Disclaimer: Don't own Harry and I aint makin any money off this story... and this applies to all future chapters as well. A/N: This is a rewrite of my very first fic that has been posted at DarkMark under the penname of aimers110879 and has undergone a few title changes as the plot has evolved. To join my yahoo group for updates and such check out the homepage link on my bio.

Chapter 1: Revelations

It was a misty morning, the sun just barely lighting the sky. Missy shot out of bed. She had been ripped from a restful sleep by the screeching of an owl that had landed on her windowsill. She thought she had been dreaming when she saw the official looking envelope attached to it's leg. She pinched herself to be sure she was awake. She was. The owl swooped in and landed on her night table. Missy took the letter from the regal looking bird. The address, printed in emerald green ink, was shockingly accurate.

Miss Artemis Potter

Flat above the Post Office

Galbally, County of Limerick

Ireland

She turned it over in her hands and saw it, the seal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Missy was not an ordinary woman. She was a witch. Not the kind you see on television programs or in movies, but a real witch who could do real magic. As a girl Missy had attended Hogwarts. It had been a long time since she had seen that place because she was hiding. Six years had passed since the fateful day she saw her parents murdered by a dark wizard. John and Maryanne had dedicated their lives to fight dark magic and those who used it. The wizard who had committed the heinous crime didn't know she was witness to his deed. Missy knew, however, that it didn't matter either way. He would be after her soon as well. Her parents were not her only family members who had died fighting dark wizards. Missy's uncle and aunt had died as well, killed by the dark Lord Voldemort.

Lord Voldemort had many followers who called themselves Death Eaters. The man who killed John and Maryann was one of the meanest, slimiest, and most homicidal of them all, Walden Mcnair. John and Maryanne thought they were safe for ten years after the death of John's younger brother James and his wife but it was only a matter of time. Mcnair was biding his time and getting into the pockets of all the right wizards with the help of another Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy. When he had all the right people bribed he made his move. Missy went directly to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, and told him what she had seen. He did everything he could to have Mcnair convicted but in the end failed. Therefore Missy had been spirited away to live with her mother's parents in Ireland. They were non-magic folk but were so familiar with magic because of Maryanne that it was not too much of an adjustment for Missy. She was able to do magic at home. This kept her in form. She had a wide array of talents because her Parents had both been Aurors, dark magic fighters, for the Ministry of Magic. They taught her all they knew so she could defend herself and would be prepared for Auror training after graduation. This was one of the reasons for the letter that read:

Dear Artemis Potter,

It has been six years since you have graced the wizarding community with your talents, we are in dire need of your help; not only do we need the expertise of an remarkable witch but also our new Quidditch teaching assistant could probably use tips from one of Gryffindor's best Quidditch Beaters. Lord Voldemort has returned and is more powerful than ever before. Your cousin Harry is currently a student at Hogwarts and Voldemort has, on several occasions, tried to kill him, fortunately he has failed miserably. I have reinstated the Order of the Phoenix and am requesting your service in fighting this menace. Please write your response and give it to the owl. If favorable I will send for you.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

"The Order of the Phoenix." Missy mumbled to herself. Her parents were members as well as James and Lily. Missy remembered the others she had come to think of as family, wondering who would come to get her. She wrote her response:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I would be willing to help in any way you see fit. Please count me as one of your allies.

Truly Yours, Ms. A. Potter

She sealed up the letter and gave it to the owl.

Meanwhile, in Little Whining, Surrey, a young man of almost sixteen lie on his bed looking up at the popcorn ceiling. It was the middle of summer, July 30th to be exact. Less then four hours and it would be his birthday. This young man was no ordinary teen-ager; he was Harry Potter, a wizard. Usually he looked forward to his birthday but this year he wasn't so sure. Less then two months ago he had learned that his birthday was one of the things that caused him to live the life he had thus far. Harry was one year old when his parents were murdered by one of the darkest wizards of all time, Lord Voldemort. Had he been born any other day he would have lived a normal life in a wizarding family, but he hadn't. Instead he was spirited away that fateful night to his aunt and uncle Dursley's home. They had taken him in, reluctantly, for his protection. This reluctance played itself out in the form of very foul and unfair treatment for most of his life. This summer, however, things had changed quite a bit. His friends had warned his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon that if he didn't write regularly or if he even hinted at foul play they'd be paid a visit. This was enough to change their behavior because that was the last thing they wanted. His aunt had changed the most, however. Last summer Harry's headmaster at school sent her a howler to remind her of the pact she had made when she took him in. Last summer Harry and his giant oaf of a cousin, Dudley, had been attacked by two Dementors. These prison guards had been sent to quiet him by Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. They did not succeed because Harry was forced to use magic to save Dudley and himself from having their souls sucked out. This was enough to send uncle Vernon off the handle and Harry was almost kicked out. But Dumbldore's howler was enough to change aunt Petunia's heart, but only just a little.

The Dursley's were a very drab sort of people. They hated anything that wasn't normal and Harry was definitely not normal. They were so opposed to non-conformity it was almost humorous. They had a lawn that matched the rest of their neighbors, although it was always better kept and the inside of their home was immaculate, except their son Dudley's room. It was full of all the latest bribes given to him by his parents and all the stuff he stole from neighborhood kids. Dudley's parents seemed to think him a little angel, if someone the size of a great hippo could be considered little. They let him get away with anything short of murder and didn't seem to accept the reality that he was really a monster. Harry didn't have much, only his school supplies, past birthday and Christmas presents from friends at school, and last but not least the Firebolt racing broom his late Godfather had given him.

It was his late Godfather whom Harry was thinking of while staring at the ceiling. Sirius had died almost two months before and Harry had felt responsible for it. If Harry had not been lured off of his school's grounds by Voldemort Sirius never would have come to rescue him and would never have died. Harry also had learned that a prophecy about Lord Voldemort and a child born on July 31st was the reason for his parents' death and the lightning bolt scar he had on his forehead. Lily and James Potter were not Lord Voldemort's first priority fifteen years ago, Harry was.

It was Harry whom Voldemort had chosen as his equal and it was Harry, therefore, who was the only one who could kill him. But Voldemort, likewise, was the only one who could kill Harry. He had been mulling that fact over and over since he had been back from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He would have to kill or be killed. As he thought of all of this he drifted into a restless sleep. He dreamt of a tall, dark man, stunned, falling behind a large black veil in the middle of an auditorium-like round room. He ran to the veil and just as he was about to follow he was wakened by the screech of several owls in the distance. He looked at his clock. It was midnight. Right on time were his birthday presents from his friends and a letter that brought some very unexpected news.

Hedwig, his snowy owl, flew in first and landed on his shoulder. He untied the package from her leg and set it aside. Then in order of arrival, Harry untied the rest of the packages and the letter from the haughty looking school owl. He opened the first and largest package. It was a gift from his best friend Ron Weasley and the rest of the Weasley family. There were a couple boxes of Bertie Blotts Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs from Ron, Knitted socks from Mrs. Weasley, a small compass for his broom from Mr. Weasley, a multi-purpose snack box from Fred and George Weasley, a book on Egyptian spell breaking from Ron's older, very cool brother, Bill, a model of a Hungarian Horntail dragon from Charlie, this made his second and last but certainly not least a small mirror from Ron's younger sister, Ginny. This was the biggest collection of gifts Harry had ever gotten at one time. He opened he letter that was in the box.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! We all wanted to send you something this year so hope you like it. Sorry about the socks but you know mum, always knitting something. Fred and George have been getting ready for their grand opening in Diagon Alley next month. We are going to try and come get you for the unveiling of their premises. It has taken them this long to replenish the stock they used on Umbridge last term. They sent you a sample of the new and improved Skiving Snack Boxes. Thought you might have a little fun with ickle Duddykins. Dad found the compass at Quality Quidditch Supplies. Bill thought you could use his old book for next years DA meetings and Charlie brought back the model dragon for a joke. Did I tell you he came back from Romania? Looks like he's staying. Ginny wanted to add to the letter but won't let me read it so this is goodbye. See you soon.

Ron

Dear Harry,

I hope you are doing well. I wanted to let you know about the mirror. It's a two-way mirror. Fred and George got a few for us so we could spy on the Order meetings. They go to them now and stick theirs in their pockets and let us listen. I thought you might want one as well. No one knows I got an extra one for you. They are all set up in a network fashion so you can contact all of us at the same time or just one of us. It will be a surprise when you show up on them. No one will expect it. When you get it call out my name and test it, okay.

Love,

Ginny

P.S. Happy Birthday!

Harry was surprised; Ginny had become quite an enigma. The first few years he knew her she came across so shy and reserved around him. He found out it was because she liked him but last year she had started dating a Ravenclaw guy and seemed to change. She could cause trouble with the best of them and was a pretty talented witch. Harry had never realized this before. If he were to compare her to anyone in her family he certainly never would have thought of either Fred or George but she definitely could hold her own even if no one would let her. She also could look him straight in the face and hold a conversation with him now. They had an interesting bond too because in Ginny's first year, Harry's second, Lord Voldemort had possessed her, used her to let a Basilisk into the school and then tried to bring himself back to life by killing her. Harry ended up saving her life and stopped Lord Voldemort's resurrected memory gain physical form. She was his only friend who had known what it was to be possessed by Voldemort, the only one who could remotely relate to Harry on that level.

It was odd, this was the second two-way mirror he had received, the other came from his late Godfather. That one was still lying smashed in the bottom of his trunk. He had thrown it in there after realizing it would not help him communicate with Sirius. He had thought it might have worked even though Sirius had fallen through the veil in the Department of Mysteries. This was the veil that separated the living realm and the realm of those who were dead; therefore, even though he had not really died he was no longer among the living and he couldn't come back.

He decided to test the mirror. "Ginny Weasley." He called out while looking into it. Suddenly her red hair and rosy face appeared.

"Hiya, Harry. Glad to see it works. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good, and you?"

"Good, there was a meeting tonight. Turns out Charlie is going to be our new Care of Magical Creatures Professor, well, for the fifth through seventh years anyways. Who would have thought that, eh? Otherwise he's going to help with Quidditch. Madam Hooch wanted his help forming back up teams after the fiasco last year. That Umbridge hag is really lucky we won the cup or she would've been flogged, banning you, Fred and George like that. Guess what, the letters came tonight, I made Prefect!"

"Wow, Ginny that's fantastic! So Charlie has come back for good then? "

"Looks that way, should be interesting. Are the Dursley's treating you okay?"

"Yeah, pretty much. They let me alone most the time and give me whatever I ask for, well within reason. Aunt Petunia has forbid Dudley to come near me and Uncle Vernon has reluctantly let me stay. He hasn't got a choice though, because Aunt Petunia has put her foot down. It's hard not milking it for all it's worth."

"Why don't you?"

"Don't know; just don't feel right I guess. The last thing I want to do is wear out my welcome more than I already have. This is home, the only place I'm safe besides Hogwarts."

"What are you talking about, The Burrow is just as much; if not more your home and you are safe here."

"It's complicated, Ginny. I'd rather not talk about it just now."

"Oh… all right. What have you been doing with all your Dudley-free time then?"

"I've been going to the park a lot. Tonks let me know last week that she's on guard duty so I go all over the place to kind of show her around. I've been keeping Dudley from beating on this kid, Eric Martin; he is a muggle kid who lives not to far from here."

"That's good of you Harry."

"Well you know me always the hero," Harry said sarcastically.

"Stop it, Harry. You know very well it is better to want to rescue people then let them suffer or worse die!" reprimanded Ginny, referring to the time he had saved her from death. "Uh-oh I heard mum, better go. By the way Dumbledore said you could come back two weeks before term so, see you then."

"Okay Ginny, see you then!"

"I'll call you when the next meeting is, okay. And if you need to talk you know what to do. I'm here for you Harry….bye-bye."

At that Ginny vanished. He was tempted to tell her everything Dumbledore had revealed to him before he came back to the Dursley's. He thought she might be the only one who wouldn't loose it when he told them. He knew his other friends had no idea what it was like dealing with Voldemort, his Death Eaters yes, but not the wretch himself. Harry wondered why Ron hadn't thought of giving him a mirror but let it go. He reminded himself he needed to be a little more patient with his friends this year. Last year he had been much too angry with them over stuff that now seemed very insignificant.

He then picked up Hermione's gift, his other best friend. It was an updated version of Quidditch Through the Ages it included information about the world cup they all attended the summer before their forth year. He read the card.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! I saw this and thought you would enjoy reading about the World Cup we got to attend. I hope you like it. I guess we will both be joining everyone in two weeks. I have spent the summer traveling the United States and visited one of the entirely wizarding villages there. It was in Arizona. We stopped there before visiting the Grand Canyon. I put some pictures in the front flap of the book so you could see it. I will see you soon.

Yours Truly,

Hernimone

Harry opened the book and several pictures slid into his lap. The first was of a book store, the next was of a Broom store with Quidditch supplies in the window, the third was of a candy and joke shop and the last was of the Grangers standing in front of a wide sun streaked canyon waving back at him. He then opened the third package from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures Professor. It was a book on owl care. This seemed quite tame for Hagrid; usually if he sent books they were ones that might bite your hand off. He only wrote a birthday message inside the front cover.

The Forth package was from a few of the members of the Order of the Phoenix; Lupin, one of his father's best friends, Tonks, Sirius' Auror cousin, and Mad Eye Moody, one of the all time best Aurors. It was a box of dark magic detectors. The letter explained they were a few from their own supply and instructed Harry how to use each. This was turning out to be the best birthday he'd ever had.

He then looked at the official looking letter that had the School seal on the back of the envelope. He held his breath as he opened it. The first sheet was the start of term reminder with a list of supplies he'd need for the next year. The next page was his OWL results from last year. He was shocked to find out he got an outstanding grade in Potions. He was not too surprised he got outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures and Defense against the Dark arts, an exceeds expectations in Transfiguration and Charms and Herbology and all the rest except History of magic, Divination and Astronomy. He didn't think anyone got a very good grade on that one. Hagrid getting kicked out of the school by the former professor and temporary headmistress Mrs. Dolores Umbridge during the test distracted them all. He had fallen asleep during the History of Magic test and Voldemort used that moment to lure him into the Department of Mysteries. What he really didn't understand was the Divination score, he thought he would have failed miserably but he got an average score. There was one more sheet. This one was from Dumbledore, the rightful headmaster.

Dear Harry,

I trust this letter finds you well. I hope you are enjoying your Birthday and all the presents it brings you. Mine, however is not in the form of an inanimate object but the revealing of a great, and I think wonderful, secret. I have just sent a letter to a relative of yours. No, Harry it is not one of the Dursleys. It is the daughter of your father's eldest brother. Yes, Harry you have a cousin. I expect her reply soon. I have asked her to join the Order of the Phoenix. As I am sure you've heard you will be joining the rest of us in two weeks at The Burrow. On a more serious note, I have to inform you that Sirius has left you in position of all his belongings, his fortune, and his home.

Your Humble Wizard,

Albus Dumbledore

This was a complete shock. He had a cousin. We wondered, angrily, why no one had told him. How many people knew of this cousin? "Leave it to Dumbledore to spring this little revelation on me at the last minute!" Harry muttered under his breath.

The next morning he got up and went to the park to see if Dudley was there causing any trouble. He was and was about lay into a group of eleven and twelve year olds with the aid of his goons. He was really starting to remind Harry of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Hey Dudley!" he called. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

That was enough to call them off. Dudley would have stayed away from Harry even if Aunt Petunia had not forbid it after what happened to him and Harry last summer. Harry made his way over to the group of kids to see if there was any damage done.

"Hiya Harry! Thanks." Eric Martin greeted him enthusiastically while the other kids eyed Harry and the retreating group of bullies cautiously. Eric was one of the more extroverted kids in the neighborhood and had never been deterred by Harry's reputation as a criminally insane boy that was perpetuated by his aunt and uncle. Harry noticed a yellow parchment envelope in Eric's back pocket that looked suspiciously like the one he had received from Hogwarts last night.

"Eric, what's that in your pocket?"

"Oh…this?" Eric pulled it out. "It's actually something I wanted to show you."

Harry was right; it was exactly what he thought it was.

"You got a letter from Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, you've heard of it?"

"Yeah… yeah I have. How come you never told me you could do magic?" Harry asked quietly as they separated themselves from the other kids.

At that Harry heard a couple of cracks of someone apparating or disapparating, he didn't know which. He looked around to see Tonks in long, blond ringlets coming out from behind a tree. "Tonks, did you just get here?" He asked.

"No. Thought it would come as less a shock to your friend here than if I suddenly appeared from underneath this invisibility cloak. Did I just hear that you are going to Hogwarts?" She asked Eric after addressing Harry.

"Yes."

"Well Harry let's see if he can come with you to The Burrow or at least to Diagon Alley." She said.

"Okay."

"The Burrow, Diagon Alley. What are you talking about?" Asked Eric.

"The Burrow is where my best friend Ron and his family live and Diagon Alley is the only place in London for you to get your supplies for school," answered Harry.

"I'll contact Dumbledore and then Molly to see if they think it's a good idea and you ask his parents if it's okay. I'll follow in the invisibility cloak. Let me know what they say."

Harry, Eric, and Tonks made their way to Eric's house and Harry answered his William and June Martins' questions. They thought it would be a good idea for Mark to get his feet wet in the magic world and agreed to let Mark go with Harry in two weeks time to visit the Weasleys. Tonks discussed it with Dumbledore and he agreed to the plan, Molly Weasley did as well. She said that due to Fred and George having premises for the joke shop, which they lived in the flat above together and Percy not yet completely reconciled to the family she would probably have room. So the plan was made for Eric Martin to join Harry in staying with the Weasley's for the two weeks leading up to fall term at Hogwarts.