: OH MY GOD, I AM SO SORRY! (This is PotterBoy, by the way!) I promise you will NEVER have that long of a wait between chapters again! That was just insane! First I caught the flu, and I was sick for about two weeks! Then SIYE went down (remember that?), so I thought I would be okay putting off proofreading this chapter for a bit! And THEN I realized how much make-up work I would have. After that were finals, then new classes. Then I was hit with some general laziness! I AM SO SORRY! If you ever wait that long again, I am sure Zerotactics will be sure to beat me up for you all. ^_^
That said, here is Chapter Five! I hope you all enjoy it!!!
Read and Review!!!
p.s. Go read Epoch of War by Zerotactics, my partner in crime, I mean fanfics! It’s Epic!
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Harry Potter and the Origins of Reality | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP, Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Neville Longbottom, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Fluff, Humor, Romance, Tragedy Warnings: Death, Extreme Language, Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: R Reviews: 29 Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated in over 2 years *** *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated in over 2 years *** Harry’s fifth year brought about many mixed emotions. From learning he had been in the Dark Lord’s mind, to losing his godfather, Harry was spinning out of control very quickly. Mix this with Dudley and his gang bringing up a few painful memories and a whole new perspective is thrown upon Harry’s well known story of the fateful night that gave him his scar. *** Rated R for Language, violence, and some sexual situations. *** This will be the FIRST story in our series Hitcount: Story Total: 23491; Chapter Total: 3561 Author's Notes: |
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Chapter 5: New Beginnings Harry and Rose woke up the next morning to the sound of shouting coming from downstairs. The odd thing about it was that it was not directed at them. They couldn’t tell what was being said, so they decided to get dressed and see what was going on. They noticed that it was eight in the morning, and wondered why they were able to sleep in so late compared to normal. They headed towards the stairs and heard someone shouting. “…WHERE ARE THEY?” the man shouted. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you have no right to come in here shouting up a storm and demanding anything from me,” someone else shouted back. They recognized that voice as belonging to Uncle Vernon. They walked a bit further to see who the other man was. Uncle Vernon was shouting at some man with shoulder length black hair. His face was etched with exhaustion, it looked like he had been up for days on end or had been very busy. He was well built and looked to be around his early thirties, he had gray eyes that looked haunted, as if he had been chasing something for a very long time with no comforts. He was quite a bit taller than Uncle Vernon. If he wasn’t so exhausted he would look like the type to have women flocking over him, but the glint in his eyes clearly said he was pissed off. “WHERE ARE MY GODCHILDREN?” the man shouted. Harry and Rose looked at each other, ‘Godchildren?’ They stepped off the stairs and came into full view. The man noticed them and stopped short of advancing on Uncle Vernon. “Harry? Rose?” he asked slowly, taking in their appearances. They nodded, wondering who the man was. The man saw Harry’s nose and turned to Uncle Vernon with a vicious glint in his eye. “Why does my godson have a bruised nose?” he asked in a deadly tone. When he said godson, Harry and Rose both looked at him abruptly, clearly confused and suspicious about what he just said. “He tripped and fell into the side of a table,” Uncle Vernon lied. It was clear by his body language that he was lying, for he had looked down at his feet when he had said this. The other man turned to Harry and asked, “Harry, how did you get injured?” His voice sounded compassionate and angry at the same time. Something about it told Harry he was not angry at him, and was honestly concerned about his well being. ‘Should we tell him Rose? I think he’s really concerned about me or us,’ Harry said while looking at her. ‘I think we should tell him, you’re right he does seem to care,’ Rose agreed after thinking for a moment. ‘I wonder who he is though,’ Harry pondered. ‘I don’t know, but I expect we’ll find out soon enough. Go on and tell him,’ Rose encouraged. “He punched me,” Harry told the man. “Who punched you?” the man asked sharply. “Uncle Vernon,” Harry said. “I did not! Don’t believe one lie this freak tells you,” sputtered Uncle Vernon. At this the man hit Uncle Vernon hard in the gut. As Uncle Vernon was bent over from the force of the punch, he was lifted back up with another punch to the face. Vernon stumbled backwards from the force of both the hits. He was clearly scared of this other man. “Petunia call the police!” Vernon yelled with one hand over his stomach and the other rubbing his nose where he was struck. “I think not, you clearly abused Harry, you will be the one in trouble with these ‘police’ or whatever you call them,” the man said quietly, but with astonishing force. “Uhm, sir how do you know our names?” Rose asked finally speaking up. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Sirius your godfather. James and Lily named me your godfather shortly after your birth,” Sirius said. “James and Lily?” Rose asked confusedly. “Oh…uhm this could take a while. Do you have somewhere that we can talk?” Sirius asked as he cast a glance around the room. “Yea we can go up to our room,” Harry said. “You will get of this house right now!” Uncle Vernon sputtered apparently he had gotten his confidence back. “You can’t do anything you bastard,” Sirius said coldly, while twirling this wand through his fingers. “Let’s go up to your room Harry, Rose,” Sirius said. He followed them up the stairs into their room. Once inside the room Sirius was about to shut and lock the door, but it was already done for him. “Er…how’d that happen?” Sirius asked. “We shut it and locked it,” Rose said. “What do you mean, you weren’t even near the door,” Sirius said thoroughly confused. “Oh well we just flick our hands and will it to shut and lock and it does,” Harry explained. Sirius quickly flicked his wand at the door before putting it away. “What’d you just do?” Harry asked suspiciously. “I put a silencing charm on the room, so no one outside can hear us,” Sirius explained. “You can silence a whole room? We only figured out how to silence a person or object,” Rose said. “Yes you can, but how are you two able to do magic without a wand?” Sirius asked. “What do you mean magic? And we kind of figured it out when we were seven or so. We just will something to do what we want it to, and it works to an extent. We can summoning objects, make them float, push them away, make some sort of shield that blocks physical objects, and we can lock doors,” Harry said. “You two are magical. You’re a wizard Harry, and you Rose, are a witch! Didn’t your relatives ever tell you? But, wow you must be really powerful to be able to do that with out a wand whenever you want,” Sirius said. “No…they never told us anything,” Harry replied. “Oh, this is going to take a while,” Sirius muttered. “Okay so let me start from the beginning and explain what happened as to why you are stuck in this obvious hellhole. Wait until I finish before you ask any questions please,” Sirius said. “There was once an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort, however everyone called him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named because they feared him. He had been terrorizing people around the country for over a decade. He would murder people for sport. Everybody lived in fear. There was an organization that fought against him called The Order of the Phoenix. Your mother and father, Lily and James, were part of it. They fought against his followers, Death Eaters. I was part of the Order also. Shortly after you were both born, Dumbledore called James and Lily in to talk with them. James told me it was about a prophecy concerning both of you; he wouldn’t tell me the specifics, but he said that Voldemort was after both of you and they were to go into hiding. I can only assume that both of you were a threat to him, otherwise he would have no reason to really go after two babies.” “They were going to perform the Fidelius Charm on the house and go into hiding. The Fidelius Charm is pretty much a charm that hides the house from anyone, unless the person is told the address directly from the Secret Keeper. The Secret Keeper is the sole person who can tell where the house is located. Even if you know where it is you can not say. So the next day after they had moved in with you two, they asked me to come to be their Secret Keeper. I was James’ best mate, and we trusted each other with our lives. The problem was Voldemort knew I would be their Secret Keeper, so he would come after me to try to force the information out of me. I decided that it would be best if we made someone else the Secret Keeper, someone he would never suspect. I convinced James to make Peter Pettigrew the Secret Keeper. He was a weak wizard always following us around. We thought he was our friend, and it would be the perfect way to throw Voldemort off. He would come after me for the information in which I would not have and James and Lily would be safe,” Sirius took a deep breath to steady his emotions before continuing. His eyes were full of sadness and grief from having to retell the story of his best friends’ deaths. “So, Lily cast the Fidelius Charm and made Pettigrew the Secret Keeper. They went into hiding for a few months. We thought everything would be fine. However, Halloween of the next year Voldemort appeared on their doorstep and killed both of them. He tried to kill you two, but for some reason it didn’t work. Instead he was killed and you two were left parentless and with those scars. I had checked on Pettigrew earlier that evening to make sure everything was okay, but he was not home. I instantly went to your parents’ house, but when I got there it was too late. They were dead, but fortunately you two were some how alive. I knew instantly that Pettigrew had betrayed us all. I was about to go after him before Hagrid stopped me. He told me to wait until Dumbledore arrived; he was the leader of the Order.” “When Dumbledore got there I tried to tell him that you two would be safest with me and to let me raise you two. I desperately wanted to take care of you two and technically I had the full right to being your godfather. After everything James and Lily had done for me, it was the least I could do in their memories; however, Dumbledore would not let me. He insisted that you two be taken to your Aunt’s house. He said something about blood magic protecting you two from any outside threats. I trusted his judgment in where to place you. If he thought you would be safe then I wasn’t about to argue too much with Pettigrew still free,” Sirius finished, tears were slowly rolling down his face as he finished telling them the story. He hated reliving that night when his best mate and his wife had been killed. “Do you guys have any questions?” Sirius asked. “What was the green flash of light? We’ve had nightmares about it before and some man was laughing in the background,” Rose asked tentatively. Sirius’ face paled when he heard the question. It was a moment before he answered. “The Killing Curse,” he said quietly. “Oh,” Rose said in a small voice. Harry wrapped his arm around his sister and pulled her close, comforting her in the best way he could. Harry looked up at Sirius angrily and shouted, “WHY ARE YOU JUST NOW COMING FOR US? DO YOU KNOW HOW EVIL THESE BLOODY ‘RELATIVES’ OF OURS ARE?! DO YOU KNOW HOW THEY TREAT US EVERYDAY?!” Sirius looked down at the floor before looking back up to meet Harry’s gaze. His eyes were full of sadness and regret. “I’m sorry…Harry, Rose. Dumbledore said he would make sure you were safe and happy. He promised me he would make sure you were safe and happy. I went to catch Pettigrew. I couldn’t bear to let him walk free, since Dumbledore said you two would not need me. If I had known I would have been back here instantly. I’m so sorry Harry and Rose. Please forgive me,” Sirius said quietly. “Who is this Dumbledore, besides the leader of the Order of the Phoenix?” Rose asked angrily. “He’s the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but most importantly he’s one of the most powerful wizards in the world. He is the only one that Voldemort ever feared,” Sirius said. “What’s Hogwarts?” Harry asked. He and Rose were looking at Sirius skeptically. The magic part of his explanation made sense to them, but all of this was a lot to take in. ‘This keeps getting stranger and stranger Rose.’ “Hogwarts is a school where young witches and wizards go to learn magic. You start when you’re eleven in your first year and attend for seven years,” Sirius explained. “And as to why I’m just now coming besides what Dumbledore said about you two being safe and happy, I’ve been talking to Dumbledore. I spent the better part of the last week trying to convince him to let me come and get the two of you so I could spend time with you until you start school. This gives us a little less than two years to catch up on lost time, if you would like. I was able to capture Pettigrew a little over a week ago. It took me the better part of the past eight years to track him down,” Sirius continued. “Dumbledore also seems to think he knows what is best for you two, but obviously not,” Sirius added. “Wait, so it’s his bloody fault that we’ve been abused? We’ve never had anything, no love, no proper clothes, hardly enough food, NOTHING!” Harry said putting emphasis on the last part. Sirius looked at Harry with shock. “We’ve always been looked down upon. Always been called worthless, freaks, unnatural, stupid, and don’t make me list anymore of what he calls us. We’ve never been hugged; WE LIVED IN A GOD DAMN CUPBOARD FOR THREE YEARS!” Harry shouted the last part, tears rolling down both his and Rose’s faces. Sirius just stared at them before leaping from his seat and enveloping both of them into a tight hug. Harry stiffened for a moment before hugging Sirius back. “I’m so sorry, he promised me,” Sirius whispered. “He promised me he would make sure you were both safe and happy. HE FUCKING PROMISED ME!” he shouted the last part enraged at Dumbledore for having let these two kids suffer so much and the hands of these monsters. “I should have checked on you two. I should have made sure you were okay. I knew Dumbledore would forget to check up on you. I knew these people were unpleasant, but I never knew they were capable of this. I’m going to give Dumbledore a piece of mind later. I’m so sorry,” Sirius continued apologetically. He seemed to be holding back his tears, but regret and sadness were written all over his face. “It’s not your fault Sirius, we’re glad you caught Pettigrew. He deserves to be in prison,” Rose said as she hugged Sirius back. Harry and Rose may not have known Sirius for more than hour or so, but they already liked him more than anyone else they had ever met. ‘I like Sirius, Rose. He seems to be really concerned about us, and it doesn’t seem like he had much of a choice on what to do,’ Harry said. The three of them sat on the bed hugging each other for a few moments before Sirius spoke up. “Sorry about that, I’m never emotional, but James and Lily’s kids being abused is just too much. I mean James was my best mate,” Sirius said, reminiscing on old times. “It’s okay, it’s nice to have a hug from someone other than ourselves,” Rose said. “Alright, well do you two have anymore questions?” Sirius asked. “Uhm, yea…” Harry started, he was nervous about asking what he and Rose really wanted to know. “Well, what is it then?” Sirius asked. He noticed Harry’s nervousness. “Well, we were uhm…wondering,” Harry continued. “We were wondering if we still have to live here with the Dursleys,” Rose asked. “Well that’s what I just said a few minutes ago,” Sirius said with a grin. “I persuaded Dumbledore to let you two stay with me until you two start school. However, I did not tell him what I wanted to do during that time,” Sirius continued. “Really?!” Rose said, grinning broadly. The joy Harry and Rose felt was incomprehensible. To finally be able to live with someone that cared for them was a dream come true. “Well that’s what I just said isn’t it?” Sirius joked. His face fell though just before he spoke again. “However, after your first year at Hogwarts you will have to go back to the Dursleys for part, if not all of the summer. I’ll try to persuade Dumbledore, but he’s well too fond of ‘Blood Magic’ if you ask me,” Sirius finished. “What? Why?” Harry said, he and Rose desperately wanted to never see the Dursleys again. “Dumbledore thinks ‘Blood Magic’ will protect you from Merlin knows what, so since your Aunt is your mother’s sister…well you get the picture. As of right now you’ve spent enough time at the Dursleys these past eight years to be able to go a little less than three years with out being here, but I’m going to try to persuade him to let you leave here for good after I’ve given him a piece of my mind,” Sirius told them. “Alright well we need to go get you two the things you will need,” Sirius said as he stood up and looked at his watch. “What do we need and what will we need it for?” Harry asked. Sirius had yet to tell them what he wanted to do during the time he spent with them. “Oh, right I forgot to tell you. I want to train you two, it’s a long story that I’m afraid I do not want to burden you with right now. If you will trust me I will tell you in a few years. It would be better if you do not know yet, but I want you to be ready for when you do learn of it. What I’m going to do along with a friend of mine, who happened to be a great friend of your parents, and a tutor or so, is train you in magic and fighting,” Sirius said. “Why fighting?” Rose asked. The idea of being trained in magic sounded appealing to both Harry and Rose, but the thought of fighting was not all that appealing. “The reason behind that is part of what I will tell you when you’re older, but just know that Voldemort is not dead. He will be back, and I want you two to be prepared for that. “Oh, okay,” Harry said uncertainly. The prospect of fighting made them uneasy, but if Voldemort was coming back and he was everything Sirius made him out to be then they needed to be ready. ‘I think he’s doing this in our best interests, and if we caused him to ‘die’ or whatever happened to him then I bet he’s going to be angry with us.’ ‘Yeah, that’s probably true and any place will be better than this place.’ “Okay, we’ll do it,” Harry said. “How are we getting there and where are we going?” Rose asked after looking out of the window. She didn’t see a car or any other type of transportation. “We’ll floo there of course, from Mrs. Figg’s house and then we are going to Diagon Alley,” Sirius answered. “Floo? And Mrs. Figg is a witch?” Harry asked, thoroughly confused. “Oh I keep forgetting you don’t know all the Wizarding terms. Flooing somewhere is more or less traveling by fireplace. You toss some Floo Powder into the fire and say the name of where you want to go and you go through the fireplace to the fireplace of where you said. Though it needs to be connected through the Floo Network,” Sirius said, before adding, “Mrs. Figg is a squib, person born to magical parents who cannot do magic.” “Oh and how are we going to pay for whatever we need? We don’t have any money,” Rose said. She and Harry both knew the Dursleys would never give them any money. “What you think James and Lily would leave you with nothing? They left you plenty,” Sirius said with a grin. “What’s so funny?” Harry asked. “Oh nothing, just that the Potters are the richest wizarding family. Your family goes back over a thousand years. Though James said it was under a different surname for a while,” Sirius said, his grin had grown bigger at the shocked expressions on Harry and Rose’s faces. “You’re saying we’re rich? You must be off your rocker old man. The Dursleys would have taken all of our money for themselves if we were rich,” Harry said. “Old man? I’m not old!” Sirius said indignantly. “You really are rich. The Dursleys have no idea because it’s wizarding money. You only have access to your trust fund account anyways until you are fifteen,” Sirius informed them. “You’re serious aren’t you?” Harry said. “Of course I’m Sirius, who else do you think I would be?” Sirius said sarcastically. “Oh shut up,” Harry said. “Well I’ll go have a quick word with your dear relatives before we go. Wait here until I’m done,” Sirius told them. He left the after removing the locking charm. It was ten minutes before he came back. “Well if you have to come back here in about three years they should be better,” Sirius said as he walked in the door. “Well let’s get going then,” Sirius told them, as he held the door open for them. Harry and Rose quickly grabbed their letters from under the loose floorboard before leaving with Sirius. They quickly walked over to Mrs. Figg’s house on Wisteria Walk. Her house still smelt of cats and cabbage. Harry and Rose had always had to look at pictures of her old cats when they were forced to go over there by the Dursleys. Sirius quickly instructed them to throw a pinch of Floo Powder into the fireplace before stepping in to the green flames and clearly saying were they want to go. “Alright so remember to clearly say ‘Diagon Alley’ after you toss the powder into the fire,” Sirius reminded them. Harry tentatively took a pinch of Floo Powder and tossed it into the fire. The flames roared up to life, emerald green in color. “Are you sure it’s safe?” Harry asked cautiously. “Yes. Hurry and go, Harry,” Sirius said chuckling as he gave Harry a nudge forward. Harry stepped into the fire and said, “Diagon Alley.” The next thing he knew was that he was spinning. He opened his eyes and saw other fireplaces go whizzing past him as he spun. After what seemed like hours, but was really a few seconds, he felt like he couldn’t take any more spinning. At the same time he shot out of a fireplace and sprawled onto a dusty, wooden floor. A moment later Rose shot out of the fire landing on top of him. ‘Mmph…did you have to land on top of me Rose?’ Harry asked. ‘Sorry, Harry,’ Rose said, as she picked herself up off Harry. Harry picked himself up off the floor after Rose had stood up. Sirius appeared with a ‘pop’ right next to them. “Well I can’t say that was pleasant,” Harry said. Harry and Rose looked around and saw they were in a dimly lit pub. It wasn’t full, but it wasn’t empty either. They could see people here and there talking and drinking amongst themselves. No one paid any heed to the new arrivals except for the barman. “Where are we?” Rose asked. “This is the Leaky Cauldron,” Sirius said. Harry noticed the barman walking over towards them. “Hello Sirius, it’s been a while. Can I get you anything?” the man asked. “No thanks Tom, I have business in Diagon Alley, maybe I’ll stop by some other time,” Sirius said. Tom gave him a toothless grin and nodded before going back to the bar. As he was heading back to the bar, he did a double take back at Harry and Rose. His eyes went wide in shock, but he noticed Sirius giving him a look and nodded before going back to work. “Uhm, Sirius, why did he look shocked when he saw us?” Rose asked. “Well because you two are famous,” Sirius said. “Famous? How can we be famous? You didn’t mention that earlier,” Harry said incredulously. “Well, you’re famous for defeating Voldemort,” Sirius said uneasily. “What?! We don’t want to be famous for that. He killed our parents! We’d much rather have our parents than be famous!” Harry said loudly. Heads turned towards Harry’s voice. Several faces flicked their gaze towards Harry and Rose’s heads before muttering to the person they were with. They all stared at Harry and Rose. Sirius motioned for them to leave out the back quickly. Once outside they found themselves facing a brick wall; Sirius looked over to them before speaking softly. “I know you would much rather have your parents than be famous, but you can’t change that now. So you’re going to have to deal with it. There’s nothing you can do about it now,” Sirius said seriously. “You’re going to have to get used to the staring and just ignore it,” he added. He pulled out his wand and tapped a series of bricks. The bricks moved aside to reveal a busy street. Witches and Wizards of all sizes were running around from store to store with purchases in hand. Most all wore robes of varying colors from purple to pink and everything in between. Harry and Rose stared around in awe. Many posters had moving pictures of advertisements. “This is incredible,” Rose muttered, in awe. “Haha, I suppose it is if you’ve never seen it before,” Sirius said. “Let’s go to Gringotts first to get you some money to buy everything,” he added, as he motioned for them to follow. After walking for about five minutes, they reached a snowy white building that stood high above all the other smaller stores. It had burnished bronze doors, and next to the doors stood a small creature in a scarlet and gold uniform. “Well here we are, Gringotts,” Sirius said. “What are those Sirius?” Rose asked as she pointed to the creature. “That’s a goblin, I recommend giving them plenty respect when dealing with them,” Sirius warned Harry and Rose. They walked inside the first set of doors and found a second set in front of them. These doors were silver with words engraved upon them: Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed, For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay most dearly in their turn, So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there. “Well, that’s a very nice message,” Rose said sarcastically, after she had read the warning. “Well you would be crazy to try to rob Gringotts. There are dragons and all sorts of things guarding the vaults,” Sirius informed them. “Dragons are real?” Harry asked incredulously. “Of course they are real,” Sirius said. ‘Wow, next he’s going to tell us unicorns and fairy’s are real,’ Rose said. ‘He probably will, I dare you to ask,’ Harry said, with a grin. “Are unicorns and fairy’s real also then Sirius?” Rose asked. “What? Yes, of course they’re real. Why?” Sirius asked. “I wanted to know if they were real of course,” Rose replied, while grinning at Harry. They followed Sirius up to a counter with a free goblin. Many other goblins were helping other people with their business, while goblins further behind the counter had scales out and were measuring gold and such. “Excuse me sir, I’d like to access Mr. and Miss Potter’s vault,” Sirius said to the goblin. “Do you have the key?” the goblin asked. “Yes, I have it somewhere,” Sirius said. He stuck his hands in his pockets as he searched for the key. A moment later, he pulled out a small golden key and handed it to the goblin. The goblin took the key and looked it over for a moment before nodding and saying, “Griphook here will take you down to the vault.” He handed the key back to Sirius and Griphook, another goblin, motioned for them to follow. They followed Griphook into a narrow stone passageway. They reached a set railway tracks and saw a cart sitting on the tracks in front of them. The goblin motioned for them to get in and Harry and Rose followed Sirius into it. Griphook got into the cart with them and then they were off. The cart hurtled across the tracks taking turns here and there. It somehow knew exactly were to go for after about a minute or two they arrived at the vault. ‘Well that sure was a ride, I wouldn’t mind going on it again,’ Harry said to Rose. Rose just giggled as they watched Griphook. “Well, here we are,” Griphook said, as he opened the vault door with the key Sirius had handed to him. Harry and Rose gasped audibly in astonishment at the view in front of them. There in front of them were mounds upon mounds of gold, silver and bronze. “This is our trust fund account?” Harry said incredulously. “Yes, and that’s nothing compared to what is in your family vault,” Sirius said as he handed each of them a money bag. “The gold coins are Galleons, the silver are Sickles and bronze are Knuts. Seventeen Sickles per Galleon and Twenty-nine Knuts per Sickle,” Sirius told them. Harry and Rose quickly scooped a large amount of Galleons, some Sickles and a few Knuts into each of their bags. They figured they’d mostly be dealing with Galleons, so they made sure to mainly get those. They exited the vault before getting back into the cart. They hurtled back to the passageway taking a different route this time, but it was the same neck breaking ride as before. Once they were back in the lobby of Gringotts, they once again headed towards to counter. Sirius wanted them to exchange some galleons for “Muggle money” as he put it. He told them a Muggle was a non magical person. They exchanged fifty galleons for about six hundred pounds. Once they had the pounds, Sirius led them back into the Leaky Cauldron and out the front door into “Muggle” London. “We need to get you guys some clothes that actually fit you and sign you up for your self-defense lessons. Most wizards underestimate the usefulness of self-defense and physical fitness. So, first, we will get you some clothes, and then we’ll sign you up for the two different systems of self-defense you will be learning. I’ll explain each one when we get to the place,” Sirius informed them. “We get new clothes?” Rose asked the excitement evident in her voice. New clothes were something Rose had always wanted, while Harry did not care as much as Rose did about his clothes, he still wanted something of his own. “Yes, there is a department store a few blocks down where we can get everything you will need,” Sirius replied. ‘We’re getting clothes Harry!’ Rose said as he bounced excitedly on her feet. Harry just grinned at her. He loved to see his sister happy. They walked with Sirius to the department store. London was a much busier place than they had ever imagined. Cars were everywhere and there were many people walking around. After a few blocks of walking through the crowds of people, they reached the department store Sirius was talking about. It was a pretty generic building, but it was larger than most of the stores along the streets. They walked through the sliding doors into the store. All around them were clothes of all assortments. The men’s section was to the right, and the women’s to the left. There were escalators in the middle of the store leading up to the second floor. They followed Sirius upstairs and into the children’s section. Sirius found an employee working in the section to help them pick out clothes for Harry and Rose. He told the employee that they would need everyday clothes and clothes for exercising. She quickly looked them over for sizes before she started to pile them up with clothes to try on. “Boxers or briefs?” the woman asked Harry. “Huh?” Harry replied. “Do you want boxers or briefs?” the woman asked again. Rose started to giggle, while Sirius just looked at Harry with amusement. “Erm,” Harry said thoroughly embarrassed to be asked this. “Boxers I guess,” he finished after a moment of deliberation. The woman quickly grabbed a few sets of boxers for Harry before moving on to clothes to Rose. When she got to Rose’s undergarments, it was Rose’s turn to be embarrassed when the woman handed her a few sets of panties. They had all sorts of clothes to try on. Harry had an assortment of t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, polo shirts, shorts, jeans, pants, and jackets to try on. Rose had dresses, skirts, blouses, t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, jeans and sweaters to try on. They each got a changing room to try on all of the clothes the woman had picked out for them. ‘I must say, the woman has pretty good taste. I like most of these clothes,’ Rose said while she was trying on a plaid skirt and black blouse. ‘Uhm, I guess. I just want new clothes. I’d have no idea where to look if she hadn’t picked them out for me.’ After trying on all of the assortments of clothes Harry and Rose had picked out clothes for all seasons so they would not have to get new clothes for a while. They paid for the clothes before they went downstairs to find shoes. Sirius told them they would need trainers that were good for running, so they would not hurt themselves running in shoes not made for long runs. “Wait, we’re going to be running?” Harry asked in disbelief. He had always been a faster runner, but he had never liked it all that much. “Well that’s part of physical fitness now isn’t it?” Sirius replied with a grin. “I guess…” Harry replied. Rose did not seem any happier at the prospect of running. Nevertheless, they picked out trainers that were comfortable and would be good for running. After everything was paid for, they changed into a pair of their new clothes and trainers before Sirius shrunk their bags when no one was watching, and slipped them into his pockets. “Well how about we go get lunch before we go visit the last two places?” Sirius asked. Harry and Rose quickly agreed and they headed to a near by restaurant that served mainly fish and chips. After a quick but large lunch, they headed back out onto the streets of London to sign Harry and Rose up for self-defense lessons. Sirius said they were within five blocks of each other, so it would not take too long. The first place they came to after fifteen minutes of walking was Johnson’s Krav Maga. Sirius stopped and looked at it for a moment before turning to Harry and Rose. “So the first style you will be learning is Krav Maga. Krav Maga is something you do not want to mess around with. I had to talk to the owner a lot to get him to teach it to you two. Normally he would not teach anyone younger than sixteen, but I talked him into giving you two private lessons. He will explain more about it inside,” Sirius told them. Harry and Rose looked at each other wondering what they got themselves into. They entered the building and it appeared to be empty. There was a front desk with some pens and such on top, but they could not see what was on the other side of it. Most of the room was covered in a mat slightly raised above the carpet surrounding it. A few chairs were spread out along the carpet. There was a hallway in the back that looked like it let to changing rooms and another hallway on the left of the building that led to a few different doors. “He’ll be out soon. He’s expecting us in about five minutes,” Sirius said, after looking at his watch. A few minutes later a man walked out of one of the doors from the left hallway. He was about thirty, well-built, and average height. What attracted the most attention though, was his face. He had a scar on his right cheek. It was not very big, but it was noticeable. The look on his face told people not to get on his bad side; it seemed to be imprinted on his face even when he smiled at Sirius. “Hello Evan,” Sirius said, as he stood up to shake the man’s hand. “Hello Sirius,” the man named Evan replied. “This is Evan Johnson, Evan this is Harry and Rose,” Sirius said making the introductions. “Hello Harry, Rose,” Evan said. “Hi Mr. Johnson,” they replied. “So, you want to learn Krav Maga?” Evan asked. They looked at Sirius and he nodded. “Yes,” Harry replied. “Well let’s sit down and I’ll tell you about,” Evan said as he motioned for them to sit down. He pulled up a chair in front of them before speaking. “Normally I do not teach anyone under the age of sixteen for a few reasons. Krav Maga is not something to be taken lightly. This is not a sport like many of the martial arts out in the world. The object of what you learn is to be able to neutralize an opponent as rapidly and safely as possible while causing as much damage. It assumes you are in a life threatening situation. Basically you use whatever you have in order to escape as fast as possible and cause the maximum amount of damage. You want to go from defending yourself to attacking as quickly as possible. We train under various circumstances from being outnumbered, to being injured, dizzy, or having someone with you that you must protect. There is no “ranking” system like in martial arts. You need to stay physically fit otherwise you will injure yourself,” Evan told seriously. “Do not take this lightly if you choose to learn this. I expect you to put your all into learning this when you are in a lesson and to practice daily in order to keep up and improve. If there was anything you should have gotten from this, it is that there are no rules in a fight. Your opponent is not going to be “nice” to you. In a life or death situation they are not going to give you a chance to get up off the ground if they knock you down. They are going to fight dirty and do everything they can to cause you physical harm. Use anything and everything you have to finish and get away safely,” Evan finished. “Now, any questions?” he asked. “What exactly are we learning?” Harry asked. The whole concept of life threatening situations scared Harry and Rose, but if Sirius felt they needed to learn it then they would. It would be interesting to say the least. “Well you will start out learning different strikes and common techniques, but do not think everything is going to revolve around the common ideals. Often times, situations are unconventional and call for creative ideas on how to get out of them. After you learn the basics you will learn different methods of fighting, such as knife attacks, hostage situations, learning how to fight while ignoring peripheral distractions, but learning to recognize ones that are threatening. I could go into a lot more detail, but it would be better if you just see it as you learn it,” he answered. “Now since you are so young, you will have private lessons because it would be hard for you to work with people over twice your size and much taller than you,” Evan informed them. “What do we need to do outside of the private lessons, sir?” Rose asked uncertainly. They would be learning a lot from what Sirius told them and they needed to have time to do everything. “Well you need to get in shape. For one you need to start eating more, you’re too thin right now to work out beyond getting in basic shape. Work out daily, slowly increasing everything you do in order to get stronger, quicker, and more stamina. You will also need to practice on the days you do not have lessons, though I would recommend it if you practiced everyday, but remember be careful with what you do. You do not want to injure yourself or each other, but do not let that affect your work. It needs to have effort put into it so it can be effective,” he answered. “You do not need to call me sir, just Evan. This is not a normal martial arts school were you have professors, grand masters, and all that jazz. Everyone calls each other by their first name,” Evan added. “Anymore questions?” “No,” Harry answered. “Okay, so I take you it you two still want lessons?” Evan asked with anticipation. Harry and Rose looked promising; otherwise he would never have agreed to teach anyone so young. “Yes we do,” Rose replied somewhat enthusiastically. “Okay, well I need Sirius to sign these forms. Your lessons will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. You will need to dress in tight fitting and flexible clothing. You can buy it here if you do not already have appropriate clothing,” he offered. “We already got that covered,” Sirius replied. Harry looked at Sirius questioningly. They had not bought anything tight fitting when they were shopping, but he did not say anything to Sirius about it. “Alright, lessons will start on Wednesday, I need time to prepare what I want to start with and give you time to eat properly and start exercising,” Evan told them as they left the building. “Well, how’d you guys like him?” Sirius asked while turning to Harry and Rose. “He’s nice, but this Krav Maga is kind of scary. Interesting, but scary,” Rose answered. “I know it’s kind of hard to get around the whole ‘causing as much damage as possible’ concept, but it’s very important you learn this and I have a feeling you will enjoy working with it,” Sirius explained to them. “Now let’s go to the last place then I can show you where you will be living for the next two years, and the other two people who will be helping to train you,” Sirius informed them. They walked with Sirius for a few blocks, talking about nothing in particular, when they came upon a shopping mall. They followed him over to the main strip of stores and near the end was a smaller building next to the major department store. The building had windows on either side of the glass door. The left window read International Aikido Federation. They could see students practicing inside the building on the mats. They were doing various rolls, throws, and joint locks to each other. Harry and Rose followed Sirius inside the building where they took some seats to watch the students while they waited for whoever was going to talk to them. A short while later the lesson ended and the students went into the back to change out of their uniforms. A Japanese woman approached them. She was in her late twenties, rather tall and had flowing black hair that came halfway down her back. Even though Harry was only nine and not interested in the female species beyond friendship, he knew this woman was very pretty. Rose looked over to see Sirius staring at the woman; she nudged Harry to do something about Sirius. “Ouch,” Sirius exclaimed as Harry pinched his arm. “What was that for?” he asked while glaring at Harry. “Stop staring at her, she’s about to talk to us,” Harry muttered. “Hello Sirius,” the woman greeted him. “Hello Kaye,” Sirius replied with a slight blush. He quickly shook himself and reminded himself that they were here for Harry and Rose. “Harry, Rose this is Kaye Watanabe. Kaye this is Harry and Rose,” Sirius said making the introductions once again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Harry, Rose,” the woman said as she shook their hands respectively. “It’s nice to meet you too,” they responded in unison. “Sirius here tells me you have an interest in learning Aikido,” Kaye said with interest in Harry and Rose. She noticed the scar on both of their foreheads, but did not say anything about it. “Yes, we do ma’am,” Rose answered. “Please call me Ms. Watt,” she said politely. “Well, let me tell you about Aikido. I won’t go into the history of it, but I will explain what you will be learning,” she informed them. “Aikido is a Japanese martial art, it is based off of grappling and joint locks; grappling is more or less throwing. You will learn how to properly roll, and defend yourself while keeping your opponent moderately safe from too much harm; however, you must learn it precisely because you can cause a great amount of harm if not done properly. You will learn how to fight against multiple attackers. Depending on how well you learn this and how long you stick with it I may teach you how to use different weapons, but that will be a long time from now,” she explained to them. “Any questions?” she asked. ‘So, we’re learning two different forms of self-defense. One that is supposed to do as much damage as possible and one that is suppose to do as little as possible, but keep you safe,’ Rose mulled over this with Harry. ‘Seems almost contradictory if you ask me…’ Harry muttered. ‘Yea, but it does make sense to see both sides of the spectrum,’ Rose added. ‘I like this more than Krav Maga at the moment though. I don’t fancy hurting anyone badly, but you’re right it does make sense to see both points. Learn the advantages and disadvantages of each,’ Harry replied “I think you covered everything we really wanted to know about it,” Harry said. “Wait, what do we have to do outside of the lessons?” Rose said remembering what they had to do for Krav Maga. “Well you’re both rather skinny, and you could get into shape. So, I would suggest eating better and start exercising, you don’t want to hurt yourself or anyone else in your lessons,” she told them. ‘Same thing Evan told us to do.’ “Oh, and I would suggest practicing on the days you do not have lessons. Do you still want lessons then?” Ms. Watt asked. “Yes, we do,” Rose answered immediately. “Well then I just need Sirius to sign some paperwork and then we will get you fit with uniforms for the lessons,” she replied with enthusiasm as she moved over to the front desk to get the necessary paperwork. After Sirius had finished with all the paperwork Ms. Watt went into the back for a moment before returning with four sets of uniforms. “Try these on and tell me which of the two different sizes fit best. You can change in the back. The Boys changing room is on the right and the Girls is on the left.” Harry and Rose quickly went into their respective changing rooms to try on the uniforms. The smaller of the two ended up fitting both of them quite well, while the larger one would not fit them for another year or so at the rate they were growing. They came out of the changing room each carrying two sets of uniforms. “The smaller one fits us better,” Harry informed Ms. Watt. “Well why don’t you take both and you can grow into the larger one.” “Thanks!” Rose exclaimed happily. “Lessons will be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. You will be in a class with students within your age by three years, so no one older than twelve, but no one will be younger than eight,” Ms. Watt told them. “You will change into your uniform before class, so arrive prior to twelve,” she added. “Well then we will see you on Tuesday,” Sirius said as they left. Sirius led Harry and Rose back through London to the Leaky Cauldron, so they could Floo back to Sirius’ house. “Now when you Floo it’s ‘Number 12 Grimmauld Place’, remember to say it clearly,” he reminded them. When Harry and Rose arrived at Grimmauld Place, after the harrowing Floo trip, the first thing they noticed was that it seemed to be a dark and unforgiving house. The entrance hall, in which they Flooed into, was a large room with dark, peeling wallpaper, and threadbare carpet. The gas lamps that lit the room were shaped like serpents and the door knobs on all the doors were silver snakes. ‘I don’t think we went to the right house Harry, this can’t be were Sirius lives.’ ‘I dunno we said the name correctly; let’s wait for him to come.’ A moment later Sirius came out of the fireplace. They turned to look at him with confusion evident in their eyes. “Sorry about the place. I haven’t had a chance to remodel it since I’ve been after Peter for the last decade. My parents were Dark, so I normally did not live here. They threw me out when I was sixteen because I would not support their ideals,” he explained. “Well then we’ve got some work to do,” Rose said with a grin. “What do you mean, we?” Sirius asked. “You really expect us to let our godfather live in a place like this?” Rose said; it was more of a statement than a question. She was pointing to dark and evil looking objects around the room. “Well I suppose not,” Sirius replied. “You definitely need new wallpaper. This place needs to be brightened up quite a bit,” Rose said, as she gestured to the peeling wallpaper. “We’ll worry about how the house looks after you two get settled into a normal training schedule,” Sirius told them. He smiled at the thought of cleaning up the house with the two of them. They followed Sirius out of the entrance hall and into the hallway. In the hallway there were heads of odd looking creatures hanging on the walls. “What are those?” Rose said disgustedly. “Oh, those are my dear families old house elves,” Sirius drawled. “House elves?” Harry asked. “They’re creatures that are enslaved to wizarding families and do most of the house work and such,” Sirius explained. “I have one, but he’s useless now. Old and just goes on about me betraying my family by being thrown out, so just ignore him if you see him. His name is Kreacher, but he doesn’t really listen to anyone, I have to yell at him to get him to do anything,” Sirius added. “Where did you go?” Rose asked. “Your father’s house,” Sirius said, with a grin. “They were like my other family, but much better than my real one.” “Let’s go get you guys settled in,” Sirius said, while leaving the room. Harry and Rose followed as he showed them each of their rooms. ‘I’d rather stay in the same room as you Harry. I’m not sure I really want to sleep by myself.’ ‘Me too,’ Harry agreed. They didn’t think they could take being separated after always sharing everything together. “Uhm…Sirius do you mind if we share a room? We’re more comfortable together, we’ve never really been apart,” Rose said. “Oh! If you want to, of course that’s fine with me,” Sirius said. They picked the larger of the two rooms before depositing their things in it. “I’ll warn you now though, remember that moth eaten curtain in the entrance hall?” Sirius asked. They nodded in affirmation. “Well, well behind the curtain is the portrait of my late mother, and she can get rather rude and quite noisy, so be quiet in the entrance hall unless you want her to wake up the living dead by screaming at anything that moves past her,” Sirius explained. “We can do whatever you two want tonight. You will meet Remus and Moody tomorrow morning. They will go over what you already know and what you will be learning. Remus is out tonight otherwise you would already meet him,” Sirius told them. “Alright,” Rose replied. “Now, let’s go get some dinner,” Sirius said, as he clapped his hands together. Harry and Rose thought they heard him mutter something about shopping always making him hungry. They had a large dinner of Spaghetti, and surprisingly it was quite good, considering Sirius was the one cooking. “I’ll just go have a word with Dumbledore. You two can read or something in the living room,” Sirius said, after they had cleaned up from dinner. Sirius threw some Floo Powder into the fire before sticking his head in and exchanging a few quick words. “I’ll be back in a bit. I’m going to go over and talk to him,” Sirius said, he went over to the book shelf and pulled out two books. “I want you two to start reading this book while I’m gone. It will help you understand magic better,” Sirius said as he handed them the books. They were the exact same book titled Magical Theory. Sirius went back to the fireplace and tossed some more Floo Powder in before stepping into it and disappearing. Harry and Rose settled onto the couch next to each other and started reading the book Sirius had given them. ~*~ Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk thinking about two students who were due to start Hogwarts in two years; Harry and Rose Potter. He had been waiting for them to start schooling for quite some time now. A little less than a week ago he had received a surprise visit from Sirius Black. Sirius had just turned Pettigrew in to the ministry. Pettigrew was currently residing in a maximum security cell in Azkaban, but what Sirius had mainly come for had been no surprise to Albus. Sirius had wanted to get to know his godchildren before they were to start at Hogwarts. He at first had denied Sirius. He did not want Harry and Rose to find out about everything Sirius would most likely tell them. In the end however, Albus had to relent and let Sirius have Harry and Rose stay with him for next two years, if they so wished to. However, Albus had been adamant on Harry and Rose staying with the Dursleys for at least part of the summer after their first year. He deeply believed in blood magic and the strength of love. He had not checked up on Harry and Rose because he was confident that his wards would keep them out of the danger. He believed he had made the right decision in placing them with the Dursleys. Who would not take care of their own kin anyways? So, what came next was quite surprising for Albus. He had been deep in thought and did not notice the head in his fireplace until the head spoke to Albus. “Dumbledore, do you have time to speak with me privately?” Sirius asked, urgently. His face was a mask of emotions from anger and pain to sadness and regret. “What? Oh yes, I have some spare time at the moment,” Albus said, shaking himself out of his thoughts. He was momentarily surprised that Sirius had stopped by. He did not think he would be seeing him again, at least for a while. “I will be right over then Dumbledore,” Sirius said. With that his head disappeared and a moment later Sirius was wiping the soot off his robes. “Please have a seat Sirius,” Albus said motioning to a chair in front of his desk. “Well what can I do for you?” Albus asked after Sirius had sat down. Albus noticed that the sadness and grief had left his eyes, now only anger was there. He knew that something was wrong, but what? “What can you do for me?” Sirius asked quietly. “It’s more like what you didn’t do for me, or them for that matter,” Sirius added in a cold, quiet tone. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about Sirius,” Albus said confusedly. He assumed Sirius was talking about Harry and Rose, but he was not positive. “Don’t play dumb with me Dumbledore; you know exactly what you didn’t do,” Sirius said a bit louder this time. He stood up and started pacing in front of Albus’ desk. “I assure you I do not know what you’re talking about right now, and please we went over this last time, call me Albus,” Albus said. He was quite sure he knew that Sirius was talking about Harry and Rose, but not for what reason. “Like bloody hell you don’t know! You promised me!” Sirius said much louder this time. “Sirius, would you kindly explain what I promised you?” Albus asked. He knew he was forgetting something, but he could not seem to place what it was that he was forgetting. “YOU BLOODY PROMISED ME YOU WOULD KEEP HARRY AND ROSE SAFE AND HAPPY!” Sirius shouted at Albus. Some of the devices in Albus’ office began to rattle as Sirius’ temper quickly rose. “Sirius I must ask you to please calm down,” Albus said, he was confused as to what he had promised before it hit him. He had promised Sirius the night that Lily and James had died that he would make sure Harry and Rose were safe and happy. “I WILL NOT FUCKING CALM DOWN!” Sirius shouted. His rage was almost at its bursting point. He knew that if he did not calm down things would start to spiral out of control, and he would be liable to hex to old man. “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THOSE TWO HAVE BEEN THORUGH AT THE HANDS OF THOSE…THOSE MONSTERS!” Sirius shouted. “I assured you that they are being well taken care of,” Albus said, in truth he did not know, but he assumed they were; however, now he was having second thoughts. “MY ASS YOU KNOW! THEY HAVE BEEN ABUSED BOTH PHYSICALLY AND VERBALLY! HARRY HAS A BLACK EYE FROM THAT PIECE OF WORK, VERNON,” Sirius spat out Vernon’s name as if it was poison. “THAT’S PROBABLY NOT ALL OF THE BRUISES AND INJURIES HE HAS! THEY WERE UNDERFED, GIVEN CLOTHES FOUR TIMES THEIR SIZE!” Sirius shouted. Tears were filling his eyes as he yelled at Albus. “They lived in a bloody cupboard for three years!” he choked. Tears were falling freely down his face now as he collapsed back into the chair. He had been pacing in front of the desk for his whole rant. Albus sat there stunned at what he was hearing. ‘It couldn’t possibly be true could it?’ he thought. “You let this happen! It’s all your bloody fault! I trusted you to make sure they were safe and happy!” Sirius shouted. His eyes were still moist, but no more tears were falling. The blaze of anger had returned to his eyes. “I trusted your judgment!” Sirius finished. “You must be wrong Sirius, I would have known if they had any problems,” Albus said, he didn’t want to believe that any of what Sirius had said could be true. “Like bloody hell I’m wrong! You should just be thankful they’re great kids. I don’t know how they can be so strong in a place like that,” Sirius said. “I will not allow them to return there after their first year,” he said forcefully. “You have no say in the matter Sirius, they must return there. I will check up on what you have told me, but they must return,” Albus said adamantly. “You think long and hard about what I said Albus because this is not over,” Sirius said coldly, as he got up from the chair and Flooed back to Grimmauld Place. ~*~ Sirius came out of the fireplace in the entrance hall of Grimmauld Place in a fury. He could not believe Albus Dumbledore. The man believed too much in blood magic and the good of people. Right now however, he needed to get back to his god kids, but first he had to calm himself. It would not do well for Harry and Rose to see him in such a rage. After he had calmed himself down, which took about five minutes, he headed into the living room to find Harry and Rose curled up next to each other reading a book. They appeared to both be reading it at the same time. He really need to talk to them about the Dursleys, he hoped they would not mind the subject too much. He sat down across from them before clearing his throat. They looked up and set the book down before Rose asked, “How’d it go?” “Well, I sure gave him a piece of my mind, and quite a bit to think about,” Sirius said, with a mischievous grin. “I wanted to ask you two about the Dursleys though,” he added. “What about them?” Harry asked uncomfortably. Sirius noticing his discomfort quickly said, “If you don’t want to talk about them you don’t have to.” “No, it’s fine we might as well do it sooner rather than later,” Rose replied quietly “Well, I just mainly wanted to know, do they abuse either of you often?” Sirius asked. ‘I suppose we should tell him,’ Rose sighed. “Yes,” Harry said quietly after a few moments of thought. “Though it’s been better lately because the last time Uncle Vernon hit me Rose knocked him out,” he added, with a grin. “You knocked out your Uncle?” Sirius asked, with a look of sheer amusement. “Yes, well he hit Harry. I couldn’t let him get away with it now could I?” Rose asked. “How’d you knock him out? He’s easily ten times your size,” Sirius said looking intently at Rose. “I dunno, I just kind of stuck out my hand and he was launched back a good twenty feet,” Rose said with pride. “Wow, that’s really something then,” Sirius said. “I’m sorry to dredge up bad memories, but I just wanted to know. I’m trying to make Dumbledore see reason and let you two stay with me whenever you’re not at Hogwarts, but if he won’t listen then I’m going to put the fear of Merlin in those Dursleys,” he continued. “So, what would you two like to do for the rest of the night? We can do anything you want,” Sirius asked. ‘This is going to be the best two years ever, Rose.’ ‘Definitely, but right now I want to hear about our parents.’ ‘I’d like that too.’ “Do you think you can tell us stories about our parents?” Rose asked timidly. “Of course I can! I would love to,” Sirius said. “Well, let me tell you about how I met your father and Remus,” Sirius started off. Harry and Rose listened to Sirius tell them stories about their parents all night. From their fathers pranks at Hogwarts to their mother hexing James for pulling pranks on the first years. They heard about everything the Marauders got up to during their day. Harry and Rose did not get to bed until eleven that night when Sirius realized the time and told them they needed to get a good nights rest for tomorrow especially after such a busy day. ‘I can’t believe so much happened in one day Harry.’ ‘I know I just hope I don’t wake up tomorrow and it was all a dream.’ ‘Me neither.’ ‘Goodnight Rose.’ ‘Goodnight Harry.’ ~*~ “Wake up, you’ve got a long day ahead of you,” Sirius said, waking both Harry and Rose. “Five more minutes,” Harry grumbled as he rolled over back to sleep. “Mmm,” was all that came from Rose. “Come on guys get up,” Sirius said a bit louder this time. “Go away,” Harry grumbled as he tried to fall back to sleep. “Well you asked for it,” Sirius said with a shrug. He pulled out his wand, and with a flick a large pail of water was over Harry and Rose. A moment later the pail was turned upside down and the water dropped unceremoniously on to their heads. Harry and Rose shot out of bed with teeth chattering amid Sirius’ laughter. “What was that for?” Harry shouted, he did not appreciate being bathed in cold water. “You wouldn’t get out of bed,” Sirius said as if it was completely justified. “You didn’t have to soak us,” Rose replied while glaring at Sirius. She was shivering from the cold water and tried to pull the blankets closer, but that just ended up making her colder. “But it was hilarious. You should have seen your faces,” Sirius said as he flicked his wand again, drying Harry and Rose. “Git,” Harry muttered. “Now change so we can go running,” Sirius said as he walked out of the room. ‘RUNNING? It’s only seven in the morning,’ Harry cried mentally. Harry and Rose quickly changed into their jogging clothes before heading downstairs to find Sirius. “Why do we have to run so early?” Harry growled. “Because the morning air is refreshing. Now let’s go,” Sirius said as he held open the front door. Sirius led them for a run around the neighborhood; Harry and Rose quickly found out that no matter how much they could run while playing Football they could not keep up with Sirius. They were soon struggling to keep jogging at a decent pace. After what seemed like ages, but was really only half an hour they ended up back at Grimmauld place, huffing and puffing as they trudged in, were Sirius had them start working out before they could shower and eat. By the time they were done with their sit ups, push ups, pull ups, triceps dips, and one legged squats they were physically exhausted as they dragged themselves upstairs to shower and change out of their sweaty clothes. Sirius made breakfast while they were busy showering. ‘I don’t know how we’re going to live through this,’ Rose grumbled as she massaged her sore legs, while letting the hot water run down her body. It was relaxing to say the least and relived a little of the tension in her sore muscles. Harry was busy changing after having just finished showering in the other bathroom. ‘At least we’ve got food. Besides it will be fun once we get into shape. Right?’ ‘If I remember correctly you were the one complaining this morning.’ ‘Oh shut up, it was seven in the morning!’ Once Rose had finished showering and changing, they headed back downstairs to kitchen where the smell of food was wafting its way up the stairs. Harry and Rose plopped themselves down around the table waiting for Sirius to bring out the food. As Sirius levitated the food out of the kitchen there was a knock at the door. “That’s probably Remus,” Sirius said as he set the food down. They quickly started piling their plates high with eggs, hashers, sausage and toast as Sirius went to go meet whoever was outside the house. They heard the front door open and some talking, but they could not discern what was being said; however, a moment later Sirius walked back in followed by another man. The man that walked in was dressed in shabby clothes. There were patches all over his robes, some noticeable, some not so much. He had a haggard look about his face that told of hard life. He had light brown hair and his eyes, while not full of life, did not show as much exhaustion as his facial features did. However, he had a slight smile on his face as he looked around the room before settling his eyes on Harry and Rose. “Harry, Rose, I’d like you to meet Remus. He is one of my best friends and was one of your fathers too. Remus this is Harry and Rose,” Sirius said jovially. He had his hand on Remus’ shoulder while Remus looked from Harry to Rose with a look of shock and eagerness. “Merlin they look just like James and Lily, except Harry’s eyes. He has Lily’s eyes,” Remus said more to himself than anyone else. For Remus’ benefit Sirius said, “More than you know it.” “Hello sir,” Harry said a moment later. “Hello Harry, please call me Remus. Sir makes me sound old,” Remus grinned. “So, how are you Harry, Rose?” Remus asked looking at each of them. “Much better now that we’re with Sirius. Though I think he’s trying to kill us with the work out this morning,” Rose replied. “Ahh, I see he’s got you on the old routine,” Remus replied with a slight smile. Something Rose said clicked in his brain as odd so he decided to go out on a whim and asked her, “What do you mean better now?” Harry and Rose both looked at Sirius with a nervous look on their faces. Sirius got the messaged and said, “I’ll explain about it later.” “Alright.” “Now, how about we get back to the food,” Sirius said, changing the subject as he piled food onto his plate and dug in. Harry and Rose went back to eating and Remus started to grab food too. Conversation about their training ensued during the course of the meal. Sirius told Remus about Harry and Rose doing magic without a wand, which was quite the shocker to Remus, but he did not say anything about it except that they would discuss it once one other person arrived. ‘I wonder who the other person is,’ Harry wondered. Instead of answering, Rose voiced the question to Sirius and Remus who were bringing over their dishes too, “Who’s going to be the other person you said was going to help us with our training?” “Now if I told you that would ruin the surprise, though you wouldn’t know him in the first place, but I’ll just let you find out,” Sirius smirked. “He should be here shortly. He had to take care of a few things first,” Remus offered. After eating until they were all full, along with some light conversation, Sirius stood up to banish the dishes to the sink. A loud noise came from seemingly everywhere, making Rose scream and Harry fall from his chair. “Ah, I’m guessing that’s him,” Sirius said. Remus looked to him, and a knowing look came across his face. Sirius walked out of the kitchen, and returned a few minutes later. A dull clunk echoed out from behind him. A man came into view, and they assumed this was who would be training them. His face looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man’s eyes that made him frightening. One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye--and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man’s head, so that all they could see was whiteness. Taking one look at him, Harry stepped back a few paces, with Rose hiding behind him. “Oh come on little Miss Potter, my bark is much worse than my bite,” the man said, smiling at Rose. “Oh yeah, it really is,” Sirius said. “Except for that time he killed twenty-seven Death Eaters using only a Q-Tip, a wad of chewing gum, and three Stunning spells.” “I SAID TO NEVER MENTION THAT AGAIN!” the man roared at Sirius. “Sorry, damn…” Sirius said, stepping away from the man. “Now that the fun is over,” Remus said, “I would like the two of you to meet Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody. He is an ex-auror, and probably the toughest man on the continent.” “H-h-hi,” Rose said after a few moments, still not actually looking at the man. “Hello,” Harry said as he stepped forward. He was acting more confident than he truly felt. “Good lad,” Moody said, “nice to see you’re a brave one. You’re going to need that soon.” “Erm… okay I guess,” Harry said. “Do the two of you have your wands yet?” Moody asked, looking from the kids to Sirius and Remus. “Actually,” Sirius cut in, finally showing his face to Moody again, “we aren’t going to be getting wands.” “Then how in the bloody hell do you expect me to teach these kids anything?” Moody roared, and Sirius almost went back to hiding. “Well you see, they have seemed to develop a beginning level of skill with wandless magic” “Oh?” “Yes, I was hoping you could help them expand their wandless base. Harry, Rose, do you think you can show him how you…” A/N: Hope you liked the Chapter. Chapter 6 should be out much quicker than this one. Once again sorry for the wait. Our yahoo group for this and Epoch of the War is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Epoch_Orig ins/ |
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