Harry Potter and the Storm of Sins

A/N: The first couple of chapters are somewhat long and not that much seems to happen, but it is setting the stage for the real action and

conflict to come later, I promise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1 – Home For The Holidays

The summers had become a time that Harry loved. He remembered back a few years ago when he used to dread going home for summer holiday. Those had been the dark times in his past, when he lived with his mother's sister's family. The Dursleys. The enmity for them had grown so much over the years that he couldn't even speak their name without a feeling of loathing creep over him. The memories of being locked in the cupboard under the stairs. Being treated as if he were not even human. Being looked at as if he were some sideshow freak. Though, in truth, that wasn't entirely false. Harry Potter had become somewhat of a sideshow freak.

It mostly started when he started attending his current school, which he was to graduate this year, Hogwart's Academy of Witchcraft. That day when Hagrid came to get Harry on his eleventh birthday had been the start of his becoming a freak, by normal standards. Harry, however, saw himself as different, as special. And he was. For in the world of his people, he was a legend. The was the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry couldn't walk down the street without someone looking at him funny. Among his people, he was a celebrity. How things had changed for Harry in a matter of 6 short years.

Harry was now 16 years old, his 17th birthday was in mere days. He couldn't wait. That meant that he was eligible to learn to Apparate. He had seen people do it for years and was anxious to learn how. But for now, he was content just to be able to be in the wizarding world. More would come for him, but he would take it in stride. He usually did.

Today, he contented himself to lay outside in the sun. He was excited to see Ron and Hermione again. He hadn't seen them since they left for summer holiday a month and a half prior. He currently spent most of his time in Hogsmeade, the small town near his school. He lived with his godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius had been as close to a father as Harry had ever known. Harry had to admit that he loved Sirius as a son loves his father. He knew that Sirius would always be a part of his life.

Ron and Hermione were to show up the next day so that they could spend his birthday together in Hogsmeade, the only completely wizarding town in all of Britain. Harry really wanted to look good for when they were here, so he was out getting some sun. He figured that a nice tan would look nice on his already athletic build. He was really quite in shape due to all the Quidditch practices he had had in the past 6 years.

He loved being Seeker for the Gryffindor House team. They had won every year he was there. None of the other teams had wanted to play Gryffindor, owing to the fact that Harry was just that good. Harry remembered the time Viktor Krum, the world renowned Seeker from the Bulgarian National team, came to Hogwarts just to play a friendly game of Quidditch. Well, friendly wasn't exactly the word that would apply to that game. That game was actually quite ruthless. Krum and the rest of the Drumstrang team were stopping at nothing to win. That was the year that the three prominent schools that usually competed in the Triwizard Tournament played in a school Tournament. Each school played the other two schools twice. The two schools with the most cumulative points after those 6 games would then play each other in a best of three competition. That game was for the victory. Many said that Krum was flawless that day. However, that didn't stop Harry from walking all over him. When word got out that Harry Potter, Gryffindor Seeker, had beaten the top ranked Viktor Krum, the offers for positions came from everywhere. Harry knew what he was going to do with his life. Quidditch was the one thing that he always looked forward to.

The one thing Harry loved about the wizarding world was that everything was done easily. He loved the simplicity of things, such as the fact that he never had to worry about getting sun burnt, due to the limiting spells placed over all areas within the wizarding world. Staying in Hogsmeade meant that he could forget about the sun and sit outside with his shirt off all day, and he frequently did. As he lay there, he fell asleep, thinking about the wonderful times to come, in the next few days.

The next morning, when Harry woke up, still outside on his balcony, he realized that Ron and Hermione would be arriving any moment. He jumped up and jumped in to have a shower. After his shower, he got out and wrapped a towel around his waist. He checked himself out in the mirror. His rippling biceps and pecs were something he never thought he would see on himself, being a skinny, frail kid when he was younger. He walked out of the bathroom and was startled.

Ron and Hermione were sitting on his bed. He was so startled that he dropped the towel he was holding with one hand. Quickly, he bent down to pick it up as Hermione giggled. It wasn't the first time she had seen him naked, and he surmised it probably wouldn't be the last. They always had a habit of popping up just as he was popping out of the bathroom after having a shower. He grabbed some boxer shorts and a pair of shorts he usually wore under his Quidditch robes in the early fall and late spring. He then grabbed a T-shirt with the logo of his favorite Quidditch team, the Chuddley Cannons.

They went outside the house and laid around the yard, talking. Hermione looked up at the house.

"Wow, I never realized that Marauder's Mansion was so big looking. I mean, I remember passing by here that first year whenever we would come to Hogsmeade and it always looked so small." she observed.

"That's because Sirius and I added a rather large addition to the house." Harry replied. He was proud of how the Mansion had turned out. A short while later, they got up and walked into town.

"So Ron, why couldn't Fleur come today?" Hermione asked.

"She had to work today, unfortunately. That prat of a boss of hers wouldn't let her take two days off on such short notice. She will be here tomorrow though." he answered.

"That's good." Harry said.

"How are things going with her, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Great. Wonderful. Superb. They couldn't be better. I am so happy." he replied enthusiastically.

Hermione smiled broadly. "That's wonderful."

Harry noticed her smile. It was so beautiful, just like she was. 'I can't believe how gorgeous she is.' Harry thought.

They continued to walk around for a short while before returning home. Harry went in and made dinner for the three of them.

"No Sirius tonight, Harry?" Ron called into the kitchen.

"Nope. He is off with Betsy tonight. I think they said they were staying at her place tonight." Harry called back.

The night climaxed with a thrilling game of wizard's chess. Ron, as usual, slaughtered Harry and Hermione. As it was finally getting late, they all decided to retire for the night. Harry hit his bed and fell instantly asleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N : The next chapter is ready for updating. I will be updating this story at least once a week. Perhaps twice a week. And, just so you all know,

there is probably going to be somewhere around 25 chapters, which is why some of the chapters might seem to move a little slower than

others. Mostly it is because I am trying to get parts of the story out, parts that might not be as action packed but are important, none-the-

less. BTW, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will want to read the next one.