Disclaimer: Don't own HP, never have, never will, enjoy! Re-Edited

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 6

Hero

-o-

The two had not begun his Occlumency training immediately due to Sirius unable to stop giggling at the idea of mooning Voldemort. Another reason was that he did not have the required material so that Harry could read up on the subject. The only advice Sirius gave him was to clear his mind of all thought before he went to sleep. This was simply clearing your mind of all thought, not thinking about anything at all before you slept.

Harry attempted it that night and found that his dreams were none existent, except for one about a long, windowless corridor with a door leading to Merlin knew where. He told Sirius about it and he seemed to go from shocked to cheerful within a second, telling him he probably ate cheese before he went to sleep. The Gryffindor decided to ignore the dream, he had actually had a cheese sandwich before going to sleep as Sirius had magnificently burnt the chicken that they did plan to have. It was the last time he gave his godfather a chance in the kitchen.

"Heard anything from Moony?" Harry asked Sirius the next morning coming down to the unusually warm kitchen, understanding why when finding the fire blazing.

"He should be back in the next few days," mumbled Sirius from behind the paper, Harry having to look twice at the front page of the Prophet, finding a toad like woman on the front.

"Who's the toad?" Harry asked, positive he had seen her somewhere before.

"Same woman Moony hates with a vengeance and who is teaching at glorious Hogwarts," spat Sirius, continuing to read the paper in disgust. "Successful my arse."

"What's it saying?" asked Harry not really wanting to know.

"It says that the dirty Toad has helped to revolutionise Defence Against the Dark Arts, says that some eccentric decisions…THOSE BASTARDS! HOW DARE THEY SAY THAT ABOUT HIM!"

"What?"

"They're blatantly putting out there that Moony's a damn werewolf! I swear if I ever get the chance, Fudge and all his little minions are going to – "

"Regret ever saying anything when Voldemort comes out into the open," said Harry hastily. "It's public knowledge anyway thanks to the legislation the Toad passed a few years back. Who is the one quoting that she's a success?"

"Percy Weasley," growled Sirius, Harry wondering if it was against the law to castrate someone for backstabbing their family and for being a complete prat. "Stupid idiot, he's going to be one of many grovelling on his knees for our forgiveness when Voldemort comes out into the open."

"We could always send those Ministry prats a few samples of Hippogriff dung," offered Harry.

Sirius looked up with a smile on his lips and closed the paper, slamming it down on the table.

"We've got a Hippogriff that drops the stuff by the brick! We can find a box or two around here, cast some Preservation Charms on the stuff, make sure the smell doesn't the leave the box until opened, and when it is – "

"We make sure it blows up in their faces?" Harry added hopeful. Some people deserved to be shit faced.

Sirius wiped away a fake tear gazing at Harry. "I've never been so proud of you in my whole life, apart from the time you peed in your dad's face."

Harry grinned taking a seat at the table and grabbed the paper, going straight to the Quidditch section.

-o-

Hey Harry

Nothing much happening here mate other than that Umbridge cow being made Higher Inquisitor, you've probably heard about that and Sturgis being put in prison. Hermione's currently moaning about me sending this in a letter, but who's going to be interested in things they already know?

Women, I know mate, and by the way Hermione hits harder than I thought as I've just found out. But guess what! I was made Keeper for the team and Ginny's been named Seeker! Lessons are as fun as ever, Malloy's being a bigger git than usual and that's it! – Ron

Honestly Ronald! There are more important things than Quidditch and you'll be getting cursed the next time you say something like that! I'm sorry about the prat Harry, how are you? Now I hope you're studying and not falling behind. Don't you dare smirk! I spoke to Professor McGonagall about your studies but she has told me it's already being taken care of. I will want to see how you're progressing the moment we see each other again!

Since we've been back, Umbridge is really attempting to sap the life out of Hogwarts and seems determined to silence any rumours of Voldemort being back. (Ron flinched; we'll have to work on that.) I think our post could be getting read and the only reason we're sending this is because Fred and George offered to go the Post Office in Hogsmeade. Take care and study – Love Hermione

Hello our investor friend! Don't worry, we're doing our bit while Hermione isn't looking over our shoulder, far too nosy for her own good that one is. By the way, I'm Gred and I'm Forge! Now you better be causing trouble for our mother and your godfather better be corrupting you the way he only can. Somebody needs to take over our pranking duties while we're not there, and who better than the son of a Marauder?

Forge makes a good point Prongslet (thank Sirius for this) and you should be raising as much hell as possible. You've got a perfectly good wand, so there should be no reason for you not to take over from us. We may even join you soon enough if things continue the way they do. Umbridge is pushing her luck, calling you a liar, and telling us to believe the Ministry like our idiot brother. Don't worry, we stand by Harry Potter, Hero, Snake Slayer, and our investor who will help our dream come true. I'm now shedding a tear.

As I'm I dear brother, as I'm I…any who, have fun and keep up the struggle against those who want a prank free life. We may join you soon enough – Gred & Forge!

Hello Harry, I hope you're well and doing as the Twins said and not staying out of trouble. Just quickly saying that everyone misses you, yes even my idiot brother. When Hermione's off studying you can see him spending time with Neville, though it clearly isn't the same. Even Hermione misses nagging you over homework. Even I do, feels weird playing in your position during Quidditch.

Hope you are keeping busy, studying or not and so you know we're all looking forward to seeing you at Christmas – Love Ginny

Harry grinned while reading the Twins part of the letter. The Gryffindor knew full well if they joined he and Sirius at Grimmauld Place it would be memorable, and that their mother would be far from pleased. Then again he knew she'd probably skin him and Twins alive if she found out about what he did with the Triwizard winnings.

"Could do with a few laughs," thought Harry, the last few weeks having been far from pleasant for both himself and the Order. For him his life had been a mixture of his lessons with Sirius, learning Occlumency and Legilimency, which were harder than he first thought and worrying about Remus with Sirius, the werewolf yet to get in contact with them and it had been over two weeks. Remus had gone on a mission for the Order saying that he would be back within a few days, but after a few days had passed there had been no word.

Sirius had gone as far to floo Dumbledore, the Headmaster telling him the floo network could be being watched and that he would inform them if he heard from Remus. His godfather had not been pleased, spending the rest of the day cursing and worrying. All Harry could do was say everything would be all right, but he knew nothing of Remus's mission so for all he knew the werewolf could be in serious danger.

The Order also had more bad news when Sturgis Podmore was sent to Azkaban for attempting to get through a top security door, Dumbledore unable to do a thing to help the man who would spend six months at the prison guarded by Dementors. With two members on hiatus with only a few months gone since Voldemort's return, things were not looking good.

The Ministry were being bigger prats than ever, word coming from Kingsley that Fudge was spitting feathers…well dung in one situation as a mysterious parcel arrived and when opened dung exploded into his face, along with several others. He had been far from pleased and had demanded whoever had brought him the package be fired. Percy Weasley had only saved his job through pleading that it passed all the checks, and that the only other way it could have been checked was if it had been opened.

Even at Hogwarts things sounded terrible, Umbridge's new job as Higher Inquisitor allowed the toad to inspect other Professors and deem them worthy or not to teach, when really it was her subject that needed inspection. Her lessons were awful according to word from within Hogwarts; the only thing keeping her from being sacked was that there was nobody willing to take the job. It also helped that the Ministry was behind her a hundred percent.

Harry sighed aloud, putting the letter down and wishing that he could see his friends and Remus, just to see with his own eyes that everything was okay. Even his lessons though going well, were not the same due to Remus being a much better tutor. Nothing against Sirius, but Remus concentrated on work first and foremost. His godfather on the other hand was all for causing trouble during the middle of a lesson, it was very distracting but fun nonetheless.

"Okay there Harry?"

The Boy-Who-Lived looked to the kitchen door finding Tonks standing there, smiling brightly even though the bags under her eyes told a different story. She stumbled over to him, taking a seat at the table and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so tired," she mumbled, the bright Tonks disappearing instantly.

"Your mood changes are amazing," chuckled Harry. He and Tonks had been speaking more lately, they would talk late into the night about nothing really important, just spending time together laughing at stupid things, such as Sirius sending Kreacher to work at Hogwarts, the elf having a fit before eventually cracking away. When they did speak, Harry had begun to see the Auror in a new light, noticing things he hadn't before.

A prime example was that she seemed to take each step slowly to avoid falling over and was more cautious with her movements. She would bite her bottom lip when in deep thought, or would change her hair colour, length and style until whatever she was thinking about came to mind. The Auror also loved to match her eye colour to her hair, but had been using green a lot lately.

Coming out of his thoughts, Harry wrapped an arm around the Auror's shoulders and sighed. "Tell Uncle Harry what's wrong."

"I'm older than you nitwit!" she said, having enough strength to smack him upside the head.

"Physically yes," he replied earning another smack. "I deserved that, but mentally no. I deserved that one as well." He laughed when Tonks gave him another smack and then stuck her tongue out at him.

"Do you ever go to work, you seem to spend all your time here with me and Sirius."

"I do go to work, I just spend the amount of time I'm meant to spend there before coming back here or going to my parents," was her reply, taking her arms out of the sleeves of her robes and wrapping them around herself. "Bloody freezing in here."

Harry smiled and picked up his wand and sent several jets of fire at the fireplace, the room seeming to warm up instantly. "Better?"

"Much," was her reply, snuggling into him. "If we're caught here now like this, Sirius would say something inappropriate."

"Like that's something new," chuckled Harry, rubbing her arms to try and warm her up faster. "Has Bill warded your place yet?"

"No, he says he'll get round to it, but he seems to be spending ridiculous amounts of time with that Fleur girl," she moaned. "You'd think he could just spend a few hours without her to ward my place. It wouldn't take him that long."

"Between spending time with Fleur and warding your place, what would you pick?" Harry asked with a grin, her shoulder nudging him.

"I don't swing that way," she growled.

"Bugger," groaned Harry earning another nudge. "Merlin woman!"

"Getting as bad as Sirius," Tonks grumbled, sitting closer to the Gryffindor. "Much changed since I last seen you?"

"Not really, lessons today went quite well, Padfoot is upstairs nursing his ego after I beat him in our little mini-duel and we've still not heard from Moony. Apart from that nothings really changed since yesterday."

"Neither has your dress sense," chuckled Tonks, lifting her head of his shoulder and looking over his overlarge grey jumper and baggy jeans that were two sizes too big. "You should really get some new clothes, preferably ones that fit you."

"I'd love to, but there are more important things going on," shrugged Harry, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "I've been used to Dudley's old things for years now."

"Shouldn't have to," mumbled Tonks, placing her head back on his shoulder. "Have to make sure you get some clothes of your own before you leave here next. Can't have you walking around in those rags."

Harry smiled and rested his head on hers sighing heavily, his mind drifting to his werewolf mentor who he was missing. "What's Moony up to Tonks?" He felt Tonks snuggle into him, clearly not wanting to answer his question. "Come on Tonks, I'm worried about him. Padfoot won't even say and he's worried sick."

Remus had left the day after he had cleaned the attic, telling him he would be fine and be back in a few days. That had been over two weeks ago and no one had seen hide or hair of him. What made it worse was that Harry had been told nothing of his mission, the werewolf saying it was safer this way and that he should concentrate on his lessons and not worry about him.

Harry himself had used that "don't worry about me" line so many times, he never realised how much people did worry when they heard that from someone they cared about.

"I can't say Harry," she said sadly, disdain clear in her voice.

"Have any clue when he'll be back?"

"Nobody knows."

Harry sighed heavily, his thoughts for the hundredth time that day drifting to the werewolf who had become more like an Uncle in the time he had spent with the man. They had been together only a week along with Sirius, and already the two felt like his family. His own family like the way Ron and Hermione had theirs.

"Is there anyway I can help?" Harry asked in a last ditch attempt.

Tonks lifted her head off his shoulder again, this time giving him a warm smile instead of criticising his dress sense. "Keep learning what you need to learn and he'll be happy. He hates it when people worry about him so try not to. I found that the more you worry about someone, it causes your mind to go into overdrive and you start to think the worst."

"I'm just like him in that sense," said Harry with a small smile. "I hate it when people worry about me, but when it comes to others I can't help but worry."

"Heroes can't expect things to be just one way," chuckled Tonks, Harry scowling at her. "Don't deny it Harry, you are a hero and will be forever as you sacrifice your own happiness and risk your life to help others."

"I'm no hero," said Harry shaking his head. "Just a guy who wants to do the right thing and live the quiet life."

"Definition of a "hero" is a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. Ring a bell Hero?" she asked, Harry rubbing the back of his neck with a small smile.

"You've been looking through Moony's dictionaries again haven't you?" asked Harry, watching as Tonks grinned in response. "You see me as a man?"

"I'm not blind like some people," replied Tonks. "I agree with Sirius, you were a man the moment you had to face that monster."

Harry looked into her eyes and could tell that she meant every word, those purple orbs seeming to pierce his very soul as they stared back. A small grin formed on his lips, the Gryffindor watching as Tonks changed her eyes to match his. "You scare me sometimes when you do that."

"Good to know," replied the Auror with a wink rising from her seat, placing her arms back through sleeves of her black Auror robes. "Got to go the loo."

"Thanks for telling me that," said Harry rolling his eyes.

"Back in a bit Hero."

Harry scowled as she left, but found that he did not mind when she called him Hero. It did fit him a little when he thought about it, he was selfless, but that did not mean he wanted to be called it as he walked down the street. "Hero," mused Harry, the word sounded foreign to him. "More like lucky git."

-o-

The next few days passed with Sirius concentrating on his Occlumency and Legilimency, which was coming along slowly but surely. There were so many bridges to cross to become an Occlumens and Legilimens that he and Sirius agreed that they would aim to become at least adept at the art, as mastering them could take many years.

A Master of Occlumency could keep his emotions in check at all times, store his memories in whatever way he chose and build layers of shields around individual memories, then around groups and then around the entire mind. A basic student of Occlumency could merely clear his mind of all thought, and decide what thoughts the person attempting to break into the mind would see. They could also set simple shields around the mind, letting them know of intrusion and using safe guards such as memories that would alert the Occlumens to an attack.

A Master of Legilimency could read a persons mind like an open book and if faced with an Occlumens shields, could work on the shields surrounding the mind, taking them apart like a Curse Breaker would a ward, they could also tell when they were being lied to. They could also search through someone's mind like they would a book, not being bounded with memories, but merely looking through the ones that they wished to see. A person knowing the basics of Legilimency could read the surface thoughts of a persons mind, send them memories if gaining a strong enough connection, and even know what spell a person was going to use in a duel, blocking it before they even began the incantation or while in the middle of casting a spell.

"I can clear my mind for a few seconds before memories start to slip in," said Harry during their Friday morning lesson, which happened to be a double.

"I found that finding something to stare at and concentrating solely on it helps to clear the mind best," said Sirius rubbing his head, having just had to witness Harry have a Lockhart lesson. "Did he really set Cornish Pixies onto a second year class without teaching the Freezing Charm?"

"The guy cared more about his hair than the job," Harry replied rubbing his temple. "To think he tried to act like he was more famous than me. To think all the opportunities to embarrass him I had and didn't take."

"Don't worry about it Harry, I'm sure you'll win Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile award soon enough. They'll probably ask what type of underwear you wear."

"Thongs all the way," joked Harry, Sirius bark like laughter filling the kitchen.

"Your father would turn in his grave," came a familiar voice.

Both Sirius and Harry froze in shock, turning around slowly to face the kitchen door, where looking very worn out, his robes shabbier than ever, his sandy colour hair wild and messy, his eyes dancing with happiness, stood Remus Lupin using the doorframe to hold himself up.

"Moony!" both yelled running forward, Harry reaching him first and grabbing him in a hug. Sirius was next wrapping his arms around the two, but he had charged flat out and had crashed into them, all three falling to a heap on the floor.

"Pile up!" said Sirius already on top of Remus hugging him tightly.

"No pile up!" cried Remus, but it was too late as Harry jumped on top of Sirius and hugged both men. "For Merlin's sake I've only been gone a few weeks!"

"A few weeks too long!" Harry said angrily. "Padfoot isn't as good a teacher as you and he cooked. I swear he's killed off half of my taste buds!"

"I am here you know Prongslet," said Sirius, speaking into Remus's armpit. "You stink Moony."

"You're everywhere you fat git," said Harry getting off Sirius, and levitating his godfather off Remus who he pulled to his feet. The Boy-Who-Lived sent an evil grin at Remus who chuckled before cancelled the Levitation Charm, sending Sirius to the floor, a small groan coming from where he landed. "You'll have to tell us about where you've been Uncle Moony!"

"Uncle Moony?" asked Remus sounding as though he liked the name.

"Of course, if Sirius is my godfather you're my uncle, you could be grandfa – "

"I'm not that old Prongslet," chuckled Remus taking a seat at the table, Harry rushing off to make him a cup of tea. "So what's happened since I've been gone."

"Nothing at all Moony," said Sirius limping into the room. "I swear Prongslet my knee has swollen up again." The man took a seat at the table across from Remus, wincing slightly as he put his leg up. "Apart from Sturgis being sent to prison – "

"I heard about that sadly," replied Remus accepting the tea Harry offered. "Thank you Prongslet, the news got around fast."

"Where were you?" Harry asked taking a seat next to the werewolf.

Remus merely smiled, but paled slightly when Harry pointed his wand threateningly at him.

"Like Padfoot I've been worried sick and nobody's told me anything, so you either tell me now or I put you under a Cheering Charm and hang you upside again like last time, but this time everyone sees you." Harry smiled and watched as Remus coughed slightly, rubbing his neck.

"Prongslet – "

"Moony just tell him, either way he'll find out," chuckled Sirius sitting across from him.

"You're rather confident saying that Padfoot," said Remus eyeing the wand while his gaze flickered to Sirius.

"He's the son of a Marauder and the only reason I didn't tell him was because you told me not to," stated Sirius with a small smile. "He deserves to know, been worried sick about you he has, his lessons have been suffering a little."

"That's no excuse," said Remus turning to face him. "Your lessons are important and whatever I am doing should not affect them." Remus said this in a harsh but kind way that made Harry feel like had done something wrong, but he knew he wasn't entirely in the wrong in this situation.

"Says the man who just ups and leaves saying 'don't worry about me'!" countered Harry, watching as Remus smiled sadly looking to his cup. "How can you tell me not to worry about those who I think of as my family?" Harry watched as Remus looked at him in surprise, most probably thinking he had been joking when he called him 'Uncle Moony' before.

"Harry I'm sorry," he said eventually, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I was wrong and you were right, can you forgive me?"

"Of course."

"Well then I suppose I can fill you in to an extent," he chuckled. Remus dropped his hand from his shoulder and watched curiously when Harry pointed his wand at the pantry, two huge slabs of Honeydukes Chocolate and a bottle of Firewhiskey shooting onto the table.

"That's an apology present for hanging you upside down during my lesson," said Harry, watching as Remus beamed at him. "Though you did kind of deserve it."

"I suppose I did," sighed Remus. "Now what do you want to know?"

"When you're going to give me some Firewhiskey," said Sirius licking his lips.

Harry and Remus looked to one another before bursting out into laughter, Sirius shaking his head at the two mumbling something about 'gits'.