Chapter 12: Expect the Unexpected

Harry woke up on September 1st both excited and anxious. He was dying to see his friends again; he just wished that it wasn't because he needed to be on board the Hogwarts Express to protect them from Death Eaters.

Shaking those depressing feelings away he got up and showered. Then, putting on his new Hogwarts robes, he exited his room to find Sirius and Remus both up having breakfast.

"Morning Harry," Remus greeted him cheerfully. "Sleep well?"

"Slept great," Harry said, smiling and seating himself at the table.

"You'll never believe who they found yesterday," Sirius said, looking up from the paper he was reading.

"Who?" Harry asked, dishing up some food.

"The famous Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived," Sirius said, grinning.

Harry groaned. "Couldn't he have just stayed missing forever?"

"Now Harry is that anyway to treat the boy that saved the Wizarding World?" Sirius said, pretending to scold.

"Yes! He could have stayed missing for all I care," Harry said before shoving food into his mouth.

"Yes think of all the fun we could have had today if I showed up with you out of nowhere," Sirius said, grinning. "But alas, Dumbledore thought it would be better if people knew that they had found you unharmed and alive."

"Yeah so people would know that their savior was still alive and so they wouldn't give up hope," Harry said bitterly.

"Harry . . ." Remus started but was quickly cut off by Harry.

"Don't even start," Harry snapped. "You and I both know that's all I am to most people, a tool, a symbol for hope. It's all I've ever been since the day I defeated Voldemort. No one sees me as anything but the famous Boy-Who- Lived. If it had been up to me I would have become the Boy-who-disappeared-and-who-was-never-seen-again." With that Harry fled from the room without a look back, leaving behind a not so surprised Remus and Sirius.

Harry wasn't surprised at all to see Sirius approaching him in the Quidditch stadium stands five minutes later. It was like after he had first met Sirius three years ago a firm parental bond had formed between them that nothing and no one could seem to break. Once Sirius reached Harry they both just sat there in silence looking out over the Quidditch field.

"I'm sorry," Harry said finally. "I shouldn't have gotten angry at you and Remus. I had no right."

"Harry you have every right to get angry," Sirius said. "And I see exactly where you're coming from, you haven't had the easiest life."

"Neither have you, but I don't see you yelling at people that aren't to blame," Harry replied.

"That's because you weren't there when I finally blew up at the world," Sirius said with a slight smile. "Remus was at my receiving end."

"Great," Harry said. "That makes it twice he's been yelled at for things he didn't do."

"Actually if you need to let some steam off Remus is the best person to yell at," Sirius said. "He's a remarkable listener."

"So are you telling me I should go talk to Remus?" Harry asked shrewdly.

"No," Sirius replied. "I'm telling you that you can talk to me. I'm here for you anytime you need me Harry. For once in your life you'll have somebody here for you, no matter what happens."

"Thanks Sirius," Harry said, smiling.

"And just for the record," Sirius said. "I've loved you since the moment I saw you in Lily's arms sixteen years ago. Not because you were my best friend's son, because you were you, with those amazing green eyes and innocent looks. I never could say no to you after that and you will never be the Boy-who-Lived to me."

Harry turned and smiled mischievously at Sirius. "Does that 'I can't say no to those green eyes' still stand today?"

"Why, what do you want?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"Nothing really," Harry said innocently. "Just for you to sign my permission slip to Hogsmeade."

"No! Absolutely not!" Sirius said firmly.

"Come on Sirius, I can take care of myself and besides if something did happen at least I'd be there to help the other students," Harry said before giving Sirius his best innocent look. "Please?"

"I hate you, you know that," Sirius said even though he was grinning.

"You know that statement really doesn't work when you just told the person you loved them," Harry said laughing, knowing he had won.

"That was a deliberate use of privileged knowledge to get what you wanted Harry. That was cruel and unmerciful," Sirius said seriously before grinning. "I am so proud of you."

Harry laughed. "I've had a great teacher."

Sirius stood up, grinning. "Come on let's get back up to the castle and get Demin so we can head to Platform 9 ¾."

Harry got up and fell into step beside Sirius. "You and Demin are the teachers Dumbledore's sending to defend the train?"

"Yep," Sirius said gleefully.

When they reached the portrait of the Elf they gave the password and entered into Demin and Kairi's quarters, only to find Kairi trying to support her self in the doorway of Demin's room due to the fact she was laughing so hard.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Delia who was playing a game on the floor.

"Aunt Kairi booby trapped my Daddy's room and he can't seem to get out of it," Delia said, grinning madly.

Harry and Sirius traded amused looks before joining Kairi at Demin's door. What Harry saw made him laugh. Demin was standing in the middle of the room looking furious with burn marks and daggers covering the floor around him.

"How long as he been trying to get out of there?" Harry asked Kairi, Sirius was to busy laughing to say anything.

"Twenty minutes," Kairi said, smiling pleasantly.

"When I get my hands on you Kairi you're dead," Demin threatened as he dove out of the way of another well-placed spell.

"Is there even a way for him to get out of there?" Harry asked, watching Demin dance around more traps.

"Of course there is!" Kairi said, looking affronted before her smile turned evil. "It just might take him a while to find it."

"He was supposed to accompany Harry and I on the Hogwarts Express," Sirius said after finally catching his breath.

"Well you get to take me instead," Kairi said cheerfully.

"Sounds fine to me," Sirius said, offering Kairi his arm. "You make a much prettier companion."

"Why thank you Mr. Black," Kairi said, taking his arm and exiting through the porthole.

Harry turned back to Demin who had taken refuge in the far corner of the room.

"Er . . . Demin are you going to be all right?" Harry questioned.

"Of course! I love having a psychopath for a sister!" Demin said sarcastically. "Oh and Harry you remember that deal we made?"

Harry flinched. "Yeah."

"You have a week," Demin said.

"A week!" Harry cried, outraged. "I need more time then that."

"A week Harry and it better be good or the training you did in the elf Realm is going to look like a picnic," Demin said, trying yet another way to escape his room only to have a fireball hurled at him.

"You know if she ends up killing me, you could be charge as a accomplice to murder," Harry informed Demin.

"I don't care! You have a week," Demin said as Harry took his leave.

Ten minutes later Harry, Sirius and Kairi on platform 9 ¾ waiting for the students to arrive and for the journey to begin. There were also seven Aurors nearby watching and waiting. While Harry was waiting for the Weasleys and Hermoine to arrive he was giving Sirius and Kairi a brief profile of each student that he knew as they passed the wall the three of them were leaning on.

Harry noticed that most parents were trying to hold up a brave face for their children, even though most knew that things were going to be dangerous from now on, until Voldemort was gone for good.

"Harry!" an excited voice shouted right before Harry found himself hugging a beautiful red head girl.

"Hey Ginny," Harry said, hugging her back.

"Is that any way to greet your girlfriend after not seeing her for a month?" Sirius asked his Godson disapprovingly.

"No," Kairi answered for him "It should have been more like this." She wrapped her arms around Sirius's neck and kissed him thoroughly.

"Did we miss something?" Hermoine asked, joining the group that was watching Sirius and Kairi kiss.

"Nothing important," Harry said while shaking his head at the two adults.

"Is that Sirius?" Ron asked stupidly while he too joined the group.

"No it's Dumbledore," Ginny said sarcastically. "Of course it's Sirius!"

"Since when did he have such a good-looking girlfriend?" Ron asked.

"Good looking?" Harry asked skeptically. "Ow!" Harry cried as Kairi whacked him.

"My brother is a bad influence on you," Kairi stated before smiling brightly at the others.

"Brother?" Hermoine questioned.

"Guys I'd like you to meet Lady Kairi, Demin's twin sister," Harry said.

"Demin's twin!" Ron said, shocked.

"Yes I know we are nothing alike. I'm charming, fun, and good-looking, while Demin is boring, strict and homely," Kairi said teasingly while shaking everyone's hand.

"I think I see now why you're dating Sirius," Ginny said, giggling.

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Sirius asked, eyebrows raised.

"It means that only a person that had a few screws loose in their head would date Sirius Black," Harry said, smiling innocently.

"That is not what I meant!" Ginny said, smacking Harry though she was smiling.

Before either Kairi or Sirius could comment on Harry's statement Mrs. Weasley had finally joined the group.

"Hello Harry," Mrs. Weasley said brightly, giving him a hug. "It's great to see you again."

"You too Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, returning the hug.

"Sirius we read the good news!" Mrs. Weasley said, beaming at Sirius. "I'm happy that Harry finally as a responsible adult looking out for him."

"Responsible?" all four kids said together, laughing.

"That'll be the day," Ron finished for them.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Sirius said politely, choosing to ignore the kids. "I'd like you to meet Kairi, she and her brother are going to be teaching DADA this year."

"What?!" Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny said while Mrs. Weasley shook hands with Kairi.

"Come on," Harry said, grabbing Ginny's hand. "I'll explain on the train."

So with that the four children said their good-byes to Mrs. Weasley and loaded their things onto the train. Five minutes later the train pulled out of the station and Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermoine found themselves in a compartment near the back of the train. Harry made sure the compartment door was locked and threw several silencing charms around it before beginning to tell the three everything that had happened since he left.

He told them about Diane and his new powers. He also told them about the twins and what had happen with that. Then finally he told them about Sirius, Remus, Kairi, and Demin teaching this year and why Kairi and Sirius were riding the train with them.

"I was wondering why they were on the train," Hermoine said after Harry had finished.

"Sirius and Remus are going to be teaching?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Yep," Harry said, smiling. "It should be a really interesting year."

"You said it mate," Ron said, grinning. "Just think, we have four teachers on our side and the Slytherin have only Snape. The Slytherins are going down this year!"

"Ron, teachers aren't suppose to favor certain students and I doubt Demin and Kairi will," Hermoine said.

Harry and Ron gave Hermoine a look that said 'yeah right' before Harry said, "I wouldn't count on it Hermoine. They have already had a run in with the Malfoy's and that didn't exactly hit it off."

"Why? What happened?" Ginny asked.

Harry grinned and told them. By the time he was done Ron and Ginny were laughing so hard that they had trouble staying in their seats and even Hermoine was chuckling.

"I wish I could have been there to see that!" Ron said, still laughing.

"Did Kairi really kick him there?" Hermoine asked.

"Yes. She's just as skilled in martial arts as Demin is," Harry said laughing, before his face become grave. "Which brings me to my next point. I need your help with something."

"Of course we'll help you!" Ginny said instantly.

"Er . . . I wouldn't agree to anything until I tell you what I have to do," Harry said before taking a deep breath. "Remember how I told you I made a deal with Demin so I could come back early?"

"Yes," Hermoine said while the others nodded.

"Well Demin's giving me a week to complete it," Harry said.

"What do you have to do?" Ron asked.

"Well you guys just met Kairi so you don't know that she is one of the worse pranksters I've ever met. Even worse then your brothers," Harry said, nodding to Ginny and Ron. "When she was little she used to play the worse pranks on Demin and, needless to say, she hasn't stopped playing pranks on him today."

"What does this have to do with the deal you made with Demin?" Hermoine asked curiously.

Harry sighed. "The deal was that if I came back early then I would have to get revenge in Demin's behalf on Kairi. In other words I have to pull the most brilliant prank on Kairi in less then a week or Demin's going to kill me."

"Why doesn't Demin do it himself?" Ginny asked confused.

"For two reasons," Harry said. "One Demin couldn't pull off a successful prank if his life depend on it and two when you start a prank war with Kairi, you will most likely end up dead or wishing you were by the end."

"She can't be that bad," Hermoine said sensibly.

"Oh but she is," Harry said solemnly. "I guarantee Voldemort won't have to worry about me once Kairi's done."

"I'm in," Ron said eagerly. "I've lived through Fred and George's pranks for sixteen years I think I can handle Kairi."

"Me too," Ginny said grinning.

The three then turned to Hermoine with questioning eyes.

"Oh fine!" Hermoine huffed. "I'll help too. But remember two of us are still prefects."

"You mean one of us," Harry corrected.

"Excuse me?" Hermoine said, blinking.

"I turned my prefect badge into Professor McGonagall. Between school, being Quidditch Captain and Demin I'll barely have time to sleep and eat as it is. Prefect duties are something I don't need."

"You gave back your badge?" Hermoine said, looking scandalized.

"I think we just covered that Hermoine," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "So do you have any ideas for the prank?"

"Yes," Harry said. "But give me a couple of more days to work out everything."

"When are we actually going to do it?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Over the weekend sometime," Harry said grinning evilly. "I just wish your brothers hadn't graduated last year, we really could have used their help and expertise."

"Yeah tell me about it," Ron said. "They are going to be furious when they learn the biggest prank war in Hogwarts history is occurring and they're not part of it."

"Maybe we can include them," Ginny said suddenly. "They have great products and ideas and I'm sure they will share them with us once we tell them who's in the castle."

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked his sister confused.

"The Marauders of course," Ginny said rolling her eyes.

"That's right! They have no idea who the Marauders are!" Harry said grinning evilly. "This is going to be fun!"

They then got into a discussion about what Harry had in mind for the first prank and what they were going to do to protect themselves after it. Their discussion was interrupted when the train gave an unnatural jerk and people started to shout. The four in the compartment were on their feet immediately heading for the door.

"Harry undo your wards," Hermoine said as she tugged on the door that wouldn't budge.

"I did," Harry said, confused. "About twenty minutes ago."

"Then why aren't the doors opening?" Hermoine said, letting Ron give it a try with the same results. Hermoine and Harry then tried every spell they could think of and still the door didn't budge.

"Of all the stupid, dumb, idiotic, half-witted thing to do. . . " Harry proclaimed suddenly realizing what was going on.

"Harry what are you rambling about?" Ron asked frustrated.

"Those simple minded Aurors have locked all the compartment doors so students can't get out and no one can get in!" Harry said, going to the window and looking out.

"Well that was a smart thing to do. That way no one will get in the way," Hermoine said reasonably.

"True," Harry said, turning from the window. "Until the Death Eaters wise up and start coming through the windows."

"Harry that it completely ridiculous. How would they get through a window?"

As if on cue their window shattered and a Death Eater come crashing in. Harry had him unconscious before the others had time to blink.

"It's called magic," Harry said looking up from the fallen Death Eater. "Maybe you've heard of it."

"But . . . how . . ." Hermoine stuttered, horrified.

"I've got to go get the doors open," Harry said going to the window. "You three stay here and stay alert, I'll be back."

"Harry how are you . . ." Ron started to ask, but stopped suddenly as Harry turned into a golden eagle and soared out the window.

Harry flew out over the train and saw Death Eaters on top of the train cars all preparing to go through a window. While the Aurors seemed to be busy dealing with the Death Eaters that had gone inside. Harry making a quick decision landed on the middle passenger car and transformed back.

"Excuse me!" Harry shouted. "Are you looking for someone?"

All the Death Eaters who were in shouting range looked up startled. Then curses started flying. Harry blocked all of them moving carefully and swiftly across the fast moving train. The first Death Eater Harry reached he sent soaring off the high-speed train without a second thought, five more were quick to follow. Which only left three more on top of the moving cars to deal with. The only problem was they had formed a semi circle around Harry leaving him nowhere to run.

"We meet again Potter," a cold leering voice said. "But I guarantee that this meeting will end differently."

"I wouldn't count on it Malfoy," a clear voice said behind Malfoy calmly. Harry looked over Lucius' shoulder to see his Godfather standing on top of the car.

"Come to help finish off the last Potter Black?" Malfoy sneered, turning around leaving the other two Death Eaters wands facing Harry. "You did such a great job last time with James and Lily."

Sirius's blood drained from his face and Harry instantly jumped on Malfoy sending both of them sprawling across the train. He heard the other two Death Eaters start shouting curses as Sirius countered with is own. Harry and Malfoy were too occupied with fighting each other they didn't even notice that Sirius had already propelled both death eaters off the sides of the train.

"Malfoy, I suggest you let go of my Godson and get to your feet," Sirius's deadly voice said nearby.

Malfoy let go of Harry slowly and turned to face Sirius whose wand was pointed steadily at Malfoy's heart.

"Avada Kedavra," A voice suddenly yelled, but it wasn't Sirius'.

"Sirius, look out!" Harry shouted as he recognized the green light speeding towards his Godfather. Harry recklessly hurdled himself at his Godfather knocking them both out of the way and felt the curse just pass over them.

Harry heard a loud thump a second later. Harry lifted his head to see Lucius Malfoy's dead body sprawled five feet away from him. Harry then slowly turned his head to see the horrified face of Draco Malfoy, who still had his wand pointed directly where his father had once stood.

THANKS TO MY BETA READER NATURAL ANTHEM!