Chapter 2

The sun was close to setting in the town of Little Whinging in Surrey. While most of the occupants of the small town had gone home and begun to unwind for the evening, in one particular house on Privet Drive, a family of three had just started their rather loud and disruptive nightly routine. Unaware that their actions were obnoxious to others, the obese father and son duo walked out of the house and up to the shiny sports car in the driveway.

Harry Potter sat perched on the rooftop directly across from his disgusting relatives house. He was hidden from their view by the chimney as he watched everything with disdain. He had never been caught in all of the years he had spied on them to study their routine and wishfully plot their downfall. And even after all this time out of their 'care', anger and resentment raged widely within him. The abuse he'd suffered at their hands too much to simply forgive and forget. But he hadn't carried out any sort of revenge like he had so desperately hoped to do when he was younger.

"Here you are my dear boy," Vernon Dursley's obnoxiously loud voice boomed throughout the whole neighbourhood. "Take us for a drive. You've earned it."

Scoffing and rolling his eyes, Harry watched as his uncle handed the keys to his cousin. After all this time, that kid was still being spoiled as if he was the prophet boy that was destined to save the entirety of the planet. Not only last week had the same whale of a boy spat a tantrum in the middle of Privet Drive when his father had not allowed him to drive the car. Harry smirked as he thought back to a red faced Petunia Dursley rushing out to resolve the conflict in front of the prying eyes of their neighbours.

Earned it his arse. The fat pig had never done a productive thing in his life. Let alone he had never been a good student. Harry had done his research on them all throughout the years. He had seen the school report cards, the complaints from neighbours, the police reports on Dudley, the client claims of disrespect or mishandling from Vernon's business. It seemed like his relatives were probably the most hated family in town; which made Harry very happy indeed.

The detestably loud rumble from the sports car brought Harry out of his thoughts. He wasn't the only one to have winced as the thundering sound suddenly filled the previously peaceful streets. Harry chuckled darkly as he watched multiple neighbours angrily storm up to their open windows, glare in the direction of the offending car, and almost simultaneously slammed them closed. Never before had he witnessed such a collective dislike for one family in his life as of right now in this small town of Little Whinging.

The front lawn was torn up slightly as the vehicle reversed faster than a race car. Dudley put his foot flat on the pedal, the engine revved dangerously and the tires spun with an obnoxious screech. Smoke floated up from the back tires as the young driver held the car stationary in the middle of the street. After a headache-inducing minute of the continuous burnout, the car roared off down the street. It barely missed a street lamp and mailbox on its way.

"Typical," scoffed Harry as he turned his attention back towards the now quiet house.

By now Petunia Dursley would have almost finished cooking the large sized dinner for her family. While the two boofheads would normally leave the house for a joy ride, she would set the table before she allowed herself to sit down on the couch and have a small amount of peace to watch whatever program her heart desires. Harry had stalked them enough times to observe how controlling Vernon was over every aspect of his wife's life. He has witnessed the physical, mental and emotional abuse many times. And in a way, he almost empathised with his maternal aunt. Yet there was still a big part of him that could never forget what she did to him.

The sun had almost completely set, casting the town in darkness. It was now a little safer for Harry to move positions without becoming compromised. He carefully manoeuvred out from behind the chimney and sat in front of it. Just as he settled in, Petunia entered the living room with an exhausted expression on her face and collapsed haphazardly onto the couch. He watched as she didn't even bother to change the channel, instead she chose to close her eyes and rest her head back. The many years of being a slave to two fat bastards had taken a very obvious toll on her mind and body.

"Harry," a deep voice said out of nowhere. Harry's body did not flinch at all as he turned his head to the side and smiled when he saw the familiar white, glowing figure of a patronus. "New mission. Come back immediately."

The mostly transparent, yet clearly defined, unicorn dispersed into thin air. The deep echo of Drew's voice lingered in the air. Work never stopped for the field in which Harry worked. Not wanting to delay the new mission, Harry quickly pulled out the small box from his pocket and picked up the shrunken wooden broom. Unlike last time, he did not cast any spell on himself. Instead he shot up into the sky and took off without a glance back. One thing he had learnt from the years he had spied on the Dursley's was to never perform any sort of magic near their house. Dumbledore had set up a spell to trigger an alert if Harry's magical signature was detected in the immediate area. And he would never let his guard down considering he never wanted to be caught there.

>_<     >_<     >_<

Knocking quickly three times on the door, Harry waited for the grunt of acknowledgement before he entered Drew's office. He opened the door to find a rare sight inside. Papers were scattered everywhere on the desk, overspilling onto the two chairs meant for guests. Harry frowned as he looked over to his right and saw Drew aggressively pacing back and forwards. The older's hair was messy, clothes untidy, and facial features rather gloomy. The man looked like an absolute shitshow thanks to whatever had him so concerned and anxious.

"Sir," Harry cautiously approached him as if not to spook the other with his presence. "You needed me?"

Drew turned to Harry slowly, his dark brown eyes held all of the emotions the quiet man was currently experiencing. The older wizard flicked his wrist and conjured two chairs from books that lay nearby. He gestured for Harry to sit as he, himself, lowered his tired body down.

"As you know, I sent Parker out on a mission to track down the diary a few days ago," Drew began while simultaneously pinching the bridge of his nose. "He has yet to return. I may need to send you out for a rescue mission."

"Yes sir," Harry nodded, concerned for the slightly older, missing man. They were rarely sent on rescue missions. And when they were, it was more often to retrieve the suspected fallen bodies. "Exact location?"

"Unknown," he sighed as he looked up with exasperated brown eyes. "I sent him on a mission to find the diary. So I believe the last known location was Wiltshire, England. And as we know, a known follower of the Dark Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, has a property there. Begin your investigation there and work your way around any possible locations until he is found. I want a report by midnight otherwise I will come hunting for you."

Harry nodded in silent understanding before he swiftly stood up and left the room to head downstairs to his room. Closing the door, he conducted a quick check over himself and his weaponry to make sure nothing was out of place or damaged. He chuckled at himself as he realised he almost forgot something. Wasting no time, he grabbed the missing weapons from his body; his two bicep knives and holsters. He often didn't take many weapons with him as he stalked the Dursley's, his favourite knife and wand were sufficient enough with no obvious danger to contend with. After he quickly attached the missing items to their correct place and adjusted his leather cloak to hide all his weaponry, he walked out of his room.

Walking over to the room directly opposite his, Harry entered Parker's bedroom. He looked around for a small object that he could take with him to help track down the missing man. His eyes were drawn to a pocket knife that sat upon the desk. Harry bent down to inspect it and found that much to his delight there were indeed usable fingerprints covering the small weapon. He grabbed a tissue, picked the pocket knife up and wrapped it up to preserve the prints. He placed it in his pocket gently before he apparated to Wiltshire without moving from his spot.

Upon landing in a quiet, dark alleyway, Harry took a second to observe his surroundings. The street ahead appeared mostly empty. Nearby restaurants and stores had barely any customers lurking around. He closed his eyes for a second and nodded once he couldn't feel any magical auras in the immediate proximity. These were the perfect conditions for him to get set up before he started the hunt. Harry pulled out the pocket knife carefully with small excitement thrumming in his veins. He held the item delicately in the palm of his left hand while he removed the tissue to reveal it with his other hand.

After he looked around once more, he quickly casted a nonverbal and wandless Disillusionment Charm over himself and the object. Although he now blended in with the environment around him, if anyone was to concentrate on his spot for any period of time, then they would easily see the shimmer of the charm and be able to expose him. With that in mind, he flicked his wand down from his holster into his hand to perform the tracking charm and get started on his rescue mission without any further delay.

"Avenseguim," he whispered while he moved his wand in the required motion.

The pocket knife vibrated in his hand for a second before it lifted a few inches into the air. It began to float out of the alleyway and Harry followed closely behind it to ensure he did not get lost. He carefully walked along the fairly quiet streets, his guard up at all times and wand at the ready. Anytime someone new started to walk on the same path, he would spend time observing them, looking out for signs they could see him.

After an uneventful lengthy walk, the pocket knife had led him to a more secluded part of the town. Along this road were houses that looked to be built in the 18th century. Many were based in the middle of giant blocks on well-maintained land. This sure did look like the type of area a pure-blooded, rich family would buy and live at. And Harry was correct in his assumption as the pocket knife began to slow in its travel and rotated towards what looked like a gravel driveway that led to the middle of an empty paddock.

He watched the pocket knife carefully as it headed towards the gravel driveway only to bounce off of an invisible barrier. A dark smirk overtook Harry's features as he snatched the pocket knife out of the air with the tissue and cancelled the tracking charm. He took two steps towards the boundary while he pocketed the knife, very conscious to not get close enough to the point of tripping the alarms. He held his hands up while closing his eyes, his wand still clutched in his right hand. He studied all of the charms and spells placed over the house in hopes of being able to find an easy solution to break them momentarily.

Tonight seemed to be his lucky night. Whoever had warded the house had done a poor job, it was almost laughable to be quite frank. Who would have thought that a pure-blooded household hadn't properly warded their home? In his mind, Harry was able to see all of the current occupants in the household. The list included all of the magical and non-magical creatures on the property. The word 'Human' appeared behind his closed eyes, followed by a list of names: Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Parker Basely. Bingo!

With his eyes still closed, Harry began to slowly dismantle certain wards, temporarily placing new ones in their place that would benefit his entry and escape. The few wards that were responsible for sounding an alarm when triggered were now gone. So were the wards that prevented apparition and unlawful trespassing. While he had been trained in the area, he was nowhere near the level of a professional Curse-Breaker. It was almost pathetic the level of protection the house had and how easily manipulated it was. Harry opened his eyes after he was satisfied to find a beautiful mansion manifest before him.

The sun had set long ago which provided much needed cover for Harry. He took a deep breath in and scoured the partially dark land in front of him. It didn't take him long to make a mental plan for the best route to get inside. His plan was to stick to the shadows and walk alongside the hedges that ran on either side of the gravel pathway that led up to the magnificent house. He took one step forward and felt the wards shift around him, completely accepting his presence without triggering any alarms. A dark smirk played with the edges of his mouth at the successful start.

Harry adjusted his long, leather cloak before he made his way to the left side of the path. He crouched down behind the very first bush and peaked around it to look for any signs of movement. This mission was going to take time and patience, one wrong move and the game is up. Perhaps that was why Drew chose him. A bubble of proudness engulfed him for a mere second before he squashed it down. He couldn't let emotions interfere with the task at hand, it would be too dangerous.

Slowly, Harry stood up from his squatted position. He studied the house once more to find no signs of movement. He looked around the front yard only to notice a flock of white peacocks. Mentally, he shook his head as he thought of how predictable it was for a rich, pure-blooded family to own rare and fancy animals. Confident there was no one around, Harry dared his first of what would be many careful moves. He darted out from behind the hedge and agilely ran towards the house, careful to hug his body as close to the bushes as possible.

Halfway towards the house, he spotted movement out of his peripheral vision and quickly ducked behind the nearest hedge. Harry double checked his Disillusion Charm was still present before he turned his head to the right side to locate the source of his problem. About a hundred yards away were a small group both in the air and on the ground, five to be exact, as Harry squinted to make out the figures in the dark. They all looked to be around his own age. Perhaps these people were Lucius Malfoy's son and his friends. He sat still and watched for a few seconds as he observed the two that were up in the air chasing each other while the others cheered them on from the ground.

The group of five seemed to be in their own world and oblivious to the current intruder on their land. Satisfied the threat was nearly non-existent, Harry continued along the path once more at a rather restrained pace. He would rather take forever to get to Parker than rush in and be caught. Merlin would only know how a duel would go down in this household.

Carefully, he snaked his way between the bushes and the path. Harry kept glancing over to the group to keep an eye on them while he also kept monitoring the activity within the house in front of him. Once again, he crouched down behind a hedge. But this time he paused to scout out possible ways to enter the house. He scoured the building to look for any open windows or doors. Another smirk took over his face once he realised a window had indeed been left opened on the second storey floor. How convenient.

Harry looked around the entire vicinity to ensure the coast was clear. The group of five were preoccupied far away still which posed no current threat. He nimbly ran up to the base of the house and came to stand directly underneath the window. Harry slipped his wand back into its holster to free both hands before he lifted his right hand up and aimed his palm to the top left of the windowsill he needed to aim for.

"Carpe Retractum," he whispered under his breath.

A long, slim rope shot out from the palm of his hand and attached itself to the wall of the house. Harry stilled for a second, knowing the rope was now visible to anyone. He looked over to the group and silently sighed in relief as they all remained occupied. Not wanting to get caught, Harry gripped the rope with both hands and gave it a tug to ensure it was sturdy. He began to scale the wall as if he weighed nothing. In the short amount of time it took to climb up to the window, he was neither out of breath nor sweating.

Harry peaked inside of the room cautiously from where he hung to the left of the window. Inside he found a spacious bedroom decorated in colours of white, dark grey and green. He rolled his eyes at the glaring obvious Slytherin themed room. Before he dared enter, he paused to check if there were any charms, spells, jinxs or wards in place. He scoffed out loud as he sensed none whatsoever. This family was either too careless to consider properly warding their home or too cocky to do it properly. It was probably the latter.

Looking around while perched on the side of the building, Harry checked in on the small group off to the right. His eyes widened as he saw all of them lift into the air on their broomsticks. They started to head towards the building at full speed, weaving and ducking around each other. Keeping his cool, yet knowing he needed to act fast, Harry pushed off the wall and swung his whole body to the right to be more centered with the window. He watched as the window got further away before it rapidly came back towards him. He pointed his feet and inclined his body back to be vertical. As soon as he let go of the rope, it dispersed into thin air as if it had never existed. He jerked his body forwards the second it began to pass through the window frame, his leather cloak flapped behind him, and his eyes trained on the ground before him.

Harry landed with his right hand placed on the ground in front of him to aid his body from not overshooting his landing. His right knee hit the ground a little roughly while his left leg ended up hitting his chest from the abrupt stop in motion. The leather cloak wrapped around his body in a flurry from the sudden halt in a glorious over dramatic fashion. He looked back over his shoulder knowing he didn't have long to get out of the way. Harry ran to the right corner of the room near the window with just enough time to control his slightly elevated breathing before five people flew through the opened window. He completely stilled his body and calmed his breath to be utterly inaudible as his eyes observed every single movement made by the group.

"Dobby!" Harry's eyes snapped to the right, locating who had just yelled without his body outwardly reacting to the outburst.

A timid, skinny elf appeared in the middle of the room. He was already in a deep bow with his nose touching the ground. Harry looked upon the creature with pity as it shook in its place, fear evidently emitted from the house elf. While he personally wasn't against owning house elves, he was wholly against the abuse they were often subjected to under the ownership of most pure-blooded and some half-blooded families.

"What can Dobby do for little Master Draco Malfoy?" the elf squeaked out, not moving out of the bow to look at his master in obvious fear.

All of Draco's friends started to snicker as they hid their laughter behind their hands. Harry couldn't help but smirk as well. The world was full of little gift wrapped bundles of karma. He watched in amusement as the Malfoy seed clenched his fist tightly around his broom handle and his face promptly turned as red as a tomato from the words that had been uttered by the house elf.

"Do not call me little," Draco snarled and took a threatening step forwards to loom ominously above the shaking elf.

"Dobby is sorry Master Draco," suddenly the elf began to hit itself in the head repeatedly against the carpeted floor. "Dobby will make sure to give himself a good punishing. Bad Dobby. Bad Dobby."

Draco smirked as he puffed his chest proudly and looked down at the elf with revulsion burning in his eyes. The white-blonde haired boy threw his broom carelessly on his massive bed and gestured with his head for his friends to follow his actions. While none of them could see Harry, they sure could sense him. The hairs on their arms and the back of their necks all stood up as a powerful, yet subtle wave of magic washed over them. Harry could feel himself shake in anger at the mistreatment he had just witnessed. He had to remind himself to reel in his magic as he felt it leak out of him. He couldn't allow such an extreme reaction to give away his important mission before he could even get properly started.

"Be a good house elf and take all of these brooms to the shed for me," Draco said with a shudder as he began to walk towards his closed bedroom door. "Then prepare my friends and I a snack."

"Yes Master Draco, right away Dobby will do that," the elf stammered out before he clicked his fingers and both himself and the brooms disappeared with a blink of an eye.

With a smirk on his face, Draco walked out of the room and loudly talked as he and his friends made their way down the nearest staircase. Even though Harry had successfully gotten inside without being caught, he waited silently in the corner to be safe. His ears listened out to any noises and his eyes watched the open doorway for any signs of life. He hoped the coast was clear as he tiptoed across the room to the doorway. Poking his head around the frame, he looked left then right and silently sighed in relief as the hallway was empty.

Harry crept out of the room and stuck as close to the wall as he could. He decided to head in the direction of the staircase that Draco and his group had gone down, assuming it would lead to the main foyer where he could start his search from. He checked all directions before he made his move across the hallway. He paused against the wall at the top of the staircase to ensure he was still in the clear. He poked his head around the corner to find there was no one in sight. Wonderful.

Carefully, he took his time and began his descent, body clung to the wall. His eyes flickered everywhere to observe all of the surroundings. He memorised small details in case something went wrong. Like how there was a large window on the wall opposite the top of the staircase that he could escape through. Or how there seemed to be many doors downstairs if he needed to duck into a room quickly. His ears were on high alert as he took in any new sounds and processed them quickly. His body purposefully moved in a way that would ensure his presence would be kept a secret.

Just as Harry had reached the last step on the staircase, he detected a small movement out of his peripheral vision accompanied with the sounds of approaching footsteps. He instantly stilled in place, not even moving his head, as he watched a tall, lanky man walk briskly out of the hallway beside the staircase.

This was obviously Lucius Malfoy, no doubt in his mind. The older man had long, pale blonde hair that reached passed his waist. With him, he carried a cane with a snake head that Harry knew held his wand. The cane was not needed for assistance, but rather needed to intimidate others. He dressed in a fancy silver and green robe that swished out behind him as he walked and his cold, grey eyes swept the quiet house with an intense fire.

Harry's eyes followed every movement of Lucius's. His breathing became almost inaudible as he watched the man turn to walk up the stairs. The older male walked right passed him without knowing he was there. Lucius got so close to Harry at one point that if the other man had gone more to his right while ascending the stairs, then they would have for sure brushed shoulders. Luckily for Harry, his body had been flushed against the wall, but he did have to pause in a slight angle outwards that thankfully hadn't given him away.

Only after the older man had entered one of the rooms upstairs did Harry dare to move or breathe audibly again. He took the last step and was safely on the ground floor. He cautiously slipped over to the nearest wall on his left and stilled his movements as he saw the room where Draco and his friends were hanging out in was directly opposite him. He needed to be careful with his next few moves. Too much movement or too suddenly, then he would most likely be caught out by them.

Then his next problem was trying to locate where Parker would be. With his knowledge of the history of pure-bloods, it wouldn't be an uncommon occurrence to have a cellar big enough to detain a few prisoners. Thinking for a few seconds on the best solution, he knew he would have to take a small risk of being caught. He would need to use a version of the revealing charm on all occupants within the household. He knew Lucuis was upstairs and all five teenagers were downstairs in a large living room. That left only Narcissa and Parker to be accounted for.

"Homenum Revelio," Harry whispered under his breath and crossed his fingers that this wouldn't end in disaster.

Harry's eyes were glued to the small group in the room across the hallway. He watched as the spell drew red crosses above each of their heads that were only visible to himself. His eyes were drawn to his far left where a marker had appeared on the floor to signify the presence of a human underground. He turned his head and spotted two red crosses close together upstairs. Smirking, Harry took a step to his left as he would make his slow journey closer to the underground marker.

Draco turned his head and looked around the room. His grey eyes were squinted in suspicion as he held up a hand to pause the current conversation he had been involved in. Harry held his breath and paused all movement. He hoped this moment would pass by smoothly without incident. Draco scanned every inch of the living room he was in before briefly looking out into the main foyer.

"Is something wrong Draco?" a female voice asked, presumably Pansy.

"Thought I felt something," Draco shrugged as he turned his head away from the hallway. "I'm sure it was nothing."

"Could be that house elf of yourself playing tricks," a deep voice said, Harry didn't know who it belonged to.

"Nonsense," Draco chuckled as he relaxed back on the couch. "The stupid creatures wouldn't try to dare such a thing."

The group laughed it off before they returned back to stuffing their faces full of a spread of food that had been placed on the coffee table in the middle of the couches and plush chairs. It seemed all chances of being caught were gone for now. Harry kept his eyes trained on the group while he warily took steps to his left, his back remained against the wall as much as it could.

"So is he back?" a voice asked.

"Who?" Draco responded.

Harry frowned as he continued to slowly make his way towards the invisible red marker. While his interest was definitely intrigued, he needed to stay focused on his main mission: to rescue Parker. His eyes continuously flickered between the marker and the group in the living room as the silence seemingly stretched on.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Is he back?" a different voice asked.

Freezing in place, Harry watched the group as he felt his heart rate accelerate. The three males were leaning in towards Draco, eager to hear the answer. While Pansy and Draco just smirked and sat back comfortably on the couch.

"You know we can't say," Draco boasted. "But if you promise not to tell anyone."

"We promise," all three boys immediately said with keen sparkles in their eyes.

"Yes," Pansy and Draco said at the same time.

"But we can't talk about it here," Pansy continued. "Wait until we are upstairs."

Shock flew through Harry's system as he processed the information. However, he needed to concentrate on the task at hand. He pushed the newly learnt information to the back of his mind for the meantime. He finally stood near the marker and looked around at all of the possible doors that could lead to the underground cellar. Instead of risking being exposed by opening each of the five nearest doors, Harry decided to play it safe and pulled out his wand as well as the pocket knife again.

"Avenseguim," he whispered after he had unravelled the tissue and repeated the same wand movement as earlier.

Once again, the pocket knife vibrated in his hand for a second before it lifted into the air. Harry watched as it travelled across the foyer to the other side and further down to the left. It headed towards the second nearest door to him on that side which meant he was very close to being a step closer to Parker. He was grateful to notice how close the door seemed to be to the front door as well. Looking around the foyer, he followed the pocket knife quietly without making a sound. Admittedly he was a little nervous to have his back to the room where the small group currently were.

Before he had a chance to react, the pocket knife bounced off of the door, creating a small bang as it did. Harry winced as he snatched it out of the air, cancelled the tracking spell nonverbally, wrapped it up again in the tissue and pocketed it. He quickly turned his back against the wall and looked down the hallway just in time to see Draco and one of the other boy's poke their head out of the room. Staying one hundred percent still, Harry's eyes watched the two look around.

"You heard that too, right?" the unknown male said, voice deep but not as deep as one of the ones from earlier.

"Yes," Draco whispered and squinted slightly as he looked down the hallway beside the staircase, in the opposite direction where one Harry Potter currently was.

"You boys are overreacting," Pansy laughed as she walked out of the room and headed up the stairs. "This is an old house. Old houses generally make a lot of noise."

"Not my house," he replied as he rolled his eyes and followed her up the staircase.

Harry was still tense and on high alert as the other three males followed their friends upstairs. They all looked around the surrounding hallways and main foyer in suspicion for a few seconds. Only once Harry heard the door close upstairs did he relax a little. Rolling his head to the left, he looked at the door that supposedly would lead him to Parker. Surely it couldn't be this simple? Frowning, he lifted his right hand and held it close to the wooden frame.

With his eyes closed and breathing slowed, Harry looked for any signs of wards, spells, charms or jinxs. And a few moments later he was glad he checked as behind his closed eyes he saw a list of nasty jinxes for any unauthorised personnel and an alarm that would be triggered. Quickly disabling it, Harry looked around the area before opening the door only slightly. He slipped in, passed the threshold and softly shut the door behind him. It instantly clouded the room in darkness once more.

"Can't leave me alone for more than an hour, aye Malfoy?" the thick Irish accent said from further down the cellar.

"Try again," Harry chuckled as he slipped his wand into his hand once more and nonverbally casted a Nox charm.

"Harry?" Parker asked in utter shock. "Harry, is that really you?"

"The one and only," he smirked as he walked down the few steps of the cellar.

"No! Don't come any closer!" he suddenly yelled out.

"Hush or they will hear you," Harry paused on the last step, his words were spat out viciously as he turned his head towards the door.

"Sorry, but I'd rather not see you caught up in whatever jinx or ward he has in place," he sighed, shuffling around in the dark.

"Already done. I am not an idiot," he growled out quietly while he walked towards the cell in which his co-worker and friend was being held in.

Harry cancelled the Disillusion charm as he came to stand in front of the nearest cell and held his wand higher to cast some light into the extraordinarily dark room. He saw his friend hunched over in the corner, his clothes dirty and beard untamed. The room itself was basically bare and absolutely dirty. His nose scrunched at the distasteful smell that wafted up to his nostrils.

"Well blimey," Parker laughed, dragging his aching body towards the metal bars. "If anyone could successfully rescue me, of course it would be you."

"I haven't rescued you yet," Harry smirked darkly, the light from his wand casted extra shadows over his face to make him appear more ominous.

"Don't tell me you are going to leave me here to rot, Mr. Potter," the Irish man feigned hurt as he placed a hand on his chest.

"Me? Leave you here?" he chuckled. "Very likely, but today is your lucky day."

Harry stepped back and held up his right hand. He flicked his wrist and with the tiniest pop, the door to the cell was opened. Harry moved forwards, opened the door, and dragged Parker's right arm to hang around his shoulders so he could help carry his friend out. He silently casted a Disillusionment charm over them both as they began to slowly walk towards the exit.

"Best way to leave would be to go through the front door," Harry whispered. "It's the closest exit without apparating."

"Why can't we just apparate?" Parker asked as he went up the first step with a grunt.

"Because I want to get the diary after getting you to safety," he replied as he tried to make all movements as easy as possible for his friend.

"But that would be a suicide mission," he stopped walking and looked at Harry as if he had lost his mind. "Look where it got me."

"I'll be prepared for a duel if I know where the damn book is located," he grunted before he gently shoved Parker along. "Do you know where it is?"

"Yes," Parker sighed, knowing it would be a losing battle if he withheld the information from the young, determined guy. "It's in the office on the ground floor, first door nearest to the staircase. Bottom drawer on the left side of the desk. It is under a lot of protection, you'll need to be fast before you make an escape. Be prepared for every charm and jinx in the history of Dark Arts to be thrown at you if you are caught."

"Not a problem," Harry smirked as they finally reached the cellar door at the top of the stairs. "Thank you."

Staying on the top step, Harry leaned forwards and placed his ear against the door. He stilled his breathing as he listened for any signs of life on the other side. After half a minute, he felt it was safe enough to open the door and begin their slow escape. With a nod to Parker, Harry slowly turned the door knob, pushed it ajar slightly and peaked his head out to scout the surrounding area.

"Safe," Harry whispered and looked over at Parker with a soft smile.

Slowly, Harry made his way out of the cellar and helped Parker along the way. He turned around to close the door, making sure to close it without making a sound. When he turned back around, he paused as he spotted movement to the left of them. A woman with long blonde hair - yet not as long as Lucius's hair - walked down the staircase and turned right to walk into one of the rooms further down the hallway. Harry sighed in relief as the coast was once again clear for the pair.

"That was close," Parker whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.

Harry hummed in response as he started to walk towards the entry, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. They reached the doors without another hiccup. He looked around and found the place still empty and grasped the opportunity to open the door. He paused with it slightly ajar, looking around for any signs of life outside. He poked his head out and looked up towards the windows where Draco's room was. But thankfully he couldn't see anyone. After he nodded to Parker, they stepped outside quietly. Harry leaned back to close the door gently and sighed once he successfully did.

"Halfway there," Parker chuckled.

"Shut up," Harry whispered. "There is an open window up there with five people inside."

"Well shit, this is going to be fun," he rolled his eyes, tone heavy with sarcasm.

"It'll just take a little longer, that's all," he said as he guided the both of them towards the hedges.

Unlike coming up towards the house, Harry wanted to stay on the grass side of the bushes as it would give more cover from the windows. As they walked to the first one, he kept looking over his shoulder and scanned the windows for any movement. Luckily there was no sign of anyone as they made their daring move. He crouched down which forced Parker to do the same just after they got to the first hedge.

"Stay here, do not move," Harry whispered. "You'll be safe here until I get back."

"You're really doing this?" Parker asked with a shocked look.

"Yes, now stay," he rolled his eyes and turned around.

Harry scanned the windows as well as the grounds. He felt it was safe enough to go back inside without the chance of being seen. He ran while staying as low to the ground as possible. He nodded to himself in satisfaction when he reached the door within seconds. At least he now knew it would be an easy run back to Parker on his way out. He paused briefly to control his breathing before he opened the door once more. He stuck to the right side of the main foyer as he made his way along it towards the staircase.

Harry kept every sense he had on high alert, not afraid to stop if there was something that caught his attention. Luck was on his side for now as he successfully made it around the staircase into the other hallway. First door under the staircase. Harry smirked as he saw that he stood right next to it. But before he entered it, he decided to check for any nasty hidden surprises just like he would any other room of this house. Silently, he held his hands up and closed his eyes only to find nothing in place. How odd.

Looking around the empty hallway, Harry slowly opened the office door and entered before he closed it immediately behind him. The room was full of all sorts of peculiar items and furnished with dark wooden, luxurious items. He walked around to the other side of the desk and knelt down in front of the drawers. Harry was just about to touch the desk when he felt a small ball of energy start to form. He withdrew his hand immediately. Maybe the room didn't have any wards in place, but the desk certainly did.

Once again, for the umpteenth time that night, Harry closed his eyes and examined the desk for any measures in place that could be harmful. Glad that he didn't ignore his intuition, he found a novella sized list of charms, jinxs, curses, and wards. With his eyes still closed, he began to dismantle them all. It would take him a while, but the reward outweighed the risk. He would give an arm and a leg to get his hands on a known horcrux.

A few tense minutes silently went by before he could safely access the contents of the desk. He opened his eyes and reached his hand tentatively towards the bottom left drawer. With a shaky breath, his hand touched the smooth wooden handle. A second later, he slowly pulled open the drawer and inhaled sharply. Harry's eyes laid upon an old, black diary on top of layers of unused parchment. Success. Harry reached in the drawer and stroked a finger down the smooth yet slightly rough cover.

"Lucius!" a high-pitched, piercing yell came from nearby before a red light flew directly at him.

Harry wandlessly and nonverbally deflected the spell as he whipped his head up to find Narcissa standing at the now opened office door. Shit, he really needed to get out of there as soon as possible. While Narcissa couldn't see who he was, she could now see his outline from the shimmer of the Disillusionment charm. Without hesitation, Harry lifted his hand and sent a 'Stupify' directly at her. He winced in sympathy as her stiff body hit the ground with a heavy thud. Harry quickly secured the diary in his inner pocket of his cloak before he stood up. He walked over to the door and paused as he heard a set of rushing footsteps.

"Narcissa!" Lucius's voice yelled upon seeing his wife's body lying upon the floor.

Without hesitation, Harry flicked his wand down into his palm and attacked instantly, trying to stun the older man instead of harming him. Yet Lucius was ready as the red light raced towards him. Easily able to deflect it, Lucius fired back instantly with a spell of his own. The older male went down the nasty root like Parker had warned. Lucky for Harry that he has had extensive training in duels and has a comprehensive knowledge of defensive spells and counter charms.

"Reveal yourself coward," Lucius yelled as he sent a vicious 'Diffindo' at him.

Deflecting the cutting charm and sending another 'Stupify' again, Harry swore under his breath as he looked all around him for an exit. The only possible one was blocked by Lucius at this current time. Harry tried to throw two different stunning spells at the same time, one from his wand and one from his hand. The older deflected one and ducked out of the way of the other. Before things could get anymore out of hand, Harry needed to get out of there fast.

"Fumos," Harry whispered under his breath as he dodged out of the way of a white coloured spell.

Smoke rapidly seeped out of both his hand and wand to fill the room with a grey haze in double the usual speed. Soon both Lucius and Narcissa were gone from his view, engulfed in the smoke. Praying that the older male didn't move around too much, Harry drew upon his memory to help him escape. He walked slowly towards the staircase, sticking to the wall the entire way. Harry watched in amusement as Lucius casted spell after spell, charm after charm, in what he assumed was the direction where he still was. What the other didn't know was that by casting these spells, Harry could safely locate him and avoid running into him while he made his escape.

"Little bastard!" yelled Lucius in a fit of rage. "Where are you? Show yourself, you coward!"

It took all of Harry's will not to laugh or snicker as he successfully made his way out of the smoke filled corridor. He paused at the bottom of the staircase and quickly raised his hands to clear all traces of his magical signature from the entire house. His head whipped up the stairs as he heard rushed footsteps, only to find Draco and his four friends storming down. Without any more hesitation, Harry ran for the entry, not even looking back as he heard a shout. Harry slammed open the front door and ran directly towards Parker.

"I'm guessing that things didn't go well?" Parker yelled as he saw Harry making a mad dash to him.

Harry didn't have the time to react as a red spell whizzed over his head, barely missing him. Running lower to the ground, he dived towards Parker, and crashed into him roughly. But before either boy hit the ground, Harry apparated the two of them out of there, not wanting to chance getting hit by anything else. Harry had apparated them to the outside boundary of the house, out of sight from all the occupants of the household.

Parker and Harry watched as Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and his friends all came outside and began to search the area. Harry closed his eyes and removed his magical trace from the spot he had just apparated from. He also did one final sweep of the entire house to ensure no magical signature had been left behind. This took a lot of energy out of him considering he rarely erases his magical trace from that far of a distance.

Without saying a word, Parker wrapped both of his arms around Harry's tired looking body before the older apparated them both to safety. The two landed in the middle of the lounge room back home where there just so happened to be half of the house. Everyone gasped as they saw the two tangled up in one another with wildly dishevelled looks. Harry groaned out as he tried to get out of the mess.

"Harry," Parker breathed out in pain. "As much as I appreciate being rescued, I don't swing your way mate."

"Shut up," Harry barked out. He finally managed to untangle his limbs and clothing from the other. He was in no mood for jokes at that point in time.

While the rest of the group within the living room began to laugh, Harry stood up and brushed himself off with a dark glare firm on his features. He stormed his way up the stairs intending to go directly to Drew's office. Having everyone merry and jovial was the last thing he needed after the way the mission had gone and the information he had learnt.

"I'm okay that you swing that way," Parker yelled up the stairs to him. "Just don't take it personal."

"Parker, shut up," he yelled and sent a wave of his raw magic down to the group who quieted instantly.

Harry tried to calm his nerves down before he reached the fourth floor, which wasn't an easy task. His emotions were all over the place. He didn't know what to make of the information he'd overheard. And he felt conflicted with happiness that he'd safely rescued Parker and found the diary. He stood outside the closed door for a second and breathed in deeply. He knocked three times and waited for permission to enter. The door opened and Harry saw a worried looking Drew standing right in front of him.

"Come in, Harry," the thick, Scottish accent calmed Harry instantly like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter's night. "Report?"

"Successfully rescued, alive and mostly unharmed," Harry said as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Also successfully retrieved the diary."

"You or Parker?" Drew sat behind his desk with a shocked expression.

"I did," Harry stood behind the two chairs as per usual, taking on a comfortable yet powerful stance, noting the office had been cleaned up slightly since he was there two hours ago.

Drew nodded his head slowly, processing the information. He watched with intrigued eyes as Harry reached into his cloak and pulled out the well preserved diary. Once the item was placed on the desk, he leaned forwards and studied it from a safe distance.

"How did the mission go?" he asked while he flipped open the cover to reveal blank parchment.

"Relatively well," Harry hesitated to answer which subsequently gave him away.

"Harry," Drew warned and shot him a stern look. "What happened?"

"We, or I, might have been compromised," he whispered with his head down.

"Were you seen or identified?" he asked, slightly preoccupied with the mysterious diary.

"No," Harry said.

"Magical trace?" he asked as he picked the diary up with both hands.

"Completely erased. Parker apparated us from afar after I did my final sweep," he said and watched for a reaction.

"Well then why are you worried?" Drew asked with a frown. He placed the book down on the desk and gestured for Harry to sit. The older wanted to give the younger his full attention since he knew this would be causing him worry.

"You know why, Drew," Harry shook his head as he sat down, his tired body thanking him in relief.

"They have no chance to identify you," he rolled his eyes. "You will not be revealed to be alive. You did everything I taught you, correct?"

Harry nodded his head, the worry slowly eased from him... Just not completely. What if somehow he hadn't retracted all of his magical signature? What is somehow he was identified? Yes, he had followed everything to the book. Yes, he had been thorough in protecting his identity. But that didn't mean he wasn't still anxious, especially after the conversation he had overheard.

"Then you need to relax a little, Harry," Drew said before he gestured to the diary and folded his hands together. "This is it."

"Really?" Harry's eyes lit up in excitement. "When shall you be destroying it?"

Drew leaned back in his chair, contemplating everything. He shrugged his shoulders as he tiredly ran a hand down his face. It had been a long few days of worry for him. Destroying the horcrux was the last thing on his mind considering he had doubts whether Parker would even make it out alive. Harry picked up the diary and started to examine it. As he stared at the item that oozed with dark magic, he felt the urge to reveal the new vital piece of information he'd learnt to his boss and father figure.

"Ah Drew?" Harry tentatively asked with a gulp.

"Yeah?" he asked with a sigh while he made eye contact with the younger.

"He's back," he simply said as he placed the diary down on the desk.

"Who?" Drew asked. The cryptic response instantly shifted his aura and mood. He sat up straighter in his chair as a frown settled upon his face. "Who is back?"

"Voldemort," Harry winced as he said it out loud. "I overheard a conversation that he is back."

"Well shit," he chuckled darkly. "This changes everything."

Harry nodded his head in agreement. Drew and him had previously talked about what would need to happen the next time Voldemort came back. He dreaded the plan they were about to put in place. But he understood that he had an important role to play in this war. He had no choice.

"It's time then," Drew sighed. "You know what needs to happen."

"I don't want to," Harry pouted, feeling all of his energy leaving his body. Yes, he might not have a choice. But that didn't mean he couldn't pointlessly protest like any other sane person would in his position. "Please don't make me."

"Harry, we've talked about this. You need to go back to the wizarding world and draw him in," he said with a soft tone, utterly empathising with the younger. "You need to find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them so he is mortal once more."

"But that requires searching Hogwarts, does it not?" Harry asked with a sigh.

"It does," he nodded. "Which means you need to go there under the guise of a student."

Harry groaned and ran his hand down his face. This was another thing he didn't want to do. He would only suffer while being in the presence of incompetent wizards and witches. All of the house dramas and love sick teenagers. Let alone being near one of the most dishonest, evil, manipulative wizards of all times; Albus Dumbledore.

"And how shall I reveal myself to that fuckwit?" Harry growled out. "It better be something miraculous."

"Oh, I have a plan in mind that you will most certainly enjoy," Drew smirked evilly, causing Harry to smirk along with him.

Harry leaned back in his chair, awaiting to hear the plan. He hoped that deep down it would include some type of revenge on some of the people that had abandoned or hurt him. Mainly the Dursley's. But that was not limited to just them. Dumbledore, and some of the others tasked to 'watch' him, were inadvertently responsible for all of the horrible things he endured as a child. Oh how desperate and dark his mind was as he sat there imagining all of the things he could do.