Order of the Phoenix Redux

by: AegisX

Well, look at this now… a Harry Potter fic… I can't help but say that I was inspired after reading several very good HP fics out there… like Bungle in the Jungle by Jbern and the rewritten series by Regulus… This isn't really coherent cause its not.… And yes… I don't own Harry Potter, cause then I'd have a big chunk of cash coming in on July 13…

AGX

Chapter 1 -

He didn't think that finding a bit of money on the floor during his daily wanderings would lead to this. An innocent looking 5 pound note that lay by a dumpster had brought him to the convenience store and into this situation.

"Don't fucking move, kid. I swear I'll shoot you!" The armed gunman yelled at the tall, lanky black haired teen that stood watching him, having seen his hand slowly moving for his pocket. "Just gimme all the cash you got and you'll live," he yelled to the convenience store's cashier. The woman gave a sob as she dumped money into a brown paper bag.

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn. He caught sight of the kid brandishing a long wooden stick at him. He brought the gun up and fired several shots, watching as a crimson streak of light shot off the stick as the kid yelled "Stupefy!" while trying to move to the side.

The world was spinning, or at least in his eyes it was. He felt the cold floor and he felt the liquid that surrounded him where he lay. He remembered firing the stunner at the robber, trying to avoid the gunshots and then feeling the burn on his chest that signified that two bullets struck him. He fought off the looming darkness that tried to swallow him, his eyes slowly losing focus as the sounds of sirens and screaming echoed in his ears. He gave a hoarse chuckle, as he realized that he was dying before he closed his eyes for the last time.

The entire wizarding world stopped that night. It was a harsh blow that was struck, as they opened their evening newspapers. The picture and the headline that greeted their eyes was the cause. In every language that held a newspaper, there was the same photograph along with the same headline.

"The Boy Who Lived: DEAD!"

Below it, the picture of Harry was shown in his place of murder. Gunshots to his chests and blood all over the floor.

AGX

6 minutes earlier...

"Read this and memorize it, quickly." The tall, thin man with long silver hair and a long beard said. His blue eyed gaze sharp above the half moon spectacles that rested snugly on his crooked nose, which looked like it'd been broken once or twice. It was Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was holding a slip of paper out to the person next to him.

The cloaked and hooded person took the slip of paper, reading it before returning it to Dumbledore who proceeded to burn it to ashes.

"Now, think of what was there." Dumbledore instructed and a house seemed to appear into existence where there wasn't a thing before. Dumbledore stepped to the door, tapping it with his wand twice to unlock it, when there was a bright flash of fire next to him.

Both his companion and he turned to catch sight of the phoenix that appeared in front of the house.

It flew over to Dumbledore, who paled when he caught sight of what the phoenix held in its claw. "Get inside, and close the door. Stay there while I return." With a sharp crack, he was gone and the hooded person entered the house. The door shut itself with a loud slam, the locks clicking as they engaged themselves once more and the hallway was dark.

He took a couple steps forward when his right foot connected with something, knocking it down with a loud crash. A pair of moth eaten black curtains a bit down the hall flew open and the screech of the portrait behind it echoed throughout the house.

Several people poured out of another doorway, into the hall. A tall, gaunt and shaggy haired man immediately grabbed the curtains on the painting yelling "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" With another's help, he managed to yank the curtains closed and the painting fell silent once more.

"Who's that?" a tall, thin red head with long hair in a ponytail asked. That question alone caught the other's attention and they all pulled out their wands. "I thought Dumbledore had a fidelius on the house, Sirius?"

"Don't make any suspicious movements," the shabby wizard with graying hair stepped forward along with the red head and the gaunt one.

"I was brought here by Dumbledore." That simple sentence seemed to relax the others only a bit less. "He told me the secret…"

"So, where is Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, arching an eyebrow at the still hooded figure.

"His phoenix arrived with some kind of message and it seemed urgent." The low, quiet voice the stranger spoke in seemed to echo slightly at moments.

"Come this way." Sirius motioned for him to go into the kitchen, watching as Bill walked in ahead of them, to keep him covered.

Inside the kitchen, there was a woman with bright bubblegum pink hair in spikes sitting at the table. "Wotcher, Bill. Who's that?"

"Uncover yourself." Sirius ordered as he and Lupin entered the kitchen behind the stranger.

"You want me to take off my clothes in front of her?" He nodded towards where Tonks sat, her face now sporting a blush at what was said.

"Not your clothes, just the cloak and the hood." Bill snapped impatiently, waving his wand in a manner that implied for him to hurry up.

The hood came off first, revealing wavy grey hair, tanned skin and strangely colored eyes of a male. He took off the cloak, wearing black jeans, a green t-shirt and dragon hide boots. He was tall, with a slim but muscled build at a height of 5'9, with looks that would garner him as handsome even if never gorgeous.

"Blimey, he has some weird eyes." Tonks was the first to say something, standing up and walking over to look him in the eyes. His eyes were a swirl of grey, green, and orange. "How'd you get them?"

"My name's Aaron Grimm. And Dumbledore brought me here…" he never got to finish what he was saying when there was a flash of phoenix fire. When it cleared, Dumbledore stood there white faced with a body in his arms. Everyone stood still when they recognized whose body Dumbledore held.

Several Days later…

People had been coming and going since the world found out about Harry Potter's death. People were going into shock and the ministry of magic was hard pressed to keep everything running as normal as possible. Aaron Grimm was currently bored out of his mind.

After joining Sirius Black, the owner of the house, in getting drunk stupid for several days, he felt like crap. He was currently sitting on the stairs, smoking a cigarette when someone rung the doorbell. He stood up, pushing back his now deep purple hair out of his face, and walked over to the door.

With a tap of his wand, the locks slid open and he opened the door. "Welcome to hell, will you be having a prolonged stay here?" He got a gasp as a response as he was eyed by a family of red headed people.

"Molly, do come in." Dumbledore called out as he strode forward and Aaron walked away from the door. He went back to sitting on the stairs and smoking while he watched the red heads all walk inside. He caught Molly, as Dumbledore called her, looking at him with a frown as she led her children to the stairs.

"Put that disgusting thing out, young man. You're much too young to be smoking." Molly's words reached his ears and Aaron turned towards her, arching an eyebrow before he walked away. "Albus, who was that rude child?"

A day later, Albus Dumbledore stood in the kitchen surrounded by the people the made up the Order of the Phoenix. "Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks both will be our escort when we go retrieve Harry's personal objects from his relatives. Joining us will be Mr. Grimm." He motioned towards Aaron, who leaned against a kitchen counter watching them while he smoked his cigarette.

The Order took the orders in stride and once 6pm hit, they were ready for their mission. "We'll be apparating there; I trust that you remember the coordinates I've given you?" Dumbledore's question was met with a nod and with a soft pop, they were gone.

The Dursleys were in the middle of eating dinner when the doorbell rang. Dudley got up to get the door, grumbling about it under his breath. When he opened the door, he saw some unknown guy a little taller than him with bright purple hair. "What do you want?"

"I'm here for your cousin's stuff." Was the reply he got and his eyes widened.

"You're one of them, aren't you? One of those Freaks…" he didn't get to finish as a fist connected with his mouth sending him tumbling back into his house. Vernon hearing his son talking and the sounds of him falling, rushed to the living room to find Dudley on the floor with a busted lip.

"WHAT THE DEVIL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!!?" Vernon Dursley's voice reached the rest of the Order as they appeared. Vernon took a step forward to grab Aaron only to be halted by the sight of three wands aimed at him.

"We here to retrieve Harry's personal belongings and to inform you that he will not be returning to your home any longer." Dumbledore addressed them as both Tonks and Aaron entered the house, shoving past Vernon. Aaron flicked the remains of his cigarette at Dudley, watching as he squealed and moved away quickly.

"I think this is it!" Tonks called down and he climbed upstairs to follow her. He entered the room to find books strewn about along with clothes and his other items. "Might as well pack up." With a flick of her wand, everything that belonged to Harry that was strewn about the room flew into the trunk where it fit itself messily.

"Wait… he's got something under here," Aaron pried up a floorboard, reaching in and pulling out a pile of letters and pieces of parchment. He tossed them into the trunk and Tonks levitated it out of the room and down the stairs. They walked past the dining room where Vernon and Petunia both sat fearfully. Aaron paused to light another cigarette before he followed after Tonks.

Before he left the house though, he punched Dudley once more. After hearing the satisfying crunch that signified a broken nose, he walked out to where Dumbledore, Tonks and Kingsley waited for him. The wounded hippo bellow that Vernon unleashed was the last thing they heard as they apparated away from Number 4 Private Drive.

"Nice right you got there," Tonks commented when they entered Grimmauld Place, leaving Dumbledore to take Harry's belongings upstairs. "Why'd you punch him?"

"I'm an empath and I felt his hatred for Harry." Aaron responded as he took a long drag of the cigarette. "I felt Harry's hatred of them permeating from the room and so, I felt like punching that walking sack of crap." Tonks was surprised since this was the longest he'd ever talked to her.

And so, time passed at Grimmauld Place and Aaron was learning to deal with the people there in his own ways, while the people were trying to cope with the death of the Boy Who Lived. It had been 2 weeks since the Weasleys, as he learned who they were, arrived along with a bushy haired girl that went by the name of Hermione arrived as well. She was one that had taken the death of Harry Potter the worst. For some reason, Ron Weasley didn't seem that bothered that Harry was dead.

Aaron was walking into the kitchen with a lit cigarette in his mouth when he saw Hermione storm past him with tears in her eyes. He'd gotten to talking to her and she was a nice person, a bit bossy but then again, what female wasn't bossy in his opinion. He shook his head at the sight and he entered the kitchen.

He gave a nod to greet Sirius along with the twins Fred and George, who he got along with well enough. He ignored the frown on Molly Weasley's face when she saw the cigarette in his mouth. "How many times have I told you not to smoke those things in here?"

"It doesn't matter what you've told me," Aaron replied as he grabbed a butterbeer off the kitchen table. Molly's puffy eyes turned into a glare as she placed her hands on her hips.

"It does matter and you'll follow the rules while you're in my house."

Aaron rolled his eyes, turning to Sirius. "Hey, you mind if I smoke here?" Sirius gave him a shrug as he took a drink of his firewhiskey, ignoring the indignant squawk that Molly let out. "He owns the place and doesn't mind, so leave me alone." Molly opened her mouth to argue and he cut her off "Harry Potter dies and you bullshit me about my smoking?"

Molly burst into tears at that as she left the kitchen with her husband trailing after her. "Oi, why the hell'd you go and do that?" Ron snarled at him. The twins tried shutting him up, but Ron ignored them as he stood up. "My best mate died, my mum spends her time crying and you decide to remind her of it?"

"Shut up, you're the last one that should be even talking to me." Aaron took a seat next to Sirius, grabbing the firewhiskey bottle and poured himself a shot. "You've been using the fact that your best mate died to try and get into Ms. Granger's pants." Everyone in the table turned to look at Ron, who went red as he tried to deny it. "And you've made her cry more than enough times since you've gotten here."

Sirius was glaring at Ron along with Ginny and the twins. Aaron downed the shot and stood up, leaving the room and heading to the library.

He walked inside, finding Hermione sitting in one of the armchairs, crying. "I'd ask if you're alright, but I know you're not." He said as he grabbed a random book out of a shelf and sat in another armchair across from her. "You feel like talking? I didn't get to meet him, but talking about things helps."

After idly paging through the book, Dark Alchemy, for several minutes, he looked up. "What was that?" he'd heard her mumbling something, but he couldn't quite make out what it was.

"I asked why? Why is he dead?" Hermione made an effort to stop her tears, wiping away the ones that were visible.

"I don't know why he's dead. I know he was a good person to risk his life and to risk trouble with the government in doing what he did." Aaron responded as he continued glancing through his book.

"He always risked himself for others, to help others." Hermione's voice was slightly hoarse. "He hated the pressure of being the Boy Who Lived, but what could he do?"

"A moment of silence for Harry Potter, not the boy who lived…" Aaron stated and they both fell silent for more than a moment. He grabbed another book from the shelf and slipped the other back. He grabbed his wand and with a flick he locked the door and set up a silencing charm. "I'll tell you a secret, you probably don't care, but I'll tell you anyway."

Hermione had noticed when the doors locked and she'd looked at Aaron in surprise. "What secret?" even after what'd happened, her curiosity was still peaked.

"I was brought here because of a connection, a strange one." Aaron stood up and started pacing. "I'm empathic, so if you need help coping with this, I'll do my best to help you."

"Empathy? You mean like-"

"Yeah… just don't tell anyone, please."

After that talk, Aaron spent more time in the library reading and less time being around an emotionally unstable Molly Weasley. Hermione joined him frequently and they sat there reading in silence until Ron came around, because Ron always did. Ron then spent his time trying to get closer to Hermione in a subdued sort of way after getting punched by Aaron for making her cry once more.

The Order was hard at work trying to undermine Voldemort's recruitment efforts among the Werewolves, Giants and Vampire clans. Soon enough, it was time to go back to school for Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Fred and George.

Platform 9 ¾ …

The Order had escorted everyone onto the platform on orders from Dumbledore. Aaron followed Hermione and the Weasleys into the train, walking through carriage after carriage till he found himself on the last one.

He slipped inside a mostly empty compartment and took a seat. The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look.

"Yo…" he greeted her as he pulled out a small paperback book out of his pocket.

"You're Harry Potter…" She said, her eyes unblinking as she stared at him.

Aaron chuckled at that, "I'm Aaron Grimm. Who are you?" he countered