A Black Romance

****Albus and the Order of the Phoenix****

Albus Dumbledore sat in his chair looking at the people in his office. The two-year graduate from Hufflepuff - Arabella Figg, Goblin translator and patron of the "black market"- Mundungus Fletcher, and Henry and Rose Evans, the core of the Order. There were two other dark figures in the room, but I won't tell you who they are just yet. No, it is not time for me to uncover who they really are.

"I have called you here," Dumbledore said, "because Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, is starting his rise to power. It is to great concern to all of us because he has almost finished his quest for immortality. If he reaches it, which means killing the Gryffindor Heir, therefore stopping the Hogwarts Heir, he will be unstoppable and the fate of not only the wizarding world, but also the Muggle world will be in danger."

The whole room gasped. They had heard the rumors, but not believed in them. How could one man go so far? Even the most powerful wizard of the time, Albus, did not try. For a few minutes, no one spoke; Arabella Figg was the first one.

"Who's the Gryffindor Heir?"

Albus smiled. "James Potter."

WOW! Who would have guessed that? If you haven't caught on to my tone, I was being sarcastic. Okay, sorry about that, now back to the story.

Henry and Rose Evans looked at Dumbledore, but didn't say a word. He motioned for the two-cloaked people in the back.

"These ladies are from the Amazon. I have gotten permission from the High Priestess to use them in protecting us." There was another gasp. "They will be in disguise so you will never know what they look like. I will also ask you not to tell anybody about them."

"How long will they be here?" Mundungus Fletcher asked.

"Until the Hogwarts Heir kills Voldemort."

"And how long will that take," he asked again.

"I can not say. Days, weeks, months, years; as soon as humanly possible."

Back then I would have laughed at such a thought. Me killed by some child who probably couldn't spell some of the curses I've used.

"The first thing we need to do is have Arabella moved to James Potter's neighborhood when he graduates."

"No problem," Arabella said, "the 'cats' and I will be down the street the day he moves in."

"Excellent!" Dumbledore cried out, watching Arabella walk out of the room. "Now, I've gotten in contact with Arthur Weasley, he and his wife will also be joining us." The group nodded and the two dark figures stood up.

"If it's alright with you, we'll be leaving."

****Flash Forward****

While Hermione and Sirius were talking, Harry and Severus Snape walked to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Professor?"

"Call me Severus, you're a wizard now."

"Okay, why didn't you tell Hermione about her mom and Sirius earlier?"

"I promised her I wouldn't tell."

"Why, is she in hiding?"

"Many reasons; if it hadn't been for her and Lily, the fate of the wizarding world would be over."

"What do you mean?"

"When Voldemort was in full power and your parents were in hiding, they figured that your protection was more important than theirs. The only way to make sure you would survive death was to make a counter-curse. It is an ancient curse that was used in Egypt to protect the pharaohs once they died. It takes almost a year to make and only one curse can be made and used at a time. Of course your parents died before they could make theirs."

"How does the curse work?"

"I don't know. I only made the potion. Only Amber knows how to work it. But I know that to trigger it to work you have to show an act of pure love. Your mother showed it for you and it saved you."

Harry looked up at Severus. He could have sworn that he saw a tear drop from his eyes. But he couldn't blame him. Hermione had that same affect on him.

****Valentine's Day Ball****

It took Amber and Lily the entire day to get ready for the ball, which started at eight p.m. The boys, on the other hand, played Quidditch all day until seven, when Madam Hooch had to beg them to leave so the last minute decorations could be put up. The boys still didn't know what they were wearing, but they would soon find out.

****The Girls' Dorm****

Lily was putting "Lay Glow Gel" in Amber's hair to make it lay down flat.

"I swear, if you had black hair I'd say you and James were related." Amber rolled her eyes and looked at a piece of parchment.

"Don't worry. It's probably Sirius trying to make up to you."

"I hope not," Amber said. But she secretly wished, hoped, and wanted it to be him.

"How does this look?" Lily said, turning the chair around giving Amber a chance to see herself. Amber smiled. Lily had pulled her hair to the left and made a low ponytail that hung over her shoulders in tight curls. Her mask was an emerald green and only covered her eyes.

"Lily! You did this?" Amber grinned.

"Just a little magic, nothing big," Lily smiled and crossed her arms.

"Did you put the boys' costumes on their beds?"

"Of course, and I took all of their other clothes so the boys would only have that to wear." The girls grinned and laughed.

"How do you reckon they'll react?" Amber asked. But before Lily could reply, there was a loud yell from the boys' dorm.

****Dumbledore's Office****

Before the party began, Dumbledore called someone into his office, it was Professor Trelawney.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, her mystic perfume almost smothering him.

"Yes," he replied, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about you telling the students their futures." Trelawney's smile was now a blank expression as Dumbledore talked. "I need you to stop."

"Stop?" she questioned. "Why?"

"Because, you've already started Tom on his journey and now you've told Sirius Black not to trust Peter Pettigrew with any secrets."

"It's the truth, I can not lie."

"I am not asking you to lie. I am asking you to keep your mouth shut! Unless Sirius trusts Peter, we may never bring Voldemort down!" Trelawney was taken back by Dumbledore's tone of voice. Never had he spoken to her like that. As she got up to leave, she turned around to face Dumbledore.

"Just so you'll know, Sirius will trust Peter and everything will work." Frowning, he looked at her.

"I hate it has to end like this."

"Don't worry, it is only the beginning."

And she would be right; for I would never really end. I am too strong and they are too weak to fully understand. Even you Muggles will never understand me, the thrill of the power rushing through my veins. Ah, only a blessed few experience it.

****The Boys' Dorm****

"LLLLLLLLIIIIIIIILLLLLLLYYYYYYY!" James yelled as his clothes magically put themselves on the boys. Sirius looked in the mirror trying to pull down the "lion cloth" that was on his waist.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sirius started, "this doesn't half way cover all my stuff." Remus laughed and threw a pillow at him.

"Don't fool yourself."

Let me tell you what the boys had on. Lily and Amber had the finest lion cloth to fit around their waist. It also came with a black belt that had a dagger in it. There was also a tiger print slash that the boys wore on their shoulders. James faced the mirror and smiled.

"Not bad, Potter."

Peter, on the other hand, was quite embarrassed at his size. Always looking out for him, Amber had gotten him a small shirt for him to cover up with.

"Not fair," Remus said, "Wormtail got a shirt."

"He probably talked them into it. The second prank he's pulled on us." Sirius said, walking out of the room. "But this time I'm not going to let the joke be on me." And with that, he slammed the door.

"You think we should tell him it wasn't Peter?" James asked, looking at Peter and Remus.