Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

-Chapter 1: 11-year-olds on beds

11-year-old Lily Evans lay on her bed, staring at her lime green walls. She was annoyed at her sister, Petunia, who was always spreading nasty gossip, and this time, she had gone too far. She had said Lily was really a boy in disguise. The worst part was, many stupid people believed her, because of her flat chest and love of sports and fear of fluffy skirts. Suddenly, she heard a tapping sound at the window. She vaulted herself out of bed and opened it. A great tawny owl hopped in, ruffling its feathers. Lily bit back a screech and untied the letter from its leg. It ruffled its feathers once more and flew off again. Lily closed the window behind it and opened the letter and gasped as she read it. Now, if only to convince her parents… and this place called Hogwarts might just be opening its doors to her.

* * *

11-year-old Sirius Black lay on his bed, staring at his dreary gray walls. He had mouthed off to his mother and had earned the lecture, and then beating, of his lifetime. Of course, if he had been Regulus, his mother would have been all, "Oh, clever Reggie, who taught you that awfully rude phrase, so I can give them chocolate?" but it was Sirius. Not that he wanted to be Regulus or anything, but he did wish his Hogwarts letter would come. And then came a tapping at his window. Sirius looked toward the heavens and muttered, "I've been blessed", then ran off to his mother and father, not wanting to wait to go to Diagon Alley.

* * *

11-year-old James Potter lay on his bed, staring at his Quidditch-full walls. He was bored. Incredibly exceedingly bored. So bored… and then came a shout from downstairs, "James! You got a letter, and I think it might be from Hogwarts! That's the seal, anyway," his older sister, Maxey, called. "Lemme see, lemme see!" his youngest sister, Jules, begged. "No! Me!" his younger sister Lizzie demanded. James ran down the stairs, "Me, you idiots! It's _my _letter, after all!" He nervously broke the seal, and looked at his letter in awe and wonder. His Hogwarts letter. He had waited his whole life for this, his first word had been Hogwarts, Maxey loved it, Mum had been in touch with Professor Dumbledore since forever, and he would finally have a use for that invisibility cloak of his. Hogwarts might need extra support this year.

* * *

11-year-old Remus Lupin lay on his bed, staring at his randomly splotched walls. His sister had decided his room was a good play to practice spray-paint wars. At least his bed was safe. Suddenly his mum called, "Remus? How are you feeling? Want to come and get some breakfast, or shall I bring it up?" "I'm feeling better; I'll come down! Just let me shower!" he shouted back. "Okay. There's also something we need to discuss with you. Hurry up, 'kay?" "Actually, I'll skip the shower. I'm coming!" Remus walked slowly down the stairs, pausing every now and then to lean against the walls and take a breather. Finally, he reached the kitchen. "Remus, guess what!" Serene half-shouted at him, even though he was right there. "Dumbledore set something up for you, and you're going to Hogwarts!" "Really?" Remus asked in disbelief. "Yup. Wonderful, ain't it?" "Serene, ain't isn't a word." Their mother scolded lightly. "Sure it is. It's in the dictionary, I think." Serene looked puzzled for a minute, then her face cleared. "Whatever."

* * *

11-year-old Peter Pettigrew lay on his bed, staring at his boring white walls. He was bored of them. He was bored of his friendless life. He was bored of his mother, who enjoyed talking politics, and of his father, who enjoyed watching sports. He was bored of his sister, 7-year-old Helen, who enjoyed Barbie dolls so much she could possibly be in danger of becoming one. He was bored. And then came a tapping at the window. Little did he know that tapping would change his life…forever.

* * *

Yayness for a new fic! By the way, this is not by Tessa! This is by Libby! If you don't know who I am, check out Tessa's homepage. Please, please, review! I won't update till I get five reviews! Sienara, and remember: I've got the second chapter already written, so I will post as soon as I get five reviews! 

Lib


	2. Chapter 2

-1Chapter 2: Platform 9 ¾

(A/N: Ok, I didn't get any reviews! Well, I got 2, as of now, but that was me and Tess! I decided to be nice, and I was really impatient, but I won't be this quick, usually. Please, please, review!)

Lily looked around, confused. Platform 9 ¾? A ministry official had dropped her off, but she, Allie, had needed to run off, so now Lily had to fend for herself. Suddenly, she caught a word of conversation, and that was all she needed, that one word, muggle. She was off after the woman who had spoken to what looked like 4 children, though two of them were very young.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I was wondering if you could help me find platform 9 ¾?" Lily asked.

"Of course, dear, Maxey will show you…?" This last bit, which was silence, was directed toward Lily.

"Oh, Lily, Lily Evans."

"Nice to meet you, Lily dear, I'm Mrs. Potter, and this is Maxey, and Lizzie, and Jules, and James, our only boy. It's his first time as well."

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter." Lily smiled.

"Oh, don't mention it. Just walk through the barrier," Mrs. Potter said, shooing James away to do just that. He went through without a double take. Lily was amazed, until she realized he had most likely done it before.

And then, suddenly, she was facing the barrier… running toward it… she was nearly there… she shut her eyes tightly, sure it was going to hurt… and went right through.

* * *

"Come, come, come!" Serene said impatiently, stomping her foot.

"Serene," Mrs. Lupin said warningly. "Come!" Serene whispered dramatically as she could. Remus raised his left eyebrow.

"That's really creepy, and weird, you know," 17-year-old Curt said. Remus put his left eyebrow down and put his right one up, back and forth like a caterpillar. Curt wrinkled his nose, pinning his Head Boy badge on his chest.

"You look idiotic," Serene said, imitating Curt as crudely as possible. When Curt's friends Nora and Wendi came up to him, they laughed.

"Hey, that looks like that face Curt makes sometimes!" Nora laughed. "I didn't know I was that good of an actress! I was actually mimicking him!" Serene said proudly.

"Hello Remus." Wendi, having been over at the Lupin's house, knew Remus.

"Oh, Remus, it's your first year already?" Nora asked. Remus nodded shyly. Around the house he was as outgoing as Serene, but in public he tended to be more like Curt. A whistle on the train blew.

"Alright, everybody on the train! Write me as soon as possible!" Mrs. Lupin said as Curt, Nora, Wendi, Serene, and Remus started to drift away into the crowd.

Sirius had gotten on the train as soon as he could slip away from his family and had deliberately taken a compartment without a window facing the platform so they couldn't badger him. He leaned his face against the window and sighed. Hopefully Hogwarts would be better than Number 12, Grimmuald Place. It was already looking up, as no family member was there, except for his cousins, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda Black, and he could deal with Bellatrix and Narcissa, who were in Slytherin, because Andromeda, who was in Ravenclaw, would stick up for him. Sirius wanted to be in Gryffindor, though.

Just then a small mousy boy walked into the compartment. "Um, everywhere else is full, do you mind if I sit here?" he asked tentatively.

Sirius could tell from his posture that he was muggleborn, and was going to say no, but then he realized that it was the sort of thing his parents would do. What harm could saying no do, though? Sirius was sure the boy could find a seat elsewhere. Sirius opened his mouth to tell the boy to go away, but instead he found himself saying,

"Go ahead. Plenty of room." The boy looked relieved to find a seat.

"I'm Sirius Black, by the way," Sirius said. "Peter Pettigrew," the boy said, extending his hand. Sirius shook it.

"There's got to be a compartment somewhere," Serene complained. "Would you like some cheese with that wine?" Nora asked jokingly. Remus laughed.

They were to find a compartment and save two seats for Curt and Wendi when they were done having a meeting with the new prefects.

"Aha!" Serene exclaimed, opening a door and entering the compartment. Nora and Remus glanced inside, laughing to see the two bewildered occupants of the compartment staring at Serene like she was nutty.

"She's crazy," Nora whispered, entering the compartment as well, Remus behind her.

"Yes, of course you may sit in our compartment, we'd love to have you," the boy with long black hair said sarcastically. "Oh, thank you ever so kindly, I was just going to ask," Serene replied.

When she looked at him again, however, it was a look of utter bafflement. "I didn't know Blacks to be sarcastic," she said. Nora peered at him too.

"You _are _a Black," she said, bamboozled. "Please compare myself to my cousin Andy and not Bella and Cissa," he said formally, but with a hint of distaste at the end.

"Gladly. Andromeda's cool," Serene said, settling in on the floor.

"Since they seem unable to introduce themselves, this is Serene Lupin, third year, and her younger brother Remus, first year. I'm Nora Cook, seventh year, and joining us shortly will be Curt Lupin, seventh year, and Wendi Gigliotti, also a seventh year. They're the new heads and my best friends. Now, what are your names?" Nora said this all very fast.

"I'm Sirius Black and this is Peter Pettigrew," Sirius said.

"Nice to meet you," Serene said absently. "Now, who was I meeting again?" "Me…" Sirius said, looking concerned for her mental well-being.

"Oh! Nice to meet you!" Serene said again, with much more enthusiasm. Remus did the creepy eyebrow trick just as Curt and Wendi walked in. "Oh, my eyes!" Curt yelled, shielding his face with his arm. Wendi rolled her eyes. "You're making that horrible face again!" she said.

* * *

Well, there is the second chapter! I do hope they're long enough for now, but they'll get longer, I promise! Next chapter will be the sorting. Hurray for the sorting!

Okay, I didn't know it was so hard to get 5 stinkin reviews! This time it'll be five reads AND two reviews, not including Tess's and mine!

Lib


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3: The Sorting

Thanks to all my reviewers! But, please, please review! I got like, 113 reads and only about 10 reviews! How sad, how sad. Btw, these first three chapters were already written b4 I posted any, so these came up really fast, but I have to write the next chapter, so it'll take longer.

* * *

"I am Professor McGonagall. When you enter through these doors, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, while any rule breaking, and you will lose points. The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." With these words McGonagall went through the doors, her cloak billowing around her. 

"I hear she's a right ol' witch, doesn't favor anyone at all, and hates teachers who do favor their house. If you're good at her class and don't break rules, you're in her good book, but if you misbehave and you aren't good at transfiguration, you're in her bad book. My sister says, it's good to be in her good book, because she's fair, but harsh, man. Real harsh," a boy with jet-black and extremely messy hair said, scaring some of the more inexperienced first-years.

"Really?" asked Peter. Remus sighed.

"Yes, really, but she's fairer than harsh, not the other way around. The more lip is missing, the worst off you are. My sister says when she started, she didn't think McGonagall had lip at all, she got in so much trouble. Then she went to my brother and said, "Curt, does McGonagall have any lip?" and he laughed, then said she wasn't the first to doubt it," Remus said, making some kids laugh nervously.

"Is her subject hard?" a small boy asked fretfully.

"Depends," Sirius said. "For me, it comes naturally, but my cousin Andromeda says she failed with flying colors."

"Yeah, I can do it real easy, I've been doing it since I was five, but my older sister still hasn't got the hang of it," the boy with messy hair said.

"Are you Remus Lupin?" a tall girl asked suddenly.

"Yeah, why?" Remus said, aware of every eye on him.

"My brother, he's in fifth year, he says two years ago, your sisters were hit by a car and one died and the other barely survived," she said.

Remus, quite taken aback, replied, "Yeah, Rikki, my twin, got paralyzed, and she couldn't move at all, and Curt pulled me back, we were still really close to the car, and when Rikki couldn't move, Serene threw herself in front of her. Rikki died on impact and Serene was hooked up to machines for about a month before she woke up from her coma. Curt was absent for two weeks and Serene a little more than a month, and it was really near exam time, so they had to go to school all summer, and I was bored so I ended up going with them. I took the exam for fun and I got a better grade than Serene. She was really mad at me, I had to hide under the bed for an hour."

"Wow," whispered the girl. "That should be made into a book, it's so… I don't know."

The boy with messy jet-black hair said, "That's not all, I think about six years ago-" "Yeah, almost exactly," Remus cut in.

"Yeah, six years ago, another almost identical incident happened, one Lupin child was lost, and another barely survived. Who was it?" he asked Remus curiously.

"Serene's twin Lukah died, and I barely survived. I was five and she was seven and they said it was a medical miracle. Her last words were: I'm going to die, sooner rather than later. Better dead than in pain."

The tall girl said, "Wow… that's so… amazing." She seemed immersed. Remus nodded. At that moment McGonagall walked in. She could obviously tell what they were talking about. "Yes, Lupin, you'd better be in Gryffindor, because your sister's making enough fuss as it is."

"I'll keep that in mind," Remus said humbly. Everyone laughed, but Sirius and Peter, who had met Serene, laughed so hard they were doubled over.

"One straight line, please," McGonagall said, irritated. Her lips were visible, but barely. Sirius and Peter immediately straightened up and joined the horde of first years gathering at the doors.

They walked through the doors, gasping at the ceiling, the hugeness of the hall, and at the length of Dumbledore's beard. They congregated in front of a stool, upon which sat an old, musty hat.

"When I call your name, you will come up and sit on the stool, and I shall place the hat on your head, and it will sort you into your house," McGonagall said.

"Ackart, Gina!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Ada, Victoria!" "Slytherin!"

"Ainsworth, Leala!" "Hufflepuff!"

"Athol, Berit!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Barras, Merle!" "Hufflepuff!"

"Berkeley, Darwin!" Slytherin!"

"Black, Sirius!" Remus straightened up. "Gryffindor!"

"Bride, Mika!" The tall girl who had asked Remus if he was Remus Lupin. "Gryffindor!"

"Cain, Jade!" "Gryffindor!"

"Cinder, Palila!" "Hufflepuff!"

"Danker, Anna!" "Slytherin!"

"Dapple, Tom!" "Hufflepuff!"

"Eliot, Christine!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Evans, Lily!" "Gryffindor!" Remus got a little bored and took to looking around at Serene. It was more amusing watching her complain about being hungry than it was to listen to the endless list of first years, until:

"Lupin, Remus!" There were mutterings from everyone who knew about the story of the Lupins, which was basically everybody third year and up, and some others. "Gryffindor!" Remus smiled as he took a seat next to Sirius and across from Serene, who was sitting next to Mika Bride, Jade Cain, Lily Evans, and a girl who resembled the boy with messy black hair. Remus tuned out again and spoke softly with Serene until the next name he recognized was called.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" Peter looked extremely nervous. "Gryffindor!" He let out a visible sigh of relief and took the seat next to Remus.

"Potter, James!" The boy with messy black hair. The girl who resembled him seemed to be holding her breath. "Gryffindor!" He sat next to Peter.

The sorting didn't take much longer. Dumbledore stood up, beaming at his students. "I have a few announcements to make, but I know we are all hungry, so I think we should eat first, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Let the feast begin!" With those words the gold platters were instantly filled to the brim with the most delicious-looking food Remus had ever seen.

"House-elves. The kitchen is right under here, and they cook the food and send it up. They're real nice, some of the nicest house-elves I've ever met," Serene explained.

"How do you know what the kitchen looks like?" Mika asked.

"Been there. I'll show you later, but we have to be careful not to get caught."

"I have a feeling that won't be a problem," The girl who resembled James said naughtily. "I'm Maxey, by the way."

"Why won't that be a problem?" Sirius asked.

"James has… no, wait, I won't tell you," Maxey smirked.

"I've got an old invisibility cloak of my dad. We could use that," James said.

"Wicked," Sirius said.

"What are house-elves?" Lily and Peter asked at the same time.

"Um… they're… um… little elf-things, and… um… you'll have to see for yourself," Serene said, apparently at a loss for words, which didn't happen often.

"I see…" Lily said, nodding.

Dinner being over, Professor Dumbledore stood up to address the students.

"Welcome and welcome back! Before we all leave to go to bed, I have a few announcements! The Forbidden Forest is, as always, forbidden, and some students might have noticed an addition to the school grounds! The Whomping Willow is a gift from the Ministry, but it did earn its name honestly. There are no restrictions keeping you from it, but I would advise against going near it." A few students laughed.

"You may laugh now, but you won't laugh when Madam Pomphrey won't let you out of the hospital wing." A handful of the older students who had been in the hospital wing one too many times looked horrified at the prospect.

"Prefects, lead your first years to your common room. I trust everyone will go to bed, as you all have class tomorrow." These words were met by groans.

"First year Gryffindors! Over here, please!" A girl with curly red hair said, smiling. Her companion prefect was also redheaded, though his was straight and he was much taller. They led the first years through a labyrinth of hallways and moving stairs before they came to a picture of a fat lady in a pink dress.

"Rutabaga!" The girl said. "That's the password. Before you leave the common room every day, I suggest you check the announcements to see what the new password is, because you won't be allowed in if you don't know."

The portrait swung open to reveal a cozy looking room with a roaring fire.

"By the way, I'm Molly Prewett, and this is Arthur Weasley. Girl's dorms are over there, and boy's dorms are over there. Off you go," Molly said.

The first years bid each other goodnight and climbed the spiral stairs until they reached their dormitory, where they quickly undressed and collapsed on the bed, exhausted.

* * *

Hi everyone, this is the last chapter without Tess helping at all. Next chapter, she will help. It probably won't be up for a while. Tessa, chapter 12 of ALAH was completely utterly pointless! Silly Tessie. 

Lib


	4. The Day of the Flashbacks

-Chapter 4: The Day of the Flashbacks

Hello everyone! I'm gonna do review replies for the last chapter, but I won't always. I'm doing them now because I just got back from choir and I don't feel like doing my homework. Social Studies. shudder

Review Replies:

**SailorHecate: **I'm sorry I made you cry, but be prepared for much more details in Remus's past… they're coming up in this chapter, break out the tissues.

**Elfsquire90: **You're right, for once, (lol jk) it wasn't a chapter, but your e-mommy made it look like a chapter. Silly Tessie.

* * *

"Wake up, Sirius!"

"Mmm, let me think. No!"

"Yes! C'mon, Sirius," Remus pleaded, but to no avail.

"You'll miss breakfast," James said, trying a different approach. Sirius sat up so fast he cricked his neck. Rubbing it, he looked around sleepily.

"Where am I?" he asked groggily.

"You're now one of Santa's elves and this is the North Pole. Honestly Sirius!" James said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, Hogwarts. Well, if breakfast is as good as dinner, which I'm assuming it is, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"We tried," Peter said, "but we failed."

"I see. Well, I better hurry then, hadn't I?" Sirius said on a groan, swinging his legs out of bed.

He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor. "Now, where is my uniform?" he muttered to himself, sifting through a pile that had already grown on the floor. Just then the door burst open.

"Remus!" Serene yelled. "Good morning, but I have a problem. These are too small. Are they yours, by any chance?" She held up a pair of brightpink dress robes.

"Nah, I believe you've just outgrown them, 'cause they sure as hell aren't mine," Remus said, looking at them in disgust.

"Aw, that sucks. Oh well, better go get to breakfast. Toodles!" and with those oh-so-clever-and-mature parting words, she left, closing the door behind her.

Five minutes later, the door was opened yet again, but this time it was Lily, Jade, and Mika who barged in.

"Hello," Lily started.

"We'd like to write a book," Jade continued.

"About your family's sad but amazing story," Mika finished, looking at Remus.

"Okay," Remus said.

"During break, we'll meet in here, and you'll tell us everything, and we'll listen and take notes. Then, tonight, we'll start writing it. It'll take about the school year by our calculations, maybe a little less," Mika, who seemed to be in charge, said.

"Alright, but Serene and Curt have break at the same time we do, so you might want to "interview" them too," Remus agreed.

"Will do," Lily said with a smile as they left the room.

"Can we listen?" James asked curiously.

"Sure," Remus replied. He knew all three of them wouldn't get emotional or anything, Lukah and Rikki had made sure of that.

* * *

The boys, after finishing breakfast, headed for their first class ever, transfiguration.

"Is it hard?" Peter whispered as they took seats in the back of the room.

"We already explained that, Pete," Sirius whispered back.

"Good morning class! Now, I understand that this is the first class you've ever been in. Therefore, I'm going to start with an easy spell, as most of you have never used a wand before," McGonagall said, striding to the front of the room.

"We will be turning these pins-" she indicated a box, "into matches. The spell is: Hefifo. Repeat after me: Hefifo!"

"Hefifo!" the class chorused.

"Very good. Now, Mr. Lupin, will you pass out these pins while I take roll call?"

"Yes, Professor," Remus said, walking up to the front and picking up the box.

After the pins were all passed out, Remus sat back down. McGonagall had everyone try together. Nobody got it.

"That's usually the case. Everybody, you will have the rest of class to try it on your own. If you get it, come up to me so I can inspect it, and I will tell you what to do. You may begin."

Remus tried it again and the only thing he succeeding in doing was confirming that transfiguration was not as easy as it looked.

The first person to get it was Sirius, closely followed by James. The next person to get it was Lily. Remus finally managed to get it just as the bell rang.

"Everyone will practice this for homework. Class dismissed," McGonagall said.

Everyone trooped off to charms, which was more of a get-to-know-each-other party instead of an actual class. Lunch was a noisy affair; everyone was excited to have started classes and eager to share experiences.

"I still don't know what I'm doing wrong," Peter complained as he tried and failed once again, to turn his pin into a match.

"Here, you're moving your whole arm- it's more of a flick, like this," James demonstrated. Peter screwed up his face in concentration.

"Hefifo!" Peter's pin immediately lost its brazen silver and was replaced by a dull brown.

"Close, but it's still a pin. Keep trying," James encouraged him.

"Guys, it's time for break, We've gotta go meet the girls in our dorm," Remus said, snatching Serene and Curt along the way.

* * *

Lily, Jade, and Mika were sitting in the floor, all with notebooks and pens out, as Serene and the boys walked in.

"Quills are such a bother," Lily explained.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Jade asked.

"More importantly, which death should we do first?" Mika asked.

"Let's do it in sequence," Serene requested.

"Okay. We'll do it from most involved to least involved, which is Remus, Serene, Curt," Lily said.

"Okay. It was September 7, 1964. Curt had gone to Hogwarts and we were sorta lonely, even though there were four of us left…

FLASHBACK

All day long. we played in the woods by our house. Lukah and Serene would ride their bikes and Rikki and I would sit in the handlebars. Not the safest way to travel when you're either seven or five, but it was fun. One day, we parked our bikes and went for a long walk, so we got pretty far from them. Suddenly, it started to pour. We ran home, dried off, drank hot cocoa, and went to bed. Too late, we realized we left our bikes and they would rust in the rain and we would get in big trouble. So, naturally, when you're little, you don't think things through. Well, we went after our bikes. We just got far enough into the woods to be very, very afraid. Then all I remember from then on until I woke up, which was later, was pain, pain and screaming.

END FLASHBACK

"Wow… okay, I got that all down. Now, remember, we're just focusing on the actual thing that killed them… wait, I don't think you mentioned, what was it?" Mika asked, realizing Remus had left that out.

"Can I trust you not to tell anyone?" Remus asked.

"Yes, go ahead," Peter said.

"Do you swear?"

"Yes."

"It was… a… werewolf. Fenrir Greyback, to be exact. That's why it was a miracle. I was the youngest child to ever survive a werewolf attack. Still am, actually," Remus explained.

"Wow…" Jade trailed off. Mika's eyes were wet.

"Now, do you want to hear what happened next with Lukah from Remus's point, or do you want to hear our point of view on the attack?" Serene asked, gesturing to her and Curt.

"Let'shear your point of view," Lily suggested.

"Okay, Remus basically told you everything until the attack, because he was five and unconscious really quick. I think watching it, actually, was worse. Much worse…

FLASHBACK

Greyback immediately turned on Remus. He was the smallest, and easiest to conquer. Rikki screamed and clung to me. I tried to shush her and stop Lukah at the same time, but I managed neither. Rikki continued to bawl and Lukah continued to pound Greyback, trying to make him let go of Remus. He let go of him, all right. When Greyback turned around, with Remus hanging limp in his jaws, that was one of the scariest moments of my life. I screamed as Greyback started attacking Lukah. That time, he was intent on killing her, apparently, because he wouldn't stop, no matter what Rikki and I did. Then there was a bright flash of light. Lightning. It struck the tree right next to us and began to burn. That scared Greyback and he left. The smell of blood was overwhelming. I almost choked on it. Suddenly, Mum and Dad came running. Mum screamed when she saw us and collapsed on the ground. Dad goes, "Pull yourself together, Hun. I need you to carry Remus. Be careful; don't disrupt anything. Hurry." He bent down and picked Lukah up. She didn't stir. Mum did the same with Remus. He, at least, let out a little moan of pain. "Poor baby," Mum kept murmuring. "My poor babies." They rushed us back home and to St. Mungo's. A lot of people there were screaming. They took us into a special room. Then they took Lukah and Remus away. Rikki was near hysterical, so we had to give her a sleeping potion. Then Mum had me write a letter to Professor Dumbledore, asking for Curt to be excused to see them before they died, and explaining what happened. That was the first time they said there was only a 99.9 chance that they would survive, so I got hysterical, too. They had to give me a sleeping potion, too.

END FLASHBACK

"I'm crying, I can't help it, it's so…" Mika trailed off.

"How can you not get emotional, at all? I didn't know them, and I'm crying," Lily said, wiping her eyes.

"That comes later. Now, it's my turn. Now, while this was going on, I was sleeping in my dorm, at Hogwarts. The next day was Saturday…"

FLASHBACK

We were hanging around in the common room. Nora, Wendi and I were laughing as my friend Mark tried to explain chess to my friend Adam. He was doing such a bad job, the pieces were attacking him. It was hilarious. Then McGonagall walked in. Her lips, for once, were full. She looked extremely sad. Everyone stared at her; even the chess pieces stopped attacking. Then she said, "Lupin, there's been an accident. Your family wants you at St. Mungo's with them, to say- to say goodbye. Come with me." I was so confused. "Who?" I asked when we were out of the portrait hole. "Just come," she replied. "Oh, yes, this is the note." She handed me a note. It read, in writing so sloppy that only a seven-year-old could manage it: _Profeser Dumbulldoor, Me, Rikki, Remus, and Lukah went out at night and were attacked by a werwolv. It was relly relly scary. Lukah and Remus only got a 99.9 persent chans of lifing. Kan Curt be xused from klas to cee them befour they die? Its relly relly impordand. Wed relly aprishiat it verry much.Serene_I was so scared. I went to St. Mungo's. All four of them were out cold, and I was really upset. Mum just hugged me to her chest and cried in my hair. It was awful, waiting for them to awake. When they finally did, we laughed and talked like before. Then the nurses came in and told us if they were going to die, they would die within the next 48 hours. We hoped and prayed they'd make it. However, after only eight hours, Lukah said, and I quote, "Don't mourn my loss. I will die, if in pain, peacefully. Do not be overcome by guilt. Please live your life. Serene, we had dreams together. You must fulfill them. Follow our dreams. Don't regret that I died. If I was meant to have a purpose in this world, I would survive, but I don't, other than to bless you with my presence and bring you happiness. I'll be in a better place. If any of you die soon, let it not be suicide. If it is suicide, and because I died, I will never forgive myself. Do not let me have died in vain. Please. Don't pity me. Don't cry. I don't think I can bear it. I'm going to die, sooner rather than later. Better dead than in pain." And then she closed her eyes. They covered her in a sheet and carried her away. And nobody cried."

"Nobody cried?" Jade said, taking deep gulps of breath.

"Nobody cried," Curt replied in a strong, but strangely small, voice. Everyone sat there silently, filled with emotion.

"And then?" James asked.

"And then Remus began his slow recovery," Serene said.

"Oh, shit, we've gotta get back to class!" Lily cried, breaking the tension. They all gathered up their things as quickly as possible and sped out the portrait hole, ready to join the rest of the world once more.

* * *

Okay, the ending was weird, but I wanted to wrap it up quickly and post. Tessa, you better call me, cause I finished all my homework in like, 16 minutes. (Here's my figuring; Spelling5minutes, Math1minute, and SS10 minutes) Math was really easy. Next chapter will be all the Rikki flashbacks. If you review and request a review reply, I'll reply. Maybe that will get you to review! Please review and have a nice day!

Lib


	5. Chapter 5: The 2nd Day of the Flashbacks

-1: The Second Day of the Flashbacks

"Excuse me?"

"What?"

"You're kidding, right? This is all a cruel joke, a cruel joke, or a dream, and I'll wake up drenched in sweat, right?" This last comment was from Sirius.

"No, Mr. Black, I assure you that you are wide awake. You are hearing things correctly. We will be having muggle classes this year. Mandatory muggle classes. And yes, in one of them, you will be learning how to dance."

"NOOOOOOOOO!" James moaned, falling out of his chair.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, a small smile playing about her lips.

"She must really enjoy other's pain, if she's actually smiling," Remus commented.

"I can't see," James moaned, as his glasses had fallen off as he rolled around on the floor.

"What are the other classes, Ma'am?" Remus asked above the din.

"Everybody quiet! The classes are: dancing, singing, creative writing, reading, math, geography, history, and French and Spanish."

Mika raised her hand. "Professor," she began, "I'm already fluent in Spanish and French."

"So am I," Remus said.

"Well, I suppose you could speak to the language professor and she'll set something up for you," McGonagall said.

Mika nodded and Remus shrugged.

"You need to pick out your reading books. You can't pick any random book; there are some that are mandatory and some that are optional. I've got the list… here," she said, producing about ten lists from the pocket of her robes.

"Thank you," Lily and Jade said in unison as they each took one.

Remus quickly eyed over the list. One thing stood out to him.

"Professor, I've read all these books," he said.

"You have? Oh well, no harm done, you'll just read them again," McGonagall said. Lupin, in her opinion, was a step ahead of the rest when it came to muggle classes.

**5 DAYS LATER**

Remus, James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Jade, and Mika walked briskly to their first muggle class: foreign languages. They took seats in the very front of the room. To their surprise, other years were there as well.

"Dumbledore thought it would be fun if you were all together, for a change," explained a very pretty lady from the front of the room.

"I am Professor Valvorez, and Spanish is my native language, but I am also fluent in English, French, and many other tongues. Stand up if you are fluent in at least two languages."

Remus heard Serene snigger as they stood up. This Valvorez woman didn't know what she was getting into.

"I'm assuming that all standing speak either Spanish or French, because those are very common," she said. "Now, stand if you are fluent in at least three."

Mika, Remus, Serene, and Curt were the only ones standing.

"Four?" Mika sat down, leaving Remus, Serene, and Curt standing.

"What languages do you speak?" the teacher asked, interested.

"English, Spanish, French…"

"Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Swahili…"

"Dutch, German, Japanese…"

"Norwegian, Goblinese, and Mermese," Serene finished.

"And troll," Curt reminded.

"And troll," Serene added.

"Wow, more than me," Valvorez said, clearly amazed.

"We travel," Curt explained. "It used to be, every year, we'd travel to another country. Nowadays, it's all France or America."

"Can you speak like an American?" Valvorez asked.

"Sure. It's not really hard," Serene said.

"That's cool. Guess you four don't need this class, then. What will I do with you?"

"We could skip," Serene suggested hopefully.

"Or we could help you," Curt said, looking at Serene and making his weird face again.

"You could help me. I have some papers written in English that I want translated into Spanish and French. Will you?" Valvorez said after thinking a minute.

"Si si!" Serene said enthusiastically, taking a paper.

"Merci!" Valvorez replied, equally enthusiastic.

Remus stared at his paper and began to translate as he heard Valvorez drill everybody else in simple, beginning Spanish and French words.

* * *

"Wicked," James said as they walked to lunch.

"Valvorez is hot," Sirius said in the same tone of voice. Serene stopped dead and then went into hysterics, which earned a lot of funny looks and five points from Gryffindor.

* * *

Remus was sitting in an armchair by the fire in the common room, doing his charms homework, when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Remus, come on! Are you ready?" Mika asked.

Remus nodded, gathering up his books in his arms. When he got to the dorm, finding his bed occupied, he put them on Peter's bed.

"Hey," Peter said lackadaisically, not making an effort to stop Remus.

"So, who will start?" Lily asked.

"I will," Serene volunteered.

"Okay," Jade said, flipping to a clean sheet in her notebook.

"It was during Easter holiday, which is only a few days and not really worth going home for, but we went home anyway…"

FLASHBACK

London is awesome. Every day, bright and early, we caught a train into London and explored all day. One day, we were walking by one of those parking garage things, and a car - with no driver - came up out of nowhere. Curt pulled Remus back, hard. He broke his wrist at the fall. I tried to pull Rikki back, but she was completely paralyzed. So I did what any brave, reckless Gryffindor would do. I threw myself in front of her. The car kind of swerved at the last minute, so I was more on her side, but whatever. When it hit us, I could practically feel my ribs shatter. I thought I was going to die. It was so scary.

FLASHBACK

Silence followed, broken only by Jade's small sniffle.

"Curt?"

"Okay. As Serene said, we were exploring London…"

FLASHBACK

When I pulled Remus back and saw Serene couldn't do the same with Rikki, I was so scared. Falling back had knocked all the wind out of me, and I just lay there, trying to get it back. Remus was trying to go back, the idiot, so I also had to restrain him, which wasn't easy. I saw the car hit the girls; saw them crumple under its weight. They disappeared under it, reappearing a second later as the car rolled on by. A woman ran up to us and goes, "What's your mother's phone number?" I shook my head and took out my phone. I called and waited for her to answer. When she did, I told her, and then I heard her start to cry. I asked if she wanted to speak to Remus, and she said yes. When he was talking to her, I took the opportunity to talk to the guy who seemed to be in charge. When I asked, he replied: "The small one's dead. The big one has a slim chance of surviving the trip to the hospital. I reckon she's hurt real bad." I told Remus a to tell Mum that Rikki was dead, and he and I were both going to cry, I could tell, and then, at the last possible second, we remembered Lukah's last words. I guess that kept us going. Later, they found a slip in Rikki's pocket. It read: _If I am dead: Curt, Serene, Remus, Mum, Dad, however I died, it is not your fault. Hear me? One more thing: Mum, Dad, Curt, Serene, Remus, I love you. Please get on with your lives, and remember I am not alone. I'm with Lukah. I hope none of you join us too soon. Only come when your time is up. I love you. Love, Rikki _

FLASHBACK

The silence this time was broken by Remus crossing the room, and fishing out of his dresser drawer a worn slip of paper. It was Rikki's note. Lily let out a small sob as she read it.

"Remus?"

"Well, Curt and Serene told all there is to tell about the actual thing, so can I tell about the aftermath?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Okay. They took Serene to a muggle hospital, cause we were too miserable to care…

FLASHBACK

At the hospital, we had to stay out of the room while they ran numerous tests on Serene. When we next saw her, she was still asleep, and she had tubes sticking out of her nose, wrists, and snaking into her shirt. They said she'd be out for about a month! Curt was upset because he didn't want to miss a month of school so near exam time, but he did not want to leave Serene. We compromised. He stayed at the hospital for two weeks and then went back to school. After those two weeks were up, I was so bored. When Serene woke up a few weeks after that, I was overjoyed. Mum gave me a letter to give to Professor Dumbledore and he asked me to ask him if Curt could be let out of school for the remainder of the day. I got to Hogwarts and went into the Great Hall. A lot of people stared at me cause I was only nine and in jeans and a t-shirt instead of the Hogwarts uniform. I did what mum said and Dumbledore excused Curt. We rushed to St. Mungo's. The next day, they left for Hogwarts again. I was so bored. It was weird being alone. Before, I was never alone. Rikki was always right there, and suddenly… she wasn't there anymore.

FLASHBACK

"Not as sad," Mika cried quietly.

"Can I say something quick?" Serene asked.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Thanks. So, when I walked in the Great Hall the next day with Curt, everybody stared. They stared at the tubes in me, but mostly they just stared at me. Suddenly someone started clapping and everybody else joined in. It was wonderful. I'm not being selfish or anything, but it was one of the best feelings in the world, to do something brave, suffer for it, realize people still would have died if you hadn't done it, and people recognize what you did and applaud you on it. It made life's colors a little brighter, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean," Sirius said softly.

"How so?" Serene asked.

"When I got sorted into Gryffindor, I got a letter from my mum and dad. It was awful. I tore it up in little tiny pieces andburnt it. And then my cousin Andy congratulated me on getting Gryffindor and said she almost did before being made a Ravenclaw."

"I see," Serene said.

Remus sneaked a peek at the notebook Mika was still writing in. She closed it abruptly.

"Bad boy," she scolded lightly.

The rest of the evening was taken up by a very memorable pillow fight.

* * *

Need… reviews! Not enough reviews! Come on, 200 reads and like fourteen reviews? Not fair! Then again, looking at the chapter, I'd say that was one of the fairer things of life… Ah, well. I'm a sucker for writing emotion.

One big reason to explain why this took so long: I wrote rough draft 1. I lost rough draft 1. I wrote rough draft 2. I lost rough draft 2. I found rough draft 1. I found rough draft 2. I couldn't decide. I lost rough draft 1. I lost rough draft 2. I almost wrote rough draft 3. I found rough draft 2. I added tons on to rough draft 2. I just posted rough draft 2 (except it's not a rough draft anymore, it's now a final copy)

Lib


	6. Enter the Order

-Chapter 6

Breakfast the next morning was going as usual. When the mail came, Serene took her letter excitedly and opened it.

"Mum and Dad got a new horse for the farm. Her name is Sacrifice and she's really pretty and runs really fast, apparently. Uh…we're going to the Californian coast. We're allowed to bring whoever we want… Hey, Maxey, you going anywhere over break?"

"No, I was actually planning on staying here," Maxey said, picking up a sausage and eating it in one bite.

"Well, now you're not. You'll have plenty of opportunities to stay here. This break, you're coming with us to the States," Serene said.

"Yo, Paris! Come to the States with us over break?" she continued, asking a fourth year of her acquaintance.

"Sure, I'd love to," Paris replied excitedly.

"You doing anything?" Remus asked James, Sirius, and Peter.

"No."

"Maxey's not, so I guess I'm not."

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Want to come to the States with us?" Remus suggested.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Sounds good to me."

"Great. Lily, Jade, Mika, want to come to the States with us?" Remus continued. The girls nodded excitedly and went back to breakfast.

"And Curt'll bring Wendi and Nora, right Curt?" Serene asked.

"Yeah," Curt replied.

"Great. So that's Maxey, Paris, James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Jade, Mika, Wendi, and Nora," Serene said, writing the names down on the back of the parchment and giving it to the owl. "Bye-bye, birdie!" she called.

* * *

"Hello, class! I have a great lesson planned for you today - Oh, what's this?" Valvorez said the next day as an owl flew through her window.

"Miss Lupin, the Headmaster requests your presence in his office immediately, if not sooner," she said, glancing at the letter.

"Me?" Serene asked.

"Yes, you, Miss Lupin," Valvorez sighed, exasperated.

Serene walked out of the room and made her way to Dumbledore's office.

"You wanted to see me, professor?" she asked as she walked into the office without knocking - the stone gargoyle entrance had been left open.

"Yes, indeed, Miss Lupin. Please sit down." After Serene was comfortable, Dumbledore continued. "Your professors all seem to have the same opinion of you; that you'd do well in a more advanced class."

"Really?" Serene asked, overjoyed.

"Yes. Professor McGonagall was under the impression that you could do just as well in a more advanced class than you do now, Professor Hill told me your potions were always the first done and the most accurate, Professor Valvorez said you need foreign languages about as much as you need English, and the others all said similar things."

"Even for arithmancy?" Serene asked.

"Yes. You clearly understand the concept. The many mistakes you make are just parts of life. You seem to have your homework always in either early or on time, and it's almost always a perfect paper. We were trying to solve this conflict, and a solution arose."

"What is this solution, professor?" Serene asked, already thinking she knew the answer.

"Next year, you will begin your fourth year. We don't move students up if we can come up with something that won't affect them as much, and, really, no one wants one less year of Hogwarts, no matter how much they say they do. Therefore, if you would like, every day after school, if you don't have Quidditch practice, you will leave Hogwarts to do some more advanced work. However, and this is important, you must still keep up in your classes at school. If your schoolwork threatens to go down the drain, you will withdraw from these more advanced classes."

"Oh, thank you, Professor! What kind of advanced classes?" Serene asked. She felt as if she could fly.

"Well, first off, I believe I have heard that you wish to be an Auror. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well then, we have an Auror who has just signed on to Auror ranks. There are no big cases she needs to work on, so she's just been filing paperwork. I'm sure she'd be happy to help you achieve that goal. In fact, I know she'll be happy to do that, as I've already spoken to her. That will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Mondays and Wednesdays, you will go to a house of a teacher. She will instruct you how to become an animagus. I hope this suits you. You will have Friday afternoons off," Dumbledore finished, his eyes twinkling furiously behind those half-moon spectacles.

"I'd love that, Professor! Thank you so much," Serene said as she grabbed a lemon drop sitting in a bowl on Dumbledore's desk.

"You're very welcome, Miss Lupin. Have a good day, and come to my office every day after school other than Fridays to Floo to your destination, alright?"

"Okay, sir. Thank you so much!" Serene cried as she left the office, swinging her bag onto her shoulder.

* * *

Dumbledore chuckled as she closed the door. That girl was definitely going places. She would be a good thing, when she graduated, for the Order of the Phoenix. He'd have to keep her in mind. Better yet, he'd have to add her onto his list of possible people. He took out a slip of paper from his desk and looked over it.

_Rubeus Hagrid_

_Alastor Moody_

_Aberforth Dumbledore _

_Curt Lupin, Gryffindor, 7_

_Wendi Gigliotti, Gryffindor, 7_

_Nora Cook, Gryffindor, 7_

_Arthur Weasley, Gryffindor, 5_

_Molly Prewett, Gryffindor, 5_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt, Gryffindor, 6_

_Elphias Doge, Hufflepuff, 7_

_Dedalus Diggle, Hufflepuff, 6_

_Emmeline Vance, Ravenclaw, 5_

_Sturgis Podmore, Hufflepuff, 5_

_Hestia Jones, Ravenclaw, 6_

_Mundungus Fletcher, Hufflepuff, 5_

_Frank Longbottom, Gryffindor, 5_

_Alice Pritchard, Gryffindor, 5_

_Marlene McKinnon, Ravenclaw, 6_

_Benjy Fenwick, Hufflepuff, 5_

_Edgar Bones, Hufflepuff, 6_

_Caradoc Dearborn, Ravenclaw, 7_

_Gideon Prewett, Gryffindor, 4_

_Fabian Prewett, Gryffindor, 4_

_Dorcas Meadowes, Ravenclaw, 7_

_Andromeda Black, Ravenclaw, 7_

Dumbledore smiled slightly as he added not one, but two names onto his list.

* * *

Is that - no, surely not - a PLOT! gasp It can't be, it must be something else!

Well, this chapter might not be much reading material, but I was anxious to get it up. I don't know why, I just was.

So anyway, this chapter took a lot of research on my part. I couldn't find Alice Longbottom's maiden name anywhere, then I saw on this site that I 4get, it said: Though we don't know Alice Longbottom's maiden name, we can guess. And, well, I guess I didn't feel like guessing! I just made one up. It worked, right?

And if I got a house or age wrong (I used my OotP book for names, but not ages, houses, etc.) and you know the real house/age, you can tell me in your review, that's great information, but I'm not going to bother fixing it. You might get brownie points, though!

I just did a lot of math on my week off to figure this out, so you better appreciate it! It can help in a lot of different kinds of fics. (MWPP, trio-era, Nymphadora Tonks, etc.)

Harry Potter (HP) 11 in 1991, born in 1980

James Potter (JP) 20 in 1980, 11 in 1971, born in 1960

Sirius Black (SB) 20 in 1980, 11 in 1971, born in 1960

Nymphadora Tonks (NT) 11 in 1985, born in 1974

1995 - HP - 15

1995 - NT - 21

1980 - HP born

1980 - NT - 6

1980 - SB - 20

Andromeda started Hogwarts in the early to mid 1960s, making her older than Sirius.

Therefore, when the Marauders were fourteen, Andromeda was out of Hogwarts and had a daughter, Nymphadora. 6 years later, Harry was born to 20-year-olds Lily and James, making them 21 when they were murdered.

Please say this info is interesting/useful, because my brain might explode! (This is all information I probably could have found on the internet, but I didn't feel like it!)

Lib


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Harry Potter