Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot and a few of the characters.  The title and the other characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter One: Sorrow and News

It was a cool day on Number 4 Privet Drive, much unlike the summer before, which every day was hot and dry.  The summer seemed to have turned around this year into a rainy summer. 

Harry Potter was lying on his back in his room staring at the ceiling, as he had been the past two weeks.  Summer had barely started and already Harry was ready to go back to school where he would be distracted and things would surely be better. 

It had only been a few weeks ago, but Sirius's death was as fresh in his mind as ever and had ceased to haunt him.  His heart still ached for his godfather who he had come to the realization would never return to him.  Tears started prickling in his eyes.  This wouldn't be the first time he'd cried, and certainly not the last.  Why? Why did he die?  He'd only known him for two years and now he was whisked out of his life, never to be seen again.  There hadn't even been a funeral as there was no body.  Even the thought that Sirius was somewhere happier was no consolation, Harry needed him.  Voldemort had killed his parents and now his closest thing to a parent, Sirius.  And for one reason, so he could kill Harry.  All these people had been killed because of him, him and that stupid prophesy.  Why couldn't it be Neville instead?  It just as easily could have been.  Then he would still have his parents and Sirius and life would be perfect. Instead people around him were dying.  In the past 3 weeks, things had been happening since the Ministry now knew of Voldemort's return and Voldemort wasn't being cautious to show himself in merciless acts of evil.  Muggle raids and killings had occurred twice already and no Death Eaters had been caught.  One good thing was that Azkaban had been sealed and no one had broken out, though now rounding up the Dementors was crucial.  If they weren't found soon, millions of people will find themselves without a soul.  They will be worse than dead. 

Harry rolled over and looked at his charms essay.  He figured it would be best to get his essays done with before going to Number 12  Grimauld Place, Sirius's house.  Harry felt tears in his eyes once more.  How could he go back there without Sirius being there?  It wouldn't be the same, he wouldn't be able to bear it.  Like last year, the only news he got was through the Daily Prophet.  Though it was much more reliable this year, it wasn't the same as getting news directly from the Order.  They alone knew all the top secrets, but could not send any news to Harry to inform him.  Harry would be returning on August 1st, one day after his birthday, another birthday at home.  It was only about a few weeks away but seemed like forever.  He'd been keeping himself busy by mindlessly doing yard work and schoolwork.  He began N.E.W.T. classes the next year.  He'd be taking Charms, Transfiguration, Defense against the Dark Arts (with hopefully a much better teacher), Potions and Herbology.  They would be difficult and if Harry wanted to become an Auror he knew he'd after to get top marks, which would mean a lot of studying, especially in Potions. 

However, today he couldn't concentrate on his schoolwork.  He walked and picked up the mirror Sirius gave him.  He had long since realized that Sirius would not respond when he yelled his name into the mirror.  On the first day of break he had yelled Sirius's name into it, once again hoping that Sirius might somehow answer.  Instead, Lupin picked it up and had to try to calm Harry down, who had become even more disgruntled when someone other then Sirius actually picked it up, than when nobody picked it up at all.  Of course he shouldn't have been shocked to see Lupin, before he returned to the Dursley's they had agreed on this as a form of communication.

"Lupin!" he now shouted, "Lupin!"

Lupin's face appeared in the mirror.  "What is it Harry? Are you okay? Are they treating you alright?"

"I'm, I'm f-, they're treating me fine, I just, I just miss Sirius, you know, I n-needed someone to talk too." His voice was choking, he could hardly talk.

"Oh Harry, I know how difficult this is for you, It's very difficult for me too, here I am, I just lost my best friend."

Harry nodded, he'd heard this before, it was just comforting to hear Lupin talk, he was the only person who came close to understanding Harry.  Sirius had been his best friend. 

"Are you sure I can't come sooner?" Harry questioned, " I can't stand the lonliness." He'd asked this before, but every time he got a new hope that the answer might be yes.

"Oh Harry, I can understand it must be very lonely over there…"

'no you don't' Harry thought

"but Dumbledore said not yet,"

"but I only have to be here once a year, not a whole month!!"

"Dumbledore thinks it would be a good thing for you to be alone, to gather yourself together.  Listen, have you been to Mrs. Figg's lately?"

Harry shook his head.

"Why don't you go visit her, she's very kind and has lost family to Voldemort as well.  I think it'd be a very good idea."

"I dunno," Harry said.

"Well, think about it, okay? I highly suggest it."

"Okay, maybe I'll go over there.  Talk to you later?"

Lupin smiled and nodded, "Of course, take care now."

"I will,"

 Lupin's face disappeared from the mirror.

Harry put the mirror down.  It was either the charms essay, brooding and mourning over Sirius or Mrs. Figg's house.  None of them sounded appeasing, but he was a bit hungry and it was almost tea time, so he decided to go visit Mrs. Figg. 

He stood up, went over to his trunk and pulled out a nicer shirt, then went to bathroom to hopelessly fix his hair and downstairs.

"I'm going on a walk," He told Uncle Vernon who just grunted.  "I'll miss dinner, be home later."  Uncle Vernon grunted again.  Harry took that as a 'I understand and don't really care, be home before Dudley' answer and headed out the door.

As he walked down the street towards Mrs. Figg's, he looked around wondering where his guard was.  He knew that someone from the Order was following him, for he had a 'guard' at all times.  The thought brightened him up for once, if he was going to Mrs. Figg's, his guard could surely come out of disguise and join him?  He played a game with himself guessing who it might be, it could be Mundungus Fletcher, though he might not be this year after leaving Harry alone to ward off a bunch of dementors himself causing him near expulsion last year, or it could be Dedalus Diggle, he would be fun, but he really hoped it was Tonks, she was the best.  Mr. Weasley would be good company too, but Harry knew he was still at work at the Ministry and rarely was on guard duty. 

As he was walking down  the street he saw Dudley and his gang approaching.  "Crap" he muttered and tried to duck behind a bush, but it was too late.

"Who do we got here?" Piers said.

"Is it Harry?  How's St. Brutus'?" another boy said.

"Is it curing our little criminal?" Said another.

"I think we should cure him instead," Said Piers, "show him what happens to naughty little boys."

Harry glared at them, "you better not mess with me"

"Or what? Your gonna go run and tell your mommy?" Piers asked, "Oh wait, I forgot, you don't have a mommy!!"

Harry reached towards his wand, knowing full well he shouldn't when Dudley stepped up, "Guys, leave him, he's boring anyways, plus if my mom found out I'd be dead, she suddenly has become very protective of him."

The boys all muttered, but began to unwillingly move away and cross the street.  It was true however, Aunt Petunia had become very protective of him.  Harry figured it must have been what Moody, Lupin, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had said to her and Uncle Vernon at the beginning of break, "If we hear you've been mistreating Harry…" 

Harry relaxed his arm, it was a good thing Dudley said that, he could have performed some serious magic, and that would have been bad.

A few minutes later, he stood before the front door and knocked.  Mrs. Figg answered the door.  "Harry dear!! How nice to see you!! Remus told me you might be coming."

"He did?"

"Yup, he stopped by a second ago, but had to leave because he had some work to do, why don't you come in?"

"Alright," Harry stepped in and glancing around, noticed that it looked the same as ever.  There were cats everywhere, along with the cat smell.  He noticed some tea boiling on the stove and a plate of crumpets, scones and cookies set on the kitchen table.  He turned around to ask for the latest news and saw before him Mrs. Figg and no other than Tonks.

"Tonks!" He cried, "How are you?  I was hoping it might be you on duty!" He grinned at her hair which was still bright pink.  "What news is there?"

Tonks ginned, "It's nice to see you Harry, or should I say, it's nice to talk to you for once!  Why don't we sit down for tea and I'll tell you."  At that moment a timer rang and Mrs. Figg went to get the tea.  Harry sat down at the table and grabbed a crumpet while Mrs. Figg poured the tea.  Tonks sat down next too him, he glanced over.

"So? What news?" He asked.

"Well," she began, "You have been reading the Daily prophet, correct?"

Harry nodded.

"That's about as much as we know as of now.  The Order is still going on, and the ministry still knows nothing of it, we can't trust them too much.  However, there is a lead on the dementors.  Some wizarding folk up north in Norway, claim to have spotted some on an Arctic fishing trip.  We have decided that there must be some sort of base up there, however, we have checked many places and we can't seem to find it.  It seems as if a sort of protection spell on themselves so that no one can find them, sort of like a Secret Keeper kind of deal.  So we are simply sending people to search and stationing people in the northern towns in case of an attack.  The ministry is on alert everywhere.

"Voldemort seems to really be moving now that news of him is out.  Now, you have read of only two attacks, correct?"

Harry nodded.
            "There have actually been five attempts, three were stopped by Aurors."

"Has anyone been killed?" Harry asked sympathically.

"Fortunately no Aurors have been killed, sadly sixty-six muggles have been killed."

Harry shook his head, "that's horrible."

Tonks nodded.  "So how about you? How have you been?"

Harry shrugged, "alright."

Tonks nodded and put her hand on his arm.  He shook it off, he didn't want sympathy.  He knew that somehow Sirius would come back, the ministry would find a way.  They had too!!  Soon tears were forming in his eyes, he was losing hope, everyday the reality sank in more.  He quickly shook himself and looked up.  Tonks was smiling.  "You know, I lost my father to Voldemort."

"You did?"

"Yup, when I was sixteen, it was awful.  That's when I decided I was going to do all I could to stop Voldemort.  That's how I became a part of the Order.  I was very close to my father, and it was heart-breaking."

"But you still had your mother!"

"True, but nothing could fill the void my father had left.  I know this may not be helping you, but perhaps someday it will.  You are very special, Harry, things will work out."

Special indeed, Harry thought.  Just as he had multiple times before, he reflected on the fact that he would much rather not be special.  To have a mother and a father and Sirius at his side, if only that he would feel he was the most special person in the world.

"What about you Mrs. Figg?  Lupin said that you well, you know, lost some family members to Voldemort." Harry asked.

Mrs. Figg sighed, "Yes indeed, I lost my twin sister…"

"You had a twin?" Harry interrupted.

"Yes"

"Was she a, well, squib, too?"

"No, fortunately…"

"Did that ever bother you?" Harry interrupted once more.

"At first it did, but then when I realized that I had special abilities too, just not in the magical way, and that I could still participate in the magical world, I calmed down a bit.  Of course we were never as close as we once had been, though we were still closer than most siblings."

"What kind of abilities?"

"Well, for example, I have always had a special touch with animals that Nella never had, she couldn't go near an animal.  Also, I'm a rather good nurse and was even able to work at St. Mungo's a bit.  But enough with that, you did have a question you wanted answered, correct?"

Harry nodded.

"So, it turned out that Nella was quite a good student and sought a job as an Auror.  She studied very hard and became an Auror at a young age.  About eighteen years ago, she was on a mission.  It was supposed to be just a regular mission to stop some death eaters who were out hunting muggles, but Voldemort was there as well.  Well, that scared all the Aurors quite a bit, and the tables turned.  Nine of the twenty Aurors were killed, the rest managed to ward off Voldemort.  Nella was one of the twenty.  She was the only one killed personally by Voldemort.  Apparently, he tortured her with Crucio before finishing her off with Avada Kadavra.  I almost wish he had just killed her straight away, so to save her from the pain.  It was a very sad funeral.  Mum was quite old, and died shortly after.  She was already frail and Nella's death seemed to finish her off.  I was in a daze for weeks.  Even the thought that she was now with my father was no help.  Oh how I missed her, I still do, there isn't a day I go without thinking about her."

Harry looked at her sympathetically then to Tonks before saying, "and here I was thinking no one could possibly understand me."

Tonks put her hand on Harry's shoulder, "Harry, you have every right to be as upset as you are.  You lost someone very special and close to you, that is a good reason for sorrow."

"I didn't say I wasn't sad," Harry snapped and then immediately regretted it. "I mean, I'm just sorry for how I've been acting towards everyone."

They both nodded sympathetically.

Harry looked into his tea.  He really was sorry about how he acted towards everyone, especially Dumbledore, but still, it wasn't fair that Sirius had to die, it just wasn't.  He suddenly looked up, "What exactly is that veil that Si- he fell through?"

Tonks sighed, "It's the gateway to death, as he fell through, he basically entered death, he can't come back."

"There's absolutely no way at all?" Harry questioned hopefully.

"Well," Tonks looked to Mrs. Figg who shook her head ever so slightly, "We're not sure, it's been an unsolved mystery, how the gate works that is."

"Maybe, someday, they'll figure out how to rescue people…" Harry muttered to himself, feeling a flame of hope for a fleeting second, "maybe."

He looked up at Tonks who smiled then suddenly looked stern, "By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier, but what were you thinking when you almost attacked Dudley and his gang magically?  That would have been breaking the degree for underage wizardry, not to mention the code of secrecy, I almost had to pull out my wand to stop it!!"

Harry lowered his head, "I know, I wasn't thinking,"

Tonks relaxed, "I understand, your head is probably in the clouds these days, just try to be more careful, we're not exactly completely right with the Ministry yet."

Harry nodded and returned to his thoughts on Sirius.

Suddenly, Mr. Weasley's head popped in the fire.  "Arabella!! Thank goodness, find Tonks!! It's urgent!!"

"She's right here," Mrs. Figg pointed at Tonks.

"Oh," Mr. Weasley calmed down instantly as he spotted Harry and Tonks.  "Tonks, there's been another muggle attack, twenty-two this time.  We need someone here to help sort this out, I'm sending Mundungus to guard Harry," Mrs. Figg groaned.  Mr. Weasley looked at her, "don't complain, just be thankful Voldemort did not decide to attack Surrey, or your own house, I'm sending Mundungus right over.  I'll talk to you later."

A second later Mundungus popped into the room.  Tonks looked at Harry and Mrs. Figg, "well, I better go, stay out of trouble and close to home Harry," and with a pop she disappeared.

Mundungus grinned, "'lo Harry!! How ya doing?"

Harry put on a smile, "Fine, thanks."

"Wonderful, we're looking forward to your return!!"

"Me too, I can't wait,"

"Neither can Ron, he seems to keep worrying about how you are, and asking if you can come sooner."

This caught Harry's attention, "Really?"

Mundungus nodded.

Harry's spirits soared just a bit and he became even more excited to return. 

"And there's someone new in the Order, name's uh, Hin Chang…"

To be continued…

That's the first chapter!! I hope you all like it!! I'm not sure if I should make it longer, if you want a longer next chapter, just say so, I will be happy to do so, I'm just anxious to get the first chapter posted.  REVIEW!!