Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All rights go to respective owners.

A/N — This story is written for the wonderful Sophy (The Crownless Queen)! This was originally supposed to be a five-hundred or so word oneshot, and then it turned into this. It's taken a while to complete, but I hope you like it anyway.

Prologue: A New Prophecy

June 23, 1998

London, England

"Harry, you have to leave."

Sirius and Harry were standing alone in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. The rest of the Order had left as soon as the meeting had finished, but Sirius had held him back. Dumbledore had looked at him with a sad expression but had exited the room without saying a word.

Whatever his godfather wanted to say to him, Harry could tell Dumbledore knew what it was, and that he also wasn't too pleased about it. On top of that, the Headmaster apparently couldn't do anything about … whatever it was.

That was concerning.

"I was trying to, but you asked me to wait up," Harry replied anxiously. His godfather was acting weird — well, weirder than normal — and it was kind of freaking him out.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Sirius growled, briefly resting his face in his hands. He took a breath and launched into the heart of the matter without preamble. "You have to leave Britain — and the sooner, the better."

There was a beat of silence. It was in that brief moment, Harry felt his temper spark and kick into overdrive.

"Excuse me?" He glared viciously at his godfather, who raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sure I misunderstood you, but I thought I heard you just say that I had to leave Britain."

Sirius nodded grimly. "I did."

"No!" Harry shouted, his temper flaring. "Why the hell would I do that? The fight is here!"

"Harry—"

"No!" he continued, working himself up."I've finally earned my place here! I got the prophecy out of the Ministry. I fought — and won — against Death Eaters in Hogwarts. I saved Dumbledore! And when I was told I couldn't join the Order until I finished school, I made sure to sit for as many NEWTs as possible — and get all Os!"

"You should have been trying to do that anyway," Sirius muttered. Harry shot him another glare, and Sirius just grinned weakly.

"Everything else I did throughout my years at Hogwarts should have qualified me to join the Order before I graduated. I still finished school because you lot required that. I've earned my place here!" he repeated firmly. "I'm not going anywhere! Especially not now that I finally know everything that is going on."

Harry took a deep breath, ready to provide more reasons about why he belonged with the Order in Britain when Sirius cut him off.

"No one is saying that you haven't 'earned your place here.' That doesn't change the fact, however, that you still need to leave," Sirius slowly explained.

Harry clenched his fists and growled.

"Why?"

"Because maybe the rest of us can handle the Horcruxes without you? Or maybe because I'm not sure that I completely believe in this god-forsaken, stupid prophecy. Or perhaps it's because I really don't think that it will come down to just you and him in the end. And even if it did — Harry, please listen to me — why would we put our most valuable fighter in a position to get killed off early?"

Harry glowered at the floor, his emotions rolling. He ground his teeth and refused to respond. It made too much sense, and he wasn't happy about it.

"And … and," Sirius took a shaky breath before continuing, "you have to leave because I had a vision."

His head shot up, and he stared at Sirius in shock. Suddenly, Harry burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay. That was good!" he said, still chuckling slightly after a minute. "Not your best prank, but I still fell for it. Are we done?"

Sirius gazed at Harry, his eyes hard. "I'm not joking."

Harry immediately stopped smiling. He took one look at his godfather's expression and suddenly knew he wasn't messing with him.

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Last time I checked, I was definitely Sirius," the Marauder said with a grin, before growing solemn again. "Now do you want to hear about my vision or not?"

Harry nodded, and Sirius continued speaking.

"I don't know what to call it really," Sirius continued. "'Vision' sounds too much like Trelawney, so I guess we'll go with 'really weird dream.' In this dream, there were trees and snow on the ground, and you were supposed to be there."

He waited for more, but it appeared as if his godfather was done speaking.

"Well, that's anti-climactic," Harry replied dryly. "What do you mean, I was supposed to be there?" Sirius groaned in frustration, running his fingers through his hair.

"I mean, you were there and you were supposed to be there," the Marauder replied unhelpfully. "It felt like a … cosmic appointment or something that you were meant to keep."

"Well, trees and snow could be anywhere!" Harry exclaimed, relieved. "I'm not saying I trust this vision or whatever it was, but it could definitely be somewhere in England—"

Before he could celebrate too much, however, Sirius rapidly shook his head.

"No, no, no. It was in America. I think."

"America?" Harry repeatedly dumbly. "What makes you think that?"

"Look, Harry, I can't explain it in any more detail," his godfather responded. "All I know is it's bad if you aren't there. Like, 'You-Won't-Be-Able-to-Defeat-Voldemort-If-You-Have-to-Face-Him' type of bad," Sirius said.

Harry pulled up a chair and sat down. His mind was racing a million miles per minute. Trying to sort out his thoughts, he asked the obvious question.

"Why did you see this? You're not a Seer, Sirius. They're really rare, and your specialty is being an Animagus. Besides, what happened to not believing in prophecies?"

Sighing, Sirius pulled up another chair and sat next to Harry. The motion was oddly comforting, and not for the first time, Harry felt his heart ache. His parents should have been here, able to do this. He looked over and saw Sirius staring at him with a sad smile.

It wasn't perfect, but Harry was glad he at least had Sirius.

"I don't know, Harry," his godfather said, his voice tired. "It felt like I was watching something I wasn't really supposed to see, but was being told over and over, 'Pay attention, pay attention.' I'm sorry that I can't explain it better than that."

Silence fell over the small kitchen. Sirius fidgeted slightly while he continued to process what had been said.

"So if I don't make it to wherever this place is, I won't be able to defeat Voldemort?" he asked thoughtfully. "What? You don't think my specialty combined with the power of love will be enough?"

"Harry," Sirius smirked, "you and I both know Dumbledore is delusional in thinking that love is Voldemort's weakness! Unless you were planning on giving him a hug and hoping he feels remorse for all that he's done?"

An image of Voldemort awkwardly being hugged by him flashed into his mind.

"Don't say that!" He shuddered; suddenly, he felt ill. "I'm going to have nightmares about hugging Voldemort for weeks now!"

"So will you go?" Sirius asked, not giving Harry a chance to become distracted.

"I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" he replied with a small smile. "I'll leave immediately."

"I think you mean, We'll leave immediately," a voice said from the doorway.

Harry looked up to see Ron and Neville standing in the entrance to the kitchen. Ron was casually winding up an Extendable Ear, as Neville continued to speak.

"He's getting so forgetful in his old age, isn't he, Ron? All this talk about what he did, forgetting that he had help," Neville said casually. Ron nodded in agreement.

"I think I'm ready for another insane adventure. We're overdue," the red-head replied with a grin. "I've never been to America. Have you, Neville?"

"No, I haven't," Neville replied. "When do we leave, Harry?"

"Tonight," Harry replied. He had long since learned to not argue with his friends and to just accept their help without complaint. It made life so much easier when he did that.

"Great" Neville said. "America is a big country. Any idea where to start?"

Harry shrugged and looked at Sirius. Sirius shrugged as well.

"Try New York."

"Try?"Harry asked slightly annoyed. "You mean after you worked so hard to convince me to go quietly, you don't know for sure?"

"Harry, as you so kindly pointed out, I am not a Seer. Ask me to turn into a dog, I will. Ask me to interpret prophetic dreams? You'll get my best guess. New York just feels right," Sirius replied waspishly.

Harry held up his hands in surrender. Ron and Neville both sniggered.

"Okay! I'm sorry, Sirius. New York, it is!"

Sirius nodded. He stood up and drew Harry into a quick hug.

"Stay safe, okay?" his godfather murmured. Harry tightened his hold for a brief moment, and then let go.

"You know me, Sirius!" Harry said, trying to sound cheerful. "Of course, I will."

"We'll keep him safe, Sirius," Ron interjected.

"Yeah," Neville smirked. "We'll keep him out of trouble." Harry sighed.

"I can stay out of trouble without needing help."

Ron walked over to Harry and clapped him on the shoulder. "Sure you can, mate," he said in mock seriousness.

"Come on!" Neville said, pulling Harry out of the kitchen. "Let's go pack before Mrs. Weasley feels like trying to stop us, even though we're all adults."

As Harry started up the stairs with Neville and Ron, the other two men talking about what items they should bring, he swore he heard Sirius murmur,

"I hope they find each other."

A/N 2 — Edited (by me) on Nov. 29, 2017 for clarity. Fixed transitions, SPaG errors, and added a little bit of dialogue.