A Different Beginning

Chapter XXV - Guests

She was curled in his lap, her head resting against his heart. Her even breathing was calm and normal and sent little butterflies through his stomach. She belonged there.

"I can't stay here forever, you know," she murmured.

"I want you too." Harry told her. "I don't want you to leave."

She reached up to kiss him softly. "I have to get back. He's waiting for me."

"But I'm waiting for you."

Her hand rested on his cheek and she smiled. "Funny, but I didn't know that. It's something you should think about."

Harry kissed her deeply, his hands in her hair. "No, I need you."

Her lips met his once more before she stood up. "Show me it's true. Listen to your heart." She began to walk backwards and she faded back into the wall.

Harry's eyes opened and he sighed. He had been having similar dreams like that one for the last month. He wasn't sure what they meant or who they were about. All he knew was that when he woke up and the girl from his dreams wasn't there he felt a kind of longing that he couldn't explain. This mystery girl was beginning to make him ache. He sighed and pushed the thoughts from his mind.

He didn't need to worry about crazy dreams at the moment. He had guests coming over. With that happy thought he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

*******

Harry hurried down to breakfast the next day. He was dying to know if Dumbledore had given James an answer about when the Weasleys and Hermione were coming to the manor. The excitement of his friends coming made him forget about the terrible nightmares that he was having night after night. It seemed as if he was switching from nightmare to the dream about the mystery woman to nightmare. He was grateful to Sirius for putting that charm on his bedroom. He felt a lot better knowing that his Da had one less thing to worry about.

He stepped into the kitchen just in time to hear James utter a stream of curses that caused Harry to stop in the doorway and stare in shock. He had never heard such a stream of words come out of his father's mouth. "Da?"

James' head whipped around quickly and he sighed. "Do not repeat what I just said, ever!"

Harry laughed. "Alright, what's going on?"

James pointed at the paper; his eyes had darkened to the colour of smoke. "These bastards are ... they are completely ... damn it! What right do they have to do this?"

"Do what?" Sirius asked as he stepped into the room. He straddled a chair around the table and helped himself to a muffin.

"This," James replied as he tossed the Daily Prophet at him.

Sirius was quiet for a few minutes as he read the page. "This is pure bullshit! What the hell is the ministry trying to prove by doing this?"

Remus came into the kitchen and sighed. "I was wondering when you two would manage to glance at the paper. Neither one of you have looked at in the last few days."

James glared at his friend. "You knew about this?"

Remus nodded. "Prongs, there's nothing that we can do about it. The ministry refuses to believe that Voldemort is back."

"What is in that paper?" Harry exploded angrily. "I am in this room too you know!"

James sighed. "Harry, I don't think that you should read it. It's just going to upset you."

"So it's about me then? Who cares? They've been writing lies about me all year?" Harry replied.

Sirius shook his head. "This is different. It's not strictly about you it's more so ..."

"Making you out to look like an idiot." Remus replied.

"What do you mean?"

James sighed and took the paper from Sirius. "There's a story here about this crazy guy who swears that he saw these creatures that don't exist. He wants to open up a zoo for them."

"But they don't exist?" Harry asked.

James shook his head. "No, they don't exist. So at the end of the article it says, direct quote here: a tale worthy of Harry Potter."

Harry's eyes hardened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sirius shrugged. "That he's lying and so are you. The ministry wants the magical community to think that you're a liar because they don't want to admit that Voldemort is back."

"That's ridiculous! So what the ministry is just going to make me out to look like a liar so that no one will believe that he's back? Then what the hell are they going to do when he makes it known that he is back?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't know. I guess they'll look like idiots."

James ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "People at work have been making comments to me about it, but I wasn't sure what they meant. I swear to Merlin, if I hear one more damn thing about my son being an attention-seeking pathological liar, I'm going to punch them."

Sirius leaned over and squeezed James' shoulder. "Don't worry about it, James. You'll just have to ignore it. Just like Harry is going to have to learn how to do when he goes back to school."

Harry groaned. "You don't think they'll stop by then?"

"I have no idea," Remus said. "But unless something big happens that proves to them, showing them with their own eyes, that Voldemort is truly back. I think that it's going to continue."

Harry groaned and took a seat at the kitchen table, burying his head in his hands. "But wait! At the end of the term, Dumbledore told the entire school exactly what happened. So everyone should believe me right?"

James shook his head. "After listening to lies from the ministry for two months? Good luck."

Harry dragged his fingers through his hair in frustration and Sirius smirked. "What are you smirking about?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'm just amused by how many things you do similar to James is all, like father like son. So got any good news going?"

James nodded. "I talked to Dumbledore earlier this morning. He's coming by in about an hour to add to the wards around the manor. He wants the three of us to add to them as well. Then he's going to contact the Weasleys and Hermione to see about coming down here."

"So they don't know yet?" Harry asked.

James shook his head. "No and I don't think Molly and Arthur are going to be too pleased to be leaving their home for the entire summer."

Harry nodded. "Well, it will be so brilliant when they arrive though!"

Sirius grinned. "Yeah it will. Hey Harry, I was thinking last night when I went to bed about your animagi forms, and I realized that we forgot one important skill that a phoenix can do."

Remus nodded. "Yes we did, flaming."

"Flaming?" Harry asked. "What is that?"

James grinned. "That's how phoenixes travel. They disappear in a ball of flame and appear somewhere else."

Harry grinned. "Brilliant! Can I try it?"

Sirius laughed. "After breakfast we'll go over it. Then you can try your wolf form again if you want."

Harry nodded. "Why did I learn the owl so fast but I can't even change my arm for the wolf?"

"I think it's because the wolf is a completely different creature. It's a mammal. Birds are not mammals and the wolf is larger and a lot different then an owl and a phoenix." Remus explained. "I think that once you manage to get the wolf down-pat that the lion will come just as quickly as the owl did after the phoenix."

"Alright."

Dumbledore arrived just as they were finishing off their breakfast. Harry stayed in the kitchen while Dumbledore, James, Sirius, and Remus went out to add more protective wards to the manor. Maddy and Mickey sat down at the table with him.

"You is looking sad, Harry," Maddy replied.

Mickey nodded. "Is everything alright?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm just worried about everything. I can't wait for everyone to get here. And I want to work on my animagi forms some more. I also want to know how much more protection can really be added to this place."

Mickey nodded. "That is understandable, Harry. Potter Manor is very well protected but it is not hurting anything by having it safer. Maddy and I is adding our own protection once again also."

Harry smiled. "That's good. At least we'll all be well-protected."

Maddy nodded. "Yes you is. Would you is liking more waffles, Harry?"

Harry shook his head no as he drank the rest of his apple juice. "No, I'm alright, thanks Maddy."

He watched as they got up and began to clear the table. Then he went upstairs to his room to shower and dress for the day. When he came back down, Sirius and Remus were waiting in the living room and James and Dumbledore were gone.

"Well, is everything all good now?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded. "It's all good. Are you ready to try flaming?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah but I don't have any idea how to do it?"

Remus laughed. "I think that once you're in the phoenix form you will know. I'm going to go into the kitchen; we want you to flame there."

Harry nodded as Remus left the room and he changed into his phoenix form. He pictured the kitchen in his mind and thought, let's travel there. He looked at his wings and watched in fascination as a warm yet comforting sensation overtook him and as the sensation wore off he found himself in the kitchen. Remus was grinning at him. He decided to flame back to the living room now. He did the same thing and when he appeared there, Sirius whistled as Remus stepped back into the room.

"Great job!" Remus replied.

Harry changed back into himself and then into an owl to fly around the room for a few minutes. Then he changed back into himself and dropped down into an armchair. "That was fun!"

Remus grinned. "Ready to work on the wolf now?"

Harry nodded. "I guess so."

He started concentrating on turning his left arm into a black wolf's paw. He found it to be even more frustrating not to be able to do it. He worked at it for two hours and then he leaned back in the chair and groaned.

Sirius grinned. "It's like being right back at the beginning, Harry. Don't give up alright? I know that you can do it!"

Harry nodded. "Well, I think I'm done for today, if you don't mind. I can't even concentrate anymore I'm just too frustrated."

Sirius nodded. "That's understandable. We'll try some more tomorrow."

Harry nodded. "Uh, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, just to tell you ... I haven't told anyone else about learning how to do this. Other then you, Da, and Professor McGonagall that is."

Remus glanced at Harry in surprise. "Ron and Hermione don't know?"

Harry shook his head. "No and neither does Ginny."

"Speaking of Gorgeous," Sirius replied. "I meant to ask you before. She knows about the mirror but I've never seen Ron or Hermione with you when I was talking to you."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, they don't know about the mirror either. Ginny only knows because she found out by accident. It was kind of my private thing you know, but they don't know. And I don't want them to know about my animagi just yet."

Sirius nodded. "Whatever Harry, it is your decision. But Moony and I will keep our mouths shut."

"Okay. Uncle Sirius, why do you call Ginny 'Gorgeous'?" Harry asked.

Sirius grinned. "Because she is."

Maddy stepped into the living room. "Harry, Molly Weasley is in the fire for you."

Harry nodded. "Thanks Maddy." He headed out into the entrance hall and knelt down in front of the grate. "Hi Molly."

Molly smiled warmly at him. "Hello Harry dear, how are you?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm alright. How are you?"

She smiled. "I'm fine. But Dumbledore just left after informing me that my entire family is to move into your home with you?"

Harry nodded. "I know, isn't it great?"

"Hmm," Molly said. "I don't know why. I mean we are perfectly safe here at the Burrow and we don't want to intrude on your home."

"Molly, don't be ridiculous! Da, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, and I would love to have you. Dumbledore originally wanted to place you guys at Order Headquarters and Da and I said no way. The place is terrible! No offence, Uncle Sirius."

Sirius grinned from behind Harry. "None taken. It is sadly true."

Harry nodded. "And we have lots of room here! I mean, it's only the four of us and our two house elves. I can't wait for all of you to arrive."

Molly sighed. "Why is your home safer though?"

Sirius knelt down in front of the fire this time. "I can answer that, Molly. Potter Manor has been in the Potter family for over five centuries. The wards and protection on this place is unbelievable. The house elves have added more. James, Remus, and I have added more wards and Dumbledore himself came and took care of more wards this morning. Not to mention the fact that the manor is unplottable. Trust me, you would much rather live here then at headquarters. That place is dead depressing and filled with only Merlin knows what kind of creatures and dark arts stuff."

Molly nodded. "Well, I already told Dumbledore that we would go, not that the man gave me much choice on the matter. How soon can you have us?"

"A.S.A.P." Harry replied. "Da said as soon as the wards were up. They did that this morning and Dumbledore already came."

Molly nodded. "Alright then, we'll be there after dinner tonight. It will be me, Arthur, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. I'm not sure when Hermione will arrive as Dumbledore was taking care of that."

Harry grinned. "Great! I can't wait for all of you to get here! See you later, Molly!" Molly's head disappeared from the fire and Harry turned around to grin at Sirius. "They're coming today!"

Sirius laughed. "I heard. Well, I'm going to go upstairs and help Moony with some research. Why don't you fill Maddy and Mickey in on how many rooms you need?"

Harry grinned. "Got it!" He hurried off into the kitchen and told Maddy and Mickey that they would need six bedrooms prepared for guests that would be coming this evening. When he stepped back into the entrance hall there was a knock at the front door. Harry found this odd as no one really used the front door; they tended to apparate or floo. He walked over and pulled it open.

There was a really pretty young woman there with big brown eyes and bubblegum pink hair. She had a pixie look to her and a heart-shaped face. Next to her stood Hermione with her trunk next to her and Crookshanks in her arms.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed.

Hermione grinned as she hugged Harry. "Hi, Dumbledore told me that I was to come here right away."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Ron and everyone won't be over until after dinner. Come on in. And who are you?"

The woman with the pink hair grinned. "I'm Tonks. I was in charge of getting Hermione here."

"Oh."

Tonks grinned. "I work for the Order and I work with your father. I'm an Auror."

Harry grinned. "That's cool. Are you going to hang around for a bit?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I just need to talk to Sirius for a minute. Is he in?"

"Yeah," he grinned as Maddy came into the room. "Hey Maddy, this is my friend Hermione. She arrived early. So you can bring her stuff up to her room and Tonks here wants to talk to Uncle Sirius."

"I'll be right back, Harry."

When Maddy turned towards the stairs with Hermione's trunk and Crookshanks cage, Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You own a house elf!"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah so, we don't treat them bad. And I already tried to explain that to you."

"How dare you? After everything that I was on about last year with S.P.E.W. and after everything Winky went through and you can have the nerve to own a house elf!" She exclaimed.

"Hermione! Calm down. Maddy and Mickey have –"

"You own two!"

Harry sighed. "Maddy and Mickey are like family, okay. They are well treated and they eat most meals with us and everything. They are like equals and in case you didn't notice they wear clothes, tidy little uniforms. They are free in pretty much everyway and Da makes sure that they have vacation time but they refuse money. Alright. And as for Dobby and Winky, Uncle Sirius has got them working at headquarters, they are as happy as can be."

Sirius came down the stairs then. "Hey Hermione. Nymph! No way!"

Tonks laughed and threw herself into Sirius' arms. "It's Tonks!"

He grinned. "Aw, but Nymphadora is so cute."

Tonks smacked him playfully. "It's Tonks."

"Your name is Nymphadora?" Harry asked.

Tonks nodded. "Nymphadora Tonks which is why I'm sure you can understand why I want to be called by my surname. Sirius and I are cousins."

Sirius nodded. "Second cousins and a bunch of removed from this end and that to be exact. But Tonks and I always got along good when we were kids. My mum hated Aunt Andromeda because she married a muggleborn. It was very un-Black of her."

Harry grinned. "Nice to know your family didn't completely suck."

Sirius laughed. "Yes it does."

Remus came down the stairs, running his fingers through his hair as he did. "What's going on down here?" He asked and then he stopped and stared at Tonks. Harry had never seen quite that look in Remus' eyes before but they had deepened to a dark gold. "Who are you?"

Sirius grinned as Tonks smiled up at Remus. "Moony, this is my cousin, Nymphadora Tonks; she's an Auror and works for the Order. Tonks, this is one of my best mates and a fellow Order member, Remus Lupin."

Remus only nodded and when he spoke he stuttered. "Um, it is ... n-nice to meet you."

Tonks grinned. Her eyes twinkled at Remus and she turned back to look at him again, biting her bottom lip softly when he dragged his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, you too. Well, I just wanted to say hi after I dropped Hermione off but I have to get back to work now. I'll see you guys later. It was nice meeting you Hermione, Harry, Remus, see you around." As she turned to head out the door she tripped over a hat stand. "Oops, sorry!" She disapparated on the spot and Sirius laughed.

"Still klutzy, poor Tonks!"

Harry turned to Hermione. "Well, want me to show you around?"

Hermione nodded. "Alright. I'm sorry about what I said about the house elves, it's just that I feel strongly about the enslavement. But you are treating them right so I won't say anything. Are Dobby and Winky really happy?"

"Yup. Uncle Sirius is paying Dobby but Winky still refuses wages. But they are happy." Harry explained as he brought her into the library first. "I figured that you'd like this room the best."

Hermione gasped. "Oh my! You have your own library!"

"Yeah, pretty neat eh?"

Hermione ooohed and ahhed at all of the appropriate places as Harry showed her around Potter Manor. He showed her the room that she would be staying in last.

"All of the bedrooms have a private bathroom and sitting room so you'll have a lot of privacy."

Hermione grinned. "Harry, this house is amazing! How many rooms are in here?"

He smiled back. "Thanks. I'm not sure exactly, I know there are thirty rooms in the East Wing and thirty in the West Wing, then there's all of the ones in the middle like the common room and the study and the kitchen and the library. I don't know there's a lot."

"Oh my! I just realized! I was wondering why the outside of this place looked so familiar! Is this Glasgow Hall?"

"Er yeah, we just call it Potter Manor though." Harry replied.

Hermione squealed in delight. "Harry! You live in Glasgow Hall — oh my god! That means that your father is the Duke and wow."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're so weird sometimes. My Da's a duke?"

Hermione nodded. "Didn't you know? Well, I assume he is, I mean it says that Glasgow Hall is owned by the Duke of Draíochta."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that kind of sounds familiar. I don't think we dwell on it."

"Dwell on it?" She shrieked. "Glasgow Hall! The Duke of Draíochta meaning magical or enchanting! Harry, this place is like a national landmark, a well-known mansion even in the muggle world! It's known for its Gaelic name and for ..." She sighed. "Never mind. You obviously don't realize the historical significance of your own home." When he continued to stare at her in amusement she sighed. "Okay, change of subject. I wanted to mention earlier, did you notice the way that Professor Lupin and Tonks were looking at each other?"

"Normally? Why?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys! No, there was some definite attraction there."

"Uncle Remus? No way!"

Hermione laughed. "I think so. Well, you'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Harry shook his head. "No, I mean, Tonks is got to be like twenty-four and –"

"She'll be twenty-four in November, she told me."

"Exactly and Uncle Remus is thirty-three."

Hermione grinned. "So?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, well ... never mind! Let's go downstairs."

Hermione laughed. "Alright, let's go but I was only saying."

As Harry headed downstairs he thought about what Hermione had said. Uncle Remus and Tonks? They had only just met. Besides, he remembered Uncle Sirius and James saying that Uncle Remus never let any women in. He never had because he was too worried about being a werewolf. He shook the thoughts from his mind and instead decided to see if Hermione wanted to watch a movie. Since she was muggleborn, she probably would be able to pick out a good one.

**********

Harry and Hermione spent the afternoon watching movies as the day turned out to be pretty dreary and rainy. James came home just before dinner and headed into the living room.

"Harry, Tonks told me that Hermione had arrived."

Harry nodded. "Yeah and Molly said everyone else would be here after dinner."

"Hello, Mr. Potter," Hermione replied.

James smiled at her. "Hi Hermione, how are you? And please call me James."

She grinned. "Good. I love your house, James."

Harry grinned. "But she's very disappointed in us because of the whole house elf thing."

James laughed. "Well, there's nothing that I can do about that. Besides, something smells amazing at the moment, what's Maddy making?"

Harry grinned. "I believe she mentioned something about a pot roast."

James licked his lips. "I love her so much."

Harry laughed. "She said that you were having a tough day so she was going to make your favourite meal."

James grinned. "Good. Well, let's go eat then."

They headed into the kitchen just as Maddy was serving the food. "Good timing, James."

"Maddy, I love you."

Maddy laughed. "You are a bad boy, James. I is only making your favourite. Mickey, come on now, it is dinner time."

Mickey stepped into the room with Sirius and Remus behind him. "I is only getting Remus and Sirius."

They all sat down and began to scoop out some of the delicious pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and fresh bread. It was all delicious.

"So Hermione, how are your parents doing? Were they upset that you had to leave so early?" James asked.

Hermione shrugged. "No, they weren't really upset. I mean, they understand what is going on so they know I'll be safer here. They are okay otherwise. They have some big dental convention coming up anyway. I believe they were making a trip to San Francisco."

"Your parents are dentists?" Remus asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yup, both of them."

Sirius grinned. "No offence, but I have no idea why people would want to look into other people's mouths on a daily basis."

Hermione laughed. "Well, they like it I guess. I've never really asked them. They're very busy people."

Sirius shrugged. "I'm just saying, gross job."

Hermione smiled. "I suppose. Like I said they're very busy people so I've never really asked them about it."

Harry grinned and decided that it was best to probably change the subject. Hermione always seemed a bit touchy when it came to her parents. "Da, did you find out anything else about Voldemort?"

James shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I didn't. He really does seem to be laying low for the moment. Dumbledore approved of headquarters for the Order though."

"Excuse me, but everyone keeps talking about this Order, what is it?" Hermione asked.

"The Order of the Phoenix. It's an organization that Dumbledore began during the first war against Voldemort. We're in the process of bringing it back to help fight against him." Sirius explained.

Hermione nodded. "I see."

They had only just finished dinner when Foolish began to bark madly. Harry only grinned. "He always does that when someone flooes here."

He hurried into the entrance hall just in time to see Ginny pop out of the fireplace. She stumbled and he reached forward to catch her. She laughed when he caught her around the waist.

"Thanks Harry, I never can come out of these things straight."

He grinned and wondered briefly why his heart was pounding suddenly. "No problem." He pulled her out of the way to stand next to Ron who was grinning.

"This is your house, mate?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty great."

Molly, Arthur, Fred, and George came in next with a mixture of trunks and cages and bags. Everyone was talking at once as Maddy and Mickey came into the room with James. James instructed them to bring the bags up to everyone's room.

"Hello everyone," James replied. "I see that you all made it. Where's Percy?"

Molly burst into tears and buried her face on her husband's shoulder. Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny all looked angry.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Percy left." Ginny replied.

"Left?"

Ron nodded. "He got promoted in the ministry. But Dad says that he thinks the ministry just wants him to keep an eye on anyone who is associated with Dumbledore. No one is too happy with Dumbledore at the moment because of the whole You-Know-Who thing. So he left and accused Dad of all sorts of terrible things. It was horrible."

Ginny nodded. "He said how he was struggling with Dad's bad reputation at work and how he was lucky to have even been promoted. It was a terrible row. Finally he just said that he didn't want to be a part of the family anymore and he walked out."

"Wow," Harry replied.

George nodded. "He's a git!"

"The world's largest git!" Fred replied.

James slapped his hands together and grinned. "Well then, why don't I show Molly and Arthur to their room? Harry, why don't you show Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George around the manor?"

Harry grinned as he reached down to pat Foolish on the head. "Alright, so do you guys want to see my Quidditch pitch?"

Ron goggled at him. "You've got a Quidditch pitch?"

Hermione stepped into the entrance hall. "Trust me, Ron, the Quidditch pitch is nothing compared to the rest of the house."