Summary: Harry's parents didn't die; he has a brother, Hayden, who is the boy who lived. He is neglected and finally runs away at the age of seven. He leaves his parents and meets Draco, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Ron where he finally finds home and the reason to fight. Meanwhile at Hogwarts, trouble is brewing. Harry gets the call for help and now, he has to face his past and the truth.

Lightning- Harry Potter

Athena- Hermione Granger

Drake- Draco Malfoy

Fire- Ron Weasley

Sunshine- Luna Lovegood

Nex- Neville Longbottom

Disclaimer: All legal rights belong to J.K. Rowling

"Do you see her?" A dark-haired girl whispered to her friend.

"With the weird eyes? Yeah, she looks like she's out of it. Wonder what's wrong with her?" The blue-eyed friend whispered back to her.

"She's probably crazy." The first girl giggled. "Or maybe she's been taking fairy dust or something. Probably dark magic."

The two girls burst into giggles, before a third girl, sitting on the other side of the table, kicked them hard.

"Ow! What is it, Marietta?" The first girl exclaimed.

"Be quiet, guys! That prefect's giving us a really dirty look!" Marietta hissed. When the girls looked over, the fifth year prefect who was sitting next to the object of their gossip was glaring at them, before the weird blonde girl said something to her about Wrackspurts.

The second girl snorted, rolling her eyes, but the two girls quieted down anyway.

Sunshine was sitting next to Padma Patil, eating pudding.

The sorting was finished and now the Great Hall was full of people eating, talking and laughing. The students sitting at the blue-and-bronze table were staring and whispering at the odd blonde-and-purple-tipped girl who was gazing into the Hall with dreamy eyes.

Sunshine didn't care that everyone was staring at her. It happened most of the time she was out with others, after all. The girl with the weird eyes, they called her. People looked at her unfocused, dreamy eyes and immediately assumed she was strange. Perhaps they were correct, but they also underestimated her and how much her dreamy eyes saw.

She had Fae blood running through her veins. Sunshine could see between both the physical world and the spiritual world. She saw many things that others didn't and she observed many things that others missed. So Sunshine didn't get annoyed much when she heard the whispers about her eyes.

Instead, she let her gaze float along the Gryffindor table.

"There are so much wrackspurts here, Padma." She said dreamily, as her voice usually was when she was focusing on two dimensions at once. "Do you think I should give them some of the jewelry I charmed? All of the non-thinking they are doing can't possibly be good for their brains."

Sunshine turned towards one of her oldest friends, where she saw Padma smiling gently at her.

"I think you should just keep your jewelry, Su. You worked really hard on them and the Gryffindors don't really seem to mind at all."

She frowned in thought. "No, I shouldn't do that. If they were ever under an attack, being able to think clearly could save their life. I'll think I'll give them as a Christmas present. Hogwarts needs to prepare against attacks after all. And besides, it's sad that a lot of people can't see the world around them clearly because of their fuzzy brains, don't you think?"

Sunshine turned her gaze back towards the Gryffindor table, this time searching for her friends.

There! She met eyes with her boyfriend and saw exasperation in his deep hazel eyes at the loud and brazen students around him, though when he met her gaze, it softened. Sunshine sent her boyfriend a smile, at which Nex sent one back to her.

Nex looked tired, Sunshine mused. There was weariness in his eyes and his back was slightly slouched. She frowned in concern, before she stretched a hand out to summon a Nargle, messenger spirits. Nargles were one of the fae who could travel between the physical and faerie world, sometimes both at the same time. They could carry items, messages, secrets… and emotions.

Cheer up, Nexi. Sunshine thought. Everything's going to be okay. She sent the Nargle to her best friend, sending soothing hope with the spirit. Nex looked at her in the eye and smiled gratefully, a little more light filling his eyes. Sunshine nodded at him, and watched as Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan tried to get his attention and begin a conversation with them.

Sunshine took another spoonful of the pudding, and saw her fellow blonde Guardian sitting ramrod straight, playing half-heartedly with a piece of chocolate cake. Drake was obviously uncomfortable with all the whisperings in the hall. Sunshine found it ironic sometimes that a person who loved attention and drama were sometimes the most uncomfortable in situations like these.

"Wait Su, what do you mean if they are attacked?" Padma's voice broke through her musing.

Sunshine shook herself out of her thoughts, refocusing back into the physical world and blinked at her Indian friend. "I mean if they ever get attacked, of course. Riddle's back, didn't you know that?"

Padma frowned. "Of course I knew that, but he isn't exactly attacking right now, is he? So why would Hogwarts have to prepare against attacks? Isn't Hogwarts supposed to be the safest place in Britain?"

Sunshine shrugged. "No place is invincible, Padma Patil. Besides, Tom Riddle won't stay quiet forever."

"Wait, is that why you guys are here?" Padma asked. "You guys have avoided stepping a foot in this castle like a plague for five years. Is this why you guys suddenly decided to become a student here?"

Sunshine gave her friend a small smile. "The Blibbering Humdingers have just informed me that it is the right time, that's all. Besides, there is unnatural magic here that we need to find and destroy."

"What's that supposed to mean? What do you guys know that you haven't told us?" Padma whispered frantically.

The blonde girl gave her dark-haired friend a slightly mysterious smile. "You'll find out soon, don't worry."

As Padma huffed in frustration, knowing that Sunshine wouldn't tell her anything more, Sunshine took another spoonful of the pudding, smiling slightly. Perhaps her brothers have rubbed off on her more than she had thought, she found herself quite liking the theatrics that Drake, Fire and Lightning normally put on.

Now… she could feel the slight chill coming from the horcrux, but even by focusing on the spiritual world fully, she couldn't quite pinpoint the location of the hidden object. Hmm, Sunshine had asked the Blibbering Humbidingers and the Nargles to search the castle for her,but they hadn't had much luck. Perhaps she should try something else… Maybe ask the ghosts or the house-elves for help?

A room where all lost things turn up.

Sunshine shook her head in frustration and took another spoonful of the pudding. She and her team would figure something out.

Sunshine was sure of it.

Athena adjusted her weight on the fancy armchair, decorated with green and silver embroidery. Lightning was sitting next to her, as Daphne, Blaise and Theo was perched on the couch across from them.

They had been just talking about how their life had been during last summer. She hadn't seen Daphne or Blaise for few months, seeing as Daphne had been in Paris with her mother and sister and Blaise had run off to Italy again to avoid his newest stepfather. Theo was the only one who had remained in England and even then, Athena had only run into him once in the Knockturn alley, and that was back in July, only days after the Guardians had returned from the graveyard, having seen one of their oldest friends die.

Athena sighed to herself. When had life gotten so complicated? She missed the light-heartedness they had when they were younger, when they had managed to find small jobs and their only worry was their families or Law Enforcements catching up with them again. When they hadn't had to worry constantly about their friends, about Lightning's scar hurting, or Severus being discovered as a spy.

Before Voldemort had risen back to life again.

She turned back into her friends' conversation, internally shaking off the thoughts in her busy mind.

"So what's wrong with him this time?" Theo was asking.

Blaise sighed. "He's just…too normal, I suppose. For a Count, he's unbelievably boring. No matter, it's not like he's going to be around forever."

Lightning winced. "Your mother still at it, then?"

"This is what, her seventh husband by now?" Theo asked.

Blaise shrugged. "Not likely she'll stop now. They don't call her the Black Widow for nothing." He shook his head, sighing. "I'm never getting married."

"Your line will die out with you, then." Theo pointed out.

"Doesn't matter." Blaise shrugged. "If any of you guys have kids, you can name me the godfather and I'll just pass on the title of Lord Zabini. Or I can always blood-adopt them. Not like I really give a damn."

"Lord Nott-Zabini." Theo tested out. "Sounds like a mouthful."

Blaise chuckled. "That's the offer. Take it or leave it."

"You guys talk about the strangest things." Athena deadpanned.

"Perks of being us, I guess." Blaise retorted. "You know you love it, A."

"You boys are idiots." Daphne sighed.

"And yet, we are friends with you, for some inexplicable reason. Merlin knows why." Athena added.

"Aww, don't be like that, Theena!" Lightning shot a teasing look at her. "I thought we were best friends!"

"Hold that thought, I'm rethinking the decision now." Athena shot back. "Can I get back to you on that? I think I might like Daphne and Sunshine better."

Blaise chuckled. "Ditched for the Ice Queen, that's harsh."

"Shut it, Zabini or I'll show you just how the Ice Queen got her nickname." Daphne replied, smirking.

"How, by silent treatment? Cold shoulder?" Lightning guessed.

Theo shivered from his memory of first year, while Daphne's smug look got more pronounced. "Actually, she cursed a fifth year and literally turned him into a human snowman."

Lightning raised his eyebrow, as if impressed. "How old were you?"

Daphne shot off a smug smile. "I was in first year."

"Now that's impressive." Athena said. "Mind teaching me that spell?"

Lightning's head shot up, panicked. "No, Greengrass! Don't do that to us!"

Athena rolled her eyes. "Hush, you." She said, hitting Lightning over the head lightly.

"More importantly," Daphne said, leaning forward and dropping her tone slightly. "Now that everyone's finally gone, can we talk about the important stuff now?"

Athena held up a hand, her gaze darting around to make sure everyone was gone from the common room, and nodded. She pulled out her wand and placed charms on the doors and around their seats to ward people off from interrupting them.

"Just in case." She said.

"Finally." Theo grumbled. "It took them way longer than it should have for these people to go to bed."

Lightning shrugged. "Well, can't help it now. It might have been faster if we just dropped a dungbomb or something like you suggested, but we would also have had to sit in that stench and I'd rather not."

"So, what do you want to know?" Athena asked, slipping into what Li and Drake called her "business mode".

"First of all, why are you here now?" Theo asked. "Not that I'm not glad—I'm happy to see you guys every day, but I know you avoided this place for the last four years or so. So, why the sudden change?"

Athena and Lightning exchanged glances. "Dumbledore hired us." Athena said.

Blaise's head jerked up.

"Dumbledore? Dumbledore hired you?"

"More over, why did you come if Dumbledore hired you?" Theo asked.

"Well, at least, we're sure that it's because of what happened in June. We aren't completely sure of his motives though, if he just wants to keep the 'Boy Who Lived' safe in Hogwarts or he wants to keep him under his influence." Athena replied.

"Probably a bit of both." Lightning added. "Anyway, he's been tracking us since June. There's been squads of aurors and his people after us. I got caught by surprise a couple weeks ago."

Daphne nodded. "It doesn't surprise me that he's tried so hard to find you. Ever since Potter gave his testimony in the court, Fudge has been in uproar about the real Boy-Who-Lived's disappearance."

Lightning grimaced at the moniker.

"Father says that the Potters have been in a lot of heat, too." Theo said. "They've been getting a lot of criticism from the Wizengamot. Apparently, they blame the Potters for your disappearance."

Athena scoffed. "Figures. Typical politicians-they only start caring when their perfect little images might get ruined. And yet they're still not doing jackshit about the deatheaters and Voldemort sympathisers within the ministry."

"That's been the Ministry's policy since forever; pretend to be doing something, argue over what shouldn't really matter and hope that the problem will go away, and maybe it will." Daphne drawled.

Blaise nodded, agreeing. "So what was Dumbledore's excuse to get you here, anyway?"

"Well," Athena began, "he said that he's hiring us for help, to protect the school and the students. We met with him before school started and he invited us to help out with the war as allies."

"Seriously?" Theo asked. "That's the excuse he made? I mean, don't get me wrong, you six are great at what you do and I'm glad to have you on our side but Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, he could have come up with a better excuse." Lightning laughed humourlessly. "But at least because he used that excuse, we don't have to pay the astronomical fee of schooling or room and board."

"Honestly, Dumbledore is one of the most powerful wizards in Britain." Athena said. "I don't like him definitely, but I can admit that. He's lived for decades, had probably a lot of experience and he's been through two wars. Not to mention that he was very against the idea of 'children' getting involved in fighting. We weren't stupid to actually fall for the excuse."

"So why would you go along with Dumbledore's whatever plan he has if you knew about it?" Theo asked.

"We have some things we need to take care of while we're here." Lightning shrugged.

"Besides, whatever we did, Dumbledore wasn't likely to give up on getting Li to Hogwarts." Athena added. "He would have continued on keeping tabs on us, followed us and probably interrupt at the worst possible moment or see what they weren't supposed to see. This was our best choice."

Theo and Blaise exchanged glances, before sighing at Athena's vagueness. They all knew that there was more to what the duo were saying, but it wasn't likely that they would tell them right now.

"You and your blasted secrecy." Blaise grumbled, glaring when Lightning snickered.

Athena shrugged. "Sorry guys, but right now, this is the kind of thing where less people know about it, the better it is. I promise, we'll tell you when we get it all sorted out."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Sure, Athena."

Theo and Lightning snickered at Daphne's exasperated but fond voice.

Hayden watched the blonde newcomer out of the corner of his eyes.

The blonde, who vaguely reminded him of the stuck up school governor who stormed into the school during his second year, looked up, having seemingly noticed his gaze. Hayden hurriedly jerked his eyes away and turned towards his trunk again, which was still half-unpacked.

The blonde snorted quietly before he turned back to the whispered conversation he was having with the brunette newcomer. Hayden strained his eyes to hear, but couldn't make out anything other than the harsh tone of voice that suggested they were arguing.

Careful to not be caught staring again, the former Boy-Who-Lived busied his hands with smoothing out the wrinkles on his school robes, before he cautiously looked back up at them again.

The blonde haired boy-Drake, he had called himself-threw up his hands, huffing and glaring at the other boy. The brown haired boy-Nex, Hayden reminded himself-smiled apologizingly with a placating hand gesture.

Drake rolled his eyes, before he spun around, glaring at Hayden. He gulped, staring down at his robes, hoping the blonde didn't see him staring.

Of course, it didn't work.

"If you've got something to say, Potter, say it instead of staring at me like you've got a bloody crush on me." Drake demanded. All throughout his conversation with Nex, he had felt the Potter boy staring at him continuously.

Caught, Hayden frowned at the boy.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hayden retorted, pushing down the wave of questions that rose up.

Drake rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." He scoffed.

Drake returned his attention back to whatever conversation he had been having. He was whispering furiously and gesturing wildly, seemingly winning back the argument he had been previously losing.

Hayden returned back to contemplation. He did have a lot of questions that he wanted an answer to and the other boy had sort of, invited him to ask, right? (Hayden ignored the part that he probably only said it to stop him from staring.) Anyway, it couldn't hurt to ask.

Even so, Hayden hesitated for a moment before he opened his mouth, interrupting the whispered conversation the two Guardians were having.

"So what has Harry been doing since he's been with you guys?" Hayden asked.

Drake blinked. "Lightning." He said.

"What?" Hayden frowned, confused.

"His name is Lightning, get it right, Potter." The blonde sneered. "And he's been busy."

Hayden scowled at him. The famous twin didn't like being reminded of his lost brother's new identity. Being reminded that Harry didn't miss his family, miss him at all, like Hayden had missed his twin brother.

That Hayden was just a part of a past that his brother had thrown away like he had thrown away his name, who Lightning had replaced with another brother, another best friend, who was standing in front of him right now.

"Like what?" Hayden asked. What was Lightning so busy doing that he had left him for?

Drake sneered at the famous twin's scowl. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Few feet away from their small confrontation, Nex sighed at the visible tension and temper on his friend's face. Sighing softly, Nex stepped up next to Drake, trying to diffuse the situation before his hot-tempered friend ended up hurting someone.

"Come on Drake, it's late and we need to be up early to meet others tomorrow. You should get some sleep." Nex interjected.

Drake glanced sharply at Nex for a moment, before he took in the warning look his brown-haired friend was sending him and nodded.

"Fine." Drake muttered. "I call the bed closest to the door."

Seamus cleared his throat. "No, you don't. That's mine."

Drake stared hard at the Irishman, neither backing down, before Nex rolled his eyes next to him.

"No worries," Nex said. "He'll take the one by the window. No one is using that one, right?"

Drake scowled at him, his displeasure and anger at the previous conversation still remaining, before sneering dramatically.

"Whatever." Drake muttered.

"It's not like the position of the bed matters much anyways and you know it, Drake." Nex said. "We've slept in much worse places before compared to this luxurious bed, yeah?"

Drake gave him a look that said whatever-just-stop-talking, that Nex was very good at reading after years spent with both Drake and Fire. He grinned.

"Why are you travelling with Lightning, anyway?" Hayden asked. "Did you run away from your homes too and leave everyone behind?"

Drake and Nex both stiffened up slightly, Drake from memories flooding into his brain and the frustration from the Potter boy's questions, and Nex from watching his friend's reactions.

Drake didn't answer, ignoring the raven completely.

"Hey, don't ignore Hayden, you bastard." Seamus shouted at the blonde, reaching out to tap his shoulder.

Drake reached out and twisted the Irish boy's arms behind his back as soon as he made contact.

"Don't touch me." He said softly to Seamus.

Seamus rolled his eyes at the threatening-sounding boy, wrenching his hand out of the grip. "Don't ignore people when they are talking to you, tosspot. Touchy, much?"

Drake sneered at the male portions of the Golden Trio, before turning around and stomping to bed.

"You didn't answer my question, bastard." Hayden said.

"It's none of your fucking business, Potter." Drake snapped.

"I just want to know what my brother has been doing all this time. Why he left, why he never came back home until today. I'm his twin brother, I have to know." Hayden said desperately.

Drake's eyes narrowed, as did Nex. "Listen Potter, Lightning doesn't owe you anything, in case that's what you're thinking. I don't owe you anything. None of us has to explain to anyone about anything in our lives and believe me, it's going to stay that way."

"Harry-Lightning-he's my brother! I'm not saying you owe it to me to explain, but I'd like to know some things about his life that I've missed out on!" Hayden shouted.

"Do you?" Drake asked. "Or do you only want to know because it turns out Lightning is supposed to be the beloved Boy-Who-Lived after all and your parents feel guilty about treating him like a piece of dust? Who do you want to know about-Lightning of the Guardians, or Harry Potter, the boy who lived? Because hearing you talk, it seems like you want to hear about Harry, the Potter twin, not Lightning."

"They're the same person." Hayden hissed. "Harry is Lightning, and Lightning is Harry."

"No, they're not." Drake said. "Maybe Harry Potter is Lightning, but Lightning isn't Harry anymore. Lightning is one of us now, he's not the same seven year old that you still envision him to be, and you'd better understand that."

Drake turned around and drew the curtains around his bed before anyone could say anything else. In the resulting silence that occurred from Hayden and Nex staring at each other, Nex spoke first.

"You can't expect that because Harry Potter is now known as the boy who lived, and because Lightning is here, that everything is going to be same as it was before Lightning left your house. It's not fair to him, because he's not the same person that he was and you may as well be a stranger to him. It's not fair to expect him to be the same or to be the saviour that you lot are all expecting him to be, because he doesn't have to be. None of us, especially Lightning owes you anything at all. Lightning is more than just a saviour that you expect, and you should all remember that."

That night, though the tower was silent, none of the Guardians or Hayden got much sleep, too deep in contemplation. And so, the eventful night passed, buried beneath the hard decisions and remembrance of the past.

Fire and Susan were seated on a comfortable yellow loveseat, Susan leaning against the tall and muscled body of the red-haired boy.

The Hufflepuff common room was silent, everyone save for a few prefects and late-nighters already in bed. In front of them, a fire was flickering between the dying embers in the fireplace, providing warmth without the overwhelming heat.

"It's been a while since we've done this-just sitting and talking." Susan said, a faint smile tugging on her lips.

Fire smiled widely. "Yeah, not since… last Christmas, right?"

Susan nodded. "When Athena made those cookies and the rest of you dragged that huge pine tree in to decorate it."

The red-haired boy grinned. "We just ended up making a huge mess instead. You and Athena had to end up decorating it while we cleaned up."

Susan shook her head. "How you could make a mess while conjuring and placing little balls of light amazes me."

Fire shrugged one shoulder sheepishly. "It was Lightning and Drake who burnt off most of that branch, not me. And Nex was the one who tripped and knocked the entire tree down, making us have to re-do all the work."

The auburn-haired girl laughed, the sound tinkering in the air like bells. "But you were the one who somehow conjured those crazy birds that ended up attacking all of us!"

He grinned. "What can I say? I have talent."

She snorted, causing Fire to smile sheepishly, glancing down to meet her chocolate brown eyes. "Talent in causing incredible chaos everywhere you go, maybe."

Fire made a wounded noise. "That hurts, Susan. Right here." He clutched at his heart.

Susan rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.

"I missed you." She admitted after a moment.

Fire grinned like an idiot. "I missed you too. Especially when everyone was being an idiot and insane and I needed someone sane to keep me company."

Susan chuckled. "What about Nex and Athena? They're pretty sane, aren't they?"

Fire snorted. "Are you kidding? Bloody hell, Athena is the worst one of us sometimes, especially when she's with that tiger-beast of hers. And Nex tends to get roped into Sunshine's schemes or Lightning's, and it's much easier to stay away from them then. Believe it or not, you're the sanest person within our friends, Susan."

"Wow, I feel loved." Susan said drily.

Fire wrapped an arm around Susan's shoulders, and both stayed silent, watching the dying flames dance inside the fireplace, before Susan glanced around to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped on, and opened her mouth.

"Earlier right after dinner, Hannah told me that Ginny and the Weasley twins were asking for you." Fire stayed silent, the slight reassuring squeeze of her shoulders when she paused, the only sign of his listening. "We were already in the crowd, so Hannah told them that she didn't know where you were, and we can't let other House members in our common room, but she said that they looked pretty anxious."

Fire sighed.

"You can't avoid them forever, Fire." Susan said softly. "I know you don't want to talk to them, but they're going to track you down sooner or later."

He shut his eyes. "I know, Susan, but… what can I do? I-when I left, it wasn't really because of my siblings I guess, at least not intentionally, the problem was more between me and… my parents. And when I found Sunshine and Athena and Nex and Lightning and Drake, I stayed because… they're important to me, you know?"

Susan nodded.

"And well… I don't want to talk to any of them. They're… not going to understand why I left, honestly and I don't want things to get messier than they are now. The Weasleys… they're really good friends with the Potters and Dumbledore. I don't-my friends are more important to me than the Weasleys and I don't want anyone to interfere in them."

"So what are you going to do?" Susan asked.

"...I don't know, Susan."

Fire stayed silent for a moment before changing the conversation to explaining the latest Fire vs Crookshanks happening, desperate to stop talking about the uncomfortable situation and Susan quietly listened, going along with it.

Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts!

by: Peter Parker

Harry Potter has been found!

Harry James Potter, who has been recently discovered as being the real Boy Who Lived (see Hayden Potter's testimony, page 2), has been reported that he will be attending Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry for the coming school year.

Potter, who was the first-born son of James Charlus Potter and Lily Anne Potter (nee Evans) and the twin brother of Hayden Sirius Potter, who was mistakenly thought to be the Boy Who Lived, had been born July 31st, 1980. He survived the killing curse from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, causing the defeat and the apparent death of the dark lord who had a reign of terror for over ten years. (For the information about the previous Wizarding war, see page 4. For the information about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return from death, see page 3)

At age 7, perhaps due to extenuating circumstances, the Potter heir quietly disappeared from the public's eye while the spotlight fell on the second son, Hayden Potter. We can now assume this may have been due to security concerns by the Potter parents or perhaps the Saviour was hidden away undergoing training, preparing for the day that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would return. There has been no response on this topic from any of the Potter family. (For more theories on the Boy Who Lived's abrupt disappearance, see page 5. For Rita Skeeter's article "Potter family, not picture perfect as they may seem?", see page 2.)

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been confirmed to have returned from the dead last June, when during the last task of the Triwizard Tournament, Hayden Potter had been kidnapped from Hogwarts and witnessed the rebirth of the Dark Lord. The Potter twin fought with all he had to escape and return to Hogwarts, where assumingly he informed the authorities, who called the Boy Who Lived out of his private life and back into the public.

So far, the confirmed atrocities committed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his Death Eaters include the murder of Cedric Diggory, a 17 year old Hogwarts student who had also competed in the Triwizard Tournament, the disappearance of the ministry worker Bertha Jorkins and the murder of the former head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Bartemius Crouch Sr. (For information about Death Eaters, see page 4. For information about the past atrocities of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named before his defeat, see page 6)

Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement encourages citizens to look out for suspicious activities in the area and to report it to the proper authorities.

Daily Prophet would like to welcome back Harry Potter back into the Wizarding world and to encourage him that our hopes are on him.

Author's Note:

First of all, I would like to apologize for my long absence. Seriously, I am so sorry I made you guys wait about… thirteen months for this chapter, and thank you to those of you who patiently waited for me.

I have been extremely busy the last year, as I had exams and tests after I uploaded and also a case of writer's block for a bit. I have started International Baccalaureate program last September, which means that I have a shitload of work to do most nights and I am also required to do volunteer hours and extracurricular activities, which takes up time. And I was also figuring out a lot of things and going through large amount of stress, so that may have factored into it as well.

But fear not, as I have hopefully got a lot of my issues finally sorted and I think I got the hang of juggling my harder schedule now, so I will do my very best to update more often, and I thank you for your patience.

Moving on, I have recently created a twitter page where I post random ramblings about my everyday life, and I try to be on the website as often as possible, so if you would like to follow me, you can do that at: tclichedwriter , and I will see you guys there!

I also have (re)discovered Tumblr in the past year. If you want to follow me, my url is thatclichedwriter , and I may not follow back every single one of you, but I will try to follow back some of you.

Whatever social media you may use, feel free to drop me a message/ask/tweet if you want to talk to me, because I love hearing from you guys!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter guys, and still listening to pairing suggestions so drop me a review or a PM and tell me which pairings you prefer.

Um… apparently there is a function on FF called the "review reply"? I… did not know that until a couple months ago… Oops. This chapter, I will be answering your reviews here, since I have left them for about a year, but starting next chapter, I will be directly replying to signed reviews and only replying to guest reviews here, so hopefully, you will see your reviews replied much sooner, so yay!

Review replies:

LadyH.J.P.-P: Thank you for reviewing and for your suggestion. Unfortunately, I have already decided to pair Neville with Luna, but other than that, your suggestions are fair game! I will take your opinion into consideration.

xbamsod: Thank you for your kind words! I will take your suggestion into consideration. Thank you for reviewing.

Blue Luver5000: Thank you for your review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

the butterflyangel: Thank you for reviewing and I am glad you like the chapter. Umm… you are very enthusiastic about your pairing, aren't you? *teasing face* Thank you for your suggestion, and I will take it into account.

LeeArt: I am glad you liked the sorting! Thank you for giving your justification for the pairings also, as I love knowing what my readers think. I will take your suggestion into account, and thank you for reviewing!

Joleigh13: Thank you for reviewing! I will take your suggestion into account.

sandstorm25555: Thank you for your review, and I am glad that you are enjoying it! I will take your suggestion into consideration. I hope you liked this chapter!

tidekeeper: Thank you for reviewing! I am glad you like it, and I will take your suggestion into consideration.

dreamjanus: Thank you for pointing that out to me, I didn't know that it annoyed people. I didn't mean to have such a long AN, it's just that I do have a habit of talking too much, and I suppose I got carried away. I apologize for that. I will try my best to cut down on the length of AN from now, and as I will be directly answering the reviews instead of in the story, it should cut down significantly on the size of the Author's note. You are right that replies tend to extend on the length of the Note. Thank you for reviewing, and bringing this to my attention.

DudeBroMan: Thank you for reviewing and for your suggestion. I will take it into account. You are right that a change would be nice.

FeatherHawthorn425: Thank you for your review, and I am glad you like the houses! I will take your suggestion into consideration, and I hope that you are not too angry for making you wait this long.

Penny is wise: Thank you for reviewing and for the compliment!

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Thank you for reviewing! Thank you for your consideration, I have never thought about the pairing Drake x Alice. I am not completely sure, as they do have about 5 year old gap between them, which isn't a lot when you are older, but Alice is only 10 now, so if that pairing was to happen, it wouldn't happen for a while. Hmm, I do love the idea of Harry and Draco being a family, and rest assured, Alice will play a big role in Harry/Li's family whatever happens, I just haven't thought of which direction to go yet. Thank you for your suggestion, and I hope you liked this chapter!

ibterismith50: Aww you found me out! Haha, I do hope to be a little more original then that, and Harry won't be a complete hero here… more like a jaded hero or an ordinary person doing his best. Well, thank you for taking the time to read anyway, and thank you for reviewing.

AllyPotter1196: Thank you for your review and your suggestion, as well as justifying your suggestion, as I love listening to the reasons why people love shipping a pairing! *smiley face* I will take your suggestion into consideration, and hope you enjoyed this chapter!

KatherineDarkQueenRiddle666: Thank you for your review! I hope I haven't disappointed you with my late update, and I apologize if I did.

PerfectlyStrange: Thank you for your review! Aww, you are so sweet, and I am very flattered that you think I am that good. Thank you. I will take your suggestions into consideration, and I did promise in an earlier chapter that I will not abandon this story, and I intend to keep that promise. I am sorry for updating so late, and I hope you enjoyed this story.

Otiose-and-Sarky: I can only say that I am very sorry for updating late last time, and I am really, really sorry for updating so late this time. I hope you can forgive me. Thank you for your suggestion, and I wasn't exactly going to make Remus evil… just a human with flaws and problems. I'm not going to bash anyone, nor make Remus evil or dark but I do think that in Canon he could have been more caring to Harry and stuff and checked up on him but he didn't, and I just want to portray that. Thank you for your compliment *smiles* you are very sweet. Yes, Harry's little sister is named Alice, because personally I love the name Alice. My little cousin's name is Alice too, oh my gosh! Ali-May is a really cute way of shortening your name, and I love your nicknames oh my gosh. *smiley face* Can I call you Cookie Monster? Thank you for reviewing!

Guest: Thank you for reviewing and for your suggestion! I will take it into consideration.

Chi Vayne: Thank you for your review, and I am glad you liked the sortings. I will take your suggestions into consideration, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Harry 1983: Thank you for reviewing, I will take your suggestions into account.

snowleopardluver: Thank you for your review! Aww, thank you for your encouragement and I will take your suggestions into account. And yes you are very correct, this story is about all of that: friendship and family bonds and I am very glad you liked it!

Sam (guest): Yay, I saw your review on Secrets, and thank you so much for reviewing! Thank you for your compliment, I am so glad you like them. And…*awkward silence* yeah, sorry about the late update… Well, it's up now!

Emi Nicole Jackson12: Thank your reviewing! Yes, I will work on cutting the ANs down… hopefully, after I start replying directly to the reviews, they will become a lot shorter.

Guest (2), Thank you for reviewing! Yes, this chapter was the beginning of the interactions between the group and everyone else, I hope you aren't too disappointed by them. I am sorry for updating so late, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Losing-A-Game-Of-Life: Thank you for reviewing and I am glad you like the story. I am flattered you think well of my writing skills and I will try to live up to that more. I will take your suggestion into consideration.

Empres Pure-Blood: Thank you for reviewing. I am glad you loved Remus, and it was not my intention to make Hayden in that way, but I am sorry you didn't like him. I hope you liked this chapter!

Cookie Seller On The Dark Side: I am glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!

Sorry again for updating so late, I will try to update much more frequently from now on. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think of it. I will answer any concerns, questions or suggestions that you have. Feel free to talk to me about your criticisms, I value all of your opinions very much and constructive criticisms help me make a better writer and improve this story.

Love,

ThatClichedWriter