Just because not everyone reads or watches or plays certain things I'm going to put on here, I'm going to make a brief introduction of important characters that are relevant. This won't be in every chapter, only in those where a new important character is introduce. So those who don't know them all. Don't worry! I'll help you out with it:
Minerva McGonagall: She is a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She teaches the subject of Transfiguration and is very strict. She is also Head of Gryffindor house and Deputy Headmistress. She can transform into a cat. She detests Dolores Umbridge.
Dolores Umbridge: Due to the Ministry of Magic not believing Harry or Dumbledore that the dark wizard, Voldemort is back, they sent Umbridge to make sure that this was not a ruse and to keep an eye out for any 'revolution' from Dumbledore by taking control as High Inquisitor. She tries to make everyone believe that Harry is a liar and that Dumbledore is losing it. She is a spiteful woman that no one likes.
Fred and George Weasley: They are Ron's older twin brothers. They like mischief and they are planning in opening a joke shop with their own made up products.
Marauders: Also known as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. They were a prankster group of four at Hogwarts. They were very popular and very smart. But, there is more to them than what they had led to believe.
Sirius Black: Accused of killing thirteen people with a single spell, one of them a wizard. Also believed to be a traitor and handing over the Potters to Voldemort, thus sent to Azkaban, the wizard prison, for 12 years. In truth, he is innocent and is Harry's beloved Godfather. He escaped from prison on Harry's third year and is on the run ever since. At the age of 15, he became an illegal Animagus allowing him to turn into a black dog. He is one of the members of the Marauders, his nickname being Padfoot.
Remus Lupin: He is a werewolf who has tried to live as a wizard. But due to his problem and people's discrimination of him, he isn't able to find work. He was hired on Harry's third year for the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, but left after only one year. He helped uncover the truth of Sirius' innocence and is his best friend. He is now under cover in the werewolf clan that support Voldemort. He has become a sort of uncle to Harry. He is one of the members of the Marauders, his nickname being Moony.
Peter Pettigrew: A traitor who framed Sirius by killing 12 people and pretended to be killed along with them, also he was the one who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. He is an Animagus who can turn into a rat. He was in hiding for 12 years pretending to be Ron's pet. The truth of him was known on Harry's third year with the help of Remus and Sirius in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Unfortunately, he escaped before they could tell the authorities and clear Sirius' name. He helped bring back Voldemort. He was a member of the Marauders, his nickname being Wormtail.
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Chapter 6
File # 6 – To Dare
Somewhere in Scotland
The trio, now with a new, although temporary, member walked out from the hidden passage way that led to Dumbledore's office and made their way to the Great Hall. They were silent for some time, all thinking about what just happened in the office and what it would mean for them. For the trio, it would mean more secrecy and scheming, but for Ranma it meant completely readjusting his life. He worried about the situation. Would he be able to go back? Was he really dead? If he was, then how was he going to go back without causing panic? Dumbledore was right, he wasn't supposed to be among the living but he did very much feel alive. If he wasn't, then why did he feel hungry? And tiered? And everything else that associated him with the living? He was scared.
"Ranma?" Harry said interrupting Ranma's thoughts.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked him.
"I don't know." Ranma said. "I'm very confused right now." He refrained from saying anything about him being scared, he never admitted that he was afraid to anyone.
"It will be alright." Said Hermione bracingly. "Professor Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time. He will be able to help you. You just have to wait a while."
"Yeah." Harry said nodding.
"Thanks." Ranma said smiling at them.
"Ranma, what did Dumbledore mean by 'Not among the living' eh?" asked Ron. Ranma looked at him. Ron was apparently one of those blunt people like Ranma, who never stopped to consider the implications of what they said and just said it resulting on the person whom they were talking to, to get mad or sad or - in Ranma's case at least – get thoroughly beaten by them.
"Um, well…" Ranma hesitated, he considered whether to tell them or not. Who knew how they would react? But then, they were going to be around him for a while and it seemed only fair to tell them. After all, they hadn't complained when Dumbledore asked them to help, in fact they'd seemed eager, including Ron. But Ranma wondered why Dumbledore chose them. So he repeated what he had said to Dumbledore. It was brief and to the point. After he was done, Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at him open mouthed.
"Bloody hell." Ron said after a while.
"But that's impossible!" Hermione exclaimed. "How can you still be here. I mean you died!"
"Keep it down Hermione!" Harry warned her, he looked all around them to make sure that they weren't being heard. Then he turned to Ranma. "Are you sure you didn't dream it?" he asked, though Ranma could see he didn't really believe it himself. Even so, he still answered him.
"How the hell am I goin' to dream that up and suddenly be here man?!" Ranma looked at Harry incredulously.
"I was just looking at a possibility, no need to get angry!" Harry said.
"Sorry, it was just that it was a stupid question, that's all." Ranma said. Suddenly Ron bursted out laughing. They looked at him.
"What? It was funny!" he said defensively. They rolled their eyes.
Finally they reached the Great Hall which was already full of students. The delicious smell of food attacked their nose in full force making their mouths instantly water and their stomachs rumble in protest. It helped Ranma ignore everything else about the room. Or at least a little. He followed the others inside trying to ignore the stares in his direction. It always amazed him how he managed to be in the spotlight even when he was trying to be invisible. The trio led him to a long table decorated with a red and gold table cloth. He sat in between Ron and Harry and looked over all the delicious food he didn't think he had ever seen before.
"Help yourself." Harry said to him. Ranma complied and started to fill his plate with whatever he could reach. Before he started to eat though, he looked around at the other students – who were still looking at him – and noted they ate relatively normal. Not wanting too bring more attention to himself, he opted to eating slowly and normally. He clapped his hands together and said "Itadakimasu" and started eating. It seemed he could speak Japanese as long as he wasn't addressing someone.
"What does that mean?" Hermione asked interested.
"Um, well, we say it before every meal, like some sort of short prayer."
"Oh."
"Hey, Harry! Who's your new friend?" asked a black boy.
"This is Ranma, Dean. He's an exchange student." Harry answered. People who had stopped to hear started to murmur among themselves, even from nearby tables.
"Exchange student?" asked a sandy haired boy next to Dean. "I didn't know there was going to be an exchange."
"Well, it isn't really an 'exchange'." Hermione said, "But he will be here for a while."
"He's cute." Said a brown haired girl, loud enough for Ranma to hear, then she started giggling with an Indian girl when he looked at her. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"How long will you be here?" asked a round faced boy.
"Um, I'm not sure." Ranma answered.
"Still haven't heard of no 'exchange'." The sandy haired boy said.
"Does it matter?! He's here, now sod it!" Ron said irritably.
"Whoa man! Chill."
"Aw, is Ronniekins jealous of the new guy?" said a taunting voice from behind them. Ranma turned to look at who it was and found himself with more read heads. These two were twins and there was some sort of likeness to Ron, but they looked shorter. Ranma thought that they must be Ron's brothers or something.
"Shut up Fred! I ain't jealous. I just think they should leave him alone." Why was Ron defending him again?
"Sure Ronnie." Said the one that Ranma could only assume was Fred.
"Hey man! I heard you were Japanese." Said the other twin to Ranma.
"Yeah, I am. What of it?"
"Nothing, just heard that you didn't speak English, but here you are talking to all of us, no sweat." he said.
"You know, as much as I do George, that you can't believe everything they say around here." Harry said to the twin.
"Right you are Harry" George agreed with a wink and a grin. Then he and his twin proceeded to push Harry and Ron out of the way so they could sit on each side of Ranma while the others struggled not to let them. In the end the twins won and Harry rolled is eyes with a sigh while Ron just glared. "Don't mean to annoy you mate," George said to Ranma after making sure he was well seated, "but Fred and I thought that you might be interested in some merchandise." He said while pulling out a small box that had written on them in bold red letters 'Weasley Wizard Weezes' across the lid.
"Don't you dare!" Hermione said angrily at the twins. "I've told you many times to not sell those or I would confiscate them!" she got up from her seat and reached over to take the box from George.
"Come on Hermione!" said Fred with a grin while he watched her try and take the box away from his brother. "Where's you sense of fun?"
"Ranma just got here!" Hermione said finally snatching it away. "He doesn't know that you two are tricksters and trouble makers. He doesn't need to be subjected to you on his first day!" Hermione, it seemed, was a stickler for rules and the like. Whatever she was, it seemed that these two liked mayhem and had been about to engage Ranma on one of their many tricks.
Fred was about to retort, when there was a small cough from behind them and they turned to look. Standing there was the ugliest looking woman Ranma had seen – not including the old bat back home – dressed completely in pink of all things. She reminded him of a toad, a big ugly one. She had a small sickly sweet smile on her face and she stood like she owned the world. She looked at Ranma with eyes that shone with what he could only think of, was an evil sparkle.
"Who do we have here?" she said in an annoying high pitched girlish voice that surprised Ranma who had expected an incredible croak instead. He stared at her, unsure of what to do. This woman did not give him a good vibe. He glanced at the others for a clue and saw that they were quite pointedly trying not to glare at her, except for Harry who glared at her openly. Yep, this woman was definitely not good. "Well?" the annoying being said impatiently.
"I'm Ranma Saotome." He said finally looking back at her. "I'm an exchange student from Japan."
"Exchange student? I wasn't informed of any exchange." She said frowning at him as if he was lying and wanting very much to tell him so. The bad thing was that she was right. "I should have been told right away." She said. Who was this woman? She acted like she was the headmaster and not Dumbledore and that she should be the only one to know things. It was annoying and he was starting to not like her at all. Not that he had liked her before anyway, but at least there hadn't been animosity. "Are you friends with Mr. Potter?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah." He said slowly, wondering what the hell she was getting at. So what if he was friends with Harry?
"I see." She said with a twist to her mouth. "Then let me warn you that Mr. Potter is a notorious liar and what he says about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is all untrue. But of course, you should know this. No doubt it has spread as far as Japan. I would advise you to seek better friends." The hell was wrong with her?! She insulted Harry in front of everyone, calling him a liar and was deliberately trying to make him friendless! And who the hell was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? If she didn't say his name then how was he supposed to know?
Ranma glared at her quite openly not caring one stinking bit who she was - which she hadn't even deigned to say, like he was supposed to know that too! – or what she could do to him. He wasn't even from around here anyway and he wasn't going to put up with her insulting someone he liked. Taunting or insulting him were one thing, his friends were something else entirely, even if he had only known Harry for only a half hour or so, but for some reason he felt fiercely protective over the guy and it felt very familiar for some reason. "I think that I can tell for myself who to be around with and who not to be around with thank you very much." He said very clearly and rudely and for some very strange reason he had said everything quite eloquently and not at all with his usual street style way of speaking. A woman wearing emerald green robes and glasses with a stern look was coming towards them but she stopped dead when she heard what Ranma was saying. In fact the Great Hall was very silent, everyone seemed to be holding their breaths and were wide eyed with astonishment "And I would appreciate it if you would have the decency to not insult my friends and calling them liars when you haven't even had the decency of telling me who you are. It's only polite you know. Besides, it seems ridiculous that a woman as old as yourself is attacking someone half your age for no good reason."
The ugly old toad was wide eyed and indignant. She opened and closed here big horrendous mouth several times before she was able to speak. "How dare you?!" she said shrilly. "I am Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor of Hogwarts! You have no right to speak to me so!"
"Ha!" Ranma barked a mirthless laugh and stood. He was delighted to see that she barely reached his chest. "And you have no right to be an insufferable toad." He said coldly looking down at her. There was a collective gasp from the onlookers and he thought he heard someone snort with laughter behind him and quickly cut it off.
"DETENTION!" Umbridge screamed at him and still bristling with rage, she stalked off and out of the Great Hall.
The place was still deadly quiet as no one dared make a sound. Everyone, from the students to the teachers including the ghosts were silent staring at him. It suddenly dawned on Ranma what he had just done, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Quite the contrary. He looked at Harry and saw that he was grinning very widely at him, he looked on the verge of laughing. He wasn't the only one, Ron and the other two red heads were red faced with barely contained laughter and Hermione had her hand over her mouth trying very much not to burst. The stern looking which came the remaining way and stood in front of him. This woman was taller than he was and more dangerous looking. She considered him for a few seconds strong and calculating eyes and then trying to hide a smile, a bit unsuccessfully she said, "You, young man, are very brave." And then the hall erupted in applause and laughter.
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Albus Dumbledore was pacing from one side of his office to the other frowning and stroking his long white beard in thought. Could it possibly be? Could it be happening again after so long? Was it possible that those two knew and hadn't told him? No. They wouldn't keep it a secret when it was plain that keeping the boy alive in this world was top priority. Maybe they didn't know. In that case he had to tell them. He stopped pacing and looked to a portrait on the left side of his desk, where one of the old headmasters was supposedly sleeping.
God, that boy really did look familiar!
"Phineas. Phineas. PHINEAS!" Dumbledore yelled at the portrait. The man jumped and opened his eyes still insisting in making Dumbledore believe that he was sleeping.
"Yes Albus, what do you want?" Phineas said in his indifferent and bored tone of voice.
"I need you to see if Remus is in the house with Sirius. If he isn't, tell Sirius to contact him and tell him to get back to Grimmauld place immediately and wait for me there. Better still, if someone else from the Order is there tell them to contact Remus. We can't have Sirius take that as an excuse to get out of the house."
"All right." Phineas said annoyed. "I'll see if my great great grandson's odd friend is there. Lord knows Sirius has an odd taste in friends." He said the last under his breath, then disappeared from his portrait to the one in Grimmauld place.
Dumbledore stood there looking at the plain dark background of Phineas Nigellus portrait without actually looking at it. He was worried. Very worried. It couldn't be. Why now after such a long silence from them? Wasn't that family dead? That boy truly looked familiar. And his name. There had been a Saotome last time. It couldn't be coincidence. Not by how he appeared suddenly out of no where completely oblivious of what happened to him. He had to be very careful with him. If Umbridge found out…
There was a really hard knock on the door suddenly and without waiting for Dumbledore's permission, the last person that he wanted to see came striding in angrily.
Umbridge had such a look on her face, you would have thought someone had just insulted her person, which, as everyone knew, she kept in high regard.
"I demand that you tell me who that boy is and what he is doing here?!" as usual she thought that she was the headmistress and not him, butting her nose in where it didn't need to be. Dumbledore suppressed an exasperated sigh and looked at her levelly in the eyes – or as level as he could with her being so short – and raised his eyebrows, a small polite smile on his lips.
"Why, Dolores a good day to you too." He said cheerfully, "What boy are we talking about? I believe there are many walking these halls." He said as casual as possible trying his best not to smirk at her. Oh, Albus Dumbledore was a nice person and was always polite with everyone. But it didn't mean that he liked every single person he met. And he definitely did NOT like Dolores Umbridge.
"Don't play the fool with me Albus! You know perfectly well who I'm talking about!"
"Harry?"
"NO!" Umbridge suddenly lost it. She took a long steadying breath to compose herself as Albus looked at her in amusement. She of course did not want to lose her composure in front of him, not when she was trying to take control of the situation and the school for that matter. No, she had to watch herself. She took control of herself again and looked at Dumbledore still looking decidedly angry. "The exchange student Albus. Which by the way I wasn't informed of before hand."
"Oh, him." Albus said nonchalantly chuckling to himself. Good lord! That boy hadn't been here for a day and he was already on this woman's bad side! Not even Harry had managed that feat. He was definitely that Saotome's son. "I thought you knew Dolores. I told everyone on the staff. Note to self: Tell everyone on the staff. Now. "Surely you were told too?"
"No I wasn't told Albus." She said through clenched teeth, which amazingly made her look more of a toad for some odd reason. "I should have been told before anyone else. I am The High Inquisitor."
"Yes, Dolores you are High Inquisitor but I am the Headmaster. What happens in this school is still under my jurisdiction." He said calmly and pleasantly. He wondered whether she would come up with another one of her rules this time concerning foreign students. "Whatever is the problem with our young student?" he decided to go back with whatever brought her here in the first place before she exploded with his last comment.
"He is rude and disrespectful!" Wouldn't that be almost the same thing? "And he deliberately insulted me while I was merely trying to guide him in the right direction!" Somehow he doubted that. So the boy insulted her. Good man! Although he would had advised him otherwise, but still.
"Well, give him detention then." He replied simply.
"I did!"
"Well, I don't see what the problem is then." He said raising an eyebrow. "You gave him detention like any other student would have gotten. You've solved the problem and I see no reason why you should be in here fighting about it." From the corner of his eye, he could see Phineas waiting for him. As Umbridge opened her mouth to retort he said "And quite frankly Dolores I have other things to attend to. So if you please?" he gestured politely to the door. The woman stood there opening and closing her mouth trying to find something else to say. Finally she decided that she would do this the dignified way and turned on her heel and strode towards the door.
"Very well Albus." She said in her haughty girlish voice. "Know that I will deal with it as it should be dealt with."
"Very well Dolores, but may I remind you that even though he is an exchange student he still is a student. We don't want him going back home saying anything bad about how the British wizards teach do we?"
She stopped by the door her hand on the door knob and looked back at him with a glare. "Certainly not Albus." She said. Of course she wouldn't like to undermine the Ministry as it would surely reflect on them. But that wouldn't stop her from doing something unpleasant to the poor boy - not that detentions were all that pleasant in the first place. She opened the door and finally left.
Albus gave a small sigh of relief. Thank God! After a few seconds of relishing her departure, he decided to send Fawkes to deal with the message to the teachers like only Fawkes could. He knew that if he asked them to tell Umbridge that they already knew of the exchange before he came, they would do it. No one besides Mr. Filch liked her, so it wouldn't be a problem, but he knew that he would have to explain the situation to them eventually. But until then… He turned to Phineas who had a bored expression and was looking at him a bit impatiently.
"Well, Phineas?" he asked him.
"He's there, Albus. I told him to wait for you." Phineas said.
"Good. Very good." He said. "I must find Minerva to take charge before I go of course. Thank you Phineas." He told the portrait.
"Yeah, yeah." Phineas said indifferently before resuming his 'sleeping'.
Albus shook his head at the man's antics. He turned to the door and proceeded to leave his office in search of Minerva McGonagall. It didn't take him long of course., he figured that she was headed to her office now that dinner was over. He was right. He quickened his pace to catch up to her before she got in.
"Minerva!" he called out to her. She turned to see who was calling her and was surprised to see it was the Headmaster.
"Yes, Albus?" she asked.
"I need to go out for a few hours at least. I expect that I will be back by then. In the mean time, could you take over for me?"
"Yes of course." She said, she then looked sideways checking to see if anyone was coming, when she saw the coast was clear, she stepped closer to Dumbledore and whispered, "Is this about the 'exchange' student?"
"Ah, I see you got my message." He asked with a smile, she nodded. "Yes, Minerva. It is. I must check and see if I'm correct in my suspicions."
"But Albus, do you think it wise to let him stay? Specially near Harry? It could very well be a trap. He could be a spy!" she said worriedly.
"I understand your concern my dear professor. But I believe that poor Ranma is here for other reasons. I must admit though, that I believe this does concern Harry." Dumbledore said gravely.
"So it's true!" Minerva gasped.
"Ah, so you have noticed it too."
"How couldn't I! He looks so much like him. So you think it's happening again?"
"Yes, I believe so. But I must make sure before I do anything. This could very well be a fluke in the order."
"A fluke!?" Minerva said incredulously. "With that particular boy? I don't think so!"
Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. "You and I are of the same mind. But, you know that one can never be too sure." They stood there in silence for a while longer thinking of the situation each with a frown on their faces. "Well, I'm off." Albus said after a while, Minerva nodded still in thought. As he turned to leave, he remembered one last thing. "Oh, and Minerva?"
"Yes, Albus?" she asked.
"Please, keep an eye on Professor Umbridge and make sure that she doesn't go too far in harassing our guest. I believe he has detention." He thought he saw Minerva smile.
"Of course!" she said with conviction, fierce determination shining in her eyes.
Albus chuckled at this and finally turned to leave.
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In the kitchen-basement back in Grimmauld place, the infamous-wrongly-accused-mass-murderer and escaped convict, Sirius Black, sat in his chair, face down on the table and his arms dangling. On the table next to him, sat a bottle of… something, he had been drinking. Across the table sat his best friend and werewolf, Remus Lupin, staring at the back of his friend's head with such a bored expression, it was a wonder he wasn't ripping out his hair. They had been sitting there for the past half hour since Dumbledore had told them to stay there and wait with absolutely nothing interesting to do.
Wait. Silence. Nothing to do. For the once loud and rowdy pranksters of Hogwarts, this was like slow murder.
"I'm soooo booooorrrred!" Sirius finally said into the silence. As if this was his cue, Remus, without the slightest change of expression, fell forward and slammed his face against the table with a very loud 'BANG!'.
"Neeeeed Sooomethiiing tooo doooo!" Remus said onto the table.
"What? Run out of books around here?" Sirius asked in a neutral tone, finally un-sticking his face from the table, resting his chin on it instead and looked at his friend's head.
"You mean all the ones that talk about dark magic, pure blood, death and other dark shit?" Remus asked also in a neutral tone, his face still on the table.
"Whoa. Did Mr. Moony just cuss?" Sirius said without a change in his tone.
"Shut up, Sirius." Remus also said without a change.
Silence………. then…
"WHY THE HELL DID HE TELL ME TO WAIT FOR?!!!" Remus finally exploded, sitting up and startling Sirius out of his chair.
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!!!" Sirius angrily yelled back as he got up from the floor.
"Sorry Pads. I'm just sooo booored."
"Well, now you know how I feel being stuck in this God forsaken house every damn day!!" Sirius practically yelled as he started pacing the room in frustration.
"Why are you yelling at me for?" Remus said standing up angrily looking at Sirius. "I can't do anything about it!"
"Yes you CAN!"
"No I CAN'T!" At this Sirius threw up his hands and continued pacing. Remus sighed in exasperation. "Sirius, for God's sake! You're wanted for murder!"
"I'm stealthy! You know I'm stealthy! I'm a Marauder for crying out loud! I can avoid detection!" Sirius almost pleaded. Remus saw what he was getting at, and it wasn't his dog form that he meant nor any prankster stealth, because Lord knew that they had been caught plenty of times doing that. No, he meant something else.
"Not from someone who knows what to look for." Remus said seriously (no pun intended). He looked at Sirius intently. Sirius could see the hint. A hint referring to something that they hadn't spoken of in a long time. Yes, Remus did understand what he had been trying to say.
"Remus, no one but you, James and some other very few people know what to look for. And one of them is in no condition to say anything but gibberish, another one is… dead… and the others are trust worthy." Sirius said trying to make his werewolf friend understand.
"Are they?" Remus almost whispered. Sirius looked at him oddly.
"What? Of course they are! You know they wouldn't…!"
"You're forgetting Peter." Remus interrupted levelly.
"Peter?"
"Yes, Peter." They looked at each other. Sirius frowned unconvinced. "He knows more than people give him credit for. Let me finish." He said holding up his hand to stop Sirius from interrupting. "You know, as I know, that Pete was more than what anyone saw back in Hogwarts. We Marauders were more than what anyone saw at Hogwarts. And he was- is – part of it whether you like it or not. All these years and we still pretend, and apparently, so does he. Now that Pete is with our enemy you must assume that he will use the knowledge that he has as a trump card when he sees the chance. You can't give him that chance!"
"What about you? You're up and about. Heck! You're inside the snake nest! What do you think he would do to you if he found out, specially with that wretched silver hand!
"You're the main course Sirius, I'm just a side dish."
"That's bullshit and you know it!" Sirius said glaring at Remus for emphasis. Remus smiled at him.
"Maybe." Was all he said.
They looked at each other for a long time. Remus had crossed his arms and resorted to his famous 'no nonsense' face he had adopted back when they were kids at Hogwarts and he was trying to keep his more troublesome friends in check, Sirius just wore a disgruntled frown.
"You know I'm right." Remus said after a while and raised an eyebrow for emphasis.
"You're always right" Sirius mumbled still disgruntled.
"'Course I am."
Sirius 'humphed' and looked away crossing his arms like an angry child, Remus gave him a wolfish grin. Remus' advanced hearing alerted him of someone coming in. He turned from Sirius and went to the kitchen door to see who it was.
"Is it him?" asked Sirius from behind. He was already very used to Remus doing these kinds of things, like reacting to something no one else heard.
"I think… yes. It is him." Remus said as he recognized Dumbledore's silent form moving through the dark halls.
"Finally!" Sirius said in annoyance. He hadn't been very happy with Dumbledore lately. Remus stepped back to allow Dumbledore some room to get in.
"Good evening boys!" Albus said happily to them.
"Good evening." Remus said politely.
"Good evening." Sirius mumbled. Dumbledore just looked at him calmly a sparkle in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Remus for relieving you of your duties tonight without a reason, but this is an urgent matter…" Dumbledore started to explain to Remus but was interrupted.
"Is Harry okay?!" Sirius said automatically thinking that something wrong had happened to his godson.
"No, Sirius. Harry is fine." Dumbledore assured him.
"Why do I hear a 'for now' in there?" Remus said frowning at Dumbledore, Sirius looked at his friend then nodded vigorously and frowning at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore audibly sighed. "I think you should sit." Sirius and Remus looked at each other confused and worried. They did what they were told and sat in the places they were in before. When Dumbledore saw them accommodated, he continued, "Do you remember what happened around the end of your fifth year? I believe that you had just finished your OWLs."
"Yes." Remus said slowly at the same time Sirius said "Obviously!"
"It's kind of hard to forget." Remus said.
"Yeah, considering that it lasted like, how many years?" Sirius said looking at his friend.
"Um, we were 20 when it all went down the drain. So, five years?" Remus said.
"That's right! It was a year before Harry was born." Sirius said. He looked back at Dumbledore. "Why?"
Dumbledore took a seat at the head and looked at them from over his entwined fingers. "There is a boy at my school, he appeared a little before dinner, his name is Ranma."
"Ranma?" Remus and Sirius said at the same time. It sounded familiar.
"Wasn't that how Fire Leader called his kid?" Sirius asked Remus.
"Fire Leader?" Dumbledore asked interested.
"That's how we called the Fourth Commander." Remus explained.
"So it must be him." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"Who?" Sirius asked him bewildered. Dumbledore looked at them both seriously, he knew what this would mean to them.
"Boys, I believe that the young man at my school is the same child." Dumbledore said gravely.
There was a heavy silence as both Remus and Sirius processed what he had just said.
Finally Remus spoke.
"But, Albus, it was reported that Genma died with his son." Remus said. "It can't be the same boy."
"Yeah, if Genma was killed – and he was one hell of a son of a bitch to kill – then the kid wouldn't have survived. After all he was being protected by his father and if his father is indisposed then…" Sirius trailed of. It wasn't an easy subject to discuss considering that Genma's death had been the end for everything they had done for those five years. It had been a heavy blow and one that did hurt. Genma, in spite his goofyness, had been a good friend and commander. His son had also been important to them all.
They fell into silence again. Dumbledore respectfully kept his peace while the other two collected themselves. He remembered all to well how depressed they had been when it happened. All four of their commanders and their main leader had been killed and as far as he could understand, many of the other warriors had also died a bit after. It wasn't something he expected to be completely forgotten. It was only after James and Lily had married that everything seemed to get back to normal, not including the missions that they used to have, which had been normal as strange as it was for everyone else. But no matter how hard it was for them, he needed to make sure that this boy was who he thought he was.
"Boys, I understand that this is not easy, but I need to know before I do anything else. You must go and observe him, see if he is familiar to you." Dumbledore told them.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Sirius asked. "Albus, if it is his son, that doesn't necessarily mean that he would be familiar."
"He's got a point." Remus said looking at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore chuckled, "Oh, believe me boys. If I was reminded of Genma and I didn't know him as well as you did, then you would definitely be able to tell. Some of his attitude is similar to his father's and I believe that there was something of his mother in there too. Altough he is his own person, so I'm not really able to tell."
This statement startled the other two. They looked at each other, their eye brows raised. Could it really be? If Dumbledore found him familiar then…
"Of course, I could be wrong, I'm getting old." Dumbledore chuckled again while twiddling is thumbs and looking up at the ceiling.
It was a while until Sirius finally got what Dumbledore had just said, "Wait a minute! Did you say I can get out of here?!" Sirius said excitedly.
"Oh, no." Remus moaned as he put his face in his hands.
"Yes, Sirius. But, only to observe. You are not to interact or be seen no matter what. Is it understood?" Dumbledore said sternly at him, as he had a couple of times when they were just students.
"Yes, sir!" Sirius said in fake seriousness (Once again, no pun intended) standing up in mock salute.
"Oh my God." Remus said still with his hands covering his face.
"Come on Rem! This should be fun!" Sirius said happily.
"……….. right."
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Wow, fifteen pages. Good lord. Okay, if it makes no sense, then you'll just have to wait for later chapters for the answers. And if no one likes were I'm going with Peter Pettigrew, then let me just say: Flame me all you want! It's called poetic license! And I'm using it! Ha! Well till next time! R&R Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeeee?