Disclaimers: I do not own The Magnificent Seven or Harry Potter, or their characters. I have a student loan to pay off and therefore have no money to pay out should someone decide to sue me. Oh, and I changed my mind; Must Find Antidote is included in this series
Warning: In this universe, the "Half-Blood Prince" did not occur.
Introductions
MAB49
"So you're going to London today?" Hermione asked.
It was a Hogsmeade weekend. While the rest of the upper classes were going to the village, Harry was going to London.
Harry nodded. "I have to admit to being excited. Professor Lupin is coming over and we'll be spending the day with someone else. Apparently Ezra Standish is not only a member of the Order, he also had been friends with my parents."
"You ought to have a good time then, finding out more about what your parents were like," Ron commented.
"Moony has told me that I have met Ezra before, but I had been a baby at the time. And before you ask, Professor Dumbledore has agreed to let us go to London. Maybe I can do some early Christmas shopping."
"A bit early for that, isn't it? Christmas isn't for another two months."
"It's never too early to start, Ron," admonished Hermoine. "I think that it's smashing for you to get your shopping done early. That way, you have more time to spend studying for Christmas exams."
"Not everything is about studying, 'Moine," moaned Ron.
Harry shook his head. "According to Moony, this can be an experience. If I understand correctly, on his last trip to Diagon Alley, Ezra managed to manoeuvre himself into not 'being in hot water' for opening up a Gringotts vault for an American friend of his on a previous visit, but also bought two robes for the same friend. I guess he has money."
"The Standish's have always had money. They were—well, are—certainly a 'light' family. Almost wiped out in the last war, though. It's just him now," Ron said
Harry nodded at this, finding something in common with the man already. "Anyway, they'll be coming soon."
"Correction," said Ron, "here they are." They saw Remus and another man walking towards Dumbledore's office. Moony!"
Remus and the stranger stopped.
The trio quickly ran up to them. "Hi Professor Lupin!"
"Hello, Harry, Ron and Hermione! And it's just Remus, now," Remus returned. "I would like for you to meet a friend of mine, Ezra Standish."
"It is a pleasure to see you again, young Master Potter." Ezra stated in a American Southern accent, as he held out his hand.
"And you as well, Mr. Standish." Harry shook the offered hand. "These are my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."
"Please, call me Ezra," Standish replied shaking Hermoine's hand.
"Professor Lupin said that you work in the muggle world."
Ezra nodded. "I work for the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agency. I used to work for the FBI before that."
"Why the change?" Ron asked as they began walking to Dumbledore's office.
"You remember Padfoot being accused for something he didn't do?"
"Oh, I get it," Harry replied. "That's stupid. But you didn't go to jail though, right?"
"No, I didn't. However, I was essentially chased out of Atlanta and my job by my former colleagues."
"But you're fine where you are now, right?"
"Yes it is, but I have found compatriots that I would give my life to protect. One of them is even a wizard who attended Salem Academy."
"But the rest don't know that you're a wizard?" Hermoine asked
"One does," Standish admitted. "But he is in Atlanta and is also my best friend. He found out when the person we were after took out his wand and tried to use the Reducto and Cruciatus curses on us."
"Yeowch. And he wasn't oblivated?" Ron queried
"We came to an agreement. If Lenny deduces that a suspect may be a wizard, he calls in an Auror team. If that person is a wizard, the Auror's take over from there."
"What explanations are his colleagues given?"
"They are usually told that it is classified and they do not have clearance. That usually annoys the bloody hell out of them."
Harry snickered. "I can see why."
"And Ezra enjoys it when his former colleagues are 'annoyed.' It pleases him immensely," Remus added.
"Would you not feel pleasure if the situations were reversed?"
"I won't answer that question."
"Wonderful evasion," Ezra replied as they got to Dumbledore's office.
""Fizzing Whizzbees," Remus said as they stopped at the stone gargoyle. The gargoyle moved aside. They went through up into Dumbledore's office.
"Ah, Remus, Ezra, I see that you are here for your sojourn to London," Professor Dumbledore stated. "I trust that everything will be well today?"
Remus and Dumbledore looked at Ezra. Harry saw this but didn't understand why.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"I don't suppose that you have seen anything?"
"I see Remus and Harry beside me, along with Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore eyes twinkled as Ezra sighed. "Not to my knowledge."
"Then I hope that you have a good day, Gentlemen. And Harry, I hope that you have a wonderful day with two of your parents' friends."
"I will, Professor."
"We best be off, Sir. Have a good day."
Muggle London
"Do they have Death Eaters in America?" Harry asked as they walked in Hyde Park.
"There may be some Death Eaters in the United States, and I know for a fact that there are sympathisers. However, they have not caused any real trouble."
"So you can't do anything to them."
"As much as I would like to do something to them and their idiotic sentiments, no, nothing can be done. However, they are mostly from England, so they are not taken seriously for the most part."
"Ask him what his favourite subject was in school," Remus interjected. "We don't need to how did JD put it? 'Talk shop'."
"It was Potions."
"Mine's a tie between Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures."
"Ah, but that was not his best subject," added Lupin.
"What was that?"
"Divination," was the answer.
"Divination?"
"Yes."
"How did you like it?"
"Truthfully?" Ezra nodded. "If you can find a decent professor, it can be illuminating."
Remus gave a small laugh. "Ezra received outstanding marks in Divination. He always knew, always had a feeling, of when something would happen. He's also a seer."
"Remus!" Ezra protested.
"Ezra, whether you want to believe it or not, you are a seer. Perhaps it doesn't come on a regular basis to you, but we keep seeing it. Dumbledore takes it seriously. Which was why he asked you earlier."
"I do not do anything special!"
"You kept saying that and last time in Diagon Alley; I thought that you would have accepted this by now. Needless to say, you did see something at the last Order meeting which sent us to where a Death Eater attack was about to occur. You are quite good at it. Besides your runes and tarot skills are outstanding."
"Remus…."
"Trelawney has received some true visions, but she never remembers afterwards," Harry put in
"Ezra can be like that at times. But, he has dreams—either awake or asleep—that he remembers," Remus said pointing his finger at his friend.
"Oh, shut up!" Standish replied in a British accent.
Harry laughed at this. It was nice seeing Remus joke again. Even if it wasn't with Sirius.
He stopped laughing. He felt like be was betraying Sirius by enjoying himself.
Ezra noticed this. "Hey Remus, is it not your turn to get beverages?"
"Huh?" The werewolf looked at his friend, and late-friend's son. "Oh, yeah. Do you guys want to drink here in the park?"
"It is not too cold out, so we can start off at the park," Standish answered. "I'll have some coffee. Harry, what would you like? Hot chocolate?" Harry nodded. Ezra retrieved his wallet and got out several pounds and saw Remus shaking his head. "You know that I can afford this. Besides, I haven't given Harry anything since he was a baby."
Remus took the money. He knew what his transplanted American friend was up to. "Starting off small, I see. I'll be back soon." And with that, he took off.
"How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess."
"I know that I acted out of character when I heard of Sirius' death. My friends were so worried that they called Lenny. And they hate Lenny."
"Lenny's your friend from Atlanta," Harry commented.
"Yes," Ezra agreed. "I remember when my grandparents were killed. I was depressed."
"Did Remus tell you that I was depressed?"
"No. But it is okay to laugh. It's what Sirius would have wanted. He was a dear prankster. Especially against Slytherins."
"You didn't like them?"
"Some of them were okay. However, Lucius and company made my life hell."
"How so?" Harry asked.
"My mother is not only a muggle but she's also a Southerner from the U.S. 'Funny accent' and all that idiotic nonsense," Ezra responded. "It certainly gladdens me that I had been sorted into Gryffindor. However I do mean it; while it may be difficult at times, but Sirius would not want you to lament over his death."
"But I'm the reason why he's dead! If I didn't fall for Voldemort's—"
"Stop right there! You prevented Voldemort from getting the prophecy and that is important. Besides, you did not know that Voldemort was manipulating you."
"If I had concentrated more on my occu—"
"With Snape? I cannot believe that Professor Dumbledore honestly believed that he could put his animosity aside… But I digress. Nonetheless it is not your fault!"
"But—"
"But nothing! There was nothing you could have done. You went up against trained Death Eaters and survived. Believe me, that is an accomplishment in itself." Ezra stopped walking for a moment. "Sirius knew what he was doing. He had battled Death Eaters before. He knew the risks and was willing to take them. I know that this is probably going through one ear and out the other, but it is true."
Harry gave a small smile at this. "You've definitely been around teenagers."
"I just remember what I was like at your age," Ezra retorted. "While it may seem sacrilege to laugh or have fun, it is not. Sirius would want you to. Think of it as a way of honouring him."
"That still seems a little hokey."
"I recall that after my grandparents were killed, Sirius pranked Lucius to get me to laugh."
"What did Padfoot do?"
"He turned all of the Slytherin uniforms into Hufflepuff ones for one week."
Harry laughed at this.
"That's the spirit! What else are you interested in?"
-----
Remus was coming back from the fast-food restaurant when he heard laughter. He looked for the source and saw that it was Harry. The werewolf smiled at this as he neared his friends.
"You use your sight for the stock market?!?"
"No, I do not use sight for the stock market! I go by feelings. If a stock feels like it will be productive, I will buy shares. If not, I simply give it a pass."
"I see that the two of you are getting along," Remus commented.
"Swimmingly," the ATF replied. "I see you have returned, bearing gifts."
"That smells delicious," Harry commented as Remus handed to him a cup of hot chocolate.
"And it is hot," Ezra added as he reached out for his coffee. He took a sip. "Fantastic. Would the two of you mind if we search through the stores for gifts?"
"Where to first?"
-----
The three wizards were in a muggle restaurant eating supper, packages stuffed under the table and along the sides. The day had been productive with Harry buying gifts for his friends. They were muggle gifts, but he knew that his friends would enjoy them. He got Hermoine a gift certificate to a book store along with a sweater; for Ron he bought the game 'Risk' and a blue shirt; he also bought the twins items from a muggle joke shop. These items weren't as good as what George and Fred developed, but it might be something interesting for them. The young wizard didn't buy anything for Remus for obvious reasons.
Harry had enjoyed hearing more about James and Lily Potter from Ezra. It was nice having a different perspective then just Sirius and Remus' point-of-views. He liked Ezra. Sure the wizard was formal as a pureblood could be, but with him it was a sign of respect, not putting someone in their 'place.' Christmas plans were made for the transplanted Southerner to join them at number twelve Grimmauld Place. Now he would have to buy something for Ezra, but should he buy a magical or non-magical item? More importantly, how much should he spend? Mr. Standish seemed to like the finer things in life as evidenced by what he bought. Maybe he would ask Moony.
At the moment, he was listening to Ezra's account of how he used muggle technology to get a couple of colleagues into a tight spot.
"And that is how I got Mr. Dunne and Mr. Wilmington into trouble."
Harry laughed. He couldn't imagine a comic strip getting someone into trouble.
"Oh, Ezra, you definitely hung around us too much at school," Remus laughed.
"And Mr. Wilmington has no idea why his pranks do not work on me, or how it backfires onto himself," Ezra continued. "Mr. Dunne assumes that I have some wizarding method to detect it. However, this shall be kept most secret."
"Definitely."
"Most assuredly," agreed Moony. Lupin looked on as his friend wore a vacant look on his face. "Ezra?"
"The masked ones shall attack at dawn on the eve of Christmas. The healer will find out and mend wounds done onto the agents of good. The black dog will welcome all who enter his domain."
Harry and Lupin glanced at each other, knowing that a prediction had been made. Remus was not surprised having witnessed this event before, and Harry was not terrified as he had been with Trelawney in his third year she made her prophecy. Mostly because Ezra was not in Harry's face when said prophecy was made.
"Ezra?" Remus queried. "Are you all right?"
Standish raised a hand to the temples of his head. "Does anyone have any Tylenol?"
"Why Tylenol?"
"I would ask for something stronger, but I'm allergic to ibuprofen," was the answer. Ezra squinted at the two before him. "What is wrong?"
"There's going to be an attack somewhere on the dawn of Christmas Eve," Remus replied as he took a drink. "Did you see where?"
"Remus, I did not see anything! In fact, I do not remember anything that just happened!"
"You did say that an attack would happen," Harry verified. "You also said that a healer will find out about something and that a black dog would welcome 'all who entered his domain.'"
"Bloody hell! I hate it when that happens!"
"When you get any feelings, just let us know."
"Fine. Shall we finish up, pay our cheque and truly find the nearest chemist?"
"This didn't happen to Trelawney," Harry commented.
"Most likely because she doesn't have the gift quite like Ezra does. When he sees something or feels something, he actually feels the pain," Remus explained. "It also means that he gets some serious headaches and other such pains. Professor Dumbledore will have to be notified."
"I know. I just wish that I would be able to remember some of these predictions that I make."
"I have no idea why you insist that you don't make predictions when you've been having them for decades."
"Perhaps because I am incorrigible?"
"Is that a question or an answer?"
-----
"Well, how was your trip, mate?" asked Ron upon Harry's return to the Gryffindor common room.
"Fantastic! It was great! Except for the part where Ezra predicted that there would be a Death Eater attack on December twenty-fourth."
"What?!?" Hermoine cried out.
"He's a seer? A true seer or someone like Trelawney?" Ron furthered.
"No, according to Remus, he's a true seer. They're talking to Dumbledore right now."
"They're taking this seriously then? Where is it going to happen?"
"Don't know. Ezra never said and he doesn't remember making the prediction. We'll just have to go by his feelings."
"At least he's accurate," Hermoine consoled.
"So, did you bring us anything?" Ron queried, looking at some of the packages.
"Not your Christmas gifts, but I do have some muggle candy and a couple of books. Oh, and I also have a copy of 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.' Ezra bought me a portable DVD player and performed an incantation on it so that it will play movies here."
"That was a fun movie!" exclaimed Hermione. "Even Ron will find it funny!"
Ron started going through the bags. "What else did you buy?"
-----
"This is most disturbing," Dumbledore commented. "Do you know where the attack will occur?"
"No. But apparently I mentioned a black dog and that a healer would find out."
"Sirius' animagus form was a black dog but he's dead. And Poppy's already a member of the Order, so I don't know what she would find out," explored Remus.
"We shall have to keep our vigilance up as the time nears. All members at the next Order meeting shall be notified of this development. If anything else should arise…"
"I will notify you immediately," Ezra assured the Headmaster.
"Do take care of yourself Ezra. And remember, should you ever want to place yourself permanently over here…"
"I will keep that in mind, Headmaster, however all positions here are already filled."
"I'm sure that the DADA curse is still in effect. You could be the one to break it."
Ezra raised an eyebrow. "Highly unlikely."
The Headmaster shrugged. "One can always hope."
"No offence Headmaster, however, I am quite content in Denver. I have no wish to move."
"You have found family."
"I have," Ezra confirmed.
"Good, then I won't further waste your time in asking you again," Dumbledore uttered.
"Now Gentlemen, if you excuse me, I must return to Denver."
"Have to get ready for work?" Remus asked.
"No, I just feel the need to spend time with my 'family.'" With that, Ezra took out a skunk keychain and said, "Good-bye," before portkeying out.