-Author's Note: All right, this fan fiction has been made for a HP Challenge by my best friend Emma, for: Emma's Flower Fan Fiction Challenges. Her and her weird obsession with...you'll see. Anyway, let's go, shall we? Reading starts...now! Are you still reading? Good. Cause reading really starts now.

Chapter 1: The Dreadful Curse

Early in the morning, everyone was sleeping in England...everyone? No. There was a raven-haired masculine figure laid awake on his bed, at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. The sun was up, its light passing through the curtains of the Black residence. The same boy rubbed his emerald green eyes tiredly, putting on his black-framed round glasses. "Harry! Get down here, Moony is here!" A voice called, which was no other than his godfather, Sirius Black; what happened last year frightened Harry, though at the first month of summer when Harry lived at Grimmauld with the order, he came back. The veil didn't kill him, just knocked him out. And since the ministry of magic still wanted his neck, he decided to apparate back to his hideout near Hogsmeade until he felt it was safe to get back to his home.

Harry groaned slightly, mostly for the reason that he couldn't sleep much. Though he stood up, pulling on some used jeans over his dark red boxers and slipped on a black shirt. Stumbling downstairs tiredly, he smiled at the sight of Remus Lupin, a light brown-haired man that no longer bared shadows under his eyes, since he had a few days of good night sleep. He and his godfather were at the table, in the kitchen, eating some toast with bacon. The young sixteen-year-old teenager took a seat, Sirius immediately taking his serious tone. "Good morning, Harry. Moony and I have been talking about taking the right decision, and I have to agree with him on this one..." He spoke, Harry quirking an eyebrow in a puzzled expression as he devoured a toast. "Wotdecision ishtat, Sirius?" He asked, and then swallowed his bite before deciding to repeat his sentence. "Excuse me...what decision is that, Sirius?" He said, all three of them sharing a look.

"Well...umm..." Sirius started, though the words didn't seem to come out. "Well...you are going to have braces, Harry. Padfoot and Myself decided it would be best for you." Remus answered, since his dear childhood friend didn't seem to spit the news out for him. Harry choked, his eyes widening as he looked from Remus, to his godfather. "What?! You are kidding...right?" He asked, like if all of that was just some cruel prank they were playing on him to remind them of their Hogwarts years. "Nope...your appointment with the dentist in Diagon Alley is right now, as a matter of fact. Come on...your teeth will look perfect when it's all done. Some witches and wizards don't like to use spells or potions for their teeth, but braces in the wizarding world don't take so much time like those muggle braces...it'll be over before you even know it." Sirius said, and then took the hand of a frightened teenage boy before apparating at the dentist along with Remus.

Harry froze, hearing a dreadful scream coming from a room when they arrived. Sirius smiled awkwardly, patting his godson's shoulder reassuringly. Remus let out a nervous chuckle, and then sat down on a chair as he waited for Harry to be called forth. "Harry Potter?" A woman with dark brown hair asked, dressed in white; it must have been one of the dentist's secretaries. "Umm...here..." He said, following her to a room and laid on a long teal leather covered chair; Remus and Sirius, on the other hand, had to wait for him to come back in the waiting room. "Wait here, Dr. Roy will be here in a short moment." She spoke sweetly, then cast him a smile before leaving. But just a few silent moments after the woman left, a man entered the room, putting on white thin rubber gloves and putting a light blue bib in front of his mouth.

"Good morning there, Harry. It's the first time I see you...so; you're coming to get some braces, eh? I'll tell you, it won't take that much time at all. Only six months wearing them and you're teeth will be perfect." He said reassuringly. Harry let out a short laugh, though it sounded more like a toad. "Will it hurt?" He croaked, and then cleared his throat, trying to hide his fear. "What? Oh, no, it won't hurt...all you have to do is trust me, Harry. It won't hurt unless you move a lot...so I'll ask you to stay still." The dentist answered, then the woman came back into the room; she must be the dentist's assistant, not a secretary. The emerald green eyed male gulped, feeling his grip on the arm of the chair tightening; he couldn't help but think of what could happen if it went wrong, when he saw the woman take out various tools.

"Now we're just going to bring you down...relax and everything will be fine." The man said, approaching the long chair with his own rolling chair as the woman passed her the tools. 'Bring you down?! What does that mean?!' Harry thought worriedly, thinking that it must hurt if it would 'bring him down'. Unfortunately for him, he never went to the dentist before since the Dursleys thought he should suffer cavities...even if Harry didn't even have one before. But the dentist only lowered down the long teal chair, bringing the light in Harry's eyes that forced him to close them hard. "Open wide...and please keep your tongue out of the way." Dr. Roy said gently like if he was talking to a child, then Harry responded by opening his mouth as wide as he could, raising his tongue to behind his upper teeth.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Sirius was pacing worriedly as Remus sat on a chair; unlike his friend, he was calm about all of this. "How can you sit there all relaxed?!" The long black-haired grown man said, and then sighed as he passed a hand through his hair to ease his worry a bit. "Sorry, Moony..." Sirius said, sitting beside his friend. "It's all right...I'm not worried about him because I had braces myself when I was young, as well as my sister, Alanna. Remember?" Remus answered, shrugging his shoulders slightly at the reminder. "Oh yeah...I remember...that was so long ago, though." Sirius answered, and then whirled around when the door opened; Harry came back.

His mouth closed shut, the teenager walked towards his godfather, hands in his pockets. "Well, it didn't hurt that much I suppose?" Sirius asked, giving a friendly pat on his shoulder as his godson shook his head. "All right. Well, we better get back home for lunch. Would you like to stay over, dearest Moony?" Sirius asked with a smirk. "Gladly, sir Padfoot. I'd like to go to Platform 9 ¾, to say goodbye to Harry before he goes back to Hogwarts tomorrow." The light brown-headed man answered with a grateful smile that made Harry only gulp; school was restarting tomorrow? What would his friends say about his new braces?

The day passed a little slower than Harry expected, since his mind was locked on the thought he had to show his braces to his friends. 'What would Hermione and Ron think?' He thought, that single sentence ringing through his mind over and over, during all the rest of the day. "You better go to sleep, Harry. It's getting late...we don't want you tired at your first day of school, do we?" Sirius stated with a smirk, the young boy smiling slightly. "Don't worry about your school supplies, Padfoot sent me your list so I went shopping before my way over here. All your books, new rolls of parchment, bottles of ink, quills and neat robes are all packed in your suitcase, in your bedroom. Good night." Remus replied, getting a faint 'good bye' back from Harry when he went up to his bed, falling straight asleep.

But the teenager hardly had some sleep; the same thought haunting him like a plague. 'They wouldn't care if I have braces or not if they are real best friends. They've been my best friends for almost six years, they should be good about it.' Harry thought, finally calming down his spirit when he went back to sleep. Just an hour later, the voice of his godfather sounded again: "Harry, breakfast's ready! Hurry up, we only have time to eat before going!" It said, making him groan and pull on some clothes before stumbling downstairs. His favourite, usual breakfast was all ready, set up on the table. Remus and Sirius were eating as the boy sat down, starting to devour his food as well. "We only have half an hour before the train leaves." The chestnut-haired man informed, finishing his plate a few seconds before Sirius. But just five minutes later, Harry finished his breakfast and went to fetch his trunk.

When he returned downstairs, Sirius quickly grabbed his godson's hand and apparated directly at Platform 9 ¾, Remus appearing beside him. "Harry! Over here!" A female voice called from behind, Harry turning around to face her. One of his best friends by the name of Hermione threw herself him, but there was something about her that slightly changed; her hair. It wasn't as bushy as before, it was now placed in distinguished curls. Another face, well, rather more six other faces he knew perfectly approached him as well; the Weasleys. All of them with fiery red hair; Molly the mother, Arthur the father, Fred and George the mischievous twins, Ron the other best friend Harry had, and Ginny the youngest and smallest of the family.

"Let the guy breathe, Hermione!" Ron said with a slight laugh, Hermione finally letting go of Harry to pet Crookshanks, who was walking proudly beside her like a spoiled king. The curly brown-haired finally let him go, smiling at him; though she noticed he wasn't talking. Usually he would say how much he missed them over the summer, even though he lived with Sirius now. Why wasn't he saying anything then? "You all better get in the train, it's leaving in a couple of minutes. And I don't want to receive an owl, saying that you two put up another of your swamps!" Molly added, looking at the two twins that sent her an innocent grin. "Of course not." Fred said, sharing a look with his brother. "We won't, promise." George spoke, his mother looking at them suspiciously before letting them all go to the Hogwarts Express, a train that would take them to the Golden Trio's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After quick hugs and handshakes, goodbyes and hearing Molly cried, they let Remus and Arthur console her as they took a step towards the train, entering it slowly after picking up all their luggage.