Chapter One: The Extraordinary Harry Potter
Harry woke up, screwing up his eyes until he realized he had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room of the old house he shared with some of his Hogwarts friends. They had moved in here, all pitching in their share, after their seventh and last year at Hogwarts. He had lived in this place for a decent number of years with them, they were all in and out because they all had jobs. Harry did as well but he had very unusual hours there. He brought himself from the couch and wandered towards the kitchen, opening the fridge and almost falling asleep on the door.
The front door slammed shut and his good friend Ron Weasley yelled, "Home from the game, Harry, I'm going to wash up!"
This jolted Harry awake and he gave an "uh huh" that assured Ron that he had had some idea as to what he had said to him. He grabbed the large jar of Butterbeer and grabbing himself a cup from the cupboard, pouring himself a glass and closing the fridge door with his foot. Ron was on a professional Quidditch team, Harry could not recall what team, but he did know he was a keeper. Hermione had been going with Ron since their sixth year; she had a job as a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts now.
Harry had punished himself for his jealousy of this many times, but he held it inside him, the only who knew this secret had been the only person who was a real father to him. Sirius Black. Harry thought to himself, blaming himself for Sirius's death in his fifth year at Hogwarts, people told him over and over it wasn't his fault but the sinking feeling in his gut made him believe otherwise. He had given up on many friendships in his sixth year and had had a moment of strange connection with Draco that year and he regretted that immensely. He almost missed Draco's taunts, but Draco was now some kind of secret agent wizard deal, or so some said. Harry had tried to ask Lucius but Lucius would not speak of his son almost as if he had disowned Draco.
SNAP! CRACK!
Harry had grown immune to the surprise jolts that came with these noises, it was the twins, they apparated every bloody place they wanted now. They had a full-blown joke shop, which was quite successful, but they were more serious and mature now. Harry had helped launch this career of theirs.
"Hey Harry, is Hermione here yet?" asked George in his classic voice, Harry loved the twins like brothers, but he doubted they knew that.
"She should be here late, about midnight or so..." Harry mumbled in and unsure tone.
Then there was a pounding at the door that made all of them jump up, Fred just looked at the door and Harry roamed over to the door after setting down his mug of Butterbeer, spying through the peephole. He cocked a brow; it was Neville Longbottom, looking quite frantic. Harry opened the door and Neville practically running into the house, he knew the house being one it's residents. He had a job over at the Ministry; he dealt with Percy Weasley who was always horrible to him.
"I swear, one of these bloody days, Percy will get his..." huffed a seemingly displeased Neville.
"What did that bloke do this time?" pressed Fred, with and almost angry tone.
None of the Weasleys' had any desire to converse or connect with Percy anymore. What he had done in the fifth year of Harry's Hogwarts education tore him from the family. He basically disowned himself; Harry hated to go in detail because of how it tortured Mrs. Weasley, who continually said that she had lost her son. It was all she could tell herself to keep from welling up in tears; she felt she had to be brave because she still belonged to the Order of the Phoenix.
"He is just an elitist wizard, too elitist, he believes he's better than all others 'cause of that damn ego that Fudge gave him way back when." Neville bluntly.
"Man, Percy seriously needs to get that pole out of his ass..." Ron spoke with a hateful passion.
Harry observed Ron who had grown into his lanky body well; he looked much like his brother Bill now, Ron's face contorted with scorn. Ron had had a slight disdain for Percy for almost as long as Harry had known him.
The door soon creaked open and in came a young woman with long curly ash brown hair stumbling in with a number of bags in each hand. She contorted her lips in such a fashion to blow some curly bangs out of her face, her eyes screwing about out of the stress of the bags. She sighed, looking at the boys as she hit the living room, dropping her clunky bags at her sides.
"Hey Hermione, how was your day?" George said in a curious, but mocking tone.
"It was fine, I have a few classes of Herbology quizzes to correct. Then I have some lesson plans to prepare, I'll be so busy..." Hermione frowned, sounding quite out of breath.
"So, are we going to that concert tomorrow night, dear?" Ron frowned, predicting the answer.
"Well, we can, but I don't know how much time that'll leave me in terms of correcting, you know..." said Hermione with her as-a-matter-of-fact voice.
"You have two bloody weeks, Hermione!" Ron yelled, but not too loud and then he shrugged while taking a swig of his Butterbeer.
Hermione frowned at Ron, saddened a little by his negative attitude. All the other housemates knew these fights, they happened a lot. Most of the time they couldn't understand how their relationship lasted as it did, it was just so odd. A cold silence entered the room and no one spoke, until Fred broke the dead uncomfortable silence.
"Soo... George and I need to get back to the shop, Lee was closing it for us tonight, we just gotta go back and check in with him..." Fred stated, Lee Jordan worked as a part-timer for them over at the joke shop, when they weren't able to be there or they had to leave.
"All right, oh and tell Lee I said 'Hi,'" said Harry with a grin.
"I'll let Lee know, all you lot take care!" George stated loudly before he and his twin disapparated from the room.
Neville stood up just as someone knocked on the door and he went to go see whom it was. After spying through the peephole and seeing their favorite Defense Against Dark Arts professor, Remus J. Lupin, he opened the door. Remus entered shaking his head a bit getting some rain off of his hair, the he shook his arms a bit getting the rain off his coat.
"Oh, hello Remus!" said Hermione gleefully.
"Well, someone is happy to see me..." Remus spoke in his casual voice, grinning at Ron and Harry, having expected them to be a bit more pleased.
"Oh, get over yourself, Remus." Harry joked, putting down his Butterbeer, strolling over to Remus to give him what Ron called a "man hug".
"I've been better, now you mister, have missed a lot of work lately..." Remus stated flatly, Harry was the new head of the Order of the Phoenix, none of his housemates knew that, they did know that he worked with Remus.
"I know, Remus, I've been having those nightmares again..." Harry said frowning at Remus.
"You know you should tell Tonks or Mad-Eye, even Molly about them..." Remus spoke, catching himself a bit realizing he may have given a bit too much away about Harry's profession.
"Nightmares?" said Hermione curiously.
"It's nothing important, Hermione, nothing." Harry said defensively and flatly.
Hermione watched as Harry tall, lanky demeanor became a little dark and "hollow". She noticed that he had grown much taller in the past years; his emerald eyes seemed lonelier ever since Sirius died, which was something all of his friends noticed. She sighed, Harry hid so much from Ron and herself lately, and it made her feel as if she didn't matter to him, but she knew that wasn't it. Harry had gone through more than she ever had and she understood that, she remembered his attitude from their fifth and it was quite similar to now.
"Well, I'm going to bed now... Hermione, shall we go together?" Ron said in a hopeful tone and the two went their room.
"Goodnight, you two..." Harry, Remus, and Neville said in sync with one another.
Harry went to the kitchen, grabbing a mug and pouring some Butterbeer in it for Remus, and then he returned to the living room and handed it to Remus. Then he took a seat in the darker area, near the fire, which added a fiery glow to his round rim glasses.
"So, Remus, what brought you here tonight?" said Neville, who was one of the Order's Ministry "spies".
"Well, we found a tip on where Nikolias is... The weird part is the source and we don't know if we can trust it..." Remus spoke, but it was obvious he knew that one of the boys would be angered.
"Well... who was the source?" asked Harry, cocking a brow.
"Draco Malfoy...." The name touched a nerve in Neville who stood and turned away from Harry and Remus to hide his disdain.
Harry just stared at Remus, wonder simmering to the top of his emerald eyes, almost hoping this was not what Remus had said. He played it over and over in his mind until it really sunk in, too deep. Harry tried not to believe it, but Remus never lied to him before about things in reference to what the Order was up to or had been researching.
"Are you kidding?" Harry finally willed his voice to be of use as he stared at Remus.
"Of course not, he went directly to Molly the other day, said he had to tell her something important... She did not want to believe him, though he was legally disowned by Lucius a year or two ago... And no one has seen hide nor hair till now..." Remus said, leaning back and taking a swig of his Butterbeer.
"We cannot work with him even if he is being truthful...." Neville said in a angry, huffy tone while clenching his fists so tight it seemed his nails would cut open his palms.
Remus and Harry just watched Neville in awe, neither of them had ever seen him this angry. The last time he saw anyone so angry at Malfoy it was in his fifth when he and Fred tackled him. They lost their Quidditch privileges that year, but after Umbridge was gone they got them back. That year was full of so much, the biggest year of his life really.
Harry woke up, screwing up his eyes until he realized he had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room of the old house he shared with some of his Hogwarts friends. They had moved in here, all pitching in their share, after their seventh and last year at Hogwarts. He had lived in this place for a decent number of years with them, they were all in and out because they all had jobs. Harry did as well but he had very unusual hours there. He brought himself from the couch and wandered towards the kitchen, opening the fridge and almost falling asleep on the door.
The front door slammed shut and his good friend Ron Weasley yelled, "Home from the game, Harry, I'm going to wash up!"
This jolted Harry awake and he gave an "uh huh" that assured Ron that he had had some idea as to what he had said to him. He grabbed the large jar of Butterbeer and grabbing himself a cup from the cupboard, pouring himself a glass and closing the fridge door with his foot. Ron was on a professional Quidditch team, Harry could not recall what team, but he did know he was a keeper. Hermione had been going with Ron since their sixth year; she had a job as a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts now.
Harry had punished himself for his jealousy of this many times, but he held it inside him, the only who knew this secret had been the only person who was a real father to him. Sirius Black. Harry thought to himself, blaming himself for Sirius's death in his fifth year at Hogwarts, people told him over and over it wasn't his fault but the sinking feeling in his gut made him believe otherwise. He had given up on many friendships in his sixth year and had had a moment of strange connection with Draco that year and he regretted that immensely. He almost missed Draco's taunts, but Draco was now some kind of secret agent wizard deal, or so some said. Harry had tried to ask Lucius but Lucius would not speak of his son almost as if he had disowned Draco.
SNAP! CRACK!
Harry had grown immune to the surprise jolts that came with these noises, it was the twins, they apparated every bloody place they wanted now. They had a full-blown joke shop, which was quite successful, but they were more serious and mature now. Harry had helped launch this career of theirs.
"Hey Harry, is Hermione here yet?" asked George in his classic voice, Harry loved the twins like brothers, but he doubted they knew that.
"She should be here late, about midnight or so..." Harry mumbled in and unsure tone.
Then there was a pounding at the door that made all of them jump up, Fred just looked at the door and Harry roamed over to the door after setting down his mug of Butterbeer, spying through the peephole. He cocked a brow; it was Neville Longbottom, looking quite frantic. Harry opened the door and Neville practically running into the house, he knew the house being one it's residents. He had a job over at the Ministry; he dealt with Percy Weasley who was always horrible to him.
"I swear, one of these bloody days, Percy will get his..." huffed a seemingly displeased Neville.
"What did that bloke do this time?" pressed Fred, with and almost angry tone.
None of the Weasleys' had any desire to converse or connect with Percy anymore. What he had done in the fifth year of Harry's Hogwarts education tore him from the family. He basically disowned himself; Harry hated to go in detail because of how it tortured Mrs. Weasley, who continually said that she had lost her son. It was all she could tell herself to keep from welling up in tears; she felt she had to be brave because she still belonged to the Order of the Phoenix.
"He is just an elitist wizard, too elitist, he believes he's better than all others 'cause of that damn ego that Fudge gave him way back when." Neville bluntly.
"Man, Percy seriously needs to get that pole out of his ass..." Ron spoke with a hateful passion.
Harry observed Ron who had grown into his lanky body well; he looked much like his brother Bill now, Ron's face contorted with scorn. Ron had had a slight disdain for Percy for almost as long as Harry had known him.
The door soon creaked open and in came a young woman with long curly ash brown hair stumbling in with a number of bags in each hand. She contorted her lips in such a fashion to blow some curly bangs out of her face, her eyes screwing about out of the stress of the bags. She sighed, looking at the boys as she hit the living room, dropping her clunky bags at her sides.
"Hey Hermione, how was your day?" George said in a curious, but mocking tone.
"It was fine, I have a few classes of Herbology quizzes to correct. Then I have some lesson plans to prepare, I'll be so busy..." Hermione frowned, sounding quite out of breath.
"So, are we going to that concert tomorrow night, dear?" Ron frowned, predicting the answer.
"Well, we can, but I don't know how much time that'll leave me in terms of correcting, you know..." said Hermione with her as-a-matter-of-fact voice.
"You have two bloody weeks, Hermione!" Ron yelled, but not too loud and then he shrugged while taking a swig of his Butterbeer.
Hermione frowned at Ron, saddened a little by his negative attitude. All the other housemates knew these fights, they happened a lot. Most of the time they couldn't understand how their relationship lasted as it did, it was just so odd. A cold silence entered the room and no one spoke, until Fred broke the dead uncomfortable silence.
"Soo... George and I need to get back to the shop, Lee was closing it for us tonight, we just gotta go back and check in with him..." Fred stated, Lee Jordan worked as a part-timer for them over at the joke shop, when they weren't able to be there or they had to leave.
"All right, oh and tell Lee I said 'Hi,'" said Harry with a grin.
"I'll let Lee know, all you lot take care!" George stated loudly before he and his twin disapparated from the room.
Neville stood up just as someone knocked on the door and he went to go see whom it was. After spying through the peephole and seeing their favorite Defense Against Dark Arts professor, Remus J. Lupin, he opened the door. Remus entered shaking his head a bit getting some rain off of his hair, the he shook his arms a bit getting the rain off his coat.
"Oh, hello Remus!" said Hermione gleefully.
"Well, someone is happy to see me..." Remus spoke in his casual voice, grinning at Ron and Harry, having expected them to be a bit more pleased.
"Oh, get over yourself, Remus." Harry joked, putting down his Butterbeer, strolling over to Remus to give him what Ron called a "man hug".
"I've been better, now you mister, have missed a lot of work lately..." Remus stated flatly, Harry was the new head of the Order of the Phoenix, none of his housemates knew that, they did know that he worked with Remus.
"I know, Remus, I've been having those nightmares again..." Harry said frowning at Remus.
"You know you should tell Tonks or Mad-Eye, even Molly about them..." Remus spoke, catching himself a bit realizing he may have given a bit too much away about Harry's profession.
"Nightmares?" said Hermione curiously.
"It's nothing important, Hermione, nothing." Harry said defensively and flatly.
Hermione watched as Harry tall, lanky demeanor became a little dark and "hollow". She noticed that he had grown much taller in the past years; his emerald eyes seemed lonelier ever since Sirius died, which was something all of his friends noticed. She sighed, Harry hid so much from Ron and herself lately, and it made her feel as if she didn't matter to him, but she knew that wasn't it. Harry had gone through more than she ever had and she understood that, she remembered his attitude from their fifth and it was quite similar to now.
"Well, I'm going to bed now... Hermione, shall we go together?" Ron said in a hopeful tone and the two went their room.
"Goodnight, you two..." Harry, Remus, and Neville said in sync with one another.
Harry went to the kitchen, grabbing a mug and pouring some Butterbeer in it for Remus, and then he returned to the living room and handed it to Remus. Then he took a seat in the darker area, near the fire, which added a fiery glow to his round rim glasses.
"So, Remus, what brought you here tonight?" said Neville, who was one of the Order's Ministry "spies".
"Well, we found a tip on where Nikolias is... The weird part is the source and we don't know if we can trust it..." Remus spoke, but it was obvious he knew that one of the boys would be angered.
"Well... who was the source?" asked Harry, cocking a brow.
"Draco Malfoy...." The name touched a nerve in Neville who stood and turned away from Harry and Remus to hide his disdain.
Harry just stared at Remus, wonder simmering to the top of his emerald eyes, almost hoping this was not what Remus had said. He played it over and over in his mind until it really sunk in, too deep. Harry tried not to believe it, but Remus never lied to him before about things in reference to what the Order was up to or had been researching.
"Are you kidding?" Harry finally willed his voice to be of use as he stared at Remus.
"Of course not, he went directly to Molly the other day, said he had to tell her something important... She did not want to believe him, though he was legally disowned by Lucius a year or two ago... And no one has seen hide nor hair till now..." Remus said, leaning back and taking a swig of his Butterbeer.
"We cannot work with him even if he is being truthful...." Neville said in a angry, huffy tone while clenching his fists so tight it seemed his nails would cut open his palms.
Remus and Harry just watched Neville in awe, neither of them had ever seen him this angry. The last time he saw anyone so angry at Malfoy it was in his fifth when he and Fred tackled him. They lost their Quidditch privileges that year, but after Umbridge was gone they got them back. That year was full of so much, the biggest year of his life really.