Hi! Before anything else (and before I forget), here's the disclaimer: nothing here is mine… except the account lol.

Chapter 2! This is where the story truly starts (as I said, the first chapter was more like a prologue). Thanks to all the wonderfull reviewers (see bottom of page) and I hope I'll get more feedback!

For those who didn't get it (I know it's confusing), I've posted two similar stories. This one, "I, Harry Potter", is from Harry's point of view, meaning you get his personal feelings and thoughts on everything that happens. Now, the other one, "I, Remus Lupin," is the same story (same events and all) but told from Remus's's point of view. It's a parallel story that you can read to get Lupin's thoughts and opinions (mostly on Harry, since this story is focused on them both).

Good reading!

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CHAPTER 2

Not so stranger anymore

Harry's sixth year. Morning of the first day of school.

There was something in the air that made Harry on edge. Something he couldn't quite figure out; it was probably the accumulation of all the tension of the summer that was now menacing to take over.

The image of Sirius falling behind the veil hadn't left his mind; he was seeing it again, and again, and again, all the time. It was a nightmare, and it felt like he was slowly but surely becoming mad.

The image of his godfather disappearing was lost among the beams of light, the shouting, the confusion.

Then there was the figure of another man seizing him around the waist, fighting hard to maintain a grip on him, tightly, so tightly he couldn't breath, forcing him to stay away from the archway, away from the veil… making him unable to reach out for Sirius…

The one who had been the stranger in the dusty old coat. One of his father's best friends.

Lupin.

God, Remus. My father trusted you so much. Sirius trusted you.

I trusted you! I thought you were my friend. Do you any idea what that meant? Do you know what you meant for me?

In a way, Lupin had always been there... he had been the best friend of his godfather, he had been the one always knowing what to do, with the Dementors in third year, then later at Grimmauld Place... he'd never let him down. An excellent teacher Harry could always count on. A friend, in a way...

And you─ you─ you betrayed me!

Yes. In a sense, it was a betrayal. Remus had killed Sirius.

Well, not exactly, right, Harry?

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew the truth. The one and only, which he refused to see, which he refused to even think of.

Sirius had killed himself; that was the truth. And Remus had saved Harry's life or he would have run behind the veil, too.

Yet that one truth he would never acknowledge. In a way, it was much easier to accuse Lupin of everything that had happened.

"Harry, you coming?"

It was Ron, waiting for him to come down for breakfast. Harry sighed, nodded and followed his friend. Down the staircases, along the whispering portraits, through the Entrance Hall…

They entered the Great Hall again for their sixth year.

The sight of Lupin seated at the Staff Table made him feel ill. He just couldn't bear seeing him there. He didn't want to walk along with him in the corridors every day. He didn't want to have to sit through his classes.

He wanted to be as far away as possible from him. To forget it all.

Harry stared at Lupin, barely controlling his fury. If he had to be here, then at least Harry would show him how he felt. He stared at him and waited for Remus to look back. To see the hatred in his eyes. Then, maybe, he would understand. Lupin, however, kept his head down.

You feel guilty, don't you? Harry thought with rage. Yeah, that's right. Well, guess what, Remus? It's too late now. Way too late. Sirius is DEAD!

He knew he shouldn't feel angry that way, it just wasn't right. But then─ how else could he really feel?

Right after breakfast, Harry climbed back to his Dormitory. He only had one idea trotting in his mind: he would have to face Lupin soon. In Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon, right after lunch, he'd have to face him for a whole hour.

As though nothing had ever happened…

The other students didn't know Sirius had died in the Department of Mysteries. They didn't know Harry had been involved─ well, somehow, but not in that way. They had no idea Remus had been there. No idea he had been Sirius's friend─ no idea Sirius had been innocent…

They don't know anything… None of it…

And they couldn't understand. They watched him pass in the corridors without saying a word; but Harry felt they were uncomfortable.

Because you know I know things you can't even think of.

And the ones who knew─ Ron and Hermione─ didn't find the words to talk about it.

It was even worse─ a sort of heavy silence none wanted to break; unbearable, unspoken words.

When Harry climbed to Remus's class after lunch, Hermione and Ron's presence at his side weren't enough for him to feel calm. He shifted uneasily from one foot to another while waiting for Lupin to open the door, wondering what Remus was doing inside the classroom. Tidying up his notes? Talking to another teacher? Or maybe─ thinking?

When all the students had arrived─ a good five minutes after the bell, in fact,─ the door opened finally.

Harry looked at his feet. It was as though there was something forcing him to look elsewhere. If he didn't he knew he would explode somehow─ yell and shout insults or get so desperate that he would need to run far away. He knew if he set his eyes on Lupin then he'd have to talk. And talking probably meant having an argument; something he didn't really want in front of all his classmates.

In the summer, he'd met Lupin many times at Grimmauld Place─ another every second remembrance of Sirius─ but always refused to talk to him. He knew his behaviour wouldn't make things better between them─ and at the same time, he didn't care.
He felt Hermione smiling slightly at his side and suspected Lupin was looking at him now.

"Hello," Ron muttered.

Then Lupin turned away and went back inside the classroom. Now that every student was walking in, Harry raised his eyes and carefully waited for Lupin to look somewhere aside before he gazed up at him.

Still in that dusty old coat, are you? he thought dryly, then sat down at the back of the class with Ron and Hermione on each side of him.

Now, looking at Lupin, he wanted him to glance back at him. He didn't know why he'd suddenly changed his mind; but in that second, he felt sick of it all. He needed to let his accumulated rage out, once and for all.

Look at me, Remus. Just look at me!

But it wasn't that simple.

In that moment he almost regretted it all. It would have been so much simpler if he had never talked to Lupin outside of class. Remus could have stayed a teacher, and Harry a student. There would have been no extra lessons with him, no worries...

But he wouldn't have known Sirius.

God. Harry sighed. It seemed he couldn't even make up his mind between what was right and what was not...

In a way, Lupin should have stayed the stranger in the old coat.

So for a whole hour Harry stared down at his desk. After sixty minutes, he would have been unable to tell what the lesson had been about. His mind was somewhere else, lost in a sea of memories, of sorrow.

The bell rang. It felt like a lifesaver.

Quickly Harry grabbed his schoolbag and stormed out of the classroom as quickly as he could manage, then ran all the way down to the dungeons without looking backwards.

The next day, he had another hour of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

And with this perspective in mind, Harry might as well consider an hour of Potions with Snape relaxing.

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A/N: ok, though I doubt Potion can ever be relaxing… that's it for today. Chapter three coming soon!

PeridoMercury: well there'll be 15 chapters, so I already know where this is going. Thanks for reviewing!
XxStarDreamerxx: Thanks! This chapter is longer than the first, but they're not that long; therefore I'll update soon.
GGEgirl: Well I hope you'll enjoy the other ones too!
Jackhea: Harry, Ron and Hermione were still in third year, don't forget that. Anyway, the story is mainly focused on Remus and Harry, so Ron and Hermione are only minor characters.
Savvysuperstar95: I totally agree with you! Remus should get way more attention that in the books, he's such a fascinating character!
JetGriffins89: yeah, all right, all right, I'll hurry up! Don't worry though I'm not going to leave this story unfinished… no way!
Aimee:thanks! I see that you've read the one from Lupin's point of view too; I just thought it'd be fun to have two parallel stories…

Well until next time, bye!

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