Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Chapter Twelve

The Truth

Harry and Hermione's friendship evolved nicely as nearly two years past. Hermione parents were very relieved when they found out about the wizarding world and in turn learned why their daughter was able to do some of the weird things that she had down. Again, Remus had another long night answering their many questions, as Sirius entertained them by giving them a real magic show, as he had called it.

Hermione had found that school had become a lot more interesting with Harry around, not only because she now had a friend to talk and laugh with, but also because he was rather intelligent and highly competitive. She no longer had an easy job of being the top student in her class, though she did have the advantage of really liking doing her work, whereas Harry would often get bore with it, especially when it became repetitious. Harry of course, quickly realized that he was never going to be a better student than her, but he always enjoyed it when he got a better mark than her on a test or assignment because she would get so upset and grumble loudly about what she should have done.

Of course, nothing Hermione could say would stop Harry from pulling pranks on people in general, but mostly Chris and his friends. Most of the time he did this by himself, Hermione still having a strong aversion to doing something as irresponsible as pranking on a regular basis, but he could talk her into doing some when he notice that she was particularly angry about some kind of injustices. She was irritated that Harry always had a knack for noticing when she was in that kind of mood, but she had to admit that it really was a nice way to relieve some of her tension and it was highly exhilarating getting away with a prank. For you see, she was never caught nor blamed for her hand in any of the pranks she helped Harry pull, though he had been caught a few times (both in ones that he had pulled by himself and with her help).

Hermione loved going over to Harry's house, it was just so full of magic and wonderment she couldn't help it. Remus would normally pick the both of them up after school, seeing as he worked for a newspaper and mostly worked at home, he was free to do so. Hermione found that she liked talking with Remus a lot, he seemed to know just about everything, both Muggle and magical.

However, she was surprised to find that she liked Sirius just as much. He was rather intelligent … something that took her some time to realize because the older man liked to hide that fact. Harry said Sirius did this so no one took him seriously, which she could see with his behavior how that was possible. In fact, it wasn't until she learned that Sirius was an Auror … which she thought was rather like a detective in the Muggle world … that she realized that he might have a different persona. Still, the main reason why she liked Sirius was because he was really funny. It seem like every time he was in the room he had everyone laughing. Of course, whenever Sirius was in a foul mood it caused the whole house to become gloomier … he really had an infectious personality.

Still, she quite fondly remembered when she had meet 'Snuffles' for the first time:

"Well, hello," Hermione said to the big black dog that came running to Harry, Remus and her, they were just coming back from school. "I didn't know that you got a dog."

"You mean Snuffles here," Harry said, smiling. Oh she should have known by that smile that something was up, but she had been distracted when she was licked in the face by the dog and she returned her attention to it.

"Snuffles … that's an interesting name," Hermione said, playing with the dog. "How did you come up with it?"

"You'll have to ask Remus," Harry shrugged, trying not to laugh and finding that difficult.

"It just came to me," Remus shrugged, he too was finding it difficult not to laugh. He really wasn't sure how he came to think of the name, but he found when Sirius said that they had to come up with a different name for when he was a dog, other than Padfoot (there were just too many people that knew about that name now) Snuffles just sort of came out.

"He really is adorable," Hermione said as the dog laid his head on the table near them giving her its best puppy dog eyes.

Then there was a pop and Sirius was standing there smirking at the now gobsmacked Hermione, as Harry and Remus laughed in the background. "Why thank you, Hermione, I always love hearing things like that."

"You … you just … you're a dog," Hermione said still rather shocked, it had only been a few months since she learned about magic and she was still getting use to it.

"I'm an Animagus," Sirius corrected with a grin.

"I take it this means you passed your test today," Remus chuckled.

"With flying colors! Everyone was rather surprised that I was able to complete my training so quickly," Sirius smirked smugly and Hermione still had no idea what the meaning behind that smirk was about. Everyone else in the room however, knew that Sirius was referring to the fact that he had been an Animagus since his fifth year at Hogwarts. He had just now officially became a Register Animagus, having decided that it was best that he did so because he didn't want to get into any trouble in the future if anyone found out he was unregistered. "It only took me five months."

"But you were a dog," Hermione repeated, still flabbergasted. This reaction had everyone else laughing again.

Now, however, Harry and Hermione had just finished the last class of their normal school, and were talking excitedly about what it was going to be like next year when they started at Hogwarts. They were walking home from school this day because it was a nice day and they were in no hurry to get home. Hermione had been thinking about something that had been bothering her for a while. In fact, it was something that she had noticed almost a year ago, she just wasn't sure how to bring it up.

"Harry," Hermione said when they were at a park with a swing-set. He was sitting in one and looked at her curiously, surprised by the worried tone she was using.

"What's up?" Harry said.

"Why does Remus call you cub?" Hermione asked, she had never gotten use to calling either Remus or Sirius by their nicknames, but at least she was able to use their first names now.

"Why do you think he does?" Harry asked in return, tensing a little.

Hermione sighed; she wasn't used to this guarded reaction from her friend. They didn't really have many secrets from one another, but she had expected this from him. Harry was, and always will be, protective of his family (and her too, but she wasn't thinking about that now), and he looked like he was preparing to defend his godfather.

"Sirius likes to call you pup, and seeing as he's a dog that makes sense," Hermione said. "I know he didn't become a dog until after that … but still, I can see why he calls you pup."

Harry opened his mouth to tell her that Sirius was actually a dog long before he was even born, but the words didn't come out. He could see that Hermione was just starting her explanation and he knew where this was going to end. He just hoped that she wouldn't have a problem with Remus … or would be afraid of him in any way.

"I thought there had to be a significance to the used of cub, too," Hermione went on, not looking at Harry now. "And the fact that he was name Moony. Again, Padfoot seemed to go with a dog … so I wondered what animal would go with Moony. I came up with a wolf."

Harry tensed ever more at this, as Hermione looked him in the eyes, but still he didn't say anything. He was waiting for her to say it herself.

Hermione sighed, she was hoping he would just tell her already, but then again this wasn't Harry's secret to tell. So she pressed on. "Then I started to notice there was a certain day that I was never allowed to stay at your house, and you rarely came over to my house … always on the full moon …"

"How long have you known this?" Harry said, glaring at the floor in front of him.

"For nearly a year," Hermione said softly.

"And you're just bringing this up now?" Harry said looking at her, a look of wonderment and relieve on his face.

"I didn't know how to bring it up before," Hermione said, truthfully.

"So you don't care about it at all," Harry said, knowing that Hermione had never once acted nervously around Remus.

"That depends … what am I not caring about?" Hermione asked, wanting to hear him confirm her theory.

Harry rolled his eyes, she was always like that. "That Remus is a werewolf."

Hermione's eyes widen for a second and then she wore her smile that she always had when she's figured out a particularly hard problem. "Of course not. He can't help himself for what he is and it's clear that he's never hurt anyone."

"Why couldn't you have just started off by saying that," Harry groaned, but he was chuckling, too. "You had me worried for a minute there."

"Sorry," Hermione said. "But I didn't want to accuse him of being a werewolf and then be wrong. Anyways, is that why he calls cub?"

"Yeah," Harry rolled his eyes again. "Of course it is."

O

It was three weeks later, Harry had told Remus and Sirius about Hermione figuring out that Remus was a werewolf right away and they were both relieved and pleased that she had taken it so well. However, right now, neither one of them looked too pleased. Harry was sitting on his bed, trying to think of anything he had done over the last week or so that would make them upset with him, but he wasn't coming up with anything. At least not something that Sirius would be angry about, too.

"Harry, I know that you have been waiting for us to tell you this for a long time," Remus started.

"But we didn't want to, so we didn't tell you," Sirius said, his tone wasn't in his normal teasing voice, though Harry could tell that he had meant it as a joke.

"Oh," Harry said, the guilty expression he had was replaced with anger. "So you're finally going to tell me about why we have to keep everything secret and why I can't go anywhere in the wizarding world."

"Yep," Sirius said again trying to joke but he stopped when Harry narrowed his eyes.

"I'm listening," Harry said.

"First, I would like to say that we did have a reason for not telling you this, and I hope you'll see that, if not now, at some point in the future," Remus said. Then they spent the next hour or so telling Harry about the war, which he knew some things about, though his knowledge stopped at knowing that a wizard name Voldemort had been the one that was leading the Death Eaters, who cause the wizarding world great devastation. They went on to tell Harry about his first year of life, and the fact that he had nearly been killed by Voldemort himself, and that was the reason why the other wizard had disappeared.

"What?" Harry said when they came to that part. "I … it … how?"

"We're not sure," Remus said, his tone was pained as he was still thinking about what he had just told Harry about Lily (everyone had shed more than a few tears at that point). "Though I think it might have something to do with … your mum …"

"Oh," Harry said, bowing his head, thinking about his mum that he had no memories of. Sirius sat next to him and put his arm around his shoulder. Harry just sat there in silence thinking about everything that he had just heard. "You still haven't explained why I didn't get to know about any of this before."

"Harry," Sirius said softly. "You defeated the most powerful dark wizard of our time, maybe ever …"

"And everyone knows about it right," Harry said looking up at his uncle, the man that had become his uncle so that he would be safe if anything were to happen to his parents. The man that had stopped him from being raised by his mum's real sister, who was supposed to have hated his mum. He wondered if this Petunia really was as bad as Sirius and Remus thought she was. She probably was but right now, after hearing all they had kept from him, he was a little resentful.

"Yes, everyone in the wizarding knows your story," Remus sighed. "We wanted you to have a normal childhood away from all that …"

"Right," Harry said getting up angrily, he didn't want to just sit here anymore … listening to them explain what was best for him. What did they think was going to happen, that he would get a fat head and think that he was some kind of invincible hero? "If you don't mind … I think I'm going to take a walk."

Remus and Sirius looked at each other and they both sighed, but nodded their acceptance and Harry left the room. He was angry at them for not telling him this sooner … and yet deep down inside he knew that they were right to wait. It was nice that he got to live a normal life for the time being but he feared what life was going to be like now once he got to Hogwarts, where everyone was going to know his name. The worst thing was that even though he now believed that he was going to be famous as soon as he got there, he had no idea just how famous he really was yet.

"Harry," Hermione called after him.

"What?" He said distantly, his mind going over everything that he had heard as he sat in the same swing set he had when she told him she knew about Remus's 'fur little problem'.

"I thought that was you," Hermione smiled, but then quickly took in his appearance. "What's the matter?"

"Did you know?" Harry asked, struck by the sudden thought that Hermione might have heard about him, she had been getting many books about magic over the past two years. He tried to keep the anger from boiling in him as he thought about her knowing this too … of another person keeping things from him.

"Know what?" Hermione questioned.

"That I'm famous," Harry spat, unable to keep all the anger out of his voice. "That everyone in the wizarding world knows my name."

"What?" Hermione said, confused and a little hurt by his hostility towards her. "Why?"

Harry looked at her closely as she sat in the swing next to him. "Sorry," he sighed, it was obviously that she had no idea what he was talking about. He was relieved and a little ashamed by his outburst. "It's just that Remus and Sirius told me about … everything they've been keeping from me … it's a lot to deal with."

"It's okay, Harry," Hermione said putting her hand on his shoulder.

He smirked as he looked at the ground in front of him. He didn't have to look at her to know that she wanted to hear what Remus and Sirius had told him. And he didn't have to look up to know that she would never ask him … but hope that he would just tell her. She didn't have to worry about him telling her … he needed someone to talk to right now and who was better than his best friend. So he told her everything that he had just heard a few hours ago, though it was difficult for him to repeat some parts and he cut off suddenly when he started talking about his mum.

"Harry," Hermione said, tightening her grip on his shoulder as he shook a little. He looked up at her with his brilliant green eyes glistening with tears. It broke her heart seeing how hurt he was … it broke her heart that he had gone through this kind of pain when he was only a year old.

"She died because of me, Hermione," he said in a soft voice, this was the root of the pain he had felt all day. This was the one thing that he would never be able to voice to Remus and Sirius because they would deny it … but their eyes would have said something different to him.

"Harry … no …" Hermione said, she couldn't stand that he was blaming himself for what had happened.

"The wizard … Voldemort … was after me," Harry said and Hermione flinched as she thought of that image … hating and fearing this wizard.

"And she wanted to protect you," Hermione said. "It's what mum's do …" she smiled sadly there, thinking of her own mum and how furious she was after Hermione was picked on for the first time. It wasn't the same, but she knew her mum would do anything for her and she knew that Harry's mum had done everything for him. "That doesn't make it your fault."

"If it wasn't for me …" Harry started.

"Harry, you're a smart guy, so stop acting like an idiot," Hermione said, shoving his swing away from her.

Harry looked at her incredulously, how could she say that?

"You would never blame someone else for an action you took," Hermione went on. "It's not your fault, Harry, so please don't say it is."

Harry noticed then the almost hysteric tone in her voice, she was really upset about what he had said, and believed, like always, that she was right.

"Whatever, Hermione," Harry rolled his eyes, but he felt better now. Talking to her about this made him feel better. Still … there was something else that was bothering him. "Why do you think they didn't tell me this sooner?"

"Because they wanted you to have a normal life," Hermione repeated the reason that Harry himself had told her not too long ago.

"So they didn't trust me to handle this information," Harry grumbled.

"It's not about trust," Hermione said. "It's about peace of mind. Harry, you can't say that it isn't a good think that you were able to have fun for as long as you did … without being weighed down by all that you have learned today."

"I suppose," Harry sighed after pausing to think for awhile, but the bitterness of being lied to was still strong in him and he was ready now … ready for more answer. "Come on; let's go home … I think I have some more questions for Remus and Sirius."

"Oh," Hermione said, hesitatingly.

"Yes, you can come with me," Harry rolled his eyes and she smiled at him sheepishly.

When he got home, he did ask more questions, though this time the questions were about why it was necessary for him to have such high security. After all, the madman that was after him was supposed to be gone, right? It turned out that assumption was wrong, as Remus explain that Dumbledore (a name that Harry had heard all his life but someone that he never met) didn't think that was the case and believe that Harry was going to still be a target. It was chilling hearing that Voldemort was still out there in some hideous form, still plotting to kill him (or at least that's what Harry thought he was doing).

"Are you still sure you want to be my friend?" Harry asked, feeling numb with everything that he learned that day. "It sounds kind of dangerous."

"Harry, there's nothing in this world that would make me stop wanting to be your friend," Hermione smiled at him, and that lighten his heart a great deal.