Endless Waltz

Disclaimer: I own only one or two of these characters. The brilliant J.K. Rowling owns the rest of them. I got some of the ideas from various shows, books, and movies.

This story is based on my own imagination and The Order of the Phoenix. Except for the fact that I blatantly ignored the fact that Sirius died. It starts off a little slow, so bear with me.

~ A New Way of Life ~

Harry lay in bed, staring at the pale morning light shining through his window and onto his ceiling. He was staring at it, but not really seeing it; he had other things on his mind. So much had happened in the past three years. Voldemort had risen and started gaining the kind of power he had had before Harry was even born. Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had started going out in their sixth year. His favorite Professor, Remus Lupin- a werewolf, returned to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark arts. A new and not so useless Minister of Magic, Vincent Aramond, was elected at the beginning of Harry's seventh and last year at Hogwarts. Minister Aramond immediately began working with Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, on how to finally destroy the near immortal Voldemort. Mr. Weasley, Ron's father, was finally promoted, to Head of Magical Cooperation, and just months before Harry's graduation his godfather and convicted murderer, Sirius Black, was cleared of all charges against him.
In the past three years Harry had come face to face with Voldemort three times, once each year. He had never actually been completely alone, always having at least one Order member with him each time. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had discovered the existence of a group called the Order of the Phoenix, headed by Albus Dumbledore. Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, the Weasley family, and others were part of this Order- dedicated to stopping the destruction caused by Voldemort. Harry's parents had been part of the Order before Voldemort had murdered them. He, Ron, and Hermione, were now members of the Order themselves and although Harry knew it was highly improbable he almost expected to be torn away from his home yet again, forced to face Voldemort again. But no, there was no way, that wasn't possible, not here- "Hey Harry! Are you planning on getting up today!?" came a call from outside his bedroom door. -with his godfather.
"I'll be down in a minute Sirius!" Harry called back. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and stretched in the morning light bathing his room. He shook his soft, unruly hair out of his eyes, trying unsuccessfully to flatten it. Harry had inherited his father's messy hair and had yet to find a way to tame it. Nothing worked to flatten it so Harry contented himself with knowing that his hair made him unique. Although, the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, a relic from surviving the unblockable Avada Kedavra curse already took care of his uniqueness.
Before going downstairs, Harry surveyed himself in the mirror, his hair stood in end in various directions. The gray tee shirt and green plaid pants he wore still hung loosely on him, but Harry was no longer the short and skinny boy he had been for the first fourteen years of his life. In his fifth year Quidditch training had increased under the leadership of Angelina Johnson (disregarding the fact that he was kicked off the team for a few months). In his sixth and seventh years Harry himself had been captain and training had intensified even more. As a result Harry had developed muscles in his arms, chest, back, and legs. He was now not only and excellent Seeker, but a good Chaser and Beater as well. (His Keeper skills left something to be desired). He had also had a much appreciated growth spurt, raising his height to almost six feet, only a few inches short of Ron. Although he didn't see it himself, Harry had grown into a very attractive eighteen-year-old.
Harry paused in the hall on the way down to the kitchen. He looked around himself at the many doors along the very long hall he had just stepped into. He marveled at the size and beauty of the house he now called his home. Sirius had acquired a large sum of money from the government for having been wrongly accused of murder, sent to Azkaban, and forced to live off of rats for four years. He often joked that if he had known that being an escaped convict could get him rich he would have stayed in hiding for another couple years.

"Morning Harry," Remus smiled from behind his copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Hey Remus, where's Sirius?" Harry asked, walking into the sunlit kitchen and sitting down across from his godfather's friend, Remus Lupin.
Remus shrugged, "Who knows with him, probably off exploring another wing in this ridiculously large house."
Harry laughed, "I don't think you can call it a house anymore when it has more than three wings. But you have to admit, it is nice."
"Yes, it is beautiful," Remus agreed, looking around the kitchen. It was a large room, like almost every other room in the house, with two doors at either end leading from different parts of the house. There was also a set of double glass doors leading to a patio in the backyard. The kitchen had a beautiful oak table at one end and an island at the other, about twelve feet away from each other. It was the envy of Molly Weasley to say the least. Light shone in from the patio doors, the large window above the sink and the skylight positioned over the middle of the kitchen. The ceiling was painted a creamy off-white and two of the walls were pale yellow. The other two walls were wallpapered with a kitchen theme, having the same off-white background as the ceiling. There was a border along the top of the walls showing pictures of fruits in pastels and bright spring colours. The floor was tiled a bright white with a pale blue outline. "I can't believe he spent this much money on a house though."
"Well excuse me, but I didn't even have a house for fifteen years, I'm making up for lost time," said Sirius, appearing in the doorway at the other end of the kitchen.
"Where were you?" asked Harry, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.
"I was, over in, well- I was over- I was down that way," Sirius finally said, pointing through the door he had just walked through.
"You got lost again didn't you?" smiled Remus, turning around to face Sirius.
"I did not get lost in my own house Remus."
"Sure you didn't," Remus chuckled, turning back to his paper.
Sirius shook his head, "So Harry, how does it feel to be eighteen?"
"The same is it has every other time you've asked in the past week," answered Harry, rolling his eyes. Harry had never been big on birthdays. He had lived with his aunt and uncle whenever he wasn't at Hogwarts and they didn't recognize his presence in the house, let alone his birthday.
"Come on, I've never witnessed your birthday before, well, except for your first birthday, so humor me."
"Just get it over with," Remus muttered to Harry.
Harry sighed, slumping forward on the table, "I feel taller, and my hair feels messier. And strangely I feel richer."
"Anyone within fifty meters of this place feels richer," Remus said dryly.
"Oh stop complaining, you know you love it," Sirius smiled, sitting at one end of the table. Sirius had very forcefully 'invited' Remus to stay in his new mansion for the summer. No one minded this arrangement as Sirius and Remus were best friends and both men loved Harry like he was their own son. Harry also loved both men like a father, no matter how weird, annoying, or overly concerned they became.

"What are your plans for the day Harry?" Remus asked, finally putting down the Daily Prophet, which Sirius immediately grabbed.
"Not much until tonight. Hermione and Ron are starting work soon, so we were going to go out before they started. Why?"
"Just wondering what people are up to," Remus shrugged. "What to come to Diagon alley with me? I should probably get out for a while today."
"Sure," Harry answered. Remus was the unlucky victim of a werewolf bite and spent nights of the full moon as a full-grown and very dangerous werewolf. He had been taking a potion, rendering him a wolf instead of a werewolf, but without the Hogwarts Potions Master to make the potion Remus was forced to endure the painful transformation into a real werewolf. The full moon had waned only two nights ago and Remus had spent most of the past two days sleeping. Transforming always seemed to take a lot out of him. Harry and Sirius both hated seeing him in pain and Harry was willing to do almost anything to speed up his recovery.
"What are you doing today?" Harry asked his godfather.
"Going to Hogwarts to meet Dumbledore, then we're going to meet with the Minister."
"More plans for our 'Friendly Neighbourhood Dark Lord'?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Sirius sighed, not really understanding what Harry had meant, "we need to do something before he gets much stronger."
"You'll give us and overview when you get back?" asked Remus.
"You bet, I should be home by supper," Sirius smiled. "See you, be careful!" he called on his way out the door.
Neither Remus nor Harry was dressed yet so they sat in the kitchen for a while, enjoying the quiet and summer warmth. Harry had been forced to grow up far too fast because of the various attempts Voldemort had made to kill him. Unlike most eighteen-year-old guys, Harry enjoyed peace and quiet whenever he could get it. He was only too aware of what could potentially be waiting for him around the next corner.

"Harry."
"Yes," Harry asked, snapping out of his thoughts.
"You were thinking about him again."
"I was'n-"
"Don't argue, I can tell when you are," Remus interrupted. "There is nothing you can do right now Harry, we're not even sure where Voldemort is right now. All we can do is be careful and be ready for him when he comes back."
"I know, but Remus, I'm Harry Potter, the only person to he cursed by Voldemort and not die. I feel like people are expecting me to do something," said Harry, sounding more frustrated than he had meant.
"Yes, they probably are, but you've never fought him alone."
"It sure feels like it."
"But you haven't, in your first year Ron and Hermione were with you most of the way, and it was Albus who saved you from Quirrell. In your second year you had Ron, Fawkes, and the Sorting Hat. In your fourth year you had a few people, including your parents. In your fifth year you had Dumbledore to help you again. Sirius was there in your sixth year and just a few months ago I believe that Sirius and I were both there." Remus looked into Harry's eyes, seeing faint signs of hurt. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you that you couldn't face Voldemort by yourself and live, because I believe that you can, now. But back then, Harry, you were eleven. There's no way you could have survived by yourself. I know you've always been smart for your age, you've always known what was right and what you had to do, but you never did it alone. Voldemort has returned to his full strength now and no one really knows how powerful he has become. Testing him by yourself is just not worth it."
"I know, you're right, it just feels like I've been doing so much alone."
Remus smiled kindly, "That could be because you were unconscious when anyone came to help, either that or you were in shock from the experience."
Harry laughed. "Thanks Remus," he said sarcastically. Remus usually made Harry smile when he was frustrated or stressed. Remus had the ability to calm anyone down. He had a very soothing personality.
"There's no point in you worrying, I have enough premature gray hair and worry lines for both of us," Remus said jokingly. Remus was forty-two, still young for a wizard, and he already had gray mingling with his light brown hair. His face had more worry lines on it than he had expected at his age. His monthly transformations had kept him from keeping a job as well as causing unneeded stress, not that many people noticed. Remus was the kind of guy you met once and then forgot about. He was average height, average build, the type you wouldn't notice in a crowd. Remus had always been overshadowed by those around him. The powerful James Potter, the convicted murderer Sirius Black, and even Harry, 'The Boy Who Lived'. It just happened that Remus was often forgotten, which was unfortunate for the rest of the world. Anyone who really knew Remus knew that he was an amazing person. He was almost always calm and collected, and he cared deeply for the people close to him. The emotion he put behind everything he did was astounding.
"Well we both know that I don't want gray hair for a long time," Harry smiled back. "Well actually, I just don't want gray hair at all." Harry loved talking with Remus; his personality was so different from that of Sirius. Sirius was more playful; he was a true Marauder. He and Harry had fun and he was always there if Harry needed to talk to him; he was usually there worrying about Harry anyway. Remus was different though, he didn't jump to conclusions as quickly as Sirius did and he was usually more understanding. Sirius felt responsible for Harry, being his godfather, and therefore was often more strict whereas Remus tended to actually asses a situation before acting.
"You sure? Gray hair would probably look just as good as black hair sticking up in all directions," Remus said, trying hard not to smile.
Harry glared at Remus. "You know this isn't my fault," he said, pointing to his hair.
"I know," Remus laughed, "you're father's was the same, although yours might be a little bit worse, if that's possible. Lily could always seem to make James' hair behave, it just took a while." Remus appeared deep in thought. "Anyway, when do you want to leave?"
"I wanted to go for a swim first, if you're not in a hurry," Harry answered.
"Go ahead, I'm in no rush to get anywhere."

Ten minutes later Harry was swimming in the pool in the back yard and Remus was sitting on the patio in the sun, still in his tee shirt and pajama bottoms. When Sirius bought his house he had a pool put in the back yard. He had paid for it to be installed by Muggle convention but filled it magically with seawater. Sirius actually filled it with Caribbean seawater and even put sand on the bottom. He even went to the extent of adding a thriving community of tropical fish. Harry and Remus thought he had gone a little too far after adding fish, but Sirius insisted that they were cute and he liked watching them swim around.
Remus sat in the sun, letting its rays warm is body as he listened to the sound of Harry swimming. Once Harry had graduated from Hogwarts he had been offered a position on England's Quidditch team. He had turned it down to concentrate on the growing threat of Voldemort but hoped that someday he could go back to playing Quidditch. There hadn't been much chance to play that summer so Harry swam laps every morning before doing anything else. He was determined to stay in shape, for Quidditch and for Voldemort.

"Remus?" Remus opened his eyes to see Harry standing before him, still dripping water. "Were you asleep?"
"Yeah, I guess I was."
"Are you sure you want to go out today?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a little tired still." Remus stood up stretching, "I'm going to get a shower. Will you be ready in half an hour?"
"Yep," Harry smiled, making his way to his room. Forty minutes later he and Remus were walking into Diagon Alley from the entrance in the Leaky Cauldron.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There, chapter one is complete. I have another sixty pages of story hand written, the hard part is organizing it into chapters. This could take a while as I am a full time Civil engineering student, but I'll try my hardest to update soon. My little brother will be forcing me to write more anyway.

And if anyone could be kind enough to help me- what does prat mean?