allowed that to occur. Umbitch even made me use a blood quill to write sentences with and left the back of my left hand scarred. The worst thing she did was coming close to casting the Cruciatus Curse on me just to try and pry information out of me. Then Dumbledore even told me a lame prophecy claiming that neither Voldemort or I could live while the other survived. That prophecy being revealed to me was what became the final straw and made me decide to leave England and move out permanently.

My piece of advice for you is to start thinking for yourself instead of blindly trusting Dumbledore because he doesn't take anyones' best interest at heart. His using me as a tool against my will is proof of that. Do not try to pressure any of my real friends to reveal where I plan to go because I promise you that I'll make sure you suffer the consequences. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny have never been my friends and never will be, as they've been using me for their personal gain, too. Quit following Dumbledore blindly and start dishing out proper punishments in accordance to the severity of the misdeeds. Good luck to you in trying to turn the discipline at Hogwarts around, but either way I won't be coming back.

Harry James Potter

Professor McGonagall felt her stomach flip-flop in utter fright when she realized that Lily and James would chew her out for the way she treated their son. Guilt and remorse quickly flooded and she felt herself trembling as she remembered Lily's temper. It was enough for the head of Gryffindor House to head for the bathroom and throw up in the loo. She knew 100% that Harry was never going to trust her again and his angry rant in the letter made that very clear. The first thing she needed to do was tell Dumbledore that Snape needed to go or else she would resign, since she hated Snape as much as many of the non-Slytherin students. Professor McGonagall also realized that she already had too much power by being deputy headmistress, transfiguration teacher, and head of Gryffindor House at the same time and decided it was time to relieve herself of two of those positions. After she finished heaving in the loo, Professor McGonagall returned to her office and back to her desk.

"I think I'll stick with teaching Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall told herself. "Harry was right about the discipline. I'm clearly not cut to be deputy head and even head of Gryffindor House. One position should be enough."

------

Later that day (around 5:00 PM), Harry and Gabby were returning to the Leaky Cauldron after having spent a good few hours in London. They went to an arcade funhouse, ate a late lunch/early dinner at a pizza joint, and even took a walk at Hyde Park. Harry and Gabby did have a playful argument over what they were going to have for lunch, as Harry wanted to eat at a diner while Gabby wanted pizza. In the end, Harry decided to go with pizza with Gabby promising him that she would let him choose the restaurant next time and they would switch between the choosing every time one would make the decision. Upon reaching the door to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry opened it and let Gabby in before following her inside, and starting to head back to his rented room.

"Wotcher, Harry!" a familiar voice blurted out.

Harry and Gabby jumped in surprise and turned their attention towards the source. It was Nymphadora Tonks (or simply Tonks), identified by her brown shoulder-length hair hanging down, brown eyes, and was currently dressed in an auror uniform. Her brown hair turned purple to indicate that she was astonished to see him having spent some time with Fleur's sister.

"Hi, Tonks!" Harry and Gabby greeted in unison.

"What may I do for you, Tonks?" asked Harry.

"I'd like to talk with you and Gabby privately, if you don't mind." stated Tonks.

Harry nodded his head as a way of letting Tonks know that she could talk to him and Gabby. Tonks' hair turned bubblegum-pink when she spotted Harry and Gabby starting to hold hands, indicating that she was ecstatic and approving. Then Harry and Gabby showed Tonks the way to his rented room. Once they were in the room, Harry locked the door and cast a privacy bubble to ensure privacy.

"What do you want to talk to me and Gabby about, Tonks?" asked Harry.

"Well, it's mostly to you, Harry," stated Tonks. "But it's about Dumbledore and he instructed me to find you and take you back to your relatives. He somehow found out that you left and he claimed that you were more upset than he thought and that you needed someone you can trust, but then he said that you would be allowed to leave your relatives on your birthday and go to the Burrow. In other words, Albus claimed that you needed a little more time to come to grips with Sirius' death. Albus even claimed that you leaving your relatives was the result of needing to blow off some steam."

"What Dumbledore never told you was that he intended to make me fulfill a prophecy without my consent," Harry informed Tonks (who widened her eyes and covered her mouth in shock). "The prophecy mentioned that neither I nor Voldemort can live while the other survives. That made me realize what Dumbledore was really up to, using me as a pawn in that plan of his and forcing me to do it without taking ‘no’ for an answer. He claimed it was my destiny, which is bogus because everybody should be free to make their own choices. My destiny should be how I want it, not how Dumbledore wants it. He should be grateful that I didn't choose the path of a criminal.”

“He’s so secretive,” Tonks replied. “He never tells anybody what his true motives are.” 

“He knew all along about the Dursleys' abusive treatment towards me,” Harry continued. “And yet, he still sent me back to them and never informed me of other families who wanted to look after me if anything happened to my parents. There's no way my mum and dad would've approved of the Dursleys looking after me, since their will stated that under no circumstances that I was to be placed with them. I also signed some documents to become legally emancipated, since the minimum age for that was thirteen and my reluctant participation in the Triwizard Tournament made it easier for that."

"Albus has gone senile because of having several positions of power," said Tonks. "And he's a good example as to why one shouldn't have too much of power, since they'll likely abuse it if they think they can get away with it. McGonagall also has several powerful positions in Hogwarts, even when I was a student there."

"I did write her a letter explaining my anger towards her," said Harry. "I even wrote one for Dumbledore, but he likely would've kept that from McGonagall. That was why I wrote her a letter, since she had been treating me like trash ever since I walked through the doors of Hogwarts for the first time. I even made it clear to her as to why it's bad to have too much power, since she's another example of that. Snape is naturally another one and even treated me and Neville the worst out of his victims. He was always around the corner whenever Malfoy and his goons tried getting a rise out of me and my former best friends just to use that excuse to let them off scot-free and punish the victims."

"What about Professors Sprout and Flitwick?" asked Tonks.

"They never did anything horrible to me," said Harry. "Even though they could've tried to help. Then again, Dumbledore made sure that only Snape and McGonagall patrolled the corridors just to keep me miserable. Sprout and Flitwick always treated me right the occasions I've interacted with them. The way Dumbledore and McGonagall ran the school is the reason why I won't go back and plan to leave this country, since they enjoyed making me as miserable as possible. I even told McGonagall of my withdrawal from Hogwarts in the letter, since I know Dumbledore would have ignored that and continued to force me to do things I don't want to do."

"You're right, Harry," assured Tonks. "It's totally unfair to put all that emotional baggage on your shoulders. Dumbledore and McGonagall should've been doing their jobs and they should've made sure that Snape was fired a long time ago, since he always showed bias towards Slytherin students and abused many of the other students. I encourage you to leave and live life the way you want."

"What will you do if you report to Dumbledore?" asked Harry.

"I'll just tell him that I couldn't find you," said Tonks. "He may relieve me of my place in the order, but that's not a bad price to pay if it means helping you in keeping Dumbledore off your tail."

Tonks even gave Harry a comforting hug to prove that she was happy for Harry to have figured out Dumbledore's intentions and be supportive in his decision to leave Britain. As he returned Tonks' hug, Harry even told her that he and Gabby would be stopping in France tomorrow so he could meet her parents and spend some time with them before leaving for the United States. Before she left, Tonks told Harry and Gabby good luck and to make sure they looked out for each other, then the auror left the room to return to Dumbledore to 'inform' him that she couldn't find Harry. A couple minutes later, another knock was heard at the door. Harry looked through the peephole in the door and saw that it was Fleur, so he let her in the room with the realization that she came by to pick her sister up. Fleur even greeted Harry with a smile and a hug, with Harry returning it.

"I happened to pass by Tonks when I saw her walking down the stairs," Fleur told Harry and Gabby. "Which was how I found out where you were. It's time for me and Gabby to return to my rented flat."

"We have to tell maman and papa about Harry," Gabby told her sister. "Since they want to meet him and I can ask papa about me signing some paperwork so I can become emancipated myself."

"Yeah, I plan to leave this country, to get as far away from my manipulators as possible," Harry explained to Fleur. "Dumbledore, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Ronald, and Ginevra are hell bent on keeping me miserable to the max just to make me fulfill a lame prophecy. I even asked Gabby if she would like to tag along with me if your parents approved, though she did mention something earlier about signing paperwork to where she can be emancipated."

"Yes, even in Magical France the minimum age for emancipation is thirteen," stated Fleur. "Since you saved Gabby from the depths of the Black Lake, they know about that and the veela bond if Gabby hadn't told you yet."

"I did," said Gabby, as Harry nodded his head to confirm it. "He was shocked at first, but he came to accept it and we sealed that with a passionate kiss. We were surrounded by some kind of gold light the entire time, it was like more power was getting unlocked."

"I even felt pain coming from where my scar was," Harry told Fleur. "It made me scrunch my face up, but I withstood the pain as much as I could while Gabby and I kissed. Gabby and I became exhausted to the point where we collapsed on the floor, just as we spotted some kind of dark-purple smoke-like thing that had been screaming the whole time Gabby and I were kissing. We saw that purple mist-like thing floating up towards the ceiling as it dissipated."

Harry lifted his bangs up to show Fleur that his scar was almost totally invisible, much to her surprise. Then the Delacour girls said their goodbyes to Harry before leaving his rented room and over to a fireplace located in the Leaky Cauldron so they could return to Fleur's flat, but not before they assured Harry that they would be back tomorrow after breakfast and take him to Delacour Manor in France. Once it was just him in the room, Harry gathered up Hedwig's cage, made sure the note was still attached to it and called for Dobby to take the cage to Neville. After that was taken care of, Harry changed into his pajamas, set his glasses on a nearby side table, and climbed into bed since the day had been pretty exhausting for him. It took him a while to fall asleep because of spending the day with Gabby in London. Harry cast charms on the window to prevent the light from seeping into the room. Harry finally fell asleep with a smile on his face, ecstatic to see what France was like.

Chapter Text

It was a little after 5:30 AM when Harry started waking up and couldn't go back to sleep, not because of being forced to get up around that time because of his relatives (mainly Aunt Petunia rudely rapping on the door to do so) but because of the excitement in his plan to leave Great Britain to start a new life without Dumbledore, Molly, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny being there to make sure Harry fulfilled Dumbledore's plan for the Greater Good and not taking ‘no’ for an answer. Harry reached for his glasses and put them on, only to discover that his eyesight while wearing them was blurry and crystal-clear when he took them off. He had to do that several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming and he even kicked his shin to test if he was dreaming or not. Harry seethed in pain, making him realize that he wasn't dreaming after all. His bond and kiss with Gabby yesterday must've also resulted in his body healing throughout the day and his eyesight healing while asleep. Harry grabbed a set of clothes and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. It wasn't long after he got out and got dressed was when he heard a knock at the door. Harry looked through the peephole and saw the Delacour girls. Harry opened the door to let them in, but the Delacour sisters had to do a double take because this was the first time they'd seen Harry without his glasses. Harry and Gabby still greeted each other with a kiss.

"It's so much easier to see your eyes now, Harry," said Gabby, her bright-blue eyes gazing into his emerald-green ones. "Until now, I never knew how beautiful they are."

"Until yesterday, I didn't know you had a beautiful set of bright-blue eyes, Gabby." Harry replied, as he and Gabby continued gazing into each others' eyes.

"Bill found a table for us, Harry," Fleur informed him. "That way we can have a good breakfast before we go to mine and Gabby's parents' manor in France."

"I didn't know Bill was accompanying you." Harry replied in surprise.

"He hasn't met my parents yet," stated Fleur. "Four days earlier he invited me over so I could meet the rest of his family. While Arthur, Charlie, Fred, and George warmed up to me pretty quick, Ron kept eyeing me with lust while Molly and Ginny treated me with as much disdain as possible. Even Hermione was there and the three ladies were rather rude to me by talking trash about me even if I wasn't in the same room, Molly claiming I was using Bill and also claiming that I wasn't worthy enough for him, and Ginny even 'gave' me the nickname ‘phlegm’ and I even caught her mock-vomiting into her cereal that next morning."

"Good thing I don't trust Mrs. Weasley, Dumbledore, Ronald, Granger, and Ginevra anymore," stated Harry. "I've had enough of them meddling with my life like it's their right."

Harry left the room and followed the Delacour girls downstairs and over to the table Bill was waiting at. Harry told Bill what his plans were and the oldest Weasley boy smiled in approval. Then the four sat down to eat their meals before getting their day started. Bill felt the need to sit across from Fleur while Harry sat across from Gabby. It was around 6:45 AM when the four finished eating and as soon as they stood up, house elves working in the Leaky Cauldron appeared to take the dishes back to the kitchen so they could be washed.

Then Bill and Fleur approached a fireplace to let Harry and Gabby know that they would be waiting for them there. Then Harry and Gabby headed back to Harry's rented room to help him get his stuff packed and double check to help him make sure he didn't forget anything before Harry cast a featherweight charm on his trunk. Once they were done, Harry and Gabby left the room and approached the counter so Harry could give Tom the key back and tip him some money to show how appreciative he was. Then Harry and Gabby met up with Bill and Fleur right by the fireplace they were going to use to floo to Delacour Manor.

"No need to worry, Harry," assured Fleur. "I informed maman and papa that we were on our way, while you and Gabby were clearing out the rented room of your stuff."

Harry nodded his head to show that he understood, then Fleur activated the floo network. Harry told Bill that he was strictly adamant on the ladies first policy, something Bill immediately agreed with. Fleur told Gabby to go first and that she would follow behind. So Gabby tossed in a pinch of floo powder into the emerald-green flames and called out her destination of Delacour Manor before stepping into the flames and disappearing. After waiting a couple minutes, Fleur grabbed a pinch of floo powder and followed her little sister's suit. Bill instructed Harry to go before him to make sure he got away from England safe and sound. After a minute or so of deafening whirlwinds and a deafening hum, Harry spotted the Delacour girls through the flames and stepped forward.

As usual, he lost his balance and started falling forward, but Fleur and Gabby caught him before he could hit the ground. After Harry steadied himself with help from the Delacour girls, he got a good look at Fleur and Gabby's parents. Their mother had the same platinum-blonde hair that she kept in a bun, the same bright-blue eyes, the same extreme outer beauty, was tall even for a lady (standing at a height of five-foot-nine), and was wearing a sky-blue short-sleeve shin-length dress. Fleur and Gabby's father was a tall man, standing at a height of six foot three, with blonde hair turning gray, silver eyes, and dressed in a gray uniform of some sort. Once Bill made it through the floo network, the emerald-green flames deactivated before the Delacours showed Harry and Bill over to the living room.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Potter!" The Delacour matriarch greeted him with a smile, as she held a hand out. "I'm Apolline Delacour."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am!" Harry greeted back as he returned the smile, and shook Apolline's hand.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Potter!" the Delacour patriarch greeted with a smile, also holding a hand out. "I'm Anthony Delacour."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir!" Harry greeted back as he returned Anthony's smile, also shaking his hand.

"We can't tell you how relieved and grateful we are that you rescued Gabby from the depths of the Black Lake that day, Harry," the Delacour parents told him with sincerity in their voices. "Albus Dumbledore was crazy to do that because the whole participation in that blasted tournament never said that a hostage had to be used for any task, the tasks only applied to willing participants. We're forever in your debt, Harry, for rescuing Gabby!"

"I just did what I had to do, you don't have to give me repayment." said Harry. "But I've finally stopped trusting Dumbledore because I only recently realized that he was using me as a pawn and trying to set me up for slaughter. I've even stopped trusting his flying monkeys who are known as Hermione Granger, Ronald, and Ginevra Weasley, and I also stopped trusting their mother, since they've been helping in keeping me in line for what Dumbledore claimed was my so-called destiny."

"I apologize for the way my mum, Ron, and Ginny have been manipulating you, Harry." said Bill sheepishly.

"No need for that, Bill," assured Harry. "It's those three who should be the ones apologizing, but they've lost my trust permanently. Their days of manipulating me are over."

"That's why dad went on vacation with Fred and George," Bill informed Harry. "They even wanted him there to help celebrate the upcoming opening of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which will happen on the seventeenth of August. When they return, dad will file for divorce and give mum sole custody of Ron and Ginny since they're still underage and they take after her."

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement before he turned his attention back to Anthony and Apolline. As much as he would like to attend the opening of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, Harry quickly realized that doing so would allow his manipulators another chance to get him back under Dumbledore's control. So Harry made the hard decision to skip out on attending the grand opening of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Then he turned his attention back to Fleur and Gabby's parents, since it was time he started getting to know them.

"What part of Paris would you like to visit, Harry?" asked Apolline in a motherly voice.

"Well, the Eiffel Tower is one place," stated Harry. "But, I'm not too familiar with what other attractions are in Paris."

"Why not wait until around early evening for that, Harry?" Apolline suggested. "The Eiffel Tower is a marvelous sight at night. Maybe you and Gabby would like us to get pictures of the both of you together with the tower used as a background for the event."

"Ooh, I'd love that, maman!" Gabby exclaimed.

"Yeah, that would be a great idea," Harry told Apolline in a grateful voice. "Thank you for that suggestion, ma'am!"

"You're welcome, Harry," Apolline replied. "But there's no need for formalities. Please call me Apolline until you feel comfortable calling me maman."

"I apologize, Apolline!" said Harry sheepishly, with the Delacour matriarch patting Harry's shoulders comfortingly as a way of saying that his apology was accepted. Then Harry asked, "What places in Paris did you have in mind for visiting while we wait for nighttime?"

"We can visit the zoo if you'd like," suggested Apolline. "Which is called the Parc Zoologique de Paris. There's also the Louvre Museum for visitors who appreciate art. There's also an amusement park that opened up a few years ago called Disneyland Paris."

"I didn't know about that last one!" Harry responded in surprise. "Having spent my pre-Hogwarts days in the muggle world, I'm familiar with Walt Disney movies and heard of a couple amusement parks owned by the Disney corporation that are located in the United States, such as Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida."

"We actually visited Disneyland Paris shortly after the Triwizard Tournament ended," Fleur told Harry. "It was to both celebrate me having passed my final year at Beauxbatons and me having survived the tournament as a competitor. We'd occasionally go out into Muggle Paris to learn how to do things without being dependent on magic."

"Something that pure-blood supremacists find despicable," stated Bill. "But dad would encourage my siblings to learn non-magical skills even if they're a bit slow. Something Ron, Ginny, and mum refuse to do. Fred and George even picked up on dad's advice, starting with picking locks."

"I'd rather perform tasks without magic, since I've had to do that 'growing up,' if one could call it that," said Harry. "Since relying on magic all the time is just incredibly lazy. Doing tasks without magic can be rewarding, too."

"What place would you like to visit today, Harry?" asked Anthony and Apolline in unison.

"Well, I'm not sure," Harry responded. "Is Disneyland Paris or the zoo closer to the Eiffel Tower?"

"The zoo is closer," said Anthony. "It's still quite a walking distance, but we can take a bus to the tower from the zoo. We'll need to floo to the capital building of Paris called the Palais Bourbon, so Gabby can get some paperwork signed to become legally emancipated herself. Once Gabby is finished and over to the french chain of Gringotts to withdraw some money and exchange that for francs, we can go to the zoo or the amusement park. The bank is located in Place Cachee, which is the french equivalent of Diagon Alley in London."

"I'd like to go to the zoo today," said Harry in a polite voice, with everybody else nodding their heads in understanding. "That way when it starts getting darker, we can take a bus over to the Eiffel Tower and it won't take as long to get there, and get some pictures of us with the tower as a background."

"But first," Apolline informed Harry, Gabby, Bill and Fleur. "You'd better get your trunks into your rooms before we go."

When the four grabbed the handles of their respective trunks and dragged them behind while the Delacour parents showed them upstairs. Fleur and Gabby didn't need to know the way to their rooms, since the manor was their first home. Even though she moved out a while back, Fleur's bedroom was kept the way she had it throughout her childhood just in case she came back to visit her parents and Gabby was getting ready to experience the same thing. Upon reaching the top of the stairs and looking down the hallway, Anthony and Apolline walked towards the second door on the left, making Harry realize that the Delacour parents walked into their bedroom, also known as the owner’s bedroom. Gabby walked down the hallway and opened the left door at the end of the hallway (which had a small table with a blue flower in a small flower pot on top) while Fleur walked into her room, which was behind the door on the left closest to the top of the stairs. Fleur came back out half a minute later and opened the door to the bedroom across from her room and showed Bill inside. Just as soon as he reached Gabby's bedroom door, she opened the door and walked out to open the door to the guest room across from her room.

"Maman and papa believed it was better that you take the guest room across from my room," Gabby explained to Harry. "While Bill got the guest room across from Fleur's room, that way neither Fleur nor I would have to worry about our respective chosen mates being too far apart."

"What's in the room across from your parents' room?" asked Harry.

"The upstairs bathroom," said Gabby. "Owner’s bedrooms always have their own bathrooms, so neither Fleur nor myself have to worry about our parents using the upstairs bathroom. The reason that bathroom is between the guest rooms is so no one will have to leave their bedroom for too long just use the bathroom, where the bathroom is just the right walking distance from either bedroom."

"That bed sure looks comfy." said Harry when he peeked inside the guest room he was going to stay in.

"There's more, Harry." said Gabby.

She gently grabbed one of his hands and led him over to the window so they could look out. Harry felt his jaw to see the body of water and the waves hitting the shoreline below, making Harry realize that Delacour Manor was on top of a cliff overlooking the water. It was a truly majestic sight.

"That's the Atlantic Ocean, Harry," Gabby told him. "The closest town from here is Bordeaux. It's a port city, where ships can dock for unloading or loading cargo."

"The ocean sure looks beautiful, and the sunlight reflecting off of the surface makes it much more so!" said Harry in awe.

"The ocean breeze even keeps the temperature cooler during the summer," said Gabby. "Sometimes the temperature can get pretty high even if we use charms to keep it cool inside. But the ocean breeze helps to keep it manageable."

Harry nodded his head to show that he understood, then Gabby left the room to let Harry get his trunk set up in how he wanted it. Harry changed from his jean trousers and green short-sleeve t-shirt into a red sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of tan khaki shorts before putting his gray sneakers back on. After putting his other clothes back in his trunk, Harry walked out of the room to find Gabby waiting for him with a smile on her face. She was in a pink short-sleeve t-shirt, a pair of white shorts, and a pair of white sneakers. They walked down the hallway and downstairs into the living room, where Bill, Fleur, and the Delacour parents were waiting. Fleur was wearing a pair of light-blue capri trousers, a white sleeveless t-shirt, and brown leather sandals. Bill was wearing an orange sleeveless t-shirt, tan khaki shorts, and a pair of white sneakers.

Anthony was wearing a gray short-sleeve t-shirt, a pair of tan khaki trousers, and black sneakers. Apolline was wearing a green-and-white striped blouse, a pair of white trousers, and brown leather sandals. Once everyone was finished getting ready, they headed for the fireplace to activate the floo network to head for the french ministry so Gabby could sign some paperwork that would allow her to become emancipated. The Delacour ladies went first before Harry went after them, since Bill and Anthony felt it was best that he go before them. Harry grabbed a pinch of floo powder and tossed into the flames and shouted the destination of Palias Bourbon. Fleur and Gabby managed to catch Harry when he stepped out of the flames to prevent him from falling forward.

'I don't think I'll ever get the hang of that one entirely!' thought Harry, brushing himself of the soot as he stepped away from the fireplace.

Bill stepped out of the emerald-green flames a minute or so later, followed by Anthony after another minute or so. After Bill and Anthony got the soot brushed off of themselves, the group of six headed for the french Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so Gabby could get the emancipation documents signed before going about the rest of their day. Meanwhile at the Burrow, Tonks was sitting on an armchair while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were cleaning up to get the kitchen table ready for the meeting with the order. The armchair closer to the kitchen was Molly's armchair and she forbade anybody from sitting in it, which was one of the reasons why Tonks was sitting in the other one.

The door to what Molly always claimed to be a cellar opened up and out stepped the Weasley matriarch with Dumbledore following behind. Tonks had been called over because she didn't report Harry's whereabouts to the headmaster yesterday, instead she played dumb by pretending not to hear the questions. Tonks' hair turned orange to represent concealed anger, while explicit anger would've turned her hair flaming red. Albus and Molly came back into the living room and faced Tonks with disappointed expressions on their faces with their arms folded across their chests.

"Are you willing to cooperate, Tonks?" asked Dumbledore in a no-more-nonsense kind of voice, clearly not in the mood for any more of her so-called games.

"I don't know where Harry is, Albus!" snapped Tonks.

"I think you do," Dumbledore tried coaxing. "I gave you the task to find Harry and return him to Privet Drive for his own safety."

"If you don't tell us where Harry is," Molly threatened. "You will not be allowed to leave the armchair."

"If you'd like this armchair to smell like piss," Tonks retorted. "Be my guest, Molly. You can clean up my mess afterwards since this is your house."

"I will not be spoken to like that!" Molly hollered, with Tonks not looking intimidated in the slightest. "Especially in my own house."

"Maybe you should've been a little nicer about it," Tonks shot back. "Even if this is your house, you treat me like shit, and I'll give it back."

"That's enough!" Dumbledore hollered. Then he turned his attention back to Tonks to ask again, "Now, where is Harry?"

"Like I said, I don't know where he is," Tonks professed. "Even if I did, Harry could be anywhere by now."

"Where to, Tonks?" Dumbledore replied, anger starting to show up in his voice. "Don't make me ask you again!"

"I think you need to take a nap, Albus," Tonks suggested. "It wouldn't do you any good to be cranky before another order meeting."

"That was a dick thing to say to Dumbledore, Nymphadora!" snapped Hermione. "Now you'd better apologize to him before I'm tempted to give you a harsh lesson."

"How about I give you one, Granger?!" Tonks insisted, angry for being called by her given name.

She whipped her wand out and cast four stinging hexes at Hermione, half of them hitting her in the chest and the other half hitting her thighs (barely missing the groin). It made Hermione yip like a small dog as she grasped her thigh with her right hand and her chest with her left hand. Ginny attempted to come to Hermione's defence, only to get hit with a stinging hex to her stomach. After recovering from the stinging hexes they received, Hermione and Ginny tried to tackle Tonks in retaliation.

Tonks got up onto her feet, grabbed the arrogant teen witches by their hair and flung them towards each other. That caused Hermione and Ginny to hit their heads on each other and knock them out. Ron ran up to his room, terrified that he would get the same thing from Tonks. Hermione's and Ginny's out-cold bodies fell backwards and hit the wooden floor with a hard thud. Dumbledore shook his head and put a hand to his forehead in disgust while Molly looked ready to blow her top to see her 'precious angel' laying on the floor unconscious.

"I can't believe you, Tonks!" exclaimed Molly in horror. "I can't believe that you would have the tendency to hurt not just one, but two children!"

"That was self-defence, howler monkey, and you all were committing false imprisonment for keeping me here for no real reason!" Tonks retorted. "You saw them trying to attack me for no reason, so quit defending the wrong people and own up to your misdeeds. Not only that, but they’re teenagers and clearly old enough to know better."

"Alright, that's it!" Molly hollered, motioning with a thumb. "Get your bloody arse out of my house and never come back!"

"My pleasure, Molly!" Tonks retorted. "But you'd better practice on keeping your temper under control before you suffer a stroke or a heart attack or something."

"OUT!" Molly screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Molly," Albus tried 'reasoning' with the Weasley matriarch. "We need Tonks here if we're going to decipher Harry's whereabouts."

"Tonks is kicked out of here forever, Albus," said Molly firmly. "If she's going to attack children for no reason, she doesn't deserve to be here."

"Very well." said Albus. Then he turned his attention to Tonks and gestured with a hand, "I'll need your order membership card at once, Tonks."

The young female auror reached into a pocket, pulled out of her order membership card, and ripped it up in front of the headmaster's eyes and tossed the shreds over her shoulder, since she knew what he was going to do with it. Then Tonks brushed her hands in a satisfied gesture before walking towards the front door, opening it and leaving the house while rendering Dumbledore rather puzzled. Molly was just satisfied to see Tonks and began tending to Ginny by carrying her up to her bedroom and into bed before doing the same for Hermione (who's bed was in Ginny's room).

Once Tonks strolled into the trees, she apparated over to her parents' house, needing to spend some time with her parents as a means of trying to help distract her from her troubles at the Burrow. It may be a surprise visit for them, but Tonks' parents (Andromeda and Ted) were always happy to spend time with their only daughter. Tonks also came to realize that it was the right moment to tell her parents about Harry and how he and Gabby were now a couple. Tonks was determined to be a big sister to Harry, since Albus interfered with that for the longest time, now it was time the ole coot realize the error of meddling with someones' life the hard way.

Chapter Text

Harry, Fleur, and Bill were sitting on a bench outside the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement’s office, since they were waiting for Gabby to finish signing the necessary paperwork to have her emancipated and her parents needed to be there and help their younger daughter out in case it was needed. Harry, Bill, and Fleur had been waiting for almost ten minutes when Gabby and the Delacour parents returned with smiles on their faces, which was enough for Harry, Bill, and Fleur to know that Gabby's emancipation worked out well. Then they all left the french ministry and headed outside to find a bus stop and head for the zoo in Paris (which was called the Parc Zoologique de Paris). The Delacours took turns in coaching Harry in speaking french while they were on the bus heading to the zoo.

The bus ride didn't take terribly long (like around twenty-five minutes or so) to arrive at the entrance to the zoo. Harry was looking forward to this, since he didn't have the Dursleys there to harass him in any way they could like the incident with the boa constrictor escaping London Zoo on Dudley's eleventh birthday. Now that he had genuine friends and adults who supported him, Harry felt himself relaxing as the group of six reached the entrance to pay the fee to enter. Once that was taken care of, they entered the park and headed for the Madagascar section first after picking up a map from the information stand. They had different kinds of animals that were native to Madagascar, such as lemurs and certain flying foxes and turtles. The tropical greenhouse housed some of the rest of the Madagascar animals, with the second half of it housing some of the animals native to the Amazon of South America.

"How are you enjoying the zoo, Harry?" asked Gabby, as soon as they all left the tropical greenhouse.

"I'm rather enjoying it," stated Harry with a smile. "Tons better than my first and so far only visit to London Zoo."

"When did you first visit London Zoo, Harry?" asked Bill.

"On my cousin's eleventh birthday," said Harry, keeping his voice low enough for only his companions to hear (which was out of habit because Uncle Vernon always 'warned' him what would happen should the truth leak out). "That was an extremely rare, but reluctant, moment for me where I could be included in an outing, since the Dursleys try to exclude me from such moments as much as they can. A happy me was always their worst nightmare."

Harry felt himself getting engulfed in hugs from the Delacours, with Anthony and Apolline feeling their parental instincts flaring up to have found out that Harry had a terrible childhood. Strangely, Bill even gave Harry a brotherly hug, since he knew about how he came to see most of his family as a surrogate family. Bill even remembered his twin brothers telling him by letters about how they came to see Harry as a little brother. The group of six continued down the path and watched a jaguar strolling around in it's enclosure. Then they headed down into the area where animals native to Europe were held. Moments later, they approached a frozen treats stall (called friandise glacees as shown on a nearby sign). Harry and Gabby got large chocolate ice cream cones while Bill and Fleur both got french vanilla, whereas Anthony and Apolline got orange sherbet. As they all ate their ice creams (or sherbets in the Delacour parents' case), Bill poked Fleur's nose with his ice cream and the cold made her jump some as she wiped the tip of her nose to get rid of the ice cream, resulting in Harry, Gabby, and Bill laughing.

"That was cold, Bill!" Fleur responded in a mock scold, still wiping the tip of her nose. "Not just figuratively, but also literally."

"Love ya too, babe!" Bill replied with a smile.

Fleur just gave her boyfriend a playful smack on his arm, just as they all continued laughing. They continued strolling through the zoo and it was a little after 11:00 AM when they decided to eat lunch in one of the zoo restaurants. Bill and Fleur got some fish and chips, the Delacour parents got salads, while Harry and Gabby got burgers (at the same time they all ordered water for a beverage, intending to stay hydrated). Upon peeling the wrapper off of his drinking straw, Harry aimed it at Gabby and blew through the straw to shoot the wrapper at her. When she saw the straw wrapper hitting her in the chest, Gabby gave Harry (who was smirking) a mock glare before she did the same and shot her straw wrapper at Harry's arm. Bill, Fleur, and the Delacour parents were laughing to have Harry and Gabby shooting their straw wrappers at each other. Once they got their lunches, the group of six began eating before continuing their zoo visit.

Back in England, Albus was back in his office after another order meeting. He looked like he had aged to two-hundred years old because he still couldn't find Harry. The headmaster was in a deeper state of panic because there still weren't any leads to Harry's whereabouts. Tonks' lack of cooperation and her so-called assault on Hermione and Ginny caused further delays in his Greater Good plan. Molly was still in hysterics over her 'precious baby girl' getting injured while refusing to acknowledge that Hermione and Ginny tried to jump Tonks despite her being an auror. Tonks also appeared to be delighted to have been kicked out of the order even if she ripped up her membership card in anticipation. Plus, Severus Snape left about ten minutes ago to report to Lord Voldemort as part of the whole spying thing. A knock at the door was heard, so Dumbledore waved his hand to open the door and in stepped Minerva, who appeared all desperate for some reason.

"Do you have some leads to Harry's whereabouts?" asked Albus.

"No, this is a different matter, Albus." stated Minerva. "You need to fire Severus and you need to find more employees to be either a teacher, deputy head, or head of house. Having too much power is bad. That's why I'm resorting to sticking with teaching Transfiguration only. We also need to work on dishing out proper punishments to students in accordance to the severity of their actions. If you don't fire Severus, then you can watch me hand in my resignation. Mr. Potter was right, the way this school being ran is totally unacceptable."

"Severus is necessary to put an end to the war." Albus asserted. Then he suggested, "What if I just have him brew up potions for the curriculum and out of the students' way by having him take up residence in my office?"

"Fine!" Minerva replied, exasperated. "But if he does anything such as bully a student, you must fire him, or I'll hand in my resignation."

With that taken care of, Minerva turned around and left Albus' office to help the rest of the teachers and staff in cleaning up the school to get it ready for the next year. The headmaster was shocked to see his deputy head relieving herself of her positions as deputy head and head of Gryffindor House, since his eyes were wide-eyed. Reluctantly, he decided to tell Severus about Minerva's requests and how the potions master would need to brew potions in his office. Then the headmaster sat back down on his chair behind his desk to go over some paperwork for the next school year and use the opportunity to think over how he was going to convince Harry to return and defeat Voldemort.

------

Meanwhile in Paris, it was approaching 5:00 PM. Harry, Bill, and the Delacours were leaving the zoo and they climbed onto a bus to take them to the Eiffel Tower. It was around the time where they wanted to get some pictures with the Eiffel Tower as a background. Anthony brought out a magical camera (which looked like a muggle camera) and asked Harry and Gabby to be the first. Harry and Gabby wrapped an arm around their respective waists as they stood next to each other to smile for the camera. Then Bill and Fleur were asked to pose for a picture, where they were holding hands. Then the Delacour parents asked to have both of their daughters with their respective boyfriends pose for a picture. Harry placed his hands on Gabby's waist as she placed her arms on his shoulders and around the back of his neck, with Bill and Fleur doing the same thing.

Once both of the couples were facing the camera with smiles, Apolline (who wanted to take that picture) got a few good pictures of the moment. Once they were done, the group of six headed for a nearby alley to apparate back to the outside the wards of Delacour Manor. Since they were still underage, Harry side-apparated with Anthony while Gabby side-apparated with her mother, while Bill and Fleur apparated by themselves. Once they were all inside, Anthony and Apolline instructed one of their house elves (a female one named Hope) to get some dinner cooking before joining their daughters and their respective boyfriends in the living room. It was five minutes or so later when they heard the fireplace activating. Fleur got up to investigate and discovered that it was Tonks who fire-called.

"Hi, Tonks!" Fleur greeted.

"Hey, Fleur!" Tonks greeted back.

"What may I do for you?" asked Fleur.

"I'd like to speak with Harry, if that's alright." said Tonks.

Hearing that, Harry jumped up from his spot on the couch and over to the fireplace where he was in Tonks' plain view. Gabby and Bill also followed suit as they were curious to know what Tonks wanted to speak to Harry about. Gabby even greeted Tonks (who greeted back) before she greeted Bill and he returned the greeting. Tonks proceeded to tell the four what happened earlier: how Dumbledore tried to pry information out of her at the Burrow with Molly's help while making sure they weren't told of Harry's whereabouts; how Molly tried to punish her by making sit in the armchair until she cooperated and trying to disallow her to leave otherwise; how Hermione and Ginny tried threatening and even attempting to jump her and how she taught the two arrogant girls a lesson by slamming their heads together; how that angered Molly and how the Weasley matriarch defended Hermione and Ginny instead of acknowledging that they were the attackers; how Molly kicked her out of the Burrow; and how she ripped up her Order of the Phoenix membership card before Dumbledore's eyes as her way of resigning from the organization when he ordered her to hand it over before leaving. That had everyone giggling, including the Delacour parents, as they could hear every word coming from Tonks.

"Harry, if you don't have a problem with it," Tonks began asking, once everybody relaxed and stopped laughing. "Would you be willing to come back to England for just one more day at least? My parents, Edward and Andromeda, want to meet you and maybe we can all spend the day out in London and away from the magical side so you and Gabby won't be hounded by the media. My dad tends to go by Ted while my mum tends to go by Andi."

"I don't see why not," said Harry. "At least in Muggle London, none of my manipulators will think to look there. Since Gabby and I are almost inseparable, I'll have to bring her along. I'll need to go to my family manor first before we spend the day in London."

"That was why I thought that she and her family and perhaps Bill would like to tag along," said Tonks, with Bill and the Delacours nodding their heads in agreement. "I must give you the heads-up Harry, that my mother resembles my insane aunt Bellatrix. The differences are that my mum has brown hair and brown eyes, but she has a much kinder demeanour. She was disowned from the family for marrying my father, Ted, as he's a muggle-born wizard."

"Thank you for the heads up about your mother resembling Bellatrix," Harry told Tonks in a grateful voice. "I'd hate to think what could've potentially happened otherwise, since I would've believed your mother to be under disguise or something. Now I know that she's nothing like that insane Bellatrix."

"Mum even told me that she and Sirius favoured each other," said Tonks. "That they were each other's favourite cousins. If it weren't for the ole coot's meddling with your life and Sirius' as well, we all could've been something like a family and I would've been able to take on the role of big sister to you."

"At least Dumbledore can't tell me what to do anymore, even though he never had the power to control my life anyway," stated Harry. "We'll need to plan over what to do in London tomorrow. We can discuss that at my family manor."

"Excellent idea, Harry," said Tonks. "Well, take care and sleep well everyone, and I'll see you all tomorrow."

After everybody said their good-nights to Tonks, she ended the fire-call and the fire dissipated. It wasn't too much longer after that when the Delacour Manor house elves informed everyone that dinner was ready. Even after they finished eating, walking around in the zoo for most of the day and getting the pictures with the Eiffel Tower in the background made it pretty tiring for the six and they decided to just call it a night. After changing into his pajamas, Harry looked out the bedroom window and stared out into the Atlantic Ocean while watching the sunset light reflecting off of the water's surface. A gentle knock on the door was heard and Harry went to answer it. It was Gabby and she was dressed in a pair of bright-blue pajamas, so Harry opened the door wider to let her in and she followed him over to the window so they could watch the ocean together. Harry felt one of Gabby's hands giving his right hand a comforting squeeze.

"It's a beautiful sight, isn't it, Harry?" asked Gabby.

"It is," said Harry. "The sunset light makes it even more so, not just the light reflecting off the surface, but the sunset sky also adds more beauty."

Harry and Gabby planted their lips against each others' and began a passionate kiss, with Gabby wrapping her arms over the back of Harry's neck and Harry placing his hands on her waist. As much as they didn't want it to stop, they had to pull away after sixty seconds to catch their breath. Then after they gave each other a goodnight hug, Gabby left to return to her bedroom. As he climbed into bed, Harry saw that the room was charmed to go dark whenever it sensed when someone was ready for sleep. The window also had a curtain charmed to keep the sunlight out of the room just in case someone wished to take a nap.

As Harry laid on his back in the dark, he began pondering his thoughts about his future with Gabby and how their journey to the United States would play out. He also wasn't sure if he and Gabby wanted any children and if they did, wondered how many. One thing he did know was that he wanted to wait until sometime after Gabby's seventeenth birthday after they officially married before worrying about the possibility of children. All too soon, Harry fell asleep and started dreaming about his future with Gabby.

------

The next morning, Harry woke up at around a quarter to 6:00 AM. He looked around and remembered that he was in one of the guest rooms at Delacour Manor. It was about five minutes later when he heard a knock at the door. Harry got out of bed, walked over to the door and opened it to find Gabby waiting for him, and greeted him with a smile. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a good morning hug (with Harry giving her one in return).

Then the two headed downstairs and found Anthony and Apolline sitting at the dining table. The Delacour parents got up and gave their daughter and future son-in-law good morning hugs themselves. It was a little after six when Bill and Fleur entered the dining room and greeted everyone in the dining room with good morning hugs as well before they all sat down and waited for one of the house elves to bring them breakfast. Once breakfast was over, the six humans left the dining room and over to the living room to discuss what they'll be doing in London.

"You can summon your family house elves, Harry," Bill informed. "All you have to do is say 'I summon all of the elves of House Potter' or anything along those lines, and all of your family house elves will come to you, that is if you're unaware of their names."

"Thank you, Bill." said Harry gratefully. Then he asked Bill and the Delacours, "Would you like my house elves to take you to Potter Manor with me?"

"No, Harry!" Bill and the Delacours chorused in unison. "We'll floo over there when you let us know that you've made it."

Everybody returned to their rooms to get dressed. Once they all returned to the living room, Harry walked outside and out of the charms surrounding the property of Delacour Manor. Then he repeated the phrase Bill told him and almost instantly, four house elves appeared. Two of them were males and they were named Oreo and Bumper; they were dressed in gray blazers with the Potter family crest monogrammed on them, long-sleeve white collared shirts, dark-blue trousers, and gray formal shoes. The other two house elves were named Piper and Pippy; they were dressed in white long-sleeve collared shirts with the Potter family crest monogrammed on the shirt pockets, gray overall skirts, white ankle-length elf-sized leggings, and gray formal shoes. They began hugging Harry's legs as they began exclaiming how happy they were just to see him again. Then Harry instructed Oreo to take him to Potter Manor, with the other elves following closely. Oreo brought Harry to the front gate of Potter Manor.

"Oreo's had to do's that," Oreo explained to Harry. "It's for security's reason just in case someone's may be tryings to impersonates you."

Harry nodded his head to show that he understood. Then he came up with an idea and called for Dobby, who appeared almost instantly. Harry instructed Dobby to bring Winky over and when that was done, Harry called the rest of his family house elves before asking Dobby and Winky if they wanted to officially be a Potter house elf. Dobby and Winky also gave Harry hugs, with Winky more excited even if she still smelled like butterbeer. Once the bondings were over, Harry instructed Winky to clean herself up and once he was inside, the other elves would get two House Potter uniforms ready. Oreo opened the gate for Harry and once Harry arrived at the front door, he spotted some kind of mailbox on the right side of the door and some kind of thumb pad on the door's left.

"Your elves will checks your mail for you's, Master Harry," Oreo explained. "That thumbs pad is a security measures. You place one of your's thumbs on it and gives it a firm press before a trickle pokes you and takes your blood samples to see if you's really are masters before you's can enter. Above the thumbs pad will be a blue lights to indicate that the blood sample is being analyzed, then it will light up in either greens or reds light. Green means that access is granted and red means access denied."

Again, Harry nodded his head to acknowledge what Oreo told him, then he put his right thumb up to the thumb pad and pressed on it firmly. He did feel a little pain, but it wasn't something he couldn't handle. After the blood sample was taken from him, a blue light above the thumb pad lit up to indicate that the blood was being analyzed. After ten seconds, the green light lit up to indicate that Harry was cleared to enter. As soon as he walked inside, all six of the Potter house elves entered the hallway and showed Harry over to the living room. Inside the living room, Harry told his house elves he wanted to wait before they could give him a tour and walked over to the fireplace and activated the fire to fire-call Delacour Manor to let Bill and the Delacours know that he made it safely.

Once they were in the living room, Harry fire-called Tonks at her flat to give her the heads up about being in Potter Manor. Once Tonks made it, Harry fire-called Tonks' parents and Tonks revealed herself to her parents to prove that she was at Potter Manor. Once that fire call ended, Tonks' parents flooed over to Potter Manor and made the proper introductions with Fleur's parents and sister (since Ted and Andi already met Bill and Fleur). Seeing Harry alright was a big relief to Andi and Ted, since they knew that Lily and James never wanted Harry to go to the Dursleys, and now it was time to start catching up on the missed bonding moments.

"Harry," Andi started asking. "If you don't mind me asking, do you and Gabby plan to stay on the Magical Express or something until you two make it to the US, or do you plan to make some stops along the way? Dora told us about your plan to leave the country and we want to help you out."

"I didn't even think about that one," stated Harry. "The excitement resulted in me not thinking carefully."

"Same with me," Gabby told Andi. "Harry and I were both anxious to leave that we forgot to ask for some pointers."

"Why don't you and Harry wait another day or two, sweetie," Apolline suggested to her second daughter, hugging Gabby from behind. "If we have to, we can do the planning in this manor."

"Ted, Dora, and myself can also help Harry out with the planning," said Andi. "Planning on whether Harry and Gabby want to take their train nonstop to the United States or if they want to make some stops along the way."

Harry and Gabby nodded their heads in agreement, since they were still unsure if they wanted their train ride to be nonstop to the United States or if they wanted to make a few stops and spend some time at various destinations while making the journey to the United States the final stop. Harry spotted a list of names right by the fireplaces that showed who would be allowed in the manor. He saw to it that Bill's, the Delacours', and the Tonks' names had been added to the list. Harry even added Amelia's, Augusta's, Charlies's, Fred's, George's, Arthur's, Neville's, Luna's, Susan's, Hannah's Ernie's, Justin's, and even Cho's and Marietta’s names to the list.

Upon spotting Albus Dumbledore's name, Harry crossed the name out to prevent Dumbledore from gaining entry somehow and put his name (along with the names of Molly, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione) on the blacklist (which also had the names of other dark wizards or witches) to prevent them from gaining access. Even though Dumbledore had no idea, it was still a good idea for Harry to revoke his former headmaster's privilege of gaining entry into the manor as punishment for using Harry as a pawn and forcing him to be something he didn't want to be against his will. Harry and company flooed over to the Leaky Cauldron, so they could spend the day in London. The longer Dumbledore remained oblivious about Harry's plan, the more he and Gabby could leave the country all relaxed.