Horcruxes.

Out of all the happenings of Harry Potter's life, finding those blasted Horcruxes proved to be most difficult. It was dangerous, too. And the fact that Ron and Hermione had insisted on coming with him, Harry was constantly on edge.

The trio were secured in a small forest, with enough shielding charms to protect anybody from the rest of civilization. In theory, they were perfectly safe, but Harry was cautious. It was his turn to keep a look out, so he sat a few centimeters away from the tent and gazed into the wilderness, fiddling with the locket in his hands.

Yes, they had one Horcrux. Great. But they had no ways of destroying it, because Gryffindor's sword was still out of their reach.

"Accio sword." Harry's free hand had hold of his wand and he thrust it forwards. He waited... and waited... but nothing.

Worth a shot.

Harry slammed his wand to the ground and rested his elbows on his knees. Were they ever going to get this right? Were they ever going to destroy Voldemort? He was feeling pessimistic as of now, but perhaps that was due to the dark locket which was hanging from his neck.

Harry Potter had a thing with haunting, nightmarish dreams. With his connection to the Dark Lord growing stronger, the dreams became more graphic and he was forced to relive the horrors of his past every night.

His mother's screams, Cedric Diggory lying dead before him, Sirius's body fading away from him slowly. And not to mention the terror of the green flash.

Only this time it was a dream about someone new. Someone who had only recently been struck with the killer curse. Hedwig. His beautiful snowy owl.

Gone in a blink of an eye.

Blinded by the green flash in his mind, Harry bolted upright in his bed, sweating a little. His friend, Ron, had been watching him struggle for the past few minutes, worried.

"All right, mate?" He said sympathetically. Unlike others, Ron and Hermione understood what he was going through. And Harry was grateful for that, even if he did believe that his best friends were too involved with his troubles. Anyone who was even a mere acquaintance of Harry Potter, was in danger of that killer curse that had been haunting him. Avada Kedavra.

Harry plainly nodded at Ron, then laid back down on his side.

The fourth flying class for first years was about to start, and Harry was warming up in the air. Yes, he was only in his first year of school, but Harry Potter had proven to be a natural on a broomstick!

"HARRY, SLOW DOWN!" He heard Hermione shriek from below, causing him to smile a little bit. He had done his research on flying, and upon purchasing his broom, he found out whether this broom had a braking charm upon it. He was prepared.

And yes, it did. Meaning Harry continued to speed through the air.

After a couple of advanced broom moves for a child of his age, Harry swooped down until his feet touched the floor. He was awarded with cheers and applause, until something thumped him in the arm.

BLUDGER! Okay, not quite. It was Hermione.

"Just because you are the youngest seeker in a century," she emphasized, "does NOT mean you have to risk your life to show off in front of everybody."

"Braking charm, Hermione! I thought you would've guessed that!" Harry was tempted to say something along the lines of, 'chillax woman!' But that would have resulted in another hard thump, no doubt.

Summer time wasn't the happiest of times for Harry. He spent them at his dreaded aunt and uncle's house. Deciding to go out into the back garden for some air, Harry grumbled at the sight of Dudley already there, soaking up the sun with his shirt off.

Bleh.

"What're you doing out here? You'd look uglier than normal with a sun tan." Dudley told him, looking smug.

"Shouldn't you be careful about what you say to me?" Harry began, trying out the smirky-bad-boy approach, "I could blast you into next week, if I wanted to." A blasting curse would do the trick. Although it was a little bit advanced for his age of thirteen.

The chubby boy studied Harry's face for a moment or two. Dudley was a tough guy, but when it came to Harry and his magic, he was terrified.

"You don't have the guts." He concluded, spitting a bit as he spoke the last word.

"Try me." Harry smirked, and as soon as he put his hand in his pocket, Dudley had run off back inside, shouting 'MUMMY'. The funny thing was, Harry's wand wasn't even in his pocket. He only had a chocolate frog wrapper.

There was a SLAM of a door, as Harry had just told his son, James, off for trying to drown the plants out in the back garden.

Harry sank into his arm chair in the living room, massaging his temples. Raising a tearaway 6 year old was tough! Especially when Ginny was out somewhere with the baby, Albus. Harry had to deal with this all by himself!

After hearing a couple of thumps on the ground from upstairs, Harry had an idea. He was pretty sure that Ginny would flip her lid if she found out, but she wasn't here, so. He crept upstairs, jumping slightly whenever he heard one of James' dramatic stomps on the ground. HEHE, he felt like a kid again. Finally approaching the boy's door, Harry reached into his pocket.

"Colloportus." He muttered quietly, wand aimed at the boy's bedroom door. Yes, maybe it was a bit extreme of him. But he knew that if he just ignored his son, he would eventually sneak out the room and possibly out of the house. So wedging him in there for an hour wasn't that bad.

Now he could have a short break. Until Ginny got home!

Agony.

Harry Potter had vivid memories of when Lord Voldemort cast the unforgivable curse, Crucio, upon him. From his experience, he wouldn't wish that pain upon anyone. Well, almost anyone. The pain was excruciating, burning, agonizing. And as he stared at his arch enemy, Draco Malfoy, in the eye, he contemplated whether to cast it.

The pair were in a duel type situation after several arguments had erupted. Harry knew that Malfoy was up to something dodgy. And he really had no idea how to get it out of him. Veritaserum would be useful, but that was impossible.

Besides, he wanted to hurt Draco. Something inside him told him that hurting him would be right. It would make him feel better.

Letting those thoughts get the better of him, he began, "cru-" But Harry hesitated. He couldn't do it. Draco took this as an opportunity to strike.

"Crucio!" He said shakily. It hit Harry in the chest but was only strong enough to knock him over. Turns out that Malfoy didn't have it in him, either. Harry laid on the floor and made no attempt to get up. He was just grateful that he hadn't endured the pain.

Harry knew that the 'seven Potters' idea would end tragically. But there was nothing he could do about it. None of the group listened to him, and he figured that now, they wished they had. Mad-Eye was dead. Hedwig was dead. And George almost died, but lost an ear in the process.

"Can't believe Mad-Eye is dead." Ron thought aloud, when the trio were sitting in his room, contemplating the evening and its events, "I wonder what they used to sever George's ear."

Harry knew. "It was sectumsempra." He had been thinking about it since he saw the wounded George. The other two looked at him, utterly interested and somewhat bewildered.

"Are you saying that... Snape severed George's ear?" Hermione asked, all stern-like.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. He killed Dumbledore, and now he is trying to kill me." Only George got in the way. Harry folded his arms across his chest and looked away from the other two. Ron and Hermione struggled with what to say when Harry was like this.

"Harry. We are all here for you. I think tonight proves that you are worth saving." Hermione hesitated, then rubbed him on the back for support.

"Daaaaad." Harry's youngest son, Albus, wandered into the living room with a thoughtful expression. Harry knew that he wanted something.

"James told me about... unforgivable curses," well that certainly sparked Harry's attention. For more than one reason. He was glad that Albus was coming to ask him to ask about them, rather than getting James' made up stories. He was also worried about what Ginny would say if she were here. And what was he going to ask about them?

"Oh, did he?" Harry began, but the boy continued speaking straight away once he realised he had his father's attention.

"Have you ever used one, daddy?" That was not the question Harry was expecting, but he figured he would be honest with his son.

"I have only used two of them, but I used them for good, not evil."

"How can they be used for good?"

"There was a lot of evil around when I was young, Al. It was necessary. But you must never ever use one of them. They are... unforgivable." Using both Crucio and Imperio was vital at the time, otherwise himself and others he loved would not have survived the adventure of their childhood.

Today marked the first Valentine's day for Harry and Ginny outside of Hogwarts. Last year, Ginny was in her seventh year, and their day consisted of boring love letters being sent back and forth. This year, Harry wanted to make it special.

He had already made reservations at a fancy restaurant, and had bought her a couple of gifts. But how could he put an extra bit of shabang into it all? He discussed it with Ron.

"How about I lay her favourite chocolates over her bed?" Harry suggested, scratching his scuffy head.

Ron shook his head, "do you really think Ginny is the sort of mushy person to like that sort of thing?" Fair point. Ron was also having a hard time thinking of a good day for himself and Hermione, but Harry was too absorbed with himself to care right now.

"Okay, okay. How about..." He paused, then thought of bringing a bit of magic into it. Because their relationship was so magical! Haha. "I go to her front door and say 'Orchideous'?!" Yes, Harry was impressed with himself on that one.

Unfortunately, Ron wasn't sharing his enthusiasm. "Excuse me while I throw up at your cheesy face."

It was a beautiful day as Winter had finally ceased, and the majority of the school was outside, lapping up the sunshine. Harry, however, was a bit late on the celebrations. He had a potions assignment due the next day, and he had only written the title.

After a visit to the library, Harry decided to have a small stroll in the grounds before returning to the common room. Although as he passed the lake, he was not impressed at what he saw.

"Stop whining, Longbottom!" Malfoy shrieked as he looked up at Neville Longbottom, who had been hoisted into the air and dangled upside-down. "I need to practice this spell, and you're just being... my right-hand man!" This was Harry's cue to step in.

He strode over, and barged Malfoy hard in the ribs. The spell broke and Neville dropped to the floor with a thud. Harry sent him an apologetic look, but he couldn't use magic due to his hands being full of books.

"Ohh, it's Potter. Ruining everyone's fun once again." Draco rolled his eyes, but looked very smug to have a gang of Slytherins as back up.

"Shut it, Malfoy." Draco's insults really didn't phase him.

"Okay. What's the funniest spell you know?" Harry pondered, whilst engrossed in a conversation with Fred and George. Because if you were ever looking for a ridiculous spell to perform on evil Slytherins, these ginger twins was the first place to look.

"Perhaps, the tickling curse?" Fred replied rather quickly, looking to George for approval, then back at Harry.

"Not funny for the victim..." Continued George.

"But hilarious for the caster." Finished Fred.

"Would you like a demonstration?" They both said together, looking terribly excited. Before giving Harry a chance to respond to this question, Fred had his wand at the ready, pointing at Harry's chest.

"Rictusempra!" A pinkish light shot from the end of his wand and hit Harry right on target, causing him to buckle to the floor with laughter. In fact, he was rolling around the floor, wailing with what sounded like humour, but he was really struggling to breath.

The twins were loving it. Torturing the boy who lived, hehe. Watching Harry's face turn a bright shade of red, Fred broke the curse and pulled the forth year up.

Harry panted, "th-anks for that. Perfect for the Slytherins, though." He chuckled. A real one this time.

It was the beginning of Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, and he had never felt so low before starting a brand new year. Floods of dreams haunted him every night about Voldemort. He couldn't seem to escape them, but he tried not to show discomfort in front of his friends.

The journey on The Hogwarts Express was average. They were joined by a very... odd Ravenclaw girl. Her name was Luna and she was reading a magazine upside down. Eh, Harry was in no place to judge, because HE was the one having crazy dreams about the most dark wizard of their time. It made Luna look very ordinary.

It was nice to meet Luna, and she seemed like a lovely girl, but Harry had more important things on his mind right now. He might have to make it up to the blonde girl, because he must have looked very unenthusiastic when meeting her.

"People call her 'Loony Lovegood', apparently." Ron mused, as they sat at the Gryffindor table. Harry raised an eyebrow, and looked over at her.

"I thought that Malfoy cast confundo on her... or something." Her face had somewhat of a permanant confused expression, that was all.

Harry had witnessed death more than any other teenage boy should have. But the atmosphere that filled Hogwarts when Cedric Diggory was murdered, was almost unbearable for him. He was a popular guy and loved by many people, and Harry believed that it came as a huge shock to others because most of them would have no idea the trauma a murder can give, until now.

The majority of the school were in the Great Hall, just gathering and mourning together without any teachers. Reluctantly, Harry approached Cho Chang, who was wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

He didn't say anything, just sat next to her and awkwardly put his arm around her for support.

"Harry!" Came the shrilling voice of Colin Creevey, and a flash of his camera to follow. "You SAW Cedric get killed? Who did it? What did... You-Know-Who look like? Did he try to kill you as well?" His words came so rushed, Harry just stared blankly at him.

The questions had obviously hurt Cho further, and she sobbed harder on Harry's shoulder. With his other free hand, he subtly pointed his wand at Colin and muttered, "Silencio." Merlin's Beard, that was better.

Harry had been buzzing all week. He had just been made Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and he is only eleven years old! The first game was approaching and he was very excited. However, the more he spoke to people such as Fred and George, the more nervous he became.

But it was Hermione who had provoked the nerves today.

"Obviously, Harry, I am very happy for you to be on the team, but you need to research everything there is to know about Quidditch!" Hermione explained after dragging Harry and Ron to the library. It happened regularly, and it was definitely going to happen many more times into the future. Without warning, Hermione dropped a GIANT book on the desk, causing both boys to jump.

"I was reading about the Hurling Hex earlier -" She began, flicking through the pages.

"The what?" Now he was listening.

"Aha, here it is." Her finger pointed to the book as she skimmed through the lines. "The Hurling Hex is used to cause broomsticks to vibrate violently in the air and try to buck their rider off onto the ground." Hermione stopped reading, awkwardly.

Harry blinked. Nerves had instantly turned into terror.

The sun was shining, and plenty of second year students were outside, either practising spells or just relaxing in the sunshine.

"Tarantallegra." Ron muttered, so quietly that Harry didn't have a hope of even noticing. Suddenly, the boy's legs started to move by themselves. Eventually, he was dancing everywhere!

"RON! Did you just use an unforgivable curse on me?!" Harry was absolutely shocked, although his disappointment was overshadowed because he was dancing so enthusiastically.

EH? Now Ron was confused/shocked. "What unforgivable curse? I didn't -"

"The Imperius Curse???!" Harry bellowed, finally stopping with the dancing because Ron had lost his focuss.

o_____O

"No way! I only used the dancing feet jinx!" Ron was laughing hysterically at this point. As if he would use an unforgivable curse on his best friend. He wouldn't even use one on his worst enemy! And come to mention it, he was a bit annoyed that Harry would even think that... Never mind, it was time to cause more chuckles.

After the situation was finally settled, Ron pointed his wand at Harry again, "Tarantallegra!" He yelped, and off Harry went again with the dancing feet! He was NOT impressed.

"Just try it, Harry."

"Try and enjoy yourself for once, Harry."

Fred and George's comments were repeating themselves one after the other, and it was getting a little bit annoying now. They were sort of egging him on to do mean things to other people. First years, to be exact.

There was a group of them running around the grounds like a bunch of loonitics. It confused Harry, because he was not that hyperactive when he was a first year. Then again, he did have Severus Snape and Lord Voldemort to deal with. He couldn't imagine any of these first years being able to handle that.

"What do you want me to do?" The fourth year asked the twins. Surely they didn't expect him to jinx these poor students. But just as he thought, they both wispered a name of a jinx in each of his ears. Harry sighed, then stepped forwards with his wand out.

"Three..." Said George.

"Two..." Said Fred.

"One!" They both concluded. But with that, Harry spun on his foot and sent the jelly legs jinx towards them both. Although it only hit Fred and he flopped to the ground as his legs wobbled.

Harry giggled.

This was Harry's worst nightmare becoming reality.

He had not returned to Hogwarts for his seventh year for many reasons. The Horcruxes, being the main one. But also because him being there would put everyone he cared about in danger. But after almost a year of staying away, it was ruined. He was back at Hogwarts, and a wizarding war had broken out. One that would changed wizarding mankind forever.

Of course, Harry knew that he had to protect himself because that would ultimately destroy Voldemort, but his friends' lives were perishing before his eyes and he couldn't stand it. Especially when he caught sight of the evil Bellatrix Lestrange about to attack Molly Weasley, the person who has been like a mother to Harry.

"PRO-" Harry was about to cast the shielding charm over her, but it looked like she was perfectly capable of handling herself. She had killed Bellatrix. A mixture of shock and relief overflowed him, but it didn't stop him from being concerned. Now death eaters were flocking her with attacks.

"PROTEGO!" Harry cast on Molly Weasley. But she had to get out of there now, because the shielding charm could not block the killing curse.

Harry suppressed a growl as he watched Cedric Diggory all over his crush, Cho Chang. It was so unfair. The boy was popular, good looking, a real champion for the Tri-Wizard Tournement, and he got all the girls. Truthfully, Harry also had these things, but that was for all the wrong reasons.

Suddenly, Cedric swooped in to kiss Cho, and Harry was burning with jealously. Without thinking, he pulled out his wand and sent the severing charm his way, slashing his trousers allowing everyone to see his underwear.

Both Cedric and Cho's face went bright red as students flocked the pair and burst into laughter.

Oops. Hermione was glaring at him from across the courtyard. Looks like she saw that! Yep, of course, she was now stomping towards him, looking quite mad. "Harry! That was awful of you!"

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't mean to do it, I was just caught up in the..." Jealousy rage? "...moment."

"Well, you certainly acted like Malfoy just then!" Harry stared after Hermione as she turned on her heel and walked off. Really? Like Malfoy? That was enough to make him regret what he just did to Cedric. Despite his feelings for Cho.

Being the boy who lived was a tough job to fulfil. Every year at Hogwarts proved to be deadly in some way for Harry Potter, so when the school provided fun things for the students to do, it was nice to unwind and chill out for a while.

Today marked a costume party for the Gryffindor house! But Harry being his unorganised self, had nothing to wear and no time to sort something out! What could he possibly do? Go to Hermione, of course.

"Honestly, Harry! If you're too lazy to buy something, you can easily use magic to make yourself look ridiculous." Because that was the general theme of the party. Looking stupid.

"Okaaaay, Hermione, I get it. Can you help me then?" Harry moaned. He didn't want to look like he hadn't made an effort or anything.

"I have one idea. Although I'm not 100% sure that it will work..." Hermione shrugged her shoulders and pointed her wand at Harry's face.

"Errr... Herm -"

"Engorgio!"

Within seconds, Harry's circular glasses increased in size until they literally fell off his head. Now his vision was blurred immensely.

"It kind of worked! Maybe just a bit smaller..." Yes, maybe.

The fireplace was blazing and Harry was sitting with his wife on their sofa. Ginny was currently four months pregnant with their first child, and Harry couldn't believe that so much happiness had finally caught up with him after all these years. Ginny, however, was a bit more emotional at this stage.

"We wouldn't even be here right now, if you hadn't saved me from the Chamber of Secrets." She said quietly, nuzzled against his chest. It took Harry by surprise, but he had to agree that he had thought that, too.

"Yes, love. But we don't need to think about those days anymore." He replied, not wanting to re-open old wounds.

"I know. I was just hoping that you remembered. I think that was the day I really started to fall in love with you, Harry."

"I remember everything about that day. Everything up to Gilderoy Lockhart almost erasing my memories -" Which evidently would have changed his life for the worst, too. "I dunno... I just couldn't bare the thought of leaving you down there..." It puzzled Harry, because when he was 12 years old, he didn't have these feelings for Ginny.

"I knew I had to save you."

"Shh." Harry said quietly to his best friend, Ron, who was stirring in his sleep. This was a regular occurrence within the boy's dormitory. Particularly when Ron was under any amount of stress. But the only stress Harry could recall of Ron's today, was his experience with an unfriendly visitor. A spider.

He waited but it was no use, Ron was still murmuring his worries. Harry sighed heavily and looked out of the window at the large amount of stars glistening at him. Maybe he could distract himself by... counting stars... or something.
One, two, three, four -

"Spider!" Ron blurted out, followed by a snore.

Grrr. That was it. He reached over to his desk, popped on his glasses, and grabbed his wand. Action needed to be taken. It was a complete mystery to him how the rest of the boys in the dormitory were sound asleep. Then again, Harry always had something on his mind to keep him awake.

"Quietus." Harry muttered in a whisper, with his wand pointing in his direction. The boy smiled as his spell was a success. Ron's lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.

Pure bliss.

I was pacing. It happened a lot when I was either nervous, confused or annoyed. Today, it was annoyance that played on my mind. So, I continued to pace the almost empty Gryffindor common room whilst Ron and Hermione sat on the sofa, also contemplating what to do. We needed a room to practice Defence Against The Dark Arts.

"Let's think about this later. Why don't we think about what spells you can teach everyone first?" Hermione suggested.

All of a sudden, Ron started to chuckle uncontrollably. "Fred and George told me about a spell, Harry. Bat-Bogey Hex. It makes your bogies massive." Hermione rolled her eyes, and I just sighed. Maybe it would be quite funny to perform that hex, but this meeting was serious, and enlarging bogies would not protect us from Lord Voldemort.

"That's about as useful as.. the Knitting Charm." I stated, allowing frustration to get to my temper.

"Er, my mum swears by the Knitting Charm, you know." Ron commented afterwards. Really, I meant no offense to Mrs. Weasley's knitting methods, but we really did need somewhere to practice.

...but seriously, why not be normal and knit by hand?

Harry was wallowing in self pity today. Being 'the boy who lived' was daunting sometimes, and he often worried about not living up to the name. After all, Harry was faced with danger every single year.

"Come on, Harry." Came Hermione's voice, in a hope to comfort her friend. "This is who you are. You wouldn't be the same Harry Potter if your life wasn't like this." Well, he would still be her friend, she knew that. But everything that happened to the trio was becoming second nature. It was meant to happen.

"It's not normal for everyone else, but it's normal for you. And me, and Ron."

"Is it, Hermione? Is it really normal that I have cast horrible defensive spells almost every year of being at this school just to live?" He frowned as he looked to his friend. "I sometimes wish I was just a regular student. One that worried about doing the levitating spell or something like that."

Wingardium Leviosa. If only he could use lovely spells like that more often.

Instead, spells such as 'stupefy' were becoming a part of his regular vocabulary. He hated it, and hated being different.

Ahh, this was the life. Harry Potter was sitting on the couch, with his beautiful wife, Ginny. The kids were asleep, and the couple were going to sit and watch a nice movie together. It was rare for both of them to have time for this kind of thing!

About 20 minutes into the movie, Harry heard a knock on the door, but chose to ignore it. Nope, he wasn't wasting his time with Ginny on annoying people at the door. Probably a salesman. After a few minutes, the exxessive knocking stopped and the couple snuggled closer together. Lovely.

"Lumos." There was a small whisper of the words, then the dimmed room lit up significantly. Harry turned around quickly and warily but it was soon obvious who it was...

"AH!" Shouted Ron Weasley. "Sorry, I, er..." He couldn't even bring himself to look at the cuddling couple. Awkward. The brother of the wife walking in.

"Just came to give Harry his spello-tape back. I think I shall leave now." Leaving the spello-tape on the side table, Ron swiftly moved out of the room and shut the door behind him. Giggling to each other, Harry and Ginny continued their evening.

"They're over there!" Harry whispered to his best friend, Ron. The two watched as Fred and George were eavesdropping on their parents' conversation from behind their door. Ron smirked in response to finding them, then sent Harry a plain and simple nod. Harry knew what had to be done. Taking a breath each, the pair closed their eyes, turned on the spot and...

*POP*

"ARGH!" The twins shrieked at the same time, as the two seventeen-year-olds disapparated from their original spot, and reappeared directly behind them. Regaining themselves, Fred and George looked absolutely angry. It was them who did the pranking! THEM! Course, Harry and Ron were almost on the floor laughing.

"Very funny, very funny." Said Fred. "But you have just started a war, little boys." Finished George. Eh. It was fine by Harry. He needed a laugh what with everything going on, and also, any chance to practice apparation was always useful.

Rolling their eyes, the younger boys giggled and wandered off back to Ron's room at the Burrow. Leaving Fred and George to continue their eavesdropping. It was a wonder that Mr and Mrs. Weasley hadn't heard them yelling! They sounded like two little girls! Hehe.