A/N: I just wanted to let you all know that your reviews have been REALLY encouraging and I hope you continue to review my stuff. I know that I'm being really slow with updating, but let me just say something in my defense. I have a job and I do volunteer work and I start school tomorrow, so I'm a tad bit busy and once school starts its going to be insane cuz I'll have all of the above plus be CoEditor in Chief of the school literary magazine, president of Model UN AND a member of the book club. PHEW! But I will try my darndest to update as often as I can. I have here for you Chapters Three and Four. I am currently in the middle of Chapter Five. I rewrote Chapter three about four times (no lie..i hated how it sounded..made Harry sound like a flake.lol not good). Anyway. As for my reviewers:

Jitterbelle- You are my favorite writer on fanfiction.net and I want to thank you for your very encouraging novella. Lol. I found another story with Harry going back in time..maybe you should make that story where his parents time travel forward in time and it messes up with Harry's scar and stuff like that...that would be cool! Lol. To answer your question..Harry did not tell Ron and Hermione the prophecy because he didn't want to see the looks on their faces when he told them he had to be a murderer or die trying. Oh, and I liked the Petunia twist thing too.it was fun.

Bee11- Yes everyone will probably have to take Occlumency, but we'll see how that works out. Thanks for the idea Descendant of Voldemort- I will read your book 6 fanfic sometime as soon as I get the chance, and when I do I'll review it! Thanks for letting me know! Jedi Master Calriel- O.w.L.'s are this chapter. As for pairings, I think Neville/Luna is cute but I'm not sure about others. I'm not a Harry/ Herm shipper and I really don't want this story to focus around romance. I will include some, but it wont be pervasive.

Thank you to the rest of my reviewers! Your input is greatly appreciated as now I am suffering form SEVERE writers block ( or will be after chapter four or five). ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE VERY VERY WELCOME AND CAN BE POSTED IN YOUR REVIEW! THANK YOU!!!! (But please be nice to my fragile ego! ;-))

Disclaimer: I told you before... you're smarter than this.

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Chapter Three: Past Occurrences and Future Opportunities

The weeks to come were depressing to Harry, and his friends knew it too. They kept him company most of the time, but never mentioned Sirius. Ginny made the unfortunate mistake only once. Harry had yelled at her before going up to the attic to spend time with Buckbeak, a hippogriff who was just about his only connection to Sirius.

They spent most of the days cleaning the safe house, which was being improved every summer. The Order didn't have time to clean the house during the school year and Mrs. Weasley could not stay at the safe house after the school term had started. Therefore, much of the dirt left after the last school term had stayed and accumulated further in their wake. All of their combined efforts over the next few weeks made the house completely clean and dust free. Everything had a brighter and more cheery feel to them. The only thing that they had left to do, which none were prepared for, was to go through Sirius's belongings.

A week before the start of term, Harry lay awake in bed, yet again unable to sleep. He was a bit thirsty so he quietly got up and went downstairs for a glass of water. There he saw Professor Dumbledore sitting alone, seemingly lost in thought.

"Professor?" Harry asked, surprised. Dumbledore turned around to see his inquirer. The wrinkles and lines gouged in his face seem more pronounced under the weak lighting. His eyes did not sparkle and there were dark circles under his eyes, presumably from lack of sleep.

"Yes, Harry. Couldn't sleep?" he asked in a kindly voice.

"No. I came down for a drink of water. I can't stop thinking about Sirius." Harry said glumly.

"I understand." Dumbledore said quietly. "I have been thinking of him as well."

"No you don't. No one does." Harry said, trying to force the melancholy and anger that was welling up inside him once again.

"Yes I do, Harry. You feel all alone because you've seen and lost so much. But I have too. Sirius was a good friend, and colleague. And he had more spirit and dedication to the Order than what I have ever seen from any other member. I am proud to have known him." Dumbledore said quietly. He paused for a moment. "Come with me Harry, I want to show you something."

Harry hesitated.

"Okay," he finally said, following Dumbledore quietly up the steps. The curtains to Mrs. Black's portrait could finally be opened, as Moody had gotten into a rather loud, obscenity filled argument with her and, in a fit of anger, blasted the picture off the wall. They walked down the hallway of the second floor to the last room on the right. This was the one room no one, especially Harry (and mostly, because of Harry), had dared to touch. Sirius's bedroom.

"No, I can't Professor, I don't want to."Harry began.

"You must Harry. There are things here you must see. If not to remember Sirius by, at least to understand he and your father's schooldays." Dumbledore insisted gently.

"But." Harry began. He couldn't finish his protest, as his curiosity started to get the better of him. He realized that this could hurt him no more than when he witnessed Sirius's death.

Dumbledore held the door open and smiled encouragingly at him.

Together they quietly went through boxes and boxes of things that had belonged to Sirius's family. Most were scrolls and odds and ends with the Black family crest attached. However, Harry soon came across one thing that particularly peaked his interest. A book, which looked to be Sirius Black's diary.

"Err, Professor?" Harry caught his attention quietly.

Dumbledore saw what he was holding and looked slightly interested.

"If you are wondering whether it would be appropriate to read a diary after the owner's death, I believe you should think about what historians have done in History of Magic, and decide from that." Dumbledore said cryptically.

Harry thought for a moment. Historians always read diaries. It's how they find out about people and how stuff happened. So I guess I can look at this. he thought. He opened the diary to find that it was empty. He asked Dumbledore for the spell for revealing invisible ink, known as a Revealing Charm.

"It's aparecium, but I don't think Sirius would have used that. He would have thought that too easy to get into. He probably had a Revealer." Dumbledore fished in the pockets of his robes, finally digging what looked to be a large red rubber eraser. "Here you go. One can never have too many trinkets in one's pockets." Dumbledore smiled.

Harry rubbed the Revealer at the top of the first page. Dumbledore was right. A date appeared in the upper right hand corner where he had just erased. "December 25" was written in loopy black letters.

Harry was intrigued by the book, in which Sirius had documented the daily events of his life at Hogwarts. Harry only read a short passage when Dumbledore asked him to put it down and look at some more things. He could keep the things to look at later.

Harry then looked at several other paraphernalia to be found in the boxes littering the room. They continued this long into the morning, stopping once the sun rose.

Dumbledore finally stood up and smiled sadly at Harry, saying it was time for him to go. Dumbledore said goodbye before talking a few minutes with an Order member who had been on patrol during the night. He left shortly after dawn.

Harry stayed in the room, looking at everything, not bothering to decide whether or not he would throw the things out. He wanted to keep everything, but knew that at some point he would have to throw out some of Sirius's possessions. Even through his depression, he was still so interested and focused on learning more about his godfather that he completely didn't notice the rest of the house waking up from their rested slumber. He didn't even realize what time it was until Mrs. Weasley walked into the room.

"Harry, dear. Breakfast is on the table." She said softly. "Professor Dumbledore left the message that you were in here."

Harry looked up. He wasn't that hungry but he figured he had better go down and at least eat something to avoid upsetting Mrs. Weasley about his health. He followed her down the stairs and into the dining room. Everyone quieted as he entered the room. They all stared at him waiting, he presumed, to see what kind of mood he was in. Harry guessed that they had heard about his time spent in Sirius's room.

He took his seat next to Lupin gloomily, wanting desperately to go back to his godfather's bedroom where he had one last box of Sirius's belongings to go through. The table nervously started chatting. Harry, similarly to most meals, hardly spoke and spent most of the meal staring at the Black family crest engraved on his goblet. He still missed Sirius with a passion and desperately wanted to go back and change time, to warn him, to not go to the Department of Mysteries, ANYTHING to change the facts of Sirius's death. After all, Sirius was his last connection to his father. The last Maurauder he could talk to.

That's when it clicked. Remus Lupin. He was the last Maurauder other than Peter Pettigrew (and no one wanted to talk to HIM) that was still alive. Lupin was his last connection to Harry's father. Harry glanced over at Lupin, still wearing shabby robes and sporting cloudy blue eyes. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked as if he had gone for a very long time without sleep. He as well, Harry realized, had been staring at the goblets. Lupin turned his gaze to meet Harry's.

"Feeling any better about it?" Lupin asked. Harry knew what 'it' was.

"No."

"Neither am I." Lupin said sadly.

"I was looking through Sirius's things." Harry said quietly. Lupin didn't look surprised.

"I know. I was the guard on watch last night. Dumbledore talked to me before he left." Lupin smiled weakly. "I guess it's a step in the right direction."

"I suppose." Harry was silent for a minute. "Would you like to look at any of the things?"

"No. I've seen it all. I just need a little more time to handle this. It's a lot to bear."

"I know."

They stopped talking after that and ate a little, but mostly pushed their food around. Harry felt slightly better knowing that Lupin understood him and that someone else did know what he was feeling. Although Dumbledore lost Sirius as a coworker and friend, he wasn't nearly as close to him as Lupin and Harry were.

Just then there was a hoot and an owl swooped in through the open owl. Ginny was closest to the owl and untied the several parchment envelopes that were attached to the owls leg.

Everyone tensed up.

"Relax. It's just Hogwarts letters." Ginny grinned, noticing Hermione tense up even more.

Each of the five children still attending Hogwarts took their letters as they were passed down the tables to them. Everyone was quiet as they opened them. It was probably these letters that held their O.W.L scores and the classes that they could take for the N.E.W.T.'s.

A happy whoop given by Hermione broke the silence. She grinned at everyone's stunned expression and tried to get a glance at Ron's letter.

"How many O.W.L's did you get Hermione?" Ron asked curiously, shielding his own letter from view.

"Fifteen." Hermione said excitedly.

"I got eleven!" Neville cried in elation. Everyone looked at him, pleasantly surprised.

"That's wonderful Neville!" Hermione smiled.

"Hey, I got thirteen!" Ron said happily. He looked at Harry, who was staring at his paper in amazement. "How'd you do Harry?"

"I-I" he stuttered. "I got fifteen!" Harry said amazed. And from the looks everyone was giving him, they were too.

"WHAT???" Ron yelled, surprising everyone, even himself. "But you didn't even finish the Astronomy and Transfiguration test. And I know Snape hates you so he wouldn't give you an O or even an A." Ron sputtered. Harry handed him his test score paper. Ron read it off.

"Transfiguration...Outstanding.

Care of Magical Creatures...Outstanding.

Herbology...Outstanding.

 Charms...Outstanding.

 Astronomy...Excellent.

 Divination...Average.

Defense against the Dark Arts...Outstanding.

Potions... Outstanding.

History of Magic.......Excluded from scores."

Ron stopped at reading the Potions and Defense scores. "What? They disregarded History of Magic!"

"I dunno what happened. I know Dumbledore or Mc Gonagall had to have talked to the Ministry. After all, I didn't even finish the test."

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat.


"Well that is excellent Harry. And you too Ron. I'm glad to see that you received much higher scores than your twin brothers. In fact, all of you did quite well." Mrs. Weasley said pleasantly, although glowering at the mention of Fred and George Weasley, who quit school in the middle of their seventh year, just the year before.

"Um...err...right. Thanks Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, turning slightly red at the compliment. "Thanks mum." Ron said, also blushing at the positive comparison to his brothers.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione and Neville chimed in.

"Harry, what does it say for the careers you could go into with your scores?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked down at his paper, after Ron handed it back to him.

"Healer, Minister of Magic, Ministry of Magic general worker, Headmaster, Auror, Professor especially for Defense against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, or Transfiguration." Harry read, snorting at the end. He knew there was no way he'd ever want to become a Healer or Professor of Astronomy or Transfiguration or a Ministry worker. He doubt he could ever lead as a Headmaster or become the Minister of Magic, so he was left with Professor of DADA or becoming an Auror. Both sounded interesting to him.

"Well mine says almost the same. Although, I think becoming a Healer or Headmistress would be highly interesting." Hermione said.

"Out of my list, I'd like to become an Auror." Ron said. No one noticed Mrs. Weasley's face go pale at the mention of such a dangerous occupation.

"Don't laugh at this." Said Neville. "But I want to be Minister or Magic or Professor of Herbology.

No one laughed.

"That's great Neville. I'd love to see you become the Minister of Magic! You could replace the dunce Fudge is now." Ginny said.

"Yes. I really would like to see you be Minister as well." Luna said, smiling at him. "You could plan searches for all the interesting creatures. Like the Crumple Horned-Snorckack!" Everyone stifled giggles at this.

"You could change things for those considered lesser creatures like werewolves and vampires and giants and..... HOUSE ELVES!" Hermione said, latching on to the House Elf idea (of which she would later bombard him with ethical arguments about).

Neville blushed at the encouragement, and turned especially red at Luna's statement. Harry then realized that Neville and Luna had crushes on each other. He smiled to himself. He never would have thought Neville would get a girlfriend like that. Well, Harry didn't doubt he was capable of getting a girlfriend, but he still couldn't picture Neville having one. He also wondered how long it would take Neville and Luna to actually get together, as Neville was extremely shy and Luna was a bit mysterious but in no way that bold.

Besides the O.W.L. scores and career possibilities, also came their Hogwarts letters with the supplies they needed for the following year. For Harry, it was:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk

Transfiguring Totalus by Jeremiah Humblebee

Above Expelliarmus: Advanced Defense Spells by Wimpleton Wimbledy

N.E.W.T.s Made Easy by Percival Weasley

Herbology 101 by Venus Beanston

Idiot's Guide to Good Potion Skills by Dervidal Snape

Care of Magical Creatures: A Guide to Gruesome Beasts by Lavender Grovelton

Ron looked over Harry's shoulder. "Hey, you have different books than what I have! Your's are more advanced!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron, they have it tailored to fit how well you did on your O.W.L.'s. These are the books we have for N.E.W.T.'s." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

Harry stared at his paper. Dervidal Snape? Percival WEASLEY? Ron apparently saw this and the blood drained from his face.

"Perce wrote a book?" Ron asked, undoubtedly knowing the answer. His eyes flickered to his mother, who had a fake smile plastered on her face but with her hands balled in tight fists. Her knuckles were white but she remained silent.

"Who would've thought." Ginny said simply. They changed the subject fast.

"Dervidal Snape...who do you suppose that is? Snape's brother?" Harry asked.

"I dunno, mate. Maybe it's his twin. Maybe Snape left and his good twin took over." Ron said hopefully. Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley, who chuckled in spite of her obvious heartache over Percy.

They chatted for a while, almost making Harry forget how badly he wanted to look at the last remaining items in Sirius's room. When they went upstairs, with the portrait that once was Mrs. Black still smoking from Moody's blast, Harry walked over to his godfather's bedroom. He ushered his friends inside, as they were slightly apprehensive to enter.

Harry sat them down in a circle and brought out the last remaining box. Together they went through that, Harry taking out the items, inspecting them before passing them on to Ginny, who was seated next to him. When they were done he spoke.

"I needed to show someone this stuff. I guess. I'm not really sure why I made you all come in with me." Harry blushed, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay. I think I like seeing all these things. Makes you understand how special they are." Ginny said.

"Hey what about those three boxes?" Ron asked, pointing to an area of the closet that Harry hadn't looked in before. He walked over and helped Ron carry them to the circle. To his amazement, one was marked "Lily," one said "Harry," and the other "James." Harry opened the one with his name first. He almost wanted to close it in embarrassment but found himself too curious to leave it well enough alone, even if he was blushing madly. The box was filled with baby clothes and baby toys. He passed them around, realizing that all these things must have been taken from his parents' home shortly after their death. He quickly went through his box, not finding much of importance to him. Everyone gawked at the baby clothes and looked at Harry, as if trying to visualize him as a baby. He turned a brighter shade of crimson at their stares and quickly opened the box labeled "Lily."

In this box Harry found things from Lily and James Potter's wedding and maternity items Lily had bought while pregnant with Harry. He found a large stack of love letters from James Potter to Lily and her wand and wedding ring. Her wedding ring was beautiful and turned a different color every five minutes. Harry also found a diary that surprisingly had no charm on it to protect it from prying eyes. Apparently she must have locked it in her school trunk in her Hogwarts days. He opened it to see that she had been given the diary on her fifteenth birthday. He wanted to continue reading but felt obliged to let the others at least look at it real quick. He scanned the first page to look out for important personal notes that he didn't want the others to see but found none. He passed it on and soon finished his mother's box.

Now he opened the last box. James Potter's box of personal things. There were a few joke shop type items such as rockets and wet-start fireworks. Also, he found letters the other half of the love letters: the ones from Lily. He also found a simple gold wedding band. James's old Gryffindor Quidditch Seeker robes were there also, looking almost brand new. Harry knew that these were going to be his Quidditch robes from then on. He felt closer to his father already. He also found Prongs's wand and diary. His wand looked similar to Harry's although the note attached to it with Spellotape said that it had the hair of a Unicorn as its core.

Harry passed everything around, but paused to look inside his father's diary. He should have realized that James was more clever than to have left writing out in the open like that for the diary was blank with the exception of the dates, which were every day for eight consecutive years, starting in January. Harry tried the Revealer and the Revealing Charm, both of which failed to reveal any writing. In a last ditch effort Harry asked Luna, who was closest to the door, to grab a quill and some ink. No one notice Ginny's eyes widen when he asked for this. When Luna came back, Harry dipped his quill in the ink well and scratched "Hello" on the first page.

The ink seeped into the page and the words "Hello, what is your name?" appeared in a scrawled form quite different from Harry's semi- messy hadwriting. Ginny's eyes bulged and she got up and quickly left the room in a fast trot.

"What's her problem?" Harry asked, moody at Ginny's lack of enthusiasm.

"I reckon she's scared. The last time she saw a diary act like this was probably when she had You-Know-Who's diary way back in the second year. She never fully got over hurting everyone like that." Ron said. Hermione looked impressed that he could come up with something like that by himself. Harry nodded. It made sense.

"That makes sense, but this is my dad" Harry said. "My dad's not going to possess her or anyone!"

"Yea but I think she's still scared." Ron replied. Harry shrugged. He wasn't going to let Ginny's fear spoil his excitement. This was a way to really get to know his dad as he was when he was Harry's age. By the time they finished with looking through the various items, lunch had passed and they were all very hungry. Luckily, Mrs. Weasley had known what they were up to and fixed them an early dinner without reprimanding them for skipping lunch.

After that, Harry helped out a bit with cleaning up and rearranging a bit in Sirius's room. He fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. Even though his curiosity about his father, mother, and Sirius was high, his exhaustion won out in the end. His eyes closed and he relaxed into a deep slumber.