First off if you have read this before, its because this is my second version of the fic. I am revising the entire Harry Potter and Death Eaters of Hogwarts story, one chapter at a time. I'm not just fixing grammar and spelling mistakes but taking and adding parts as I see fit. I really like the story but think my writing has been mediocre at best and I want to make it good. So far I've done the first two chapters but they are relatively the same when compare to the first version, since I'm satisfied with the originals of the first few chapters.
There will be several changes as I re-read every chapter and decide what I want to do with them. For those of you who have read the first version of this, there will start being noticeable changes I promise. For those who haven't read the first one yet, you can read the first one if you want but it will spoil the story so do so at your own risk.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter universe. I am merely using it for my own enjoyment with no intent to make a profit from it.
A/N – Harry's relationships will change throughout the course of this series. I feel the need to post this as a reader went into a frothing at the mouth frenzy a few chapters into the sequel. If you are reading this solely because of the pairing, you have been warned. As of March 2015 I'm 15 chapters into the sequel, and plan on posting another twenty-five more. I have the first few chapters of the third story already posted, and plan on doing at least one more story, maybe two more, after that. It will probably take me a few years to finish it all since I do this in my spare time. I state all this because who Harry ends up with is still a mystery even to me. I do know I don't plan on keeping him with one person during all that time.
Chapter 1 Summer Changes
Harry let out a morose breath, face pressed against the backseat passenger window, as they pulled into the driveway of Number Four Privet Drive. Another summer in boring old Surrey, just what he was looking forward to. His family, and he used the term rather loosely, quickly got out of the car, and he followed at a much slower pace. He moved to the boot, popping it open to grab his trunk and owl cage. Hedwig would more than likely be showing up later tonight.
He hefted the trunk from the boot, after placing the cage on top of the lid. Closing the boot was a bit of a struggle, as he had to made sure not to scratch off any of the paint. Would have been a lot easier placing everything on the ground and then closing the boot, but he only thought of that after.
"Wait right there boy."
Harry froze in mid-motion, watching as his cousin and aunt quickly made their way into the house. Uncle Vernon has been standing next to the car, watching as his nephew struggled with the closing of the boot. Once that was done, he stepped forward, his pudgy face staring into the rather skinny face of his nephew.
"Your aunt and I have done some remodeling to the house, namely the basement. Dudley has discovered boxing and his school thinks he can become one of the best in the nation if he looses some weight and gains some stamina. I think its all nonsense, the boys perfectly healthy as is but the school insist. Anyway, since we had some extra cash left over from the basement remodeling, your aunt has decided she wants a new garden."
Harry sighed, knowing exactly where this was going. "And you want me to be the one who does it it don't you?"
"I expect you out there for at least five hours a day. The materials are all on the side of the house. Your aunt has drawn up a design, which you will find on the kitchen counter. You will follow the design to the letter and I expect it done by the end of July."
"Fine, but I'm not doing it for free."
Vernon's face reddened at Harry's word and the teen could see the man puff himself up in anger. "If you think I will pay you even one pound!"
Harry resisted the urge to wipe the spit that had flown onto his face. "I don't want money. I want an equal share of meals. No more single piece of toast for breakfast or a slice of cheese and water for dinner. I'm almost fifteen now Uncle, and my growth has already been stunted by years of you refusing to feed me properly." Vernon started to stutter something in outrage at being talked to by his nephew like that, but Harry wasn't done.
"I also want to be able to keep my things in my room so I can do homework. You may think what I am is abnormal but like the rest of my people I've come upon my abilities naturally, as in nature gave me my gifts. And if you don't find any of these terms acceptable, then I won't re-do your garden. Any problems with that, you can take it up with my godfather. You remember the mass-murderer Sirius Black right?"
Uncle Vernon sputtered for a bit, wanting to yell bloody murder at his nephew, but stopped himself and thought it over. His nephew's demands weren't too irrational. The meals could easily be done, since Dudley was going to have to continue his diet anyway, which meant they could just shift the extra food the freak's way. As for the freak's abnormal things, well it wasn't like he could use his ability during the summer anyway, nor would anyone even enter the room.
"Fine," Vernon grunted out. "You start tomorrow. Now get in the house!"
Quickly adjusting the trunk and cage he had in his grip, Harry scampered around his uncle, up the front steps and into the house. He resisted the urge to let his trunk hit every step on the way up the stairs to the second floor, not wanting to have his things taken away from him because he wanted to get some petty revenge by scuffing up the shiny wooden steps. Instead he carried everything carefully, making sure Hedwig's cage didn't slide off the lid of the trunk as he carried it.
The room was just as he left it last year. All cabinets and drawers in the wardrobe open, from when he had rushed to pack his things when leaving last year. The desk, which looked like it would fall apart soon, and its equally crappy looking chair, were still sitting in their little corner. The bed, its sheets all over the place from when he had tossed and turned in them during a nightmare, was still slightly depressed in the middle, showing how old the mattress was. He doubted the Dursley's had even opened the door in his absence.
"It's great to be home," Harry muttered to himself, placing the trunk at the end of his bed.
He placed Hedwig's cage down on the desk, and it was at that moment that his owl appeared outside the bedroom window. Rushing over, Harry threw the window open and allowed the large snowy owl into his room.
"Great time Hed," he praised, fishing a spare owl treat out of his pocket. Hedwig, having settled on the window sill, perked up at the sight of her favorite food and eagerly took it from his outstretched hand.
"I'm gonna write a letter to Sirius and send you out. I know you just got here, but would you like to go on a journey girl?"
The teen grinned as his owl hooted a positive response. Walking over to his trunk, he popped open the lid and proceeded to get hit in the face with all the clothes he had shoved in there last minute, springing free from their tight confines. He needed a new trunk and looking at the raggedy and ugly clothes he was pulling off his face, he needed new clothes.
"I need to get to Gringotts girl, get some money for clothes." Harry stated, looking at his owl as he moved the pile of clothes next to the wardrobe.
"Hoot. Hoot."
"You're right, I'll be needing to get more owl treats for you as well."
"Hoot."
"Wow. I'm having conversations with my owl," the teen muttered to himself, pulling out a piece of parchment, quill and inkwell from his trunk.
'Dear Padfoot,
I'm back at the Dursley's, though I'd rather be living with you, even if it meant sleeping on the floor of a cave. They're making me re-do the garden, which will take at least a month of manual labor. I don't mind though. I managed to get them to let me keep my trunk in my room so I can work on my homework, in exchange for doing the work. Plus it will keep me busy and keep my mind from wandering to things I'd rather not think about.
I hope you are well and that where ever you are, Aurors are miles away. I know you are probably out, gathering the old crowd for Dumbledore. I just hope you remain safe and don't do anything too stupid. Remus has told me stories of you when you were in school. How did Dodge the Whomping Willow sound like a fun game to you?
Write when you can.
Miss You,
Your Godson'
Reading over the letter and deciding he was happy with it, he folded the letter in such a way that Hedwig would easily be able to carry it. Sensing she was needed, Hedwig flew from the window sill to his shoulder. She nipped his ear affectionately and Harry returned the affection with a few gentle strokes of her breast.
"I trust," he stated, holding up the letter, "you can find Sirius no problem. After all you are the greatest owl out there."
He waited as Hedwig puffed herself up in pride before swooping down from his shoulder and snatching up the letter. She circled around the room twice before diving toward the window and shooting out into the open air. He watched her fly out into the dusk sky, the setting sun casting a haze over the area.
He glanced at the ancient alarm clock that sat on the night stand next to his bed. Not even nine at night and he had nothing to do. The young wizard walked over to his bed and plopped himself down on the mattress. Then the smell of the sheets hit him, and he realized the things hadn't been washed in almost a year.
Yanking the bedspread off the mattress, he also gathered the clothes that weren't that baggy on him, about an eighth of those he owned and trekked down stairs. It sounded like the Dursley's were all watching the telly in the sitting room. He hadn't been down in the basement since he was eight, and he had accidentally fell down the stairs when carrying a load of laundry up them. He had suffered some ugly bruises from it, which got his teacher asking some questions the Dursley's didn't like. Ever since then he didn't have to do the laundry, since Petunia feared he'd fall down the stairs again and bring Social Services to their door.
He walked down the steps, noticing right away that the usually bare cement floors were covered in a what looked like a blue mat. Stepping fully into the underground room, which was the size of the entire ground floor, without the walls, he noticed that the entire floor was covered in it. The washer and dryer were still against the wall to his left, but the rest of the basement was cleared of all the boxes it use to contain. Instead, it now had about a dozen exercise machines, some free weights, a punching bag and a speed ball. There was also a bare spot of floor, probably where Dudley did some practice sparring.
"Thinking of working out Potter?"
Harry glanced up to the doorway and saw Dudley standing at the top of the stairs. He hadn't thought about it, but now that Dudley mentioned it, maybe it wouldn't be to bad an idea. He didn't have much to do during the summer anyway, besides some homework and working on the garden.
"Maybe," Harry replied, turning toward the washer.
"Dad would never let you near the equipment. He'd be afraid you'd break 'em," Dudley stated, matter of factly, as he walked down the stairs.
Harry shrugged at that as he tossed some detergent into the machine, followed by his clothes. "He probably wouldn't."
"But he would if I told him you could. If you do something for me..."
The wizard spun around, staring at his cousin with a guarded look on his face. "What do you want me to do?"
"I need a sparring partner."
Harry snorted at that. "Are you kidding me? Your over twice my weight. One punch from you would probably knock me out!"
"We don't have to actually hit each other. At least not until I lose some weight and you gain some. I just need to work on my speed. I need an actual target, something to try to hit, to push me harder when I miss."
"And you want me to be your partner?"
"I'm trying to take this seriously, this whole boxing thing. Despite what mum and dad say I know my grades aren't good. There really isn't much I am good at, except beating up on people. So I'm going to follow the diet set out for me and work out as much as I can. This way when I return to school I can impress the trainer they are going to introduce me too, and hopefully find a career in beating people up. Unfortunately, Piers, Malcolm and the gang want to go smoke and drink and beat up on kids but I can't do that because those things won't help me in my goal. So, they don't want to hang out with me anymore and now, I have...no friends." The last part was said rather pathetically.
Harry nodded his head, a little flabbergasted that Dudley had matured so much. Dudley had also finally come to the conclusion that Harry had come to years ago, about Dudley not being smart.
"Fine. I'll be your sparring partner. In exchange for using the equipment of course."
"Of course."
Dudley held out his hand and Harry warily accepted it. They shook on it, the first time in their history of living together that the two had agreed on something.
Dudley turned and went back up the stairs, closing the door behind him. Harry pulled himself up on the dryer and sat there thinking of his time at the Dursley's already. He was re-doing the garden, getting full meals, sparring with Dudley and working out. That was more then he ever did every other summer here combined.
"Maybe this summer won't be so bad after all."
He was completely wrong. The first two weeks of summer had been absolute hell. From working on the garden to sparring with Dudley, nothing seemed to agree with him.
After eating breakfast he would go work on the garden. When he first started he hadn't realized exactly how weak he was until he tried lifting two of the twenty pound bags of fertilizer. He had managed to lift them, but he thought his arms were going to fall out of their sockets if he held them for more then a few seconds. So instead he had decided to dig the pond out first. He didn't think it would be too bad, but he had no stamina to go along with his lack of muscles. It had taken him almost six hours to dig out the pond.
Then when he had sparred with Dudley for the first time, he had started off pretty well. He was a lot quicker then Dudley was and managed to dodge most of Dudley's shots. Unfortunately, one of them connected with Harry's temple and sent him crumbling to the mat, where he woke up fifteen minutes later. Dudley had abandoned him there, probably not wanting to get in trouble for giving his cousin a concussion.
After getting himself oriented, Harry had decided he would start using the exercise machines, since he was down there anyway. He found out he had to put the machines on their lowest weight available, otherwise with his weakness and soreness from the shoveling he had done earlier he wouldn't be able to do any working out at all.
After dinner he would work on some homework, writing a few inches for Herbology before calling it quits. He didn't even bother taking off his clothes, just fell on the bed and fell asleep.
Harry repeated that for the first week, and even had Dudley showing him the kind of workouts he could do with the free weights down in the basement, so he wasn't reliant on just the machines that were down there. He then added jogging to the routine. It was easier to lift things if you lifted with your legs. While his legs were the strongest part of his body, that didn't mean he didn't have to improve on them. He also added lunch, which he enjoyed after working on the garden. Three meals a day was better then two. Finally, he decided to improve on his spell work as well. He didn't actually cast any spells but looked up some interesting bits of magic in his defense books and practiced the wand movements.
He ran with the new routine for another week before something unexpected happened. He had been working on bringing all the heavy rocks to the pond, where he was suppose to frame the pool of water and create a waterfall, when a voice had interrupted his work.
"Alright there Harry?"
Spinning around, Harry let a smile grace his face. "Professor Lupin...er, Remus!" He quickly amended at the look on his old professor's face. "And Padfoot!"
The big black dog barked happily, bounding up to the sweaty teen and licking his hand enthusiastically.
"Ew!" Harry said between chuckles, wiping the hand that was slobbered on, on his t-shirt.
"How are you holding up Harry?" Remus asked, eying the teen's dirty appearance.
"Great actually. I never realized how pathetic I was physically. The manual labor, running and exercising has really improved my strength. Not to mention eating proper meals has already helped me grow an inch since summer started!"
"That's good!" Remus smiled at him, before glancing around. He could see that one of the Dursley's neighbors was pressed against her window, staring at the three of them intently. "Do you mind if we go inside? Sirius and I need to talk to you. Plus your neighbors appear to be very nosy people."
Harry laughed at that, glancing at Mrs. Withers and waving jovially at her. The woman seemed to harrumph to herself before pulling her face back and pulling the curtains over the window. Harry beckoned them to follow him, leading them to the house.
Harry brought them through the back door, into the kitchen where Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were sitting down eating lunch. Upon seeing Harry enter with a strange man and dog, Vernon opened his mouth to yell. However, as soon as Sirius entered the house he transformed into his human form, startling the two muggles shut.
"Hello Dursley," Sirius growled out menacingly. He took several steps toward the obese men, who was shaking in his seat. With a flick of his wrist, a long black wand was in the supposed mass murderer's hand, which he used to shut the back door with a bang. "I've heard about how you've treated my godson. You are lucky Harry's such a nice person or I'd kill you where you sit you fat bastard. Keep pushing him like you have been and maybe one day he won't be so nice and when that day comes, I'll be there with a smile on my face."
Vernon let out a rather pathetic sound that was half way between a squeal and a moan of terror. Sirius then turned his wild gaze onto Petunia, who shrank away from it.
"And you Petunia. I can't believe you treated your own sister's son like that! There is no way you and Lily could be related. She was such a better person then you could ever hope to be, its astonishing."
Petunia only squeaked in reply, trembling too much to respond to such a statement. With one last glare Sirius stalked out of the kitchen, with a quiet Remus and Harry following. The Boy-Who-Lived led the two men to his bedroom, where upon entering Harry turned toward his godfather.
"Did you have to threaten to kill him?" he asked with a small frown.
"Maybe that was taking it a little too far but it sure as hell scared him. Did you see his face? It looked like he was about to wet himself!"
"He did," Remus confirmed, tapping his nose.
Harry and Sirius looked at the werewolf for several seconds before glancing at each other and bursting out laughing. Remus didn't seem to approve of what Sirius did but couldn't help the guffaws that escaped his lips
Harry gestured for them to sit down, as he himself sat down on his bed. Sirius picked the desk chair, which groaned under his weight and Remus leaned against the window sill. They didn't seem too happy with the state of his room.
"What did you guys want to talk about?" Harry asked, trying to distract them from his terrible living with the Dursley's.
"Sorry I didn't respond to your letter. Remus and I were in Italy, trying to coerce back an old Auror who was a veteran during the last two wars. Dumbledore wants him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as rejoin the Order of the Phoenix," Sirius explained.
"Did he accept? And what's the Order of the Phoenix?"
Remus looked at Sirius, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"He didn't accept," Remus started. "As for the other question, well Dumbledore doesn't want us to tell you much, but during the war with Grindewald he created a group called the Order of the Phoenix. When it was first started the group would do things like intelligence gathering but after a few years during the war, fighters were eventually inducted into it. During the last war with Voldemort, Dumbledore started it up again. We were recruited after we graduated, along with your parents, the Longbottoms and Wormtail. Now he wants to get it going for a third time. "
"Can I join?" Harry asked, eagerly.
"I don't think Dumbledore wants fifth years in it, no offense. After you graduate definitely, if the war is still going on by then of course."
The teen nodded, a little put off at his godfather's words. He would have liked to join, to help in the fight against Voldemort any way he could.
"I do have some good news to tell you. I bought a house down the street, rather I should say Remus bought a house down the street. He will be the older brother who just went through a divorce and I, with a little charm here or there to hide my hair color and change my facial features, will be his younger brother."
Harry looked between the two and upon seeing that this wasn't a joke, broke out into a wide grin, which quickly turned into a look of concern. "Won't the Ministry be able to find you if you stay in one place? And you mean to tell me you'll be living down the road from me? "
"Well, they would be able to except the Auror in charge of my case is in the Order and has been leading them astray. It also helps that my cousin is a metamorphagus, which is someone who can change their physical appearance at their whim, and sometimes disguises herself as me and gets spotted up north in Scotland a lot. As for the living down the road part, that's a big yes. It was a long process but with Dumbledore on our side everything eventually worked itself out."
"What do you mean it was a long process?" Harry questioned. "Don't you just buy the house and move in?"
"Well we figured it would be best if we did things the legal way, through the Ministry. As a werewolf wanting to live within three miles of human contact, I have to show the Ministry that I have a secure place to be during full moons. I also have to go through some psychiatric test, to prove I'm not just here to go tearing into muggles while I'm a wolf." Remus grimaced as he said it, the thought of hurting another human disgusting him.
"There's also the fact that he's buying a house near you. He had to prove he didn't want to hurt you. Which was rather easy as one of your dad's best friend and a former professor. Then, since he's in the middle of a muggle neighborhood, there are all the wards and enchantments that go over the house, that make it appear as normal as possible to muggles who enter it. For instance, when muggles enter his house any moving photos and paintings he has automatically stay still. Any spell books he has laying around, while still appearing like a spell book to you or me, would look like a regular old book on mechanics or physics to a muggle. It cost a little extra to have a Ward Constructor come down to do it, as its mandatory for all magical people living in muggle neighborhood, but it was no problem."
"That sounds like a lot to go through just to live here. How were you able to afford it all? Er, no offense Remus," Harry apologized quickly.
"None taking Harry. I know I don't look like I have money and its true. Being a werewolf really restricts what jobs I can have. There are already discrimination laws that forbid me from holding a job in the government. Then there are laws that state if I want to work at a magical dwelling I have to inform my employer of my condition, and you know how witches and wizards discriminate against my kind."
Harry nodded sadly at Remus's words, knowing just how cruel magical people were to other races. Goblins, house elves, centaurs, werewolves and even half-giants were all feared or hated or looked down upon.
"I paid for it all." Sirius cleared his throat, probably as uncomfortable with his wealth compared to Remus's as Harry was with his compared to Ron's. "I couldn't use the Black vaults, since the Ministry flagged them after I bought you that Firebolt. Luckily, I inherited the Gamp family vaults from my dad's side three years ago when my second cousin died childless and the Ministry hasn't realized it yet. Since I was never convicted of anything, I'm still legally allowed to inherit the headship of a family."
Harry looked interested at that. "You mean the Ministry has a way to tell when someone becomes the head of a family?"
"Of course. They have the Department of Pureblood Affairs. Heads of family file paperwork listing their heirs, as well as any other children they have. The wills of purebloods are usually filed away their as well. They keep track of the genealogy of individuals who are either purebloods or half-bloods. This way if a head of family dies without dictating an heir they just trace their line to find the closest of kin. Of course purebloods have to do all that paperwork at Gringotts too, since they also have their own area for that. The Ministry isn't as good as Gringotts is with updating their records, though."
Harry nodded his head, figuring that next time he went to Gringotts to withdraw some money he'd go look at the Potter's lineage.
"Anyway," Remus began, "we won't be at the house all the time, since we still have some more members of the old crowd to gather, but when we are there you are welcome to visit us. We'll owl you when we aren't."
"Couldn't I just live with you guys?"
"While there are protective wards that stretch about a mile in every direction those aren't nearly as strong as the ones over the property of Number Four. Anti-apparition, anti-portkey and wards that keep out those with the Dark Mark can all be torn down with some skill, power and time. However, the blood wards that prevent anyone with magical blood and an intent to see harm come upon you from entering the property, can only be torn down by you, your aunt or your cousin."
The green eyed wizard looked down, put out at Remus's explanation. It would have been nice living with people who actually wanted him there.
"You can do magic at our house," Sirius proclaimed, trying to wipe the dejected look off his godson's face.
"But I'm underage!" Harry exclaimed looking up, his face confused.
"They don't track wands. They just track magic over magical residents. Muggle-borns can't do magic at their houses because they are the only ones of magic there, so the Ministry knows its them. Purebloods know this and even though its considered a social taboo to allow your child to do magic, many of them allow it anyway, they just don't let anyone know."
Harry frowned at what Sirius told him. "No wonder why I got in trouble for Dobby's hovering charm! The system's so flawed!"
Remus nodded, agreeing with the teen. "It is. There have been many advocates trying to get the Ministry to change the system. They want them to put tracking charms on wands, that can be removed when a teen becomes of age. Which makes a lot more sense, but Fudge doesn't like to disturb the status quo, so nothing has been done. However, that means you can perform magic at our house. I'd say you could probably perform it at your house too actually, since you haven't gotten an owl yet for Sirius's banishing charm on the door but if they see multiple spells being cast here they might get suspicious."
Harry glanced at the schedule he had worked out and then posted on his wall by his desk. He didn't want to do anything to change the whole physical part of his day of running, working on the garden, sparring with Dudley and using the exercise equipment. But at around 4 in the afternoon till around ten at night all he did was look up spells, practice wand movements, eat dinner and do a little homework.
"Can I come over everyday at four?"
Sirius laughed. "Of course you can! We'll even help you with your spell work and homework. Though, neither of us can cook for a damn so there will be a lot of take out."
"Great! I just gotta do some things and I'll be over in a few hours!"
"It's just an upward flick of the wrist."
Remus demonstrated, showing Harry the rather easy wand movement. Harry did it a few times, just to get use to it.
"Good! Now repeat after me Confringo. Con-frin-joh."
"Con-frin-joh."
"Excellent. Now put them both together and make sure you aim at the dummy!"
"Confringo!"
The azure jet of light slammed into the wooden dummy, shattering it in a small explosion of fire. Splinters rained down upon the surrounding area, causing Harry and Remus to wince.
"Very good! Though it usually isn't so powerful, especially in one so young." Remus looked thoughtful as he said the last bit.
"Does it do that to humans too?" Harry asked, frowning.
"The spell is meant to be used on solid objects, but it can be used on humans as well. Since it wasn't designed for humans its effects on them aren't nearly as powerful. However, you could still blow out a healthy chunk of flesh."
"Oi nerds! Dinner is here so stop with the learning!" Sirius shouted from upstairs.
Remus chuckled. "Despite what he says, Sirius did a lot of learning himself. Although to be fair, I'm not sure how given his staunch refusal to ever enter the library at Hogwarts. Actually, not that I think about it, I'm still not sure how Sirius did so well on his exams."
A far-away look came upon Remus's face as he got lost in thought about his days as a Hogwart's student. Blinking rapidly, the shabby looking man shook his head. "Well, that's Duro, Levicorpus and Confringo. Not bad for your first day of learning."
"Well you've always been a great professor," Harry responded, starting up the stairs.
"Thank you Harry, though I don't think many would agree with you," Remus responded, following the teen.
"Snape doesn't matter. He's a slimy git."
"To right he is!" Sirius crowed, hearing what Harry said. "Now come in here and help me finish this pizza. I ordered two large pies!"
"Merlin Padfoot! That's a lot of pizza for three people!" Remus chided, walking into the kitchen.
"Probably," Sirius chuckled.
Harry joined them at the table, picking up a slice of pizza and biting into it. He had never had pizza and it tasted wonderful to him.
"I think I'm gonna enjoy the summer."
It was July 30th, a day before his birthday and he had finally finished the garden yesterday. It looked beautiful if he did say so himself, and the neighbors seemed to think so too, judging by how they gushed to Aunt Petunia. Not that the Dursleys gave any credit to him for it.
All the physical activities he had done, plus eating healthy for once, had put an extra stone of weight on his body and helped him grow another two inches. No longer was he a five foot two inch shrimp who only weighed a hundred and twenty-two pounds. He wasn't bulky looking like Dudley was bound to be if he kept up with the diet and working out. Instead the green-eyed teen was slim and lean and wiry looking, like the football players Dean Thomas had posters of. He still had a long way to go from being the runt of his grade, but it was an improvement.
It also helped that Remus had taken out some money from his bank account and purchased Harry some new clothes to wear. No longer wearing clothes that were four sizes too big, really helped Harry's appearance. Wearing baggy clothes made you look smaller then you really were and Harry had already looked three years younger then he actually was without the baggy clothes.
Sirius and Remus had helped him finish all his homework, especially Potions which he had been struggling with. Honestly, he was terrible in the subject and couldn't wait to drop it after OWLS were over. They had also greatly expanded his repertoire of spells; adding shields, cutters, blasters and bludgeoners, amongst others. On top of that, they helped him with his transfiguration and even started him on the path of becoming an animagus, even though he wouldn't be able to transform until Valentine's day the earliest. The process involved a lot of meditation to achieve proper mental awareness, two potions; one to find your animal if you had one and one to allow you to transform, and a lot of practice on self-transfiguration.
He was currently on his way to their house, rubbing his cheek gingerly. He had a nasty bruise there from when Dudley had caught him with a right hook earlier in the day. The portly teen had become faster after weeks of trying to land punches on Harry, but Harry had become faster as well. Getting hit was rare but when it happened, it hurt like all hell.
On the way to Remus' house from the Dursley's sat an open plot of land that the local teenagers now used to play football and rugby on. Currently a group of them were playing an intense game of football, judging by all the shouting going on.
"Look out!"
Harry glanced up and saw a football was about to collide with his head. His hands shot forward, snatching the ball inches from slamming into his head.
"Good catch!"
A girl came running over to him, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. She looked around Harry's age, very cute and blonde, but he couldn't quite place her from the students in his old school. Then again, it was almost five years since he last saw any of them.
"Thanks," he replied, handing her back the ball.
"Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar?" The girl examined his face closely.
Harry blinked. "Er, I'm Harry Potter. I live with the Dursley's..."
"Their delinquent nephew!" she cried out, snapping her fingers.
"I wouldn't exactly say delinquent," Harry muttered.
"Is it true you're shagging the Luther brothers?" she asked, rather boldly.
Harry's face twisted into shock as he heard that. "You mean Sirius and Remus?" At the mere thought of it he burst out laughing, though disgust was evident on his face. "Oh god no! The mere thought makes me want to vomit. They were friends of my father back when he was alive. Sirius is my godfather and Remus is an honorary uncle. Its only recent that I've met them."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense, even if it isn't as interesting a story as the rumor going around." The girl seemed to be thinking about something for several seconds. "Do you really go to a school for criminally insane boys?"
The wizard rolled his eyes at the Dursley's rumor. "Insane? Maybe. Criminally insane? Nah. I actually go to a boarding school up north in Scotland."
"That doesn't sound as interesting as the rumor either." She looked put out at the fact that Harry wasn't part of any scandalous stories.
"I can assure you my life is quite interesting," Harry stated, rather defensively.
Her sky colored eyes looked him up and down, before she broke out in a grin. "Would you mind telling me how interesting your life is over a slice of pizza?"
"Wha...er what?" Harry asked, stuttering.
"A slice of pizza. You know what that is right?"
"Of course!" Harry's voice cracked, causing him to wince. He could feel his face heating up and was mortified his body had betrayed him like that.
She seemed amused by him and Harry couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He was never good with girls, Pavarti Patil could testify to that.
"I have to go home and shower but if you were to be here in an hour, we could go get that slice..." she trailed off, looking at the green-eyed teen inquisitively.
"Um, yeah. I'll … I'll be here."
"Great. I'll see you in an hour!"
Harry watched her walk away, bewildered at what had just happened. As soon as the girl, whose name he didn't even know, had disappeared from sight, he raced down to the Marauder's house. He didn't bother knocking, he never did.
"What am I suppose to tell her if she starts asking about my school?"
Harry had burst into the house to ask Remus and Sirius for advice. After Sirius had stopped teasing him, they had given him some ideas on how to behave on a date, even if Harry insisted it wasn't a date. Still, the green-eyed teen was still nervous on what to talk about.
"Just tell her you go to Hogwarts," Remus said, as if it was the most simple thing in the world.
"What? That makes no sense. Hogwarts doesn't exist to her!"
"Muggles can look up Hogwarts. When Dumbledore became Headmaster he set up a file on the school, listing it as an exclusive boarding school in Scotland that is invite only. Anyone who digs can easily find information on the school, even students' grades. Though they change things around like Potions is chemistry, Care of Magical Creatures is biology and Arithmancy is mathematics, amongst other things. Didn't you read about that in your muggle-born packet?" Remus asked.
"What the hell is a muggle-born packet?" Harry demanded.
"When a muggle-born witch or wizard is accepted into Hogwarts the Ministry sends a packet that explains to them a brief background of the wizarding world, its basic customs and a run down of the laws involving underage magic and the breach of secrecy," Sirius explained. "They probably figured since you were the Boy-Who-Lived you knew all of that already, not taking into account the fact that you were raised by muggles."
"Yeah, a lot of things seemed to have been conveniently forgotten when it comes to me. For instance, I've been told the Potters are a pureblood line, so am I going to become the head of the family?"
"No one told you that!" Sirius seemed outraged at the face. Then again as a Black he was brought up as a proper pureblood and so such things were probably extra sensitive to him, even if he did deny that way of life.
"No! No one told me a damn thing," the teen almost spat, his anger at being kept in the dark about his own life rising to the surface.
"Of course you are going to be the head of the Potter family! In fact, since you are the last of the Potters, you will be able to rightfully declare the position tomorrow, when you turn fifteen. An interim head has probably been assigned in your place, by your father in his will. This also means you'll be able to claim your seat in the Wizengamot. You should find out who the interim head is and how he has voted for you.
"You also can see if you claim the right to lead any other families. You could even claim to be the head of the Gryffindor family."
Harry looked at Sirius in surprise. "I am a descendant of Gryffindor?"
"Of course. The Potters, Longbottoms, Spinnets and Dumbledores are all Gryffindor descendants. The Potters descend from Gryffindor's oldest son. The Longbottoms and Spinnets descend from his middle child, a daughter. Finally, the Dumbledores descend from his youngest son. Since your line of ancestors were all previous heads of the family, you would be able to claim it. Though you'd be taking the position away from Dumbledore, who claimed it in the early 1900's, when no one had claimed it for almost two hundred years. The position was thought cursed, since anyone who claimed the position of Head of Gryffindor house seemed to die within six years of taking the position. Of course Dumbledore proved that wrong."
Harry shook his head, trying to take in Sirius had just told him. He was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor himself. So was Professor Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom and Alicia Spinnet. He wondered if anyone else was the descendants of a founder. Was Voldemort the only Slytherin left?
"What about the other founders?" he asked eagerly.
Sirius tapped his chin thoughtfully, trying to recall the knowledge. "Let's see if I remember this correctly. The Gaunts were from Slytherin but that line disappeared sometime in the 1940's. There was also the Norton family but they moved to Australia several decades ago. The Blacks are actually descended from Ravenclaw, along with the Corvus family, the Edgecombe family, the Boot family, the Lovegood family, the Rookwood family and the MacGregor family. Finally, the MacMillans, the Smiths, the Bones, the Flints, the Jugsons and the Moodys are all from the Hufflepuff line. Oh and believe it or not but the Weasleys are the only descendants of Merlin."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Nope. That's why some purebloods like the Malfoy family are so hard on them. They think that people who descend from probably the most powerful wizard to ever live should have a better house, better job and should be firm believers in the pureblood beliefs and traditions. Unfortunately, the first one isn't Arthur's fault. His father blew away all of the Merlin family money before Arthur was even ten. It was a big scandal at the time. Arthur of course doesn't help his status by staying at such a low paying job just because he's fascinated by muggles, even though he has been offered better positions. Of course, having seven kids probably doesn't help his wallet either. His older brother is a bit more respected amongst purebloods."
There were so many more questions Harry wanted to ask. The history of the pureblood families seemed so fascinating. Why didn't Binns ever teach anything like that? Instead he focused on goblin wars, like nothing else happened in the past.
"I'd hate to interrupt this history lesson but you are suppose to meet this girl in two minutes." Remus pointed at the clock on the wall
"Bloody hell!" Harry shouted, jumping to his feet. "I'll see you later guys. Thanks for the advice!"
"Hold on their kiddo." Remus put out his arm, stopping Harry before he could dash from the house. "Here's some pounds. Treat her to dinner. Its the gentlemen thing to do."
Harry accepted the money, shoving it into his pocket. He took off running again, his shout of "Thanks Remus!" trailing him as he flew through the doorway to the outside world.
"Oh no!"
Remus turned to Sirius, who looked at him with a stricken look on his face. "This means we have to give him the birds and the bees talk soon don't we?"
