[Author's Note] Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much to all of you who reviewed! *hugs everyone* It's really nice to write when you get such inspiring messages; I'm even surprised I got more than three reviews --- thanks very much all you nice and wonderful people! So many of you are making me blush too much! But really, thank you! You're such great people, it's really nice to have you guys around! *grins* Hey, it's a give-and-take process of ego-inflation, you know. =P

I'm afraid the first few chapters are going to be quite... er... boring for some of you (if not, most), but they're going to be necessary to get the plotline straight. There'll be lots of talk, less action, but I'll do my best to make it as interesting as I am capable of, as I don't want any of you to stop reading this with the reason that "It's just nothing but blah blah blahs." I'll also be dropping hints once in a while, so you may want to remember those points that are somewhat suspicious, or subtle.

By the way, I had a mistake in the previous chapter, which I already changed. Selena's supposed to be around 35, not 38. Now, it's time for me to answer some of your questions. Yes, the girl will become friends with Harry --- and as for his Animagi creature, I can't tell. Not yet, but you might want to guess. Hm, what else...? Ah, yes, Libertas, the previous chapter has something to do with the main plot, although not directly.

Oh, and Olly? I'm just kinda having second thoughts with my ideas further down this story, since there are a couple of similarities with yours... I mean, I had to change the school where the new character is from --- she's supposed to be from Beauxbatons, but I changed it to Durmstrang after I read your fic. I just hope that, "Great minds think alike," apply here! *grins crookedly*

I will do my very best to meet your expectations, that's a sure thing.

[Disclaimer] I don't own Harry Potter... if you're in doubt, check my name. I don't think it says J.K. Rowling. *smiles*

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

:: Chapter One ::
Canine Troubles


A big, black dog stared right back at her.

She blinked; her sharp, cerulean eyes meeting the canine's rather fierce gaze in a way that it seemed that they were trying to identify each other. Their silent conversation continued for a few more moments, until she crouched down and patted the dog's head with a welcoming smile. The dog, in reply, barked enthusiastically and wagged its tail about.

"Waiting for someone, huh?" she asked as she squatted beside the dog on the house's front porch and heaved a sigh. "No one comes around here often, though, as this place is pretty much too far out. I don't think who you're supposed to go to is going to be here today. Unless, of course, you're here because you're looking for a new master or something --- I need a friend myself, as I'm new here."

It looked at her in a confused fashion, for even if she was genuinely kind and friendly, she was still a stranger... and the dog was uncertain if he should put his trust on her or not.

"I'm serious, you know," she blurted out, interrupting the dog's thoughts and earning yet another bark from it. "This place is just so boring; it's practically in the middle of nowhere! I don't understand why my mother brought me here in the first place, when I've been living with her for the past fifteen years..."

The dog barked again, and gestured its own equivalent of a clueless shrug a moment after, its gaze still on the girl who continued to complain about her current predicament. Annoyance could be seen in her glassy, cobalt eyes, and it took a while for the canine to notice the slight --- very slight --- Bulgarian accent in the way she talked about the matter at hand.

"I want to go back to Durmstrang, but someone's not letting me. He told me that he can't risk it, and that he'll ask the Hogwarts headmaster --- Professor Dumbledore, was that his name? --- to take me in, instead of sending me back to the school where I'm truly from. I don't understand his reason for doing so, though... if it's because of Professor Karkaroff's sudden disappearance last school year, he's a bit too shallow on his reasoning. So what if he's not our Headmaster anymore? Big deal... I bet he just wants me to see how good he is in teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, hmph."

"Actually, he just wants to keep you safe by putting you under the protection of the only wizard who stands a chance against Voldemort," a voice said, and she lifted her head to gaze into a pair of hazel eyes with her sapphire ones, belonging to a somber-looking man with light-brown hair streaked with gray. His pursed lips then broke into a smile. "Why hello, Padfoot. Long time no see."

Eyes narrowing significantly, she turned to the direction where the man's gaze was leveled at, and was surprised to find that the dog beside her was gone, and a handsome yet messy-looking man was standing in its place. He was tall yet thin; he had a pale, gaunt face, and he had deep, dark eyes which complimented his equally dark-hued, long, matted hair. "Long time no see, indeed, Moony," he replied in a hoarse voice, almost as if he had not used it for quite sometime. He then cocked his head to the side slightly, seemingly indicating the girl who was gaping at him in shock. "And may I ask who this young lady is?"

Remus' smile turned thin as his gaze rested on the fifteen-year-old, who still appeared indifferent and distant, in a way. "Someone I was tasked to babysit; she'll be joining your godson on the first of September at Hogwarts." He paused to sigh, a heavy one at that. "I suppose she had been whining about it all morning?"

"I wasn't whining," she protested, her gaze darkening and her eyes narrowing as she addressed the man who just spoke. "I was merely expressing my opinion on that matter. You could have asked me, you know --- and I would have cooperated if you had done it properly. But no, you made a decision by yourself, as if I have no power over my own life, and I don't like the feeling that is rendering me! You're making me so helpless, so powerless, at something that I should have all the control over, and I do not enjoy it one bit!" she exclaimed in anger and frustration.

"It wasn't my idea --- it was your mother's --- so don't complain about it. She told me to look out for you, to keep you safe, and I'm just doing what she requested me to," Remus replied calmly, ignoring the glare she continued to address to him. He then turned to his friend, and without hesitation he hugged Sirius like a brother. When he let go, he asked, "So what brings you here? Not dark side troubles, I hope?"

"I'm afraid that's precisely the reason why I'm here, Remus. Dark side troubles. You see, Voldemort has returned to power," Sirius mumbled in a low-key voice, earning a gasp from the young woman at the mention of the dark lord's name. "It happened during the Third Task in the TriWizard Tournament Harry participated in, the one I told you about. And I'm sure you can guess who helped Voldemort get back his position of prestige and power, even if I won't say anything more about it."

The other's eyes narrowed significantly, and angrily, he growled, "Peter."

Sirius scowled. "That wasn't too hard to figure out, was it?"

"Excuse me," the girl interrupted courteously as she rose from her position to face the two men --- who seemed to have forgotten that she was nearby and that she heard every detail of their conversation. Facing Sirius, she asked with a tinge of disbelief, "Sir, are you certain that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has truly regained his power?"

"Yes, my dear, he truly has," he replied with drastically narrowed eyes, forcing back the stray strands of hair that fell to his face by the gust of wind that fluttered by. "And it's Voldemort."

She definitely flinched as the newcomer repeated the dark lord's name, but she regained her composure shortly after. She forced herself to look at Sirius in the eyes without showing any sign of fear or uncertainty. "But... how did it happen? He... he was defeated, right? By The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, fourteen years ago, and two instances more during his Hogwarts years? How did he manage to---"

"Do I really have to tell her this?" Sirius asked Remus with a heavily strained voice, which was partly a whine. When the other nodded curtly, he groaned, then sighed in resignation, as if he had no choice in the matter. "One of his servants returned to him --- that rat, Peter," he spat with utter disgust, "and helped him regain his power through some sort of potion. Killed Cedric Diggory, took Harry's blood that was an important component of the potion that brought back Voldemort's power---"

"How can he be stopped?"

"That's what we don't know... as of the moment. Now that he's back to power, he's going to start terrorizing both the wizarding world and the Muggle world. And that won't be a lovely sight, I'm afraid," Remus pitched in, glancing worriedly at Sirius "So tell me, Sirius, does Dumbledore have something planned?"

"He told me to alert the old crowd," Sirius answered as he sat back down on the front porch, frowning noticeably. "You know... Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher... those in our league before that... that fateful day. Then, he told me to lie low here in your place for a while. He did not give me instructions on what to do when the school year starts, but I suppose I have to go to Hogwarts to watch over Harry or something. Oh, and Harry told me that Dumbledore also told Snape to do his thing."

"We'll all have go to Hogwarts when the school year starts," the other corrected with a knowing smile. "You see... I just received a letter from Dumbledore, and he wants me back at Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, as nobody wanted the job --- everyone reckons the subject is jinxed --- and he said that he needed my expertise on that field," he finished, turning slightly pink. He recovered quickly from that, however. "But I guess it's all part of his plan; he just did not want to put it that way directly."

Sirius laughed at that, but he soon remembered the reason why his friend was forced to resign the last time he was in Hogwarts teaching the same subject, and he frowned. One of the reasons, for that matter. "What about Snape?"

"What about him?" Remus countered.

The other was about to state that it was Snape's fault that Remus was no longer teaching in Hogwarts, and the trouble he would cause if Remus would agree to take the job, but Sirius stopped as he remembered what the grumpy professor was supposed to do now that Voldemort was back to power. "Forget it; I just remembered that Snape most probably won't be in Hogwarts long enough to handle a class --- unless of course, Voldemort still believes he's loyal, and he wants that git to do some spying in Dumbledore's base and to continue posing as an ill-tempered Potions professor."

"Excuse me," the girl interrupted again, and they could tell that she was already annoyed, from the way her cerulean eyes narrowed. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm simply not comfortable talking... or even, listening... to people who I don't know. Who are you?"

She's direct to the point, Sirius thought with an amused grin, then he turned to her and smiled. Afterwards, he cleared his throat, did a mock bow and introduced himself. "Sirius Black, m'lady. Yes, the Sirius Black who escaped from Azkaban, and the Sirius Black who is believed to be second-in-command to Voldemort. The latter is incorrect, however; although you are free to believe in what you wish. And you are...?"

"Artemis Svetlana," she replied quickly with an arrogant tone in her voice. She half-glanced at Remus, angry in a way, and continued, "formerly a student of Durmstrang Institute, who will soon be stuck in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a know-it-all Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The idea sickens me, really."

And without saying anything more, she went inside the house, slamming the door shut as she did so.

Her introduction struck Sirius, however, as he turned to look at his friend with questioning eyes --- the name apparently ringing the bell of recognition at the back of his mind. It was evident in the way his features shifted dramatically. "Svetlana?"

"She's Selena's daughter."

"Selena Svetlana?!" Sirius exclaimed in disbelief, and a tinge of fuschia appeared on his cheeks, which he vainly tried to hide from the other by cocking his head to the side slightly to block it from Remus' view. An odd, closed, unreadable expression took form on his face a moment after, although he was noticeably flushing, and after what seemed to be a long time, Remus spoke, apparently reading his mind.

"Yes, Sirius. The Selena Svetlana who was part of Lily's own circle of friends, and the Selena Svetlana who was known as the Siren of Gryffindor --- you know, the girl who could seemingly bewitch the Quidditch players of the opposing team and make them crash to the ground for no reason at all like a siren luring sailors to their deaths? I still remember the time she got detention because you slipped a potion in her pumpkin juice that made her sing like mad during the Quidditch final, which had to be postponed."

"Snape would've won the bet if I didn't do that!" he protested, turning to face Remus once again. "And James would've been forced to give in to whatever that git wanted him to do if that happened!" It was then when he realized that he was blushing like a teenager who was deeply crushing over someone, and he immediately got defensive. "Why are you making such a big deal out of that anyway?! True, we had feelings for each other, but that was many, many years ago! James and Lily got hooked up even before we realized we liked each other!"

Remus smirked upon noticing how red the other had become, although there, too, was an odd, closed expression on his features. "You seem upset about the news," he teased, which he quickly stopped as Sirius sent a glare in his direction. His gaze then rested upon the closed door of his home, and it seemed to pierce through that --- into the inside and who was in there. Then, he sighed. "Artemis seems to be fond of you, and I really envy that. She had never been friendly to me... at least not ever since she arrived. You two will definitely make a great team --- it's like you're related or something, and it's causing the closeness that seems to come naturally."

"Is there anything more I need to know about her?" Sirius inquired, not commenting on what had just been said as if he was avoiding the topic. "I mean, I'm practically going to be stuck with both of you until the first of September... and I have the bad feeling that I will be with the two of you even after that. After all, we're going to be in Hogwarts with our own reasons and missions, so to say."

"Oh yes," Remus replied, forcing a smile. "There's much you need to know about her."