Half Life

Chapter One

Loneliness is Bliss

11:59 pm July 30th….

It had been five years. Five years since the attack. Five years since Voldemort had taken from him again. Five years since, Harry had finally taken his revenge upon the being that had made his life a living nightmare. On this dark, gloomy, rain filled night, a bolt of lightning struck the cloudy sky and illuminated a mansion on top of a hill. It was a dilapidated haunted looking place that seemed as if it had been vacant for 100 years and was about to collapse. It hadn’t always been like that though. This house had once been filled with laughter, love and family. Now Harry Potter sat alone in the dark with a drink in his left hand and his wand in the right.

“Happy Birthday, Potter,” he muttered to himself (in a very Snape like manner) as the clock struck 12 a.m. “To the Boy That Lived.” He finished the rest of his drink and then threw his glass across the room. It hit a wall and shattered just as lightning and thunder clapped out side.

He sat there, wondering if Avada Kedavera would work on himself. Wondering if all he had done, all he had accomplished, was worth any of the pain he had to deal with every day.

“Will it work if I do it to myself?” He thought. “Of course it will you dolt, you’re Harry Potter, the son of Lily and James and one of the greatest wizards of your time.” Harry grasped his hair tightly, pulling at it, wanting the voices to go away. “You’re the wizard who vanquished Voldemort with the exact same spell.” He was holding the sides of his head shaking, concentrating on making them go away. “ Of course it will work!!” Please go away. “What? Don’t think you can do it, Potter?” Please go away!! “ Are you afraid?” GO AWAY!!!

Harry screamed and threw his wand across the room in a fury and began to cry. He had been thinking like this off and on now for months. Wondering if what he had done in the wizarding world was actually worth anything? If he was worth something besides being looked at as some hero figure that people wrote about in history books. He was soon worn out by crying and the alcohol he had been drinking was taking over his body. He passed out in his chair and thought of nothing more that night.

He awoke the next afternoon when Hedwig and a few other very disgruntled ministry owls started screeching in protest at being ignored for more than three hours. He was so startled by the noise that he immediately jumped up, ready for battle. After realizing what was going on he cursed loudly at all of the owls for waking him. His head was pounding furiously and all of the commotion didn’t help any. He then realized why they were there. It was his birthday, after all, and as usual, his friends and presumptuous loved ones whom he rarely even spoke to anymore had sent him gifts and cards. The cards he assumed contained the usual.

Happy Birthday!! Hope you are well!! Please write me. Please let me know you are ok.

All of which he did not want to read, so instead he waved his hand over the pile and mumbled, “Incendio”. They all burst into small piles of flames. Loud screeching soon followed seeing as how they were still attached to their carrier’s legs. He ignored the screeching and picked up one of the parcels that lay next to others in a small pile on his table.

His first parcel was from Ron and it was sloppily wrapped inside brown packing paper. Inside was the team photo of the Chudley Cannons for the year. Ron was there with the word “Keeper” sewn on his robes. His slightly moving picture showed off his stern, motley and ready to kill looks. He noticed that Cho Chang had also been added to the photo this year as the team’s Seeker. Good, he thought, the one last year was awful. There was also a blue pass and a note…

Harry,

I really didn’t know what to get you so I got you this. The pass is good all year for any game we play at… come out some time and watch me show them why I was Gryffindor Co- Captain with you. We also added Cho to the lineup, as Seeker .The one last year was awful. I’m sure she would like to see you as well. Happy Birthday mate. Ron

He then took the second parcel from Gred and Feorge Weasley bearing the official Weaselys' Wizarding Wheezes seal. Harry looked at it for a second and thought of how far the twins had come with their business. He remembered when the Malfoy estate had been purged after the final battle. Arthur had defeated Lucius and the Ministry had seen it fit that the Weaselys be rewarded with the money that was made from liquidating the Malfoy estate. Fred and George, along with the rest of the children, were given some of the money to do with as they liked. However, Molly strongly suggested it be put in a Gringotts account. Fred and George of course paid no attention and opened their first small store. It had eventually branched out to 13 stores around Europe with two shops in Diagon Alley… One for the good clean jokes which most of the Hogwarts students shopped at and one for the more outwardly devilish jokes. All stores were doing wonderfully well and with Percy keeping the books and doing the marketing, Harry was sure their family was still profiting quite nicely.

He opened the box and saw a small package of raspberry filled donut holes. He looked at them awkwardly, waiting for them to explode or fly away or disappear, but instead they just sat there. Harry shrugged and took a bite. He should have known better. It let out a loud scream of terror and started yelling that it had been wounded. “I need a baker!! Any baker!! Please someone help me!!” Harry quickly finished the donut hole and slightly chuckled. He could hear them now… “Only four sickles a dozen, a real bargain!!” Gred and Feorge, always good for laugh.

His third gift was from Ginny. It turned out to be two picture frames. The first was of Harry, Ron and Hermione on their graduating day from Hogwarts. Hermione’s parents were there and so were the rest of the Weasleys. The small intimate photo session of the three graduates had escalated to a Weasley, Potter and Granger family shot with Dumbledore and Hagrid balancing out the ends. The second was of just Ginny and him on her graduation day from Hogwarts. Mr. Weasley was so excited to have a Muggle camera to document both events Harry remembered.

The only thing left was from Hermione. It was a thin envelope that had been set aside from everything else.

He opened it and read the note that fell out.

Harry,

Dumbledore is very sick and wants to see you. He says he hasn’t much time left and wishes to talk to you one last time. He would have written himself, but his owl kept coming back to him right after he had sent them. You know he is not one to pry into other people’s affairs so he let it be. Please come Harry, he wants you here badly. I think he…

But before he could finish the letter there was a knock at his door. He pushed his headache aside and made his way cautiously towards the door. The charm he had put on the house and the surrounding area should have ensured that no one would be able to get on the property let alone to the front door. It was a derivative of Fidelius that he had invented so that he could be his own secret keeper. This guaranteed no one finding him except a few Ministry Stealth Owls and Hedwig. He approached the door cautiously and noticed two figures standing on the other side of his doorway through the glass in the door. It was Ron and Hermione.

* * * * *

As Harry opened the door he squinted in the bright sunlight. Funny how the weather changes so quickly he thought.

Somewhat angry and still a little tipsy from the night before, Harry managed to say, “How did you two find me?”

“Oh honestly, Harry, you didn’t think we didn’t know you’ve been staying in your own house this whole time? If you were going to hide, at least you could have left the country. Besides, if something important came up, you didn’t think that little charm of yours was going to keep me away, did you?” Hermione smirked. “ I mean, I only helped develop the blasted thing. You didn’t think I wouldn’t figure out how to break it? We have only stayed away out of respect for your privacy. You know, for being one of the 'greatest wizards of our time' you aren’t very bright are you?” Ron suppressed a chuckle at Hermione’s haughtiness and stuck out his hand to his old friend.

“Happy Birthday, mate, it’s good to see you, although I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Is he really that bad?” Harry asked, starting to show the emotions he kept bottled up inside for the man who was his former Headmaster, his mentor, and most of all, his friend. Dumbledore had taken it upon himself to train Harry and a few other select students from around the world after they had graduated from their respective schools.

Generation after generation, certain witches and wizards were picked by the most respected and renowned wizards in their region to receive special training, training that went far beyond what Hogwarts and any other school was able to provide. Beyond the subjects of which what most books only scratched the surface. It was during this training that Harry learned wandless magic. Where he learned to control, move and manipulate things by thought. He was taught the ancient ways of Sorcery and how to respect and pay homage to where and to whom he had come from. He was taught the skills he had used later on to help him defeat many adversaries, including Lord Voldemort. But most of all he was taught that just because you have the power to do something, doesn’t mean you should. His thoughts strayed to the time when he had been a young boy living at the Dursleys and wishing he had the power to make them just go away. He thought of the final time he went to that house after all of his schooling had been completed, after losing a friend and having the Dursleys taunt him. Knowing that he could easily leave the house in ruins yet also knowing that it wouldn’t be right just because he could.

“Harry, please, come with us,” Hermione pleaded. “He only wants to see you and say good bye.”

He could never say no to those pleading eyes…

* * * * *

As Hermione opened the door to Dumbledore’s room, Harry saw a thin, frail old man with half-moon spectacles on the tip of his nose, in plain blue robes, lying comfortably on his back in bed. When Harry looked at him he wouldn’t have thought the man lying in bed used to be one of thee most powerful wizards of his day. This man couldn’t be the one who had struck fear in dark wizards everywhere. This could not be the wizard that had had great passion and fury in his eyes when he had knocked Barty Crouch, Jr., across the room with a simple spell. A man who, when you looked at him radiated every bit of power he possessed. No, this man was in the last stages of his life, devoid of almost all power he used to posses.

“How are you dear boy?” Dumbledore said very quietly, but still happily enough so that the twinkle appeared in his eye. “ I’ve been sending owls every so often, but I believe they don’t make them as well as they used to, for the my letters keep returning to me.”

Harry smiled feebly. He honestly couldn’t think of anything to say, so Dumbledore said it for him.

“ You’ve wanted your privacy and I respect that, but I was hoping that I might be able to sneak an owl by that charm of yours, however you do seem to have built it quite efficiently and I have had no luck. I must say that out of all my pupils over the years you always did have a knack for doing the most complicated things and making them seem easy.” Dumbledore gave a small grin. “ Come in and sit down Harry,” Harry paused nervously and fidgeted. “I promise I won’t hex you.”

Harry pulled up a chair next to Dumbledore’s bed and looked into his eyes. Dumbledore looked placidly back and said, “You’ve turned out to be a fine young man, and I want you to know I’m very proud of you. ” Harry sat there in astonishment, for this was not what he had expected Dumbledore to say. But Dumbledore continued.

“ When I dropped you off on the Dursleys' porch those many years ago I questioned myself if it was the right thing to do. You had a capable godfather, however slightly hot headed, who adored you just as much as your parents. You had Remus, also a friend of your parents, who would have taken the responsibility gladly, in spite of his once a month setback. There was also Hagrid whom I could barely pry you from when it was time to leave you that night. You also had almost every wizarding family in the world willing to take you in because of what you had accomplished that night, but it was that simple fact that made my decision for me. I wanted you to have a humble upbringing. Far away from fame and everything that would surround you later on in life. I wanted you to know life away from the wizarding world so you would have a strong ground in character. Then when the time was right you would be able to deal with everything that would be placed upon your shoulders. Now I know that at eleven it was a bit much for you to find out that you’re a famous wizard who defeated one of the darkest men of our times, and then have to face him year after year was also trying. You have lost family and friends all because of a single evil man, and for that I am truly sorry, Harry. You have suffered more in a quarter of your lifetime than anyone should ever have to suffer in two, but there is one thing that has always been admirable about you, and something I have always respected in you. It is that you have never lost your selflessness and the will to care for others before yourself in any circumstance. Harry, your life is worth every bit of what your parents sacrificed themselves for those many years ago. Your friends also love you and want to help you however they can. Let them share your burden with you, for there will come a time when you won’t be able to do it all by yourself, and you will need your friends in times like those.”

Harry now had tears in his eyes. Dumbledore put his hand on the top of Harry’s and said, “Never forget to live and enjoy your life, for when your time is up here on this earth, you want to be able to look back before you go and say `I have no regrets and I lived my life to the fullest and now I am ready for the next great adventure. `” And with those final words, Dumbledore smiled peacefully at Harry, Ron and Hermione, closed his eyes, and issued his last breath of life. A great force of energy was felt leaving the room as the three held each other and cried for their former headmaster and friend.

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