Into the Serpent's Eye

    Harry sat awake in his bed, pondering his arrival at King's Cross Station. After Moody, Tonks, Lupin, and the Weasleys had left, the Dursleys seemed all the more nervous around him. Dudley would no longer go into his room, Harry thought this odd, but he might be afraid of who was going to turn up in his room next. But all he seemed to have on his mind lately was what Luna said the night of the big feast...

    " 'Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil.'

    'You mean...' he had replied.

    'In that room with the Archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them.' "

    And even though Luna may have believed the craziest things known to man, Harry had believed her, for he was positive he had heard voices from behind the veil as well. Could it be true? Could the Ministry be talking to the dead? And if so, could Harry? This was too much for him; it just got slurred around in his head for awhile before he could make any sense of it.

    He had been writing to Ron and Hermione every other day now, so as not to arouse suspicion that the Dursleys were treating him unfairly. If anything, the Dursleys barely let it be made known he was alive. But that, in Harry's mind, was an improvement. But still, Harry still wondered if this was because they were afraid of who or what was going to turn up at their door next...

    But as Ron and Hermione weren't allowed to tell him the goings on around the Black Residence (he quickly shut the name out of his mind), Harry was quite....BORED. He was waiting till that faithful day when the Weasleys would appear at his door step, followed by an oddly put invitation to the Order's Residence as he now put it.

    And even more oddly, a knock was soon heard on the front door, followed by three voices that Harry could never forget. Tonks, Moody, and Lupin were here to pick him up! Just in time for his birthday, this in fact would be tomorrow. Even though it might not have been the Weasleys picking him up, he was still pleased, for this would mean he would get to spend some time with his friends.

    Harry gathered his things with the help of Tonks, as Moody and Lupin were explaining something to his Uncle and Aunt. Dudley could be heard shaking under his bed, wondering when the "intruders" would leave... As they were about to leave on broomstick, Harry looked toward the setting sun, just wondering what was ahead...

    They left at the stroke of midnight, and they had expected to arrive at the number 12 Grimmauld Place at exactly sun-rise. He had A LOT of time to think about what had happened on the trip. The words of Dumbledore soon appeared in his head....

"...and neither can live while the other survives..."

    So in the end, one of us will have to go, Harry thought to himself... Love, as Professor Dumbledore said, may have protected me while I was a child...what now? How am I, a nearly 16 year-old boy, going to defeat Lord Voldemort, one who has taken over the entirety of England? Hope. Isn't that what we're all supposed to have? At this point, hope seemed to be the last grain of sand left in his hour glass...Harry could envision his 'hour glass of life' tipping over and smashing into a thousand pieces at the hands of Voldemort...

    They soon arrived at Grimmauld Place, and as they entered the shabby house, Harry was in no mood for anything... But as hope has it, things change, and evidently, Harry's mood seemed to...