AN: This is a bit faster than I expected to get this out, but (shrugs) anyway onto the first real chapter (the other was more of a prologue)
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing you recognize from the Harry Potter Universe, I'm just borrowing it for the time being and having fun with it.
Chapter 1: The Beginning of A New Life
On a quiet street, in a house like all those around it, a thin horse faced woman wrapped her light beige house robe over her dressing gown. It was perhaps six thirty in the morning as she headed down the stairs of her house, stepping in beat with her husband's snores. She opened the front door to retrieve the milk on her door step, something she had thought ridiculous, but did so for appearances, when a soft coo caught her attention.
She came fully to her senses as she noticed the basket beside the milk. Part of her mind knew what this was, knew her life was about to change dramatically. She reached out a hesitant hand and plucked the note lying in the basket. She fought back a scream of fury and fear as she read the letter from Albus Dumbledore. The baby, her nephew, cooed quietly causing her to look at him and meet her sister's eyes. Suddenly she knew she couldn't send him to an orphanage, as much as she wished to.
The thin woman gathered the basket with its small bundle of life and the bottles of milk. With a resigned sigh she reentered her home at number four Privet Drive. She walked into the kitchen and set the basket on a chair. She found a bottle and filled it with baby formula. She left the one year old boy to suck on the bottle as she cooked breakfast for her husband.
The large man, girth more than height, entered the small kitchen carrying the fattest little baby boy anyone could imagine. "Petunia, didn't you hear little Dudders crying?" asked the man as he set the boy in a high chair.
"I'm sorry Vernon, something happened this morning and I've been distracted." Petunia set the eggs, bacon and toast down in front of her husband. She took a jar of baby food and sat down on the other side of the high chair. She hoped she could put off telling him about Harry for a few more minutes.
"What could possibly distract you from our little Dudleykins?"
She took a deep breath and as she brought a spoonful of food to Dudley's mouth she asked, "Do you remember what I told you about my sister and her husband?" He nodded since his mouth was full. She continued, "They were murdered last night."
"What!" sputtered Vernon indignantly. He so did not want to go to the funeral.
"They were killed by a very evil man named Voldemort; however their son survived. The headmaster of my sister's old school left him on our doorstep this morning." She told him as calmly as she could while catching the food Dudley spit out and placing it back in his mouth.
"Well then I guess I had better leave early so I can drop the little freak off at an orphanage before I go to work," said Vernon firmly.
"He will not be going to an orphanage. We will be keeping him," responded Petunia in a tone of voice Vernon had never heard before.
Vernon loved his wife dearly and knew that she had cared for her sister even as she hated and feared the freak. He was confused as to why she would want to take in the freak child and why her voice was so cold and harsh. "Why not?" he asked softly, more quietly than he ever spoke before.
"He has her eyes," was the whispered response from his wife.
Vernon moved to sit beside his wife and pulled her into a comforting hug while she cried softly for all she had lost. Vernon vowed that the boy would never follow in his freak parents' footsteps that he would never be allowed to cause Petunia this type of grief. Vernon knew he would have to be harsh, even cruel to the boy in order to prevent his freaky nature from emerging. The rest of breakfast was quiet and Vernon left without even looking at the boy who had disrupted his happy home.
Petunia was cleaning the kitchen while her son and nephew were in the living room watching Sesame Street on the Television. It was around nine that morning, as she was walking up the stairs to work on the bathroom that the doorbell rang. She turned around and walked to the front door, smiling slightly at the sight of Dudley fast asleep beside Harry who was watching his cousin rather than the TV. She reached the door and opened it.
Standing before Petunia was a beautiful woman with dark raven black hair, kind brown eyes, and wearing an expensive business suite-dress. "May I help you?" asked Petunia politely.
The woman smiled and said, "Actually, Mrs. Dursley, I'm here to help you, may I come in?"
Petunia wasn't sure why, but she felt this woman was trustworthy. "Please come in," invited Petunia as she stepped back.
The woman entered. Her regal bearing made Petunia certain something major and life changing was about to happen. That's twice in one morning was the amused thought running through Petunia's mind. Petunia smiled as she closed the door and than led the woman into the living room. They both sat down on chairs while Harry watched them from his place beside Dudley.
"Can I get you anything?" asked Petunia, falling into her roll as hostess.
"No thank you, Mrs. Dursley. By the way you can call me Serena, may I call you Petunia?"
"Of course, Serena, now may I ask what brought you here today?"
Serena smiled and said, "I'm here because I have a proposal for you. I know you acquired your sister's son today, a young wizard named Harry."
Petunia sucked in her breath at the word wizard. "How do you know? Who are you?"
"I know because I am a very powerful witch. I am here to offer to take Harry off of your hands, because I can protect him and prepare him far better than you or your husband."
"Why should I trust you?"
"I knew Lily and James, but because of Dumbledore, Harry was placed here instead of where they wanted him to go. They named a man, Sirius Black as his guardian should something happen. If he was unavailable then either Remus Lupin or myself were to receive him. Dumbledore went against their wishes by giving him to you."
"The letter Dumbledore left with Harry said that Harry had to stay here because of some type of blood magic Lily did. He said only my presence could keep him safe."
"Do you love Harry?"
Petunia looked shocked at the question and slowly shook her head, tears began to make their way down her face, "No I don't. I care… I don't want him to die because he's the only tie I have left to her, but I don't love him. On some level I think I hate him."
"Because he's alive while your sister is dead," added Serena. She sighed and continued, "The blood magic Dumbledore spoke of can only work if you love one another. Harry is an innocent trusting child who loves unconditionally, but if you don't love him back the wards will not protect him or your family. Believe me when I say you want those wards if he stays, but I think it better he doesn't."
"What are you proposing?" asked Petunia, wiping her eyes.
"I will take Harry with me and modify your memories such that you will never remember even taking him in for these few short hours. Since I'm certain some of Dumbledore's lackeys saw me come in I will give you a 'lottery' check for the sum of one million pounds and your memories will match that. Your husbands' memories will also be changed."
"So you are basically buying Harry?" demanded Petunia with an anger that surprised her.
"No, I'm buying your silence and cooperation, nothing more. Harry needs the training I can give him, or he will suffer a fate worse than James and Lily."
"Alright," replied Petunia.
!#!#$#$&&&$#!#&(!#$&(($&&!#!#$#$&&&$#!#&(!#$&(($&&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&&$&$Arebella Figg watched as the woman in a lovely blue suite-dress left number four. She wondered why the woman had visited the Dursleys. Arebella didn't see the bundle in the woman's arms, nor did she notice that the woman vanished in a storm of flames after leaving the block. Arebella continued to watch number four, hoping the little savior was safe.
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A crowded street in muggle London at high noon was not the best place to confront his best friends betrayer, but Sirius Black was not about to let the rat get away. "Peter!" hissed Sirius as he spun the traitor around to face him. The fear in his former friend's face was most satisfying.
As Sirius raised his wand Peter pulled violently way and screamed, "Sirius, how could you betray James and Lily?"
Before the words had left his mouth a blond woman grabbed him and began to whisper in the rat's ear. Peter began to shake and fell to his knees as she released him. Sirius' wand swung between the two as the apparition pops could be heard amongst the din of muggle exclamations of shock. "If you wish to see your godson and have a hand in raising him, I suggest you come with me now. I placed a compulsion on Pettigrew to confess the truth and never lie again. Now will you come with me before the Aurors reach us?"
Not sure why he was trusting her words, Sirius nodded and stepped up to her. Suddenly they were surrounded by flames and a moment later the flames were gone. They no longer stood on a crowded muggle street; they were standing in a great stone hallway, twice the size of Hogwarts' Great Hall. "Welcome to Guardian Castle Sirius Black. Follow me and we shall see Harry."
Sirius followed the woman through the humungous castle and wondered if he would ever learn all its secrets. After about five minutes she stopped before a door which bore a crested serpent poised to strike while a phoenix hovered overhead. She opened the door and stepped in. Inside was a huge nursery with everything a growing child could desire. Near the window was a cloaked form, holding a small child in its arms while singing softly.
"I see you've managed to quiet him down Marta," said the woman he had been walking with. That was when Sirius noticed she was no longer the blond from London. She had long silver hair and when she looked at him he noticed bright amber eyes. "Sirius, this is Marta. She has agreed to be Harry's nanny." She turned her head and addressed the female holding Harry, "Marta, this is Sirius Black. He is Harry's Godfather."
"And a descendent of Roderick Ravenclaw, so nice to see someone of your line finally following in the footsteps of your ancestors," replied Marta as she moved to stand before Sirius.
Sirius finally got a good look at Marta and gasped. Her skin had an undertone of blue-violet while her eyes were dark gold. Her eyes were also slitted like a cat and as she spoke he saw the fangs in her mouth. He realized what stood before him as the old stories Grandmother Ravenna had told him rushed through his mind. "You're one of the Undying aren't you?"
"Yes, Sirius Black, I am."
Sirius turned to the lady who had brought him here, "Then that must make you the Guardian."
"Yes, I am the Lady Guardian, but you may call me Serenity."
"Why am I… we here?" asked Sirius haltingly.
"Harry is a Protector and I know he would want you in his life."
"Little Harry…" Sirius trailed off in wonderment as he looked at the sleeping baby in Marta's arms. He looked back at Serenity, "So what happens now?"
"Now we raise him and when he turns four I begin his Protector training. I also need to train you in elemental magic so that you can truly survive in this place, trust me when I tell you the elementals are tricksters extraordinaire and the only safely is in elemental magic." Sirius nodded, this would prove to be an interesting life.
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Albus Dumbledore woke up in his room on July the thirty-first as he did every morning since that fateful Halloween night, wondering what had gone wrong. He hadn't been able to see Pettigrew's treachery nor would he have predicted Sirius Black would vanish without a trace. He had been certain that Black wanted to take Harry from the Dursleys, but the raven haired white sheep of the Black family had never shown up. Albus sighed as he got ready for the day. He had twice as much paperwork now as he had when the war had been going strong.
Albus walked into his office and smiled as Fawkes twittered a song. He sat down and began to look through the papers he had put off for the last few days. Just as he was getting truly buried in the papers an alarm went off. It was an alarm he hoped he would never hear; it was the alarm connected to the Wards at number four Privet drive.
Albus tossed Floo powder into his fireplace and called out "Diagon Alley". The moment he stepped out of the fireplace at the leaky cauldron, he apparated to Privet drive.
Albus Dumbledore quickly transfigured his robes into muggle pants and a shirt as he hurried to the house at number four. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. A moving truck was in the driveway and several men were moving furniture and boxes out of the house. There was a thin woman supervising them, Albus recognized her as Petunia Dursley. Straightening his shirt Albus walked over to her.
"Mrs. Dursley," said Albus as he stopped beside her.
She turned to look at him, "Yes? Is there something I can do for you?"
Albus smiled, "I'm Albus Dumbledore, you may remember my letter from last November…"
"I have no idea what you are talking about sir, I have never received a letter from you," interrupted Petunia, his clothing reminded her of the one time James had come over to her parents house.
"You don't remember my letter?" he asked sounding confused, "Well what about Harry? How is he?"
She turned to look at him sharply, "You're one of them aren't you?" Her voice was low almost a hissed whisper.
The venom in her voice surprised him, "Yes, I was James and Lily's headmaster and friend after they left school."
"I will not speak to you out here where everyone can hear us, follow me." She walked past the moving crew and up the stairs into one of the emptied bedrooms not even checking that the old man followed.
Albus quickly followed her and closed the door to the empty bedroom behind him. He cast a privacy ward and then said, "Please tell me what is happening Mrs. Dursley."
"Vernon, Dudley, and I are moving into the house we just had built."
"What about Harry?"
"What about my sister's son? I'm sure he's happy wherever his parents took him."
Albus' mind was reeling, "Mrs. Dursley, James and Lily were killed last Halloween. I left Harry with a note on your porch November first."
"I assure you I never saw a note or my nephew. The only thing of note that happened in November was Vernon and I winning a lottery."
Through Albus' Legilimens ability he knew Petunia was telling the truth, but that made no sense. He knew the wards would never have been established if Harry hadn't entered this house. He had a mystery to solve, "Thank you for your time Mrs. Dursley. I'm sorry to have disturbed your moving day, good luck in your new home."
The two exited the house and as Petunia watched the old man walk down the street she fought back tears. Somehow she had known deep inside that Lily was dead, but to actually hear it was different. Petunia turned back and continued to oversee the movers. She would be happy to start her new life.
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The Order of the Phoenix had been searching extensively for the last two months, as had the ministry, but no one had found any sign of Harry Potter. There had been many members convinced that Sirius Black had taken the boy and when the Black heir wasn't found either it became the common assumption. Albus had called together the entire Order because the ministry had decided to end its search and Albus had been not so subtly told to give up as well. The new Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge had even gone so far as to begin the process to declare Harry Potter dead.
"Thank you all for coming today. As you know the ministry has decided to end their part of the search for Harry Potter," began Albus.
"Idiots," muttered Kingsley Shackelbolt as Albus paused.
"What you may not know is that the process has been started for declaring Harry Potter legally dead. I'm afraid I may not be able to stop the process, but I believe I can delay it until the time Harry would be attending Hogwarts. If he doesn't show up by that time, I will be unable to prevent the ministry from announcing his death."
"They can't do that," exclaimed Molly Weasley.
"I'm afraid they can," said Albus sadly, "And unless I can delay them Harry will loose everything to the ministry."
"Because they can claim any vault belonging to a deceased wizard after the span of five years if no one has come forth and proven they are blood related or listed in the will," muttered Moody darkly.
"This is horrible," said Molly "Is there anything we can do?"
"Keep looking, but from now on we must be extra discreet. If the ministry finds out we have not stopped looking, we could find ourselves in a world of annoyance." Albus told them. "Now I believe we need to 'officially' end the Order of the Phoenix." The order members nodded to Albus and slowly made their way out of the room.
Albus watched one member with very sad eyes. The man looked a decade older than he was and even across a crowded room, Albus could tell there was silver in his brown hair. "I'm sorry Remus," whispered Albus quietly to the retreating back of the last Marauder.
Remus left the castle he had once called home. He glanced back at Hogwarts and wondered if his memories would ever loose their bitter edge. Instead of exiting through the gates he wandered into the Forbidden Forest. He knew of a place you could apparate from within the Forest. As he was walking he became aware that someone was following him. There hadn't been a Death Eater attack in months, but that didn't mean he may not be in danger. Fingering his wand he moved faster, aware that the moment he did his watcher vanished.
Sighing in frustration, certain he had imagined being followed; Remus entered the clearing he remembered to be outside the apparition wards. He stopped in shock at what he saw waiting in the clearing. The clearing contained a statue of a large grim-like dog, carved in black stone. Remus walked up to it, unaware that tears had gathered in his eyes. "Oh Padfoot who put this here?"
"I did," said a laughing voice to Remus' right. He spun toward the voice and lowered his wand as he looked into the dark blue eyes of his best friend.
"Padfoot?" whispered Remus in uncertainty as he looked at the man who haunted his dreams.
"Yeah, it's me Moony. It's been a while hasn't it?" he asked in a jovial voice.
"Where have you been? Do you know where Harry is?" asked Remus while pushing his emotions toward Sirius down inside himself.
"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to tell you, but I can take you with me and show you. However if you come with me you won't be allowed to come back and tell Albus or anyone else for that matter. Will you trust me Moony? Will you become part of my life again? I've missed you," the last was nearly whispered, but Remus heard it, an advantage to being a werewolf.
Remus walked over to Sirius and held a hand out to his best friend, "I trust you, Padfoot. I trust you with all my heart and soul."
Sirius smiled and took Remus' hand, "Then let's go home," he whispered before calling the wind to carry them to Guardian Castle.
Remus felt momentarily like he was flying, like he was made of the very wind itself. The next moment he noticed they were in a huge courtyard. The castle rising behind Sirius was huge, at least four or five times larger than Hogwarts. "Where are we?" asked Remus as he took his hand from Sirius', not noticing the reluctance Sirius displayed in letting him go.
With a big smile Sirius stepped back and waved a hand, "Welcome to Guardian Castle in the space between the Earthen Realm and all other Realms."
Remus looked at Sirius and saw that his friend was completely serious. "That's not possible."
"Oh but it is Remus Lupin," said a sweet voice from behind him. Turning around Remus saw a beautiful woman dressed in flowing golden cloth while her silver hair cascaded down her back. Her eyes were what caught him off guard; they were amber, much as he knew his bestial eyes to be. "Welcome to my castle, I am the Lady Guardian, but you may call me Serenity."
Just then a small dark haired toddler ran up to Serenity and grabbed her legs through her dress. "Ser go way… why Ser leave?"
Sirius laughed, "Harry, Serenity came because I brought someone with me. Do you remember uncle Moony?"
The little boy turned toward a shocked Remus. As Remus looked into vibrant green eyes he felt like he had finally come home. "Moon?" asked little Harry as he tilted his head and then somehow a strange recognition entered his eyes. He screamed happily, "Moony!" as he ran from Serenity to the startled Remus. Remus hugged Harry close as he lifted the boy into his arms.
"How is all this…" Remus trailed off, unaware that tears were running down his cheek.
"We'll explain inside," replied Serenity, "And after dinner I will begin working on the Wolf Ritual and Potion."
"What's that?" asked Remus and Sirius as Serenity swept past them.
"A way for you to be in complete control of the wolf," said a voice behind them as they watched Serenity enter the castle. Sirius recognized Marta's voice and laughed at Remus' shocked face as he beheld the Undying nanny. The three followed Serenity into the castle while Remus still tried to figure out what was going on.
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REVIEW RESPONSES
shadow of the black abyss Here's an update, though the next chapter will definitely take long to get out
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