Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it. Don't bother me about it cause I do not, repeat, do not own Harry Potter. The great JKR does.

A/N: Sorry about the delay in this chapter. After Hurricane Jeanne hit us, I had a lot to do to catch up with school and I had to take the plywood off the windows of my house. There's not much action in this one, just one of those fill-in chapters. I added Hedwig into the story since I guess I had left her out. Hope you like...enjoy. Thanks to Dr. Gero for being a great Beta! All the previous spacing problems have been fixed by him in the earlier chapters, they should be easier to read now.

BACK TO THE REAL WORLD: PAIN AND PLEASURE

BY: CHICANOSURFER01

Harry grabbed hold of his wand as he rolled off of his bed, into a crouch, on the opposite side of where the light came from.

"Bloody hell! What was all that about?"

After a long screech from Hedwig, Harry slowly looked around the corner of his bed. Still in the crouching position, Harry noticed a soft light coming from a pile of what looked like boxes in the far corner of his room. He got up, entranced by the ethereal glow of the packages, deciding to get a better look.

As he got closer, Harry noticed that one of the three packages was moving. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Harry kept his wand pointed at the box while he lifted the lid. As soon as he did though, he was immediately tackled by a small ball of blue fluff.

After noticing the ball of blue fur was actually a little wolf cub, Harry laughed. When he had first been hit by the thing, he had screamed like a little girl that had seen a mouse.

"I'm glad I have that silencing charm on now. If the neighbors had heard me scream like that, they would have probably called the police."

Turning his attention to the cerulean wolf cub, Harry felt an immediate connection that could only be described as a paternal bond. Harry wasn't sure why, but he could feel the trust and love between the small animal and himself. Keeping the cub in his arms, Harry started on to the next package. Before he could go on though, an envelope appeared in his outstretched hand.

Opening up the envelope, Harry noticed that the seal was designed in the form of the four runes on his back. Immediately figuring it had something to do with the elements, he pulled out four pieces of parchment and started reading with an excited haste.

Dear Harry,

You have shown in your tasks to us that you are, beyond your great wizardry, an amazing human being. You've shown compassion, courage, and astonishing determination. We have chosen to give to you these gifts to help you on the adventure you call life. We hope that what we have bestowed upon you will benefit you in some way. On top of these gifts, we give you our praise on how well you did on your elemental quest. Inclosed is an explanation of our gifts and how we hope they will help you.

Full of hope for your victory,

The Elemental Four

Not expecting to hear from the elements again, much less receive presents from them, it was easy to say Harry was shocked. He started on the next short letter that explained the gift from the fire element.

Harry,

The battle that you faced in my task was definitely not an easy one for you, but you overcame it. You have shown that you could handle yourself well in a sword fight, but we have a new weapon for you. We saw how well you handled yourself with your ancestral swords, but some things don't come so easily. You may find yourself in a tight position where you may be too far away for sword-to-sword combat and need to act quickly. We have given you the gift of the elemental bow and arrows. You must learn to fire the arrows with acute accuracy to fulfill your needs. The arrows may be used to create any of the elements, on impact, at your will. However, you must train yourself to control each element before you will be able to achieve this. Use this weapon well, you may not always have access to your magic and you may have to put your life in the hands of your other weapons.

Good Luck,

Fire & Earth

Opening up the longest package, Harry found the amazing weapon. The mahogany colored bow was covered in intricate carvings of vines engulfed in flames. Truly a sight to behold. Moving on to the arrows, he noticed that the satchel had four compartments that separated the arrows. He noticed that the compartments were separating different colored arrows, supposedly each controlling a certain element.

"Now this is what I'm talkin' about." Harry admired the superior weapon that was specifically fit for his body type and stature.

Deciding he wanted to find out about his other two gifts, Harry moved on to the next piece of parchment.

Dear Harry,

My task was not an easy one to pass at all. You may not have had to confront many physical battles but you showed your true power of emotions. You can not become an emotionless fighter. I am not telling you to get lost in the grief of war, for in war there will always be losses. I am telling you to not hide behind your role in this fight. You must find love in your friends and family, you can not hide from them. Soon you will find your soul mate and you must not recoil from your feelings. Confront them and do not be afraid of the consequences. When you feel the time is right, that you have found your special someone, tell them and you will most likely find the same feelings being felt for you. My gift to you is the gift of friendship. I have given you the wolf cub to give you a companion on your journeys. It is an aqua-wolf; a type of magical canine that can breath underwater and also has slight control of the element of water. I hope that you enjoy the time you spend with your new familiar. He is tied with your life source, which causes him to live as long as you live. He will always be with you, and the longer he is, the stronger your bond will be.

I expect great things from you,

Lady Water

Looking down at the little blue cub in his arms, Harry understood the new bond he had with the animal. It was a friend till the end and he could already tell.

Picking up the next package, Harry lifted the lid and found a silver egg smaller than the size of his fist. 'I wonder what this is? Kinda looks like an egg but I've never seen an egg like this before.' Knowing there was only one way to find out, he started on the last letter.

Dear Harry,

Deciding on your gift was an easy one. The way you fought your way through my task was amazing. Your strength and determination, along with some of your pride, reminded me of this bird. From this egg will hatch a bird that is believed to be a myth for its magical abilities. This bird was called a Thunder Snidget. It is a cousin to a bird you may have heard of, a Golden Snidget. It is the equivalent to a phoenix with different elements. While a Phoenix is known for the element of fire, the Thunder snidget is know for its control over lightning. It will be have a sort of 'burning day' as the phoenix does, but will be brought out by a stroke of lightning instead of bursting into flames. While it does have similarities to the phoenix clan, the appearances are very different. It is only slightly larger than it's cousin, the golden snidget, which is known to have been the model for the Snitch in a Quidditch game. It will grow to about the size of your head but will be reverted to the size of your fist after each burning day. It may be a small bird, but don't let it fool you, it is very powerful. Keep the egg close to you and warm until it hatches.

Take care,

Lady Wind

Not knowing what to think of the gifts, or how to reply to the letter, Harry took the egg and his new cub to bed with him. After his great adventure he was really tired.

It seemed like he was on his quest for weeks, but truly he wasn't sure how long he was gone. He didn't even know if he had left his room throughout his whole elemental quest. So, with a troubled mind, Harry fell asleep

"Tap...tap...tap...."

Harry awoke to the sound of an owl tapping on his window. Noticing that it was still dark outside, he knew he had only had a few hours of sleep, but was unusually refreshed.

Opening his window to a cool breeze, he grabbed a hold of the excited Pigwidgeon and detached the letter. Sitting on his bed, He didn't know what to make of it. For one thing, this was the first ever letter that he had from this person, but even weirder was what she was writing.

Dear Harry,

Oh, please respond to this letter Harry. Everyone is overwhelmed with worry ever since you disappeared three weeks ago. I don't know what to say when each owl just comes back with the same letter sent with it. They say this only happens whenever a person is in an unreachable place or. . . or that their dead. I just hope that it is the former rather than the latter. We need you to be here for us Harry. I don't know what this world will be without you and I don't want to know. We had plans for your birthday party next week and of course you need to be there for any celebration to ensue. Please answer this . . . please don't be gone forever. I miss you, we all do, so if you get this, please reply. At least let us know that your okay.

Love,

Ginny

Harry was thoroughly shocked. For one thing, the letter said he had disappeared for three weeks. His birthday was next week for bloody sakes!

What shocked him the most though, was not the sincerity that Ginny was showing in the letter, but the tear stains that covered the whole parchment.

The letter made him feel like a complete git, even if he hadn't meant to disappear.

Sitting at his desk after a quick decision, he wrote an immediate reply before putting on his tracksuit and going for his run.

At the Burrow

On the small couch of the Weasley household you could find a beautiful redhead looking up at the stars. Looking closer, you could tell that there were tears coming out of the petite girl's eyes.

For the past three weeks, this scene was a regular occurrence. The girl was waiting for a response to her letters from Harry Potter, but at the same time had come to not expect the response. She would never lose hope, but at the same time was coming to terms with the disappearance. So, when the small owl tapped at her window, she snapped out of her reverie and went slowly to the window.

Grabbing the owl in her hand, she almost dropped it again when she noticed the handwriting on the new letter. Opening up the parchment with an excited air around her, you could see the brilliant smile come to her face.

Dear Ginny,

I'm sorry that I have worried you with my disappearance, but I had no control over it. I have been training for the inevitable war and I am back now. I am hoping to use my disappearance to my advantage and not tell anyone of my arrival yet. I want to train on my own until next week on my birthday. I will arrive at the burrow on my birthday so be expecting me. Please don't tell anyone I'm back yet. Enclosed is a decoy letter that you can show the others saying that I'm okay and that I'll be at the burrow on my birthday. Show them that to stop their worry. You can still write me if you like, I'm sorry that I made you cry but it's all okay now. I was never in any danger and am perfectly fine. I'll be awaiting your reply. Thank you.

Love,

Harry

Blushing about the 'Love' at the end of his letter, Ginny berated herself on how she was 'over' Harry, and that he meant it in a friendly way.

Without a moment to lose she started screaming for everyone about the reply.

The whole household, including Hermione who had come over after the disappearance, awoke and came downstairs to see about the commotion Ginny was making. Gathering around her, everyone stopped at the sight of her smile, not having seen it in three weeks.

"What's going on Ginny? What were you screaming about?" Arthur asked his only daughter.

"Harry just sent me a reply! He says he's perfectly fine! See for yourself." Handing them the decoy letter, Ginny watched as her father read out the script.

Dear Ginny,

I'm sorry about making everyone worried when I disappeared without notice. I just needed some time for myself and maybe some time to get ready for the coming war. Please tell everyone that I'm fine and that I'll be back at the Burrow on my birthday. I'm sorry again about making you worried, I'll see you on my birthday.

Love,

Harry

"See guys, He's fine! He wrote back finally and we'll see him on his birthday." Said a very excited Ginny.

"Let's have a cup of tea everyone. It should calm the excitement down while I owl Dumbledore." Molly ordered every one of her children, excluding the oldest three but including Hermione, into the kitchen while she went for her parchment and quill.

Something about Ginny's happy attitude, even though her hope for Harry's life was refueled, was very suspicious to Hermione. Not wanting to bother with it right now, as she was elated over the subject herself, she sipped her tea and watched the excited conversations around the table. Well, everyone except Ron. He seemed to be angry about something but Hermione wasn't sure what. Deciding to ask him about it later, she happily relaxed in her chair.

"...ninety-eight...ninety-nine...one-hundred...."

Getting up from his cool down exercises, Harry was surprised. A few weeks ago, he hadn't been able to do half of the run or sit-ups and push-ups he had done today. The thing was though, he wasn't even that tired yet. Shaking out of his state of shock, he went upstairs and jumped in the shower.

As Harry got out of the shower and started drying off, he noticed himself in the mirror.

"Bloody Hell! When did this happen? It's only been a few weeks!"

In the mirror was what appeared to be a male-model with Harry's startling green eyes. His chiseled body and rock hard abs were ones that came with months of training. The only thing was that it had only been a total of about four weeks!

Harry could definitely see it was him, his face was what gave him away. He did have some stubble growing on his face which made him look older, around nineteen or twenty, but you could still see the old Harry. He looked on his back and looked at the four runes. The closest thing Harry could compare them to was some calligraphy or maybe Japanese style writings that he had seen in one of Dudley's school books.

The more he looked at him though, the more he liked them. He felt more 'rebellious' with them, something he had never been able to do. Whether being bossed around by the Dursleys or having his life planned out by a prophecy, he never really had the chance to do anything without consent.

Coming to a quick decision, Harry decided not to be pushed around this year. Even Dumbledore seemed to have everything planned out for him. Yes, he would continue training for the inevitable, but he was going to do what he wanted to when he wanted to.

"I may have to fight Voldemort later on, but right now is my time."

After admiring his new physique for a few more seconds he went back to his room. Almost immediately he was pounced on by his new pet. Holding the small cub to his chest, he started pondering on a name for it.

"What should I call you little one? You do seem to pounce a lot don't you?"

Going through a couple names, in which the dog whimpered as if he didn't like them, Harry was about to give up. Laying on top of his bed, Harry looked up into the jewel like eyes of his new familiar.

"That's it! You're a girl, how about Sapphire?" Giving an excited bark, the puppy started licking Harry's face. "Alright already," Harry laughed, "I have to get some training done and then we'll play. Alright?"

Having been playing with his new wolf cub had reminded him of his own wolf Animagus form. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but he could tell it was magical. The changing color trick sure wasn't normal. Pulling out his magical creatures book, he began looking for the wolf like creature. Stopping somewhat in the center of the book he found what he was looking for.

There, on the page, was a picture depicting the same animal he had turned into. After admiring the shift of fur color for a moment, Harry began to read the creatures description:

The Eclipso wolf.

Once believed to be actually two species of the same type of wolf, is a magical canine that emits it's powers with the transition of fur color. The name Eclipso came from the changing of fur color from black to silver and vice versa. They were previously known as night and lunar wolves, when they were thought of as two different animals, for their fur colors. Because of the rarity in seeing this animal, it was only recently discovered that they were both in fact, one animal. Changing their name to Eclipso for their stealth and powers, not forgetting their fur colors, the wolves were revealed to be magical creatures. These animals have powers of Telepathy, where they can read and speak into people's minds unblockable by Occlumency. It is also rumored that it's stealth comes from an ability to 'shadow melt', a skill that allows the animal to blend into it's surroundings and walk around unnoticed. An Eclipso is a very rare and powerful creature that is only seen when it wants to be seen. Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there.

'Wow,' thought Harry, 'I can't believe I'm an eclipso. I've never even heard of this type of creature before now. I wonder if I can turn into it again? It did make me pass out last time. I'll have to try sooner or later anyways"

Deciding to try out the transformation sooner rather than later, Harry pulled out his textbook and began to read. He wasn't really worried about the first steps of Animagus training since he had already transformed, but he did want to lessen the pain and transform easier.

In order to start transforming into your Animagus form, you must start with body parts. Picture your body part 'growing' into the equivalent body-part of your form. Grow the fur or scales of your Animagus from your skin. Imagine yourself as if you were the animal and what it would feel like. Try this technique with each part of your body until you can effectively turn into it quickly and then try bigger portions of your body. Keep up the routine until you think your ready for the full change. Imagine yourself as the animal, as you did with the parts, and you should transform slowly. The pain of your transformations will lessen with time and practice. By the time your ready, you will be numb to the pain.

Sitting down on the floor, Harry began the exercises.

He found growing the fur and paws fairly easy if not painful. Though he hadn't progressed slowly as the book suggested, he felt he was ready for the transformation.

Picturing the animal in his mind, Harry concentrated on every detail. He imagined what the fur, the teeth, the entire body would feel like. Finally, deciding he was ready, he willed his body to changed.

Slowly, he started to feel it. At first the pain was minimal, like being pricked with a needle, but soon it grew into being stabbed. Trying to hold the screams in, Harry could hear Sapphire whimpering along with Hedwig's hoots. Finally, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He screamed.

He tore at his vocal cords as he let the pain show through his yells and screams. Letting it all out, Harry could feel his bones twisting shape. Though it was less than five minutes, it felt as though the pain afflicted his body for hours before stopping.

When the pain did stop, he felt amazing.

He was in an unfamiliar body with unfamiliar feelings but his instincts told him it was right. He wasn't sure if it was his animal's instincts or his own that was making him feel this way, but he didn't have time to ponder it.

Moments after his transformation, his black coat shifted into his silver one. The odd part about it was that, when he did change, an ethereal glow started growing around his body. His body felt better than before. The glow grew until he was effectively blinded by the light. Harry was not bothered by the gleam and with the growth of the glow came a feeling of pure ecstasy and unimaginable euphoria.

A/N: Thanks to Manda, BattleRaven, battlefield-addict, Arathorn, Bloodless Ace, jbfritz, MaxFic, dishant, Lady of Masbolle, Egyptian Flame, TuxedoMac, Lady of the Dragons2, and Dr Gero for reviewing th last chapter. Make sure you guys keep doing that ;)

Lady of the Dragons2: Glad you liked the wind element, it was actually the hardest for me to plan out. Wanted to do something a little different and I'm glad you approve. Dumbledore will see the new and improved Harry soon, maybe the next chapter. As you can see, Im sending him to the Weasley's soon and should have a confrontation. P.S. this chapter is the start of the H/G!

Dr Gero: I kinda put the animagus form in here. I should finish it up next chapter, but it wont be the last you see of transformations. . .wink wink.

TuxedoMac: Thanks for the praise. You can thank Dr. Gero for fixing up the spacing in my writing. Hopefully everything will be easier to read now.

Egyptian Flame: Thanks for reading my story even though your not an H/G fan. I'm not gonna make H/G the center of my story, just the relationship Harry is in. I think you can make any relationship with Harry work, depending on how you build the characters. I'll keep the H/G mostly as the romance part of the fic but it wont be too big a deal.

Dishant: Hope the spacing is better for you. Thanks for the review.

MaxFic: thanks for the tip. I appreciate your review and constructive criticism. I'm just starting on your story today, I want to get back to reading a couple fics again, and yours seems really good.

Arathorn: Appreciate the review, even if my story isn't in your language. I hope you like it and continue to review.

Manda: Caught that huh? Wasn't sure if anyone would get it or not when I put it in. I had just finished watching the movie again when I started that part of the story. The name just kind of popped in my head. Thanks for the review!

Thanks to my Beta Dr. Gero.

To all of you readers out there, make sure you review! Later