More Than Just A New Beginning

Chapter 1

Prologue

January 23rd 2008

My Name Is Harry James Potter, just Harry to those closest to me, and known as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' and 'The-Man-Who-Survived-Twice' to the general public in Britain. Which isn't as catchy as the first hence the reason is isn't used as much, although they do try to revive it now and again, remind everyone that I had done the impossible, survive two killing curses.

When I defeated Voldemort I thought, 'This was it' the days where I actually live instead of just constantly surviving, no longer fearing that Voldemort would pop out and destroy my life again. A month, a month of peace where I was on cloud nine was all I was allowed before my life crashed in front of him completely, I hadn't even turned eighteen-years-old.

Everything I had known suddenly turned out to be a lie, the testing they'd put me through in order to allow me to be an Auror…well, let's just say they had found and identified four illegal substances in my blood stream. Love potions, and one of them was the imprisoning kind. There was no doubt to anyone who was responsible, I had eyes for only one girl, who I'd actually planned on marrying during the summer holidays after Ginny's seventh year at Hogwarts.

I had never felt more violated in my entire life, once the potions were flushed after years of use, I knew what I had to do. I could not let Ginny away with her actions, who would she wrongfully ensnare next if let free on the general public? No, I refused to allow anyone to be so thoroughly violated like I had. Not even Voldemort possessing me had made me feel this way.

To say the Weasley's were unhappy with my choice was putting it lightly. I never imagined they would turn their backs on me the way they did. Especially not Ron and Hermione, we'd all been through so much, they knew right from wrong as did Ginny. If it had been anyone else, anyone else, they would have been agreeing with me. Yet, in one fell swoop I suddenly lost the girl I loved beyond reason, and my best friends and surrogate family. All of them begged me at one point to drop the charges, and when that didn't work? They threatened me with violence.

Despite the threats of violence only Charlie had the guts to start something with me, we duelled, but I did not turn him in. He was grieving, lashing out, he wasn't the only one that wanted to. I did too. Defeating Voldemort was meant to be a new beginning a fresh start, a chance to live. Yet I was completely ostracized from everyone I knew, with only the public on my side. The public who would just as quickly turn on me whenever they feel like it.

If anything after the trial made it worse, I was a seventeen-year-old kid who had just murdered Voldemort and allowed myself, twenty minutes prior, to be killed to save everyone I was not coping well. Shacklebolt could see that, not only had he become Minister of Magic, which I wholeheartedly approved off, he was a good man, but he'd come my confidante. Then one morning, one particular bad day, he asked me a question out of the blue.

"How would you like to train to head your own department in MACUSA, get a fresh start in New York?"

If Kingsley was asking, he'd already been working to get it done. I was struck dumb by the offer, but immediately agreed. I began training almost immediately, only returning to Britain for the trial and to give my own account of what happened. I was under Veritaserum for the questioning, so I was truthful.

Ginny, well, she received a life sentence in Azkaban prison, much to her families horror. I'm still not sure what they expected to this day, they'd bought up the chamber incident trying to get diminished capacity, but it didn't hold any water, the Weasley's had never had any qualms or concerns before this so it was stuck off.

It just reinforced that Amortentia (which translates to 'Love held') which ironically enough, the one under the potion doesn't actually feel love, it's merely an obsession was not to be touched the consequences would be severe. I had been about to marry her without even thinking of drawing up a prenuptial agreement, which would have given her access to half the Potter-Black estate. Regardless of whether I was under that potion, if I had married her I would have been contractually obligated to give her half.

Despite my training, I had no idea which department I would be heading, all I knew was it was something new, they had to keep up with the population and changing times. I realized I would be spending a lot of time in the Mundane world though, judging by the information I was having to digest, learn and retain as well as training I was doing in firearms, both in information and practical application. I was terrified as much as I was excited, and within six months I was ready to go.

I was soon working out of MACUSA's branch in New York, the Woolworth building. I was heading a department called Federal Bureau Covert Vigilance Taskforce or FBCVT for short. Their offices were right next to the Major Investigation Department, and we were tasked with Covert surveillance in hunting down and apprehending criminals in Mundane society for their attacks on magical creatures.

This had been my job for years now, and it was a job me and my team excel at.

In the years since I left Britain I have flourished, I'm no longer known as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' here but a fair leader, a boss, and more importantly…just Harry. It's something I wouldn't have gotten to appreciate in my birth land. The respect I have from those in MACUSA was solely from how good I was at my job and it is liberating.

Freedom tasted so sweet and I would rather go to hell than ever give it up.

I owed Kingsley everything, and he is the only one I keep in touch with, except for Luna and Neville.

Luna travels a lot for her job, as a zoologist, and Neville? Neville had settled down and married a fellow classmate, and was the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, his wife was the Landlady running the Leaky Cauldron, which by the way looks completely different than the grimy place I once stepped into at the age of eleven young and impressionable.

It wasn't just Luna, Kingsley and Neville who helped me move on, but my therapist as well, he was good at his job and helped me move passed what had been done to me. I will never forget it, never forgive, but I refuse to let it dictate the rest of my life, I couldn't if I wanted a family of my own.

Lets not forget my team, we were a close nit group, friends as well as co-workers.

There was only so many times you can put someone at your back and trust them before friendships are created out of it.

I'm twenty years old, and finally beginning to live my life.

I'll be twenty also, when I meet my soul mate for the first time.

Two Years Since the Hale Housefire, which happened in January 2006

Derek is eighteen years old - Laura twenty-two years old just FYI