Harry Potter & The Door of Dimensions.

Chapter 2:
In Which Tears Are Shed and Things Are Said.

The hand recoiled a little as Harry flinched so violently. Harry thought that maybe he could scare the new comer away but when he looked up to shout or complain or whatever the case may be, he found himself unable to turn down who had walked in.

Remus hovered over him, a look of worry and tired empathy. His eyes, Harry thought, must have been the mirror image of Harry's. They were weary, rimmed with red, and he looked more exhausted than ever. His clothing was still its shabby stitched together grey and brown motley, but everything about Lupin seemed to scream desperate. Yet he was always so quiet, even in the throws of emotional heartbreak, he remained relatively calm.

Lupin, who had lost not one now, but two of his best friends, who had been alone for most of his life, who had never had the love of parents while growing up, was probably the most like Harry. Now more than ever. It was strange how Harry had never realized it before. He rarely thought of adults as people he could talk to freely... They always seemed to be the mature ones, the ones devoid of any fatigue; they could say the right things at the right time. Lupin was the epitome of admiration in an individual. But suddenly, as Harry sat looking out at Lupin, he knew that his old teacher and friend were looking back at him with the exact same expression. For once, he and Lupin were equals.

As if to further this realization, Lupin brushed his dusty brown hair back with one hand, seeming to be a little unsure of himself. He sat down without saying anything.

"Harry..." He began a little quietly, looking at him again. His eyes were the colour of honey and they blinked a few times when Harry looked into them. He sat speechless for a moment before continuing, "... I... have been meaning to speak with you... for some time... I apologize for not coming to see you sooner... The Order wouldn't have it."

"Professor...it's--"

"Please Harry, no need to call me Professor Lupin anymore. I'm not your teacher..." He smiled. Harry was always a strong believer that Lupin's smile could melt even the coldest of hearts, "...I'm your friend and equal. Call me Remus."

Harry nodded his head a little, looking at his feet, "...Lu-- Remus...It's alright. I understand that you couldn't get away to come see me. I'm used to it by now. I'm always alone anyways when I'm at the Dursley's."

A look of disconcertion came over Remus's face then. He shook his head and put an arm around Harry's shoulder, "Harry... It's never alright to be miserable."

This was an awful truth that Harry did not want to face, "I'm not SO miserable...I have Hedwig...and my spells and stuff..." Harry was sounding less and less convinced. He rested his forehead on his knees again and took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. He didn't want Lupin to see how frazzled he really was, even if it was blatantly obvious at this point.

"I miss him too..."

Harry tensed a little, knowing exactly who Remus spoke of. How could he not? That person had been on his mind for months... What startled Harry the most was the fact Remus's voice cracked halfway through the sentence. He rolled his head sideways, looking up at Lupin's face, which was half hidden by his disheveled hair.

Was it true that this was the calm, collected Remus Lupin that he had known last year? He had never seen Remus cry before, not even on the day of Sirius's death did Remus shed a tear. Harry had thought he was just being himself, being cold to the world at the same time as taking care of everyone else, but it appeared that it was Lupin who needed taking care of.

Harry just watched Remus for a while. Finally Harry leaned on his old teacher's shoulder, his forehead buried in the surprisingly soft robe. This time it was Remus's turn to flinch. He looked down at the ebony shock Harry had fought to tame his entire life.

"Of course you miss him... I never doubted that, Remus." Harry croaked. Then he didn't speak for a long time as he tried to stop crying. He could feel that Remus was shaking slightly as well, and the next time he looked up, Lupin was hiding his eyes with the palm of his hand, small glittering points decorating his cheeks.

Harry was glad he could be there for Lupin. He was also fairly glad that Lupin was there for him.

"You should start writing, if you can." Harry said at last. He felt Lupin nod a few times, before agreeing with him.

"Perhaps I shall, Harry... God knows keeping a journal doesn't work for me." Lupin laughed a little and Harry smiled, but at the same time wondered what he meant. Lupin quickly changed the subject, "At any rate, I think it would be healthy for both of us. Don't you agree?"

Harry nodded a little, "Yeah, and it would give me something to do. Practicing the same spells over and over again only gets so exciting..."

Remus looked down at Harry and smiled, his eyes still brimming with tears, "Oh? And how is the Protronus coming? Still holding out strong?"

"Yeah. I'm getting better and better. At least I've perfected almost all my spells..." No doubt Harry would actually be the top student this year.

"And your potions...?" Lupin grinned a little bit, knowing that Harry had never been too superb at the potion making, leading to much discontent and disgruntlement from Professor Snape.

"...ugh." Was all Harry could manage, "Snape escorted me to the train station today. I thought I was in Hell... or a nightmare."

Remus was suddenly silent and he blinked, all signs of sleep deprivation fading from his face, "... Severus did?"

"Yeah, it was bloody annoying. I was hoping you would have, but no, Snape appeared out of the fog..." Harry sighed to show his displeasure with being exposed to the Potion's Master.

"...Are you... Quite sure?" Remus asked, looking slightly worried now.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Yeeah..."

"Harry, that's simply impossible. Severus has been infiltrating the Death Eaters for the entire summer. The Order has spoken to him on scant occasions. There is no way that man could have been Snape."

This alarmed Harry, but he simply took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "So... Who was he then? He didn't try to hurt me... He just led me to the Platform and then ...disappeared."

"I'm not sure, but you need to be more careful. This fog that descended is something evil, it is not of any kind of magic that Dumbledore knows of, meaning just about anything could come out of it. We will be watching you constantly and once you reach the school you will be assigned to a personal bodyguard."

"A WHAT?" Harry was not fond of the idea of some spooky bodyguard following him everywhere. He was even less fond of the idea that he wouldn't have a moment's peace until school was out, "You've got to be joking--"

"I am entirely serious. This is a very dangerous situation. I'm glad that you told me about the Severus copy, though I'm not sure what it means... You could be being followed or traced. There could even be a trap waiting."

This sounding more and more horrible by the second.

"I want you to be extra careful... I know you're always an observant boy, but now more than ever. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded dutifully, "Voldemort's stronger than ever, isn't he?" Remus' eyes flinched at the name and he nodded, "... alright. Thanks, Lup-- Remus."

The trained jolted and began to slow its course, the dew on the window outside slowly slid towards the ground as the cart pulled into the Hogsmead station. Lupin stood and looked down at Harry, who quickly rose to his feet right after.

"Well, guess it's time to get off." He stated the obvious; Remus smiled a little and gave him a large hug, taking Harry completely off guard. Before the boy with the lightning bolt scar could react, Remus had escaped the small cabin and was gone. Harry stood staring aghast at the door before Tonk's head poked through.

"Harry?"

Harry jumped about an inch, "AH!" before realizing it was the mostly harmless Tonks. Key word being mostly, "oh... it's you." He said flatly afterwards.

"OH poo! What kind of greeting is that! 'Oh... it's you' you should be happy to see me, Harry! Come now, don't be such a downer. Let's get your things and hurry up, don't want to be sent back to London now do you? That would be an awful occurrence indeed. Don't you fret, theeere you go! Woah! This luggage sure is heavy! You must keep your entire life in this suitcase! Oh Hedwig stop your bickering! Harry, you have a lovely owl..."

Harry was all too thankful to get away from the talkative Tonks. He was also slightly thrilled that she would not be his bodyguard.

But that left the question... who WOULD be his bodyguard?