Harry Potter and the Fight for Survival

Disclaimer: I own nothing; the characters and situations of this story all belong to J.K. Rowling.

Title: Harry Potter and the Fight for Survival

Chapter 4: Leaving it all Behind

Harry returned his new trunk to its normal size with a whisper of the password. He pulled everything out of his backpack and shoved it into the first compartment of his trunk. He grabbed his old trunk and pulled the bags of clothes out of it shoving them into the second compartment of his trunk. Harry continued to shove all of his old stuff into his new trunk. He didn't bother with neatly packing as he was hard pressed for time. It was already 6:45 in the morning and he needed to get out of the house before his aunt got up at seven.

He finally finished packing all of his stuff at 6:55 and gave the room a once over. He left all the clothes he had got from the Dursley's along with anything else he got from them over the years. He quickly muttered the password to his trunk again watching as it shrunk. He pocketed it and picked up his backpack. It had his money in it, along with an invisibility cloak, and his identification cards.

The icy blue-eyed teenager raced down the hall and down the stairs as quickly as he could without making a sound. He was out the front door just as the clock began to chime seven times telling everyone in the house that it was seven in the morning. He ran down the sidewalks of his neighborhood ignoring the neighbors that were already up and peering at the running red-haired with suspicion.

As Harry reached the main part of town he walked to the nearest supermarket and inside. He grabbed a basket and began to throw foods into it that wouldn't perish quickly. Where he was going he wouldn't be able to cook and keep foods in a refrigerator. He needed food that would last at most two weeks and at least a week. Harry pushed his basket to the cash register where he paid for his things. He carried the bags out of the store and walked to the nearest alley.

After making sure no one was around he pulled his trunk out and muttered the password once again. He shoved his bags into the third compartment and closed the trunk back. He muttered the password again and pocketed the trunk. Walking out of the alley he began to walk through the town searching for a place that would sell what he needed. He found a camping shop and entered it. He looked around till he found the sleeping bags. He grabbed one and searched before finding some lanterns, which he bought among other things that would help with where he was going.

Harry stopped at a couple more shops before calling a taxi to take him to London. He climbed into the taxi and fought off the sleep he so desperately needed. He hadn't slept properly since the death of his Godfather. Whenever he went to sleep he would have nightmares of the death of Sirius and with the nightmares came the guilt. The guilt that tore him to pieces and made him think about how much he had wanted to die when possessed by Voldemort. He was far from over his godfather's death and he doubted he would be over it anytime soon. He would live with that guilt for the rest of his life but he wouldn't let it slow him in his fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

As the taxi pulled to a stop in front of the record store next to the Leaky Cauldron Harry paid the taxi driver before getting out of the car. He pulled his bag on watching the taxi as it drove off. Harry walked to the Leaky Cauldron and inside. He walked up to the bar and waited for Tom to come help him. His blue eyes moved over the pub noticing the curious looks he was getting from the people in the pub. He jumped slightly at the sound of someone clearing their throat.

“Can I help you?” Tom asked him.

“I need to floo to the Three Broomsticks,” Harry told him.

Harry got a curious look before Tom nodded and motioned Harry to follow him. He led Harry to the fireplace and pulled out a pouch of floo powder. He handed it to the red-haired teenager who took it.

“It'll cost you a galleon,” said Tom.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a galleon. He handed it to Tom before reaching into the pouch and pulling out a handful of floo powder. He threw it in the fireplace and watched as it turned a brilliant green. He stepped into the fireplace and shouted, “The Three Broomsticks!” and vanished.

He tucked his elbows as he spun around and around. He squeezed his eyes close to avoid being sick. As he stopped spinning he was thrown out of the fireplace. He barely avoided landing on his face as he caught himself on the closet table. His red hair fell into his face and he pushed it away in annoyance.

His eyes moved over the almost empty bar and he once again ignored the suspicious looks he was getting from the people. He walked through the bar and out of it. He slowly began his trek through the village that was just beginning to come alive. He walked through the streets, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village. He walked toward the mountain and past the stile that he had meant Sirius in doing his fourth year. He climbed over the stile and began to climb the path that led up the mountain.

By the time he reached the top of the mountain he was out of breath and exhausted. He slowly squeezed into the entrance to the cave. He entered it and his eyes moved over the cold cave. He pulled his bag off and dropped it on the floor of the cave. He reluctantly began to set his things up for his stay here for the next couple of weeks.

Hours later Harry sat on his sleeping bag in front of a small fire reading, Disguising Charms and Potions by Richard Donaldville. He grabbed his bag pulling out his new wand and old wand. He pressed them together as the book said to do and he whispered, “dissimulo magica.”

The two wands glowed a bright white before returning to their normal colors. Harry pulled himself to his feet as he dropped the book onto his sleeping bag. He hesitated before whispering, “ silencio,” while waving his new wand around so the charm would work on the whole cave. He sat back down on his sleeping bag and picked up his book once again. He waited and silently hoped that the disguising charmed had worked on his magic. It would only work for a week at a time but at least he would be able to do magic over the summer.

He could have used a potion that would permanently disguise his magical signature but he wasn't knowledgeable enough in potions to attempt the potion yet. His blue eyes moved over the book in his lap. It was one of the books he had got in Borgin and Burkes. He understood why it wasn't a book normally sold because the Ministry didn't want children to be aware that they could disguise their magic and be able to do magic over the summer.

Harry waited a couple hours before deciding that the disguising charm had indeed worked because he didn't get a letter from the Ministry of Magic. He continued to read for the next couple hours till he felt a tingling in his hair and eyes. He conjured a mirror and he smiled in relief when he saw his messy black hair along with his dark green eyes were back.

The potions only lasted 12 hours and had finally worn off much to his relief. He was sick of the red hair because it reminded him of his mother making him feel a pang of sadness whenever he noticed it out of the corner of his eye. The icy blue eyes actually reminded him of the cold gray eyes of Lucius Malfoy even though they weren't gray like Lucius's eyes. He didn't mind the longer hair because it was actually manageable that way.

He placed cooling charms on his food that he absolutely needed but would perish if not kept cool. For dinner he ate crackers and sausage with slices of cheese. He stayed up most of the night reading and trying out the spells he read in his numerous books. He was beyond exhausted by four in the morning and he reluctantly fell asleep in his sleeping bag.

He almost immediately regretted falling asleep as he felt like he was flying. He couldn't open his eyes as he floated through the air. He could hear voices but he couldn't make out what they were saying. The air was suddenly filled with screams, pleads, and yells of pain and horror. He struggled to open his eyes wanting to know what was causing the sounds.

He forced his eyes open and was greeted with a sight that caused his very breath to catch in his throat. His eyes moved over the burning village. He watched as men, women, and children ran around trying to get away from the cloaked and masked figures. He watched as houses were set on fire and people were tortured cruelly by the cloaked figures that he realized were death eaters.

He could see the confusion, fear, and horror in the eyes of the villagers. He realized that this was a Muggle Village because no one knew how to fight the curses that were being thrown at them. Harry found himself in the middle of the village and he watched with horror as a death eater tortured a small child. He didn't know what possessed him to do it but he jumped in front of the second curse the death eater through at the little girl. He landed on the ground hard and covered his ears as the girl screamed in pain. The curse had gone right through him; he was like a spirit here and couldn't interfere in what was happening.

His green eyes widened as the crystal blue eyes of the girl locked on his. She could see him but the death eaters couldn't he realized. Harry crawled to her and he sat on his knees next to her trying to comfort her as the death eater continued to curse her. He watched in horror as blood began to run out of her mouth, nose, and ears. Harry slowly ran his fingers through her blond hair, whispering reassurance in her ear, and he gripped her right hand tightly in his own.

He watched as her eyes began to lose the life they had held as the torture continued. He had realized that this girl was going to die and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. All he could do was make sure she didn't die alone and offer as much reassurance as he could as she slowly died. As she breathed her last breath Harry felt a strong surge of sadness feel his heart. He slowly reached down with his left hand and closed her unseeing eyes. He brushed her hair off of her forehead as he leaned down and kissed her forehead softly.

Harry's dark green eyes flew open as he woke from the vision. He was panting softly as he stared at the ceiling of the cave. He didn't know if the vision was real or a trap from Voldemort like the ones he was sent doing his fifth year. The vision had been different from the ones he had got in fifth year though, his scar didn't hurt was the first thing that led him to believe that maybe the vision was a real one.

He jumped slightly as he felt something nip at his left ear. He recognized the nip though so he didn't attack the white owl. He raised his eyes up to Hedwig's yellow ones and she seemed to be staring at him with worry. He didn't question how she found him; she had always been able to find him when no one else could. He hadn't seen her in almost a week; she had left one night and hadn't returned till now.

Harry pulled himself up and grabbed some parchment off his stack of books. He grabbed a quill and began to write a letter to the only person he trusted with this information.

Dear Hermione,

How are you doing? Are you recovering well from what happened at the end of our fifth year? I'm really sorry about that. I should have listened to you when you said I have a saving people thing and waited. I hope you will forgive me for leading you into that trap. I don't know why you haven't contacted me all summer vacation but I have a feeling it's because of Dumbledore. You shouldn't always listen to authority figures Hermione, they aren't always right. Umbridge should have proved that doing our fifth year but yet you still follow Dumbledore's orders blindly. I want to keep in touch with your this summer. I'm going to find a way for us to keep in touch without having to send letters back and forth.

Anyways the reason I'm sending you this letter is because I need your opinion on something. I had a vision tonight but it wasn't like the ones I had doing fifth year. My scar didn't burn, Voldemort wasn't even there, and I could touch the victim's in the vision but the death eaters couldn't see me. The vision was of a Muggle village being attacked by death eaters. There was one little girl who I comforted while she was being attacked. She couldn't be any older than three or four. She had sandy blond hair, crystal blue eyes and looked like a little angel. She died from prolong exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. I think the Village was called Carburry or Candburry, I couldn't read the village sign very well because it had almost been completely destroyed. Can you look into it for me, please?

By the time you get this letter you might know I've left my relatives care. I had to leave Hermione; I couldn't stay in that house any longer. They hate me and I can't deny the feelings are mutual. I've got a good hiding place. I promise you that no one will find me here. I'm not going to stay here for more than two weeks. I'm going to go somewhere else where no one can find me as soon as I do everything I need to. I want to spend some time with you this summer, though. Maybe we can spend some time together at the end of the summer? We can go anywhere you want and you can invite your parents, of course. Just don't tell anyone I sent you this letter, please! I trust you to keep this to yourself, Hermione. Don't go to the place we were at last summer. They won't let you leave and will monitor your letters. Convince your parents to go on a vacation till the last two weeks of summer. Go to China, Paris, or maybe even Hawaii, just get as far from Europe as you can.

Don't send me a letter back. Keep Hedwig with you this summer. I'll get in touch with you in a couple days, I promise. Don't worry about me; I'm okay. I know what I'm doing, Hermione. Take care of yourself.

Your best friend,

Harry

Harry rolled the letter up and tied a ribbon to it before tying it to one of Hedwig's legs. She nipped his finger affectionately as if knowing she wouldn't see him again for a month. Harry watched as she flew away and out of the cave. He sighed softly knowing he wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep tonight.

He climbed out of the sleeping bag and grabbed his trunk. He changed clothes pulling on a pair of athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt. He pulled on some socks and his trainers before grabbing a hat he bought in Little Whinging pulling it on so it covered his scar. He climbed out of the cave and sat down on the ground outside of it. He stretched his tense muscles as he watched the slowly rising sun. After stretching he did some sit-ups and push-ups.

When he finished he began a slow jog down the mountainside. He ran up and down the mountainside three times before falling in a heap outside the cave. He was definitely out of shape he realized. He was totally exhausted after those laps up and down the steep mountainside. He forced himself to stretch his muscles because he knew he would be in a lot more pain later if he didn't.

He spent the rest of the day reading a book about Martial Arts that he had got in Flourish and Blotts. He practiced some of the moves the book told him to do but he had a feeling he wasn't doing them quite right. He ate some apples and oranges for breakfast, crackers and sausage for lunch, and soup for dinner. He was exhausted by midnight and sunk into his sleeping bag where he fell asleep before his head had hit the sleeping bag properly.

Over the next couple days he quickly got a schedule. In the mornings he would wake up early and exercise after having some kind of vision. He would write it down so he could tell Hermione about them later. After exercising he would have breakfast and work on Martial Arts. After that he would have lunch and read. He would spend the rest of the day either working on spells or reading. He would have dinner when it got dark outside and work on more spells till he fell asleep.

On the morning of the 22^nd of July he woke up and instead of exercising he got out the potions he had got from Eva. He had been staying in this cave for three days now and he find it quite cozy. Harry changed into some Muggle clothes, a dark green t-shirt, some baggy pants, and his combat boots.

He pulled one of the potions out of the rack and read the label. It would change his hair to a golden blond. He pulled another potion out of the kit that would change his eyes to a light gray. He pulled one more potion out of the kit to grow his hair longer. He swallowed the potion and felt his hair grow longer. It stopped at the top of his shoulder blades. He massaged the hair color-changing potion into his hair. After hesitating a second he massaged some of the potion into his eyebrows so they too would be a golden blond. He poured three drops of the eye color-changing potion into his eyes and they tingled before turning a beautiful light gray.

Harry applied the cosmetics to his forehead to hide his scar. Once making sure his scar wasn't visible he pulled out his identification cards and saw with slight amusement that the picture had changed to match his new appearance. The name still said Evan James though, which he wasn't surprised about. After making sure he had his moneybag among other things he would need he pulled his backpack on. He left the cave and began a slow trek down the mountainside.

Once he reached the main part of Hogsmeade he quickly made his way to the Floo Shop simply named, Floo. He made his way to the counter where he paid a galleon for a bag of floo powder. He flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, which he noticed was almost empty this early in the morning. Harry quickly made his way out of the pub and into Muggle London.

Harry walked through the streets of London searching for a specific shop. He walked for almost ten minutes before finding the shop and pushing the door open. He stepped inside and looked around the shop.

He jumped as a voice asked, “Can I help you, sir?”

Harry turned to the blond haired man who stared at him with light brown eyes. Harry nodded as his eyes moved back to the wall.

“I want two of those,” he told the man.

The man nodded as he moved behind the counter and through a side door. He came back out with two small boxes. Harry pulled out his identification card and handed it to the man. He took it as he began to type in information into the computer. Harry watched as the man activated the two cell phones and handed them to Harry. He told Harry the numbers for the two phones and explained how they worked to Harry.

Harry paid the man for a year contract in full because he doubted he would be able to keep up with the bill every month. Harry paid a lot of extra money so he would still be able to talk to Hermione on the cell phone even if he was in Nevada and she was in Australia. Harry smiled at the man before leaving the shop with the two cell phones.

He walked through the streets of London before stopping at a telephone box. He walked inside and grabbed the telephone book. He searched through it before stopping at Jane Granger. He knew for a fact that she was Hermione's mother because that was whom Hermione got her middle name from. As his eyes moved over the listing he grabbed the card he had got from the shop and wrote the address on the card. Harry shut the telephone book back before grabbing the cell phone he decided would be his.

He called a taxi, which arrived ten minutes later. As he told the taxi driver where to he dialed another number on the cell phone. He listened to it ring and as it rung for the fourth time someone finally picked the phone up.

“Granger residence, this is Hermione, can I help you?” said Hermione.

Harry smiled to himself before speaking, “Are you home alone?”

“Harry!” squealed Hermione immediately recognizing her best friend's voice.

“Hi, Hermione,” answered Harry as his smile grew.

“Harry, what's going on?” asked Hermione her voice feeling with worry.

“I need to talk to you but I need to do it in person. I'm coming over to your house and should be there in about five minutes. I'm in disguise so when you see me don't be afraid. My hair is blond, my eyes gray, and let's just say I've filled out a little over the summer,” Harry told her as he frowned slightly.

“Where have you been for the past three days?” Hermione asked him.

Harry frowned at this question and didn't answer right away. When he did finally speak it was to say, “Hermione, I'll tell you everything but not now. When I get to your house we can sit down and have as long a conversation as you want.”

He could almost see Hermione biting her lip as she nodded to herself before she finally spoke to him. “All right we can talk when you get to my house but don't think you're going to get out of any of my questions.”

“Of course not, Hermione,” he answered knowing that was what she wanted to hear. He had learned over the years that it was just best to agree with Hermione to placate her when she was upset.

“We'll talk when I get to your house,” he told her as he sighed softly. He had no doubt it was going to be a long conversation and definitely an emotional one.

“All right, Harry, we'll talk when you get here. I can't wait to see you, I've missed you this summer,” she told him.

Harry smiled softly to himself as he could hear the truth and emotion in his friend's voice. He nodded before telling her bye and that he would see her soon. He hung the phone up and pushed it into one of his baggy pant's pockets.

Five minutes later the taxi pulled to a stop in front of a huge two-story house. Hermione's parents were definitely doing well for themselves because the house could only be described as a small mansion. Harry climbed out of the taxi paying the taxi driver as he did so. He looked up at the sound of the front door opening and Hermione came running out of the house.

She opened her mouth to no doubt squeal his name but the shaking of his head stopped her. It didn't stop her from continuing her run toward him though. She plowed into him throwing her arms around him tightly. She squeezed him tightly as she buried her face in his chest. He smiled to himself before wrapping his arms around her small waist hugging her back tightly. He reached up brushing her thick busy brown hair out of his face so he could see her face.

He gently pushed her away as he felt eyes on them. He looked around but he couldn't see anyone, which led him to believe that it was another Order member this time assigned to watch Hermione.

“We need to get inside,” he whispered to her.

She nodded at this and grasped his right hand. She practically dragged him inside of her house and she slammed the door shut. His eyes moved around the huge entrance hall before his eyes moved to the floor. It was made of marble he realized.

“What's going on, Harry?” she asked him as she stared up at him in confusion.

Harry squeezed her hand as an answer before pulling her through the entrance hall. He moved toward the open doorway and inside the living room. He gently pushed her onto the couch and sat down next to her. Harry pulled his bag off and he unzipped it. He pulled Hermione's cell phone out of the bag and he handed it to her along with the box it came in.

“This is how we're going to keep in contact this summer,” he told her.

“I'm going to Greece this summer though, you told me to get as far away from Europe as I could. I convinced my parents that we haven't spent much time together in the past couple years and they agreed to the trip,” she told him frantically.

Harry grabbed her hands to calm her down because she had been waving them around as she spoke. Hermione took deep breaths as if realizing she was losing control by Harry's actions.

“Calm down,” he whispered to her.

She nodded at this and squeezed his hands.

“I'm going to tell you everything, Hermione, but you have to swear you won't overreact, and you will let me finish speaking before interrupting,” he told her.

Hermione nodded at this and he smiled at her before sighing. He didn't know where to start. He just knew he needed to tell her everything because she was the only one he could really trust. She was the one person who stuck by him no matter what. She was one definitely the most important person in his life and if anyone deserved to know everything it was her.

Harry opened his mouth and began to speak….

AN1: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story so far! I kind of left you all with a cliffhanger so I feel a little bad. It's just the chapter was getting really long and I thought that was a good place to end it for now. Before anyone asks Harry is not going to be staying in that cave all summer. Just for a week or two before moving on to somewhere else that will be far more entertaining. Some of you may not like where Harry is going but I have a feeling the majority of you will!

AN2: Dissimulo Magica means disguise magic. I don't actually think Magica is a word but I couldn't find a Latin word for magic. Dissimulo is actually the Latin word for disguise, which I looked up. Silencio is obviously a silencing charm. Oh yeah, pay attention to Harry's visions in this story. They will be very important later in the story. They will have a huge impact on the story around chapter 26. I've worked the plot out and I definitely know where I'm going with this story. There will be a total of 40 chapters, so I'm hoping I will be able to finish by the time the sixth book comes out. When summer comes around for me on May 27^th I will start updating three times a week because I won't have anything better to do but write! I might even update everyday if I really get into the story this summer. We'll see when the summer comes around!

AN3: I want to give Mycha a big thank you for writing such a long review! Some of the characters Harry met in Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley will be seen later in the story, but they won't have anything to do with the plot really. You all got to see Hermione in this chapter and she will be in the next chapter a lot. The relationship between Hermione and Harry will be slow in coming. They won't suddenly realize they love each other, so don't be surprised if they don't get together till like chapter 20 and it won't be a perfect relationship.