Author Email: [email protected]
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: (started before OotP) Harry is about to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts. He finds out he is a much more powerful wizard than he could ever imagine, something that is extremely useful when the Order finds out about Voldemort's plan to capture him later in the year. Fear and uncertainty threaten to overwhelm our hero as the planned day draws nearer ... there is only one thing he can do - unite with who he thought was his worst arch-nemises. H/D slash, R/Hr, G/S, R/S slash, and a lot more humor than the summary gives it credit for.
***
~
No one ever said that love was gonna be easy
Gotta take the ups and downs the in-betweens
If you take this journey, gotta give yourself completely
Never let nobody ever step on our dreams
You better stop
Listen to these words that I say
You better stop
Don't you throw this good thing away, no
Put your trust in me and I'll make you see
No the rain won't last forever
Find a way to make it better
Long as we can stand together
Love will find a way
Gonna make a new tomorrow
Say goodbye to tears and sorrow
Better listen when I say
Love will find a way
- Christina Aguilera (Love Will Find A Way)
~
July 31st, 1995
~
Harry Potter nearly fell out of bed. He grumbled at the interruption of his dream and blinked. Oh, just great, he thought, extremely irritated. I forgot what I was dreaming about. Stupid alarm clock ...
Harry glanced at the time just as the radio began playing music. Nine-thirty. He vaguely considered falling back asleep, but squashed this thought down as his stomach growled. He quickly got dressed and headed down the stairs.
As usual, Uncle Vernon was reading the Daily Mail, Aunt Petunia was sipping her coffee with her little finger sticking out, and Dudley was wolfing down his eggs, bacon, and ham (thankfully, the Dursleys had dropped the diet because of Uncle Vernon's frequent complaints, and was now just forcing Dudley to exercise). However, as Harry sat down, everyone stopped doing what they were doing and looked at him curiously. However rude this might seem, it was the first time in two years that the Dursleys had paid attention to him when he first walked into a room, and needless to say, it was scaring Harry.
"Er ... do I have something on my nose?" asked Harry, more than a little bemused.
"You - your eyes - they - they're blue!" Dudley stuttered in disbelief. Harry blinked. What? This can't be right ... my eyes are green ...
Harry ran over to the kitchen mirror and examined his eyes. They were a bright blue - exactly the same shade as Dudley's. What on earth was going on? Harry went up to his room, completely forgetting about eating breakfast. Going up to the mirror, he carefully touched his eye. Almost immediately they turned bright green and almond-shaped, like usual. What he did next was very much involuntary.
Harry pointed to his eyes with his index finger, and said, "Hermione."
He looked at his reflection again. Brown eyes. Exactly the same shade as Hermione Granger's, and with longer lashes, as well. After a moment's hesitation, he touched his palm to his cheek and gasped softly. Hermione's face stared at him. It was the oddest feeling in the world to look like your best female friend, Harry now knew.
"Something's very, very wrong," he muttered to himself, as he changed his face back. "This isn't true magic, because then I'd be getting an owl from the Ministry of Magic. It's some weird Polyjuice Potion thing."
Harry spent the next ten minutes morphing his face into people he knew. First, he tried his other best friend, Ron Weasley. He was immediately covered in freckles and his nose elongated slightly. Then, he tried Seamus. His eyes brightened into a cerulean blue and his hair lightened considerably to a sandy blonde. On and on he went, until he finally came to a decision. He was a Potaris - meaning he used Inner Magic, a brand of magic that could be controlled without a wand. Harry knew this because a few days into the summer holidays, Hermione had sent him a book called 'Extraordinary Kinds of Magic, and People Who Use Them'. With it she had written a short letter that had said,
'Dear Harry,
I know you may roll your eyes at this, but I demand you read this book to study for your OWLs. You do realize you need to pass them to be able to take the NEWTs, which you have to pass to graduate and get a good career? And although it probably looks really boring in your eyes, what with its big black cover and thick volume, it's actually quite interesting. No, really! I'm not just saying that! It talks about really cool magic, like Wandless Magic, Inner Magic, Dark Magic, White Magic, Charms, Animagic, and stuff like that. I really hope you read it; I got a tip from Professor McGonagall that that kind of stuff will be in our exams and OWLs. It also talks about special wizards like Anints, Cafrotos, Potarises, Farlots, and Tyronas! I sent one to Ron as well. See you soon!
Love from Hermione'
The heavy book had sat on the shelf for at least a week, before curiosity had finally taken over Harry and he had picked it up. He was, much to his surprise, not disappointed.
The book had informed him of so many different things. He now knew that there was much more to the magical world than he could ever have guessed. Along with hundreds of pages of information about Wandless, Inner, Dark, and Light Magic, there was information about things he had learned in Hogwarts, but had never had a chance to research more about, like the origins of Charms and Animagic. Included was the extensive biography of the most famous wizard to ever hold a wand, Merlin, and Harry discovered just who exactly Agrippa was and why it was so difficult to get a hold of his chocolate frog card, as Ron complained occasionally.
Harry stared, amazed at the blank wall. If he could do this ... Potarises could use any type of Inner Magic. Harry glanced at the clock. It was only ten o'clock in the morning, he reasoned with himself. Surely a bit of experimenting won't hurt. He stole a quick glance at his wand, which was lying on the nightstand next to his bed, then at his hands. A sharp intake of breath was heard and he was sidetracked once again; Harry's hands were emitting sparks.
Harry sat on the bed, still staring at his hands, before realizing that this was not because he was a Potaris ... but because he was an Elemental.
^^^
"Hasty to leave, are you?" said Dumbledore, amused, as Harry swiftly strode to the door. He turned with a rather quizzical expression.
"Erm - is there something else?" Harry asked. He had spent nearly the whole afternoon talking with Dumbledore about Voldemort and his parents. He had been quite sure that what the Headmaster had already told him was everything, but apparently he was wrong.
"Yes, indeed there is. Why don't you sit down?"
Harry sat down on the pouffe in front of the desk he had just vacated.
"What?" he asked, now very curious.
"In order to defeat Voldemort, you need to have the most powerful Elements on your side." Dumbledore waved his wand in front of him, and words appeared in mid-air, much like Tom Riddle had in Harry's second year.
'WATER - LILY EVANS-POTTER (DECEASED) AND HERMIONE GRANGER
FIRE - JAMES POTTER (DECEASED) AND RONALD WEASLEY
LIGHT - AMANDA PREWETT-ZABINI AND HARRY POTTER
DARKNESS - TOM RIDDLE, SEVERUS SNAPE, AND DRACO MALFOY
WIND - REMUS LUPIN AND GINEVRA WEASLEY
EARTH - SIRIUS BLACK AND SEAMUS FINNIGAN'
"The opposite elements," Dumbledore continued, "are the ones who have more strength if are united, but are constantly in arguments and fights. We are trying to get the opposites to co-operate, especially Light and Darkness, but it is becoming harder and harder. For example, Water has the power to control liquids, and Fire has the power to control flames and heat. However, if they are united, they can unleash a searing power of boiling water."
Harry stared, astonished, and the board. Water, Fire, Light, Wind, and Earth were easy enough to get on the good side, but what about Darkness and Malfoy? Wasn't Malfoy supposed to be a Death Eater when he's older? Surely Dumbledore didn't expect he, Harry, to try to convince Malfoy otherwise ...
Harry voiced aloud his thoughts. Dumbledore just smiled, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"That, my dear boy," the headmaster said, motioning Harry to the door, "is something you will figure out yourself in time."
^^^
Harry fell face-forward down on to his pillow and let out a muffled moan. He was sure any other supposedly average teenage boy would have been delighted to find out he was one of the most powerful wizards in the world, but Harry Potter was definitely not average and he did not appreciate this in the least. It was all good to know he might be able to defeat the one who had killed his parents without a wand, or that he and his friends (and admittedly, worst arch-nemises) actually had something useful in common, but Harry desperately wished he had not figured this all out when he was just turning fifteen years old. It was all just - too much.
"BOY!" shouted the voice of Harry's uncle, startling him out of his thoughts. "GET YOURSELF DOWN HERE!"
Bewildered at why Uncle Vernon would want him, Harry hastily got up and made his way down the stairs. What he saw nearly made him faint.
There was Sirius. Sirius, as in the wanted wizard who was supposed to be on the run from the Ministry, Sirius, who was his godfather, Sirius, who was looking very well-groomed indeed in the hallway of Number Four, Privet Drive.
"Sirius! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in hiding?" Harry asked, stunned. His godfather just grinned.
"Isn't it great, Harry? I've been freed. Peter Pettigrew was caught earlier this week. They put him under Veritaserum, and they let me go out of hiding. Though," Sirius paused and frowned slightly, before continuing, "Fudge didn't seem too happy about it. It's everywhere - my freedom I mean - it's in the Daily Prophet, the Muggles' Daily Mail, television." Sirius's wide grin made another appearance. "And, I talked to Dumbledore. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but ... " He looked as if he were fighting down a laugh. "Technically, I'm related to you, because I was your father's second cousin. That way, Dumbledore's ancient magic will still have you protected, when I take you to my old house. They didn't give you to me when ... when James and Lily died, though, because back then I was so irresponsible you couldn't trust me with a Flobberworm, and it wouldn't have worked out anyway because I was thrown into Azkaban. But now, Harry, I have to ask you this question, the same question I asked you more than two years ago. Harry, will you live with me?"
It took a pretty long time for Harry to process all this information before he just gaped at Sirius.
"What, are you mad? Do you even need to ask? Of course I'll live with you! You've got a house? Where is it? Do many wizards live there?" Harry said, eyes wide. He surely must be dreaming. He was not about to leave Privet Drive and live with his godfather. He was sure of it.
Wasn't he?
"To answer all of your questions, let me see ... no, I suppose not, Yes I do, it's in Godric's Hollow where your parents lived, and as it's Godric Gryffindor's old neighbourhood, yes, many wizards and witches live there." Sirius smiled, and Harry was finally convinced that this was all real. "So, are you going to go pack?"
"What?" Harry asked, very confused. Then his mouth formed an 'O' and he blushed at his intelligence, or lack thereof. He took one last look at his godfather, the godfather he was going to live with, before happily bounding up the stairs to pack.
August 7th, 1995
~
Sirius's house was quite large. It was was shaped like an 'I' and had a living room, a writing room, a sitting room, a kitchen, a dining room, seven bedrooms, and three bathrooms on the first two levels. What had shocked Harry the most the first time Sirius gave him a tour was that in the basement, there was a gym, a sound-proof studio, a game room, a swimming pool, two locker rooms, and a mini concert hall. Harry tried to imagine Dudley's face if he knew where his cousin was living now, before he remembered the door. Sirius wasn't there because he had said that he was going to go grocery shopping. Harry ran to the front door and yanked it open. His jaw dropped.
"Ron? Hermione?" he managed to croak out, genuinely surprised to see his two best friends standing there.
"Hi, Harry!" Hermione said cheerfully, giving Harry a hug. "How are you? Oh, your house is so big! Ron was doing his goldfish impression when he first saw it."
Ron had the decency to redden. "Was not ..." he mumbled. Then he brightened when he turned to Harry. "Harry, mate, it's good to see you! How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks, how're you?" Harry paused, thinking, then smacked himself on the forehead.
"Harry? Are you okay? Does your scar hurt?" Hermione's eyes were wide, and she was looking at him with worry, as was Ron.
Harry smiled at their concern for him.
"Hermione, my scar's been stinging ever since the end of last year. I smacked myself because I forgot my manners." Harry stood to the side. "Would you like to come in?"
"And here I was thinking that you were never going to ask," Ron said, strolling in and looking around. "Pretty impressive. Say, where's that godfather of yours?"
"Oh, he's out grocery shopping," Harry answered, looking at the clock. Two thirty-five. "He said he'd be back at around three o'clock. Would you like a drink or something?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Harry, we aren't here for a tea party. Show us around!" she said, looking up with interest at the portraits on the walls.
"Erm ... alright." Harry led them to the living room. "This is the living room. And if you'll follow me over here you'll see the writing room. Right across there is the sitting room ..."
August 25th, 1995
~
He reached up and lightly tapped the "Speak" button on the Firebolt alarm clock Hermione had given him as a housewarming present.
"The time is eight o'clock in the morning, August the twenty-fifth, nineteen ninety-five," said a cool female voice.
Harry, after a few minutes, got up, dressed, and checked himself in the mirror. He was planning on going to Diagon Alley today, where he would meet up with Ron and Hermione. Sirius had agreed to let him stay with the Weasleys for the six days until September the first when he would get on the Hogwarts Express.
Harry ran down the stairs (a habit that he had acquired shortly after moving in) and made his way to the kitchen. There, he found Sirius sitting at the table eating his breakfast, with a plate of untouched bacon and eggs across from him. As Harry took a seat, Sirius looked up and smiled at his godson.
"Good morning, Harry. Have a good sleep?" he asked, carefully folding up the Daily Prophet and tossing it to Harry. Sirius knew that his godson liked keeping up with the wizarding news, probably to make sure nothing was in there about him more than anything else.
Harry yawned.
"Yep. Though I did hear a series of clicking noises in the middle of the night," he said sleepily, picking up a fork.
"Oh, sorry, did I wake you? I was just doing some typing on the Muggle computer," Sirius said. "Hungry, are you?" he added, amused as Harry wolfed down his breakfast so quickly that it was a wonder if he chewed or not.
"Immensely," Harry managed to mumble out.
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