Chapter One: Strange Happenings

Harry woke from his nightmare covered in sweat, his scar was burning and he could hear a tapping that sounded far off in the distance.

The tapping was getting louder and more frequent and the pain from his scar was fading fast when he noticed that Hedwig wasn't in her cage and then saw the owls waiting for him at his window.

Harry grabbed his glasses off the nightstand as he stood up and crossed the room to the window to let the three owls (each holding two letters and a package) swoop in. He then turned on the light and looked at the clock beside the bed. It was only five in the morning on July thirty-first. He sat down on the bed, ready to open his birthday presents and cards.

For the last month the only important thing to Harry was getting letters from the Order of the Phoenix. Even though the Dursleys had been surprisingly nice to him since their warning from the Order and Mrs. Figg would stop by the house every other day to check on Harry, he still felt better every time he heard from them. At least I know they're safe, he would say after he'd finish a letter.

He had still been grieving over Sirius and tried hard not to show it when he wrote back. A part of him thought that he should be ashamed for the way he felt, but Harry knew that there had to be someone who felt the same way towards Sirius as be did.

The letters that Ron's owl, Pig, delivered were from Ron and Hermione, both saying the same thing: 'I hope you're having an ok summer, I'll see you soon'. The package that came with them was full of Chocolate Frogs from Ron and Hogwarts: A History from Hermione.

The package that Errol (who was now fast asleep on Harry's pillow) was carrying was a cake from Mrs. Weasley. And her card only wished him a happy birthday. The second letter that Errol was carrying was from Remus Lupin, which said:

Dear Harry,

Sorry I couldn't put my present in with Molly's, but to see it, be at the corner of Privet Drive, tomorrow at midnight.

Love,

Remus

After that Harry turned his attention to the barn owl. The last package was filled to the brim with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans from Hagrid, and his letter was the same as Mrs. Weasley's.

The other letter was Harry's usual Hogwarts letter, simply telling him to buy The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 6) by Miranda Goshawk and Defense Against the Dark Arts For Dummies by Daisy Doltish, and to be at Platform 9 ¾ on September first to board the Hogwarts Express.

By the time Harry had finished opening all of his presents and cards it was almost six o'clock and the sun was starting to come out. So, after putting all the gifts on his nightstand he went back to bed, dreaming of what Remus' present could be.

Harry spent such a long and surprisingly wonderful day with the Dursleys that he was almost sad to sneak out of the house at midnight. When he finally got to the corner, however, the thoughts of regret were driven from his mind when he noticed that someone was already waiting for him.

The person was wearing a black cloak that covered his face. "Hello, Harry. Glad you could come," said a familiar voice.

"Remus? What are you doing here?" replied Harry sounding shocked.

"I'm here to give you my gift."

Harry waited to see if Remus was going to tell him what it was. "What is it?" he finally asked.

"We're here to bring you back," whispered Tonks. She was standing behind Harry, holding Hedwig's cage while 'Mad-Eye' Moody stood beside her, getting Harry's Firebolt out of his trunk.

Harry jumped. "Er, we should probably get going before we're seen then," he said.

"No rush, a friend of mine made this for me so I could see when a Muggle or a wizard is near," Remus said, rolling up his right sleeve to reveal a machine with a very small computer on it. And the whole thing was attached to his arm with two thick straps. "She calls it a M.M.D., short for Magic and Muggle Detector."

"Which I think is completely unnecessary considering I'm here," said Mad-Eye, handing Harry his broom. "Come on, we've got to get back before Molly worries too much." And with that he climbed onto his broom and took flight. Soon followed by Harry and Remus, then Tonks, carrying Harry's things.

Twenty minutes later the four arrived at number twelve, Grimmauld Place to find the kitchen full with Hermione, Mundungus and all Weasleys, save for Percy who was still living in London. After a few minutes of silence Tonks spoke up.

"Well, I suppose you'd like to know what's going on in the Order."

"It would be nice," replied Harry glancing over at Mrs. Weasley to see her facial expression.

"I suppose it would be alright, as long as everyone stays within the limits," she said, staring at Fred and George who, Harry suspected, were now in the Order.

Everyone nodded and Remus began.

"As I'm sure you've guessed, Fudge is now working with us now and we've got half the Ministry on our side too," he said.

"Yeah, and Dumbledore has all members taking Veritaserum before every meeting because of the Crouch incident, and all this is keeping Snape very busy." Fred laughed.

"Fudge went to Azkaban on Dumbledore's orders," said Mr. Weasley. "He said it was empty. Not a prisoner or Dementor left in there." He shook his head.

"So then, the Dementors are working for Voldemort?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and now every Death Eater who survived the first war and isn't dead is back to fight in the second. And from what we hear, Voldemort has recruited some new people too," said Mad-Eye.

After twenty more minutes of talking about the various attacks on the wizarding and Muggle worlds, Mad-Eye, Tonks and Mundungus went to their respective homes. Soon after, Hermione and the Weasleys went up to bed, leaving Harry and Remus alone at last.

"I'm glad they finally left," said Remus as soon as Fred and George were out of hearing range. "I wanted to talk to you alone."

These were the words Harry had been waiting for and dreading all night. The tension in the room had been obvious to everyone as they avoiding mentioning Sirius, Harry most of all. And now, sipping tea with Remus, he knew he had to talk about him.

"Harry, I need to tell you something. Something that most of the Order doesn't even know about."

"Yes?" he urged, now becoming concerned.

"I'm married, and I have two children, Sydney and Brendan."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, they've been going to Beauxbatons, but their mother wants them to be closer with Voldemort being back and all. But there's one thing that you really need to know. You see, Sever—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, REMUS!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "I told you to stay within the limits."

"He needs to know, Molly," Remus protested.

"He will, when it's over."

"What about Bettina? I'm the only one left who can explain that now." Remus was now rising from his chair.

"I said that's enough. Harry, why don't you go up to bed?" Mrs. Weasley suggested, still glaring at Remus.

"Yes, ma'am," said Harry as he headed for the stairs.

There was no use in trying to talk to Remus for Harry the next morning. Mrs. Weasley had managed to keep him busy for the whole day and week, taking down the tapestry in the drawing room with the Black family tree on it and most of the portraits came down as well, including Mrs. Black's. They were all thrown in the garbage with much disagreement from Kreature, who spent most of his time hidden in the attic or disappearing to what everyone suspected was Malfoy manor.

But either way they were simply happy that he didn't come anywhere near them anymore, this made sure he couldn't get any information about the Order. And even if he did show up for a meeting, he would quickly be given direct orders to leave. From what Harry had heard, anyway.

After the cleaning came the Wizard's Chess or Exploding Snap tournaments that Mrs. Weasley had organized. This involved Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins playing for sweets and famous wizards and witches cards while Hermione kept score since no one considered her a fair opponent.

With all this going on, time seemed to fly by and soon it was the last week of August and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny could put off going to Diagon Alley no longer. So on August twenty-eighth they Floo-ed to the lively street with Mrs. Weasley.

Harry, Ron and Hermione soon ventured out of Madam Malkin's, where Ginny was being measured for her new robes, to get their books at Flourish and Blotts, much to the delight of Hermione. But on their way out they saw the three people they had been dreading to see all summer.

Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle were walking in the trio's direction. Luckily a girl who looked to be around Harry's age, with short black hair and brown eyes hidden behind glasses bumped right into Malfoy.

As both continued to walk, they turned around long enough to yell at each other.

"Get out of my way!" yelled Draco.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, idiot!" she yelled back.

This is what really got Draco's attention. As the girl turned away, Draco took out his wand and yelled 'Jelly Legs' at her.

Hearing him shout, she jumped aside and once the jinx passed by her, she turned around, pulling out her wand and something that looked like a Swiss army knife with four blades. The girl held the device up, pointed her wand at it and shouted 'Expelliarmus'.

As soon as the spell hit the device, it split three ways and hit Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. All three were knocked backwards and their wands went flying. The girl started walking towards them at the same time as Harry, Ron and Hermione. The girl stopped in front of Malfoy.

"Are you Draco Malfoy?" she asked.

"Yes. Do I know you?" he answered, sounding scared.

"You should, but if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you." She was smirking now. "But I should warn you, never bother a Stockwood again." With those last words she put away her wand and the device and walked away.

"There's something odd about that girl," said Harry as he watched her disappear into a crowd.

"Why don't we talk to her?" said Ron, and he started following the girl. Harry and Hermione followed.

But by the time the girl stopped walking she was right outside the entrance to Knockturn Alley. And as Harry, Ron and Hermione started catching up to her, she took one last look around her and walked through the entrance.

"What do we do now? We can't go in there after her, can we?" asked Ron, looking nervous.

"Of course not," Hermione replied.

"But we can wait for her," said Harry.

After five minutes of waiting, the girl came out again. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her. She, of course, didn't notice the trio. So once she had started walking toward the Leaky Cauldron the three ran out in front of her.

"What were you doing in there?" asked Hermione, out of breathe. Harry and Ron gave her looks for being so forward with what they wanted.

"Were spying on me?" the girl asked in disgust.

"No, we just happened to see you go in and out of Knockturn Alley and were wondering what you were doing in there," Ron said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"Well, it's none of your business."

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

"What do you mean 'who are you'? Didn't Remus . . . ?" The girl looked confused and she didn't finish her sentence.

"What?" Harry was just as confused.

"Nothing. I'm Renee Stockwood." The girl now looked slightly mad, but it was as though she was trying to hide it behind a smile.

"I'm Harry Potter." Harry suspected Renee already knew this, but thought it polite to introduce himself anyway. "And these are my friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Renee shook hands with the trio, still hiding her anger.

"Are you going to Hogwarts?" asked Ron.

"Yes. I'm an exchange student from Beauxbatons."

"Well, I suppose we'll see you next week, then," said Hermione, giving Renee a suspicious look.

"Yes, I suppose you will. I look forward to seeing you again, Harry." With those last words, Renee turned around and walked away.

"I don't trust her," Hermione said as they made their way to Flourish and Blotts.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"Isn't it obvious? We saw going in Knockturn Alley, that's not a place for good witches and wizards, Ronald."

"Hagrid goes there sometimes, though," chimed in Harry.

"Yes, but that's different. Hagrid can take care of himself, he's an adult."

Once everyone got back to Grimmauld, Harry, Ron and Hermione went off to talk to Remus.

They found him sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea while reading a book on the dark arts that he'd found in the Black library. The three friends walked over to Remus' seat, hoping that Mrs. Weasley wouldn't catch them.

"Oh, hello," Remus said when he spotted the teens walk in the room. "Have a good day in Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah, great," replied Harry. "Remus, do you know a girl named Renee Stockwood?"

Molly chose this exact moment to quietly walk into the kitchen and she heard every word. Harry, Ron and Hermione, taking no notice of this, waited patiently for Remus' reply. Remus, however, did see Molly, and after quickly looking at her, he gave the teens their answer.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"We met her today," said Harry. "And she mentioned you, like she knows you or something."

"Well, I did know a Jillian Stockwood once. She was a friend of mine - and Sirius' – at Hogwarts. They could be related."

Harry was about to say something when Molly decided to speak.

"Why don't you three go upstairs and put away your new books. I need to talk to Remus," she said, looking very stern.