Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter, except my own copies of the books which I waited until midnight to get, of course.

Summary: Harry Potter finally defeated the Dark Lord at the age of seventeen. Afterwards, he was seen walking off the battlefield and it was the last that anyone in the Wizarding World ever saw of him again – even his friends. What happened to the Hero of the Wizarding World and what is he up to now? Will he ever go back to his world? POST-HOGWARTS, POSSIBLE SLASH.

A/N: Here's the next one and thanks to the people who read and reviewed! It lets me know how you feel and what you want/are looking for in here so I have a better idea of what to put next.

That takes me to my next point. I have over 550 hits for this fic but only 3 reviews. I'm not stingy with my chapters and they'll still pop out and such but it is nice to know what you guys think of this, whether if it's good, bad, or you're just neutral. Tell me what you want and what you think! It helps me figure out outlines for upcoming chapters more easily and they pop out more quickly.

Thanks and enjoy! 

Siri

11.10.06

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

It Was About Time

Chapter 3 – Closer to the Truth

"Evan?" Darren reached out to touch his boyfriend's arm but the reaction that he received was unexpected; Evan flinched at the touch and looked up wildly at Darren.

"Bloody hell." Darren's eyebrows rose at that as Evan rarely cursed. It made him worried. This time, he didn't reach out for Evan but he did take a step closer.

"Evan? Is everything okay?" Evan appeared to come to as his eyes focused on his boyfriend and Darren could detect a spark of fear in their depths.

"The charm! I forgot about the bloody charm! Bloody hell. She's going to get here! They're going to find me," he practically rambled and he suddenly unfroze as he replaced the jar of tomato sauce on the shelf and started to walk out of the aisle, steadily picking up the pace. By the time he got to the end of the aisle, he was at a full-out run with Darren right at his heels trying to catch up and wondering what revelation made Evan act like the world was ending.

"Evan!" He called out. "Wait up!" The only response he got was his boyfriend reaching back to grab his hand to pull him along faster. Along the way, Evan's shoulder slammed into a tall, blonde man who scowled at them.

"Watch it, you bloody bastard!" Darren hastily turned around at that to yell out "sorry" to a grey-eyed man who had a murderous expression plastered on his face before turning to pay attention to where they were going. The pair left the grocer's to shouts of "Slow down, you idiots", incredulous stares, and an elderly lady who seemed to be hyperventilating and experiencing a heart attack. If Darren's face wasn't already flushed with the run and out-of-breath, he would have snorted at the woman's priceless facial expression.

Evan let his hand go as they got to their sports car, a black Audi TT, the one and only car Evan owned, mostly at Darren's insistence, and slid into it, barely giving Darren enough time to get in before driving out of the parking lot with a screech. Throughout the ride back, Darren studied his boyfriend. His eyes were staring determinedly ahead and his hands were gripping the steering wheel so firmly that his knuckles were paper white. Darren opened his mouth to repeat his earlier question but stopped as he spotted an almost indiscernible shake of the head and a slight thinning of the lips. Suppressing a frustrated growl, he leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms for the remainder of the trip.

Unlike Evan who was determined not to talk, Darren was determined to find out what was wrong and he would in time. He was like Evan in that way: utterly and completely stubborn.

IOI

Grey eyes narrowed as they followed the couple rushing out the automatic sliding doors of the grocers'. There was something about that man that reminded him of someone – he just couldn't figure out who. One thing he was sure of, though, was that whoever it was, he was important.

"Young man?" An elderly lady was standing next to him looking flustered with a hand fluttering over her chest looked up at him hopefully. The man forced a smile.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can you help me get that?" A hand gestured at a jar of preserved peaches. "I can't seem to reach it."

He barely stopped a sneer from forming before doing as asked.

Bloody muggles, he thought, all previous thoughts concerning the familiar man forgotten for the time being.

IOI

Twin sounds of doors slamming echoed through the underground parking garage.

"So?" Darren looked at Evan expectantly, waiting for an explanation to his behavior. Evan shook his head.

"Later." Darren opened his mouth to protest but Evan spotted that and he quickly continued. "When we get inside." Darren sighed and ran a hand through his hair before following Evan into the apartment.

Evan locked the door and he turned around only to meet his boyfriend who looked severely annoyed. He knew that his earlier behavior had perked Darren's curiosity tremendously and his numerous refusals to answer had Darren at the threshold before his patience snapped. Making up his mind about what to do next, he motioned for his boyfriend to sit down and he went over to his phone to call his secretary. Glancing back at Darren, he gulped.

The expression on his face was a step away from murderous.

"Just after this call. Please." Evan pleaded before hearing someone pick up. "Angela?"

"Mr. James?" The voice sounded puzzled.

"Yes. I need something for you do to."

"That is my job, you know. I know what it consists of but if you insist on reminding—" came the dry reply before it was interrupted.

"I know!" Evan snapped. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and continued in a calmer tone. "Sorry. I mean I know. This is really important, okay?"

"Uh, yes sir." Came the hesitant reply, shocked at the outburst from the normally laidback man. "Just tell me what you need."

"Okay, over the next couple of days, a young brunette with curly brown hair will come to the office asking for a certain Harry Potter. She may also be accompanied by a red-headed man. Do you follow me?"

"Yes sir."

"When they come, do whatever you need to but whatever it is you do, make sure to make them think that this Harry Potter is no longer there. I don't care how or what you do, just make sure that they leave."

"Hmm… yes sir, but this Harry Potter was never here." At the pause at the other end of the line, Angela stopped her line of thought as she had no inclination to try the person's patience who was obviously in no mood for anyone to do so. Most importantly, this was the same person who signed her paycheck. "Uh, never mind… Is something wrong?" Evan let out a sigh.

"No, nothing. Just make sure that you do exactly that. Make them get off this Harry's back."

"I've got everything down. You can count on me."

"I know." Evan glanced at Darren who now had an eyebrow raised. "Well, I'll just let you get on with what you were doing. Thanks, Angela."

"No problem, boss!" Evan snorted as he hung up. Turning around, he cleared his throat as he wrung his hands together and fidgeted. He had no idea what to say or where to start.

"Why don't you sit down, Evan?" Darren said and Evan did just that. He looked up into the grey eyes.

"I, uh, don't know where to start."

"From the beginning always works." Evan's heart nearly stopped at those words. In truth, he had been ready to tell Darren about his past for a while. After all, he felt rude to keep such a big secret from the man he loved. The thing was that there was never a right time and he was afraid of Darren's reaction. In fact, he was still afraid of Darren's reaction.

"I- I dunno." Darren sighed.

"It's not as if you killed anyone! Just tell me." At what Darren said, Evan stiffened before forcing his muscles to relax. He gave a weak chuckle.

"Heh... not as if I killed anyone." He mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"I- I just don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, it's pretty big and…" Evan trailed off.

"And?"

"I don't want you to leave me or anything," Evan spoke in a rush, his eyes anywhere but on his boyfriend. Darren's eyes softened as he reached over to caress Evan's hands.

"I won't. Just tell me." He replied softly.

Harry looked up slowly and slowly nodded his head.

"All right. Yes. Okay." He swallowed hard before he started a tale – his tale – that could change everything between them… or make it even better. As he started to speak, he reverted back to the childhood action of crossing his fingers for luck. "What do you know about me so far?" Darren 'hmmm'ed as he thought the question through.

"Not much really. I know you were an orphan, but I don't know how that came to be. I know you went to a boarding school in the U.K. but nothing else besides that. Honestly, now that I think about it, I don't know much about you, besides what you have done since I've met you." He furrowed his eyebrows. "What was so big that you kept everything from me?"

Evan took a deep breath and chose to ignore the last question, not that it mattered much. Darren seemed to be saying that more to himself than not. Darren's face snapped back to Evan's as he started, giving his full, undivided attention.

"Well, I was born in the U.K. to a James and Lily Potter." Darren inhaled sharply at the familiar name. "A little over a year later, they were both murdered in their home and this… killer, self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort, tried to do me in as well but he didn't succeed. I was rescued from the wreckage by some of my parents' friends and sent to live with my aunt and uncle." There was a pause here as Evan seemed to relieve everything he was retelling as his eyes were glazed over. "Lets just say life there wasn't very nice. They had a son, Dudley, who was the epitome of a spoiled brat. When I was eleven, I received an invitation to a boarding school in Scotland and I attended the school for the next seven years and I had two best friends: Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. In third year, I met my godfather, but he died in fifth year. Ever since my fourth year, though, a war went on." Darren felt the need to question this "fact" but decided to wait until Evan was finished. "The leader of the opposing side was the same… man who killed my parents and so many others. I fought in it along with a host of other people I knew. People died. Too many people, really, and I was an important figure in this war. A hero of a sort, really."

"Wait… what? You're only a teenager! A kid! How can you be an important figure in this war? And there has been no news of a war like this in the U.K. in a while! And what kind of ridiculous name is 'Lord Voldemort'?!" Darren nearly exploded. Evan, in contrast, continued calmly, though he smirked at the last comment.

"You'll get all your answers in time, Darren. Anyway, after the war was done, I was through with it all. I left. I came to the United States to see if there was something out there for me and a year later and going through three states and ultimately settling in California, I found my own business."

"More than a business," snorted Darren. Evan rolled his eyes.

"And… I guess that's the summary. You know the rest."

His eyes narrowed. "You haven't told me all of it though. There's still something else, something big. You're still stalling." Evan expelled a heavy breath and nodded.

"Yes. See, this world is split into two races." Evan stopped here. Darren clenched his sweating hands in anticipation even though he was thoroughly puzzled at the last sentence said. "There are the muggles, the non-magic people, and the wizard-kind." Evan looked into Darren's astonished face. "I'm a wizard, Darren. I can do magic."

Evan winced as he waited for the bomb to drop.

IOI

"Come on, Ron! We'll miss our departure time!"

"Hermione! We're five minutes early! We'll get there in time."

"We were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, Ron, but since you just had to stop for some food, we're late!"

"Don't blame this on me! It was your fault as well! You had to check up on Jason—" A loud disembodied voice echoed through the large facility, effectively cutting him off.

"PORTKEYS NUMBER 221 THROUGH 251 PLEASE ARRIVE AT PORTKEY GATE NUMBER 43 FOR DEPARTURE IN FOUR MINUTES. THANK YOU FOR RELYING ON THE INTERNATIONAL WIZARDING PORTKEY TERMINAL FOR YOUR TRAVELING. HAVE A MAGICAL JOURNEY AND I HOPE YOU WILL 'PORT' WITH US ON YOUR NEXT TRIP!"

"That's us Ron!" With that, Hermione pulled Ron into a run, their trunks floating steadily behind them and weaving between other travelers like themselves, with Ron grumbling about a lame motto. Within a minute, the pair arrived at Gate Number 43 and waited with the other wizards and witches to get to the United States. Shortly, the booming voice sounded again.

"WIZARDS AND WITCHES, PLEASE HAVE YOUR PORTKEY AT THE READY WITH EVERYONE IN YOUR PARTY TOUCHING IT. AT THE COUNT OF TEN, YOU SHALL ARRIVE AT YOUR DESTINATION SHORTLY. HAVE AN ENJOYABLE TRIP. TEN… NINE… EIGHT…"

Hermione looked at her husband, face flushed with excitement. "I can't wait to see Harry!"

"SIX… FIVE…"

"You know he won't be happy to see us though. Knowing him, he'll make it as difficult as possible not to mention we have to find him first." If it was even possible, Hermione's face seemed to brighten.

"I know! But we just have to see him! It's been years!"

"TWO…"

Ron nodded his agreement as the two tightened their grips on the empty butterbeer bottle that was their portkey.

"ONE."

And with that, everyone in the vicinity disappeared to their destination, a pair significantly closer to a missed and no-longer missing Harry Potter.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

A/N: Remember to review and thanks for reading!