6th year

Summer Confrontation's

Dumbledore strode into the room which quietened immediately. This was an interesting tool that Dumbledore possessed. He could walk into the middle of a room full of shouting hooligans and as soon as he wanted to talk there would be quiet. He carried himself and had an air of authority like no other.

'What is the latest news on Harry?' These words were full of concern and sadness. After all what else could be expected thought Remus Lupin as he sat near the middle of the table alongside the rest of the Order of the Phoenix whilst Dumbledore stood on the makeshift stage. It had only been two weeks since Sirius Black had been murdered by his own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. Then Dumbledore had told Harry some sort of prophecy about him and Voldemort. This had really tipped Harry towards the deep end. He had sunk into depression and had even looked partially pleased when he had left Hogwarts to go to the Dursleys.

'Well, we have been doing as you asked and have been trying to follow him around for the last four weeks since the start of the holidays. The boy is a genius! The amount of times he's managed to slip past us; even Moody lost him twice. We have a rough idea of what he does everyday and it goes like this: He gets up at the crack of dawn every morning and goes for a run. He then goes to the local gym to lift weights –'

'Just like a muggle' Snape interrupted rudely. Everyone glared at him especially Tonks and Remus. Tonks had been one of the main people following him as well as Remus.

'Thank you Severus, please continue Tonks' said Dumbledore with a tone of finality that told you it was unwise to press the matter.

'Like I was saying, after the heavy workout he heads back home has a shower and leaves for work. The bar is always full of people and it is surprising that Harry would like to work in such a place. When I confronted him about this he let slip that it 'pays the rent' this obviously means that the Dursleys are forcing him to pay for his stay and for his food because he eats out most of the time. That is another main problem, he hardly ever eats, and it's quite scary really. If I did a workout like that I could eat a horse. After his work is normally when we lose him. He works till late into the night and then wanders off somewhere. Sometimes we manage to spot him in clubs and bars and sometimes we don't see him until he gets back home.' Tonks stopped there and looked at Remus before sitting back down. They had already agreed not to mention the 'incidents with the girls' as Remus referred to them.

Harry woke with a start and started to rub his forehead wincing slightly. His scar was throbbing violently but due to the frequency of these attacks he had now learned to control the pain. He dragged himself out of his bed and threw on some clothes before jogging out of the house and starting his 5 mile sprint to the gym. There were few people out at this time but Harry had learnt a long time ago that looks can be deceiving. He kept his wand in the wand holster, he had acquired through Remus, which was always on the inside of his jacket so he could have it in his hand in a moments notice by just flicking his wrist.

As he approached the gym he heard a loud crack 2 metres away from him. Immediately he was facing the source of the disturbance, wand in hand. He was greeted by a wide smile and a hug from Tonks whilst she mumbled something about how she hadn't mastered apparating silently yet. She then stepped back and examined Harry closely. He had enjoyed a growth spurt over the summer and was now quite tall not to mention quite muscular due to his training. He had also managed to buy himself some contact lenses. As Tonks looked at him she was just thinking one word.

'Wow!' The word came out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Harry blushed and grinned at her with an eyebrow raised. There was an awkward pause before Harry spoke.

'What are you doing here Tonks; don't you normally hide around the corner? Must be something happening today, care to elaborate?' Harry said bitterly. Tonks grimaced, this was not what she wanted. An angry Harry was unstoppable; Dumbledore's office was a testimony to that. Then Harry burst out laughing. The shock and confusion was clearly evident on Tonks' face because Harry started to explain.

'Chill out Tonks, I was only joking! I'm not going be that angry person I used to be. I decided at the start of the holidays that I will show everyone that I am the heir of the marauders. Now do you want to explain why you are here?'

'Er, yeah, well the thing is you have now stayed a month at the Dursleys so we are going to move you from here to Grimmauld Place.'

'No thanks.' Harry said smiling at her pleasantly.

'What do you mean 'No thanks'?' Tonks asked warily.

'I mean I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay here.'

'Is this about Sirius? If it is, you do know that you can talk to me or Remus about him? You don't have to go to Grimmauld Place if you don't want to, you could go to the Burrow?'

Harry felt a pang when he heard Sirius' name. He had more or less murdered his own godfather. He hid the pain behind a dazzling smile which he gave to Tonks before he replied

'I just want to stay here. Everything's going quite well at the moment and I can't leave my job this suddenly without any warning.' Tonks could have sworn she had seen a flicker of pain pass Harry's eyes as she had said 'Sirius'. It was changed into a smile which could melt anyone's heart, less than a millisecond later. He is so hot she thought to herself as he started to walk into the gym.

Harry left the gym and waved a few goodbyes before racing back to Privet Drive. He took a hurried shower and then put on some of his clothes that were suitable for bar work. He then started on the short walk to the pub. He passed a group of girls as he approached the nearby restaurant, where he would have his daily meal. He had made a game for himself; it was to see how many different girls he could get to eat with him in the same restaurant. So far he had eaten a meal with about 20 different girls. He wasn't really interested in them that much but it gave him an outlet to get rid of the anger, pain, guilt and despair that hung over him. His relationships barely lasted longer than the meal. The longest had lasted about a week before Harry got bored.

As he passed the familiar group of girls, someone caught his eye. She was different from the rest. He didn't know why but he felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach when she looked at him. Somehow she was standing out from the rest of the group without an effort. Her long brown hair glistened in the sunlight as she threw it carelessly over her shoulders. Her sparkling blue eyes were full of joy that Harry couldn't even begin to imagine. Am I in love? Harry asked himself.

The girl was now talking and all the attention was on her, she seemed quite at ease with this. Harry noticed how a stray strand of hair kept curling towards her eyes. She kept shaking her head trying to get rid of it due to her hands being full. She was holding a sandwich in one hand and a can of pop in the other. Harry couldn't help himself; his nervousness around the opposite gender had long since disappeared completely. He walked toward the girl purposefully and then lifted his hand and brushed away the strand to behind her ear. The girl's eyes widened and she dropped her food and drink onto the floor. The can exploded and sprayed out a fountain of sticky liquid. This left a lot of the girls wet and angry as they walked home to get changed. Finally only Harry and the new girl was left. They both simultaneously bent down to pick up the rubbish. This resulted in a banging of the heads.

2 minutes later Harry had put the sandwich and can into the nearest bin after helping the girl up.

'Hi, I'm really, really sorry about that. I don't know what came over me.' Harry apologised over and over again until the girl cut him off.

'Hi, it's nice to meet you too. My name's Emily, Emily Mason.' She held out her hand and Harry took it.

'Harry, Harry Potter, and the pleasure is all mine.' He kissed her hand delicately.

Not exactly what I had in mind thought Emily to herself, but I think I liked it. Wait a minute, I think I'm blushing. Oh my God!

'Can I escort you to lunch to make up for my idiocy?' Harry asked grinning at Emily.

'I would love to, but I feel all sticky and it's going to take me ages to go home and change.' Emily replied sullenly. Why am I feeling so sad about this? I have only just met this guy.

'Er, if you want to you can come and get changed in my house? It's only round the corner.' Upon sensing her hesitation he added 'Don't worry there is no one - else home.'

'Are you sure? I would hate to intrude.'

'Don't be silly.' Saying this Harry grabbed Emily's hand and started to take her back to Privet drive. Harry marvelled at the touch of her hand. He felt like an electric current had shot through him. He felt so alive and happy. Emily had similar thoughts racing through her mind whilst she was biting her bottom lip nervously. She had never been nervous with any boy before so why now she thought to herself, maybe it's because I'm going to someone's house without even knowing anything about them except their name.

Harry's soothing voice brought her back to Earth as he announced their arrival. He led her upstairs into his room. Wow! What a mess! The same thought was implanted into both minds

'Feel free to borrow any clothes you want. I'll just wait outside the door. Call me when you're changed.' Saying this, Harry walked out of the room. Emily walked towards the wardrobe and found it half empty. Most of the clothes were way too big for her and Harry put together. There were a few sets of clothes that looked okay so she pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Harry was pacing outside the corridor trying to work out his feelings, when he heard a shout come from his room. He immediately ran inside and the site that greeted him made him laugh. Emily was stood in the middle of his room, whilst Hedwig, Pigwideon and two other owls flew around. Harry received the letters from the owls and, after a drink of water, sent them all away, except for Hedwig who went back into her cage. He then looked up at Emily and realised that she was stood there watching him in just her undergarments. He blushed fiercely whilst turning around. She also went red and quickly threw on the clothes. She then tapped him lightly on his shoulder giving him a questioning look. Harry realised he had some explaining to do.

'Well, er…that was…er…' Harry started nervously before Emily grabbed a small black stick that was lying on the jacket Harry had taken off.

'You're some sort of twisted animal poacher, aren't you? Well let me tell you something – ' The rest of her speech was cut of because sparks had shot out of the wand that she was holding. They both noticed this and Harry's mind went into overdrive. Is she a witch? I'm sure no muggle could make anything, even sparks shoot out of a wand. If she is then I can tell her the truth but if she is a muggle and I tell her about my world I would be facing a hefty fine or maybe even a stay in Azkaban. Then Harry got an idea.

'Say lumos. Go on just say it, please.' After a moment of indecision Emily agreed not having a strong enough reason to disagree. As soon as she said it a dim light shone out of the wand. She dropped it in shock. Harry quickly scooped down and picked it up. He knew that the light spell was one of the few spells that was undetectable, meaning the ministry would be unable to sense it.

'You might want to take a seat. This news is going to come as a big shock if you are anything like me.' He motioned to the bed. Emily was in a daze, what had she done. She obliged and sat down looking curiously at Harry. He continued 'The truth is you are a witch. No, no, I don't mean it as an insult, I mean you can do magic – like me. I would prove it to you but then I would probably get carted off to Azkaban. Sorry, that's the wizard's prison, horrible place…' Thinking about Azkaban brought more memories of Sirius to the front of his mind. He suddenly collapsed on to the bed and started to cry. He missed Sirius so much. Why did he have to leave? All that time in Azkaban for doing nothing wrong.

He felt an arm go around him and found himself in a tight embrace. Before he knew what he was doing he was spilling out everything he had kept inside since the start of the holidays. He was telling everything he could remember about Sirius, the Order, the Ministry, Dumbledore, Fudge and even Voldemort to this girl he had only just met. Except for some pats on the back his story went uninterrupted.

'Wow! You don't have find trouble! I believe all your stories but I … I can't be a witch I'm Emily…just Emily.' This brought back the memory of when Harry was first told by Hagrid that he was a wizard. Harry echoed Hagrid's words:

'Well just Emily, have you ever made something happen when you were afraid or angry.' Emily thought back, magic was a perfect answer to questions she had found herself facing. The time she had grown back her hair after the bullies had cut it, was just one of the many examples.

She looked deep into his emerald eyes and lost herself. She knew he was telling the truth after that the questions that she had just barely contained burst out, Harry looked at her and started explaining different aspects of the magical world to her, including owls and magical transportation. By the end only one question lay unanswered. Why had she not been discovered before now? Harry knew only one man would know the answer. He scribbled a note and gave it to Hedwig who at once flew through the open window.

Another order meeting was in procession when Hedwig swooped into the room, startling a few people, whilst others reached for their wands she approached Dumbledore and handed him a hastily scribbled note to Dumbledore. There were only two lines on it:

We need to talk. Please send me a time and a date as soon as possible.

'What news does our saviour send?' Snape sneered. Dumbledore paid no attention to him and wrote down three words:

Tomorrow, at 1900.

He disbanded the meeting and made his way back to Hogwarts wondering what Harry would want to talk about.

The next day Harry ran off to meet Emily straight after his shower and training. He didn't know why but he felt his heart somersault when she looked at him. She looks really nervous for some reason, maybe it was because she was seeing Dumbledore later. Emily felt her heart flutter at the sight of Harry she started to feel edgy when he approached.

'Do you want to go to this restaurant with me? I spent all of yesterday burdening you with my problems; I would feel better if you would tell me about yourself. Come on, you know you want to. Please.' Emily agreed without hesitation and they wound down the rest of the day talking about their lives. By this time they were in Harry's room awaiting the arrival of Dumbledore. The awkwardness had returned once again and it was a welcome relief when a loud knocking was heard.

They ran down the stairs and Harry opened the door. Dumbledore stood on the welcome mat looking greyer than ever. He no longer looked like the untouchable and invincible wizard he was reputed to be. As he caught sight of Emily, Harry saw a flicker of guilt pass through his eyes.

'Come in then.' Emily thought this sounded quite rude and she had noticed a change when Harry had seen Dumbledore. His eyes betrayed him. Behind those green eyes a fire was burning. Harry had already warned her to stay clear of him when he got angry, so she was more anxious now.

They walked into the empty lounge and sat down onto the sofas; Harry and Emily in one whilst Dumbledore sat in an armchair facing them. The Dursley's had decided to go on holiday for a while and had not even told Harry where they were going or when they were getting back. They had just told him to make his own way to London. This treatment of Harry really angered Emily and she was brought back to the present when Harry spoke.

'The thing is Emily here is a witch but for some reason she has remained undiscovered. I know that it takes an especially powerful wizard to make this happen. The list contains Voldemort and you. I am sure you know something about this. The question is: are you going to tell her? Or maybe you're going to wait until she's old enough?' The last question was asked in a tone of anger and bitterness. Dumbledore did not look happy but kept Harry's glare whilst answering.

'Yes, I know why she was undiscovered and yes it was me that did it. Emily I am sorry for keeping the truth from you, but at long last here it is. I'm not sure how much Harry has told you, but you story starts on the same day Harry's does. Your real birthday is July 31st like Harry. Your real name is … Serena…Serena Black.' Harry's eyes widened in shock as did Emily's. Harry then jumped up and confronted the fragile, old man.

'I...s she Siri… his daughter?' Dumbledore nodded while Serena and Harry looked at each other in complete and utter shock.

She knew that she was adopted and had always wanted to know who her real parents were. She had always wondered why they left her and if they were still alive. Harry had told her a lot about Sirius. She knew that he had meant a lot to him, but she had felt a sense of familiarity with him. She thought it had just been the name. When she had mentioned that to Harry he showed her a picture of him and also told her that she had probably just seen him on the television, after his escape from Azkaban.

'As everyone knows the Potter's were placed in protection until they were betrayed. Sirius was convicted of this and was sent to Azkaban. A couple of days before the attack at Godric's Hollow we had learnt that Voldemort was also after Sirius, you, Serena, and your mother, Kerry. Sirius sent Kerry into hiding and had told her that he would come to get her when it was safe. He said that he would bring you to her in a couple of days. Before he could he was imprisoned, now nobody knew where your mother was or is even today so you were placed under adoptive parents. I felt it was my duty to protect you and it was me that did the complicated charm. The charm suppresses your powers and this means that you are very powerful. Not many people would be able to do magic after that charm has been done on them. I am sorry to say that you must now leave your adoptive family and come to Hogwarts, but first you will have to come to Grimmauld Place. You are safest when you are under my protection and every second you stay here makes it easier for Voldemort to capture you. He will probably torture you and then make you join his side, so we must hurry… Harry, are you going to come with us?'

Harry had been listening to the conversation with his anger growing by the second. Emily looked angry too, this was probably because she had just found out about her real parents. Harry understood exactly what Dumbledore was trying to do and he had promised himself that he was not going to become a pawn in Dumbledore's game. He was going to fight but not side by side with Dumbledore.

'You conniving bastard! You're trying to use her to get me! Your protection, what protection is that? Can you remember that I was in your protection? In your protection I faced horrors that would make most men cower in their beds! In my first year I faced Voldemort who was trying to get the Philosopher's stone. I barely made it through with my life. In my second year the chamber of secrets was opened and I was blamed. I was turned into an outcast! Then you were sacked which forced me to confront Voldemort again not to mention I had to slay that basilisk. My third year there was the small matter of me facing about 200 Dementor's by myself. Then, my fourth year, I was forced to participate in a life – threatening tournament. When I eventually won it, I got to greet Lord fucking Voldemort as a prize. I watched Cedric die and I was tortured and then forced to duel with that monster. Last year the only good thing I had going in my life was taken away. You failed to tell me that Voldemort could send me false information. You knew that Snape could not see past his hatred with my father to actually teach me. You once again left the school, this time in the hands of a psychotic bitch that tried to use the Cruciatus curse on me, just like Voldemort had done before her. Let me tell you something, I don't want or need your fucking protection!'

Dumbledore's face was still calm and this angered Harry even more. He grabbed Dumbledore by his cloak and ejected him from the house before quickly closing the door. He leaned against the door, breathing heavily. He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder and turned his face towards Emily or was it Serena now? Her blue eyes calmed him and he looked at her lips. They were so inviting and before Harry could stop himself he was feeling her lips on his. He was ready to break apart at any sign of discomfort from Emily. Instead of resistance he felt her kiss back and he let his tongue roll out of his mouth.

They looked into each other's eyes and they knew it was more than just a physical attraction. They now knew why they felt the way they did about each other. Harry broke the kiss to get some air and he found himself sinking into a pair of light blue eyes that were pleading with him to talk first.

'I think that I …no…I know that I love you.' There he had said it. Serena heard the same three words over and over again. Before she knew what she was doing she had pounced on to Harry and was kissing him with a passion and desire that she could have only imagined before now.

Harry grinned sheepishly at her before asking 'I take it you like me to?'

Emily punched Harry lightly on his arm before saying the three words that had been going around her head 'I love you.'

After a few more kisses they were once again sat in Harry's bedroom. She had told him that she was sticking with him no matter where he went, even to Voldie's house as she had put it. She had also told him to call her Serena Black from now on, she explained that it was the only thing she had from her parents and she would keep her real name proudly.

'What we need is a place we can go? Somewhere where we can be left alone for the next few weeks until school starts, any ideas?' Harry asked without much confidence. Emily shook her head and Harry groaned.

'I wish Sirius was still here.' The words came out of Harry's mouth and as soon as they did he looked at Serena who looked back at him. He had expected to see blame written on her face and in her eyes, instead he saw a look of fear and surprise. She was looking towards the open doorway. Harry turned and looked. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a shaggy, black dog that looked remarkably like the Grim.