"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire."
-- Aristotle (384-322 BC), Greek philosopher

Daer and I were fighting on the tightrope once again, I ducked as he spin kicked and he landed nimbly on the rope yet again, I tried to hit his face but he grabbed my hand and I back flipped out of the hold, barely balancing myself on the rope. I had gotten better, it had been a week since we started training, we were learning quickly because it was natural to us, Ron was learning very quickly, especially since they had him run laps every time he didn't harness his anger.

Hermione was fine with that, she had been okay with the broken table, but after he accidentally ripped a book in half, she was livid. You should have seen the ground shaking because of Hermione's certain element powers and big, bad rage warrior Ron cowering. For some strange reason they both turned on me who was innocently being a quiet spectator, err….well maybe I was laughing a little insy tiny bit… erm…kind of. Yeah, I got the hang of shadow traveling real quick after that. Okay back to tightrope fighting.

Daer grabbed my shoulder and flipped me over the rope; I fell off but summoned air to bring me back on. I smiled mischievously.

"Ahh you want to play dirty, well I guess it's time you should experience what controlling darkness means." Daer said, he had that rare smirk on his face. My heart plummeted in my stomach. He took his hands and summoned the darkness over my eyes I had to react on my hearing, he was going faster than usual, and he hit me in the shoulder and caught me by surprise, before I knew it I was on the ground. The darkness went away. He was right above me smiling. I sighed in frustration.

"When are you going to teach me how to do that?" I asked perturbed.

"I guess I could teach you right now," he said, and I smiled, "But times up, guess you'll have to wait till tomorrow." He said, brushing himself off, while I grumbled.

"I hate waiting." I said, Daer just raised an eyebrow and headed for the house. I sighed and followed, I was going to get cleaned up before my elemental training. Training got easier as the days went on, No occlumency was definitely a plus, but Sirius was watching me carefully after what Snape told him. I guess he was seeing if I was eating and sleeping well. Much to my distaste, I wasn't really pro-overprotective-Sirius, He tended to go too far, like checking on me late at night to see if I'm not having nightmares, and staring at me in a so-called "discreet" manner.

Though Ron made me feel better, "It could be worse; I mean it could be both Sirius in overprotective mode and my mum just being herself." He said. That would be a day I would dread, yes I would avoid at all cost. I think I'd rather have a bite to eat with ol' Voldie.

Yes back to the elemental lesson, I swear she just wants me to make a world record on biggest vat of sweat, or she's just trying to see how fast she can make me faint. Yes, lessons have gotten that difficult with her, doing levitation and throwing large gust of winds at the same time wasn't what I called a piece of cake. If she made me do or even had anything harder than that, I would pronounce her absolutely mental.

She was smiling and I grinned, half-heartedly. She usually had something "special" planned with that look on her face.

"I thought we would try something new today, you're going to make a Tornado!" she said giving me a rare excited smile that I highly doubted would ever do me any good.

Wonders never cease, yep, she's mental.

To say I was sore after that part of training would be an understatement, a major understatement. I didn't fail, no, far from it. She actually really didn't think I would get that far. Oh yes, the reason I was sore is because a certain tornado deliberately attacked me, In my panic I had forgotten that I was the one controlling this monstrosity, It wasn't until a few minutes later I heard an amused voice yell out to summon the air away from me. After that, she had an amazed and a slightly amused look on her face. Her sense of humor made me question if she had any relation to a specific Headmaster.

The good side about that incident was I got off about twenty minutes early. Though good things never seemed to last, Sirius came in with a guarded look and jumped about three feet when he saw me.

"Merlin Harry, you startled me." He gasped. I wonder why I startled him; I really hadn't done anything but being there.

"Err yeah, I accomplished my tasked earlier than presumed." I said wincing as I shifted slightly. Sirius gave me a look over, took a seat by me.

"Do I want to know?" he asked, faintly amused, which was a plus, I really didn't need Sirius calling Madame Pomfrey just for a few bruises.

"I don't think so." I said slowly, Just then Remus walked in with a pensive look on his face, he saw me and jumped.

"Harry!" he said, putting a hand over his heart. I gave them both a suspicious look.

"Either you guys are hiding something or Voldemort gave a makeover on me over night." I said, looking at both of them, they looked uneasy.

"Harry, we've got to talk about something, involving the trial, with your uncle." Said Sirius hesitantly. Great, just when I finally get it out of my mind it crawls back in.

"What? Nothing happened or anything." I looked anxiously at them. Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Harry the trials is in two days, and what Sirius is trying to say is, is that you have to testify." Said Remus. Great, wasn't a pensieve enough!

"But, what about the pensieve, I thought that's all I have to do!" I said quickly.

"Harry, they need someone to testify and you're the only one who was there. We can use the pensieve as evidence." Said Remus slowly.

"Why don't we just call the thing off, I mean just leave it in the past, nothings wrong with me, he just slapped me around a bit that's all." I said, playing with my fingers. If that wasn't a lie, I don't know what is.

"Harry look at me." Said Sirius, I slowly looked up, "in the eyes." I looked at him in the eyes. "you do remember what we saw in the pensieve, you can't just blow it away, we're here for you, I know it's hard to go up and say those things but we're here." Sirius said warmly,

"It's FIVE years ago, that's a long time ago, why go to court for something a half a decade before." I said in a pleading tone.

"Well it wasn't five years ago when I saw you not sleeping, it wasn't five years ago when someone used a blood quill on you and you allowed it, it wasn't five years ago when you woke up from a nightmare afraid of me. It was definitely not five years ago when I found out. You can't brush this away like some piece of dust, you are worth more than that, if someone hurts you, it's our job to make sure the person gets what they deserve. You can't run away from your problems, you can't push them back, they come out, even worse than before." Said Sirius.

I looked away and nodded, "alright, just, if it gets too hard can I leave?" I ask. Sirius and Remus look at each other.

"If it gets too hard Harry we'll do all in our power to get you out." Said Remus. I nodded, got up and went to my room. I was staring off in to space, trying to think of ways to calm myself.

I heard someone enter the doorway.

"Hey mate, you got out early." Said Ron, I nodded. He walked over and sat next to me.

"You look terrible what happened?" said Ron, smiling.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I had to make a tornado today. Fun for everyone." I said sarcastically, I started staring off into space again.

"What's wrong?" said Ron look at me, I sighed.

"I have to testify in two days." I said falling back on my bed. Ron look confused for a second but the got a knowing look.

"Oh that, yeah I heard about that, If they try anything I could maybe heat up the room for you a bit." Said Ron mischievously. I smiled.

"Yeah, maybe I can get it ablaze with a small gust of wind." I said giving an equally mischievous smile. Ron seemed to always lighten the mood.

"C'mon lets go play some quidditch!" said Ron. I nodded pushed the hearing out of my mind. We got our brooms and went flying for a bit.

It was the day of the hearing, I couldn't eat anything, Ron and Hermione kept glancing anxiously at me. I smiled encouragingly at them. They were coming, for moral support, Sirius and Remus were coming because they were my guardians, well Remus is in a way. Also, they're my bodyguards. This supposedly was a private hearing, but in the pit of my stomach I new that wasn't true.

We took the same Mr. Weasley took when we were going for my hearing. To the phone booth, I wondered if they ever changed the code but they didn't. We got our badges and were directed to the courtroom. We were standing outside the doors, I stared at the door briefly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, I looked back to see Sirius smiling supportively. I took a deep breath and walked in. It was a small gathering, not like the last, it looked like a private hearing but I doubt that it won't get out on the news.

The minister was there, so was Amelia bones, she kept a stern look on her face, and she was upright and ready. I sat down in one of the chairs in the middle, Sirius and Remus were sitting next to me while Hermione and Ron were in the spectator's chairs, there was this clear blue barrier between my table and the Defense table. Sirius muttered something about protecting me from Vernon getting through.

They brought Vernon in, he seemed frightened by all the witches and wizards, but one look at me loathing filled his eyes. I looked away quickly; I don't think I want to see him as of right now. I looked up and Amelia was looking through some parchment, while Fudge looked slightly bored. Fudge was almost out of office, I wondered who would be the next minister, hopefully someone better than Cornelius.

They took the pensieve and everyone in the room had to watch. I stared at it, anybody looking at me would have seen a clam exterior but my insides were going crazy I pushed it all back. Then I had to testify. They asked me if it was true I said yes, they asked about other occurrences I told them briefly of some stories.

What made my stomach squirm was Cornelius was on Vernon's side, he wasn't going to get any popular points there. He kept on blabbering on how Vernon s an upstanding member of the muggle society, a loving father and husband, and a successful businessman. He kept on going on about how, "The Minister of Magic supports Muggles." It made me want to throw up. After about two hours of stupid memories, and idiotic speeches and way to many questions, they took a brief break to look over everything. I was shaking like mad; Sirius had a tight hand on my shoulder that reminded me of the time after I finished the third task

They came out for the verdict, Amelia bones stood up.

"All those in favor of Mr. Dursley say aye." She said, five people stood up, including the minister and said "aye," the rest of them, which numbered about twenty said nay.

"Well the verdict is guilty, Mr. Dursley you….." I droned her out, it wasn't because I didn't want to listen but the whole world froze. I saw him, I saw Pettigrew, the rat. I looked at him; he wasn't even looking at me. He was on the other side of the room, right past my uncle. I could catch him; it'd be a way to show how thankful I am of Sirius. I don't know what I did to Vernon to make him hate me so much, but I'll make sure I don't cause as much trouble for Sirius! Getting rid of Pettigrew would work!

"RAT!" I yelled, I sprinted across the room, I guess the barrier didn't work on me only on Vernon, I grabbed him, Peter was struggling for his dear life, before I knew it I felt myself being kicked in the stomach, then in the head, I looked up and saw Vernon, he was yelling obscenities hitting me repeatedly in a speed I didn't know he had. I held on to Pettigrew as tight as I could, Vernon got one last kick before he was stunned. I blacked out after that.

After that everything was blur, I saw flashes of light and muffled words. I was going form unconscious to conscious. I heard Sirius, he seemed to be on the edge, Remus' voice even seemed like it wouldn't stay calm for long. I heard muffled sounds of a girl, probably Hermione, crying.

Suddenly I felt a blast of light, burst through me, it was painful and I woke up, my eyes wide. It was dark; I didn't know where the light came from. I tried to get up but I was sore all over. I was a bit dizzy, Sirius was right next to me, Remus, Ron, and Hermione were across the room. I tried to remember what happened; I sat there for five minutes, scrounging through my memory when it hit me like a ton of blocks.

I felt a flash of emotions, until the ones I held back in the courtroom took over. What did I do to make him hate me, would I make the same mistake with Sirius, I was so careless. I looked at Sirius he look worried and distressed. He's going to be so upset with me; I shouldn't have ran for the dumb rat. I can't believe I did that, how could I've been so stupid.

I struggled to get my glasses my arms were sore, I recognized that I was in the infirmary of Hogwarts, I wondered why they didn't take me to St. Mungo's. I knocked down a glass of water in my effort to get my glasses, I used my elemental power to catch before it hit the ground, I brought to the table. I think it was enough to wake Sirius, his eyes opened abruptly, they blinked, I held my breath, and they looked around in confusion until he saw me.

"Harry!" he whispered gruffly, I thought he was a deep sleeper, bugger! I pushed down my previous emotions the best I could, it wasn't working very well.

"Are you okay, you've been unconscious since this afternoon, you don't hurt any where?" He asked worriedly putting my glasses on.

"Sirius, 'm fine." I said quietly. At least he couldn't yell at me.

"well if you're fine, I guess we'll have to move to a different subject like WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!" he mind spoke, I take that back, how come I always forget about this certain aspect of the bond.

"I- I don't know, I wasn't thinking." I said timidly, How come I always blunder in the biggest way possible, it's never something small like regular teens, it always has to be life threatening!

"You certainly weren't thinking, you could have been fatally injured, what if you were hurt worse than a few bruises, you can't pull stunts like these! What in Merlin's name gave you the idea to run past the PROTECTIVE barrier and try and catch a MASS MURDERER in front of your ABUSIVE CONVICTED UNCLE?" Sirius said, I flinched.

"I- I'm sorry, I was distracted, I wanted to prove I was a good enough godson and catch the little traitor, I didn't want to make the same mistake I did with Uncle Vernon to make him hate me so much." I said quietly my mind voice was even shaky, as I tried to suppress my emotions. Sirius looked confused, his facial features softened.

"What do you mean, Vernon did it out of his free will to hate you, you didn't do anything." He mind spoke softly, pulling me into his arms. I shook my head.

"No you're wrong, I did" I said.

"Pray tell, what did you do." He asked, looking me into the eyes.

"Being a burden." I said and looked away, Sirius grip tightened.

"Harry look at me" I looked at him, "you're not a burden, no matter what that son of a b-, I mean man told you. You'll never be 'not good enough', no matter what you do I'll never hate you, I'll always be here, you'll always be the best and my favorite godson in the whole world." he said, tears silently streamed down my face, he was an expert on making me cry, so much for the big, tough Boy-Who-Lived facade, I slowly fell asleep.

I woke up around ten in the morning, only to lose my oxygen. Hermione was the culprit of this.

"'Mione, can't breathe!" I managed to get out. She backed up, a little flushed.

"Sorry, are you feeling okay, we were so worried!" she said.

"Err, yeah Sirius told me." I said looking around the room.

"When did He tell you?" she asked.

"Last night." I said.

"Oh, well I guess he already gave you a piece of his mind," she said smirking ever so slightly, I rolled my yes and nodded.

"Where's Ron?" I asked.

"Where do you think Ron goes first thing in the morning." She asked, with a hint of irritation.

"I'm guessing he's eating right now." I said.

"I can't believe his stomach is more important than you! Honestly! Sirius is eating with Ron, he has an excuse, he hadn't eaten anything last night, and Remus is clearing some stuff up at the ministry." Said Hermione.

"Oh, what about Pettigrew and my uncle." I said hesitantly.

"I think Pettigrew is getting the Kiss, and your uncle is serving a lifetime sentence in Azkaban. The bad news is you're in the newspaper. "I groaned, "But Fudge is out of office and there's some discussion of Amelia being the next minister." Said Hermione excitedly. Wow that's new.

"Yeah when they heard Fudge sided with the muggle, that was the last straw, there are a lot of openings in the ministry, the head auror, Timothy Amstone, quit because he was loyal to Fudge, but he says he has nothing against anyone. There are rumors that he's going to be teaching the upper levels of defense against dark arts! We'll actually be learning something!" said Hermione excitedly.

I smiled; I never caught on to Hermione's weird ways of getting excited.

"Err, yeah that'd be cool." I said.

Madame Pomfrey came in, I suppressed a groan, and Hermione moved out of the way giving me a sympathetic look.

"In here twice this summer, unbelievable, at least you keep me busy, but so reckless you are, more than your father, I'm tempted to say." She muttered this and the likes while looking me over.

"Well I think you should be fit to go, you'll be a little sore, but that's something a few potions will fix, Oh yes the headmaster asked me to give this to the two of you. It's your supplies list and another letter; don't ask me about it, I don't know anything about it." She said handing us the letters.

The first letter of course told him what he needed and the books that he required. He skimmed through the first letter than went to the next.

It said:

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you are invited to enter the student defense team called Phoenix Fires. The war is upon us and naturally we have picked select students to defend the castle. There is great responsibility in this group, and trust is one of the main factors. You will arrive at school a day early with the other Phoenix Fires, and undergo a test. The people selected are those who had gotten an outstanding in defense and agreed by the whole staff to be selected, Most who did were in you study group. The following students are in this group.

Abbott, Hannah

Brown, Lavender

Bones, Susan

Boot, Terry

Chang, Cho

Corner, Michael

Creevey, Colin

Creevey, Dennis

Finch-Fletchley, Justin

Finnegan, Seamus

Goldstein, Anthony

Granger, Hermione

Longbottom, Neville

Lovegood, Luna

Macmillan, Ernie

Patil, Padma

Patil, Pavarti

Smith, Zacharias

Thomas, Dean

Weasley, Ginny

Weasley, Ron

The rankings of the group will be discussed the day you arrive. You will go through training; members of this group will need to wear different robes. I am sure you have battle robes, but it is required to get the Phoenix Fires crest on the front.

List of supplies needed:

1 long sword

5 battle robes

2 dress robes

1 book of "Martial Defense 101" by Fui Gong

1 book on "Advance Offense and Defense spells" By Jonathan Hanson

1 book on "War Survival Guide" By Henry Kent

1 set of daggers

1 bow with arrows

If help is needed in getting these supplies please contact your head of house. Owl or ask your head of house if you have any questions.

Sincerely yours,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Wow I thought mentally. Hermione looked excited.

"Harry did you see, isn't this great, oh I can't wait read these books, we should get to diagon alley soon, we'll need to get these. I should tell my parents right away, Bye Harry!" she smiled happily and ran out of the room before I could say bye.

Ron came in, "Did you get that letter" he asked, and I nodded. "Yeah I figured, it takes a lot to get Hermione excited. I nodded.

"This will be a busy school year." He said, smiling but sighing. I nodded once again.

A/N: this took way longer than it should have, Here I am looking everywhere for my copy of OOTP, and I have no idea where it is, I just read it a few days ago. So I look on the internet, then my internet is down, so I wait, and it gets back up and I find the info I need, but it was frustrating. Any ways the phoenix fires are going to play a big part in here, I wanted to add a bit more Sirius and Harry moments, it was starting to fall out, One more chapter before they start a school year, the school years is going to take a lot of twists and turns and evil lurks about, remember don't assume anything or else….lol Well all you readers out there please review, not that I'm complaining or anything, but some of my reviewers are missing. I think, well whatever, and please review! 

P.S. Oh yeah I'm going to start up a new fic in a few days,I don't have the name but the basic outline, it's going to be great!

Reviewers:

Happyherminchen: That's such an adorable name! Right back at ya. Lol Keep reviewing! Thanks!

Ickle-princess: Would've gotten it sooner but hey, lol thanks for reviewing! You're an awesome reviewer!

ambereyes2873: you too, you've got a knack for reviewing. Lol if there's such a thing, I'm happy you like the powers, I'm still trying to give the powers more detail though…lol (more research!)

Luuvgurl: Yeah I hope the pronunciations would help, glad they did. Great that you find my Dry humor funny, or juicy humor, whatever…lol Thanks!