A/N: Okay, I haven't updated in over three weeks, and I apologize profusely. I had an acting camp, so I was really busy. I left you with a bloody horrible cliffhanger… Erm, yes, here's the next chapter, finally!

Chapter Six

Remus watched the wolf, which had not moved after he had said Harry's name out loud. The bright green back eyes stared back at him with such intensity, Lupin found himself walk closer, step by step until he was just a foot away. He slipped off the invisibility cloak, and the wolf staggered backwards in recognition. Falling to his knees, he was now eye to eye with the magnificent animal. Sadness was sweeping over him, for at first, from a distance, the wolf had looked like Sirius's animagus, but once he saw the white hair marking the scar and Lily's green eyes, it was unmistakably Harry. Lupin reached out and scratched his ear. Before he could help himself, he wrapped his arms around the big black wolf's neck, and cried. He really wasn't ashamed, but he felt stupid nevertheless.

Suddenly the wolf hugged back. Wait, wolves can't hug, they don't have arms. His confusion was answered when the black fur he had been clutching only moments before turned into human skin and clothes.

"Harry?" He said again, and broke the hug to look at Harry.

"Remus, I didn't want anyone to know," Harry said quietly, his head down.

"How did you learn, Harry? It takes years to learn and is really dangerous, you have heard that from me and Sirius too," Remus pressed.

"Well, after my third year, after learning about the Marauders and Sirius's innocence, I wanted to become an Animagus, just like Sirius… and my dad," Harry added, a sad expression in his eyes. Remus knew this grief all too well, he had lost his best friends, and Harry had lost his mom, dad and godfather. And all of it was because of the Dark Lord and his followers.

"You wanted to follow in his footsteps, didn't you?" Remus supplied gently, placing his arms on Harry's shoulders, ignoring the wet grass soaking their robes. Harry hung his head, and Remus felt another stab of pity for the Boy-Who-Lived, who lived with the constant threat of death, at the sacred age of sixteen.

"Somewhat, yes. I've been studying it as much as I could since the end of third year, and I guess my form ended up being like Sirius's," he continued, taking deep breaths. Remus could see in his eyes and in his voice that he was glad to finally tell someone.

"Very similar, for the canine and color characteristics," Remus answered, "but your eyes are the same, and surprisingly, your scar shows up in your form as well."

"It does? Damn," Harry said angrily, and Lupin understood why. It would make him very easy to identify if someone recognized it as lightning bolt shaped, but he was making a promise to himself not to let Harry be seen by anyone that would.

"But with you unregistered, no one will know, at least not that easily," Remus said encouragingly, standing up, picking up the invisibility cloak and starting to turn to go back inside.

"Remus?" Lupin stopped, but did not turn his head as he answered, "yes?" over his shoulder.

"I want to stay with you next full moon," he said determinedly. Lupin's heart clenched with sadness and dread, and had a thought.

"Harry, was it you that tried to get into the basement that night?" Harry visibly stiffened.

"Yes," he said, hanging his head in shame and embarrassment.

"That explains it." And without another word, Lupin strode off into the night, with Harry following slowly behind him with a lighter stride, for the weight of his secret had been lifted off his shoulders.

Two weeks later, the full moon was approaching, and Harry was ready. He had practiced in his room when Ron was not there, (Remus forbid him from sneaking around at night anymore) and he was getting faster and faster at transforming. He was extremely pleased with himself that he taught himself to be an Animagus, just like Sirius and James. He smiled. Remus is right; I am following in my father's footsteps. It was even more so than Lupin realized, for Harry had lied about him learning since third year. He had actually only attempted it during his fifth year, after Voldemort had risen the year before. He also did it because he thought it would be a good cover just in case, and he would be able to stay with Remus during the full moon.

Tonight, he was feeling a little braver than usual, (such as Gryffindors are always) so he decided he would walk around the Grimmauld Place in his Animagus form, to explore the house in an entirely different way. Once he heard Ron's familiarly loud obnoxious snoring, he swiftly transformed and slipped out of their room to pad softly and stealthily through the halls.

For some reason, it was cold, so he was drawn to the fireplace, which was crackling brightly, for there had been an Order meeting only hours before, and the fire spell hadn't worn off yet. He sat down on his haunches, enjoying the heat of the flames warming his jet-black fur. His lips drew up to show all his teeth in an unmistakably wolfish smile; (A/N: Haahaha, what a great pun… not! ) he enjoyed his wolf form, and it seemed to suit him. He had hoped he could have turned into a stag like his dad, but he didn't have to do everything like him.

"Sirius?" Harry's hackles rose in surprise and apprehension. He had been discovered, sort of, but whomever it was thought it was his godfather, which made sense, because they could not see the white scar mark or his green eyes. Suddenly he realized the voice to be female, and a very certain one at that. He stood and turned to find chocolate brown eyes staring at him first in disbelief, then shock, then utter confusion. Harry padded slowly towards her and nuzzled her hand, which caused her to gasp. She bent to her knees and began to stroke his soft head and scratch his ears, his tail wagging happily.

"It can't be you, Sirius, you're dead," she said out loud, talking to him. "But Sirius's Animagus was a dog, you, on the other hand, look like a wolf, but a big one at that. Abnormal size, eyes, and marking on your face," she murmured. Harry licked her hand; realizing that she already suspected him to be either a magical wolf of some kind or an Animagus. "Who are you, you magnificent creature?" she asked earnestly, looking at him with the same curious glint she frequently had that said she would spend the next day in the library researching. Harry suddenly realized how extremely beautiful she looked right now. He also realized that he thought she was wonderful and beautiful all the time. His heart pounded and his tail wagged harder.

"You sweet animal," she breathed, and planted a kiss on his wolf nose, and a moment later found herself precisely an inch from her best friend Harry Potter's face. His hand came up immediately to cover her mouth to keep her from crying out, and he barely made it, for he had been so surprised by her kiss that he had changed without really knowing. When she still tried to scream, he thought of the one thing he could do, even though he had never done it before. Without hesitation, he took his hand away from her lips and immediately replaced them with his own lips in a deep warm kiss.

A/N: Heehee, fluff coupled with a cliffie! Please review, and I love you all for reviewing! Thank you to lexi, Fan-Of-HP, HayleyPotter, Versipellis, nuwie, CTHKSI, sum1strange, and weasley twin! Now review this chapter fro god's sake! ;)