A/N : Hello everyone, this is my very first story and I don't know if you like it or not but try to read a few chapters of this before you make a decision whether to continue reading this story or not. My English skills might not be as good as you would have supposed to be of a writer, but let me tell you that this is the place I wish to write so that you could review and help me with the story as well as my English. I hope you enjoy reading this.

Now let me clearly remind you that I do not own Harry Potter or anyone for that matter. The plot of this story is alone what is mine, and the rest is all of Jk Rowling.

The green light came like a lightning strike towards him even before he had finished his special taunt for his maniac cousin. Apparently, Bellatrix was not in the mood to play taunting games; she wished to end the twelve-year Azkaban resident's life as soon as possible. Bring delight to the ancestors of the ancient house of Black and what could bring happiness more than the killing of the last and only blood traitor of the house- Sirius Black. Oh, and although the great Harry Potter stands beside her dear cousin she wouldn't do the mistake of throwing the killing curse at him, no, never, who would want the wrath of the dark lord on them? So she would satisfy her itching of using her unforgivable curse on his godfather. Surely the Lord would praise her for this, won't he?

"Avada kedavra."

The sounds of fights and quarrels came to a halt as everyone stood surrounding the Veil of death to witness the death of beloved Sirius Black who stood beside a mortified Harry Potter and determined Remus Lupin. The life without your friends, twelve years of following the belief that your closest friend has sold your other best friend and family to you-know-who, and the unacceptance of the society on the fact that you are an accidental werewolf has left Lupin existing and not at all living. Here is his chance to show how much he appreciated his friends for being with him and his faith in Harry. Not to mention, the prospect of meeting James and Lily seemed really inviting for him. This death will be the best one he could have asked for, to die for good. This conviction was enough for Lupin to dive straight into an as much determined Sirius and remove him from the path of the astonishingly fast killing curse.

Sirius has expected this to happen, he knew that his crazy cousin would fire the curse on him but what he least expected was that she would not play the insulting game of how he was the shame of the Black house on him. Now caught off guard he could not do anything but stand there shocked watching the green light of the killing curse and absorb all warmth, he could feel from touching dear Prongs and Lily's son's arm. He felt surrounded by a unique kind of peace, it would have something to do with the silence around him but it didn't bother him, he was bothered by the fact that he could finally apologize to Prongs for failing him by not taking the justified revenge from the useless coward rat and his inability to take Harry under his wing after their death. He was ready to face his fate but a strong force caused him to fall straight onto Harry who seemed to be shocked to shell from the unfolding events.

Harry did not know what to do next. The last coherent thought his mind had formed was that- it's coming towards Sirius- and now his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts which started from the loss of parents to losing his recently met godfather to being orphan again. No, not now should he be deprived of his godfather when he has only met him and here Harry can think or do nothing even after realizing what the green lightning will lead to. Oh, he would grieve later but for now, horrified would be an apt word for his feelings. He was still in the same shock when Sirius' hand on his arm changed into a full-body much larger than his falling on him.

Ginny was fighting Dolohiv when he abruptly paused his incantation of Merlin knows which dark spell and looked up with an intimidating gleeful expression, that she turned to see the lightning green strike shooting from Bellatrix's wand and moving straight towards Sirius. She watched as the color drained from their faces and the expressions changed remarkably in the least span of time when the green light traveling toward them. The most unexpected wasn't then, it was now that Professor Lupin bumped into Sirius causing him to tumble over and the crowd and the performer of the deadly curse gasped.

It was only a second that Remus had taken Sirius' place that the killing curse shot him straight at his chest, and with a mysterious smile and his last words spilling out of his mouth quietly, " 'will say hello to the Potters from you two", he slid into the Veil of Death.

"Moony, dear Remus" cried out Sirius grabbing for his only friend and trying to stand on his feet but failing miserably.

"Remus" came a horrified whisper from a dazed Harry before he started and picked himself on his feet to enter the veil and bring his third-year professor back, all the while shouting his name.

The gleeful cackling of Bellatrix was the only voice who bought Sirius back to reality and before he knew, he had cast "Stupefy" and "Reducto" on her with all the vengeance and anger which he could muster, which was not a difficult task, seeing that this maniac death eater had killed his best friend. The shreds of Bellatrix's body calmed his anger considerably when his grief took over and he suddenly found that the other death eaters were being fought by other order members and students to stop them from coming near him. Then he heard a loud wail of Remus' name and he turned around to find Harry being caught by Hagrid and him struggling harshly to free himself from the half giant's grasp and assuming that Harry would handle himself soon, he allowed the sleep to come over which was threatening to come since he blasted Lestrange.

Harry calmed down his mortification when he couldn't free himself from Hagrid's death grip and the anger came in full force. He stopped moving to delusion Hagrid to free him, which did do the trick as his grasp loosened and Harry fetched himself off the grip. He did not find Bellatrix anywhere but definitely saw Lucius Malfoy leaving the room from one of the doors. He went on a sprint hoping to find Bellatrix and kill her or at least torture Malfoy to soothe his anger.

"Crucio" he shouted when he was only a few feet away from Malfoy.

Malfoy stumbled in his tracks and fell hard on the floor but quickly turned on his back and grinned madly at Harry with a strange knowing gleam in his eyes.

The voices of the dark lord filled Harry's mind and he found himself writhing on the Ministry floor. Dumbledore had entered the scene through one of the grates in the Ministry's fireplace. He was fighting valiantly with Voldemort and stopped Harry from fighting by throwing him against a pillar.

Suddenly, green flames were seen in many of the grates in the fireplace, and order members were pouring out in the Atrium of the Ministry and the minister of magic Cornelius Fudge was in the lead of the crowd. The crowd of the department of mysteries has also entered the Atrium but the death eaters had all vanished. Hagrid was carrying Sirius' limp and unconscious form in his arms.

However, this was not what bothered Harry currently, it was the mocking voices and memories in his mind that were causing him agony. The manipulated memories that were constantly followed by Voldemort's voice that no one loves him and cares for him were making him twitch and scream in pain. He heard a voice at a distance calling him and he vaguely registered it as his Hogwarts headmaster's voice and also the hand on his arm as the said man's hand.

"Fight him, Harry, fight him."

And Harry did fight. He told the dark lord that he was wrong, that he was loved and cared for. The dark lord was pushed out of his mind and screamed in anger after he caught that all were watching the scene and disappeared in thin air.

The Minister of magic was ashamed of his actions of not accepting the dark lord's return but this is not the pressing issue for Dumbledore right now. It was to rescue Harry from the large gathering of people and rapid flashes of the Prophet's cameras. Hence, wrapping a strong arm around Harry's resigned and tired shoulders, he led them through the throng of people.

Days have passed since the infamous event at the Ministry atrium. Sirius has woken up from his magic-drained state. Dumbledore has been reinstated as the headmaster of Hogwarts. Umbridge has been thrown out of the Hogwarts grounds. The school has gone back to normal after a few days of grieving over the deceased former Hogwarts' DADA professor. The wounds of the participants are all healed physically. Of course, Fudge is removed from his position of Minister of Magic and replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour.

Everything is beginning to settle, with the impending clouds of war though. Here but we see, Harry is still brooding on Remus' death and feeling bouts of guilt about the fact. He has reduced contact with anyone and has avoided meals at the Great hall. Not that he is to blame, the chatterings of the Great hall are revolving around him, professor Lupin or the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort. Not to mention, the cringes and winces of his fellow housemates when they ask him about the ministry and he calls you-know-who as Voldemort has driven his frustration to a new level.

The condolences he has received over the former professor's death have helped less to stop feeling guilty. The continuous meeting of the order and his obliviousness to the matters in which he is directly involved has also made him quite irritated and worst is that he cannot argue with them. He also felt the need to spin the idea of having been possessed by Voldemort in his mind which helped in doing nothing but make him bitter.

His thoughts were interrupted by a flash of red in front of his face who then promptly plopped himself on the couch he was using. Oh, it isn't a 'he', it is a 'she'. Ginny? What is she doing here? Isn't it time for lunch?

Harry looked at her with questioning eyes and all he received for a fleeting smile before she slumped against the back of the couch and stared at the fireplace in front of them. Odd, he thought but returned to his infamous brooding while staring at the fireplace himself. However, now he could not focus on his previous thoughts but his thoughts started revolving around his wizardry school, the Dumbledore Army, Ron and Hermione, and his friends who joined him on the trip to the Department of Mysteries and the questionable presence of the youngest Weasley sitting by his side. He was getting a mysterious sort of comfort by the fact that she was not attempting to pass condolences to him, to pry information from him, or to cheer him up, up until now...

"We wanted to talk to you, Harry," said Ginny bringing him out of his thoughts but he didn't look at her, "but as you have been hiding since we got back ..."

"I didn't want anyone to talk to me," said Harry who was getting more annoyed with every passing second.

"Well, that was a bit stupid of you," said Ginny angrily, "you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by you-know-who, and I can tell you how it feels."

Harry remained quite still as the words sank in and then he turned to face her, "I forgot," he said.

"Lucky you," said Ginny coolly.

He looked her in the eye for several moments and saw a strange spark which caused him to believe that she really understood how he felt. He had someone to share the things he felt without needing to explain them. Now he had the guilt of being the cause of Professor Lupin's death. He could not forget him and move on.

Ginny must have seen a change of expression on his face for she then said, "Professor Lupin was the only professor at Hogwarts to whom I had talked about the Chamber, actually he was the only one other than Bill." She was looking him in the eye and he suddenly noting he had kept staring at her all this time but he could not avert his eyes, he wanted to listen to what she had to say.

And she then continued, "He offered me advice to cope up with my situation. I had no friends that year because many knew about my first year and had kept a distance from me but he spent time with me and listened to me," she sighed and turned her face to watch the fireplace again, but continued anyway, "he was the reason I was sane in school in my second year."

Harry offered no words as he wasn't able to speak but also didn't turn with her towards the fireplace, instead looked at her expectantly to wait for her to speak. He felt guilty for Ginny had felt so alienated back then and he had not even taken the time to even check on her once. He also felt strangely better on hearing a memory of Remus Lupin.

"We should never forget brave and kind men, Harry," Ginny said quietly but firmly, "Their memories are not to be forgotten but to be remembered with honour at every stage of life."

He looked at her in surprise. This wasn't what he was expecting to be told but this made him feel good and almost relieved? He wasn't asked to forget him and move on with life but to remember him and respect him. He can surely do that, so yes, he was relieved.

"Some students came to tell me that they felt sorry for me," he finally said and turned to face the fire himself, "They told that he went to Mum and Dad and I should forget it and move on. Your words have surprised me" He paused for a few seconds before he continued, "Thank you."

She gave a jerky adamant nod and got up from the couch in a sudden swift moment. She then turned towards me and gave a shaky smile before shortly saying, "Food's waiting" with a tilt of head towards the portrait hole, and headed out herself.

Feeling a lot better than a few minutes ago, he himself got up and moved towards the portrait hole to have his dinner with a completely different trail of thoughts.

The first month of summer passed by with the Dursleys for Harry and the only things that kept him company was Hedwig and his thoughts. He had thought a lot about his guilt for the death of his father figure Remus Lupin and the advice given to him by many of his close ones. His thoughts had started turning towards a certain redhead, not Ron mind you, but the youngest and only girl of the Weasley clan, Ginny Weasley.

Mad-eye Moody arrived after a month from the start of summer vacation to pick Harry and take him to the Order headquarter Grimmauld place. The first thing he noticed upon his arrival there was that the atmosphere of the house was cold and tensed and the second thing was that the Weasley family will again be staying here like last year, along with Hermione, except Fred and George, who had opened a joke shop at Diagon Alley, known as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Mrs. Weasley ran to hug him as soon she laid her eyes on him and then stepped back to examine the damage caused to him in the past month at the Dursleys.

"Oh boy, you have grown up well, Harry. The summer has definitely been in agreement with you," declared Molly when she had to reach up to cup his face, "but those muggles have made you thin, I'll just go and make something nice to eat for you." And with that Mrs. Weasley left for the kitchen.

"Molly will make us all a hippogriff one day with all those delicious meals of hers," said Sirius from the dining room's doorway when Harry was still trying to regain his breath after Molly's bone-crushing hug.

"Sirius," said Harry and covered the distance in between them in three strides to collect Sirius in a hug of his own. He clung to his godfather for a minute whole, not that Sirius minded it, the whole month was emotionally heavy on both of them.

"Come on pup, now meet your friends, eat, and then we have something to talk about," said Sirius as Harry released him.

Harry nodded and adjusted his duffel bag on his shoulder as he climbed the stairs. As soon as he was to open the door, the door was being pulled from inside already, and out came Ginny who shouted his name on seeing him and came ahead to give him their very first hug. He clung to her as long as she allowed, but she suddenly pulled back. Before he could talk to her, he was engulfed in another hug by Hermione and then a third one by Ron.

"Harry, it's so nice to see you- You have certainly grown up, Harry. Oh, also tell me about the Dursleys. Have there been any disturbances there or anything? Do you know what they are talking about downstairs? I swear I'll go insane if they keep talking in whispers." Rambled Hermione while Harry was torn between keeping up with her and watching Ginny who stood behind his best friends, watching him with a smile that lit up her face and he realized that the summer had also agreed with her appearance as she had grown up in pretty young women.

"Hermione, shut up. Let the poor bloke breathe, you have knocked all air out of him," exclaimed Ron bringing Harry back to the present and causing Hermione to blush while he remained oblivious to this (as always) and continued while patting Harry on his back, "it is good to have you, mate. The girls were going to drive me barmy here," he said and earned a swat on each arm for his comment from both the girls.

"It is good to be back," said Harry with a big grin on his face as he watched them.

They all sat down on the beds and talked about their holidays. Soon he ate Mrs. Weasley made-meal for him and went down to the dining hall for the order meeting.

"Hello," said Harry as he enters the room and all the faces turned to him. There were Albus Dumbledore, Sirius, Mr. Weasley seated to the right of the table while Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley were on the left of the table. Everyone in the room nodded at him and Sirius gestured him to sit at the head of the table. It looked like a pretty special and private Order meeting.

He sat down and Dumbledore started the conversation,

"How are you, Harry?"

"I am fine, headmaster. Thank you," said Harry shortly. He knew this was just a conversation technique to make the atmosphere light.

"Harry, as you are aware of the events of the previous year and quite fairly have played the lead role in the events, I must confide in you the meaning of the prophecy that you had heard at the Ministry." Said Dumbledore and continued his explanation of the prophecy, leaving everyone to listen intently to every word of his.

Sirius gave Dumbledore a satisfactory nod after his explanation which led Harry to assume that the headmaster had told the contents of the prophecy only on Sirius' insistence, which was actually the truth.

The summer went by slowly, leaving Harry a lot of time to contemplate about the prophecy and also to watch Ginny, and her coppery strands of hair, the sprinkle of freckles on her face, and the smile which could light up the room, but he would deny, or rather stammer if anyone asked him about this.

There other thing disturbing him was Sirius' and Dumbledore's private conversation he had eavesdropped on with extendable ears, which he had bought on the opening day of the twins' shop WWW.

"I still don't think this is a good idea. I can't risk anymore lives out here nor can I have Harry alone in front of danger." He heard Sirius say.

Dumbledore replied "I completely agree with you Sirius. However, I also believed you would have faith in me when I speak that Hogwarts is a safer place than anywhere in the world."

"I know that Albus, I really do, but this isn't a small conflict to be resolved. It is an interconnecting turmoil of conflicts of various people to be affected by this, which is pushing me towards my previous opinion, rather than making me see your reasoning and if I speak complete truth I don't find myself wholeheartedly agreeing with you even if I was using all of my brains." Harry could practically feel the defiant glare his godfather would be throwing the headmaster's way.

However, he couldn't know the answer to the statement that Dumbledore might have given as stomping of footsteps could be heard coming towards him from down the hallway and Tonks had appeared in front of him, just a few seconds after he had shoved the extendable ear in his pocket.

He couldn't find the answer to what Sirius' previous opinion was nor the reason as to why Dumbledore wanted him to have a good relation with Professor Horace Slughorn, the new potions' master. The first month in Hogwarts had also spent in these thoughts with occasional distractions in the name of friends. The quidditch practice in months to follow had also distracted him, with him being a captain and all, and Ginny and Ron being on the team this year.

By this, he could remember the first time he saw Ginny fly with a quaffle tucked under her arm. She looked carefree, ferocious and the burning glint in her eye was hard to miss, and her hair tied in a ponytail almost looked like fire with the sun reflecting upon it. He had almost got hit by bludgers two times and he had only managed to catch the snitch once it was well beyond the time he usually did.

The potions book of Half-blood Prince was also one of his concerns as well as the changed behavior of Draco Malfoy. Harry was convinced that Malfoy was a death eater, since the event at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. The potions book has however caused a huge disaster after he had used a spell which was named 'for enemies' on Malfoy and he had even received weekly detentions with Snape for it. This wasn't a bad thing though, after all, if he hadn't received the detention, how would Ginny have played Seeker for him, and won the house cup before running towards him and giving him a chance to kiss her in front of the whole common room, this part was completely unintentional, mind you, but it happened nonetheless and Sirius had written an appreciative letter about this for him too.

One of his questions was answered with the memory given to him by Professor Slughorn at Hagrid's hut. Voldemort was immortal because of his Horcruxes, that is why Slughorn was important for the headmaster. The events had taken a sharp turn after that, and before he knew the headmaster was dead and the death eaters had taken control over the castle of Hogwarts.

It was Dumbledore's funeral and to Harry's surprise, Sirius had come to attend it in human form.

"What are doing like this in the open?" Harry hissed as he also waited for anyone to see them and charge spells at them but to his utter disbelief, everyone who glanced their way only gasped and then turned back to the ceremony.

"Nice to see you too, Harry," said Sirius with a low chuckle which caused Harry to blush and remember his manners.

"I was... just, you know...sorry... and hello" Harry stammered causing Sirius to look amused and chuckle for another second before he sobered up.

"Pettigrew had been caught a few weeks back and I got my name cleared of all charges, with a formal apology for the injustice they had caused me to go through," Sirius explained with a slight sarcastic note at the end.

"Oh, I didn't remember to read the newspapers with everything going on," said Harry while still surveying his surrounding for any dangerous threats that could be posed against Sirius and continued, "I would also like to assume that the arrest had something to do with you, too."

"I'd deeply offended if you assumed otherwise," said Sirius with a broad grin and then sighed as he shoved his hands in the deep pockets of his cloak, "Tonks and Kingsley were the ones I was keeping up with and sharing information of Peter's whereabouts with. Anyway, I have something really important to talk to you about," he was till now looking directly into Harry's eyes but abruptly turned around mumbling "now that Dumbledore's gone" almost to himself but Harry heard it the same.

Might be the time of the revelation of his old opinion from his and Dumbledore's meeting, Harry thought, now is the time? After he died?

"Okay, even I have something to tell you about," Harry said.

Sirius leaned towards Harry at this and whispered "I am updated with the Horcruxes, this, what I have to talk to you about is your life which I assume that you have pointers of how it will be," he gave Harry a pointed look.

"Seclusion," was the only word Harry thought would be appropriate to describe his life until after the war and he thus answered the same. Realization dawned upon him now, they were talking about seclusion then. Sirius did not want to send Harry near other people, he wanted to keep Harry and others safe, which Dumbledore had countered. This was the conflict for Sirius- dealing with Remus' death, Harry's safety and prophecy, others' safety, and his own imprisonment. With Dumbledore gone, they will embark on the journey of hunting Horcruxes and subsequently kill Voldemort. This was being planned for a year, and unknowingly his plan was the same.

He gave a sharp nod to Sirius, which was almost more for his own assurance, and moved determinedly towards his best friends.

Ron and Hermione turned towards him when they saw him approaching them. The paling of their faces, when they spotted him made Harry take a deep breath before speaking,

"You both know that we have fought everyone together till now and been together in this whole thing...," he gestured lamely at his surroundings and looked at them with a fierce and determined look, "but it's time. I appreciate what you have done for me till now...I – I really do and am thankful to you but it's... it's time indeed now."

"Harry, we're still together in this. Why don't you put it in your thick brain?" Hermione said with forced calm, all the time glaring at Harry, who had his head bowed.

"Leave him be, Hermione. He is done with us. It's okay Harry...it really is. We would be fine with the clouds of you-know-who looming over us and I might even take some time to remember the nice moments we had the while you were pretending to be best friends with me," he said with a look in his eye which clearly said that he was feeling betrayed.

"I am sorry, Ron but you know it's time," said Harry with hurt but defiant look on his face and staring straight into Ron's blue eyes, which clearly said that this was the end of the topic and the final statement of the discussion.

"but Harry- "

"Come on, Hermione. It's time indeed for Harry," Ron said before taking Hermione's hand and turning while she had a pleading look on her face, asking Harry to consider but he had his head bowed, in an effort to stay composed while his only true friends were leaving.

"You know what," he then heard Ron say and looked up to see Ron face mere inches away with a murderous look on it, blue eyes staring in his green one, while still holding Hermione's hand who was standing behind him with a cautious look with one and other on Harry's collar, "you have someone else to explain to, too. Never should have trusted you with her" he spat and pushed Harry with his collar before stalking away with Hermione.

Harry stood there, this time watching them go all the while thinking about what Ron had just said. Yes, he should bloody well not have trusted me, he thought, she should not have been hurt by a tosser like me. His next location was actually the said 'her' and he was dreading that conversation more than the one he just had.

He searched for her and eventually found her in the Gryffindor common room. He sat down next to her on the couch, but she didn't look at him and kept staring out of the window, he knew that she was aware of his presence.

"It's time," he started cautiously while watching her and she just looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face, "Whatever we had seemed to be living from someone else's life and in it, I forgot who I was... and now it's time, those things between us need to end."

She turned towards the window again and sighed, before saying, "Isn't this for some stupid noble reason?" she paused and turned towards him, "I must say that I am not surprised, I knew that this day would come...maybe this is the reason I like you."

He closed his eyes, this was more painful than he had expected. Anger and fight would a better way to end this conversation, but the calmness that she was showing only made him more guilty. "Ginny -"

"You know I never gave up on you," she cut him off and he opened his eyes only to see brown eyes swimming in front of his, "Hermione told me to date, other boys so that you could notice real me."

"Smart girl, that Hermione," he tried to smile but failed miserably.

"Since it is time," she stood up and looked down at him, "you better go," she said, gave him a shaky smile, tilted her head towards the portrait hole, and slowly, almost reluctantly turned and climbed the staircase of the girls' dormitories.

He watched her leave before looking out of the window that she was looking out of, just minutes ago. The scene he saw caused him to close his eyes to blink back tears and suppress a sob. He quickly got up and left without a second glance at the window, which overlooked the Quidditch pitch where a girl and a boy were doing laps around it on their brooms.

"It is time, Sirius" whispered Harry hoarsely. They had left the castle pretty quickly later and were currently at The Potter's graves. Harry had just stood there looking at his parents' graves for a few minutes, composing himself before he could speak.

They could not go to Grimmauld place as the secret keeper, Albus Dumbledore was dead and Snape, who had killed him knew the secret. They were here to make Harry's first visit to his parents' grave before moving to a safe place to start their mission.

"Believe me, Harry, I know," Sirius replied and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, "I wanted to move to remove you from school last year only but I was stopped by Albus, he told me Hogwarts was the safest place and what I knew next was that he died. I am sorry, Harry but we need to move into hiding."

Harry gave a sharp nod and spoke barely above a whisper, "I always knew this, Sirius. I enjoyed far too much last year than I deserved. It isn't your fault, not really. If you had removed me I would never have experienced how it is to be a true teenager."

"Yes, I am thankful that you got to experience the normal teenage life for some time," Sirius replied quietly.

"For three weeks, that is I experienced it," Harry retorted with a sarcastic laugh, "Apparently, I had hoped for too much when I wished for the peace to continue for a little more time."

"Harry," Sirius sighed and dropped his hand from Harry's shoulder and shoved it in his pocket, "I know this is difficult but, listen to me, we can't stay here for long."

"Let's move," said Harry at once said and without taking his eyes off the grave moved backward, trusting Sirius to hold him and apparate them.