The signs of winter had been lenient today. A massive sense of deja vu swept over me as we sat there on the beach.

West, Bran and their friends were messing in the cold tide. Shana and Cass were right there in it with them. Alice and London were gathering wood for the bonfire that the girls had to make.

Only one thing was different to the last time and that did not include the weather. Harry sat on the same rock I had sat alone last week.

The wind was still unruly but it seemed dampened with him here. As if his presence could really affect the weather. His hair was continuously in the hands of the wind, his eyes less fractured and it's flame brighter. Yet after all this time I couldn't identify what the flame was. He was smiling though. After Thursday with Alice, he'd gotten into smiling at least a few times a day and here, at the beach, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"It was a normal evening. I went to bed late because it's a Saturday, you know?" He started. "My dad already did everything. Locked the doors, set the alarms on and I put it on."

His talking about Saturday, I realized. I was shocked at first and then I, irrationally, I began to feel excited. Finally, after all this time, I'd get the reason why my best friend went through hell.

"It was probably two or three a.m the Sunday, the alarm went off. It was strange that I woke up, usually I just sleep through any commotion, but I did wake up. My dad got up and went to check the cameras downstairs."

The wind picked up and it felt as if the temperature had begun to drop. Harry's eyes seemed to alternate between the waves and a certain goddess.

"While he was downstairs, I went to the bathroom. I had just finished and opened the door when I heard it." He paused and I could see some of that anger returning. "Yelling, the sound of fighting coming from downstairs and suddenly someone poked their heads by the stairs.

"Our eyes locked. My mind was blank and on pure instinct, I dived back into the bathroom. I could hear him barreling to me so I looked for something heavy to block the door, The lid of the toilet tank. It was a hassle to move it against the door but I did as the thief began to pound on the door.

"The adrenaline faded in an instant. I remember not wondering if my dad was dead, rather how cowardly I had been to forget that my sister was in the room across the bathroom and that down the hall was my mother's room. Any sane person when asked what they'd worry about, they'd say their loved ones getting raped or kidnapped or both."

I had always a good imagination and I always thought it was from reading so many books over the years. Now, however, I regretted it. In my mind, in ultra HD, were the events he described playing out like a movie. I knew the layout of his house from how many times I'd been there. It made the images all too real.

"I looked for a weapon." Harry continued, seemingly unaffected."The guy was still trying to open the door and, little by little, he was succeeding. That, for me, was good because as soon as he'd forget about me, he'd find them.

"I grabbed a toothbrush from the cabinet. I waited till he had dislodged the door halfway and sprung. He didn't have a option to react as I plunged the toothbrush in his eye until he stopped moving.

"You must understand, Annabeth, that this was all instinct, all adrenaline. I didn't know how to fight. I especially didn't know how to kill and just because you watched a thousand violent movies and played a few games doesn't mean your equipped to do what I did. Yet the only thought in my mind was stopping them from getting to my family.

"In the commotion, we'd cross the hall and ended up in my sister's room. She was still asleep if you can imagine that but she sat up in a stupor. She looked at us and then laid down again, just in time for me to actually here the other thief coming for his partner.

"I ducked behind the door where my sisters field hockey stick was. The guy appeared in the doorway, calling for his partner. As he rushed to see what the matter was, I swung. The stick broke in half over his head. I saw his gun in his hand and while dazed I grappled for it. We fought right there over his friends body until bang! Well I'm sure you know who got shot but I wasn't sure and he didn't exactly die from one shot so bang! Bang! BANG!"

For each sound effect, he made a finger gun and imitated it going off. It was a simple gesture, not describing what actually happened yet it seemed so violent, surreal, evil.

"Another moment passed as I held the gun in my hand, pointed at thief #2's body. I slid off his body and sat with my back towards my sister, breathing hard. I was so, so tired yet my hands weren't shaking like they normally do. Then thief #3 appeared, gun ready. Let's just say he didn't get the chance to see what happened.

"When the police arrived, they found me in the same spot with a gun that had an empty magazine. Later on I'd realize that my mother hadn't called them but the neighbors. They heard the commotion. I was handcuffed. My sister and my mom were questioned to one side. My dad was taken to the hospital while Chief Naomi questioned me and I was released.

"Chief Naomi took to me. Times when I wasn't at school, I was with her. She taught me how to shoot and fight. She was definitely surprised that I didn't excel at anything but that's what adrenaline does to you. I am glad she did it though, all that anger went towards something and not onto someone like Jessica.

"There are so many people out there that go through the same thing. The world's dangerous and we live in a sense of false security. Electric fencing, cameras, alarms don't protect you, they just warn and now I can protect them."

Tears streamed down our cheeks yet he still weakly smiled. I couldn't stand it, I buried myself into his side and he held me while I sobbed as if I was the one to get hurt.

" It really made me realize how the people around me really care. Imagine if you weren't there or Chief Naomi. I am grateful for all of you." He spoke into my hair.

"What a fortnight, Potter." I weakly joked. He chuckled.

"What a fortnight, Chase."