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The Marauders Vanguard	By : fantasyra Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 1974 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I dont own anything Harry Potter, just the story idea and plot. No profit is being made by me in anyway shape or form with this fic.

Chapter List
- 1
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Ye Old Disclaimer: Harry
Potter and associated milieu, characters, and situations are owned by J.K.
Rowling and her licensees. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for
enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended. No profit is being made by me
or anyone I know personally over this work.

Chapter 1: Dark News

A soft melody was echoing around in the darkness that had
been his existence for far longer than he could remember. It reverberated as if
the sound had traveled a great distance. Slowly, he began to move toward the
melody. It was hauntingly familiar. It was beckoning him towards the surface.

�I am here, I won�t ever leave you.� They were such very soft
words. He could barely understand them. The voice was familiar. It should mean
something to him. It was very important, but the beautiful melody stopped when
it sounded. Confused, he was not sure which direction to go in the black. He felt like he had spent an eternity
turning and twisting about in the ether until he decided his direction.

�Come back, Harry. Please��

There, that way. He moved toward the direction he
thought the sound was coming from, and he slowly began to feel like himself
again. Harry. That was his name. It grew quiet again, when the voice stopped,
and he became concerned that he no longer was headed in the right direction
when the melody started again. Finally hearing it, he began to move toward it.

It seemed to take a long time before he was close to the
voice. His journey was interrupted many times by the absence of the voice or
the melody, but he continued on each time it returned. He started to become
aware that the darkness was formed from within his mind. He stilled for a
moment, wondering if the voice and melody was all in his head, or if they were
real.

Of course it�s all in your head, but how would that keep
it from being real? The thought sounded suspiciously like his departed
Godfather.

Yes, of course. Slowly he started to feel the bed
beneath him. It was soft and heavily perfumed with starch. He was in a
hospital, or somewhere very much like one. It must be the hospital wing. He had
spent enough time in here to know this smell, but he never remembered the smell
being quite this strong. Maybe the sheets had just been cleaned.

Other smells begin to filter through. He could smell blood,
sweat, and something else�something he was not sure of. I know this scent. It smells like�

�Hermione, you need some rest. Come on, a bit of sleep will
do you good.� Ron�s voice was wrong though. He sounded desperate, confused, and
hurt about something. Did he fall off his broom too? How bad was the match that
both of them were in the Hospital wing?

�I will not leave
him Ron. He needs to see a friendly face when he wakes.� Hermione. That was
what the smell was. She sounded sad, almost heartbroken. Something was not
right. What could have happened to make her feel like that?

�He�s been in here for over a week, Hermione. You need to be
prepared for the fact that he might not wake up. I talked to Madam Pomfrey, and
she said that considering his injures, there may be nothing left of him to wake
up. He took the worst injuries. Of those who lived��

�No. I am not leaving him. He will wake up. He�s Harry. He
has to.� The sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the wing before the door
shut. He heard Hermione crying again. With an extreme effort, one that he just
barely pulled together, he opened his eyes.

She was leaning her head on the bed next to him. Her hair was
lying in dirty coils and her robes were in tatters. His memory was very fuzzy,
and without his glasses or contacts, so was his vision. He remembered a time
when she was crying this hard before. Strangely enough, it was after her and
Ron�s break up. He lifted his arm slowly, it was so heavy, but he managed to
lightly brush away the tear he saw slowly sliding down her cheek. She jumped
and almost fell from the chair. With a grunt, he tried to lean over to her,
reaching for her. She needed him. He would do anything for her.

�He..rm..io�ne�� He frowned in confusion, what happened to
his voice? It was gravely and for some reason reminded him of Sirius, or Lupin
just after the moon.

Her eyes were wide in surprise, almost fear, when she looked
at him. With a shaky hand, she reached for his like she was afraid it would
disappear if she touched it. Leaning a bit forward, he was able to finish what
he started and brushed the tears from her eyes.

�Don�t cry�It will be okay� His voice was low, but she heard
him. He had no idea what was wrong with him but he was so weak. Raising his
hand to her shoulder he grabbed her robe and tried to tug her to him. He did
not have the strength pull very hard, but she almost flung herself onto him.
She was crying her eyes out into his shoulder. With the last of his strength,
he put his arm around her and stroked her hair.

It took some time before she raised her head to look into his
eyes. He tried to smile but the look in her eyes seemed to reflect something
was very wrong. He watched as she raised her head and shouted, �Madam Pomfrey!�
The last thing he saw before he retreated into the blackness was the healer
running to him with a worried look on her face.

It was easier this time to wake. He opened his eyes to look
around. Hospital wing, he was in Hogwarts. He looked to the foot of his bed to
see Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall talking.

�He woke?� Professor McGonagall�s gruff voice was attempting
to whisper.

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head, �Ms. Granger was here, and I
saw him fall back to sleep. But, yes, he was awake trying to comfort her before
he passed back out.�

�Thank God.� Professor McGonagall turned to look at him and
caught him watching her. He raised an eyebrow at her stunned face.

�A person could get the idea that he was seriously hurt by
the way you two are acting.� He tried to smile, but there was a lot of pain in
his chest and left arm. It ended up as a grimace. He noticed both were heavily
bandaged. Figures, the one arm that is actually flesh ends up damaged. Both
women walked toward him, smiling back.

�I am very relieved to see you alive and talking Harry. We
have been very worried about you.�

�I am not sure why I am here. Can someone fill me in? The
last thing I remember was��He tried to think for a moment. �I think I was
heading to bed in the tower�Something about a sandwich�� He snorted. �I must be
sick, I sound like Ron.�

�You were attacked by one of Greyback�s men. He was laying in
wait by the tower. When we found you, you were in a bad way. You had lost a lot
of blood. Harry, he�� She started choking on her tears

It was starting to come back to him now. The guy jumped him,
slashing his chest and biting into his arm. He blinked. Greyback was a
werewolf, as were all his men. He closed his eyes as the implications hit him.
He was cursed.

�How long until the moon?� His voice was choked with all of
the emotions he was trying to control.

�Mr. Weasley does not change at the moon. It�s possible that
you won't either, Mr. Potter. There is some contamination, but we won�t know
how severe it is for a few days.� Madam Pomfrey assured him. He nodded his
head, saying nothing.

He knew one thing for sure. Nothing was ever going to be the same
again. It might be better to just let it all go. His emotions felt dead. He was
a monster now. Hermione would not want him anymore. Maybe it would be for the
best then. Yes, it would be for the best. Dying was easy. He�d done it before.
He waited until McGonagall left, then he grabbed his wand and stunned Madam
Pomfrey. Sorry Bones. He made sure to levitate her onto her bed in her
study so she would be comfortable. In her office, he rummaged until he found
parchment and ink. One last good-bye.

Harry folded the parchment and sealed it, leaving it on the
table of the hospital room. It was addressed to �The Survivors�. He grabbed the
unopened bottle of fire whiskey off the table, and began walking his way
through the old castle and up the stairs of the astronomy tower in a daze. His
body ached, and he was pretty sure he was bleeding somewhere. Not that he cared
anymore. As he climbed the last stair, at the very top of the tower, he had an
impressive view of the end of the world.

The Castle had taken some hard hits from the Battle. Some of
the old walls were down, and there were breaches in all quarters. From here, he
could hear the merry-making from all of the joyous people celebrating the fall
of Tom Riddle. Yes, everything was good in the world. He uncorked the bottle
and was hit instantly with the smell of the potent alcohol. He closed his eyes
for a moment, tasting the wind as it lightly caressed his worn and haggard
face, before he took the next step that allowed him to stand on the edge of the
short wall.

He opened his eyes and surveyed the grounds. A lot of friends
had sold their lives for the victory last week. So had Harry, though he was
still physically present. He thought of a certain redhead to see if he could
feel anything. Nothing. He thought of Hermione. She was the only reason he came
back. They had grown close over the last couple of years. She always stood by
him. She would never know he loved her. It was better this way. He only came
back to get rid of Riddle. With Riddle gone, she could do all the things she
wanted to do with her life that the war put on hold. Harry would just get in
the way now. Still nothing. He thought of the times where they had only each
other in the black. They held each other and talked from the heart. It was,
after all, just the two of them doing the impossible. Due to Riddle taking the
Ministry, the Vanguard was stretched too thin. It was the darkest, and yet the
brightest, time in his life.

Sad that all of my memories are like that. Nothing good
without a lot of pain. He felt his heart twitch, but the feeling died
quickly. If you love someone, you have to let them go. He knew all about that.
Sacrificing came easy to him. It was what he was raised to do. The path of the
Martyr was one he had tread for some time.

He was tired, so incredibly tired of feeling the pain. He had
no one now. Looking out across the castle, he surveyed the first home he ever
had. Even if it had tried to kill him at least once in each of the last seven
years, it had been his haven. Was that weird? Home was where homicidal murders,
monsters, and deranged convicts tried to kill you? Well, that had been his
life. He looked up to the sky frowning.

With that thought he raised the bottle to his head, and
pulled the trigger.

xxxxx

Hermione walked through the doors to the Hospital wing, and
noticed that Harry was gone. A letter was sitting on his rumpled bed. She had a
terrible feeling of foreboding as she picked it up. It was addressed to �The
Survivors�. She knew that handwriting. It was Harry's.

With quivering hands, she opened the envelope and unfolded
the letter. Though tears began to fall and sobs were racking her body, she
could not help but keep reading once she started.

Dear Survivors.

I have no idea when anyone will find this, but I am sure
it will answer where I have gone. I would like to thank everyone who helped in
the fight against Riddle. We all paid terrible prices for our victory and I
only hope that once things calm down, everything will be okay for you all. I
have a few parting words for certain people.

Ron� You�re my mate and so I will just say, you�re a right
bastard. I don�t know how many times you have abandoned me over the years,
fought with me over stupid things, or any of that shit. I will say one thing
though, you always go on about how you don�t have things, you're not famous,
your brothers did everything before you did, and you're poor. Ron, grow up. I
would have done anything to have my parents alive, I would have lived poor and
happily so. The Greatest Treasure that ever existed was your family, and you
spent your life pissing and moaning that you had no money. Every time you left
me was because you were a jealous git because I apparently get everything and
you get nothing. Yeah, I get crazed death eaters and maniac dark lords. I get
people who only want to be around me because I am The Harry Fucking Potter.
Yeah, I get everything. Well, guess what Ron, if that is all you care about I
will tell you a secret, I always envied you. Brothers and a sister, a loving
mother and father, a happy home.

You, Ronald Weasley have everything I ever wanted.

Mr. and Ms. Weasley� You have been like a mum and dad to
me. Thank you for everything.

Fred and George� I solemnly swear I am up to no good.
Don�t give up, the jokes still need to keep coming. Keep the laughter alive.
Sell a You-No-Poo for me.

Professor McGonagall� I will sorely miss your wit. As
students we did not hear it often but I will forever remember in fifth year you
whispering to Peeves that the screws in the chandelier unscrew the other way. I
will forever remember you thumbing your nose like a little girl at Professor
Snape when the house cup came back to Griffindor. Thank you for everything. Of
all my teachers, you stood by me more than any others. I have always thought
well of you.

Neville� Take care of the Vanguard, treat Ginny right,
else I will come back for you. (Do you feel sufficiently threatened yet? Ha ha
ha ha.)

Luna� Thank you for everything. I wish things could have
been different, you are special, never let anyone tell you different. You have
never been Looney to me, nor will you ever. Like we talked about, the
impossible is only that which we have yet to prove.

Hermione� You and only you have stood by me through the
long years. Only you stood by me through everything. Your trust has never
wavered despite what was said, done, or thought about me. The stone, Chamber,
Sirius, every event in the Tri-wizard, the Ministry, Horcruxes, through it all
I can't picture anything where you were not standing beside me. It was always
your voice in my head that told me where things stood. You were my conscious.
Over time as we grew closer I began to hope and trust. Strange for me, since
those are emotions I am not very familiar with, but it came easy with you. It
was always you, Hermione, that stood where no one else would. I had to
sacrifice what I wanted for what I had. I never regretted having you in my
life. How could I? Something was better than nothing and you made my life worth
living.

Albus raised me to be a weapon to fire at Riddle. I had to
be willing to die when the time came. Willing to throw it all away to defeat
him. I did, for you. I want you to understand that the only reason I came back
after Riddle killed me in the Forest was for you and you alone. I wanted him
dead so that you could be happy. It�s all I ever wanted, and I never measured
up.

Seriously, why would anyone want me? I have been a weapon
for the Greater Good, I have been the poster child for the side of light, I
have been chased and sought after for my fame, wealth, and mostly for doing
something no one else has done. I am a broken person who has come to consider
pain necessary to draw breath. Funny, what no one realizes is that Riddle did
kill me. I was just too stubborn to lay down and die.

Having a death sentence over your head all your life is a
wearing experience, one I never felt I could lay on you for my own selfish
reasons. I hope that you will find happiness out there, you deserve nothing but
the best in all things. You are beautiful, brave, witty, and above all,
fiercely intelligent. NEVER let anyone tell you differently. Never settle for
anything less than Outstanding in all things. Of course, you're Hermione
Granger, I could never believe you would settle for anything less. Tell your
mum and dad I will miss them and I hope they are well.

To the Marauders Vanguard� You are the real Heroes of the
war. Each one of you. Thank you all for everything, and it�s been an honor to
stand with you in the crucible.

To the Dursleys� Go to hell. I will be waiting for you.

The Old Goat� I go on my next Great Adventure knowing that
only I, Hermione, and Neville know the truth of how Riddle died. I take great
pleasure in knowing you will never know. I hope it eats at you.

To the Survivors� Live, Love, and find the peace I was
never allowed to know. May your lives be richer knowing that one man could give
so much for you. I shall tell everyone beyond the veil their sacrifices were
not in vain.

So ends the tale of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived,

The Chosen One.

He-Who-Won.

Your
sacrificial Lamb�

Just
Harry.

�HARRY!� Hermione screamed. Her anguished cry pouring all her
heart, un-requited love, pain, and magic into it. The castle groaned, and every
single person, awake or asleep, heard her scream that echoed throughout the
entire castle and grounds. Every single person could feel her pain. When the
cry struck them where they were, not a one could hold back the tears that
formed. The entire castle seemed to send out her anguish to every corner of its
being, and the bones of the living shook with it.

xxxxx

Minerva McGonagall walked into the heavily warded hospital
wing to check on her two charges. It had been over two weeks since that day,
and Ms. Granger�s horrid screams of pain that shook the castle�s foundations.
As soon as she walked in, she felt her heart break a little. Harry Potter laid
in one of the hospital beds, a broken wreck with a catatonic Hermione Granger
lying next to him, whispering in his ear. Her daily visits have been the same
since Ms. Granger woke from her stupor after reading his letter. She made her
way to Poppy to see if his status had changed. They found him at the bottom of
the Astronomy tower. He was broken, bloody, and barely alive. It was still a
mystery how he survived the fall from such a great height.

�Anything yet, Poppy?� She was hoping for something new,
anything.

�His bones have finally set and healed. It was a long process
since the spell damage and fall caused so much damage. I was afraid to use
Skelegrow. With his mind so fragile, I was afraid to cause him too much pain.
He still has not woken. He is finally breathing on his own. I still have been
unable to discover a way to counter the unknown spell damage to his system, but
the potions are at least holding it at bay. As best as I can tell, he is not in
any pain. Though, I really won't know until he wakes.� Madam Pomfrey whispered
so as not to draw Ms. Granger�s attention. The poor dear had been through
enough.

�So, nothing new. How is she holding up?� Minerva was
dreadfully worried for the child.

�She never leaves his side unless it�s to use the loo. A
house elf she calls Dobby comes in and brings her food. When he is not cooking,
he stays there on the floor by Mr. Potter. The other elf, Winky I think she
said her name was, sits there with him. She spends her days whispering to him,
about her parents, times they shared. Usually after a few hours she reverts to
whispering how much she loves him. It breaks my heart Minerva.� Poppy had tears
of her own falling.

�I know. Never in my years have I seen two like them. It�s
not right, Poppy.� Minerva had tears falling down her cheeks as well.

�Does anyone else know he is here? I heard there was a ruckus
a few days ago in the Great Hall.�

Minerva snorted. �No one other than you, myself, and Filius
knows for sure he is here. We have been fielding reporters, the ministry, and,
in general, a great many people but word, unconfirmed, has been getting out.
Mr. Longbottom has called in the Vanguard. They have taken up vigil to ensure
no one sneaks in. Of course, the Order is helping as well. The rumor mill
though is flying at full tilt. Thankfully, Kingsley has taken the Prophet in
hand and forced them not to print any of them.�

�Give me time, Minerva. I will find a way to right what Albus
did wrong. I still can�t believe we allowed this to happen to one of ours.�

Fresh tears began to cascade down her aged face. She
whispers, �I know. We all trusted him, and Harry was such a fine boy. No one
knew how bad it really was until it was too late. Albus knew, for which I shall
never forgive him. I do hope he wakes soon. Keep me posted Poppy. If he wakes,
come get me, I don�t care what time it is.�

As Minerva left, Madam Pomfrey nodded and returned to her
research and potions. All the while a soft broken voice muttered a quiet litany
in the room, �I love you. I love you, Harry. I won't leave you. I am here. I
will always be here. I love you.�

Authors
Note:

Special
Thanks to flynhghr and Polgara for Beta reading this for me. I look forward to
working with you for the rest of the story.�
They have been great� and I hope
to keep writing with them in the future.

Yes
I am deviating from cannon quite a bit as this story is generally AU.

Please Read and Review. I have several chapters already to
go once they are beta read, corrected, and set so this one should move pretty
quickly. Hope everyone enjoys the story.
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The Marauders Vanguard

Chapter 1: Dark News