Hello everyone! Welcome to the new and improved version of Harry's Protector! I'm not a 100% happy with it but it's a lot better than before (in my opinion) and I thought I'd kept you all waiting long enough. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Prologue:

It was over.

The Final Battle had been won; the Dark Lord defeated. The war was finished; the Death Eaters dead or captured. Everything was right again.

At least, it should've been.

Harry felt an overwhelming sense of nothingness; well, if nothingness could be overwhelming. Not the type of nothingness that meant that he wasn't feeling at all. No, the type of nothingness that made your heart feel hollow, your limbs heavy and your insides empty.

He needed to clear his head.

"I'm just going for a walk," he had mumbled to Hermione who had simply nodded, understanding that he needed to be alone.

They had won, but at what cost? They had lost so much. Harry knew that that wasn't fair. They had needed to win. Losing would've just meant more death. Still, Harry was angry that there even had to be a war in the first place. There were children who would never know their parents and would-be parents that would never have children. There were people who would never love again and others who never had had the chance to. Harry felt like kicking something, his despair mixing with grief and anger at the hopelessness of it all.

He had entered the Forbidden Forest without knowing, too tangled up in his own thoughts to notice his surroundings. Maybe if he had, what happened next could've been prevented.

There had been two figures following him since the start of his walk, both dressed in dark clothes and looking rather menacing. One wore somewhat regular muggle clothes; black trousers and a shredded (presumably from the Battle) black shirt paired with a dark jacket. The other wore wizarding robes; long, dark and intimidating.

Harry noticed both too late.

"No!" yelled a distinctly female voice, pulling him from his own mind.

He looked up in time to see a blonde girl about his age jump out from behind some trees, intercepting a knife that had been thrown in his direction. She flicked her wand quickly at the figure that had thrown the knife, shouting the killing curse and causing the Death Eater to fall to the ground, dead.

For a minute, all Harry could do was stand in shock. The entire thing had transpired in less than 15 seconds and he still hadn't processed it. He stared at the blonde girl, taking in her clothes, hair and expression. It only took him a few seconds to realize that she hadn't deflected the knife like he had originally thought, but actually taken it to her stomach. She was only able to stand for a moment before collapsing; the sudden action getting Harry to move.

He caught her before she hit the ground, lowering her slowly in his arms. Her eyes were beginning to glaze over and her breathing was becoming shallower with each passing second. Harry swallowed, not sure what to do in a situation like this.

Harry had become somewhat immune to seeing death. Well, not completely immune but he knew how to deal with it. People dying had become a regular thing during the war and Harry couldn't have gotten through if he hadn't learned how to steel himself against it. He grieved when he could but sometimes there just wasn't time. He had learned to push the feelings of despair and sadness aside until a more appropriate time.

This was different though. He had never seen someone die of wounds like this. He wasn't used to the amount of blood leaking from the girl's stomach or having to watch the life drain slowly from her eyes.

"What's your name?"

Harry hadn't known he had spoken the words until after he had said them. He supposed all he could do was distract her from her current situation.

"J-Julia," the girl managed to get out, sounding as if each letter caused her pain. She was shivering, the warmth leaving her body and her skin becoming covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

"Beautiful name," Harry replied with what he hoped was a soothing smile. He moved her hair out of her eyes, trying to memorize her face before it was too late. "Thank you."

Julia managed to nod, wincing slightly as her breathing slowed.

Despite her current situation, the blonde seemed rather calm. Yes, her body was reacting badly to her blood loss but her expression was relatively serene. She did not seem to fear death.

Harry had nothing left to say. He simply held her as still as possible, continuing to push her hair from her sweaty forehead. It only took a few more minutes for her body to become limp in his arms.

A sudden wave of anger overcame Harry as he let go of her. Yet another person had died for him.

In his grief he pulled out his wand and preformed a few of the only healing spells he knew, doing his best to bring her back. He could not let another person die because of this damned war.

He wouldn't.

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Thanks,

~Liliana