Harry had been sitting in his room for most of the two weeks following his return to number 4 Private drive. He couldn't help but feel devestated about what had happened just a few weeks ago. Just when he had resigned himself to coming home year after year to this mindless, friendless, house that his Headmaster insisted was the safest place for him a glimmer of hope had appeared. That hope came in the form of his long-lost, thought-to-be-criminal, godfather. Best friend to his father even: Sirius Black. The man had escaped from the most notorious prison in the wizarding world just to see him, to make sure he was okay. He had even gone so far as to offer Harry a home…something the boy had been wishing for ever since he had become aware of just how much his relatives hated his very presence in their lives.

But then it had all been torn away. Stupid Pettigrew. Stupid Snape. Stupid Professor Lupin forgetting his potion. Stupid Dumbledore for forcing him to come back here in the first place!

No, that wasn't fair. At the very least it wasn't the werewolf's fault that he had been distracted that day. It definitely wasn't his fault that he had been bitten by a cursed wolf as a child. No the blame was hard to place on anyone that day. Harry remembered being told of the trick his godfather had pulled that had almost cost his Potion's master his life and thought that he couldn't REALLY even blame Snape for jumping to conclusions; he was still a greasy git though. Well…he could blame the Rat at least. Hatefully the almost-14-year-old wizard felt like he was cheated out of something that he had earned, and something that he should have never lost in the first place: a home.

Hadn't he earned the right to a real home? He, with the help of his friends, had defended the school not once...but twice! When no adults would take them seriously the 'Golden Trio' had saved the day. He had almost died both times! Tried to be killed by the most feared Dark Wizard in almost a century three times! Surely that counted for something…didn't it?

His thoughts were interrupted by the tapping at his window. At first he thought it was Hedwig but then he remembered that she was outside, spending as little time in the Dursley house as she could. He couldn't really blame her. Slowly he got out of his bed and went over to the window, pleasantly surprised to see a brightly plumed parrot that must mean Sirius had written. He let the bird in to perch on his owl's stand as he took the letter from its leg. He was right, he recognized the handwriting from the note he had gotten on the train home. He left the window open so the bird could leave when it was rested and sat down to read the letter.

Dear Harry,

Hope this finds you well and your aunt and uncle aren't giving you too hard of a time. After I wrote to you about your broom I realized you might not want to hear from me much, knowing I cannot fulfill my promise to you. I am so truly sorry that I cannot give you the home that I had promised on that night that we finally met again after so long. I cannot help but feel that I mishandled the situation and let Wormtail get away. I'm going to find a way to make it up to you, if you will let me have another chance to fix all of this, even if I have to track the traitor to the ends of the Earth.

The other thing that prompted me to write this letter (even though I was warned by the Headmaster and Remus that it might not be safe, I needed to ask you. Even if you never want to hear from me again I need to ask this.) was why you did not transform into your Natura form that night when Moony transformed? You never told me what your form was, and I forgot to ask, but you should have known that werewolves will not hunt animal forms as much as they will a human. I know that you wouldn't want to abandon your friends or make a spectacle of yourself but your safety is important.

Promise me that next time you get into a dangerous situation (it seems that trouble follows you) that you will use any tool that you can to insure your safety. I heard a rumor that you are a Parselmouth as well when I was wandering around the castle. As much as I hate anything that has to do with the snake house of Hogwarts even that could be useful for you in the right situation. There is no shame in using anything you can when the odds have been stacked so far against you.

At first Harry was shocked to think that his godfather thought that Harry could possibly blame him and not want to talk to him again. In all of his anger it had never really occurred to him to blame the man. Maybe there were things he could have done better but odds had been stacked against him just as they had been for Harry himself. And honestly who could ask a wrongly convicted man who had just escaped from a prison known for driving its prisoners insane to think clearly? The comment about his ability to speak to snakes surprised him as well. The way the most Gryffindors talked about the Slytherins and his experiences his second year had forced the ability to the back of his mind as something he never even wanted to consider again. He still wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with talking to snakes and he certainly wasn't about to go and buy one as a pet or anything but Sirius had made a good point and he vowed to keep the advice in mind. The rest of the letter had gone right over his head in the first read and Harry read it again to try and figure out what the man was trying to say.

After a third read through of the letter it had started to really sink in and all he was thinking about that second paragraph…Natura form? It almost sounded like his godfather expected Harry to be able to transform into an animal…but he wasn't an Animagus and he had never even heard of this ...Natura thing before. He noticed that the brightly colored parrot was still there and wrote out a quick note, asking Sirius just what he was talking about and assuring him he wasn't angry with him or his former defense professor, and watched it fly off with confusion added to and even slightly replacing the depression in his heart.

Five days later another tropical bird appeared, this time when Harry was leaning against the house in the shade, trying to avoid his Aunt who was determined to give him yard chores again today. Normally he didn't mind too much when he was forced to labor in the yard, it was nice to work and not have to think about anything. The fresh air was also a welcome change from the gloominess of his room that was bare bones and only full of broken furniture. His Aunt never let him near her precious garden, of course, but he was often told to mow the grass or trim some of the hedges in the back that weren't very well seen from the street. Anything near the road was seen to by his Uncle.

Today was different though, today he needed to think. He was still so confused by his godfather's last letter. What was an Natura form? The question had haunted him for the past five days. And what would his Aunt know about it? She had never shown any knowledge of anything magical before, besides some very basic things that she must have been told by his mother. She wouldn't really say anything if she did know, he was sure. She wasn't very involved with anything 'abnormal', and hated anything about it. Fantasy, magic, anything even resembling such things were taboo in the Dursley household. The bird that was almost anxious in its fluttering by his head only made him more anxious to find out what was going on. Harry pointed the bird in the direction of his bedroom window and quickly snuck back into the house. Suddenly he was very glad that post-birds in the Magical world seemed to be very very intelligent.

Having narrowly avoided his Aunt and Cousin who were arguing over Dudley's new diet again, his school had sent a person along with the letters saying that he was setting a bad example for the younger students and that he was on probation unless he could get to a more healthy weight. They had sent similar letters through the post before but Vernon Dursley wasn't having any of that 'hippy veg stuff' and so they were all ignored. A person from the school must have been enough to fuel the gossip mill around the neighborhood and his Aunt put her foot down, not wanting to seem anything less than normal.

Harry closed his door as softly as possible and took the awaiting package from the bird. Momentarily he wondered why he was getting a slim package instead of a letter but he quickly opened it up to find only a small hand mirror and a note.

Harry,

First of all thank you for another chance to make things right. It means a lot to me to know you still want me in your life. Mooney was a bit shocked to hear you do not blame him either, he isn't used to people being so understanding when they find you about... well you know. I told him you wouldn't hate him but he didn't believe me until he saw it in writing himself. I think he is still in abit of shock.

Now, this is a two-way mirror that we made for use during detentions, I have the mate to it. I had Remus send it to me, to forward onto you since he is staying in my old home right now. He wanted to just send it to you directly but I have a feeling your post is screened to protect you from anyone who might have have Dark loyalty. I was shocked at first that you weren't told about your family heritage by your Aunt but then I remembered a bit about her spiteful streak and I suppose I shouldn't have been. However it is certainly not safe to write about so get to a safe place and activate the mirror by saying 'Calling Padfoot' (That was my nickname with your father and Remus, we called your father Prongs ( he was a Stag Animagi ) and called Remus Moony, for obvious reasons. Peter was called Wormtail…it suits him more than we realized at the time)

Talk to you soon

Harry snuck back downstairs, clutching the mirror and walked down the street to the park. Thankfully his Aunt and Cousin had just left for a birthday party in another neighborhood and all of 'Big D's' gang would be there. This meant that the park would have only small children and strangers who wouldn't care who he was or why he was there. On the way there he thought about the first part of the note. He had been angry for a bit at the werewolf, it was hard not to be, but once he realized the man had no real control over anything that had happened helped him to forgive any blame there might have been. Absently he realized he should write to the man directly. He had been a good friend of his parents as well apparently and Harry couldn't risk any connection to them that he found. They were simply too important.

He found a small bench behind a bunch of bushes and sat down. Quickly and antsy with excitement Harry pulled the mirror up to his face and spoke quietly,

"Calling Padfoot."

AN: Hello...Welcome to my first...posted...chaptered Fic. Well the first one in a while. I make no promises as to updates, it may be days, weeks or years. I should have the next chapter up soon at least, because I almost added it to this, but I wanted to post it and leave you hanging for a bit ;)

I'm a little antsy about the characterization so if anything seems TOO odd let me know. I am changing up a few things slightly, for one because I don't LOVE the way JKR wrote some of the characters( okay many of them) but also becasue I'm...not that great a writer yet. Anyway, sorry its short, but let me know what you think!

EDIT: changing ANIMA(latin for Soul) to Natura(Latin for Essence) If I missed one, let me know!

EDIT2: This story started revision August 5th 2012. I am going chapter by chapter. I will add an edit like thing one to the end of each chapter once I have finished revising it. I encourage anyone who has read this story before to reread the chapters after I have updated them as some fairly major things might very well change.