Sorry! I know it's been a longer wait that usual, but real life completely took over! However, I have more free time now, so hopefully there won't be such a long wait any time soon.

Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed :)

Once they'd got home last night, Harry had told him about the Quileute wolves. Although he'd been shocked at first, now in the light of day in their sunny kitchen, he was considering visiting them.

Apparently Edward hadn't mentioned what side of the war they were on, or even if they were concerned with it at all. Now that they were protecting two of the Cullens, any allies they could get would only make things easier. Hopefully they would be neutral, and then it would be easier to sway their decision, if only they could get over this… dislike between the two creatures.

It might even give them a chance to make some friends in this place, as they weren't exactly mingling with the muggles…

He was wrenched out of his thoughts with a violent poke to his side. "Siri! I've been calling your name for the last five minutes!"

"Oops?" Sirius grinned. "Sorry Harry, I was just thinking about our wolfy neighbours."

Harry's widened his eyes dramatically. "Uh oh! You and thinking is never a good combination!" He pulled his bowl of cereal towards him and took a mouthful.

Sirius swatted his godson good-naturedly. "Shush you. I was thinking that they might be able to help us with Esme and Edward."

"I thought we didn't know which side they were on?" Harry asked.

"And that's why I'm going to go and talk to them!"

Harry was reasonably certain that they could protect Edward and Esme by themselves, but he supposed that it wouldn't hurt to have some extra help. Looking at the clock, he sighed. "Your day sounds like it'll be much more interesting than mine. Muggle school sucks."

"It'll be over before you know it" Sirius chuckled, although counting his blessings that he'd never had to go to a muggle school: the lessons sounded more boring than even History of Magic!

Harry scooped the remaining cornflakes into his mouth, before chucking the bowl into the sink and grabbing his bag. "I've got to go now, otherwise I'll be late. Good luck with the wolves!" He waved at his godfather, and then headed for the front door.

Once the door closed behind his godson, Sirius folded up the newspaper he was holding and changed into Padfoot. Excited to be back in his animagus form, he gave a few happy barks. Then, he made his way out of the front door and started running in the direction of the reservation.

He slowed down as he entered the reservation boundary, and raised his snout in the air, to try and find a wolf scent. Having no luck, he headed to the beach, hoping that he might run into one of the shape shifters down there.

At first glance the beach appeared deserted, so Sirius decided to take advantage of the mild weather by paddling at the edge of the sea. Catching a distinctly wolfish smell in the air, he turned around. Sure enough, the same large russet wolf was behind him. They stood nose to nose for several minutes, until the wolf winked and Sirius gathered his courage. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps backwards before turning back into his human form.

He chuckled as the wolf gave a yelp of surprise, but then frowned in confusion as it bounded off to the trees. If this was one of the shape shifters, why was it running away?

When it didn't immediately return he was stumped. Just as he was considering leaving, he spotted a large, well-muscled teen coming out from the same direction the wolf had disappeared in. He watched as the boy made his way over to him wearing only a small pair of denim cut-offs. The boy gave him a wide smile, and explained, "Sorry, my clothes don't pop in and out of existence like yours seem to!"

Sirius blinked. He hadn't been expecting it, but as they didn't seem magical he supposed it made sense. Without preamble, he addressed the teen, "So you're one of the Quileutes wolves?"

The young man nodded and held out his hand, before introducing himself. "I'm Jake."

Sirius took the proffered hand. "Paddy." Seeing how relaxed the boy looked, he eyed him in confusion. "You're not worried that I know?"

Jake laughed. "Seeing as you were a dog a couple of minutes, I think I can be pretty certain that you're not an ordinary human either."

Gasping in mock horror, Sirius shrieked, "Ordinary!? Moi!?"

Jake clapped him on the back, chuckling. This man would definitely get on with the rest of the boys. "I take it there's a specific reason for your visit?"

Grin fading, Sirius cleared his throat. "It's a slightly delicate matter."

"Should I take you to my dad? He's one of the council elders."

Relieved that he wouldn't have to go on a search for the pack's leader, Sirius threw himself into a dramatic bow and exclaimed, "Lead the way!"

As soon as the lunch bell went, Harry made his way to the cafeteria. Once he'd collected his food, he looked around to see if Edward was already there. Certain that he wasn't, Harry made his way over to a small empty table in the corner and waited. He looked up and smiled brightly at Edward as he sat down in the seat in front of him. He took a sip of his drink, and asked, "Good day so far?"

"Yes, Trig was especially exciting this morning." the vampire answered, his golden eyes twinkling. "Yours?"

Harry sighed. "Let's just put it this way; I definitely need more tutoring."

Edward fiddled with the apple in his hand. "I have to go straight home tonight." he said, and then mouthed 'the Carrows' by way of explanation. "How about tomorrow afternoon?"

Hastily swallowing his mouthful of sandwich, Harry answered, "Why don't you come to mine? You could even stay for dinner if you want." Suddenly realising what he said, he blushed furiously. "Well, obviously not-"

Chuckling, Edward interrupted him saying, "Don't worry, I knew what you meant." Ignoring the warm feeling that James' flushed cheeks gave him, he hastily answered the original question. "I'd love to come over. Send me your address tonight?"

Harry nodded, and took another bite of his sandwich.

Edward waited until James had finished his food, and then asked, "Is there anything I should know about Paddy or your house before I come?" He'd never been in a wizard's house before, so he wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

"Erm… there aren't any booby-traps or anything like that, so don't worry. Paddy can be over-protective sometimes though, so he might be uncomfortable about us being in my bedroom." Harry paused, blushing. Dragging his mind away from being alone in his room with the vampire, he continued, "There's also a chance that he might turn into a dog."

Edward burst out laughing at the last one, as it seemed completely random. Out of curiousity, he asked, "Can you turn into anything?"

"I've tried, but you have to know what your animagus form is before you can fully transform. I've seen it in my mind, but I have no clue what it is." It was incredibly frustrating for him. Once he had the knowledge of his animal, he was sure that with his strong determination it would only take him a matter of hours to be able to fully transform.

Intrigued, Edward asked, "Could you describe it? I've studied both muggle and magical mythology, so I could be of some help."

To ensure that he didn't make any mistakes, Harry quickly focused on his inner animal and pulled the image into his mind. "It looks like a large pale grey panther, but then it has these small purple ears and a large spiralled horn on the top of its head."

Edward started at the younger boy in amazement.

Seeing the vampire's awed expression, Harry asked excitedly, "Do you know what I am?"

"Their existence has never been proven, although people have been searching for them for centuries. However, the fact that it's your animagus form is clear proof!"

Harry reigned in his impatient sigh. "What is it, Edward?"

Still in awe, Edward replied, "A Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

Once the words processed in Harry's mind, he started at Edward in shock. He had dearly loved Luna, but had never believed in any of her bizarre animals. As ridiculous as they had sounded at the time, he felt guilty for not having more faith in her. He was almost certain that if she'd survived the final battle, she wouldn't have betrayed him like everyone else. Thinking about her now made his heart ache; she would have been over the moon to hear about his animagus form. The loss of their colourful friendship was still painful.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Harry asked, "What do you know about them? I think I heard that they can't fly?"

"That's right, although they're supposed to be able to run really fast, and they can survive in even the most extreme weather conditions. Their horns will always regrow themselves if damaged and their saliva is said to have powerful healing properties."

Harry sat back in his seat, impressed. He had never imagined that his animagus would be a rare magical creature. In fact, he hadn't believed it possible to be anything other than a non-magical animal. Before he'd seen the creature, he'd kind of assumed he might become Prongs like his father or even a snake thanks to his Parseltongue ability.

"James? Once you master the transformation, would you allow me to see?" Edward asked hesitantly. He didn't want to make his friend uncomfortable, but this was also a wonderful opportunity.

Seeing no reason to object, Harry offered, "How about tomorrow evening during our tutoring session? I'll work on it tonight, so with any luck I'll be able to fully transform."

Grinning excitedly, Edward was just about to question him further on transformation when the bell went for the end of lunch. Storing his questions away for later, he stood up reluctantly and headed off to biology with James.

Once they reached the right house, Jake opened the door and shouted for his dad. He grinned as he saw him wheeling into the hall grumbling about noisy teenagers.

Billy stopped as he saw the pale-face, and looked at his son questioningly. When Jacob didn't immediately explain, the other man stepped forward and offered his hand to him. "I'm Paddy Black." The hand that gripped his own was firm and calloused. "Billy Black. What is it that I can help you with?" he asked, gesturing for Jacob and Paddy to follow him into the kitchen and sit at the table.

Sirius gripped his wand in his pocket and murmured a silencing charm just in case there were any eavesdroppers. "I recently moved to Forks with my godson from England." Taking a deep breath, he decided that just coming straight out with it would be the best option: he could always use an obliviate if need be. "We're both wizards, and we came here to avoid the aftermath of the war."

"So that's why you can turn into a dog!" Jake mumbled.

Ignoring his son, Billy rubbed his chin. "I haven't had contact with a wizard in over fifteen years." he murmured thoughtfully. It seemed odd that one had now just randomly turned up on his doorstep. Then he asked the question which was bugging him the most. "May I ask how you knew of us?"

"The Cullens."

"The bloodsuckers?" Jake questioned, wrinkling his nose. "What the hell were you talking to them for?"

Sirius smirked at how much Jake reminded him of his teenage self. "Considering the 'children' go to school with my godson, and I'm employed by Esme Cullen, it would be quite difficult to not talk to them."

Billy considered the man in front of him warily. He wasn't entirely sure if he found this Paddy character trustworthy or not. "I see. So what exactly is the purpose of your visit?"

"First, I need to ask you a question, if that's alright?" Seeing Billy's nod of acquiescence, Sirius continued, "I was told by Edward Cullen that you are neutral in the wizarding war. Is that true?"

Billy caught the hopeful tone in the man's voice, and wrinkled his brow in thought. Giving his son a warning look, Billy turned his eyes to his visitor and studied his face carefully. He was wary of telling this relative stranger of their alignment, in case it could be used against them. However, he usually had a sixth sense about people, and he wasn't getting any bad feelings about him. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, he answered, "Yes it is true, although I must say that we swing slightly towards the lighter side."

Sirius let out an audible sigh of relief. "Back in England we were firmly on the side of the light." Then he added as an afterthought, "Although I suppose now that we're staying here, we're slightly more neutral."

Seeing the truth in the younger man's eyes, Billy relaxed.

"You're aware of the Cullens' alignment?" The twin glowers on the other Black's faces gave Sirius his answer. "Right, well two of the Cullens, namely Esme and Edward, have come to us for protection. They wish to change sides, as they disagree with what the rest of their family are doing." When no one made any move to speak, he continued, "I know some of your history with them, including the treaty, but I was wondering if you would be willing to offer the four of us the protection of the tribe if it was needed. We would of course return the favour at any time."

Sirius desperately wanted to squirm under the calculating eye of Billy Black. However, he dredged up his Gryffindor courage and looked the elder man in the eye, hoping to appear calm and collected.

Billy kept a calm gaze on the wizard in front of him, a stark contrast to his racing thoughts. Something was telling him that Paddy was telling the complete truth, and he felt strangely compelled to help them. Furthermore, despite the treaty with the Cullens, Billy still had a problem with what they were doing, and this could be a chance to decrease, or even remove the threat they presented. The tribe had never made this sort of deal before, but he had to admit that it would be reassuring to know they had some extra protection.

Mind made up, Billy held his hand out slowly, and stated, "I accept."

Harry blushed furiously as he realised that they were studying human reproduction in biology. He'd never got that far in his last muggle school and obviously the Dursleys had never given him the birds and the bees talk. Even Hogwarts had generally avoided the subject like the plague, probably assuming that the students were well aware of the facts. Add to that the fact that the furthest he'd ever been was a wet kiss with Cho, the lesson was sure to be a disaster.

For the first fifteen minutes they were asked to label diagrams of the reproductive parts of a male and a female using correct scientific vocabulary. Picking up the female one, Harry turned to Edward in shock. "Bloody hell, this looks terrifying! I can't believe the girls are carrying that around underneath their skirts…"

Edward gave him an odd look, but suddenly understood. "You've never studied this, have you?" Seeing James' cheeks redden, he took that as a yes. "Most of it is on the inside, so you can only really see this bit and those bits from the outside." he explained, pointing to the relevant parts.

Waggling his eyebrows, Harry asked, "Is that from personal experience?" For some reason he felt oddly relieved when Edward laughed and shook his head.

"No, I've just sat through many lessons like this, as well as several medicine degrees." The vampire pulled both of the diagrams towards him and started adding the appropriate labels.

Impressed by the speed with which Edward was labelling the male diagram, Harry turned his eyes to the female one again, and wrinkled his nose. "It still looks weird. I'll definitely stick to guys thank you very much." Realising what he'd revealed to the vampire, he paled. He looked at his lap, dreading Edward's reaction.

When he'd brought up homosexuality with Ron, he'd been subjected to a lecture about how unnatural and disgusting it was for a boy to like another boy. Suffice it to say, he hadn't come out to him after that. His uncle had always been incredibly derogatory about 'shirt lifters', as he called them, and after Ron's reaction, he'd assumed that being gay wasn't accepted in either the muggle or the magical world. Confused and disgusted by his 'freakish' feelings, he'd eventually broken down in front of Sirius and spilled his shameful secret. To his surprise, his godfather had held him tightly, telling him that what he felt was completely natural and nothing to be ashamed of. Now he realised that his sexuality was mostly accepted in the wizarding world, but he had no idea how the majority of muggles viewed it.

Understanding that James was worried about his reaction, Edward gently put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm not going to judge you James: I'd be a hypocrite if I did." He could tell when the meaning sunk in, as James looked up with a smile tugging at his lips.

Despite his relief at Edward's reaction, Harry was well aware of the redness of his face and the frantic pace of his heart. He offered the vampire a smile, before asking him to explain the female reproductive anatomy, effectively ending the previous conversation.

As requested by the Carrows, the Cullens were sitting around their large dining table waiting, just before 6pm.

After only a few minutes, the floo flared and spat out Amycus onto the carpet. His pig face screwed up as he glared at the grate, as if it had personally offended him. He quickly jumped out the way as a short stocky woman with sloping shoulders burst out.

"This is my sister, Alecto."

Carlisle nodded in greeting, and Alecto sneered back at him.

"You all know why we're here." Amycus said, moving to stand behind the Cullen patriarch. "Surprisingly, your little attack made it into our newspapers. You actually managed to do quite well… for a bunch of creatures." The compliment had felt unnatural on his tongue, so he'd hurriedly added an insult on the end so that the vamps didn't get too full of themselves.

Alice put a gentle hand on Jasper's thigh and squeezed, to stop his faint growling. Nothing good would come of messing with the Carrows, even if they were slightly on the thick side.

Meanwhile, Alecto moved to the opposite table to stand behind the bulkiest vampire. Thinking their guest could do with cheering up, Emmett gave her a wide grin and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything he was interrupted. "Listen up cheeky," the witch hissed in his ear. "On my person is a magical knife which attacks the nearest vampire and chops them to bits. Don't try my patience."

Emmett gulped and forced himself to concentrate on the main conversation.

"Now that you have proven that you can do things without completely messing them up, we will have more tasks for all of you."

Carlisle decided to intervene at this point. "If I may, Mister Carrow, my wife Esme and my son Edward are not quite as bloodthirsty as the rest of us. They are instead trying to convert the views of a couple of wizards who have recently moved to the town."

Grunting in displeasure, Amycus glared down at the vampire. "Didn't you think it would be a good idea to let us know that earlier on?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise that you would be interested in such a small matter, but I shall keep you updated if you wish?"

"You'd better make sure of it." Amycus ran his small, watery eyes over the table, looking at each vampire in turn. "Your wife and son can continue to do as they are, but I expect results, and I hope for your sake that they're worthy allies. Empath, you will be required to help us conquer large group of people using your emotional control. Seer, you are to concentrate on our plans, and let us know at once if something will go wrong." Pleased with the lack of argument, he turned his attention to the patriarch.

Carlisle watched as the squat man turned to him. "Carlisle." Amycus spat the name out as if it offended him. "You will help persuade other creatures to our cause. Start with the mutts down the road, and then to the trolls and centaurs in the National Park."

"What should we do with these two?" cackled Alecto, pointing at Rosalie and Emmett.

Amycus spurred his brain into action, and all his could think about was that they needed more allies. As much as vampires disgusted him, maybe having a few more of them at their service wouldn't be too bad.

His beady eyes lit up. "You will change more humans into vampires." Thinking quickly, he added, "Children will be more… malleable, so I don't want any over the age of fourteen."

Had Carlisle still be human, all his blood would have drained from his face. If the Volturi were to find out that they changed any children who were too young to control themselves, his family would be instantly sentenced to death. Seeing the delight in Rosalie's eyes, he quickly made his thoughts know. "We can only change children who are old enough to control themselves and are capable of self-sufficiency. Rosalie, as much as you want a baby, I cannot allow you to do that. I ask that you only change children who are over ten years old."

Despite the delightful carnage that the tantrum of a vampire toddler would cause, Amycus had to grudgingly agree with Carlisle. It would be no good if the children were uncontrollable after all; they couldn't afford to lose any of their own side to a bunch of boisterous baby vamps.

Circling the table, Amycus declared, "You have all received your orders, and you know what you must do. We expect you to keep us updated of your progress, and if we hear that you are keeping things from us again, we will be very… displeased."

With that, he gestured for his sister to follow, and they threw powder into the floo before disappearing into the emerald green flames one after the other.

Harry practically ran down the road with excitement. He couldn't wait to attempt to transform for the first time. As he bounded into the house, he called, "SIRI!I know what my animagus form is!"

Sirius shouted from his armchair in the sitting room, "That's great pup! What is it?"

Following the sound of his godfather's voice, Harry slumped onto the sofa. Just as he was about to tell him, he remembered Sirius; attitude towards Luna. "Don't laugh." he warned.

Sirius looked affronted. "Of course not! An animagus form is a very serious thing."

"I'm a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Barely believing his ears, the older wizard burst into laughter, tightly holding onto his sides. "HAHAHAHA! Wouldn't that be hilarious!?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at his laughing godfather. "I'm glad you find it so amusing."

Realising that his godson was serious, he gulped. "Shit, I'm sorry Harry."

"It's alright. I was surprised at first too." he replied, deciding not to hold it against him. He was desperate to get to work as soon as possible, as he wanted to be able to show Edward the next evening. "I want to try and transform, will you help me?"

"Sure." Sirius wasn't entirely sure how big a Crumple-Horned Snorkack was, so he flicked his wand to push all of the furniture up against the walls, aside from two chairs. Settling himself into one of the chairs, he suggested, "If you want to stand in the middle, and then we can get started."

Harry did as he was told, and awaited further instructions.

"Pull the image of the animal into your mind." Sirius waited a few moments for Harry to do so, and then continued. "Imagine that you and the creature are one and the same. Imagine that your hands are its paws, that your face is its face."

Feeling an odd tingling in his left hand, or paw now, he supposed, he focussed harder on making himself one with his animagus.

"Now, concentrate on whichever part of your body is tingling, and will it to physically change form."

He willed with all his might, still imaging a grey paw in the place of his right hand. He tried to remember the will they'd used in Transfiguration lessons, but applied to himself. The tingling increased, and he hopefully peeked through one eye. He huffed in disappointment, as his hand was definitely still human.

"Don't worry pup, no one ever gets it straight away." Sirius reassured. "If it helps, get on your hands and feet like your animal would."

Pushing his feelings of foolishness aside, Harry lowered himself awkwardly onto his hands and feet. Squeezing his eyes shut again, he brought up the image of his animal and tried to make it part of himself.

"Don't open your eyes this time. I will tell you if anything changes, but you need to keep concentrating."

After half an hour, the only change was that Harry's skin had gone an odd shade of grey. He sighed in frustration.

"Come on Harry, cheer up. We haven't been trying for that long, and you've already managed some sort of change." Sirius encouraged. "You're doing a lot better than me kiddo: it took me a good week to even change my skin colour."

Slightly cheered by that thought, the younger wizard threw himself back into his training.

The next time he opened his eyes, he had a set of four fur covered paws in the place of his hands and feet. However, no matter how much he willed the change further along his body, nothing was happening. Fed up of the lack of progress, he pushed away his connection with his animagus form and returned to his fully human state. "Urg! Why isn't it working?" It wasn't as if he didn't have enough determination, so what the hell was going wrong?

"Let's do something else for a few minutes Harry. Just relax and think about something else." Sirius suggested, realising that his godson wasn't going to get anywhere in his current agitated state.

Accepting the sense in his godfather's words, Harry walked over to the spare chair and sat down it in heavily. He was more tired than he'd thought. Struggling for something to talk about, Harry burst out, "We had a sex lesson in biology today."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"I felt kind of stupid." He admitted quietly. "I didn't really know much."

Getting out of his chair and heading towards the bookshelf, he said mischievously, "Well, you're in luck pup. It so happens that I'm well equipped for this very situation!"

Harry looked at his godfather warily, and wondered what was causing his impish smile. However, he was soon given an answer when 'Buggering For Boys' and the equally tasteful 'Every Gay Wizard's Encyclopaedia To The Horizontal (Or Vertical) Bop' landed in his lap. He stared at them in horror.

"I took the liberty of buying these for you after that chat we had last year. I didn't think you'd want me to go into detail with you, so I thought I'd get you some books instead." He failed to mention the fact that he'd bought the ones with the most horrendous titles just to embarrass his godson. "In fact, 'Buggering For Boys' has quite a few interesting pictures in it, if I remember correctly." He delighted in seeing Harry's blush spread even further across his face.

Satisfied that he'd successfully mortified his godson, he decided to swiftly move on. "Right, shall we get back to your animagus training?"