Chapter 4

~What Moony, you look like you've seen a ghost?~ the white tiger teased.

"You, but, veil, dead, YOU'RE A BLOODY GRIM, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AS A TIGER?!?!?!??" Remus sputtered indignantly.

The tiger fell over on it's side, panting, and it took Remus a few moments to realize the bloody prat was LAUGHING at him. Remus smacked him on his head and scolded, "Dammit Paddy, it's not funny!"

`No, not funny,~ the mental voice wheezed. ~It's bloody hysterical!~ The tiger collapsed again.

Remus threw up his hands and walked into his rooms. A few minutes later a much calmer Sirius followed.

"So, not that I'm not pleased to see you, but what the hell is this then?" Remus questioned archly.

~Blame Harry, when I was allowed to come back, they said I had to take his future Animagus form. He can't know it's me Moony, at least not during the day. At night, when he sleeps, I can stand in his dreams, protect him from Voldemort, you know? At least it will buy Snape time to teach him to protect himself. And there was a price.~ the tiger said solemnly.

"What price?" Remus queried.

~Let me tell you Moony, it was almost enough to make me not come back. I very nearly decided, bugger this, I'll wait here, hang out with Prongs and Lily.~ he said in a depressed tone.

Now Remus was getting worried. What price could possibly be high enough to make Sirius consider not returning to his beloved Godson? "So what was it?" he demanded. "Did you have to stay on Earth for the rest of eternity? Go to hell after Harry dies? What?!?!"

~Nothing so pleasant. I'm a spirit guide, they tell me. Watch, help, dispense wisdom and all, right?~

"Among other things. The legends say that in times of trouble, spirit guides have stood by and done nothing as well." Remus said slowly.

~That's true. They've told me that there will come a time when my charges will be captured, maybe separately, maybe at the same time, and all I can do is WATCH.~ Sirius growled.

"Charges? As in more than one?" Remus asked slowly.

~Yeah, that's the punishment. I have a second charge, that I have to treat PRECISELY the same as I treat Harry, or they'll yank me back so fast my head will spin.~ he tiger said glumly.

"That's the punishment? Who could it possibly be?" Remus asked in bewilderment.

~Severus Snape.~

The werewolf looked at the tiger, who looked like he wanted to cough up a hairball just saying the name. Then he walked over to his bed, lay down, and commenced laughing hysterically until his stomach hurt and his face was covered in tears.

~Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, it's a regular riot.~ Sirius grumbled as Remus started laughing again.

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"So let me get this straight, Harry and Severus will see the tiger, and not know it's you, but you can appear in their dreams in either form, and you get spontaneous knowledge to help them out, and a few weird powers that will help you out, but you never know when, and if you screw this up, you're stuck in Limbo for a hundred year. Do I have the basics?" Remus questioned.

~Yep, the life and times of a spirit guide.~ he grumbled.

"Ok, how come I get to know?" he demanded.

~Because I asked nicely? And they like you better? Really, they even said James would have had the same restrictions if he had come back too, but he had better reasons for staying behind.~

"I would guess he'd have to. Prongs always was a stubborn one, and towards the end, he did feel quite sorry about the whole affair. How are you going to appear to Severus? Get the whole thing started?" he wondered aloud.

~I haven't the foggiest. I started out with a dream last night for Harry, as me not the tiger. Snape's more difficult. If I show up as a tiger in the flesh, I'm liable to get hexed. If I go to his dreams as me, he'll become the first dreamer in history to figure out how to cast a hex in the astral plane. If I show up as a tiger, he likely will just think it's a dream.~ he grumbled.

"I have an idea," Remus said.

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"Albus, I tell you, there's a Siberian tiger in the Forbidden Forest!" Severus ranted.

"Well, I don't honestly see how such a beast would come to be there. You say it saved you?" Albus questioned.

"Yes! I was an inch from becoming Acromantula food, and the thing jumped in, grabbed my robe in it's teeth, and the next thing I knew I was by Hagrid's hut and the thing had vanished!" Snape yelled as he pulled at his hair distracted. "I've been seeing flashes of white following me whenever I leave the castle, but I never thought it would be something like this!?!"

"A moment Severus, everywhere you go? Even London?" Albus asked sharply.

"Everywhere. It's been nerve-wracking. I even saw the thing at HQ!" he moaned.

"Well then, I know precisely what this is! You should be honored!" Albus said happily

"Honored? I'm being stalked by a tiger!" he yelled.

"No, my dear boy. You have a spirit guide, or spirit guardian. They most commonly appear to persons of great important, who happen to need a good deal of protection. In addition, I believe this means your potential Animagus form is a tiger. Perhaps not Siberian, but a tiger. Most spirit guides are a white animal of the appropriate species." he said solemnly.

"How do you know all this?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"Simple my boy. As Headmaster I have access to a number of journals, and among them are the journals of the Founders. To Salazar Slytherin's jealousy and disgust, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had spirit guides. Slytherin and Hufflepuff never did. Now, Helga Hufflepuff didn't mind not being singled out like that, but to Slytherin-" Albus trailed off.

Bleakly, Snape finished, "To Slytherin it was a sign that he was lesser than Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. So that is what precipitated the split. I always thought it occurred faster than a mere ideological dispute could account for." he murmured.

"Precisely. Though I won't deny it troubles me that you have one now, of all times. I fear this is an honor and a burden I would not have wished upon you." Dumbledore said gravely. The two men sat in silence contemplating what they had learned.

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