Chapter 2 – Plans and the Visit

Harry headed downstairs for breakfast, seeming cheerful even though he'd had very little sleep. He figured that if he was to start running and exercising, he'd be too worn-out to have nightmares, and he might finally get some decent shut-eye. He wolfed down his food and put the dishes in the sink before heading outside. But before he got to the door, he heard Uncle Vernon calling him.

"Where are you going, boy?" he asked with his eyes narrowed.

"I'm just going outside, why? Is that forbidden? 'Cause I could always tell the Order that you won't even let me out of the house…" Harry let the implications of what that meant sink in for a second, then strolled out the door, shutting it behind him.

He had planned to run every morning before doing some simple exercises. There wasn't much that he could do around the house that could get him into shape, so he decided to work on his lungs and legs for now, just by running. The first day he could only jog about two times around the block before collapsing in number 4's yard, but he was surprised that he'd made it that far because of his skinny and small stature. Plus, he was weak and weary from not enough sleep, but he hoped that running would make him too worn-out to dream.

The next day, Pig flew into Harry's window, waking him up at 5:30. "Bloody hell Pig, can't you wait a minute?" Harry groaned in bed and sat up, groping for his glasses on his nightstand. When he put them on, he saw Pig trying to hover outside the window, flying into the glass repeatedly in the process. "Hang on, don't knock yourself out, you stupid bird!" Harry ran over to the window and yanked it open, and Pig flew in and started twittering loudly. Harry snatched the annoying bird out of the air, and stuffed him into Hedwig's cage to wait for Harry's reply. He sat down on the bed and read the letter Ron had sent him.

Harry,

How you doin' mate? I won't even ask you to elaborate on your feelings, that's Hermione's job, but please know that you're not alone. We've (that is, me and Hermione) been moved to you-know-where, the place with the screaming painting in the hall. It's really boring here, and all we ever do is clean and do homework. Hermione won't stop badgering us! It's annoying as hell!

About your 'request', consider me in. I've always wanted to do something like that, but you suggesting it makes it all the better. What are we going to tell the adults though? I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, but do you really think we should do this unsupervised? I mean, I know Hermione's smart and all that, but it's really hard to become animagi. I'll do whatever you want, though.

I hope your letter to Dumbledore goes well, let me know when you're coming.

Your friend,

Ron

Harry set the letter down and began to write a reply, simply to answer some of Ron's questions. He wanted his friends to be in on this achievement, and he needed them more than he realized.

Ron,

I know you are all worried, but please, don't. I'm fine, honestly. Something happened a couple of days ago that made me think. I'm sick of being babied and I don't want to be a burden on anyone. I am a person, not a weapon. I have something really important I need to tell you though, but it'll have to wait until I see you and Hermione in person.

Don't worry though. I do plan on telling at least one adult. I want to tell Professor Lupin, but that's only if he says yes to helping me.

I haven't sent my letter to Dumbledore yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I get a reply. Don't let Hermione and work get you down. See you soon.

Your friend,

Harry

Harry took Pig out of Hedwig's cage, tying the letter to his leg with difficulty. He then threw Pig out the window and watched him tumble in the air for a minute before regaining his balance. Harry checked the clock and saw that it was now 6:05. He stifled a yawn and headed for the bathroom. After he washed up a bit, he headed downstairs to find an empty house. 'The Dursleys must not be up yet' Harry thought. Oh well, the less he had to see them, the happier he'd be. He went to the fridge to make himself breakfast, making a large meal. He knew he'd probably get in trouble, but he figured that the more upset the Dursleys were, the more willing they'd be to get rid of him. After he ate, he walked outside and began to stretch. His legs were a bit sore from yesterday, but that wasn't going to stop him from running.

After two blocks around again, he collapsed in the yard, panting for breath. He was more tired than yesterday, but at least he had done the same as before and not less.

Once he'd done some warm down stretches, he headed back inside to find Hedwig waiting for him on his bed, a letter from Hermione attached. "Thanks, girl," he stroked Hedwig and removed the letter, and then she flew over to her cage and drank some water. Harry opened Hermione's letter, anxious to see if she'd agreed.

Harry,

I had a feeling you'd ask me something like that. I just want you to know, I'm behind you all the way. I am a little concerned by your plea not to tell any of the adults, and I hope you change your mind about that after a while.

I'll do what you asked and not write a lot of 'sympathy', but I just want to say this: no matter what happens, Ron and I will always be there for you. I hope you write to Dumbledore and get permission to come here, you know where I'm talking about. It's down-right dreary without Padfoot around, but I just keep doing homework and cleaning to keep my mind off things. I'll see you soon.

Love,

Hermione

Harry sat there after he read the letter. It seemed that Hermione didn't have too many questions, so he thought that a reply wasn't needed. Besides, he needed Hedwig to deliver that letter he wrote to Dumbledore. With that in mind, he retrieved the letter from his desk and tied it to Hedwig's leg. "Sorry to send you out so soon girl, but I want to get this to the headmaster fast. I want to get out of here." Hedwig nipped his finger in an affectionate way and soared out the window into the afternoon.

Four days later, with hardly any change in what had become his routine, someone paid Harry a visit. During breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Uncle Vernon got up to answer it, but came sulking back, red-faced. "It's one of your…friends," he said, pointing at the door.

Harry got up and headed for the door, wondering who it was. He thought that anyone that came would do so with some kind of notice. Maybe they wanted to check up on him. When he got to the door, he was pleasantly surprised to see Remus Lupin, the last of the Marauders. "Professor Lupin! What are you doing here?" he asked, smiling at the man standing outside. He had forgotten that Lupin was probably grieving over Sirius, too.

"Ah, well, Dumbledore thought that instead of replying to your letter, he would just take you out of there now," Lupin replied, smiling back at Harry. He noticed that he seemed to have gotten over Sirius, and was worried if that was just a façade to not make the Order worry. "Is your trunk packed?"

Harry was really astonished that Dumbledore had replied to his letter in this way. He thought that he'd at least have to put up a fight to get away from the Dursleys, but thanked the stars that he was leaving so soon. "No, I had no idea that you were coming, so everything is still unpacked. Let me pack my trunk up again really quick."

"Do you mind if I go up with you?" Lupin asked Harry, seeming nervous. Harry didn't know why this was, as they were very close before…oh. He wanted to talk about Sirius.

"Ok, sure. It's a mess though," he said, grinning. He led Lupin up to his room, motioning to the mess that was books and more books, scattered all over the floor.

"Well," Lupin started, looking around the room. "I see you've been keeping busy." Harry smiled slightly at him, knowing what he meant.

"Yeah, I hardly ever left time for myself to think. How have you been holding up?" Harry asked this last question to direct the attention somewhere besides him, but also because he was worried that Lupin hadn't talked about Sirius since…that day. He found that it didn't do good to keep it bottled up, and that's probably what Lupin had been doing.

"I've seen…better days. Plus the full moon was just a few days ago, and it's the first one I've had to spend alone…" Lupin was looking anywhere other than Harry's face, but Harry could still see the pain in his eyes.

"Professor…"

"Please, just call me Remus. I'm not your professor right now."

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something. I need your…well, I was going to say 'permission', but if you don't approve of this, I'm going to do it anyway…"

"Spit it out, Harry," Lupin was getting anxious because it seemed that this had something to do with Sirius.

"I wanted to know if you would consent, maybe even help, me, Ron, and Hermione become animagi."

There was silence in the room for some time, as Remus had staggered over to the bed and sat down, gawking at Harry. He was thrilled that Harry actually wanted to follow in the Marauder's footsteps, but he wondered what had made Harry actually come to the final decision. When he asked this aloud, he got an answer he didn't expect.

"I wanted to be able to help you. I know now that you're alone when you transform, even if you are harmless, but that's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies." Harry had wanted to tell Remus about his dream, but decided that he would keep that to himself until Remus said yes.

"Are you sure that's why, Harry? I'd be willing to help you even if you hadn't given me a reason, you know." Remus watched Harry intently as he said this, smelling for any signs of sweat or nervousness, signs of lying.

"Well…" Harry knew that Remus had heightened senses, and could tell if he was telling the truth or not. So Harry settled with the truth. "I don't really want to tell you right now. I can't tell you unless you say yes."

Remus could, indeed, tell that this was the truth, but he wondered what it was that pushed Harry to want to become an animagus, and if it had anything to do with Sirius. "Ok, I'll help you. Not just to find out why, but for you. You really seem to want to do this, so I'll help you. But now can you tell me?"

Harry really didn't want to keep the dream to himself any longer, so he told Remus any and every detail he could remember. From the deep chasm, to the information about Purgatory and the fact that only animals could come and go there, Harry left out nothing. "That's why I want to become an animagus, Remus. I want to get Sirius out of there."

Remus just sat there, hardly believing what he was hearing. He wanted to believe, he really did, but what if it was just a dream? Remus didn't want to get his hopes up, and then get shot down again when they found out that Sirius really couldn't be saved. When Remus voiced these concerns to Harry, he simply shook his head.

"That's why I have more than one reason to become an animagus. Don't deny that it's been difficult without Sirius there when you transform. I want to do this for you, too." Harry had been standing and pacing throughout this whole conversation, but when he said this, he sat down on his desk chair. "I at least have one solid reason to do this, and nothing is going to stop me."

Remus really couldn't say no, and with Harry's confident speech, he was filled with renewed hope. "You have no idea how much you are like your father, Harry," he said, smiling at the boy he had come to see as James. Harry returned the smile, and seeing that the conversation was over, got up and started throwing his books into his trunk, pell-mell. Once Remus had calmed down a bit, he noticed what Harry was doing. "Why are you packing like that, Harry?"

Harry stopped and looked at Remus, confused. "I am leaving now, right?" he asked, hoping there hadn't been a mistake somewhere.

"Of course you are, but wouldn't this…" he waved his wand and all his books and clothes flew into the trunk, "…be much easier?" Harry stared at the full but messy trunk for a second before stating "It's perfect, can we go now?"

Remus chuckled a bit at Harry's impatience. "Ok, grab a hold," he stated, holding out a Sickle. "Portus" he muttered, pointing his wand at the coin. It shone blue for a moment before returning to normal. "Ready? Three, two, one…" Then Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel, pulling him to Grimmauld Place.

A/N: Well, there it is: the second installment in my story. I'll make replies to reviews in the author notes, but I'll only reply to reviews that ask questions. I'll thank everyone in advance for reviewing, and I'll update as soon as possible. Thanks to saxistwriterchick, my first reviewer! By the way, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll try and update. Can't make any promises of course. I want to enjoy my summer, as well.