A/N: A REALLY BIG THANK YOU to my reviewers: eighth world wonder, 'DJ'DP'HJ'TF', FroBoy, pakiphai and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Willy Wonka, Nickelback or Theory of a Deadman.
"Where is it?" asked Ginny eagerly. "Where's the secret passage?"
"Well, I suppose my personal favourite is the one in the library," said Lupin.
"There's a library?" shrieked Hermione, her eyes wide in shock.
"Of course, didn't I show it to you when we got here?" asked Lupin.
Hermione shook her head, almost bouncing with excitement.
"Oh, must've slipped my mind," he replied. "Well, follow me and I'll show you."
Lupin turned and went up the stairs and everyone followed him.
"I thought we already looked at all the rooms," commented Harry.
"This one is hidden behind a portrait, so I guess it's almost a secret passage on its own," said Lupin. "But the library isn't nearly as good as the passage hidden inside it."
They approached a portrait of a very handsome lion with large amber eyes.
Everyone jumped in surprise when Lupin let out a very large "ROAR!"
"It's the password," Lupin explained, with a large grin on his face. "It was Sirius' idea."
The portrait swung forward to reveal a library at least triple the size of the one in Hogwarts. Hermione squealed and rushed over to examine the shelves.
"Look at all these books!" she exclaimed, pulling a few off the nearest shelf. "Here's one on defence against the dark arts, one on goblin wars, one on how to tame dragons…better not let Hagrid see that one. And here's one on transfiguration, one on illegal potions…"
Ron rolled his eyes as Hermione continued to ramble on about all the books. Ginny giggled, and Harry looked away to keep from laughing. Suddenly, Hermione screamed.
"A book on the mistreatment of house-elves!" she screeched. "Oh Harry, can I borrow this one, please?"
"Take as many as you like," he replied. "But can we look at the books after we find the secret passage?"
"Oh, right, sorry," she said, grinning sheepishly. "So, any hints for us, Lupin?"
"Start looking and I'm sure you'll find it," he said. "I'll tell you if anyone gets close."
So all of them started looking around the library. Harry started with the bookshelves at the back of the room. He became interested in a book on the Chudley Cannons, autographed by the whole team, and decided to go show Ron. He was flipping through the pages and not really watching where he was going when he banged into Charlie.
"Sorry Charlie, I wasn't looking where-" but he stopped abruptly as Charlie, who had been pushed into the wall, went right through it.
"Um, Lupin, Charlie sort of, um, fell through the wall," said Harry as Lupin approached him.
"Perfect, you found it!" he said happily. "Go on, it's just like platform 9 ¾."
Harry set the book down on a nearby table and walked through the wall. This passage was just as spectacular as the other.
There were hundreds, maybe thousands of shelves filled with beautiful bright-colored candy. To his right was a large quantity of sugar quills, and to his left was a shelf filled with Bertie Bott's every flavour beans.
"Wow!" exclaimed Ginny.
"This is awesome!" yelled Ron. "Look, they even have some stuff they've stopped making, like rainbow bars!"
"Those things turn your tongue rainbow-colored for five hours," said Fred.
"Haven't these gone bad, though?" asked Hermione. "They've been sitting here for years."
"Nope, luckily James put an anti-spoiling charm on them. These things will be good for centuries," said Lupin. "Go ahead, try some!"
Everyone raced off to find their preferred type of candy. Both Harry and Ginny chose sugar quills.
"Those were your mother's favourite too, Harry," Lupin told them, taking one for himself. "Your father had a strange obsession with Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, especially the toast flavoured ones. I always liked the cinnamon ones, but to each his own."
"Whose idea was it to build this passage?" asked George.
"Lily's," answered Lupin. "She loved sweets; it was always hard to tear her away from Honeydukes whenever we were in Hogsmeade."
"It's just like being in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Who's he?" asked Ron.
"It's my favourite muggle movie," said Hermione. "We can watch it sometime, you'd like it."
"What's it about?" he asked.
"Candy," she answered.
"I'm in," announced Ron.
They stayed in "Candy Heaven" as Ginny had called it, for about ten minutes. Then they left so that Mrs. Weasley wouldn't start worrying about them.
"Lupin, I've got something you should see," said Harry.
"What is it?" asked Lupin.
"You'll see," said Harry, opening his bedroom door. Lupin gasped when he saw James' and Lily's portrait sitting on the floor.
"Moony?" asked James. "Is that really you?"
"Lily, Prongs!" gasped Lupin. "I had no idea you had a portrait!"
"Well, you know this one," said James, jerking his thumb at Lily. "Always prepared for everything."
"And it's a good thing too!" she replied. "It's not like you would have thought to get a portrait made!"
"Fair enough," replied James, running a hand through his hair. "Although it was me who put the anti-spoiling charm on the candy."
"You forgot to put one on the fridge," remarked Lily. "I'm sure they had a great time cleaning out our old food."
"You two are still bickering just as much as before," commented Lupin.
"Some things never change," said Lily. "How have you been?"
"Fine," answered Lupin. "I have a girlfriend now, her name is Tonks."
"Tell us about her," said Lily.
Harry slipped out of the room to give them some privacy and went to find the others. He found them in Ron's room listening to music.
"Hey Harry, how's Lupin doing?" asked Hermione, making room for Harry to sit on the bed with them.
"He seemed pretty good when I left," answered Harry. "What's this song called? It sounds familiar."
"It's Santa Monica," replied Hermione. "It's by Theory of a Deadman."
"I like it," said Ginny. "I think I underestimated muggle music."
"Yeah, what other CD's do you have?" asked Ron.
"Here, choose one," said Hermione, tossing her CD collection to him. Ron began flipping through them.
"Is Nickelback any good?" asked Ron.
"They're my favourite," answered Hermione, taking the CD from Ron and putting it in the CD player. A song called Another Hole in the Head came on. Hermione sang along to it.
"Are there any Order meetings coming up?" asked Ginny.
"There's one tomorrow," said Ron. "But you're not allowed to know anything anyway, so why does it matter?"
"I just wondered where they're having it," said Ginny. "I mean, normally they would have had it at the Burrow."
"We're having it at Kingsley's house," said Ron. "And no, you're not coming."
"So you guys are leaving me alone with Harry?" asked Ginny, a grin spreading across her face.
"No!" said Ron hastily. "I'll ask mum, I'm sure we can get a baby-sitter or something…you're not staying here alone, I don't trust you two."
"Ron, if you make mum get me a baby-sitter you will sorely regret it," she said angrily.
"It doesn't matter what I say to mum, she's not going to let you guys stay here alone anyway," said Ron.
"We'll see," said Ginny. "Either way, you're not to interfere, understand?"
Ron glared angrily and Harry sensed a fight coming.
"So, moving on," said Harry. "Have you thought more about the ball?"
"I think we should have it next week," said Ginny. "That gives us time to decorate and get all the food prepared."
"Who's going to do all the decorating and stuff?" asked Ron.
"All of us," said Ginny. "I already have a few ideas planned, but I need help because I can't use magic yet. Stupid underage rule."
"Harry, can we go back and look at the library now?" asked Hermione. "I never got a chance to look at the books."
"Sure," said Harry.
The four of them went to the library together and Ron gave the password.
"I love this library," said Hermione. "Isn't it great?"
"As far as libraries go, it's pretty good," said Ginny. "At least Madam Pince isn't breathing down our necks."
"Look, they have a whole section devoted to becoming an animagus," said Hermione. "They even left all their notes here; there must be at least thirty pages of them."
"Hey, do you guys think we could…you know, become animagi?" asked Ron.
"No, absolutely not, it's illegal and it's dangerous," said Hermione.
"It could save our lives, Hermione," said Harry softly. "I'm sure it saved Sirius' life a few times."
"All their notes are here too, we wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time as they did on researching," said Ginny.
"Oh, but…if anyone found out, we could go to Azkaban!" exclaimed Hermione. "And besides, you and Harry are still underage."
"There's enough magic going on in this place that the Ministry wouldn't be able to track who did it," said Harry. "Besides, even if they did find out I don't think they would bother doing anything about it. There's a war going on, underage magic is the least of their worries."
"Well, alright," said Hermione. "We can start researching tonight."
"How long do you think this will take?" asked Ginny.
"Until we can completely transform?" asked Hermione. "I'd say about two weeks."
"Two weeks!" exclaimed Ron. "It took Harry's dad three years!"
"I know, but it's the research that makes it take so long, and we've got everything right here in front of us. And you're forgetting that I'm the smartest witch in the year," said Hermione.
"Let's get started then," said Harry, taking So You Want to be an Animagus off the shelf.
Ten minutes later they had a few pages of their own notes, and Hermione had finished reading through the marauder's notes.
"The first thing we have to do is find our form," Hermione told them.
"How do we do that?" asked Harry.
"There's an easy spell, we can try it right now," said Hermione. "When it's cast on you, you can see your form in your head."
"Let's not tell each other our forms until we transform," suggested Ginny. "It'll add to the suspense."
They agreed that this was a good idea and Hermione got out her wand to do the spell.
"Alright, who's first?" she asked.
"I'll go," said Ron.
"Okay, close your eyes," she instructed. "Bestia vultus!"
A minute later Ron grinned and opened his eyes.
"That was so cool!" he exclaimed.
"Can I go next?" asked Ginny.
"Sure," said Hermione. Ginny closed her eyes. "Bestia vultus!"
After Ginny saw her form she was very happy.
"That's the best!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could tell you what it is!"
"Can someone cast it on me?" asked Hermione.
"I will," said Ginny.
She cast the spell and a minute later Hermione was smiling. So far, everyone had been happy with their form.
"Okay Harry, you're next. Close your eyes," said Hermione. "Bestia vultus!"
A/N: Ha ha, I'm going to be really evil and leave you with a cliff hanger. Don't worry; I'm going to start writing the next chapter as soon as I post this so it shouldn't be a very long wait. I'm sorry I didn't update for awhile, I had half of this chapter done and then I couldn't think of what else to write. I'd say this animagus thing is pretty good, in my opinion.
Do you like the songs they were listening too? I chose the songs I was listening to as I wrote it. Nickelback is one of my favorite bands, so is Theory of a Deadman.
Again, I used the online Latin translator for the spell (I love that thing!). Bestia vultus means animal facial expression in English. And if it doesn't you can blame the translator.