After eating the huge meal that Winky had prepared for them Harry asked "How will we be getting to the Grangers this afternoon?"

"I'll prepare a portkey for us when we are ready to leave. We'll meet back here in 30 minutes, which should give us plenty of time to get changed and freshen up. I don't know about you, but I could use a shower after the morning we have had."

"OK, see you shortly" Harry raced back upstairs to his new suite and jumped into the shower. Emerging from the bathroom ten minutes later he found that Dobby had laid out one of his new casual outfits and his dragon hide boots. Putting on the clothes, he felt them resizing to fit him perfectly. Donning his new glasses he turned to the mirror. He almost didn't recognize himself. Between the tailored clothing, and the apparent lack of eyewear he appeared to be a totally different person.

"Not bad sweety, but next time do something about the hair" the mirror said flirtatiously.

Grabbing his new cloak he raced back downstairs to meet Lupin who was already in the kitchen waiting for him. "Wow Moony, you look great" Harry exclaimed "Tonks will be impressed." He ducked under a playful swipe at his head.

"You too cub, I'm sure your "best friend" will find you quite tasty as well."

"How many times do I have to tell you that she doesn't like me that way"

"Ok ok, I'll let it go for the moment. Have you got your cloak, alright good. The dragon hide cloak was a good idea by the way, I would never have thought of it, then again I don't usually have the money to buy these sorts of things."

"Yeah, I figured that we could wear them with either dress, casual or school robes, and that we would be protected if we were attacked from behind since only the killing curse can get through dragon hide easily."

"True, ok, grab hold of this coaster, it is set to go in 10 seconds."

For the second time that day Harry felt the familiar tug of the portkey, landing on his feet for once, his eyes quickly scanned around to make sure their arrival had been unseen. They walked around the side of the house and knocked on the front door. Harry recognized the lady who opened the door as Dr Granger, Hermione's mother, having met her a few years prior at the Leaky Cauldron. "Good afternoon Dr Granger, I'm not sure if you remember me I'm….."

"Harry Potter", the woman gathered Harry up into a tight embrace "you look fantastic, and what happened to your glasses?"

Harry appeared totally flummoxed at this greeting

"And who is your friend" the woman continued "Oh my god, REMUS, where did you get those clothes" she tackled the stunned werewolf into a hug giving him a big kiss on the cheek "Get inside the pair of you, come on chop chop"

Walking into the hallway Harry saw the back of the familiar bushy haired head of his best friend Hermione Granger sitting in the lounge room talking to…….her mother. "But she….that's not…..she is…" Harry stuttered even more confused than before, turning at the sound of a chuckle behind him, he watched THAT Dr Granger change into none other than Nymphadora Tonks.

"Wotcher Harry" she grinned "Can't be too careful these days, never know who is going to be at the door, so I always answer it as Dr Granger just to be safe. Hiya Remus, I like the new look, very sharp my friend very sharp indeed."

"Thanks Tonks" Remus struggled to hide his rosy cheeks.

"Tonks, who was at the door?" came a question from the next room

"Just a couple of gentlemen callers Hermione, you may want to come out here and take a look"

Hermione walked into the hallway "HARRY" she squealed launching herself at him at grabbing him into a fierce hug " I was starting to get worried, I hadn't heard from you yet, and you hadn't answered the owl I sent you the other day. I thought those muggles must have done something to you, and then you turn up here dressed to the nines and…." Hermione paused for a second and took a step back still holding on to him "You're not wearing your glasses" she said quizzically.

"Slow down 'Mione," he grinned pulling her back towards him for a quick hug of his own "one question at a time."

"Sorry" she smiled apologetically as they broke apart "You just took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you for a few weeks yet."

"Well he had a few things he needed to talk over with someone and he thought the best person for the job was you" Lupin interrupted "But before we get into that, would you like to introduce us to your mother?"

Hermione turned to her mother, who was standing in the door way, a question apparent on her face. "Mum, you remember Harry don't you, Harry Potter"

"Oh yes Harry dear, you certainly have grown since I saw you last, it doesn't seem that long ago though since all we ever seem to hear around here when Hermione is home is Harry this and Harry that" she teased her daughter giving Harry a quick wink.

He ducked his head to hide his blushing

"Mother" growled Hermione a pink tinge of her own appearing on her face, recovering she continued the introductions "and this is Professor Remus Lupin"

"A pleasure Dr Granger" Remus extended his hand.

"Professor, please call me Kath" she shook his hand

"And I insist you call me Remus"

"Would you gentlemen like some tea?"

"I believe Harry has some matters he wishes to discuss with your daughter, but I'd love some"

Turning to her daughter she said "We'll be in the kitchen when you two have finished"

"Ok mum" Hermione replied, "We'll just be upstairs in my room."

As they walked up the stairs Harry attempted to gather his thoughts trying to decide where to begin. He took a seat at Hermione's desk as she sat on the bed and asked "Firstly, what happened to your glasses? Did you get contacts?"

"I'm still wearing them, its just that they turn invisible when I have them on. They're a new invention from Mr Goldstein, Anthony's father, he runs the Optometrists in Diagon Alley. I got them this morning when Moony and I went shopping."

"Yeah the new clothes, I noticed them as well"

"I'll explain that in a second, but first I suppose I had better begin from when I last saw you." Harry took a deep breath and continued, "When I got back to the Dursley's they locked me in my room, I had nothing to do but dwell on what happened to Sirius, about how  you, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna were all injured, about what Voldemort had done and about how much I wanted to hurt Bellatrix Lestrange. After a few days of doing nothing but blaming anyone I could think of for what happened I had an……whats the word….an epiphany. I realised that no-one I care for will be safe until Voldemort is destroyed. The only way I could make sure that nobody else was killed to get at me was to be as prepared as possible for my next encounter with him, so I wrote to Professor Dumbledore asking him for some training in warfare over the summer."

"Oh Harry," gasped Hermione tears welling in her eyes "You don't have to…"

"Please, let me finish first" Harry interrupted "There is still more to be covered. Moony came and got me before sunrise this morning. After we got back to headquarters Professor Dumbledore arrived where they dropped a few bombshells on me, as a result of these I have some choices I have to make. Firstly, Sirius has had the entire house renovated to make a home for me. Secondly I am the primary beneficiary of his final will and testament that should be settled in a few weeks. Thirdly, once the ministry acknowledges Sirius' death I no longer have a legal wizarding guardian, Dumbledore has only been acting in absentia on his behalf. Fourthly, unless a relative comes forward and is willing to adopt me, I will become a ward of the ministry under the care of Cornelius Fudge. The ministry will not allow Moony to care for me simply because he is a werewolf. The final bombshell is that I actually DO have a relative who is willing to come forward. My Great Great Grandfather to be exact, a wizard by the name of Albus Dumbledore."

Hermione gasped "Professor Dumbledore is your Grandfather?"

"With a few greats added on, but yes. Apparently he sent his granddaughter into hiding from Grindelwald after the rest of his family was murdered around 70 years ago, by the time Grindelwald was finally defeated, Dumbledore had amassed many other enemies who would use the child against him, so he deemed it safer to leave her in hiding, unaware of who she was related to. She was my grandmother, and until this morning, no-one apart from Dumbledore had ever known who her descendants were."

"Wow, I mean that's……wow" Hermione was stunned momentarily "So what are your choices?"

"I either have to accept or decline the provisions of Sirius' will. If I accept, all the Black Family assets with the exception of a few other bequests will be transferred to my name. If I decline they will be divided up between Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Tonks' mother Andromeda. Secondly I have to decide whether or not I want Dumbledore to acknowledge me as his heir publicly. If he doesn't I will have to live with Fudge, if does I will either live with him, or Moony, thats why we have the new clothes, for when we appear before the courts."

"You don't really have much of a choice do you, I mean no offence to Tonks' mum, but there is no way Sirius would want Narcissa or Bellatrix to get anything, and why would you want to live with Fudge?"

"But its just that…"here Harry began to choke with tears, "its just that if I make the choice then I am admitting that he is dead, that he isn't coming back, that I killed him" the last was a mere whisper.

"Oh Harry," Hermione gathered him into her as he sobbed broken heartedly. Wrapping her arms around him she continued, her own tears flowing freely down her cheeks "It's not your fault Harry, Sirius would never blame you, you did what you thought was the right thing to do, and you would do it again tomorrow, just as he did for you."

They sat there like that huddled together for the next 30 minutes, the tears slowly ebbing away until no more could be shed. Finally Harry sat up, "Thanks 'Mione" he kissed her gently on the forehead "I don't know what I would do without you."

"That's what I'm here for" she smiled giving him a quick final hug "Now wash your face and lets head back downstairs to join the others"

When they walked into the kitchen everyone noticed their eyes, puffy and red from crying, and their smiling faces.

"Done?" asked Lupin. After receiving a nod from Harry he continued "Now Hermione, your mother informs me that your parents are intending on going to Canada for a few weeks at the end of this month, so if you would like to come and stay at headquarters after they leave you would be more than welcome."

"Can I?" Hermione looked eagerly at her mother.

"From the sounds of things it would be the safest place for you" was the reply "that is if Harry and Remus don't mind the company"

"Not at all" Harry was quick to answer

"I believe the Weasley's will be arriving around the same time. Something about someone's birthday, and making sure the poor boy gets fed properly." Lupin chuckled "Molly obviously doesn't know Dobby and Winky very well yet. Anyway thank you for your hospitality this afternoon Kath. Are you ready to go cub?"

"I'm ready" turning to Hermione's mother "thank you for having us here Dr Granger sorry for the intrusion" quickly pulling  Hermione into a hug "and thank you for being here for me"

"Always" she replied giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Harry released Hermione, oblivious to the knowing grins on the faces of the three adults. Grabbing hold of the portkey he gave a final wave as they were whisked back to Grimmauld Place.

"How are you feeling now cub, honestly" Lupin asked as they sat down for dinner

"Truthfully, after speaking to both you and 'Mione today, I feel better than I have for weeks. I think I will actually be able to get some sleep tonight."

"Good, well I don't know about you, but I've been up since long before sunrise, so I'll be heading off to sleep as soon as I finish eating."

"Same"

"Now Albus will be here for breakfast tomorrow to discuss his plans for your training, have you given any further consideration to what decision you are likely to make with regards him."

"Yes I've decided to let my Grandfather come forward."

"That's fantastic, Fudge won't know what hit him."

They bid goodnight to each other and headed off to their respective rooms, collapsing on his bed, Harry attempted his occlumency exercises, but sleep overtook him before he had finished. Thankfully it was an undisturbed night.

AN & Review Answers

Thank you to the people who are reviewing this story, it is nice to receive feedback. Please continue to give me your criticisms, corrections and ideas as they will only help me in writing the story. Remember that my main target audience for this will remain between the ages of 5 and 12 (my neices and nephews) so don't ask me to include any sex scenes.

Shdurrani: thanks for the encouragement

HermioneGreen: I hope you liked what happened above. Fudge will be fun later on as well :P

Potter Reader: cheers :D

azntgr01: I'm glad your enjoying it.

TYCHO13: Thanks for the compliment, although just to correct your correction. OOTP refers to Nymphadora Tonks (not nymphodia) as being the daughter of Andromeda Tonks (nee Black) who was a cousin of Sirius Black, but disowned by the family after she married a muggle. Andromeda and her sisters Narcissa and Bellatrix would all inherit equal shares of the Black estate if Sirius was to die intestate. When I refer to Tonks (as with most fan fics, plus JKR herself) I mean Nymphadora. Andromeda was introduced in OOTP in name only to the best of my recollection.

Windphoenix: Yeah I reckon Moony is a great character as well. Cheers :D

Slim5: I hope you keep enjoying it.

Ryusuken: thanks heaps :D