Harry

"You cannot possibly expect us to believe that is the only thing that happened. Do you take us for idiots Harry?"

Honestly I do not know why I put up with their shit. I really, really, hate the both of them, but if I was to keep up the charade a bit longer I would need to answer these asinine questions. "I guess it is hard to believe, but that is what happened Ron. The headmaster picked me up, we went to France, got a wand, and came home. End of story. Honestly I'm just as confused as you are." Pfft, as if.

"Well Harry, you must admit it is strange that the headmaster took you to France just to find a wand. Surely Ollivander's is good enough."

"Yes Hermione, I thought the same thing, however Professor Dumbledore was fairly sure that I would not find a match given the amount of time it took to find the last one. I swear I tried every bloody wand in that shop before we found the right one."

"Language Harry. And I suppose that makes sense. Oh well, enough of that. Have you finished your summer assignments yet?"

Yes you stupid bint, I finished them about an hour after I got on the train when I had finally ditched the two of you. "Yes Hermione, I had nothing else to do at the Dursleys so I got it done earlier than normal."

"Ron you could do with following Harry's example. I know school isn't as much fun as quidditch but you should really be more on top of things."

"Oi, lay off me woman, it's summer. I'll have plenty of time to finish on the train."

Tuning out what I knew was going to develop into another one of their childish arguments, I took the time to reflect on everything that had happened since the headmaster had brought me here. Where was here exactly? Well, we were at the home of my godfather, Sirius Black which was also posing as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. The Order was a group that Albus had apparently started back during the first war with Voldemort, and now was starting it up again since he had risen.

Catching a piece of their argument, I realised I would be stuck here a while. Unfortunately, this was not the first time this had happened since leaving the forest. Well, I guess leaving may be a bit loose in definition.

Flashback

Reaching out to the wand, I grasped it by the handle, and as my hand came into contact with the wood, a great flash of light seemed to explode from where my hand and the wood had connected. A feeling of indescribable warmth seemed to radiate from our point of contact along with a white hot burning that seemed to coil around my body. Gasping in pain I held onto the wand, by instinct alone, hoping that this pain would quickly pass.

After what seemed like hours, but was in reality probably only a minute or so, the light and the burning slowly faded away and I was left gasping for breath in the darkness of the forest. Taking a minute to catch my breath I slowly turned towards the headmaster and shot out, "What the hell was that Albus? That hurt like a bitch. I do not recall anything saying a bonding with a wand would be painful." Pissed off that the headmaster had neglected to mention this fact, I was about to walk away when I noticed his expression.

Looking confused the headmaster slowly replied, "Harry, pain is not supposed to be a part of the...Oh, I see what happened. Tell me Harry, did the pain by chance feel like a chain was wrapped around you?" It appeared as if the headmaster had somewhat figured it out.

Slightly confused as to how he perfectly described what I had felt, I halted my motion and turned back to face the old man. "If you didn't know it would hurt, how did you guess the exact sensation that I was feeling?"

"That is because it is apparently my fault that you experienced any pain while bonding with your wand. However, why that happened falls under one of those things that I cannot tell you yet. But do not worry, I feel that the time is close at hand, so we will not have to wait much longer."

Not entirely satisfied with the answer, but knowing that there was nothing that could be done about it yet, I simply grunted in acknowledgement. "I take it we need to leave now, regardless of this little inconvenience?"

"Unfortunately we do, take my arm once again Harry. We are going to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Your Godfather lives there, and it is there that you will stay for the remainder of the summer."

Bowing to the great serpents, I stepped over to the headmaster and placed my hand on his forearm, feeling the unpleasant sensation of side along apparition once again. We arrived on the edge of a deserted street, standing across from a row of townhomes. Immediately upon looking at the buildings, they started to grow out from the middle, filling with another home that was previously not there. "Ah, Fidelius charm I take it?"

Chuckling slightly Albus just nodded before he started making his way across the street towards the front door. Upon reaching it he waved his wand across the door once, and then let himself in. Following behind the headmaster I took in my immediate surroundings, noticing how dark and somber the entrance hall seemed to be. The wallpaper was in poor condition, but looked as if it was supposed to be either a dark green or black. Spaced out evenly upon the walls were portraits of who I assumed were some of Sirius' ancestors; every one of them appeared to be in quite the serious, no pun intended, mood.

Continuing behind Albus we passed what appeared to be a trolls leg umbrella stand, and were just making our way towards the stairs when the oldest house elf I had ever seen popped into the room in front of us. Bowing low the old elf's voice sounded similar to the croak of a bullfrog, however his grammar was quite astonishing for a house elf. "Welcome to the house of Black Master Potter. Kreacher has prepared a room for you. No Lord be sharing rooms in this house, oh no." Stepping forward, the old elf Kreacher took my trunk, which the headmaster had just unshrunk, and popped away with it.

"Uh Albus, why did that elf just call me a Lord?" I looked at the headmaster, once again confused about what was going on, something which was happening far too often for my liking. "And I thought that elves only addressed their owner as master?"

"Harry," chuckled the clearly amused headmaster, "it is late, and much has happened already. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about your status as a Lord, but do not mention it to anybody before we have spoken. I will explain about the house elf as well however, for now, just know that he will follow your orders above anyone else's." Seeing the house elf pop back into the room to show me where I would be staying, the headmaster gave me one last look before turning on his heel and disappearing from the room.

"Come Master Potter, Kreacher will show you to your room so you may rest."

Nodding in acknowledgement I followed the house elf up several flights of stairs before coming to a pair of doors situated at the end of a short hallway. Gesturing towards the door on the left, Kreacher took his leave and left me standing outside the door. Reaching for the handle, I felt a ward of some sort do a quick scan of me before it appeared to allow me entry to the room. Stepping inside I took a minute to familiarise myself with my surroundings. It was a large room, at least in my experience, about two or three times the size of my room at the Dursleys. The wallpaper in this room was a bit lighter than in the parts of the house I had seen already, but it was still a dark green. On the left side of the room, the entire wall was taken up by bookshelves with a desk situated in front of them. Directly opposite was the bed, a large four poster with green and brown bedding was up against the wall, a door on each side flanking it. Against the back wall there was a modest fireplace, with two wingback chairs made from a dark leather facing it and two windows looking out over whatever view there was behind the building. Overall, I thought the room was tastefully done, even if some of those imbeciles I went to school with would believe it was too dark.

Noticing my trunk at the foot of the bed, I quickly undressed and, starting to feel the late hour, lay down and went to sleep.

End Flashback

We were sitting around a fireplace in the library when this latest argument started up. Honestly, I couldn't be bothered to care about whatever these two imbeciles were bickering over this time. The only reason that I had even come up here with them is because Albus was expected, and I had no desire to make him come look for me. Regardless of the fact that the headmaster and I appeared to have grown closer during our little trip to the forest, it was still best to be cautious around one who could wipe the floor with you in a duel on their worst day.

Speaking of the headmaster, I wished he would just hurry up and come by, I was starting to get a little impatient to hear this news that had been unexpectedly dropped on me late last night, and yes I am speaking about that bit about me being a lord. As far as I was aware, there were no such things as lords in the wizarding world, regardless of what Malfoy led people to believe. I was assuming that Kreacher referring to me as Master had to be related to me apparently being a Lord, however there was no way to find out whether or not that was true until Albus decided to show up.

Sighing in boredom, I focused a bit back on my surroundings, and it appeared as if Hermione and Ron had decided to stop speaking. Finally. Honestly, why couldn't they have started doing this earlier. This was so much better than having to listen to them argue like five year olds.

Since it was finally quiet, I decided to get up from the rather comfortable wingback sitting in front of the fire and go and find a book that I wouldn't have access to at Hogwarts. Browsing the sections, I started to notice that there were irregular gaps in the bookshelf that I was on. Trying to figure out if there was some pattern to what was missing, I stared at the empty spaces for a few minutes before determining that there was no discernable pattern or reason that there should be gaps in the places that they were. Annoyed that I was apparently going to have to engage with the morons in the room, I turned back towards Hermione determined to get this over with quickly. "Hey Hermione, why are there gaps in the bookshelf over here?" Pretending like it was just a vague curiosity, I acted like I was barely paying attention to the answer but for some reason I was starting to get a bad feeling about these damn spaces.

"Well we threw those books out of course!" Hermione sounded so matter of fact it took me a minute to process what she had just said and I almost missed the follow up. "They were obviously dark, so they had no place with any decent people. I think Mrs. Weasley is going to burn them."

Once the words had registered I spun on my heel, glaring at Hermione. "She did what?" I could not believe these idiotic bastards had deemed it a good idea to throw away what were probably priceless copies of exceptionally rare books. The knowledge contained within the Black library was as famous as it was secretive. It was well known that the Blacks had one of the most extensive libraries in the world, one of the reasons that Voldemort coveted the members of the Black family so much.

Ignoring Hermione's shock at my outburst, I furiously stalked from the room and made my way back towards the bedroom that Kreacher had shown me too last night. On the landing just outside the door I practically ran into Sirius who looked like he had been about to enter the room.

"Hey pup, where...what's the matter Harry?" Apparently my usual mask was slipping enough for others to notice. Making sure it was in place I turned towards Sirius and gave him a once over.

"I just heard some disappointing news," I said evenly. "I am just going to rectify the situation, nothing to worry about."

Thrown a bit by my sudden change in expression, Sirius sounded a little uncomfortable when he responded. "Ok Harry, but come see me if you need something. I am here for anything that you need, you know that right?"

"Yes I know Sirius." Hopefully that was a good enough response in the situation because after those words I walked away without looking back. Heading up the stairs to my room, I made sure no one was following since it would be bad for my image if someone were to see what I was about to do.

Closing the door behind me, I quietly called Kreacher to the room. Popping in he gave a low bow and without raising back up he responded, "What can Kreacher be doing for Master Potter?"

"Set up some wards so no one can hear us, and then I need to speak with you." Walking to the chairs in front of the fireplace, I patiently waited for Kreacher to have the wards up, all though it probably took no more than about half a minute, but I was in a hurry. Once Kreacher had moved in front of me and gave me his attention, I took a minute to calm myself so he did not think I was overly upset with him. "Kreacher, have people in this house been throwing out books from the library?"

Getting upset he eagerly responded, "Yes Master, filthy blood traitors and mudbloods be throwing out many precious things."

Growling a little under my breath I counted to 10 in my head, a silly muggle thing I had heard on the tele once but that was surprisingly useful. Composing myself once again I responded, "Have they gotten rid of everything, or have they just moved it somewhere else?"

"Just moved to a storage room Master, but old blood traitor hag be saying it will be thrown out as soon as storage room is full."

"Kreacher," I sighed in relief, "I want you to take everything that they are trying to get rid of and store it in a room here that none of them can get into. Then I want you to make sure that if they decide anything else is to be thrown out, that it also makes its way into that secure room." Thinking for a moment, something else occured to me that I hadn't thought of before. "Kreacher, don't the Blacks have wards that prevent these kinds of actions from those who are not in the family?"

Nodding emphatically Kreacher quickly replied, "Yes Master, but the wards is not at full power. Only the Lord or the heir can change the wards."

"Shit, so I guess Sirius is the only one who can change the wards?" I was slightly annoyed with this development, it would have been simpler if I could have had them easily changed, but Sirius was annoyingly reluctant to do anything that might make others think he was a dark wizard.

"Oh no Master, bad Master Sirius not being the Lord of the Blacks. The Lordship has not been claimed since the last Lord Black died. But you is the heir Master."

Completely stunned by what Kreacher had just told me I tried to figure out how this was possible. I knew I had some Black blood from my paternal grandmother, but I did not think it was nearly enough to make me so highly ranked in the family. Deciding I needed to get to Gringotts as soon as possible, I had just one more question for Kreacher. "Can you show me where I can change the wards to prevent any more of this atrocious behaviour by our guests?"

With a wicked glint in his eye Kreacher responded, "Oh yes Master, Kreacher be showing you exactly what to do. You's be needing the ring to access the correct room though Master, so you needs to be going to Gringotts to be getting the ring from nasty goblinses."

Instantly after hearing Kreacher's words I was planning on how I was going to be sneaking out tonight when everyone was asleep. I figured that would be the best time to take an unplanned trip, and as the Heir of the Blacks, I would more than likely have access to the floo. Smiling, I dismissed Kreacher, after having him take down the wards, and decided to head to one of the parlours closer to the ground floor of the townhome. I took one of the books that I thought looked interesting from the shelves in my room, a book about advanced runes and how they pertained to warding, and left the room, making my way down stairs.

Once in the parlour, a spacious little room that was often overlooked by the other inhabitants of the house, I had Kreacher bring me some tea while I settled onto the couch intent on making some progress with this book. Unfortunately, it was barely ten minutes later when I heard a disturbance coming from the entrance hall; someone new had apparently just arrived, and from the sound coming from downstairs, it seemed as if it was a small group of people.

Determined to ignore this new annoyance, I continued on with the book, intent on ignoring the new arrivals. To my pleasant surprise, this was not as hard to do as I anticipated, in large part because of how good this book was starting out to be.

Fully immersed in the text, I had just finished the first chapter, outlining the different methods and theories involved in rune based warding, when the door opened. Sighing, I took note of the page I was on, and glanced at the person who had intruded on my momentary sanctuary. I did not recognize either person standing just inside the door, as there were in fact two people, though one of them did look vaguely familiar. The first one through the door was a woman of average height who appeared to be in her early twenties. She was pretty, definitely above average, but not someone who would be described as a great beauty. The most outstanding thing about here was her shockingly pink hair, and bright purple eyes, which couldn't possibly be natural. The second person was a tall, dark skinned man who definitely looked like he could hold his own in a fight. He had a nice enough face, but with how well built he was, and the confidence with which he carried himself made it quite clear that he was not someone to simply brush aside.

Before anyone could say anything, someone I did recognize appeared in the doorway. Dumbledore quickly walked into the room and seeing me sitting on the couch, he offered me a wide smile. "Ah Harry, I am glad you are here, I was just about to come looking for you." Gesturing towards the two people still standing by the door, "These are Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, two members of the order, and aurors the both of them." He then started to conjure more chairs, making it look as if he were expecting quite a large crowd.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Kingsley, Nymphadora. I will take my leave Headmaster, it is obvious you are about to have an order meeting." Placing my book on the table in front of me I got ready to leave the room when the Headmaster started to chuckle.

"No need to leave Harry, you are the guest of honor tonight."

Surprised, I sat back down, "Why is that Headmaster?"

"We are going to induct you into the Order of course!"