A/N: BIG THANKS to all my kind reviewers!

- Is early. But you've been nice and I hope you'll like this chapter as well. Be kind, please, and patient, there will be some weird things but all explained in due time.

Chapter 2: Hagrid

"Honestly?" Harry asked needlessly, too loud and very happy. Dumbledore laughed.

"Of course. I think he knows very well that he would drive one crazy if he kept doing this all the time. And he will try to be hard on you in the beginning until-"

"Until what?" interrupted Harry anxiously, happiness being washed away.

"Until he forms you, I'm afraid..."

Fawkes was gone and Harry was free to think what he liked. It was a great relief, even though he knew this was only temporary. Finding out that the phoenix wouldn't be sticking to him twenty-four hours a day made him change his mind about dying young. However, if he was supposed to endure the torment for as long as Dumbledore... He had to know the reason.

"Sir, have you decided to drink the poison because of Fawkes?" The ghost gave him a weird contemplative look. It was strange to meet this 'other Dumbledore'. He seemed as an almost different person, his reactions and wording bore marks of a very different personality now that he could act as he felt like acting. The fact that he hovered a foot above the floor didn't help that impression.

"No, Harry. Of course not. One of the first things Fawkes will teach you is to value life, yours as well as everybody else's. Yes, even the dark wizards'."

"Then why..." he cried. Without the phoenix in his close proximity he stomached the situation much worse, regardless of the ex-Headmaster's lingering presence. The fact that there was no one standing between himself and Voldemort didn't change. Ghosts didn't stand. They floated.

"That is a very good question, Harry, and I ask you to remember my answer for future: I had to choose between two people, lest both of them would die. One death was avoidable. I decided for the more important person to live.

Do you think you can understand that?" Harry suddenly remembered the Chamber of Secrets. He was there because he wanted to save Ginny. Were there not for Fawkes he would have died in the process. Died so she could live... He nodded, vigorously, trying to drive the thoughts of Ginny out of his head. It hurt.

"I'm so glad, Harry. I was afraid... It seems you are tired. I will leave you now, have some rest. Meet me tomorrow at noon in the Headmistress' office. The password is 'Gillywater'."

With that Dumbledore swooped around and slid through the wall, when Harry remembered.

"Sir!" A silvery bearded head stuck inside through a portrait of an angry-looking hag.

"Yes, Harry?" he asked politely, though not bothering to hide his bewilderment.

"I'm sorry. I can't meet you-"

"And why is that?"

"Because I have to catch the Hogwarts Express, sir. It's the last day of the school-year; I'm going back to Whinging tomorrow."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Fawkes has not informed you? You are staying here for summer."

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"Harry James Potter!" The black-haired boy looked up, startled to see the common room full and waiting for him as he climbed through the portrait-hole. The Gryffindors were sardined along the walls, trying to stay as far from the girl in the centre of the room. To say she was blazing with anger was a serious understatement. And he was so tired...

"Yes, Ginny?" he said quietly, trying to mask his weariness. It worked! The girl opened and closed her mouth for a few times like a stranded fish before she found her voice again.

"What the heck was that!"

"What exactly are you referring to?" Several of his class-mates in the back of the room dared to laugh at what they supposed was a row between a boyfriend and girlfriend. An invisible fist clenched his insides. Ginny scowled.

"Your grand show down in the Great Hall of course! Did you bother to tell any of your friends that you caught Dumbledore's bird?"

'When was I supposed to make time for that?'

"And what did you mean by completely ignoring McGonagall and us and storming the place like it belonged to you? For goodness sake, you looked like Snape!" That was a mistake. Ginny knew it instantly and covered her mouth with her hand, but it was too late; she couldn't take the words back. However, Harry cared about her too much to hurt her.

He spoke, quietly, freezingly.

"Never, Ginny... Never again compare me to Snape." He walked across the room to the stairs to his dormitory. The silence was so absolute that he would have been able to hear the flutter of the wings of a Golden Snitch.

"I-I'm sorry," Ginny whispered as he walked past her. He nodded curtly, but didn't stop, not until he had closed the door to the sixth-years' bedroom.

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'I'm such git!' stormed Harry, while he searched around his bed for a decently looking piece of parchment. Having found one with more or less straight edges he grabbed a self-inking quill from his bed-table and scribbled a note, completely oblivious to the two pairs of eyes that watched him, thunderstruck, throughout the entire process.

Ginny,
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have got mad, I'm just tired. You wouldn't believe what happened to me during the past hour. I'd tell you, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed. Please, don't be angry. I need to know I can count on you.

Harry

He knew he should have gone to her personally and apologise. But it was so terribly hard to be around her and not stare in her eyes, not touch her, not kiss her... He suppressed the urge to bang his head in the wall (imagining what Fawkes would make him feel for such reaction) and read the note again. It seemed OK. He lay down on his bed, staring at the canopy, trying to figure out what to do with it next.

'I can't go down there. They would eat me alive... unless I am under the Cloak... God, I don't feel like getting up!' He sighed.

'You look more dead than Albus.' scoffed a voice in his head. Harry groaned and forced himself to sit up. Life was so... unfair.

"At least I'm not transparent. Er... would you mind to help me?"

"Harry?" asked two voices unison. Startled, he turned around and found Ron and Hermione sitting side by side on Ron's bed. He gaped at them. They gaped back as though he was a ghost. How could he overlook them?

'You were, ehm, agitated? Of course I will help you. Would I be here otherwise?' Finally overcoming his shock, Harry laughed dryly.

'No, I suppose not. Could you, please, take this to Ginny?'

'Ah, Miss Weasley. A woman of fire, isn't she? An extraordinary damsel, for human standards.'

"Yes." responded Harry without thinking about it. But it didn't matter, anyway. Anyone with a bit of brain could see what he thought of Ginny on the first sight of his mind.

'You are becoming bitter, lad. Try to think positively-'

"Are you all right?" said Hermione, mistaking Harry's answer to Fawkes for an answer to her and Ron. However, precisely that moment chose the phoenix for his magnificent entrance, flash of fire freezing the aback expression on both his friends' faces. It screeched in greeting, but didn't receive any response. Harry extended his hand to it, passing it the parchment. Fawkes took it in his beak.

"Thanks." With another flash of fire the bird was gone.

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"Harry?" piped Ron, his face showing clearly his internal turmoil. Hermione meanwhile managed to try to look as though such occurrence was perfectly normal and Harry had a phoenix to his service whenever he called for it. She at least realised he had been talking to it. Unlike Ron. By the look of it, the red-head decided to just sit and wait until someone told him what was happening, instead of vainly attempting to figure it out on his own.

"Sorry. I'm tired. What-" something caught his eyes. He gave Hermione a pointed gaze; she took it for a while but then blushed and pulled the strap of her dress a bit to the side. Harry arched an eyebrow and she got yet redder.

"Congratulation, guys." He smirked. "It took you quite a long time..." Ron glared at him.

"Look who talks." Harry's smirk vanished. He gulped. No, he didn't want to think about Ginny right now...

"Don't be a prat, Ron!" protested Hermione, giving Harry a lugubrious glance.

He had to tell them. Not everything, of course, but the most. After all, they offered to go with him to Privet Drive and then wherever he went from there... As he watched them, Ginny crept back in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to defy her. And then he realised it would have been wrong. His relationship had gone to blazes, but their didn't have to, and mustn't because of him. They had every right for another year at Hogwarts...

Hermione stood up, came over to him and hugged him.

"You know you can tell us anything, right?" He nodded and took a deep breath. This was going to be hard.

"Look, guys, I'm not going back to my Aunt and Uncle. And-" he turned to Ron, "I'm not going to Burrow, either."

"Where-" started the red-head, but was promptly gestured to hush.

"You go home for this summer and come back in September."

"But, Harry!"

"We said we'll go with you!"

"You can't leave us behind!"

He shrugged off Hermione's arms and sighed again. There was no avoiding telling them. They would never listen to him otherwise and he had to bring them to.

"I just talked to Dumbledore-" He stopped under the looks they gave him.

"Harry, Dumbledore is dead," Hermione said carefully, as though he was valetudinarian.

"I know, Mione. I know. I was there, remember?" She still doubted him.

"OK. I talked to Dumbledore's ghost-" Hermione's jaw fell and Ron's was soon to follow. Harry smirked at their expressions and retold his story, carefully avoiding the subject of his interaction with Fawkes. He could tell they did understand yet less than he did. But, thankfully, they accepted.

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The next morning found Harry sitting on his bed still clad in his pyjamas, hugging his knees and watching his four friends pack. He didn't feel like getting up. Fawkes didn't make an appearance and he decided he was going to enjoy it as much as he could, though... he couldn't feel too happy when all his mates were leaving and he was going to remain alone, with only the phoenix, the ghosts and some of the teachers as company. The boys tried to cheer him up, using few of spare Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in the process.

Once the trunks had been packed, Harry decided it was about the highest time for him to finally change. The room was a mess, thanks to the numerous Fred and George's products, but it at least gave him something to do, while they waited for Neville, who had to go and recover his warning to not do magic during the holidays. It gave Seamus a great bit of laugh…

"Harry."

He looked up. Ron was looking at him worriedly. "You've got to drop in during the summer. If not to Burrow then to Gr-" Harry cleared his throat, wildly gesturing to the other two boys in the room. Ron smiled sheepishly. "To the HQ. And write. I-I'm not sure how it- you know, I'm a bit nervous about the whole me and Mione thing..." For the first time that day Harry smiled good-naturedly, giving his friend a mock pat on the head, though he had to stand on his toes to do it.

"Don't worry. You'll be alright. And..." He sobered again. "Look after Ginny for me, please." Ron gave him a look of concern, but merely nodded.

An hour later he stood on the stairs in front of the main gate, watching the line of carriages being pulled away by Thestrals disappear towards the Hogsmeade train station. He had been hugged and yelled at and given hand-shakes so many times that he didn't bother to count. He'd been kissed twice. On the cheek. The left one. The spot still stung, but it was nothing compared to the heartache it stirred.

He noticed a movement next to him and immediately felt slightly warmer.

"I can go visit them, can't I?"

'Of course. You're a trainee, not a prisoner.'

Harry sighed.

'Sometimes it doesn't-' He realised what he was about to think and immediately shifted his attention elsewhere - to Hagrid's cabin namely. A thin smoke came out from the chimney.

'What was that again?' Fawkes asked amusedly.

"Nothing of importance. I think I'll go and see Hagrid... Would you like to come with me?" He hoped the phoenix would decline. It tweeted merrily.

'Such a refreshment! After a century with Albus... No, Harry, I suppose you have a lot on your mind. Don't forget your appointment, though.'

Harry nodded to it and made his way down the green slope.

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"Harry!" Hargid cried and frowned. "How come yer not on the train? Yer gonna 'ave troubles..." Strangely, the half-giant didn't seem nearly as crushed as he did yesterday... as though someone had hit him with a Cheering Charm. Harry strongly suspected he knew what happened.

"Professor Dumbledore said I'll stay for holidays-" Hagrid's expression froze, he leant down and for a moment of horror Harry thought the man was so angry he was going to hit him. He braced himself and...

Hegrid scooped him in his arms in a fierce hug that threatened to mash the boys ribcage along with everything it contained.

"'e's back, Harry, 'e's back!" Harry concentrated on drawing as much breath as he was capable to while Hagrid danced around. Fang kept dodging him and jumping out of the way and, after having his tail stomped on, whined and retreated into the relative safety of the cabin.

A while later Harry felt he was going to pass out and called at Hagrid to release him. It took another few minutes for the half-giant to calm down enough to be able to speak comprehensibly. When he did, though, he ushered Harry inside, seated him at the table and poured him tea. Harry sugared it, watching Hagrid pour a cup for himself.

"'e came yesterday, at nigh'; I was goin' ter bed, 's been a shock, I tell ya... I freaked out an' he'd been talkin' ter me for 'bout 'n hour. Great man, Dumbledore..." Harry took a sip of the tea and screwed his face. It smelled exquisitely, but tasted like an abstergent. "Oh, I 'ave a surprise fer ya, Harry... where I put it?" He furiously searched around and after a while started looking nervous. Harry's stomach clenched; he wasn't sure why... maybe something in Hagrid's expression...

"What was it? I can help you look for it..." he offered, the stomach-ache getting gradually worse.

"T'was in a small box, Harry, 'bout this big-" Harry stood up, but a pain in his insides knocked him off his feet. He tried to catch on the desk, but his hands slipped as his vision unfocused.

"Harry!" was the last thing he heard.

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Harry woke up to a wail. He opened his eyes - not widely, only small slits to find out what was going on before anybody noticed he was awake.

He was in the Hospital wing, he knew it well enough to recognise it even without his glasses. A black-clad tall person was walking away from his bed, through the door and out of his sight. He briefly wondered who could it be, until an extremely flustered Madam Pomfrey stood in the line of his eyes. He looked up at her to find she was pale, paler than he had ever seen her before. She looked sick.

'Can Healers be sick?' he wondered, not expecting any responding voices invading his mind.

'Of course. Now this is an unexpected turn of events.'

'Curious?' thought Harry mockingly. "Morning, Madam Pomfrey," he groaned and felt blood being drained from his face too. It wasn't his voice.

'What happened to me?' He gaped pleadingly at the witch, while more wails sounded behind himself.

"Calm down, Mr Potter. It will take a little time... you must stay calm." He tried. Really. But something happened to him, he remembered fainting in Hagrid's hut... his stomach had hurt... now he felt like he had none for a change... his voice was different...

'What happened to me?' He reached for his glasses and put them on. His vision focused, but the usually fit frame threatened to slid off his nose.

"It's all my fault! My fault! I wanted ter give it ter ya, Harry... and I messed up... and ya could have died..." Hagrid wailed.

"What happened-" the strange, deep silky voice sent shiver down his spine.

"Hagrid prepared an early birthday present for you, Harry,"

He turned around and spotted Dumbledore standing in the next bed. He felt a little better. Safer.

"Present?" he whispered, trying to cover the unfamiliarity of his voice.

"A substance that triggers the first stage of becoming an Animagus, Harry. A very thoughtful gift, I would say." Harry tried to smile. The idea was... thoughtful indeed. He had never tried to become an Animagus on his own, but the possibility... It was definitely attractive.

"Thanks." Then he frowned again. "But... what happened?"

"It seems that you have 'sugared' your tea with it, Harry. You indeed ought to start paying more attention to your surroundings. Unless you want to keep me company, of course, though I must say I wouldn't be that delighted about such turn of events." Dumbledore softly chuckled, but he was the only one who seemed to find the situation amusing. Not even Fawkes - who was nowhere to see, but had made himself heard - did consider it funny.

'Is it supposed to feel like this? I'm not surprised so few people risk it...'

'Certainly not. Listen to Albus, Harry.'

He gazed at the ghost, asking him to continue. The room fell silent; for a while even Hagrids sniffing stopped. Dumbledore looked at him sadly, but seemed to be looking through him, as though he was the one whose body didn't stop the rays of the sunlight… He was remembering something. Then he shook his head, back to present, and spoke.

"I'm sorry to inform you that you won't be able to become an Animagus."

"Why?" Harry cried and shivered again. The velvety sound tore his ears with its unnaturalness. Dumbledore sighed wearily.

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Ya know. Ya read and review and me continues.
Brynn