Ears91: You think everyone's messing up Harry's proposal now.just wait a bit. Lol, don't worry, it'll be.interesting in the least. I have no idea where the Ron-pig thing came from.glad you liked it though!
Fan: Why'd I cut it off:Grins evilly: You'll see.
Charlie: Yeah, sorry it took so long for this one to come out. Summer's coming to an end, and I'm rushing to finish some summer assignments. :Sweatdrops: I'm afraid I'm a bit of a procrastinator.thanks for your understanding!
Rachel A. Prongs: Yes, but you know Harry. He's kind has a way of making things more difficult than they have to be.
BookCrazy77: Yay! Their kids are gonna be great! .If I decide to write another sequel. Don't know what it would be about yet, but you never know.
Angelic Demon16: Interrupting.no, more like postponing.don't worry, Harry's a smart guy, he'll figure it out.
Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Lol, yes, that's always how I manage to get out of these scrapes, now isn't it? Don't worry, all will end well!
Istalksiriusonweekends: Ah yes, well, dying wouldn't bother me any. Only means you'll never see what happens. Lol, yep, Harry can finally dance! Whoo hoo! Will I use this new found ability later? Maybe yes, maybe no.
Hiei's Angel Sakura: Of course! I wouldn't leave you hanging there without a reason! Lol, you'll have to wait to see what my reasoning is, though.
Athenakitty: Will they change? Perhaps. Ain't saying nothing here! As for the twins.you won't find out for a lo-ng time. Remember, Tali still has to go through all the months of pregnancy. As for Trelawney.you'll see.
Hedowl5: Tell me about it. We've been having nothing but t-storms lately. :sighs: Bloody annoying, actually. And, yeah, I got the e-mail.you get mine?
Nightspear:Grins happily: That's what I was going for! Thanks so much! Glad you liked the original!
Issa2: Thanks! Hope I didn't make you wait too long!
Wanted: A Happy Ending
Ch8: Fortunate Misfortunes
"So, why isn't Remus coming with us again?" Harry asked, staring dully out the window of the carriage.
"Because," Sirius said pointedly, "He can't know anything about this until she gets to Hogwarts."
"But why?" Harry asked, turning his gaze to his godfather.
"Because they haven't seen each other in ages," Tali said before Sirius could answer.
"And because—" Sirius started, but Tali stomped on his foot.
"Sirius Black! If you start with that again, I'm might have to restrict your roaming privileges for the rest of the week."
Harry's face scrunched in disgust, "Oh! More than I needed to hear right there!"
"You're such a baby, Harry," Sirius laughed.
"We're here!" Tali announced.
The three clambered out of the carriage and blinked in the bright sunlight. Tali, with one hand on her stomach and the other blocking the sun from her eyes, grinned, "She should be around here somewhere."
No sooner had she said this then.
"Tali!"
They spun around to see a tall woman short wavy dirty blonde hair cut to her shoulders and apple green eyes. She was wearing long purple robes with pink accents and seemed to be barely containing her excitement.
The breeze blew gently, playing with her hair, and Harry could instantly see the resemblance between the cousins. Luggage was piled at her sides, indication of her long journey.
"Cara!" Tali shouted, running at top speed towards the woman.
The woman, Cara, started running at Tali as well and the two met in a warm embrace.
"I haven't seen you in forever!" Cara exclaimed in an American accent, pulling apart, and Harry could distinctly hear her American accent.
"Tell me about it. Maine is so far away!" Tali smiled brightly, "Come on, say hi to Sirius and Harry."
"Hey, Padfoot. Long time no see," Cara said shaking his hand.
Sirius laughed and pulled her into a hug, "What, afraid to hug the Azkaban prisoner, are you?"
"Oh yes, terrified," Cara giggled, "Merlin, you must be Harry. You look just like James."
"Thanks," Harry smiled as Cara beamed at him.
"Oh look at me. Going on like this. You probably don't even know who I am, do you?"
"You're Tali's cousin," Harry nodded.
She looked taken back and Sirius laughed, "We told him on the way. Ole Cara Whims coming all the way from Maine to help her dearest cousin through the pregnancy."
"Speaking of which, I still don't know why I'm here. Shouldn't you be the one to help her through this?" Cara asked pointedly.
Sirius shrugged, "Not complaining are you?"
"Oh no, never," Cara laughed.
"Come on, we should be going if we're going to make it back to the castle before Remus notices we're gone," Tali said, "Harry, will you?"
Harry nodded and magicked Cara's luggage onto the top of the carriage as Cara frowned, "Remus didn't come?"
"Didn't come?" Sirius laughed, "Moony doesn't even know you're here."
"Oh," Cara said, crestfallen, climbing into the carriage.
"Don't worry, you two will have plenty of time to...catch up later," Sirius grinned evilly.
Cara rolled her eyes and shoved him, "You always know how to ruin everything don't you, Black?"
Harry looked between the two of them before growing a wide grin on his face, "You're Remus' girlfriend, aren't you?"
Cara blushed and looked down, "No, not anymore anyway."
"Don't mind her," Tali smiled, "She came over during our sixth year on an exchange program and she and Remus went on a few dates...But her parents found out that he was a werewolf and forbid her to talk to him again."
"So you ignored him for eighteen years?" Harry asked incredibly.
"It wasn't my choice. My parents put the Bingel charm on me," Cara said, referring to the spell that severed all contact between two people, "It only broke last year with their deaths, and I had no clue where to find Remus until Tali owled me."
Harry grinned. This was great! He knew Remus had always felt out of place at certain times of the year due to his problem. He never knew that there had been someone in his life before!
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts past by in a blur of conversation, in which Harry was filled in on the finer points of the Marauders' sixth year. Before it seemed that ten minutes had passed, they had arrived, and Cara casually jumped out of the carriage, barely managing to hold still as the others slowly piled out into the sunlight.
"Where is he?" Cara asked, unable to keep the anxiety out of her voice.
"Harry can find him in a jiffy. Come on, we'll take you to your room," Sirius said, tossing his arm over her shoulder and heading off towards the professors' chambers.
Harry nodded in acceptance of the task that had been handed to him. Once they had disappeared into the castle, he snapped his fingers and the Marauders' Map appeared in his hand.
Unfolding it, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
The dots and lines stretched across the paper quickly, and Harry was easily able to locate the dot labeled 'Lupin' in his classroom with the dots labeled 'Weasley,' 'Granger,' 'Brown,' and 'Rill.' Putting the map away, he blinked and gave his head a shake and, with a pop, vanished.
"Are you four feeling alright?" Remus asked, "This is stuff you should have covered in first year."
Ron, Lavender, Nyo, and Hermione looked at each other nervously for a moment before turning to Remus again, "Oh…right."
"What about this one?" Hermione prompted, pushing a piece of parchment under the Professor's nose.
Remus read the question, 'Name the three Unforgivable Curses and what they do,' and raised an eyebrow, "Now surely at least you three know that one."
The four read the question and chuckled nervously. Ron turned to Remus, "Excuse us a minute."
They backed away from Remus' desk and huddled.
"Why don't you try reading the question before you ask it, Hermione!" Ron said in a whisper.
"Oh, and I suppose, 'List the four founders of Hogwarts and their houses' is a better question to ask?" Hermione snapped.
"Is fighting all you two do?" Nyo asked.
"You get used to it after a while, trust me," Lavender said, rubbing her temples.
"Is there something I should know about?" Remus asked, poking his head into the huddle.
They shouted and broke apart, "Er…no. Of course not."
"There you are."
Harry strode forward, "Remus, Sirius says he needs to show you something. Says it's important."
Remus nodded, "I'll be right there. Where is he?"
"I'll take you, come on," Harry said grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room, much to the relief of the others in the room who quickly followed after them.
"Four hours," Ron groaned as they rushed to catch up, "Four bloody hours. They were only supposed to be gone for an hour and an half."
"You know Harry and Sirius. Always up for procrastinating," Hermione smiled.
"I heard that, Herms," Harry said, coming to a stop in front of a "totem" like statue of the Houses' animals (starting from the bottom: lion, badger, raven, snake).
Hermione grinned innocently and Harry leaned in to kiss her. Ron coughed purposefully, "Shouldn't we be getting Remus to Sirius."
Remus looked amongst them, "Are you sure there isn't something you wanted to tell me?"
They all chuckled a bit nervously, but, before Remus could pursue the topic, "Pickled Pumpkins."
The animals on the statue came to life. The lion and raven moved to one side and the badger and snake went to the other.
"I'm not sure you guys are allowed in here," Harry said in a taunting voice.
"Oh, shove over, Harry," Ron rolled his eyes, pushing past him.
Harry grinned and led the group down the hall of the many different professors' bedrooms, coming to a stop in front of an unoccupied room.
"What are we doing here?" Remus asked.
The other five grinned and Hermione pushed the door open, "This."
The door came to a stop after hitting the wall inside the room, causing all those on the other side to freeze.
"...C…Cara?" Remus asked after an eternity of silence, "Cara, is that you?"
Cara's face automatically lit up, "Remus! Oh, Remus! I've missed you so much!"
She ran forward and threw herself in Remus' arms, who was still in shock, "But…but how…what are you doing here?"
"I came to help Tali through the pregnancy," Cara beamed.
"Shouldn't Sirius be doing that?" Remus asked dumbly.
Cara giggled, "That's what I said, too. …Are you objecting to me being here?"
Remus smiled softly, "Not in a million years."
Tali and Sirius quietly made their way out of the room as Cara and Remus walked, hand-in-hand, to the couch, talking in hushed voices.
"Let's let them be for a bit. It's been ages," Tali said, ushering everyone else out of the room and closing the door behind her.
A small trench was beginning to form on the floor of the Headmaster's office. Harry stopped his pacing momentarily and glanced at his wizard watch before sighing irritably. Another hour. He couldn't wait another hour.
A week had passed since Cara's arrival, and she and Remus had spent every waking moment together.
"So much for her helping me with the pregnancy," Tali had joked. But, at the moment, that was the last thing on his mind.
Tapping his foot impatiently, he thought for a moment. That was one of the many awkward things he had run into so far that year. Not only was he not on the same schedule as his friends, but it really didn't matter that he was Headmaster. His godparents could still order him around, and he had to listen.
"Don't you even think about it, Harry Potter," Tali's voice silently echoed off the walls from earlier that morning.
Harry allowed himself to collapse to the floor and stare at the ceiling. There was no way around it, he was bored, and there was nothing to get his mind off the topic that currently refused to be ignored.
Momentarily, he let himself concentrate on the miniscule amount of pain circulating through his body from its rough contact with the stone floor. He sighed again, the pain wasn't even enough to keep his mind away long. He was too used to heavier pain for it to even distract him for more than a few moments. And there he was again, pacing the floor, wearing away into the stone surface.
He closed his eyes as Sirius' forgotten words washed over him: "Don't listen to her, Harry. She's just being a woman."
Harry smiled, of course, he had said that when Tali had been weeping hysterically the other night after forgetting to take the potion to keep her emotions in check, but, hey, who's to say he remembered that.
His grin grew wider and he flew out the door as fast as his feet would carry him. He sped past the many classrooms which were filled with students who cast curious glances at the blur that only appeared in the open doorways for a second. It wasn't until he ran, head-first, into a certain caretaker that grunted spitefully.
"Potter," he acknowledged, rather nastily.
Harry fought down his smile. He could never get enough of running into Filch and Snape and knowing they couldn't do anything to him, "Morning, Argus."
The caretaker scowled visibly and Harry nodded, "See you around then."
With that, he took off again, stopping only at the corner to turn and see Filch storming off, cursing under his breath about "little brat getting away with everything." Harry rolled his eyes and continued on his way.
It wasn't long until he came to a panting stop at the bottom of the staircase leading up to Professor Trelawney's classroom. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, leaning against the stone wall, trying to block out the incessant shouts of Sir Cadogan who had begun to follow him at the start of the tower.
"Avast scallywag! Why must you persist to plague my territory? State your business or walk the plank!"
Harry rolled his eyes. He should have known better than to store the pirate picture so close to the tiny knight. He was ten times worse than before, if that was even possible.
"For the last time, I'm Headmaster now, I can go where I please."
"A likely tale!" Cadogan laughed.
Harry shook his head, "Listen, I'm on a quest."
Cadogan stopped instantly and perked up, "A quest, what sort of a quest?"
"I'm on a secret quest for love," Harry said with a smile.
"Love! Quests! By all means go ahead, scallywag! Go, find the woman you love!" Cadogan said, before clambering onto his fat pony and trotting back towards the front of the tower.
Harry rolled his eyes again and headed up the staircase. Thankfully, the class was busy so hardly anyone noticed him. From the looks of it, they were reviewing palm reading. Ron glanced up at him from Neville's hand and grinned hopefully. On the other side of the room, it looked as though Lavender's nose was glued to Nyo's hand as she concentrated on reading it.
"Ah, welcome, Headmaster," Trelawney called out across the classroom.
Everyone stopped and turned to him, and Harry, finding it impossible to stop himself from doing so, rolled his eyes. She couldn't have just walked over to him?
"What brings you to my tower?" she asked, walking over to him.
'Just a little late, Trelawney,' Harry thought.
"Wait, don't tell me," she said, 'going into a trance,' "You've come to get my advice on something."
"Er...no," Harry said and Ron snorted, "Not really."
Trelawney frowned, "Then what can I help you with?"
"I…er...need to swipe Ron, Lavender, and Nyo for the rest of class," Harry said, grinning as Ron shot up with an enthused "yes!"
"What for?" Trelawney asked.
Harry cast a glance at his friends and nodded, "That's…er… Can I talk with you a minute...privately."
She nodded and turned to the class, "I will be back in a minute. Continue with your readings. We'll share results when I return."
Ron settled back in his seat, biting his lip white. Harry was quite sure that Ron was hoping for him to fire the professor, and Harry couldn't help but laugh at the idea. He sure as hell wasn't going to fire anyone, especially now that school had just started. But Ron's anxious face was the last Harry saw of the classroom as Trelawney ushered him back down the staircase.
"Now, what is this all about? You should know by now I don't like my students leaving early," she said, sounding interested.
'Since when?' Harry wondered, "That's sort of private. Undoubtedly you'll find out about it soon enough, but not now. I just—"
Harry stopped when Trelawney suddenly fell to the ground. He let out a yelp of surprise and knelt next to her, "Professor, are you alright?"
He shook her, but she didn't move. Turning her over, he noted that her eyes had rolled to the back of her head, "Merlin!"
"The time is near," an eerie voice echoed out of the hollows of Trelawney's mouth. A voice Harry had heard only once before.
"The time?" he asked, "The time for what?"
Trelawney went on without giving notice to him, "Darkness will soon shroud the school and none will be safe. By day and night terror will walk the corridors, known to none, and only those with the blessings of the great three can stand up to—"
She cut off suddenly, eyes rolling back to their normal position, "Pearly Neptune, what am I doing on the ground?"
Harry was too deep in thought to answer her, though he dumbly helped her to her feet. That was definitely not a good thing. The last time she had had a REAL prediction, Voldemort had come back. The great three? Who were they? And what terror?
"Oh yes, of course. I'll go get them. Wait here," Trelawney said to a quite distant Harry.
She disappeared up the stairs and, moments later, Ron, Lavender, and Nyo tromped down the case.
Harry turned to Ron before a single thing was said, "No, Ron, she's not fired."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yep, yep, a bit of foreshadowing there. Told you all that this wouldn't be all fun and games. But hey, it makes things all the more interesting, doesn't it. Lol, the story is just starting, strap yourselves in for an exciting time! Oh yeah, I know it was to the last one anyway. Sorry, but next chapter will make it worth it, trust me!
NEXT CHAPTER: Hermione's b-day, and two of our least favorite characters remind us why we don't like them. Plus, Nyo has a little secret Harry's VERY close to uncovering.