Chapter one: The Birthday

It was a worm summer morning at number 12 Grimmuald Palace when Harry woke up. He had forgotten to close the curtains on his bedroom window so light streamed in and shined brightly and directly on to his face. With a groan, the young man untangled himself from the comforts of his scarlet sheets and climbed out of bed. He did not bother to make himself presentable in the mirror by his dresser, Sirius never required his to look nice for breakfast as the Durslys had. Harry already knew what he would see, a fifteen year old boy with jet black hair that stuck up in all direction, a thin face, small body structure, his brilliant green eyes, and the ever so famous lightning bolt shaped scar above his right eyebrow.

Harry left his room and walked down the hall silently, taking extra precaution when he reached the stairs so as not to wake the portrait of Sirius' mother. When finally he reached the bottom of the steps, he could hear the faint sound of sizzling bacon and his godfather's curses as the hot grease splattered him. He wondered for a moment where Kreacher was and why he was not making breakfast, but then remembered that he had been banished to his room for hiding things that Sirius and Harry were going to throw out. Harry didn't see what was wrong with letting Kreacher have a few items, but Sirius had deemed them as dark objects and would not allow them to go to the house elf.

Eventually Harry reached the kitchen where a certain Padfoot was about to give up on his attempt at cooking. Harry laughed when he saw Sirius. He had his long hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and full body apron that read 'kiss the cook' on the front. It had begun as white but now was splattered with the grease and fat from the bacon. Sirius turned and saw him, and his frustrated face was now turned into a large grin that threatened to split his face in two.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" Sirius shouted.

"Thanks Sirius." Was the reply.

Oh ya, today is his birthday. How did he forget? Hermiony Ron and all the other Weaslys had said they would come over today. And Sirius said he had the best gift in the history of the universe for Harry. Harry himself was thrilled. Two years ago he had met his Godfather, but he was still a convicted murderer then, and last year, some how, they had captured Peter Pettigrew. Sirius got a trial and was proven innocent, while Peter got a lifes sentence to Azkaban. Ever since then Sirius has been taking Harry everywhere. Harry was just glad that his god father was happy with his freedom.

"Here let me do that." Harry said trying to push Sirius away from the stove.

"No way! It's your birthday so you can be lazy and do nothing."

"I would like to eat breakfast though, and nothing you cook is ever edible."

"Fine then! I was just trying to be nice!" Sirius replied dramatically.

"Go sit down Padfoot; I'll be done in a minuet."

Harry heard Sirius mumble some thing like 'you shouldn't have to work on your birthday' and 'my cooking isn't that bad.' But he just laughed and concentrated on not burning the bacon. About five minuets later he put the bacon on a plate to cool and then made some toast with the muggle toaster Harry had insisted they have. When that was all done he set the table where Sirius had his arms crossed and a pout on his face. Then he pored two glasses of orange juice and sat down in the seat across from the upset man.

"Sirius come-on, eat the food in front of you!" Harry could not believe he was telling his godfather to eat. He would usually put the food down and the older man would dive in.

But this time he continued to pout and send a half glare at Harry. The boy just rolled his eyes and put some bacon and toast on Sirius' plate then on his own and began to eat. He smiled when he saw the man opposite him begin to nibble on the corner of his toast and sip his orange juice.

"I win." He said under his breath. Sirius just snorted and continued eating.

Harry sat by the fire place bouncing in his seat. It was almost noon and his friends would be arriving any minuet. He could not wait to hang out with the friends he has yet to see all summer. He and Sirius had set up a make shift quidditch field with transfigured coat hangers for hoops and Ron said he would bring over a quaffle. Mrs. Weasly said she was going to bake him a cake, even tough he tolled her not to trouble herself. And everyone said they could not wait until they saw Harry again. That's when Sirius put down the Daily Prophet he was reading and cleared his throat, causing Harry to look over.

"Harry, I want you to know that I am unable to give you your present until everyone has left. It is huge and possible life changing, and it may also take a lot of time. So I am going to let you enjoy the time with your friends and when they leave we will be off."

Harry stared at him in confusion. What was so big that it was life changing? Why was Sirius being so serious? No pun intended. Why couldn't Harry take his friends with them? Was he even aloud to tell anybody? All of these questions buzzed around in his head like a swarm of angry bees. And as a new question came to mind, several more came with it. The curiosity was building up inside him, making it feel like he's going to explode! In a moments hesitation he had decided not to ask and just reply with a simple and confused 'okay'.

A few minuets passed and then the face of Ron Weasly appeared in the fireplace.

"Hay mate, is it ok if we floo over now?" Ron asked.

"Sure come on over." Sirius said before Harry could speak.

"Cool, be right over." And then the face of Harry's firs friend disappeared.

It was a couple seconds before the fire turned bright green and out stepped the red haired boy. Harry got up and walked over to his friend but before either he or Ron could speak, Hermiony stepped through and flung her arms around Harry's neck.

"Happy birthday Harry! It's so good to see you!"

"Good to see you to Hermiony!"

Ron cleared his throat "Why don't I get a hug?" He wined playfully.

"Oh you do." said Harry before letting go of Hermiony and throwing his arms around Ron the same way Hermiony did to him. He laughed when Ron laughed at his silliness.

Next, came the twins, then Mrs. Weasly, and finally, Mr. Weasly, all of them barring presents and wishing Harry a happy birthday.

Sirius levitated the presents and offered Mr. and Mrs. Weasly tea or coffee in the kitchen. When they left Ron held up the red quaffle and raised his eyebrows in question. Harry nodded enthusiastically and then motioned for them to fallow him. He led them through the house and into the back yard where the quidditch field was set up. After telling them to stay put, Harry raced of to the shed and grabbed a broom for everyone and grabbing the firebolt for himself. Hermiony had decided she would be in the game, so yes, she was going to ride a broom.

Harry passed out the brooms to all his friends when he got back, even to the scared looking, bushy haired girl. When they kicked off the ground, everyone could tell Hermiony was using all of her will power to on the broom. Harry, Hermiony and Ron were on a team with Ron as the keeper. Fred, Gorge and Ginny were on the other teem with Fred as the keeper. Harry scored six points, and the apposing team scored seven. Harry was so focused on the game and flying and being with his friends that he had forgotten all about Sirius' present warning, until the man himself walked out, hours after the game had begun, to tell everyone it was time for cake and presents.

Everyone came in sweaty and tired. They all came into the dinning room to find a long table, set for ten people. Harry sat at the head at the table in front of a pile of presents. Ron and Hermiony sat on either side of him, Fred and Gorge sat next to them and Mr. and Mrs. Weasly sat next to them. Sirius sat next to Arthur, leaving an empty seat next to Molly Weasly. Harry was about to ask why there was an empty seat but then the door swung open and in stepped the werewolf Remus Lupin.

Harry was the first one up and over to the just entered man. He wrapped his arms around his waist. At first Remus was shocked and unable to understand how the boy had moved so quickly, but he pushed the thought aside and hugged Harry back.

"Happy birthday Harry!" then he turned to the rest of the people in the room "Hello all!"

"Hay Moony! Your seats down here!" called Sirius.

Remus moved over to Harry's present hill and placed a small parcel on top. Then he walked down the table and sat down across from his best friend. When he was situated he gestured for Harry to begin opening his presents.

Harry started with the small parcel on the top wrapped sloppily. When he opened it there was a golden necklace inside. Harry put the necklace on and thanked Remus. Ron gave him a pocket sneakascope, Hermiony gave him a copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages', the twins gave him a box of Zonks products, Mr. Weasly gave him a rubber duck, Mrs. Weasly gave him a framed picture of every one together, and Sirius gave him a box of Chocolate frogs and a couple bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

After thanking everyone for their respective gift it was time for cake. Sirius used his wand to clean up the now forgotten rapping paper wile Molly got the cake. When all was said and done, and the table was set, and the candles were lit, and the lights were out, all of the people gathered to share the birthday of the great, friendly, brave, wonderful Harry Potter began to sing happy birthday.

"Happy fifteenth birth day to you Harry James Potter!" coursed the two Murderers.

Harry blew out the candles on his cake in one breath, and then looked around at all the smiling faces of his friends. This was the best birthday he had ever had and he wanted to remember it forever.

"Well?" Ron asked

"Well, what?" Harry replied, confused.

"Are you going to make a wish, mate?"

Harry looked around at all the people he loved "No," he said "I've got all I need."

HPHPHPHPPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

If only the same thing could be said about poor Rose. Her name is Rose Lily Potter, and the Williams never let her forget that she wasn't really part of the family. She woke up this morning to the sound of Mrs. William pushing the door to her 'bedroom' open and screeching at her to get up and make breakfast. Being slightly afraid of her adoptive mother (though she would never admit it) as she was, she quickly shut the door again and changed into some new, clean-ish clothes. It was her birthday, so she wore her favorite white shirt and a pair of jeans that didn't have holes in them.

The only clothes she had were hand-me-downs from her adoptive older sister. But it's not because this family was poor, the family was actually very rich, but because this family did not like Rose. The Williams are proud people that enjoy fitting in, blending in with the crowd, being normal. Sad to say but Rose was anything but. She has a round face with a light spray of freckles across her high cheekbones and nose. Her body billed is small, made to look even smaller in the cloths that were much too big for her. She is fourteen and her body was developing the way it's supposed to, with increased bust and hip size.

But what really angered the Williams was Rose's brilliantly red hair and glowing brown eyes with a ring of gold around the color part. Mrs. William had attempted to dye her hair brown like everyone ells' but it just did not work. Hour after hour and bottle after bottle the slightly crazed woman gave up. But that's not the worst of the weird things Rose can do. When she had just started school at Crofton Middle, the gyms caught on fire right were she was standing, and some how she didn't even get singed! Of course she got expelled, even though she had no idea how the fire started. For the rest of sixth grade, seventh and eighth, she went to Arundel Middle. Now, she was in her second year at Arundel High, Home of the Wild Cats. Rose was actually really smart; she got strait A's and was in all advanced classes. She was actually more of a nerd then some one cool that you would want to hang out with. But Elisa, her adoptive older sister, made her life at school a horrible experience. She spread roomers around school about Rose and picked in her because her clothes were too big, she couldn't be a cheer leader like Elisa, and apparently, she was to smart.

But Rose didn't care. She liked the things she was capable of, like her good grades. And her strange abilities. Rose was magic, that's the only explanation. She could pull things out of thin air, and modify the molecular structure of objects and turn them into something ells entirely. She had gotten into a large amount of trouble when caught practicing her magic thingy.

Rose climbed out of her 'room', which was really just a coat closet near the front door, and raced to the kitchen. If there was one thing she learned during her ever so long stay at in the William's house hold, it was that you ALWAYS do as your told and to do it quickly. She entered the kitchen, a large room with spotless countertops and appliances, and then grabbed eggs from the refrigerator and bread from the breadbox on the counter. Rose put the bread in the toaster then reached up to the chestnut wood cabinets and pulled out four of Mrs. William's glass dishes, and in the drawer a little to her left she grabbed forks for everyone. Wile the bread was still cooking, she had set the table, oiled and put a pan on the stove, and was scrambling raw eggs in a bowl with a fork. When the toast popped up she buttered them, set them on a smaller plate, and stuffed two more pieces of toast in the toaster. Checking on the eggs that she was scrambling and finding them to be a gooey mess with the yoke and white part thoroughly mixed together, she dumped all six of the squished eggs in the pan and sired them for a moment with a spatula. Rose enjoyed cooking, and the faces accidentally made when her family enjoys her food. But sadly now the eggs were done and Rose had already made eight pieces of toast, so she dumped the eggs into a bowl and set it on the table with the toast, just in time for the Williams to walk in.

Mrs. William is a large woman with pail skin and bone strait, light brown hair. She has a short round nose and lips that are to full and stuck out on her face. She sat down at the table, shadowed by her loud mouthed husband with more mustache than brain and Elisa, the fat brunet that enjoyed gossip and cat fights. All at once they began to fill their plates and stuff their mouths, it was disgusting. Rose sat down and quickly put a spoon full of eggs and a piece of toast on her plate before it could be grabbed away and she was left without breakfast, again.

When they were all finished eating, Rose got up and collected the dishes to be washed. She did not need to scrape food off the dishes so she just put them in the dishwasher. But she couldn't be so lucky with the pan; it had to be hand washed. As she expected; when she was finished and turned around, she found that the table had been vacated and she was alone.

Rose didn't have any chores, since she did all of them yesterday, so she decided she would go out side.

"I'm going out!" she called to no one. She knew no one cared.

Then she was out. The car that was normally in the drive way was no longer there. Rose cheered up; she had just remembered that the Williams planed to be gone for the next week on a vacation. She had the house to herself. It felt nice to finally leave the house. She had been cooped up for three days because of bad weather. That normally wouldn't stop her, but Mrs. William REALLY didn't like the mess she had tracked in last time, but Rose could clean the mess before they were back. The sky was a dark forbidden gray, but on the horizon there was a thin strip of beautiful blue that gave a little hope.

Rose walked down the street letting her feet guide her. She knew every road in the neighborhood, having walked them so many times, and knew that she could not get lost. She ended up at the playground and so many memories rushed back. The hours she spent here playing on the swings, all the times she had come here crying because of some thing Elisa said, the boy she met here that was as strange as her.

He was the first friend she ever had. They had met last year, when the boy had appeared out of thin air with a crack. She had shone him her magic and he showed her his. He taught her all about this entire world of people like them. He had told her she was beautiful, that she wasn't a freak. Rose was pretty sure she loved him, but she would never know, she never had anything to love before. He was perfect, with his bleach blond hair and his powerful silver eyes, and he was her personal peace. He was all hers.

She sat on the bench near the edge of the play ground and stared out at the metal equipment. There was a spiral slide, a swing set, monkey bars, and other thing she did not care to name. She suddenly felt a deep sadness remembering that another year had passed and she was still here. Was someone ever going to come for her? Draco came once every couple weeks, but he said that he would not be aloud to take her away until he was seventeen, two more years. She got up and moved to the swings, the steady movement always calmed her down. There are three swings to choose from, so Rose just sat down in the middle one and began to swing. She didn't know how long she sat like that, maybe hours. But it was dark, cold and raining and she still did not want to go home, so she focused slightly and caused the molecules in the air to speed up, increasing the temperature of the air around her. There was a loud cracking noise, but Rose didn't look up. If Draco was here, he would know where to find her. He always seems to know things like that. She didn't know it wasn't Draco.