Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its affiliates. I make no money off of this story and all rights go to the author JK Rawling.

Rebirth

Book 1: Dawn

Chapter 1: A Different Kind of Summer

"So Harry, what does it feel like?" Hermione asked as the Hogwarts Express bore them back to London.

Harry turned his head from the window and green scenery and grinned a wide smile at his two friends. They were also grinning at him, because they really already knew. "The best," Harry said.

~~***~~***~~***~~

Harry stepped off of the train and into the usual chaos that ensued when all the students of Hogwarts were returned to their parents. People yelling, owls screeching, trunks thudding onto the cement and being dragged to their carts; it was all the usual, but Harry heard none of it.

"Bye Harry, I'll miss you!" Hermione said grabbing him around the neck and giving him a great hug, "write me this year!"

Ron also stepped up and gave a one arm hug to his best friend, "Yeah mate, have a great summer and invite us over!"

"Ron, don't be rude and invite yourself!" Hermione scolded.

"Well he might want to show us his new place!" Ron defended, but his ears were turning as red as his hair.

"Hey, it's okay guys. I will write and if I can you two can spend part of the summer with me for a change!" Harry said as he waved and made his way to the archway back into the muggle part of the train station.

Harry stepped through the boundary and looked around. He saw his Uncle Vernon Dursley, a large sausage like man with a big mustache looking grumpy and tapping his foot as he continually looked at his clock. Harry hefted up Hedwigs cage in his arm better and dragged his trunk with the other. It had been too busy to grab a cart before, but his skinny arms were managing his school things just so.

"Hi," Harry said grinning at his uncle.

Vernon looked at the boy suspiciously, "What's gotten into you? Wipe that smirk off your face! Not even back a moment and you're already smarting off," he grumped, "and why didn't you get a cart? People might see you carrying that, bird around and wonder about us!"

Vernon looked around and saw someone taking their stuff off a cart and walked over. He took their last bag off and grabbed the cart and walked away with it. The young man that had had the cart looked up in time to do a very rude gesture at Vernon's back and Harry tried to hold his laughter in.

"What are you laughing at boy? You get stranger every year. Don't let anyone in the neighborhood see it!" Vernon warned threateningly and strode off to where his car must have been parked.

Harry hurriedly put his trunk on the cart and set Hedwig on top carefully, still laughing at Uncle Vernon. He pushed the cart and barely caught up as his uncle looked back and frowned. He had obviously been hoping Harry would have gotten lost in the crowd, but somehow had not. He harrumphed again and grudgingly opened the trunk.

Harry struggled and put his trunk in and then picked up Hedwig's cage and got into the back seat. He was going back to Privet Drive and could have never been any happier.

It was a sunny day and the first thing Harry saw on Privet Drive was his cousin Dudley stealing another boy's bike. Harry watched as his uncle popped open the trunk and grabbed Harry's trunk. This had happened twice before and Harry already knew that his trunk was going to be locked in the cupboard underneath the stairs again. He didn't mind so much this time though and kept his attention on Dudley who was now chasing the boy with his own bike. Somehow Dudley had gotten fatter.

"BOY!" Vernon yelled from the door, making Harry jump. "GET THAT BLOODY…BIRD IN HERE!" he yelled looking around and making sure none of the neighbors were looking at his weird nephew and pet owl.

Harry turned his gaze from his cousin and came into the house. He immediately started for the stairs and went up to his room. He set Hedwig on the desk and stuck his fingers in her cage. She nipped at them affectionately and hooted at him. "I know Hedwig, I hope its soon too," he said. Harry looked around at his room and sighed. He went over to his bed and started to make it as his Aunt Petunia had only put the new sheets on the mattress and had left him to do the rest of the work.

Once he was done he laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. His mind wandered to what the rest of the summer would bring. How it was all going to go down. How he was going to tell the Dursleys. What they were going to say. Where he was going to live now.

Ever since Harry and his friends had proven Sirius innocent at the end of the school term, Harry's life was going to be completely different now. Sirius Black, the once known infamous killer of wizards and muggles, spy for the Dark Lord Voldemort and traitor was now proven to have never been any of those things and that his former friend and thought to be dead, Peter Pettigrew was the real murderer and spy.

It had all almost gone to pot when their former DADA teacher, Remus Lupin had turned into a werewolf right when they were bringing Sirius and Peter to the castle from the secret passage way under the Whomping Willow.

Remus had run off then, leaving only Ron to be guarding Peter. Peter had seen this weakness and had jerked Ron down (whose leg had been broken at the time) and transformed into a rat. Luckily for Harry, Sirius and everyone else except Peter. Ron had fallen on top of Peter and squashed him.

Sirius had had to distract Remus as his animagus form of a large, black dog. He had bit and barked at him so that Remus would leave Harry, Hermione, Ron and an unconscious Snape alone and lured Remus to other parts of Hogwarts grounds.

Hermione and Harry were then able to get a hold of Peter and Hermione had imprisoned him in a bag she had conjured up. They had then helped Ron up and quickly made their way back to the castle.

Harry remembered that Professor McGonagall had been coming down the staircase and had caught sight of them coming in the large front doors. "What are you three thinking? Were you running around outside in the dark? Are you all daft?" she had needled them as she came up. "What's happened to your leg Weasley?"

They had all started talking at once and waving the bag in front of McGonagall's face. She finally forced them to hush and had made them all go to the Hospital Wing and had taken the bag with her, skeptically to Dumbledore.

Ron was being tended to when Harry had looked out and saw hundreds of dementors swarming around the lake. Hermione also saw this, "Harry you don't think-?" she questioned.

"Sirius?" Harry whispered, unable to look away from the scene. He ran then, towards the lake. It was one of the scariest moments in his life as he fled through the school and across one of the lawns towards the lake. It wasn't until he was almost there that he realized Hermione was right behind him.

"Hermione!" he said as they ran, "what are you doing here?"

"Helping you and Sirius!" she wheezed back, still trying her best to keep up.

Harry felt a moment of gratitude that his friend would also run into a pile of dementors because it might help him. She was daft as a bat, but he was completely grateful for it.

They saw Sirius, who was already lying on the ground, probably unconscious and the dementors were swooping over him. Taking what little they could from the broken man.

"No!" Harry yelled, putting on a last burst of speed, "Expecto Patronum!" he yelled. Making a large silver cloud erupt from the tip of his wand. It scattered the closest dementors and Harry finally made it to Sirius' side.

Hermione was there now too, "What do we do Harry?" she asked looking up at the circling creatures.

"I need you to help me do the spell, expecto patronum Hermione. Think of something really happy and say it. It will help keep them away," Harry explained as he performed the spell again.

Harry could feel his happiness being sucked away though and a cold feeling had started to run through his body. He noticed Hermione was only whispering the spell now and looked like she might pass out. Harry was also feeling the dementors affects even worse now.

He kept trying, but soon he realized the dementors were closing in, his patronus was weakening to almost nothing. Hermione was out and so was Sirius. Harry laid on top of Sirius, "expecto, expect-, expecto pat-," he tried, but just couldn't get it out.

A dementor swooped in and instead of going for Sirius it picked Harry up. His eyes had opened wide as its hood came back and the dead flesh of the dementor clung thinly to its skull and all was blank except a large dark hole that was to be a mouth. It lowered its head to Harry and he knew he was about to receive a dementor's kiss and have his soul sucked out of his body forever and there was nothing he could do about it.

Then there was a blindingly white light and Harry knew no more.

To Be Continued…