CHAPTER FOUR

Remus Lupin sighed heavily in his armchair by the window of his tiny cottage, located in a hidden location on a rural stretch of the Cornish coast. He was tired, yet he did not think that he would be able to sleep. He had had trouble sleeping for the past few weeks – as had many – his mind had simply been too full of thoughts. His heart still skipped a beat when he considered just how dangerously close they had come to losing Harry. A loud snore invaded his thoughts and he allowed his gaze to drift to the sofa, where the slumbering form of Sirius Black lay, covered lightly by a patchwork quilt. Sirius still looked extremely thin but his good-looking face was peaceful and serene. Remus smiled to himself and murmured. "It seems that some of us are not troubled by insomnia."

Rising quietly from his chair, being careful not to rouse his companion, Remus crept quietly from the sitting room and down the hall into the cosy kitchen. This room, like the rest of the comfortable cottage was simply furnished and suited Remus down to the ground. It was modest and unassuming yet at the same time tasteful and interesting – very much like Remus' personality. Running a hand through his greying hair wearily, Remus carefully took a delicate china teapot down from a shelf and busied himself making tea – something he enjoyed doing the muggle way, he always swore it tasted better made this way, as opposed to when it was made by magic. It always felt good to be doing something – even something as mundane as preparing tea. He found it helped him remain sane somehow. Bending down, Remus opened a cupboard and took out two matching china cups, smiling slightly to himself as he did so. Sirius always made fun of him for using matching china – he said that he was turning into an old woman. Remus enjoyed teasing Sirius in return by saying that Sirius simply couldn't appreciate these things because he was more used to lapping from a plastic dog bowl. All joking aside, Remus was very glad to have his friend staying with him. He knew that he had a tendency to be too serious, too quiet – a little bit of a loner. Sirius was very good for him, reminding him to kick back, relax and have fun – just as he always had at school – along with James of course.

Remus was interrupted from these nostalgic thoughts by the sound of Sirius' voice calling sharply from the sitting room.

"Remus! REMUS! Put that damned teapot down and come here now! We've got company."

Remus chuckled at Sirius' perceptive remark about the teapot. He is getting to know me too well! He thought, amused.

"REMUS!" Came the voice again, even more insistently.

Disconcerted – and somewhat alarmed – by the uncharacteristically sharp tone of his friends' voice, Remus stopped what he was doing and headed back down the corridor hastily, a hint of a frown on his face.

"What is it Si? What do you mean we've got company…. No-one came to the door."

Sirius did not reply. As Remus entered the room he saw that his friend was sitting tensely on the edge of the sofa, his hands clasped together tightly, his knuckles white and his face strained. One glance at the coffee table told Remus why. Fawkes, Dumbledores resplendent phoenix was sitting in the centre of the polished wooden table, looking thoroughly unconcerned *. Sirius ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair.

"You know why he's here don't you? Dumbledore wouldn't have sent him unless – something has happened hasn't it? To Harry."

Remus closed his eyes momentarily and bit his lip.

"We don't know that Si… it might be… errr…" He trailed off, failing miserable to sound reassuring.

"Might be what Remus?" Sirius snapped angrily. "He'd hardly have sent Fawkes here on this God-forsaken evening to bring us a bloody post-card would he?"

Remus sighed. "Well no – but getting angry about it is not going to benefit anyone, is it?"

"Angry? Who's angry?" Sirius fairly shouted. "Not me anyway – I'm perfectly calm." He sounded anything but.

"Look… let's just read the letter." Remus walked over and gently took the scroll of parchment from Fawkes who regarded him rather haughtily – almost as if he were a naughty two-year-old.

Remus found himself chuckling in spite of the situation. "Same old Fawkes anyway – you know best don't you?" He said fondly, stroking the birds' magnificent plumage.

Sirius cleared his throat loudly; quite clearly stating that he thought Remus should hurry up and read. Taking the hint, Remus obediently unrolled the parchment and read aloud.

Dear Remus and Sirius;

I trust that this finds you both well. Unfortunately, what Albus discussed with Remus prior to the end of term will have to be implemented immediately. Earlier today, Harry's Uncle allowed him to wander around muggle London alone…

On hearing this, Sirius leapt from his seat, looking murderous.

"WHAT?!" He bellowed. "Dursley you fool! If I ever get near you, I'll wring your neck with my bare hands, I'll…"

It was Remus' turn to clear his throat pointedly. Sirius quietened obediently as his friend read on.

Please do not worry too much. Thankfully, Harry found his way to The Leaky Cauldron and Tom contacted Albus who is with him now. Harry will however, have to come to stay with you for the rest of the summer, as discussed. If you could be at Hogwarts tonight at 9pm, Harry will be here. Dumbledore has asked me to request that Sirius does not come – it is simply not worth the risk as he is meant to be lying low.

Yours,

Minerva McGonagall.

Sirius was looking mutinous. "Not go? Not go? Of course I'm going… this is my god-son we're talking about – what is Dumbledore thinking?"

Remus shook his head. "Are you deaf Si? Dumbledore has told you not to go for a reason – you know yourself that you should stay here. I'm perfectly capable of bringing Harry here… it won't take long."

Sirius sighed resignedly. "I know, I know – you're right – I'll stay here, get his room ready… quite the good little house-wife." He said sarcastically.

Remus chuckled ruefully at him. "Yes…. Get your apron on!"

Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"I was joking, joking!" Remus exclaimed hurriedly. Checking the time on the slender silver watch on his wrist, he reached for the deep purple travelling cloak that was slung across the back of an arm-chair and draped it around his shoulders, fastening the silver buckle at his chest. "Right – I'd better go." He crossed to the fireplace and took a pinch of floo powder from a ceramic dish. Flinging it into the flames, he stepped in after it and cried "Hogwarts!" In an instant he was gone, leaving Sirius alone with his very confused thoughts.

*

Back at The Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore scraped the last of his roast potatoes from the plain ceramic plate with his fork, popped it into his mouth and chewed slowly, smiling as he did so and emitting a satisfied sigh.

"Tom… I believe I have said it before but your cooking really does surpass anything I have ever tasted."

Harry nodded his agreement emphatically. In spite of himself, he had managed to eat a good portion of his dinner. Dumbledore was not exaggerating – the food had been delicious.

Tom bowed his head modestly and murmured. "Too kind Albus, too kind by far."

Dumbledore chuckled. "You never were too good at accepting compliments were you? You must work on that Tom, yes indeed." With that, the Headmaster rose slowly from his chair. "It has been a flying visit… do not wait for such unfortunate circumstances to arise before you contact me again old friend – it has been too long."

Tom crossed to Dumbledore and clasped the Professors hands warmly in his own.

"Take care Albus." He said seriously.

Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at the barman before turning to Harry.

"Ready?" He asked gently.

Harry nodded. He was eager to return to Hogwarts, the place he loved more than anywhere else in the world.

"Excellent… then we will delay no longer, follow me if you will."

Dumbledore crossed to the fireplace and swiftly departed by floo powder.

Harry started to follow him then stopped and turned to face Tom, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

"Thanks Tom… for, for... everything." He stammered.

"Don't worry about it Harry." Tom smiled. "It was nothing."

Harry grinned and headed to the fireplace. Taking a pinch of floo powder and flinging it into the flames he screwed up his face as he remembered how much he hated travelling this way. Trying not to think about it, he stepped into the fire and, with a cry of "Hogwarts!" he was whisked away.

Tom sighed with relief and began to clear up the dinner dishes, whistling softly to himself.

*

Harry kept his eyes screwed tightly shut during most of the journey, slightly nauseous at the very thought of the swirl of colour that would be engulfing him at this very minute. Feeling himself slow down slightly, Harry forced himself to pry one of his eyelids open, just in time to see a huge fireplace looming up in front of him suddenly. Panicking, Harry inhaled sharply, resulting in him getting a mouthful of soot. Before he quite realised what had happened, he found himself spread-eagled in front of the fire in Dumbledores office, coughing violently.

Quickly realising that he was the object of some very amused and curious stares, Harry struggled to his feet, dusting down his soot-encrusted robes with one hand and frantically trying to stem his coughing with the other. A few seconds later he was feeling slightly more composed and he straightened up, adjusted his glasses and squinted round at the other occupants of the office.

Professor McGonagall was standing by the window looking at him with an odd, concerned expression. Her lips were very thin and she looked almost tearful, she was fiddling nervously with her wand and she appeared to be much more on edge than Harry had ever seen her. Dumbledore on the other hand was seated at his desk, Fawkes on his lap. The Headmaster looked the picture of composure and organisation - if Harry had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that Dumbledore had travelled by floo powder mere moments earlier. Looking to Dumbledores right, Harry saw that seated beside the Headmaster was;

"Professor Lupin!" Harry exclaimed in amazement, still coughing slightly.

Lupin grinned at him. "No need to call me that anymore Harry - Remus will do just fine."

"Right Prof… err, I mean Remus." Harry said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "But… what are you doing here?"

Dumbledore chuckled gently, stroking Fawkes absent-mindedly as he spoke.

"I said Harry, did I not, that I had arranged something for you, something that I believed would meet with your approval." He paused, eyes twinkling. "Remus, perhaps you would care to explain?"

"Certainly Dumbledore… my pleasure. Harry? How do you fancy coming to stay with me for the summer? At my cottage? Someone else is already there, someone I think you'll be happy to get reacquainted with." Lupin said.

Harry was speechless. This was more than he'd dreamed of, more than he'd dared to hope for, even in his wildest dreams. Finally, his face cracked into a broad grin.

"I'd love to - I mean, if it's alright." Then Harry remembered what else Lupin said - someone that he would like to get reacquainted with? Of course….

"Sirius?" Harry croaked. "Sirius is there?" He hardly dared to meet Lupin's eyes as he waited for an answer.

"He most certainly is and I know for a fact that he's desperate to see you - he wanted to come here tonight." Lupin smiled.

Dumbledore chuckled again.

"Ah, the irrepressible Sirius… I am willing to bet that he had a vast array of things to say about me when he heard that I instructed that he was not to come to Hogwarts tonight?" He smiled.

Lupin grinned at the Headmaster. "You could say that."

Dumbledore nodded appreciatively. "And I assure you, I would not have it any other way." With that, he clapped his hands together and stood up. "Now… you really should be going, I do not want to make Sirius wait a moment longer to see you Harry."

Lupin rose from his seat and shook hands with both Dumbledore and McGonagall before turning to Harry. "Ready?" He asked.

"Yeah." Harry said, feeling slightly giddy…. He'd only just arrived!

With that, Lupin stepped into the fireplace and with a cry of "Waterow cottage!" He was gone.

Harry turned to Dumbledore. "Thanks Professor." He said, feeling suddenly shy. Dumbledore smiled kindly at him and gestured towards the sparking magical fire. Harry took the hint and left quickly as Lupin had done.

"Now Minerva." Dumbledore said quietly. "That was a good days work for both of us… I believe we deserve a treat. I wonder if Poppy has any of that delectable plum cake?"

*

When Harry tumbled out of a fireplace a few minutes later, he found himself in a cosy sitting room, decorated simply but comfortably and lined with bookshelves heaving with books of all shapes and sizes. Looking up, he saw Lupin seated in an armchair by the window and, sitting tensely on a comfy looking sofa was:

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed. He was overcome at seeing his godfather, yet he didn't seem to know what to say. Sirius seemed to suffer no such awkwardness; he leapt up and hugged Harry tightly.

"Harry…. Are you all right? I've been so… Oh, never mind. You're here now, that's all that matters."

Harry tried to reply but he suddenly felt drained and completely exhausted - as if in one fell swoop the events of the day had caught up with him. It was beginning to seem a very long time since he had left Hogwarts that morning, heading for Privet Drive. Sirius looked at him, immediately concerned.

"Right…. You're dead on your feet; time you were in bed… we can talk in the morning…. You've having my room, I'm going to sleep on the sofa."

With that he put his arm around Harry and guided him gently out of the door, up a short flight of wooden stairs and into a tiny bedroom. Harry flopped down onto the little bed in the centre of the room and pulled the duvet around himself sleepily. Sirius watched fondly for a moment as Harry fell quickly asleep, completely tired out.

Happily noting that his godsons' face looked un-troubled as he drifted into a deeper sleep, Sirius left the room, clicking the door shut softly behind him, leaving Harry to his dreams.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, just wanted to note a few points.

Firstly, I've upped the rating of this slightly, because of a few mildly naughty words spoken by Mr. Black in this chapter (Oooh, he's a bad boy, but I do love him! ;)) And also because it would need to be upped later anyway because of darker content in chapters to come, so I thought I might as well do it now.

Secondly, if you notice the asterisk early on in the chapter (*)…I just wanted to make a point with it regarding Fawkes appearing so suddenly, to avoid any confusion. If you consult the part about the phoenix in your copy of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them', you'll see that it says that the phoenix can disappear and reappear at will…. I've extended this slightly to a kind of animal apparation…. So that's how he did it! He's a clever bird is our Fawkes!

Thanks as always for reading and reviewing everone, I've just got a few responses to give to individual reviewers now;

Indiana Jones - Hedwig is currently with the Dursley's who are looking at her nervously and not quite sure how to deal with her! Don't worry, I'm not going to subject her to this treatment for long, she'll be making her entrance in Chapter 5.

Constantine1453 - Thank you very much for your review, it made my day when I read it this morning!

Gryffinrose - Thanks for commenting on Mrs Weasley, I think she's really fun to write, she'll be back in future chapters.

Jennifer - Thanks for your comments on Uncle Vernon…I love writing him too and he will be back in the next chapter…along with Petunia and Dudley!

Thanks to everyone else for reading and reviewing, it's very much appreciated!

PC.