Chapter One

Arrival

As the six stepped out of the terminal, Harry looked at his friends and smiled sadly. They had seen so much in the last year that had made them all change so much. No longer were they the constantly smiling, always willing to pull a prank, and always cheerful people they had been when they started the year.

In the beginning of the last school year their biggest problem was how their weddings were going to go, and who to invite. Shortly after those happy times, things got quickly worse for them all. Soon they were worrying about how to keep themselves alive to finish the year. The Death Eaters attacks were regular things, and they were worried that even they would be overcome. It had all ended well, of course, but such events had left their toll on these six. The Marauders first thought was no longer to pull as many pranks as possible, but to enjoy life to the fullest in every day.

The days before they came to America were spent wandering freely through the streets of wizard and muggle London. No one watching them, protecting them, or forcing them to live a life they so wanted to leave behind them. This was also their main reason for leaving England and traveling to America. In their own world, they were famous. All of them had been hunted by reporters and by authors wanting to write books about them. They were assured their fame was not so prominent in America by their now close friend Albus Dumbledore, who arranged for them a chance at the life they wanted. One of Albus' good friends was to meet them and help them find what they needed to start a new life. The only request made was that they return every year at Christmas to spend with whatever family they would, to which they all quickly agreed.

Looking at his friends now, though, Harry couldn't recognize them as the people they were last year. Ron, who had worked at his training almost violently, was now quite muscular. Harry was very much afraid of a fight against his friend, who now stood over half a foot taller than him. Harry smiled thinking about how he used to complain about exercise and now he was the one who was first to start it every morning. His hair was also a large change, hanging between his shoulders tied up. Ron was standing now in a pair of black khakis and a white t-shirt, which caused him to get quite a few looks from the women who were passing them. What hurt Harry though, was that the happiness that used to light up his eyes was gone. Harry understood that well, more than anyone else. Harry and Ron thought they were going to loose Serena and Hermione during that last battle. Since that day, both had made an agreement that happiness was a wonderful thing, but they would protect the ones who gave that happiness to them at all costs.

Hermione looked remarkably different as well. She no longer had the look of a bookworm, and began to quickly leave books behind for sun, beaches, and any way possible to laugh. In doing so, she had a beautiful tan, which Ron was always quick to comment on. Her hair no longer long and bushy, but short, hanging only just below her ears, and straight thanks to a charm that Ginny had found for her. It appeared working out with Ron had the opposite effect on her however. She was now lithe and agile, with the grace of a cat, which Harry knew well. Standing in her short white denim shorts and matching halter top, she too was receiving plenty of attention. Harry smiled at the two, hoping that leaving their past behind would bring that light back to their eyes. He also hoped the same of himself.

Ginny, who seemed almost unchanged, though extremely more serious than ever before, made him smile. The wonder that she was looking around this airport reminded him of how new four of them were to all of this. Indeed the only thing that changed was her eye color, which was changed quite often. Standing there now in the short, airy, electric blue dress that she had bought the day they all went shopping Harry was suddenly very happy for her most of all. Her and Neville had actually had the easiest time of them all, neither of them seeing as much of what had to be done to protect everything they loved. They knew, of course, but the memories that the others suffered would never be shared by them.

Neville seemed the most changed of them all though. He now had a confidence previously unknown to him. He had lost all of the baby fat that he was once known for, developing himself well in hopes to become near as strong as Ron. Harry believed Neville was still scared at times that Ron would forget that his baby sister was married and begin chasing Neville again, threats being hurled along with curses. Neville no longer looked easy to threaten, but that was because of his training and not his size.

Looking at Serena, however, changed everything for Harry. His heart began to soar at the sight of her. Ron always said Harry was biased of Serena being the most beautiful of the three girls, but all of the guys said the same of the others. Serena, her hair no longer long and bouncy as it had been before, now hung close to her shoulders, and was now a very vibrant blue. Harry laughed when she told him she missed changing her hair color at will, and offered her the muggle solution. Her eyes, though unseen through the new sunglasses, were also being changed quite often, now being green to match Harry's. The last year of training had only made her more beautiful to Harry. Her body had quickly become much more firm than he thought possible, and the generous curves that came with that often had him asking her for some private 'conversation'. Wearing a very short red and black plaid skirt, a tight white tank top, and a white button up short sleeve shirt, Harry suddenly thought that conversation might not be a strong enough word for what he wanted to do with her.

Looking at his reflection in a window, he saw how much he had changed as well. His hair now hung long, touching his shoulders from the back, reaching the middle of his ears on the top. He didn't need to move his sunglasses to know his eyes weren't as bright as they used to be. The memories that now plagued his nightmares had dulled them a bit. He looked the weakest of the three guys, his muscle being next to nothing when compared to Ron. He still had all the evidence of being strong enough to stand against anyone who crossed him though. His smile seldom appeared anymore, and it was only shown to Serena, who so craved to see him happy. Still staring at himself in the window, he realized he did not look like a great and powerful wizard at all. Wearing a black tank top, black jeans, and black boots, possessing the magical symbols and ancient runes clearly visible going from his shoulders to his wrists, he looked very much like the hoodlum his aunt and uncle used to claim he was.

All of them had one thing that tied them together still, besides them all growing together in much the same fashion over the last year. They all still wore their amulets, each one bearing a panther, wolf, dog, phoenix, stag, and tiger. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville each wore near identical wedding rings, making Harry wonder often which of the two young men couldn't make up their minds about which rings to get. Harry and Serena had used his parents rings, both of them thought this was the best way. To honor their love and commitment with the rings of two who were willing to die to save one they loved.

"Potter, you're cute, you're adorable, and you know it!" Serena said, now smiling at him. "Why look in a window to see it?"

"Wasn't that." Harry said simply. Serena looked at him quizzically with an eyebrow raised. "I was just thinking about how different we all look. Who would have thought one year ago, that at this time none of us would look like the carefree marauders we once were?"

"Think that all the time mate." Ron said. "Makes me glad I managed to snatch Hermione up before she got too beautiful for her own good."

"Snatched her up?" Ginny said, smiling comically. "We practically had to throw you two at each other!"

"Yeah, but then I was right on the spot!" Ron said, smiling despite how serious he tried to sound.

"Seriously though, Harry, we lost that carefree life as soon as we stepped into that last battle." Serena said. "We would have died if we didn't."

"I know, but I'd like to think that now that everything is over we can live a carefree life again." Harry said. "That's why I came up with the idea to leave England."

"Good plan, Harry. I was getting tired of being hounded by reporters, and one author had taken to stalking me!" Neville said. "Ah well, the price of fame right mate?"

"I guess." Harry said. "We shouldn't waste too much time. We have a lot to do in a day."

"Yeah and a whole world to figure out again." Serena said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, I've seen wizards and witches from America." Serena said. "They say its a lot different than at home. Wizard houses have electricity, and many other things that could only be muggle."

"Well then, seems life might not be too bad around here. Lets see if we can pick out Dumbledore's friend." Harry said.

"Are you ever going to call him Albus, like he asked?" Ginny asked.

"Probably not. It's grown quite a habit really." Harry said.

They walked further through the airport, each sporting a backpack to hold all of the belongings they planned on taking. Them being able to shrink anything they wanted made this mean a few changes of clothes packed on top of shrunken trunks, and their passports. Hermione hurried them all to a line of people, making them wait through the long process of mysterious questions. They had been granted visas before their trip was in full preparation, Dumbledore calling it a gift. They were granted permanent residence in the States should they wish. After the long and monotonous processes to get anywhere, they finally found that there were quite a few people there. None seemed to be of the right age to be a friend of Dumbledore and they began to look hopeless.

Sarah Hartinger was late, quickly cursing the traffic. She had ordered a limousine, as per Albus' request. She was told it was not for the class, but the amount of people. He warned her to watch them carefully as they had a tendency to go from place to place in their own way, or more specifically, one of their owns way. She was instantly intrigued by these children, and wondered why they would choose now to come to the States. These were not the best times, but Dumbledore assured her that they could protect themselves easily.

She was told they had survived a ghastly experience they were quick to want to forget. She couldn't understand Dumbledore's reasoning, but she had trusted him since she met him when she was eleven and wasn't about to stop now. She only hoped that Dumbledore had explained to them what was happening now, but if not then she wouldn't either. She also hoped she would be able to recognize these children, as Albus had told her they refused all photos for a year. They looked to be very happy, and hoped they wouldn't be too naive to live in New York.

As soon as the limousine stopped, she hurried out and rushed through the airport to find the six she was looking for. She got there and stopped. None of the people left resembled anything she had seen in the pictures that were sent. The only group that could be considered close definitely could not be them. She expected to be mugged by them more than anything, they looked so menacing. She decided she should wait and see if they were just held up.

Harry had donned his bored and lazy expression again. They had been standing there for almost an hour and still no sign of this person who had not even been given a name. He quickly became frustrated and almost lashed out with legilimency to see if any of these people were the one they had been waiting on.

"Serena, I don't know about you, but I am seriously bored." Harry said. "Do you think that Dumbledore's friend forgot about us? Must be old to be his friend after all, maybe a bit senile on top of it."

"Harry we are his friends, and we just graduated ourselves." Serena said. "I agree with you though. I'm bored as all hell."

"Hm, I wonder. I could find out if any of these people are the one we are waiting for. It's rather easy, you know that." Harry said, smiling slyly.

"No, Harry. We don't need trouble when we are going for a fresh start in a new place." Serena said, though she was smiling.

"Fine, but I'm not standing anymore, I'm going to have a seat. You guys coming?" Harry asked needlessly. They followed him easily as they took their seats.

Sarah was getting nervous. She had heard the tattooed boy talking about being bored, but the conversation after had fallen to low to hear. This made her more nervous as they began scanning the crowd. She soon worried that the children she was supposed to welcome had left already. She saw no one else exit from the terminal, and the only ones who could possibly be the people she was waiting for scared her out of her wits.

She began to think she had to at least try this theory, as the six didn't seem to be bothering anyone other than to seem horrible. The three boys were sitting on the backs on the chairs, their legs protecting the girls. All of them looked very defensive, as if ready to attack the first person who gave them the wrong amount of attitude. Gathering all her courage Sarah walked up to them bravely.

"Harry Potter?" A young woman asked softly.

Damnit! Are we famous here too, Mione? Harry asked his friend.

According to what I've read I don't think so, but she might have friends in London. Hermione answered.

All of them glared at her quickly, and she backed up. Suddenly she was forced to stand perfectly still. Harry removed his sunglasses and stared at her for a second. A few of her thoughts flashed through her mind, messages from Dumbledore, the marauders last photo, the horror of talking to them, and the courage it took her to talk to them. Harry laughed and returned his glasses. He nodded at her and she was able to move again.

"Nice to meet you Miss Hartinger." Harry said politely. "We weren't expecting someone quite so young to pick us up. Sorry for scaring you, it was not intentional."

The other five quickly moved as Harry thought to them that this was their escort. Harry stepped lazily off the chair and looked at his friends carefully. He wanted to make sure he saw no more glares before he continued. He saw none but thought he understood why she was so scared of them at first.

"I am Harry Potter." Harry said easily, though sounding bored. "This is my wife, Serena." He said holding her hand affectionately. "You can tell because she is the most beautiful of all three girls, and has an ego befitting a Potter." He said with a touch of arrogance in his voice.

"Harry, you promised that we would leave our life behind, as well as I did." Serena said firmly. "Now throw that ego away, it was never really yours anyway." She added laughing.

Harry grinned boyishly. "Sorry, Miss. Well, the tall one looks like he could crush a brick, as you thought earlier, is Ron Weasley. Next to him, nearly glued to his side, is his wife Hermione. Neville and Ginny are the last two, and they only look scary cause they haven't had a proper honeymoon yet." He said smiling at the last as Ginny blushed.

"Sod off, Harry!" Ginny said, giggling.

"In short, we are the people you were waiting for." Serena said. "Don't be scared of the boys. They are as harmless as kittens, and one in particular is a very cuddly kitten." She said looking at Harry affectionately at the last line.

"Then there's poor Bambi, more harmless than the rest, I say." Neville said laughing.

"Bambi?" Sarah asked, starting to smile.

"Long story." Ron grumbled.

"Very well, please come with me. I will be your escort and your contact here until you have all found a suitable residence." Sarah said.

"Well, there goes the lot of us holed up in one place." Ron said as they were following Sarah. "Forgot we couldn't do that as married couples."

"Don't see why not Ron." Serena said. "We might as well have been married last summer with the way at least me and Harry were going at it. You four weren't slouching around either." She added grinning wickedly.

"Well, I was thinking more about what if we all started on families and things like that." Ron said sheepishly.

"Ron, after what I've seen, I'm almost afraid to have a child of mine in this world." Harry said sadly. Sarah wondered of this but didn't say anything. She was told they would speak of their past if they wished to.

"Me too, mate. I hate to say it though, you know." Ron said equally sad. "Scares me just to think what almost happened that day."

"Enough." Serena said sternly. "We agreed. No more talk about what almost happened that day. Only what did happen." The two nodded solemnly and followed Sarah in silence the rest of the way.

As they entered the limo, she began to feel something pulling at her mind. She became confused quickly until Harry smiled.

"He didn't tell you then? No wonder you seem so intent on listening into our conversations." He said calmly.

"I wasn't!" Sarah said.

"Sorry, I learned too quickly to watch those I don't know. I noticed when we spoke you would slow your pace and your steps would be shorter." Harry said with an air of easiness. "Go ahead and ask us what has been plaguing you since you heard of our coming."

"What happened to you all? You look nothing like the pictures I was given, and none of you seem to be the children Albus described." Sarah asked quickly, looking frightened suddenly.

Harry smiled warmly. "I will not tell you the tale that everyone wants. I will tell you this." He said, sounding sad again. "I had to face the strongest dark wizard this world had ever seen, while these five had to stop an army of his followers with only a handful more to help them. In the battle, to help you with what you heard, Serena and Hermione were taken to draw me and Ron from the battle to Voldemort himself, where they were to be used as bait to get me to surrender to my death. As you can see I didn't, nor did my friends or my wife die."

"If not for that trick of yours we never would have survived." Ron said seriously.

"Now, do you want to ask us anything else?" Serena asked openly.

"Wait, you're not the Harry Potter? The boy who-" Sarah asked as she was cut off quickly.

"I wouldn't finish that if I were you. He tends to get angry at that title." Serena said. "You would as well, if you had to pay the price he did to have people give it to him."

"Right. Sorry. But you fought he-who-must-not-be-named?" Sarah asked amazed.

"Yes. He won't be causing any more problems in this world again." Harry said grimly. "Please, if you don't mind, we have had enough questions now. We made a vow that day that we would not talk about more than was needed. I have given you answers so that you do not bring up the questions again."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize." Sarah said, then quickly changing the subject. "So, what do I call you all? What names do you prefer?"

"Harry, only Serena calls me Snuffles now." Harry said.

"Wife's privilege." Serena said smiling. "I'm Serena Black Potter. Call me Black, like Harry still does, and face a fate worse than death." She said quite seriously.

"Quite a change from Tonks, love." Harry said smiling.

"Shove it!" Serena said.

"I am Hermione Weasley." Hermione said, cutting the other two off. "Harry seems to approve of you, so you can call me Mione if you want too."

"Just Ron will do." Ron said. "These lot have a nice big joke about me being Bambi, but I wouldn't recommend you saying that."

"Ron!" Hermione said. "Stop threatening the poor woman. Can't you see she's already terrified of us enough?"

"Sorry, Miss." Ron said smiling.

"Ginny, that's me!" Ginny said cheerfully.

"Neville, Nev, Stripes I really don't care." Neville said easily. "The rest of this lot is a bit picky, you know. Called Serena 'Black' once, couldn't talk for a month and my bits were located elsewhere." They all laughed as they remembered that day.

"You deserved it Nev." Harry said. "She warned you three times, and threatened you about five. We had only been talking for ten minutes!"

"Let me rearrange your bits and see if you feel the same way. If it weren't for Gin bringing me all the work I was missing, I'd have failed for sure!" Neville said.

"Neville if you just weren't afraid that the girls were going to laugh at you with your-" Serena stopped suddenly, looking at their escort. Sarah suddenly started laughing instantly.

"Don't worry, I'm only about seven years older than you lot anyway." Sarah said. "Where did you put his bits?"

"On his face for the world to see." Serena said merrily.

"Gave Pomphrey a right start when we brought him in." Harry said, beaming proudly upon his wife. "Went on for hours screaming it was indecent. Tried to cover his face with a hospital gown she did."

They were all laughing until Ginny spoke up. "Ok, enough about this poor boy. He had enough problems afterwards, trust me, it was never quite the same after that." She said sadly, causing them to hold in their laughter as poor Neville turned red.

"We can't all be Harry, now can we?" Neville asked, almost angrily.

"Stop it, Neville!" Ginny said glaring at him. "It was just a joke for god's sake!"

"Can I please stop being dragged into your marital issues?" Harry said. "You'd swear me and her were still going at it! If it makes you feel better Neville it only happened...never mind, that won't make you feel better."

"I'm just amazed the two of you survived, missing meals like you were." Serena said mischievously. "I almost never saw you two after Christmas that year. Always running off for a bit of 'conversation'."

"Hmm, that reminds me, are we far from where we are going?" Harry asked as mischievously as his wife. "I was rather hoping me and Serena would have a bit of time for a 'conversation' of our own for a bit."

"We are an hour away from the council. Maybe thirty minutes more with traffic." Sarah said, laughing.

Harry seemed to be in deep thought. "Think we could?" He said to his wife.

"Would be cutting it short, but might be fun." Serena said, lost in thought herself. "What the hell, get the trunk out, lets go Snuffles."

Harry quickly obliged, while they hurried into the trunk Serena shouted at them quickly. "Back not so soon!" and the trunk closed.

"Honestly!" Hermione said. "We are guest in a new country and those two act like its last summer all over again!"

"Hermione." Ron said easily. "You know why they are like that."

"I know! But you don't see us trooping off like that at all times of the day!" Hermione said.

"But we, unlike them, weren't preparing for the idea that one of us might have to die to save the world." Ron said. "Hell, Mione, we aren't that far off from them. You're just a bit to proper for me to ask in front of people to just jump into a trunk."

Hermione blushed deeply while the others laughed. "Are you always like this?" Sarah asked.

"What?" Ginny said. "Serena and Harry running off to have a shag while we all have a nice laugh about our own sex lives?"

"Um...I wouldn't have put it quite like that." Sarah said.

"Well, for a while bout a year and a half ago it would have been me and Harry." Ginny said. "But mostly, those two seem addicted to each other in every way. No use trying to stop them, get hexed if you try unless its important. Which means Ron and Neville might end up having to carry the trunk into wherever we are staying and wait for them to surface again."

"At least we aren't as weak as before school last year, when we had to ask Moony for help." Ron said. "Now that was embarrassing, having to explain to a man that his godchildren were busy in the trunk and no one had the nerve to distract them."

"Right eager he was to help after he came up from inside though." Neville said. "Once the color returned to face."

"I'll never forget what he said coming out of there." Ginny said. "All pale as a ghost, muttering 'Sirius and James would be amazed at that kid!'. Sounded like those two would be giving him tips while hiding in corners or something!"

"Sirius might have given him a tip or two." Ron said.

"No, from what Serena says, he has not changed a bit from when he was with me, and that was before." Ginny said.

"Ginny, can we not talk about you and Harry." Neville said. "It's hard enough to have to compete with him without you going on about him."

"No comparison!" Ginny said. "You are my husband. Harry is just a friend. We just took it farther than we should have. You should be grateful really. Until then you would have had to compete!"

"Oh." Neville said. "Still a bit hard to take though you know?"

"Perhaps we should be nicer to our host." Hermione said calmly.

"Always the diplomat, our Mione is." Ginny said. "So, tell us about you."

"Not much to tell I'm afraid. I went to school at Hogwarts like you all and when I graduated Albus said that there was work here in the States that could use someone like me to handle." Sarah said. "Been here ever since. Have a nice job, lead a decent life, but nothing near as interesting as I believe you six have been through."

"Good." Neville said.

"Wonderful." Ron said.

"We've been looking for a bit of a break since everything happened. We all almost gave up magic altogether, if not for Dumbledore we probably would have, seeing as how there was no one left to fight anymore." Ginny said.

"I think that's one thing making life so hard on Harry though." Hermione said. "All those years at Hogwarts he'd been preparing for that battle, especially the last two. Now it's kind of like he has nothing left but Serena."

"Seems to be enough for him." Ron said.

"Ron, how would you feel if you felt like you had no purpose in life?" Ginny asked.

"Worthless probably. Why?" Ron asked.

"Well, to Harry, his purpose has ended. He needs to find a new one." Hermione said.

No one talked for the rest of the ride. Everyone seemed to take this new world in. All of them looking in wonder at what they saw as a beautiful place for a new start. No one said the words that they all thought, that this might be what they all needed. No more fear of Dark Lords or friends dying. Though they had all been told that this place could be harsh and dangerous, none of them feared anything as much as they feared facing death so often last year. Harry and Serena returned from the trunk about ten minutes ahead of schedule.

"I have got to find a better spell for that." Harry said rubbing his head while sitting gingerly. Serena seemed afraid to sit, wincing when she did. "Hermione, a bit of a hand?"

"Tell me you didn't use that spell again." Hermione said. Harry nodded. "When are you two going to learn that being thrown against a wall is not a proper way to stop what you are doing?"

"Honestly, Mione, I'm beginning to like it!" Serena said smiling. "Sometimes do it three or four times during an event. That's what took us so long after the alarm went off."

"You two are sick." Hermione said, using her wand to heal them. "I swear you two live for an adrenaline rush."

"We don't live for it." Harry said smiling.

"We just don't die from it." Serena said, smiling happily. "Besides, gotta do something for the boy to remember me, don't I?"

"Oh dear, I haven't had any time to warn any of you." Sarah said. "We are almost there, and there are a few things you need to know."

"Go on." Harry said, suddenly very serious.

"Okay you are going to meet the Council of New York." Sarah said. "This would be like meeting the Minister of Magic for you."

"So basically I tell them what to do and they listen?" Harry asked calmly.

"Never mind, I forgot what I was told about your relationship with the current Minister." Sarah said. "No, you will be receiving a great honor with this. No one has been asked before the council in fifteen years. You must remain respectful and courteous at all times. I can't save you if you break these rules."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, suddenly very curious about what she did.

"You would probably call me an auror, Harry. I am the head of the Wizard Police Force in New York. But the council has more authority than I do, and they are not afraid to use it." Sarah said. "So please, treat this as a serious matter."

"Gotcha." Harry said. "Anything special I have to do? Bow, curtsey, wear fancy clothes?"

"No, that's not at all necessary. Albus told them of your inability to be formal, and they still agreed to meet with you." Sarah said. "That's another thing. You will have to do this alone Harry. They specifically requested you and only you."

"Then it won't happen." Harry said. "I go only where my friends are also welcome."

"Harry, this is not the time for that." Hermione said. "You have to give them the report Dumbledore sent us here to give. We understand that you get special attention at times, and we've all accepted it. Just make sure you don't tell them anything that you don't want to talk about."

"Yup." Serena said. "Go give 'em hell for not letting us visit with you."

"Please don't do that." Sarah pleaded, despair in her eyes. "It could be a big problem for me more than anyone because I was in charge of making sure you all understood."

"Fine." Harry said. "Bring on the bloody council. But I won't be happy about them not meeting with my friends as well."