A/N: I haven't quite finished chapter 4, so it might be a while before I update after this, but then again, I did just come down wih a bad cold, so I might find time tomorrow, as I'm not going to school...
Anywhoo, lots of thanks to my reviewers and everyone who put this on alert (even though there were some who hadn't read 'Along came Emma' (how did you guys read this?)). Enjoy!

Chapter 3

It took a while for my proposal to sink in, but when it did, Harry regarded me hopefully. "Really? You'll teach me how to become an animagus?" he asked incredulously.

Sirius was frowning at me over the youth's head.

"I will, but there are a few conditions."

"Anything!" Harry agreed enthusiastically, a huge grin spreading over his face.

"First of all, you can't teach your friends. This is highly illegal and dangerous as it is, and you can get them and their parents in big trouble if you get found out. Second of all, you're not to do anything by yourself, you're to be supervised by Sirius or myself at all times. I'm warning you, Harry, it's hard work and it will probably take most of the year, you'll have to do a lot of research on your own, but I can provide you with most of the books you'll need, unless your form is a rare one. It's not even certain if you can, some people don't have the talent for it, like Dumbledore. Are you following me so far?" I asked, checking if his enthusiasm wasn't impairing his listening skills.

"No teaching my friends, there's no certainty that I can become and animagus, it's hard work, don't do anything unsupervised…" Harry ticked them off on his fingers, still smiling broadly.

I rolled my eyes, he'd be complaining soon enough. "This is on top of your other lessons, so you still have to keep up that work, and your homework as soon as school starts. I know you're mature, Harry, so I expect you to use this knowledge responsibly, unlike that idiot of a godfather you have."

"Oi!" Sirius objected, but I ignored him.

"If you don't, I'll be sorely disappointed in you, and I'll become like every other boring guardian, and not teach you the cool stuff. You understand why I'm setting these rules for you?" I asked. I couldn't start teaching him if he wasn't going to be serious about this – no pun intended.

Harry's smile melted off his face. "Yes, ma'am," he said, but there was no trace of sarcasm or cheek in his tone. I was satisfied.

"Off with you, then, go amuse yourself. Don't go to bed too late!" I added as he ran out the door.

"Other lessons?" Sirius questioned, moving to the chair Harry had just vacated.

"I'm teaching him things I feel he needs to know, like proper duelling skills, some advanced DADA, and hand-to-hand. I think I'll start teaching him how to wield swords and daggers next summer," I explained.

Sirius frowned. "How are you teaching him DADA if he's not allowed to use a wand?" he asked curiously. I hadn't really expected him to be angry about this, but I didn't really think he'd take an interest either.

"We're using fake wands with coloured dye. He shouts the correct spell and the colour of the spell shoots out, like red for stupefy, blue for confundus charms, and so on."

Sirius nodded absently, thinking to himself. "Mind if I watch next time?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It's your house too now, as long as Harry doesn't mind, I won't either. Besides, I'd be good for him to have a sparring partner other than me, so I can correct him without having to stay where I am," I reasoned.

Sirius had looked up sharply when I'd said 'your house too', but I ignored it, I knew how much it meant to him, but I was sure he didn't want any attention drawn to it.

We joined Harry in the living room, where he lay on his stomach in front of the fire, trying to figure out his transfiguration homework. We passed the evening in silence, with Sirius helping Harry and me reading a book until Harry figured out that Sirius was giving him the wrong directions and pulled out his fake wand. He squirted orange dye all over Sirius, to which he changed into his dag form, and started chasing Harry all over the house. I just rolled my eyes and made sure they didn't break anything. That is, until Sirius ran back in and his behind one of the couches. I silently put my book down, changed forms and snuck over to his tail, which stuck out. I pounced on it, making Sirius jump in surprise, and an impromptu mock-fight erupted. Soon Harry ran back in with a pillow, and joined in the strange wrestling match on the floor, pounding the both of us. Sirius and I locked eyes, nodded, and ganged up on the teenager. No one hits a cat and gets away with it!

/*/

We spent most of our evenings like that, though it never turned quite that chaotic again. Summer seemed to speed by us far too fast, with not much interesting news, except that I heard from Arthur that the Triwizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts again. And then there were Sirius' nightmares.

The first time I noticed he was having them was a few nights after Harry's birthday party. Harry was – thankfully – sleeping over at the Weasley's, so I was the only one at home with Sirius.

I had been reading a book in my room, highlighting things I could use for Harry's lessons when I heard a scream. It was a little muffled, but there was only one person it could belong to. I ran to Sirius' room, only to find it locked. I cursed, ran back to my room to retrieve my wand, and hurried back to unlock the door. Sirius was thrashing on his bed, his screams were much louder now. It was nonsense, mostly, but I heard James and Harry's names a few times. I rushed to his side, and started shaking him awake. Sirius, still in the throws of his nightmare, had grabbed my throat. It took him less than a second to realize who I was and to release me, but in that second I was afraid he'd kill me.

"Emma, I'm so sorry," he breathed, crawling out of his bed, and kneeling next to me. He started crying, and I leaned over and pulled him into my arms, ignoring my own shivers. We sat like that for most of the night, while I mumbled comforting nonsense. Eventually, he fell asleep with his head in my lap. I tried leaving him, but as soon as I did, he became restless again. So I levitated him back into his bed and conjured a mattress for myself.

He never let go of my hand.

That became sort of a nightly ritual for us. I'd start out in my own room, but most nights I migrated to his, once I heard him scream. I had put a silencing charm on Harry's door so he wouldn't be disturbed by it, though I told him it was so he could study during the day if he needed to.

Eventually, I put a permanent bed into Sirius' room and just moved in there. No one ever mentioned anything about those sleeping arrangements.

/*/

By the end of August he was doing better, though, so I had moved back into my own room. I received an invite from Arthur on the 20 August to go to the Quidditch World Cup with his family on the 22nd. I gratefully accepted, not knowing Sirius would whine for two days to convince me to let him come. I agreed to let him come if he wore a collar. He sulked.

I managed to convince Arthur and Molly to let Harry, Hermione – who was staying at the Weasley's – and Ron and his sister come with me a day early. We set up my old tent at a very good spot. It was so nice to be rich.

The tent had two rooms with each three beds, so the boys – which included Padfoot – could take one, and the girls and I. We spend the evening playing games and having fun. I taught all of them how to build a campfire without their wands, and then made smores; an American tradition I had picked up on the other side of the pond.

There were about three dozen families already here, some of whom I knew the name. Harry and Ron, followed closely by Padfoot, quickly drifted off when they heard Seamus Finnigan, a fellow Gryffindor, had been here since the semi-finale, which Ireland won against Japan. I was left with the girls.

"So Ginny, what do you like to do?" I asked kindly. I really didn't know the youngest Weasley that well, and she seemed like a nice girl.

"I like to play Quidditch," she offered. I already knew this, having watched – and occasionally participated in – their pick up games.

"You always play chaser, am I right?" I asked. "Is there any other position you like to play?"

Hermione pulled out a book when she realized this was all we were likely to be talking about, and Ginny pulled her knees up to her chest. "I'm a pretty good seeker, but every time Charlie's home he gets to play. Not that I mind, I'm better chaser anyway, but it'd be nice to be able to practice…"

"Well you know my door's always open, and I'd love to train with you sometime, it'd give me an excuse to get on my broom again. What's your favourite team?" I asked, genuinely interested. There was something about this girl, something in her eyes.

"The Holyhead Harpies, I love their women only policy, and they're a great team, I'd love to see them play!" And gone was the quiet, shy girl. In her place was a girl with a spark in her eyes.

"I agree. Officially, I have to be a fan of the Ballycastle Bats, but between you and me, I root for the Harpies," I said with a conspiratorial smile. "So what's your favourite subject at school?"

"Charms," she replied, shifting so she sat cross-legged. We continued to talk for a while, and I decided I liked Ginny, she had a sharp sense of humour when she wanted to, and she could talk very animatedly. Hermione joined us as soon as she heard that Quidditch was no longer the topic.

Eventually, the boys came back, and we all went to bed.

/*/

The match was amazing! Ireland won, but Bulgaria caught the snitch. Everyone was a bit crazy about their seeker, Krum. I didn't get the attraction after having seen him up close, but then, I wasn't a hormonal teenage girl, or a boy with hero-worship.

Sirius had enjoyed himself immensely. I did have to stop him from acting too human a few times. As I was sitting next to Ginny and Hermione, I got to know the girls a little better, and, while everyone was distracted, we planned to play a prank on the boys.

All of us were in high spirits as we returned to the campsite at Ireland's win. While all the boys were at the Weasley's tent, Hermione, Ginny and I booby trapped their beds, and then joined them. Those girls had some vicious minds when they wanted to, but we kept the cruelness to a minimum.

Again, the night was spent in laughter and fun, especially when the twins started telling jokes, until they realized Ludo Bagman wasn't going to pay them their winnings. Apparently they'd bet on the match, and had guessed right. But then Arthur decided that his sons couldn't get all the attention. Who would've thought he had a mischievous streak? We didn't stay up for too long, though, just long enough to have a cup of hot cocoa.

When we eventually did go to bed, far later than I would normally have let Harry – and myself – stay up, all of us girls were already in bed when we heard a yelp coming from the boy's room, closely followed by muted coughing.

I smiled at the two other girls, fetched my wand and a muggle camera I'd bought earlier that summer, and went to clean up the boys. I had charmed their beds so that the minute someone would sit down on them, they'd be coated in wet flour and feathers.

"That'll teach you to stare at veelas," I said, trying terribly hard – and failing – to hide my laughter. Harry and Ron looked a little like marble statues, if marble statues were ever covered from head to toe in feathers. I surreptitiously took a picture with the camera, glad that the flour had also gotten in their eyes, so they wouldn't see. I 'scourgified' them, and heard their muttered promises of revenge with a smile on my face.

I was about to turn away, when I heard a faint whining. Sirius had already settled next to Harry's bed, on the ground, and had apparently slept through the boy's embarrassment, and had already sunken into another nightmare.

'Probably because we're not at home anymore,' I thought to myself, and shook the dog awake. He looked at me with a guilty expression in his eyes, and got ready to settle down again, but I waved him toward the girl's room.

"Good night, Harry, Ron," I whispered as I left the room, followed by Padfoot. Back in our own room, Hermione had already fallen asleep, and I made a mental note to show her the pictures the next morning. Ginny was still fighting sleep in her own bed, watching as I crawled back in my own bed, and Padfoot settled on top of the blanket, on my legs.

"Emma?" she asked, her voice betraying her fatigue.

"Yes?" I whispered back, hoping we wouldn't wake Hermione.

"Thanks for… yesterday, and today, it was fun."

I smile warmly at the redhead. "You're more than welcome." I hesitated a moment, but added: "Ginny? If you ever need to talk about something, and you don't feel like you can talk to your mum… You're perfectly welcome to owl me."

She smiled broadly. "Thank you," she said, yawned, and promptly closed her eyes and went to sleep. I decided to follow her example.

A/N: So, did y'all hate me for the horrible cliffhanger I put in in chapter 2? And tell me what you think, especially about Ginny's altered role, I need feedback!

Review!