sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole

just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound

but while you debate half empty or half full

it slowly rises, your love is gonna drown

marching bands of manhattan - death cab for cutie

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

1 month into the search

"What've you got mate?" Ron asked Harry. He said it so quietly that if he were not but a few inches from Harry's ear, he wouldn't have been heard. Harry brought the binoculars up to his eyes and looked once more. Black tents were set up in the valley below them. People in pure black robes moved around, almost like small ants in a colony.

"There's a camp set up. I'm estimating around fifty," Harry said. "They've got all the signs of Death Eaters." Ron nodded.

"Dusk is settling in. Are we leaving it for tomorrow or should we attack tonight?" the redhead asked.

"Tonight," Harry said. "We don't know how long they've been stationed here or when they'll decide to move out. We'll have a better advantage if we catch them off guard instead of waiting and possibly giving up our location. We'll wait for a little while longer, when it's almost pitch black out. They'll be less likely to see us."

"I'll go tell everyone to gather around," Ron said. He got up from the ground and went back to the camp the group had set up.

For the last month there had been a few scuffles between the DA and the Death Eaters. They hadn't seen Voldemort at any time, and Harry was suspecting if he was around he would have a bigger guard than thirty. A few had been hurt, but thankfully no one had been killed yet. The DA, minus Harry, Hermione and Ron, were slowly learning how difficult it was to manage by themselves on top of trying to stay alive. Once in the past month had they been around a large body of water. There, the group finally was able to bathe properly. Scourgify charms had become their best friend any other time.

With the fights that had taken place, lives had been taken. Thankfully, those lives belonged to the Death Eaters. Harry, thinking about proof, had turned each body into an item, like a bone or a sock. From there, he would put them into a box he transfigured from a large rock he had found in the forest. And though the DA had been able to take out a few Death Eaters, they still had a ways to go. The first fight was a week into their journey. They had stationed near Aberdeen for the night. Harry was busy helping set up sleeping tents as Hermione and Ron were setting up wards and assigning look outs. The first spell had come as a surprise. Thankfully, it was only a stunner but it had been enough to catch everyone's attention. Harry was the first to attack back. He quickly sent a few choice spells toward the dark before silencing his footsteps and disillusioning himself. Many others did the same and abandoned their previous tasks. They had only come across a few rouge Death Eaters but there were enough of them for a good fight. The DA quickly took down those that they could find as they searched the rest of the forest. Only five were caught. No lives were taken then. Harry bound the five captured tightly and then stunned them before turning them into inanimate objects. He sent them with his patronus to McGonagall with a note attached. The return note said they had been taken care of.

It was only a week later when the first honest fight had taken place. They were flying over a patch of land when they spotted a camp full of Death Eaters. They had tried to fly over the camp and land close enough to where they could scope out what they had found but there was no such luck. There must have been wards around the camp that extended to the skies because flashes of colors were sent their way. If the DA thought fighting on the ground was hard, they found that on a broom was even harder. They landed in the midst of the camp and began to fight back. The healing team flew away into a clearing and began to set up for the injured while the other twenty fought. The fight was close that night. On a few occasions Harry almost lost people but at the last second they would duck or spin out of the way. While fighting, Harry estimated there were at least double the amount of the DA. Each student easily had two to three people. But the good thing about training with a group of people was someone always had your back. They fought as a team and won as a team. Not all Death Eaters were caught but enough were. Neville took his first life that night and felt terrible about it, as did others. Afterward Harry talked with his group about dealing with their actions. He knew it was hard but it was necessary.

Joining the group that had settled in the center of camp, Harry thought back to that night. They had been surprised then and now it was their turn to do the surprising. But they had to be careful. Harry was sure word had gotten out to look for them.

"Right, there is a camp of Death Eaters in the valley below us. I think we're far enough away that we haven't tripped their security, but I'm sure they'll do a perimeter search sometime soon. We're going to wait another hour or so, for the dusk the settle in and then we'll attack. The healing team will stay here and set up their camp. That way everyone knows where to head back to in case of an emergency," Harry spoke.

"In preparation, I need everyone to silence their footsteps and disillusion themselves. It will be easier to plan a sneak attack that way. We're going to split up in groups of ten and then break down into groups of five. One group will go east of the camp and the other will go west. We're going to try and surround them instead of attacking in one big glob. Make sure you know who is with you. Your team members are a part of your responsibility. You need to have each other's backs. I'm putting their numbers at at least fifty, which as you all know, is more than doubling ours," Harry continued. The group in front of him listened intently. They had never understood before leaving Hogwarts why it was so hard to get anything done. And then they had fought and they knew how serious the situation was. Harry finished talking and they broke up once more. Harry returned to his previous look-out spot and spied on the camp some more. They had guards at every corner of the camp with others in the center. They would have to take them out first without tipping the rest of the camp off.

The time finally came and Harry made sure everyone was ready. Slowly, the group made their way down the mountain. At the end, they split into groups of ten. Ron led one team while Harry led the other. Harry turned to his group.

"Okay, I have a small plan. We're going to try and take out the perimeter security. From there, we're going to steal their robes and masks. If our disillusionment charms fail at any time, at least we'll look like we belong with the camp," Harry said quietly. From there the group made their way closer to the stationed Death Eaters. Five split from the group, Hermione leading them, and went farther ahead to take down security there. Harry and his team stayed down parallel to them.

"Do not start fighting until you have a clear view of your surroundings," Harry said. "Once we fire that first spell, hell is going to be broken open." Carefully, the five split up with about six yards in-between each of them. There was a guard directly in front of Harry, one about six yards to his right and the other about six yards to his left. Neville had Harry's right and Dean had Harry's left. Seamus was further down, on Dean's right in front of the guard that was on that corner and to Seamus' right was Susan Bones. Harry caught Neville's eye and then Dean's before he gave the signal. In the span of ten seconds five beams of light went directly into the unsuspecting Death Eaters. They went down instantly. Quickly and quietly, Harry and the other four went forward and stripped the Death Eaters out of their robes and masks before putting them over their own clothes. And not risking the unconscious Death Eaters being found by someone not on their team, they transfigured each body into something and slipped them into their pockets.

"The easy part is over," Harry whispered. "We have to go into camp now. Try and stay close to each other, but not close enough that we'll draw attention." The five of them began walking toward camp. With a small breath, Harry entered the camp of Death Eaters. To his right was a large tent and he could hear voices from the outside, though he couldn't quite hear everything said.

"…Potter…"

"The Dark Lord said to be on the watch out. Potter's got…."

"I heard the other day that The Dark Lord was sick. I didn't think he got sick…"

"….well, Lucius, Antonin, Bella and Avery are in London and I think….our Lord….stationed in Brentford…."

Well at least I may have some potential information to go off of. Where ever Malfoy and Bellatrix are I'm sure Voldemort is Harry thought to himself. Harry didn't know what the other groups had managed. He hoped they had infiltrated the camp just as he and his group had. Hoping he had given them enough time, Harry sent off his first spell. The bottom of the tent caught on fire and out of the corner of his eye, he saw another one catch fire also. He nodded, happy that his people got the idea he was trying to give off.

"What the hell happened?" A Death Eater came out of the tent muttering to himself. Just as he pulled out his wand to put out the fire, Harry hit him with a stunner. The large man went down. Harry quickly bent down and snapped the wand before transfiguring the man and adding him to his pocket. He had just stepped back when another came out.

"Jugson? What's taking you so long? We've got work-," the Death Eater started. But he was cut off when Harry hexed him. By then, more and more Death Eaters were coming out of their tents to see what the matter was. Harry snapped that wand also.

"What's going on?" Harry heard. He held his breath as someone in black robes crossed right in front of him.

"Someone contact the guards. There's something wrong," someone shouted. Harry could see more and more spells being shot toward Death Eaters. And since none of them could see where the spells were coming from, they couldn't attack back.

"There's no answer!" was the reply to the previously given order.

"Someone's here! Everyone, up! We've been found!" someone shouted. Harry quickly took them down and snapped their wand. Suddenly it seemed, the entire camp was crowded. He was surrounded in a sea of black. That's all he could see. Harry maneuvered his way through the crowd, shooting spells and charms as he did. Neville and Dean flanked his side while Susan and Seamus took post behind Neville and Dean.

"Harry," Neville whispered. "We have to start doing something. We're going to be found out at this rate." Harry nodded.

"Just start shooting. Do the best you can. Set fire to any and all tents that you can. We don't want them to have their possessions," Harry said. Then, he was alone. As Neville and the rest began fighting, Harry broke away too. He shot spells left and right, taking out whoever he could.

"This way! It came from that way!" he heard. Then, he ducked and went to the ground as a spell shot over his head. Harry rolled over on his back with his wand out. There was a Death Eater no more than two feet in front of him. He began to back up and he fired spells. At last he got to his feet and began to set fire to the tents. The fire caused a nice distraction and as the Death Eaters tried to put out the flames, Harry took them down and snapped their wands.

"What the hell is happening? I don't know where to fire!"

"Open fire! Open fire!"

Harry ducked as more and more spells and hexes began to fly through the air. Though it was hard dodging all of them and firing at the same time, the chaos worked for him. Death Eaters were hit by their own people as well as the DA.

"It's a bunch of kids! Look, there they are!" Harry looked up and saw Ron and his team going through camp. They were not disillusioned, and Harry cursed his best friend for his forgetfulness. They were firing and dodging as best as they could, but there was no doubt that they needed help. Harry began to move quicker through the crowd to get to Ron.

"Stupefy!"

"Impedimenta!"

"ARGHH! WHERE ARE YOU?" a Death Eater yelled in frustration. He was not yelling for long.

"Deprimo!" The Death Eater exploded on sight. It was a gross sight to see, but Harry kept moving. He was up, he was down, he was moving to the side, all in quick succession. Harry had never moved so quickly in his life.

"Duro!" "Deprimo!" His target turned to stone and then was obliterated. Then, he was hit.

"Ahh!" Harry let out. He grabbed his left arm and looked down to see blood. He growled, but kept moving. He darted behind a still standing tent to fix the cut. Afterward, he set the tent on fire. He looked down. His disillusionment charm had worn out. He saw the black robes and the mask and then looked up to see several DA members shooting spells at him. He ducked and darted out of the way, all the while yelling for them to stop.

"Stop! It's me, Harry!" he yelled. They didn't listen, which Harry supposed was a good thing or else they would more than likely be dead. Harry finally ripped the robes off and revealed himself. The DA saw him and immediately turned their fire onto someone else. Harry sighed with relief, but it was cut short as he felt himself flying through the air.

"Oh look, it's Potter. We heard you were lurking around. I'm glad you came to see us," said a Death Eater. Harry got up and raised his wand to defend himself. He knew that voice from somewhere. Where, though, he didn't know. He couldn't think off the top of his head.

"I'm going to kill you, Potter," said the Death Eater. "I imagine the Dark Lord will be please with me when he hears of what I've done. Then nothing will stop him from taking over everything. But first, I'm going to play. It's been so long since I've played." He laughed. It sent a chill down Harry's spine, but he kept his wand up.

"Diffindo!" Harry swirled out of the way and fired in return.

"Confringo!" he ground out. The Death Eater quickly shielded himself before firing back. Spells were traded in quick succession between both parties. And then it hit Harry who this Death Eater was. The voice, the build. It was Rabastan Lestrange, Rodulphus' brother. Harry's hate intensified. And with his gathering temper, his speed and agility increased as did the speed in which his spells came out. Rabastan was having a hard time keeping up with Harry.

"Oh, Potter can play," Rabastan said. "It's been such a long time since I've had a good playmate!" Harry sneered and taunted back.

"Obviously, you're lacking," he said. Rabastan glared.

"That isn't very nice. Didn't your mother ever teach you to play nice?" He laughed. "I forgot. She died before you could talk." Harry saw red. Instantly, he charged at Rabastan, wand out in front.

"Crucio!" Harry said. Rabastan didn't move quick enough that the spell hit him. Instantly he dropped to his knees and screamed. Harry took no mercy.

"Avada Kedavra!" The green light sped toward the man in front of him and before Rabastan could comprehend anything, the light hit him and he was gone. Harry saw the light fade from his eyes. He didn't bother relishing in the victory as he joined in the rest of the fighting.

"Harry, duck!" Harry did as he was told and he saw a purple light flash over his head and hit the tree a ways further from him. He looked up and saw Ron holding his hand out to help him up. He took it and with a silent agreement, the two worked as a team to bring their enemies down. People in black robes went down quicker than Harry could comprehend. He didn't care. He took no mercy. Never in his lifetime had he felt as he did in those few hours. He worked tirelessly along side Ron and his fellow classmates. And before he knew it, it was over.

With his chest heaving, he came back to back with a few of his classmates. They had met in the middle of the campsite. He, along with the rest standing, looked around. Fire was everywhere. It was burning through the tents and through the robes of the people who littered the ground.

"Be on the lookout," Harry said. "We may not see anyone now but that doesn't mean they aren't still around."

"Look for any of our own," Ron shouted. The group broke apart and began to search the campsite. Harry had found no one from the DA when he heard his name being shouted.

"Harry, help!" Harry turned toward the voice of Lavender Brown and sprinted toward what she was pointing at. Harry arrived and saw the body of Ernie Macmillan. He was breathing shallowly and part of his face had been burned. Red seeped from his clothes. Instantly, Harry had his broom out and was scooping the smaller boy up.

"I'll be back. I need you guys to continue the search. Once you're done, look through any tents that didn't get torched and see if you can find anything," Harry said quickly. Then he took off toward his campsite. The wind rushed through his hair and he could hear Ernie groan.

"Hold on mate, you're going to get help," Harry said. He flew as fast as he could up the mountain. As he descended, he yelled out for help.

"We've got an injury!" Harry yelled. He could see that people were already in the tents set up for the injured. Padma Patil rushed out of one tent and to Harry. She gasped when she saw Ernie but led Harry toward an empty bed.

"Set him here. I'll get straight to work. Do you know what he was hit with?" she asked. Harry shook his head.

"No idea. I only know he has some burns and he's losing blood quickly," Harry replied. Padma nodded and then got to work. Harry looked from the quickly paling Ernie down to his clothes. His shirt was soaked with blood that wasn't his. After a quick Scourgify, Harry got back on his broom and went back to the destroyed site.

"Find anything?" Harry asked Ron. The redhead shook his head.

"No, we've pretty much destroyed everything here," he said. "A couple of the boys have started to pile up the bodies over round the south end of the camp and Hermione is trying to identify them." Harry nodded and began to help move the dead.

"What've you got?" Harry asked his girlfriend. She was leaning over a body when he walked up. She straightened before speaking.

"Only a few I recognize. We've got Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Crabbe Senior and Goyle Senior, and Rabastan Lestrange," Hermione said. "You should take a look and see if you recognize anyone else." Harry nodded and went down the rapidly increasing line of dead bodies.

"I can only identify Macnair," Harry said a while later. They were finally done piling the dead and now they were doing the count.

"I've got 52," yelled Seamus.

"Me too," Dead called.

"We've got 52," Harry muttered. He nodded. "You think we should burn the bodies or transfigure them and send them to McGonagall?" Hermione shrugged.

"I suppose we should send them to McGonagall. I'm sure it's important to them to find out who exactly is serving Voldemort so they can look out for potential spies," Hermione replied. Harry nodded.

"Well, I'll start putting a preserving charm on them and you start transfiguring," Harry said. And with that, the two got down to work and were soon joined by the rest of the DA to hurry up the project. Harry gathered the various inanimate objects and added those from his pocket to the wooden box he had conjured.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry said. A blinding bright light emerged from his wand and formed a large, strong stag. Harry patted his patronus affectionately.

"Hey Prongs," he said. "I've got this for you to take to McGonagall has fast as you can." Prongs took the strap that was attached to the box in his mouth and then nudged Harry's hand before taking off into the forest.

Taking one more look around the now empty clearing, Harry spoke. "Let's head back to camp."

Back at camp the healers were busy. More people had gotten hurt than ever before. Harry counted his wounded and ended with a count of ten. He had ten injured, with two of those ten leaning toward death unfortunately. Looking at the odds, he guessed it was better than what would have been expected. But it was sad. They were going to lose friends and people they had trusted for the last month of their lives. It would be hard. And it would be a horrible loss for the DA. It would bring their eligible fighters down to 18.

"How's Ernie?" Harry asked Padma.

"He's okay. I was able to stop the bleeding and right now his lungs are healing. He had a rib puncture through his left one and he had a few other broken bones. He needs some rest but he should be better by morning," Padma replied. "He's sleeping right now." Harry nodded.

"And Justin?" Harry asked. Padma sighed and shook her head.

"It's not looking good. He's lost a lot of blood and I can't figure out what he was hit with. Nothing I do seems to work and it only causes him more pain. I'm sorry to say but I don't think he'll last through the night," she replied softly. Harry sighed. Justin was a good guy. Though they had some problems in second year when he thought Harry was sicking a snake on him, they had moved past that and formed a pretty good friendship. Justin was one of his better duelers.

"Rough," Harry muttered. He put a hand on Padma's shoulders and thanked her before turning back to where the rest of the uninjured had set up. He joined Hermione on a log. She was bent over a little black book writing furiously.

"What are you up to?" Harry asked softly.

"I'm writing down what happened today. I've been keeping track of every day we've been away from Hogwarts. It helps writing it down," Hermione replied softly. Harry put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple.

"I'm glad you didn't get hurt," Harry whispered. Hermione turned her head and brushed her nose against his.

"Same here," she whispered back. She placed a soft kiss upon his lips before going back to writing. Harry decided to give her some privacy and he went over to his sleeping area and pack. He took out his bathing things. Thankfully, this camp had a small river about an eighth of a mile away from where they had set up. He knew he needed a real bath and he was sure the water would cool him down and clear his head.

After washing away the grime and blood from his body, Harry swam around a little bit and let the water relax him. Around twenty minutes later, he got out of the river and dried himself with his wand. He put on his clean set of clothes before he cleaned his dirty set in the river. He then headed back to camp. Ron was sitting down on a log close to where Harry had set up.

"Go get clean mate," Harry said softly, putting his hand on Ron's shoulder. "The water is nice and helps you relax." Ron turned his gaze to Harry and nodded. He grabbed his clothes and clapped Harry on the back as he passed.

"I've got first watch," Harry announced. "Who wants to relieve me in an hour?"

"I will," Hannah Abbott said. Harry nodded. Quietly, he left camp and leaned back against the watch tree. The moon was settling over the night sky and Harry let the light wash over his face. It would be a long night.

The next morning, Padma announced that Justin Finch-Fletchley had died during the night. After packing up camp, Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean dug a hole and laid Justin to rest. The group had a moment of silence for their fallen comrade before taking off. They were heading toward London.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

It took another two months to get to London. Along the way, the DA lost two more. Lisa Turpin died of blood loss while Su Li was hit with the Killing Curse. Both had burials, just like Justin, and were honored with silence. Along the way, the DA had infiltrated three more Death Eater camps. The fights were nasty and resulted in several injuries. Harry had come close to losing Ron, but at the last moment he grabbed the redhead and pulled him down. He got a sprained wrist in return, but he still had his best mate so he thought it was a good trade off. Other than the three camps they destroyed, they didn't find anything else. Rather, they were found. Voldemort must have put out a few scouting teams to see if Harry could be found. It was tough, but the DA destroyed them. No one reported back to Voldemort.

A few times Harry and the DA met up with a couple teams from the Order. Harry saw Remus and Tonks. Remus told Harry he was proud of him, and that he was sure James, Lily and Sirius were also. They didn't get to talk too much, however, because there was an attack. Both Remus and Tonks made it out alive, but no one else from their team did. With one last pat on the shoulder, Remus left Harry and moved on to join another team.

Their main goal was to get to London. Though Harry heard from from a few conversations he had eavesdropped on before he and his team destroyed the camp, Voldemort was not stationed in London but rather outside of London. Their headquarters were in an old, abandoned home. Harry suspected Voldemort had taken out the family that had lived there before settling. As they got closer and closer to London, Harry saw more of the Order. He and his team began working with them to bring down Death Eaters.

Harry and the DA mainly collaborated with Remus, Tonks, Hestia Jones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dedalus Diggle, and Elphias Doge. Together, they were able to defeat more Death Eaters than any other team. They stationed themselves in the heart of London in an old, abandoned warehouse. There, the team was able to provide room for the healers to work better. They had shelter from the weather and they had better cover. Sleeping arrangements, even though they were on a cement floor, were better because there was more room for everyone. Hermione even helped Remus establish a barrier around the warehouse, guarding them from any enemies.

It was heading toward the fifth month away from Hogwarts when Harry received the letter that would start the biggest fight ever know in the wizarding world. He had been sitting against a wall with his notebook, scribbling his thoughts down when he was interrupted by Remus.

"We have a letter for you, Harry," Remus said. He facial expression was grave. Harry set aside his things and followed Remus to the entrance of the building.

"Another team found the body and the note," Remus said. Harry looked down at the body of what once was Arabella Figg. He felt a pang of remorse as he looked at his long time neighbor. He sighed and took the letter that was in Remus' hand. The letter was addressed to him in red ink. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he opened the envelope.

Harry Potter-

The time has come, young Harry, for us to meet. I will, however, give you one chance to submit to me. Make me your Lord and your life will be spared. You could have it all, Harry. You could rule beside me, as my right hand. All you have to do is admit defeat.

On the eve of June 15th, meet me where it all began.

I will be waiting, Harry.

Lord Voldemort

Harry crumpled the letter in his hand as he looked down at the body of Mrs. Figg. She may have been a little batty, but she was a nice lady. She died because of Voldemort. Sirius, his parents, his grandparents on his father's side, Lisa Turpin, Su Li, Justin, Emmaline Vance and countless others died because of Voldemort.

He focused on June 15th. It was the day before Hogwarts let out. And then it clicked. Where it all began was Hogwarts. Voldemort started his plan in Hogwarts as he progressed through his education there. He found a home within Hogwarts. Harry found a home within Hogwarts. And he, like Voldemort, progressed in his magic and education there.

Hogwarts. June 15th. He'd be there.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Oh man. Only 1 more chapter!

And it's pretty safe to say that this is the quickest update this story has ever seen. :) Yeah, I'm working pretty hard to put this out there. I hope this chapter will get more feedback than the previous one?