Next Time Around

Prologue

Authors note:

Hey guys, I hope you enjoy Next Time Around. I'm writing this during a very busy time, so don't expect consistent updates or scheduled times for updates... I'm just writing this for fun so it will probably turn out pretty bad, but hey, I only write for myself, not for validation or anything so yeah.

Disclaimer: unfortunately, I'm not J. K. Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter, just the plot line and any characters I implement myself.

Also, this story is rated as mature. There will be deaths and graphic stuff. So please consider that if you decide to start reading.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the story. Here goes nothing.

NEXT TIME AROUND

Harry's POV:

Harry sat on the small beach near the Shell, which was Bill and Fleur's home and now the last headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix. The wind was whipping the water into high waves, rain pouring from the skies and onto Harry's face. He felt the ice cold water streaming down his neck. He huffed. It sounded suspiciously like a sob.

*flashback*

'Harry, Harry run!' Hermione yelled. 'There's no time Harry! Leave them!'

Harry was trying to tug a couple of wounded people with him to the portkey. He went slowly, curses flying around everywhere, the sound of battle ringing in his ears. Tears were gathering in his eyes and his legs throbbed. Still, he didn't stop. If he didn't reach the portkey on time, he was done for, and the others would be as well. So he grit his teeth and pushed through the pain. Finally, he grabbed hold of the portkey, mere seconds away from missing it.

He had never welcomed the weird sensation of being forced through space to another place as much as he did now. After arriving he immediately collapsed. For the first time in days Harry heard birds, waves and the wind. It was almost like there was no war here, if one were to ignore the hushed sobbing and the yells coming from close by. He couldn't help breathing out a relieved sigh. To his shame it turned into a sob halfway out.

He thought of the battle he had just left. It had been terrible. Harry was fairly certain there had been hundreds, maybe a thousand of deaths over the last two days. Under which at least Fred, George, Hannah, Remus, Dean, Neville, Luna, and a dozen of others close to Harry. He clenched his fists and chocked on a rage-filled cry.

Harry noticed that whilst he had been lying down in exhaustion, his two wounded companions had been dragged to the emergency help post. Madame Pomphrey was bustling around, tending to both of them, whilst Hermione was healing a rather gruesome wound on somebody else's leg. Harry saw a couple of others helping around as well, none of witch he recognized. He also saw a couple of people on a pile on the other side of the field. They weren't moving. Harry swallowed. Thought he knew, logically, there were casualties, and there had been dozens of other corpses he had seen by now, he wasn't sure he would ever be indifferent to seeing a dead person. He felt slightly disgusted with himself after feeling relieved when he checked and couldn't find any people important to him.

'Harry get your bum over here and help me out!' Hermione said, sounding rather panicked. Harry turned around and saw tears running down her face as she murmured incantation after incantation trying to heal Tonks. Within seconds, Harry stood up and scrambled over to Tonks, making sure not to put to much weight on his left foot. He wasn't sure what he had done, but it felt like hell. He mentally shook his head, trying to focus back on Tonks. She looked pretty bad. Her hair was gray and her eyes dull. As he looked, he heard Hermione talking to her, telling the metamorphagus how to change her body to support the healing process. It wasn't looking promising.

'Well? Do something Harry! Don't just stand there for gods sake!' Hermione screeched. Her hair was caked with blood and dust, and her face and body filthy. And at the moment she was glaring at him rather fiercely. Harry shook himself out of his stupor and pointed his wand at Tonks' leg.

'Petrificus. Episkey' he said. 'Salvio hexia. Salivio hexia. Scourgify. Episkey. Ferula.'

Finally, Tonks was looking slightly better. Just as Harry finished up her leg, Hermione was done with her stomach and was feeding Tonks a healing drought, followed by a pain relieving potion and a sleeping drought. Hermione closed her eyes for a second and went on to the next group of people who had just arrived with Moody. Harry too went his own way, helping where could be helped, giving comfort to those who needed it, closing the eyes of the dead and depositing them on the growing pile.'

After helping where he could, he was given another portkey and the order 'The normal. Take everyone you can. Capture Death Eaters. Save the kids.'

He sighed and squared his shoulders. 'Yeah. Lets go,' he said softly.

*end flashback*

That had been his life for about another day, after which everything died down a bit. Eventually, the death eaters had taken Hogwarts, though it was estimated that they lost at least six hundred in their number. Not that the Order has faired better. They too had lost a terribly high amount of people- most merely first or second years, innocents.

Harry felt numb. An argument could be made for that that was probably because he'd been sitting in the cold for a while now, but he thought he might still be in shock. Not that he minded, for his emotions hindered him more often then that they helped him in battle, but he knew he had to face the deaths of his loved ones soon. He had seen firsthand the dangers of pushing it all away.

Harry noticed his feet were starting to get cold. Actually, they had probably been cold for a while- they were blue and tingled. He dried them as well as he could and stepped back into his shoes. Best not to worry about them to much. Molly was overbearing enough without him provoking the need to worry in her. He sauntered back to the house. On his way in he say Tonks, physically completely healed, heading out. She had been searching for Remus' body for days now, even though Arthur had told her multiple times that he had only seen Remus at Hogwarts, not here. That hadn't stopped Tonks from searching though. No one had had the heart to tell her that she would probably never see him or his body ever again.

Well. That was the first chapter... it gets better soon! Well. Kind of. Sort of. A little. I think.

Please review, I want to know how you liked the story so far :) I will probably update soon.

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