Hey everyone! I want to thank the review from Fawn Silverstream for sparking my imagination for my new title…Never Far Away. Thank you also the RebeccaRoy for reviewing and giving me another title. I'll probably use that for a one-shot in the future.

Once again, I DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO ANYTHING!!!!! J.K. Rowling does.

Anywho, on with the story!

Chapter 2: Light in the Darkness

The sun was beginning to shine over the many hills of Ottery St. Catchpole. Harry had a crick in his neck from dozing off in an upright chair. Lupin was already up, getting Harry's trunk down from the holding compartment. Sirius (still in dog form) was pacing the aisle between the seats, anxious to get off the bus.

"Thank you, come again," Stan called as the odd threesome got off the Knight Bus. Harry and Lupin had decided that Sirius would remain in dog shape, at first.

"So are you disappearing once we show up at the Weasley's?" Harry asked. He really wanted to see his friends, but he didn't want Lupin and Sirius to leave yet.

"We can't," Lupin said, "The Ministry of Magic hasn't released Sirius' assets yet, so 12 Grimuald Place is, at the moment, uninhabitable."

They were climbing the last hill between them and the Burrow and, already it was visible. The slightly-off-center house, with its small picket fence and pestiferous little gnomes was about a Quidditch field away. Harry livened his pace, and before he knew it, he was wiping his feet on the doormat and knocking on the door.

"Wait," Harry asked abruptly, "do they know about Sirius?"

"No they don't," Sirius replied, turning back into human form, "I think it's time they know, though, since we're staying here for two weeks."

"Dumbledore cleared it with Arthur; he's the only one that knows." Lupin added.

"I'm coming!" A familiar female voice called from the inside. The strange trio physically relaxed. The voice came from Hermione. Once she believedthat Sirius was back, and then everyone would.

Hermione opened the door. Her bushy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a muggle sundress and sandals. To Harry, it seemed like she was taking fashion tips from Luna Lovegood.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, giving him a hug yet managing not to spill her pumpkin juice on him. "Come in. Everyone's been anxious since Dumbledore told us yesterday that you were coming today. Hello, Lupin," but that's as far as she got. When she saw who the third party in the traveling group was, her glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the ground.

"S-s-s-s-Sirius? B-b-b-But… you're dead!" Hermione stuttered. After she got over the primary shock, she drew her wand.

"Hermione," Sirius said her name slowly and put his hands out in front of him. Even he knew that you should never be on the receiving end of Hermione's wand, "I am not dead. It was a serious misunderstanding. I promise you. I can even prove it. You and Harry saved my life two years ago when you time-traveled and broke me out of my cell. I flew off on a grey Hippogriff named Buckbeak whom you and Harry saved in the same time-traveling trip."

There was a long pause. "Oh my god it is you," Hermione finally whispered. Her wand arm lay limply by her side and a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Uh-oh. Hermione, don't cry." Sirius said, a little uncomfortably. He had never been that close with the girl, but he didn't expect her to start crying. Quite frankly he was at a loss of what to do. Hermione walked over and gave him a hug. Sirius was becoming accustomed to tearful and emotional teenagers, so he just stood there and let her have a good cry, occasionally patting her shoulder. After about thirty seconds, Hermione straightened up, wiped her face, and chuckled weakly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just so happy that something…good…has happened. I mean, people are dying everywhere and yet here you are and…oh bloody hell I don't know what I'm talking about. Ron!" she called the last name up the stairs. There was a thunder of footsteps, and then the tall, red-headed form of Ron Weasley appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oi, what's all the yelling about? Harry, mate, good to see you! And…"Ron scanned the room and quickly found the source of the commotion.

"Sirius, you're alive? That's great!" Ron gave him a high-five and a pat on the back.

"Yep, all thanks to Moony here. If it wasn't for him, I would have really died." Sirius said, patting Lupin on the back.

"Well, you know," he said, "A friend's gotta do what a friend's gotta do."

Of course Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were beside themselves with glee. Fred, George, Charlie and Bill were extremely happy. To everyone's surprise, Fleur Delaceur, Bill's bride-to-be and former Triwizard competitor, was even happy to see him.

"I am so happy to meet you. Beel 'as told me so much," Fleur had said. She, unlike the others, didn't totally grasp the fact that Sirius had once been presumed dead.

As Harry's birthday came around, the ambience was becoming darker. Deaths were occurring all over the country. Dementors were at every turn. The birthday tea was very quiet. After everyone had gone to bed, Harry sat on the back porch, looking up at the stars. Two days prior, Dumbledore had visited to tell Harry that he would be taking private lessons with him this year, and that it would have a lot to do with the prophecy. Since then, Harry didn't get a minute of sleep. Dumbledore seemed determined that Harry would come out of the fight victorious.

Harry, however, wasn't so sure. His father had been the best Auror in his day, and in the end it didn't matter. Harry was only sixteen. It would be nearly impossible. Voldemort had been practicing going on sixty years and Harry was less than one-third his age. There's no way that the prophecy could come true. I have no extraordinary power. Harry thought.

"Harry?" he turned quickly. Lupin's head was sticking out of the doorway behind him.

"Hey, Lupin, you're still up?" Harry asked. Lupin nodded and looked up at the sky. In a couple of days the moon would be full so, naturally he wasn't feeling too well.

"Anything on your mind?" Lupin asked him.

"No," Harry replied nonchalantly, "Is it that obvious?" he amended.

Lupin smiled and sat on the step next to Harry. "Sort of. When you were little, I was very in-tune with your emotions. I would know when you were sad and I knew how to fix it. You're expressions haven't changed much." He added with a grin.

Harry also smiled. Stories about his past made him feel wanted, a feeling he had previously not had the luxury of. He couldn't believe it was possible that once, his life was truly happy. Now, he was far from it.

"It's this prophecy," Harry said with a sigh.

"You know," Lupin responded curiously, "no one else knows the true contents of this prophecy. Care to…shed some light on the subject?"

Harry contemplated it. On the one hand, Harry didn't think Lupin was in Dumbledore's need to know circle. On the other, he was basically the only other family Harry had apart from his godfather and it would be really helpful to have the advice of someone older and wiser than his friends.

"Well," Harry began, "to summarize it, it said that Voldemort would mark the person that would defeat him, and one would die by the hand of the other."

A shocked silence was Lupin's response. Harry felt kinda guilty about telling Lupin and getting him worried, especially just before the full moon.

"Well of course you'll survive," Lupin said gruffly, trying to back his words with empty confidence. As Lupin got up to leave, Harry grabbed his arm and looked into his peculiar amber-rimmed blue eyes.

"Don't tell Sirius, please Remus?" Harry begged.

"Harry, I…" Lupin tried to protest, but Harry cut him off.

"Please? Sirius worries worse than anyone I've ever met, including Mrs. Weasley."

It was the truth. Even though Sirius acted cool and funny, he had an annoying tendency to hover. Granted Harry was the one who could unintentionally find trouble at any turn, but he was safe at the Burrow and he didn't want his godfather to worry over him.

Lupin, thankfully, seemed to understand. "Alright, your secret is safe with me, but please remember that he worries only because he cares about you."

"Yeah, alright," Harry said. "Goodnight Lupin."

"'Night, Harry." Lupin replied. He walked back into the house, leaving Harry to deal with his thoughts alone.

"Now, are you sure you have everything?" Sirius looked straight into his godson's eyes.

"Yes Sirius," was Harry's monotonous reply.

"Do you have your two-way mirror?" Sirius pressed him.

"Yes I do, and it will remain in my schoolbag with my Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders' Map," Harry conveyed to him.

"Good," Sirius smiled and rubbed Harry's already-messy hair, "Now you'd better get in the car, or you'll be late.

"Ok," Harry picked up his trunk and headed out the door. Sirius watched him go, feeling slightly sad. Sirius ripped himself away from the door, only to hear a voice interrupt his whirling mind.

"Sirius, wait," Harry said from the doorway. Just as Sirius turned back, Harry hit him with a hug. For a couple of minutes they stood there, saying nothing. It wasn't long until the Ministry car honked its horn.

"You'd better go Harry," Sirius said, his voice saturated with emotion, "take care and write often."

"I will. Bye Sirius!" Harry walked out the door again. Sirius watched from the window of the Burrow as the car disappeared.

"He'll be okay," Lupin said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess," Sirius sighed.

This one was a tad on the short side. Sorry! I'm going to go ahead and warn you that the timeline will be a little off-whack. First of all, the brother of a girl on my softball team has my last two Harry Potter books at the moment, so if I write something wrong, DON'T HATE ME!!!!!!

Also, I'm not going to dictate every day, so for the next few chapters, they will be mostly in letter form. There will be occurrences where it won't be in letter form, and there will be some action.

Remember, I love reviews and please NO FLAMES!!!!!!!

K~A~W