IMPORTANT: Please read! It's my first fanfic ever! It's an AU post OotP. I started this story sometime ago but my Muse suddenly went overdrive and I got mixed up with the timelines I had set. This is the EDITED story. It's the same plot I had planned, only it will be much more detailed …After his godfather's death, Harry experiences a change that could be the wizarding world's downfall. It is up to someone else to be our hero's hero, but…Who will it be?

Disclaimer: see profile, I did say I own nothing except the plot and maybe a few characters as I see fit. Woe be me, the rest belongs to the genius J. K. Rowling. I won't be repeating it all over again. I'd rather write my story instead so finish whatever other business you have to do, sit comfortably and grab your popcorn while you enjoy the show.

Key:

"……" speech

stuff…: thoughts or mental monologues

# Parseltongue or beast speech#

On with the story!

"What a Hero Needs"

Prologue: It Begins

Irony can be found everywhere, sometimes unseen and others not so. But for a certain green-eyed fifteen-year-old boy it is much too obvious too many times, especially on such a beautiful summer day…

Beautiful my arse…Who was the raving lunatic to decide that those somber grey figures looked good in a so-called park"? God, I am being really sarcastic…Anyway, who decided that all-black clothes were the latest fashion for summertime? Really, the nerve of some people…

Oh, yes, I forgot that hooked-nosed bat does dress all-black everyday…and HE was a black dog while in his animagus form…If only I hadn't been so stupid…I should have listened…Maybe Hermione is right…why do I insist in being a "hero"?...If I had just- No, stop it! I won't think about it…

The young man stopped that train of thought least he let himself drown in misery and guilt and returned to his previous activity of staring at the ridiculous marble slate that read:

"Here lies Sirius Black: an honorable man"

He then tried listening to (he scowled) Dumbledore's speech:

"…gave numerous donations to the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix. He was an honorable man from an influential family who suffered through twelve years in Askaban-" "What?" The teen thought, no longer paying attention, "What man is he talking about? That's definitely not my godfather or my dad's best friend…He was a Marauder, a friend, a prankster, he HATED the Ministry…he had to run away from his family, for Merlin's sake! He restrained himself from breaking his chair in half.

The ancient wizard with a silver beard long enough that it could be tucked under his belt, known as Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, was standing behind a podium in the park behind the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters where he addressed the members of said order as they remembered the now deceased Sirius Black.

The so-called park was, in reality, a backyard graveyard, complete with somber statues or other monuments for each of the Black family members buried there. A light mist fell over the place, giving it a look that betrayed the fact that it was quite a sunny summer day outside on the other side of the property's wall.(A/N: It would be similar to the backyard from Disney's "Haunted Mansion" if anyone has trouble picturing it. It's quite darkish, if you ask me).

Barely a week after the DA's trip to the Department of Mysteries, the members of the Order had decided to honor Sirius's death even if there was no body to bury, it was a fact that those who fell past the Veil couldn't return to the living. So they decided to make a really boring monument dedicated to him, which our hero had changed while no one was watching. It now read:

Dedicated to Padfoot

Beloved

Friend, prankster and father

May you ride again

"Mischief managed"

R. I. P.

He didn't know why he had changed it-it had just felt like the right thing to do at the time.It seemed amazing that everyone staying at Number Twelve Grimmauld's Place was done with mourning Sirius's death except, of course, Remus, who had just lost his best friend all over again. Unfortunately, being that each was coping with their own burdens; nobody had noticed that the fifteen year-old hadn't even begun to grieve. In fact, he had been in a state of shock since he had witnessed the dead of the only man he had ever known as a father figure. He had gone through so many dreadful experiences during the last five years that everyone had thought he would get over it pretty fast. How wrong they really were.

Nobody knew that he had never got over Cedric's death either and that he was dealing with even more than anybody thought possible: guilt (even if no one blamed him), his life at the Dursleys' and, worst of all… the prophesy Dumbledore had seen fit to tell him about just after having witnessed his death and being possessed by "Snake-face", as he called his nemesis since that particular experience.

"The-Boy-Who-Lived" had never really told anyone the whole truth about his life at the Dursleys and the only one close enough to it was now dead…

It's all because of my fault… Rage seized him…That's it! ... Tears welled up in his eyes… I'VE HAD IT! NO MORE!

Every single person within the Headquarters turned out to be too busy when the inevitable happened… Something inside Harry snapped and for an instant, it seemed his eyes turned brighter before reality hit home…and those shiny emerald green orbs became empty of emotion… dull and cold.

And in a place further than anyone could think of, a man found what he had long searched for, though not in the way he hoped…

He smiled sadly, "At last…I've found you…Let's pray it's not too late".

A/N: I hope you like it. As I wrote before, this is the same plot. I only corrected some grammar mistakes and added several details I had previously forgotten.

Please review!!!!