Chapter 1
A/N: Hello and welcome! I know many were hoping that Sorting for Success would continue, but I just lost my passion and plans for that story, it was supposed to be a short challenge entry, and I tried to take it further and failed. So with that being said, welcome to my new story, in which I plan on continuing until the end, how long that may be. This is heavily influenced by the wonderful works by TheBlacksResurgence, so please please please, give him a follow and read his stories, especially The Green in the Grey, which this is mostly inspired by. The only difference is I created my own OC side of the Black family in which Harry is connected to, so no Arcturus in this one, sorry! Without further ado welcome to Thanks to Some Yanks!
July 31st, 1995
Eyes snapped open. Emerald green stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom, early morning light shined through a crack in the curtains covering the windows. The eyes glanced over at the alarm clock sitting on the bedside table; 7:00 am glared back in red digits. The eyes closed, a deep exhale leaving the body of the teenage boy that the eyes belonged to. Rolling out of bed, the teen moved towards the on-suite bathroom; entering, the lights flicked on and the boy moved towards the sink. Turning on the water, the teen splashed water on his face, rubbing the sleep from his face. Taking the towel hanging next to the sink, the boy wiped his face and looked at the face in the mirror. The startingly green eyes stared back under a mop of ebony black hair. This teen was Harry Potter; 15 years old as of today and standing at a very nice 5'8''.
"Looking good dearie," the mirror commented, making Harry smile. Heading back to his bedroom, Harry grabbed the glasses sitting next to the alarm clock and a stick of dark wood. That stick was Harry's wand, his focus for the magical power he was born with. Grabbing a robe from a hook by the door to his bedroom, he slipped that and a pair of slippers onto his feet, and made his way out the door and down the carpeted hallway of his home, no noise coming from his footsteps. Reaching the stairs, Harry headed down to the ground floor. He passed a closed door and turned into the next room, a wide-open area: The kitchen. He spotted two adults sitting at the counter while another made its way around the kitchen. One of the sitting adults, an older male smiled and greeted Harry, "Good morning Harry, happy birthday."
Smiling Harry joined him at the counter, sitting in an open seat. "Good Morning Uncle James, I appreciate it. Good morning Aunt Teresa, Thomas."
The man named James was an intimidating man, standing at 6'2", his dark brown hair and deep blue eyes sat over a well-trimmed mustache. The man sat with confidence and was well built, clearly an athlete at one point in life. This was James Black, patriarch of the Black family in America. While intimidating to look at, his eyes sparkled with humor, almost like he always had a joke he was interested in sharing. James was a high-ranking director in a magical branch of a popular no-Maj company called Microsoft. The no-Maj branch was a widely known software company, while the magical side focused on enchanting the same products to work around magic. The woman making her way around the kitchen was Harry's Aunt Teresa, or Terri to those close to her. She was a stark contrast to her husband, standing at 5'3" with bright blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she was always smiling, and her husband would teasingly call her 'Sunshine', which would usually cause her famous temper to appear. Terri was what Harry thought as a 'Soccer Mom', attractive and caring about her family. Smiling at Harry, his aunt floated a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him.
"Happy Birthday Harry, would you like a glass of orange juice or water?"
Harry accepted the floating plate, "Orange juice would be great, thank you."
With a flick of her wand, a glass and pitcher of orange juice made its way over, the glass placing itself in front of Harry, and the pitcher filling it with orange juice.
Harry began tucking it, complimenting Aunt Terri on the delicious meal, when the third person in the room spoke up, "How is 15 feeling for you Scruffy?"
Rolling his eyes, Harry glared at the younger man sitting next to him, who had a large grin on his face. This was his cousin and 3rd son of his Aunt and Uncle, Thomas. Thomas Black was 18 years old, and a fresh graduate from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Shorter than his father, Thomas was still tall at 6'0". He had a mix of both his parents, the deep blue eyes of his father, with dirty blonde hair that came from his mother. He was applying for the Auror Academy at MACUSA, hoping to become a member of the legendary crime enforcers. Scruffy was a nickname from Harry's youth, where Thomas and his brothers would constantly make comments about how scruffy Harry's hair would be, and it stuck, much to his chagrin.
"It doesn't feel any different from 14, except maybe that I have to attend Ilvermorny for my OWLs now. Other than that, it's no different." After Harry finished talking the four heard the floo in the neighboring room activate, and in a flash of green, another adult man stepped out of the fireplace. Standing at a respectable 5'11", the man had a mane of shaggy black hair, and stormy, grey eyes.
"Harry!" the man shouted, a package in his hands, "Harry, Harry, Happy birthday!" He placed the package on a nearby table and walked up, wrapping his arms around Harry's shoulders.
Harry tried, and failed, to shake him off. "Stop it Sirius, I'm trying to eat here!" Sirius Black, self-declared ladies' man, and pranking extraordinaire, was Harry's Godfather, and a 'bad influence' if Harry's aunt was to be believed.
Sirius let go and grasped his heart and staggered dramatically, "Oh you wound me so godson! How can you be so cruel to me, the handsomest man in the world?"
Laughing the other Blacks kept eating and Aunt Terri interjected, "Sirius, leave him alone, take your package off our table, and have something to eat."
Sirius grabbed the package but shook his head, "Sorry TJ, I ate while out picking up Harry's gift." He ducked as a stinging hex flew past his head, and he turned to look at a glaring woman, wand in hand.
"How many times have I told you mutt, stop calling me TJ! You know I hate that nickname!" She shot another hex at him, but the dodging Sirius laughed and then handed the gift to Harry:
"Happy Birthday Harry!" Taking the gift, Harry opened it up, with Thomas leaning over his shoulder. Harry gasped and pulled a brand-new black motorcycle helmet from the box, "Sirius, I love it!" Laughing he jumped up and grabbed his godfather in a hug.
"You're welcome Harry, I know you've been eying my motorcycle for a while, and while I won't let you drive it yet, I was hoping we could go on a small tour of the country during August before you have to head to Ilvermorny." Harry could hear a sigh of relief behind him from his aunt. Sirius must've heard it too, because he barked out a laugh, and looked at his cousin, "See TJ? I can be a responsible adult too!" He ducked another hex, and the rest laughed.
Thomas marveled at his cousin's helmet, "That's awesome Harry! I'm kind of jealous, but you know mom, she won't let me near one too."
"That's because you already tried to sneak out on it once young man, and I won't let you go again." This time everyone laughed, with his uncle finally finishing his coffee. He stood up and grabbed a coat from the rack by the floo. Bidding farewells to his family, he headed off to work, promising to be back for dinner that night. The floo lit up and he was gone.
Harry finished up eating and grabbed the helmet, "Hey Sirius, let's go for a ride, I want to test this bad boy out."
Grinning, Sirius moves towards the door to the backyard, "Grab a jacket." Harry leapt up, putting his dishes into the sink where others were getting magically washed and drained the last of his orange juice before doing the same with the glass.
"Make sure to be back by six you two, Michael and Jimmy will be over for dinner and I'd rather you not be late." Michael and Jimmy were Harry's older cousins and Thomas's brothers. Michael was 23, and a researcher for the MACUSA's version of the Department of Mysteries, where not a lot was known about what he did. Jimmy, or James Jr. was 20 years old, and worked with his father at Microsoft, as an enchanter. His Aunt had just finished talking when there was a small bell sound, turning toward a box resting on the counter, which was a mailbox. Owls had fallen out of favor in America simply due to the size of the country and how conspicuous owls were if they were flying around. His aunt frowned as she read through the letter, and Harry could tell something was up.
"What's wrong mom?" Thomas asked, Terri turned and handed the letter to Sirius.
"It's from Albus Dumbledore." Sirius froze as he reached for the letter, Harry was confused.
"How does Dumbledore know you're here Sirius?" Sirius sat back down, and shook his head
"I don't know Harry, he's not supposed to know…" his voice trailed off, his eyes growing wider as he read. When he reached the end, his eyes started hardening, until they looked like shards of flint. "Harry, we're going to have to postpone our ride, probably for a while."
Harry felt a sense of foreboding come over him, "Why? What's wrong Sirius?"
The grey-eyed man sighed and looked straight into Harry's eyes, "Voldemort has returned."
A/N: Hopefully you liked the first taste, while short, this is a set up for the world I'm trying to build, chapters 2 and 3, one of which is already done, just need to type it up and get it edited, will be longer and expand further on the origins of how Harry came to America and such. Hopefully this has peaked your interest, and I look forward to getting more content out for you before the year is over! I do plan on maintaining a monthly release schedule for the first little while, so don't expect chapters every 2 weeks, I just have a lot more time on my hands now that my current job isn't retail and so I don't need to deal with holiday hours (yay!)
With that said, I'll see y'all next time!
Cheers,
Rei