Chapter 3: The Fallen

"Awake, arise or be for ever fall'n." –John Milton

~Tristan~

The Voldemort of this world was very different than the one he had known, he wasn't anything like his heart…and perhaps that made it easier. There was just so much more he needed to do and he couldn't be distracted by a shadow of his love. Voldemort, this world's Voldemort, writhed underneath him in pain as Tristan fixed the man's body. He watched in fascination as black hair sprouted from his bald scalp, as a nose began to protrude from his face and his body twisted painfully as it filled out.

Where before there had been an emancipated shell of a powerful man there was now a man restored and reborn as a serpentine Titan. This Voldemort now had a complete body, one that would serve him well, but his soul was still a mere sliver. Tristan could not restore the man's soul, with it his sanity, without endangering his love that lay nestled inside the shadow of Voldemort. He resigned himself to dealing with the madness as it came and controlling the man should it be needed.

Tristan left the man on the floor of his throne room and made his way through the manor to clean up the mess Alucard and Leon had made. Surprisingly, Alucard had only killed one death eater and it was just some man who looked ravaged by time. Rookwood, if Tristan remembered right. With a wave the blood was gone and the body was as well. He left the ravaged death eaters to care for themselves and made his way outside.

He had one piece, one small piece of his love back and there just wasn't enough time. Tristan looked up at the sky…well he would just have to get some more time then wouldn't he. "My Prince," Leon said in his quiet rasp from behind him. Tristan didn't take his eyes off the sky above him as his green eyes glowed. "Leon, it seems that there are some things I must settle in this world before we move on," Tristan said as he turned his eyes to the horizon.

"I thought as much," Leon said simply.

Tristan looked back at Leon, "I'm curious about something," he said evenly.

"My Prince?" Leon asked lightly.

"I want you to go visit my counterpart soon," Tristan said much to Leon's surprise.

"May I ask Why, My Prince?" Leon said cautiously.

Tristan's eyes were calculating as he stared through Leon and at something beyond, "He has potential," he said ominously.

"Potential?" Leon urged on hoping to get some insight into his Prince's thinking.

"He is what I could have been…what I can never be…I wonder how he will react to you my lovely one," Tristan said as he turned back to gazing at the horizon.

Leon knew he would not get any more out of him and bowed, "As you wish my Prince, I will visit your counterpart soon." He said as he left his Prince to his unphantomable thoughts.

Tristan caressed the emerald that hung heavy around his neck, his love's body laid inside froze and giving him little comfort. "What will you do, I wonder," Tristan whispered, "What will you do when everything around you crumbles…will you rise up against me…my little mirror…or will you join me…" the darkness of the night held no answers. Tristan smirked as he felt himself stir inside as his newly awakened emotions rolled inside of him. He had taken his world with hardly any effort; no challenges laid back there for them any longer…but there were whole universes out there. Perhaps, in one of these worlds he might find a challenge worthy of his efforts.

~Harry~

Harry sat in the bed in the hospital wing and looked out the window without seeing…lost in his thoughts. His hand drifted up to his scar feeling the pain Voldemort was going through distantly and wondered about the other Harry/Tristan. Just thinking about the sheer power that his counterpart had…the things he had done at fourteen…Harry couldn't help but feel…inadequate in comparison. It made him think about what the sorting hat had told him, you could be great you know…it's all here in your head, and for the first time Harry wondered.

Wondered what could have happened if he had taken that chance…if he had chosen greatness over recklessness. Tristan's memories were a real eye opener for him…and not just about the subtle manipulations he had missed…it showed him things he had never even thought to think about before. Harry was bitter about his relatives, they were not nice people and their treatment of him was deplorable...yet so was the behavior of all their neighbors.

The people who saw…but did not act. It put a whole new perspective on things, they had seen how hard he was working, and they had to have noticed the contrast between Dudley and himself. They had noticed the ragged clothes, the submissive behavior and the flinching every time someone touched him. No one could be so blind as to not see something so obvious…could they? If they saw they didn't act on it, joined in more often than not to the Dursley's irrational hatred and left him to rot on his own.

Muggles were more dangerous than most wizards knew…that was something that Tristan had highlighted well in his memories and thoughts. Before Tristan there was no magical equivalent to the muggle weapons of mass destruction and in fact there were no safe guards in place for such things. The magical population of Japan had almost been completely wiped out at the end of World War Two as Hiroshima had been one of two highly populated magical areas. The other magical community had been in Okinawa and they had barely just started to recover from the hit.

Harry had never really considered what could happen if the magical world was exposed to the muggles and now he had Tristan's terrifying imagined scenarios playing out behind his eyes. Restrictions, forced registration, concentration camps, purges, burning at the stake, experimentation, mass panic…the Cold War pressed down on him…weapons of mass destruction launched at magical communities. A whole race wiped out, the earth scarred beyond repair…and magic winked out of the world as if it had never existed.

Because that was likely that would happen if the muggles knew about the magical world that hid in plain sight around them. They would find out all those monsters that they had thought were imagined really did go bump in the night. Vampires, Werewolves…dementors…and when people were scared they did horrible things to each other. Harry feared discovery now more than he did facing down Voldemort because at least if he died fighting that maniac then at least the world he loved would still go on.

There was a very real possibility that if the muggles found them…all he had grown to love…Hogwarts…magic…all of it…would be gone in an instant. His hands were clammy in a cold sweat and Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. Dumbledore would be back soon with the entire Order and Harry had to figure out if he was going to warn them. If he should warn them…about what Tristan would likely do to this world soon.

Harry knew for certain that Tristan couldn't sit back and do nothing about the muggles now that he was here. No. Tristan hated them too much for him to just let it go but it took time to prepare what he would do. It took time, it was delicate work Harry remember all the time he had devoted to gathering the right ingredients…the rituals needed to conjure such a destructive force. If Harry warned them…told them what Tristan could and likely would do then they could prepare.

They could try to stop him…but should they stop him? Before Tristan's memories…before this had happened Harry would not have hesitated…he would have rushed in to save the muggle race without a second thought. Harry could admit to himself that deep down Harry didn't want to hurt anyone…that he was something of a pacifist. However, now, after spending days trapped within Tristan's thoughts and memories…now Harry wasn't sure what he should do.

For all Tristan's madness there was reason behind his cruelty…logic behind the insanity…and Harry found himself paralyzed by it. Harry could understand the draw Tristan had to other people…it was hard to resist him even now…knowing everything he had done…Harry couldn't find it within himself to hate Tristan. Harry felt plenty of righteous anger, some pity, and maybe a little disgust…just no hate. Tristan drew people in because he unashamedly himself…all of it…the danger…the madness…all of that only added to his appeal.

It was wrong but Harry couldn't help feeling attracted to the madman. Attracted not because the man wore his face…or that he could have become Tristan…attracted because Tristan was so sure of himself. Tristan never once allowed anyone to manipulate him; he fought and died for his beliefs without flinching. Tristan refused to cower, refused to back down when the war he had started with the muggles was at first so heavily in his enemies' favor. Tristan didn't turn his back on greatness like Harry had…Tristan had allowed himself to be greatness in human form.

Harry didn't like his cruelty, didn't like his insanity, or his unflinching desire to hurt/maim/kill people. However, Harry had to admire the man that he rebuilt an entire world in his image before he had even become an adult in the eyes of the world. How was Harry supposed to compete with that? Yes, Harry had Tristan's memories…his knowledge…but Harry was nowhere near as connected and in tune with magic as Tristan had become.

All Harry had to work with was knowledge, and even that was dubious at best. Harry wasn't sure he could bring himself to use the incredibly dark magic he knew now…if he even could. Yet Harry couldn't just stand useless on the sidelines as Tristan destroyed an entire race…could he? Hadn't Harry decided that he should be the one to stand against Tristan because he was the only one who stood even a remote chance? Hadn't he told himself that he wouldn't lay back and let Tristan destroy everything he had ever known?

"Hello," the raspy voice echoed across the wing and startled Harry badly.

He whipped around to see where it had come from and found the dark winged figure that had followed Tristan into this world. Leon. His mind supplied Harry with the name and his heart squeezed painfully as the man's life swam to the forefront of his thoughts. The man that had sacrificed everything he was to become a monster to save Tristan…the one that loved him but never got love in return. "Hello," Harry said in return for lack of anything else to say.

Leon walked to his bed from the shadows of the corner in which he had appeared and sat on the edge of Harry's cot lightly. "You are not what I had expected when my Prince brought me into this world with him," Leon said as Harry felt that odd pulling sensation once more at Leon's proximity. It was like the exact opposite of being near a dementor…all Harry could think or feel was good thoughts. It put him off guard and relaxed Harry against his will.

"What were you expecting?" Harry asked lightly eyes half closed in blissful peace.

"I am not sure, my Prince is a very unique person…I had thought you would be more similar to him," Leon said his voice deep and rumbling. It sort of reminded Harry of Snape's velvety voice…only rougher and more soothing.

"How do you know I am not? Similar to him that is," Harry said sighing as a wave of comfort washed over him.

Leon smiled his teeth sharp and white contrasting starkly against his pitch black skin. "My Prince was generous enough to share some of the memories he had stolen from you…you are very different from my dark prince," Leon said gently as he lowered the hood of his cloak. For some reason Harry thought he probably should be more frightened than he was…but he just felt so good.

Leon's face was not the visage he had been expecting, it was full not withered…he looked almost handsome in a scary dark way and Harry thought his eyes reminded him of the night sky, endless and infinite, drawing him in effortlessly. "Is being different from him bad?" Harry asked silly grin on his face.

Leon looked at him in surprise and chuckled, it rumbled inside his chest like a purr from a cat. Harry liked the sound. "No, different in a nice way, I fear the universes could not handle more than one Tristan…he is one of a kind," he said it fondly and Harry was reminded that this man loved his prince deeply enough to spend eternity in torture.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked trying to put his scattered mind in order.

"Truthfully? I do not know, my Prince said I should come to see you and so I have come. I do not know what he expects to come of this but I have learned to not question him." Leon said lightly running a clawed hand through his black hair.

Harry felt strangely disappointed, "So you are here on his orders," he said face carefully blank. He tried harder now to not fall into how good he felt around Leon…how safe…because he was very far from being safe in the man's company.

"Why, yes, of course. I have spent my life serving him why would I stop now," Leon asked rhetorically.

"Why do you do it? Why serve him? You know he cannot love you, you know he cannot be saved, why do you stick around?" Harry asked suddenly needing to understand what made people stay with Tristan…even when they knew he was insane.

Leon looked at him carefully, calculating, "Let me ask you this…you have some of his memories…right? You know what he accomplished in his world of origin… do you not?" he asked leadingly.

Harry slumped, "He killed a lot of people Leon…an entire race killed and subjugated." He said tiredly.

"He did more than just kill people Harry, surely you can see that?! He made our world a paradise; sure some people still suffered under their rule but…what regime is perfect? Yes, he wiped out the muggles…but can you honestly say that wasn't a good thing?" Leon said earnestly.

Harry felt conflicted; this was what it came back to, what he had been debating with himself even before Leon had brought it up. "I can't let him do it; you know that if you know the slightest thing about me, I have friends who have parents in that world. There are good people out there…they're not all monsters like the Dursleys or the people who hurt Tristan," Harry said with more conviction then he felt.

Leon's wings twitched, "I know that, I knew that then and I know that now." He said and Harry tried to interrupt him before Leon raised a clawed hand asking for silence. "It is not as straightforward as you would like to believe, yes there are good people out there…but in war there are no right or wrong sides…only the ones who are left in the aftermath. One day it will come down to a choice, Harry," Leon pointed a clawed hand in a general direction, "Them," he pointed his claw at Harry, "or us."

"It's not that simple!" Harry said anger flaring for only a moment before it was drained away making him feel only emptiness.

"No, it won't be…no matter how it happens the confrontation will be ugly and it will come down to who strikes first. Because they will strike out at us Harry…that is a certainty…whether we survive or they do…a war is brewing. One day you will have to pick a side…one day soon you will have to choose…between upholding your morals and saving the magical world. Because in war…there is no room for ethics." Leon said solemnly.

Before Harry could reply to that the door opened and Leon disappeared as if he had never been there. Only that lingering feeling of mad warmth told Harry he hadn't imagined the man's presence. Dumbledore had brought a mob with him and Molly Weasley practically suffocated him with her hug. It made Harry feel guilty in a horrible way as he remembered what Tristan had done to her family in his world as it had been him.

The noise from all the Order members trying to talk at once was deafening but eventually Dumbledore silenced them. "Now, Harry, my boy, if you could share what you have learned about the latest threat to the light." He said gently as he began conjuring chairs for people. Harry felt oddly enough like he was addressing D.A. again, then he paled thinking of Tristan's D.A. and looked down at his hands. Snape was sneering at him and Harry shivered thinking about Tristan's life as the man's first child. What a disturbing thought.

"His name is Tristan," Harry began his eyes shifting over the crowd and caught Remus' encouraging face. "He comes from a world similar and very different than ours. He is the Harry Potter of that world…or at least he was once." He said.

"Be clear foolish boy," Snape hissed.

Harry found his venom stung less when he thought of being tucked in at night, his deep voice reading a fairy tale…and shivered. "I am trying, it's all very confusing, you see in the world Tristan came from he…well…I am not sure how to say this…the short version is this. Tristan by the time he was fifteen had wiped out the muggle world completely, and he along with Voldemort snuffed out the entire Light resistance. In the final battle Tristan had been wounded…he was dying…and in order to save him Voldemort well…cursed him." He said.

Dumbledore looked confused, "I am sorry my boy, why would Voldemort…" he trailed off as if the answer already occurred to him.

"It was a ritual; he killed Fawkes and cursed Tristan so that he can never die. Every time Tristan dies he is reborn as some unlucky mother's baby…all his memories in place and all his magic from before he died." Harry said as he watched the crowd pale. Harry debated with himself for a moment before he forced himself to say it. He locked his eyes with Snape, "The first time he was reborn, it was as your child Professor Snape…there was this woman…her name was Madeline…she had adopted Tristan before all this happened and she and you…well…you were involved…part of the ritual was that your first child you conceived together had to be sacrificed as Tristan took over its body…I'm sorry sir…I thought you should know because Tristan was…fond of Madeline…he might seek you out." Harry said as he watched Snape's face go pale then a bit green.

"There is just so much," Harry said as he pressed his hand to his forehead headache quickly forming behind his eyes as he tried to sort out what to tell them.

"It's alright my boy, take your time," Dumbledore said gently.

"Tristan grew up very differently from me…he snapped early on…imagine Voldemort…only with a single minded focus on destroying the muggle world," Harry started as there was a collective gasp and Tonks fell out of her seat. "You cannot even imagine…there are just no words to describe…what he can do…" Harry looked up at them desperately looking a little green as he admitted, "I think he will seek out Voldemort and if Tristan decides to help him…there is very little we could do to stop him." He said seriously.

"Surely there must be some way, you have his memories," Tonks protested before Molly shushed her.

"You cannot understand…Tristan…he is in a whole other league…he knows magic that most could only dream of…he only gave a small fraction of his memories…he's been alive so long that I don't know… I don't know if I could stop him even if I tried…" Harry said softly his words echoing across the quite wing.

"Surely there must be something we can do," Remus said strongly.

Harry looked up at him and knew he had to tell them, "That's the thing we aren't just dealing with Tristan, we are dealing with Alucard, Leon, and his Dark Angel Wraiths. Alucard is an ancient vampire…more know him as Dracula…Leon…Leon literally turned himself into a monster of darkness to save Tristan when he did the ritual. Leon…Leon is a manifestation of Tristan's evil…Leon bears the weight of Tristan's sins. When Tristan marked his followers…he gave his inner circle, the Dark Angels, special marks. Their souls are bound to him for all eternity but since Tristan cannot die they cannot move on and yet they cannot live either. They are stuck in a half-life. Neither alive nor truly dead, they wait for him to call them forth to be of service to their Lord and Master."

"Perhaps, Harry, it would be best if you started from the beginning. Tell us all you know of how Tristan started his life, and then perhaps we can fully understand what you are trying to tell us." Dumbledore said kindly.

It was like a heavy weight pressed down on him, because to tell them of Tristan…meant telling them of himself. To tell Tristan's hurts…Harry would have to reveal his own…and it was something not even his dearest friends knew in its entirety. However, Harry had told himself that he would fight this darkness, this evil the Tristan had brought with him and there could be no turning back now. If he turned his back on this Harry knew with absolute certainty that he would not be able to fully commit himself to fighting Tristan.

"Tristan's early life was similar to mine…yet very different as well." He kept his eyes firmly on his hands; he didn't want to see the pity as it blossomed on their faces or Snape's scorn when he told them. "My relatives…hate magic…anything abnormal," Harry's hands fisted showing his scarred hands words in stark clarity. "Tristan's relatives were the same…they hated magic…they hated him…however where my relatives were content to starve me and lock me in my cupboard…Tristan's took to trying to flay the magic out of him. From the time he was dropped off on their doorstep they beat him, locking him in his cupboard…they were beyond the cruelty I face. Eventually, one day…when Tristan was about six…he just…snapped…he couldn't take it anymore and he went up to their bedrooms and slit their throats one by one." Harry said as the entire group gasped and he kept his eyes firmly on his hands.

Harry would have to tell them, have to show them how much worse Tristan had it, because they needed to understand. Tristan wasn't like Voldemort…obsessed with ruling the world…he was mad in a much more terrifying way…Tristan…Tristan just wanted to watch the muggle world burn. He hated so deeply, so fiercely, that trying to stop him would be like trying to stop an earthquake. Yet Harry knew that they had to try because if they didn't…there was nothing stopping Tristan. Harry owed it to Hermione at least to try to save her parents…to try to save the world that they had both come from.

~Leon~

Leon tucked the Diadem into the folds of his cloak and left Hogwarts after another trail. His Prince knew that he could not merge the shattered pieces of this world's Voldemort's soul back together without hurting his beloved. However, this Voldemort's soul was so ragged…so small that he could barely function with any lucidity. Something that would not helped them in the slightest when dealing with the man and so Tristan had come up with another plan.

He sent Leon to gather the pieces he could, and when they had enough they would force Voldemort to wear the Horcux. The gathered pieces would not be merged back but they would be feeding Voldemort some of their energy…stabilizing the fragile man. Then Tristan could begin to negotiate with the man because they would need his cooperation. They could not leave Voldemort in this world when they moved on to collect more of the shattered pieces of his Prince's beloved…that would be counterproductive. So they needed Voldemort to come with them freely…something that would not happen if the man was too mad to even consider their offer.

He found the locket in the hands of a sniveling coward of a man, but he had a surprising amount of conviction that appealed to Leon's appetite. The man was nothing but a withered husk when Leon was done draining the light from him. The locket sparkled in his clawed hand and Leon turned to look at the white building in the distance. Leon would not tempt fate and steal from the Goblins…his Prince would be displeased but would understand. His winds unfurled and Leon shot up into the night sky.

~Tristan~

Tristan breezed through the Ministry like a ghost, footsteps silent as he moved with unimaginable grace into the Department of Mysteries. His eyes barely glanced at the room full of brains suspended in liquid, he paused briefly at the room with the Veil that whispered to him…calling out to him in yearning and finally stopped before the door to the Time room. Clocks ticked slowly, the sands of time glowed as it he entered traveling up the walls and floating past him in time hourglasses.

The destruction that Tristan remembered from Harry's memories was nowhere to be seen and it filled him with satisfaction. The issue had always been that there was not enough time for them to accomplish their task…his beloved had precious little time to wait for them to gather his scattered pieces. So Tristan stepped into the room and locked the door with a negligent wave of his hand…if he had no time to wait then Tristan would take time for him.

The sands of time glowed and swirled around him pulsing with power like a heartbeat. It was delicate work, the emerald holding his beloved body in a golden light as the sands of time pressed in on it. Tristan voice murmured words in a language long forgotten, binding the magic of the sands of time to his beloved's body encased in the emerald. It took him all night but as the sun rose the last of the sand was swallowed up by the emerald that hung heavy around his neck.

His thoughts were trapped in the past…to a sunny afternoon in a study when Tristan had only been on his third life and his beloved had been carding his fingers through his hair. Voldemort was reading as petted Tristan's hair as the boy laid in his lap staring at nothing. "Why didn't you let me die?" Tristan asked drawing Voldemort's attention away from his book to the boy in his lap. Tristan's new body had red hair and was slightly more delicate looking than his last one had been.

"I love you, so I could not let you die," Voldemort grunted out as if the words were painful to say. Tristan looked confused, "Madeline told me once that if you love someone you do anything to make them happy…I would have been happy in death," he said the question unsaid underneath his words. Voldemort heard it anyway and placed the book down so that he could focus his full attention on Tristan.

"I do not know how others love…only how I love...and I love selfishly. It does not matter that you would have been happy to die, you are mine, and I would not have been content with you gone. I gave you this gift of endless life because I could not live without you…my soul…" Voldemort said cupping his cheek gently. "It does not matter the form you take or where you go…I wish to have you forever at my side." He said as he kissed Tristan's forehead.

"What is there left for me here? The muggles are subdued, the world is flourishing, there is no one left to fight…I am not made for peace my love," Tristan admitted softly.

"Neither of us were made for peace, and yet we have it. Together we must find some way to adapt to this because we have eternity. Our love shall stand as all other things falls…you belong to me Tristan…as I belong to you…there is no other way for us." Voldemort said with uncharacteristic gentleness.

"And if you were to fall? How would I live in this endless hell without you," Tristan asked bitterly.

Voldemort chuckled, "I will never leave you, for you carry within you a piece of my very soul…should my body be destroyed we only need to make another one." He said confidently.

Tristan looked at him darkly, "And if someone destroyed your soul?" he asked just to spite his mockery of Tristan's fear.

Voldemort looked at him contemplatively, "You would find a way to restore me…or you would discover a way to join me in the void. It matters little either way as long as you are with me." He said with finality.

Tristan gripped the emerald at his neck, "I will see you whole once more my love…or I will see to it that I join you in oblivion." Tristan promised as the still air stirred around him. He was gone before anyone ever knew he was there and back to the Malfoy Manor. This world's Voldemort greeted him with a glower, eyes the color of spilt blood but body transformed into something befitting his station. Handsome, and yet Tristan was unmoved. This Voldemort was nothing in comparison to the one he had lost.

"We have much to discuss, you and I," Tristan said ominously.

"Yes, I believe we do," Voldemort hissed.

"It will have to wait, I have much to prepare and very little time. You will not hinder me and I will not kill your entire force, are we in agreement?" Tristan said blandly. Voldemort scowled but nodded leaving him.

Leon was waiting for him in with Alucard and Tristan barely paused before directing them to follow. "We have much to do, and precious little time." Tristan said as he brought his hand up to caress the emerald that glowed golden with the sands of time. "I have taken time for us but it will do us no good if we do not act as quickly as possible. This world needs to be taken care of before we can move on, and we will need this…broken Voldemort to join us in our journey. I dare not take the soul fragment from within him for fear of weakening the others in the transfer." Tristan said as he entered a forest.

"Leon, have you gotten what I asked you for?" Tristan said hand outstretched. A locket and a diadem were passed into Tristan's hand. Tristan paused in his journey to look at Leon questioningly.

"The cup is within Gringgotts, I expect you would be able to recover it easier than I will my prince," Leon said in answer to his unasked question.

Tristan nodded and tucked the two objects into his cloak. "We will have to stop by there then on our way to Avalon," Tristan said as Alucard's shadows wrapped around them. It was time to gather ingredients for his greatest work of magic…because this world had an infestation that needed to be cleansed. Once he had everything ready Tristan would address the broken Voldemort problem and see if he could find some way to gain his cooperation…or his obedience.

~Harry~

The sun had come up sometime during the time Harry had been reciting everything he knew about Tristan. His throat protested as he drank some much needed water and let them sit in silence. No one had said a word once he had finished…the gravity of what he had relayed to them was taking some time to sink in and Harry didn't want to say anything to interrupt their thoughts. Dumbledore was the first on to recover though he was pale and shaking as he offered everyone a lemon drop.

It was a testament to how shaken they all were that a majority of them accepted the offered candy. "What can we do?" Tonks asked looking as lost as they all felt.

"We can try to save as many as we can, I do not know when Tristan will strike…only that he will. We can try to get the famlies of the muggleborn into Hogwarts to protect them. The nature of Tristan's weapon doesn't target highly magical areas…they should be safe that way. If we can somehow warn the other schools…they might be able to do the same." Harry said strongly.

The gathered members nodded in agreement but Remus interrupted them. "Even if we get all of them into Hogwarts in time…we will face a lot of backlash from moving in here if Tristan strikes later than we expect he will. If the Ministry hears of this than they will move to stop us to protect their statute and we will not be able to stop them. Dumbledore is weakened, if the Ministry falls after all this…there would be no way to stop them from taking over." Remus said gravely.

"So we keep it secret, move them into the southern tower, it has been blocked off since the corridor collapsed in '86 if we clear the way and keep up the general belief that it is inaccessible then we shouldn't have any students stumbling onto the muggle families." Tonks suggested.

"Even if we did that we would still have to inform the Muggleborn students and it is unlikely we will be able to keep them all silent on this. Someone will find out," Minerva said seriously.

"Get them to swear oaths of secrecy then," Mad-eye grunted.

"They're children!" Molly said scandalized.

"It's the only way to insure that what we are doing doesn't get spread around. Its either that or leave the muggles to die," Made-eye said gruffly.

"I am afraid Alastor is correct," Dumbledore said gravely.

"We will do what must be done," Harry said firmly, "If I had been given a choice I would rather I have been bound by secrecy oaths that might cause me the loss of my magic…than to have lost my parents. It is only fair we give them that chance."

"How we will get them all together without drawing in suspicion?" Tonks asked.

"We will call in all the students, in groups, Half bloods and muggleborns. Tell them the rest it is counseling for the upcoming war because they will be doubtlessly targeted. The pure bloods will buy it." Harry suggested.

A murmur went up in the group, "That could work," Remus said.

As they discussed his idea and made plans Harry felt an odd sense of…pride. Finally they were taking him seriously, finally they had stopped treating him like a child and Harry wasn't too sure how he should feel about it all. On one hand he felt proud to have contributed to the war effort…on the other there was a lingering bitterness. These people talked about his life, made decisions about his life…without ever talking with him. Dumbledore had been manipulating him from day one and would probably continue to do so.

There was also a sense of futility about this…Tristan was powerful and Harry feared…unstoppable. Could they really hope to defeat him? Harry wanted to think that in spite of everything…that they would find some way to conquer this titan but at the same time…this was not Voldemort. This was not a man driven to insanity…mind shattered by his torn apart soul…this was a cold calculating foe that knew what he want and how to get it. Harry wondered what he could do…he was not Tristan…the path he had chosen in life hadn't been toward greatness…it had been towards normalcy.

Harry had wanted to be left alone and allowed to be just Harry. The world had given him task after task that had forced him to become more than that. Harry knew he had the knowledge…he had the power…to make himself a match for Tristan…but did he want to do that? Because if he did that he would be placing himself in a role larger than any he had ever taken on before. Harry knew that he would have to fight Tristan not only in this world…but in any world Tristan went to in his search for his Voldemort. Harry wasn't sure if he had it in him to leave everything and everyone he had ever known to fight a foe he wasn't sure he could defeat. It was a question he would need to find an answer to before this battle over their world was done.

A.N.: And here we are! Its heating up, can Harry be the warrior the light needs him to be? Even I don't know yet! Lol Please Read and Review and let me know what you think!