Author's Note:
To answer a few questions from reviews: My love of history is really everything, but not at the same time. I love the Era of Revolutions — the Jacobites, first and second; the French Revolution and then later the Russian Revolution (don't care much about the American Revolution if I'm honest) and then I specifically love the era of Imperial Russia onto the Russian Revolution and into the Cold War between the US and Russia. I also have a soft spot for Canadian history — specifically Confederation,1867 until about 1945 — I love that whole era. World War One is my absolute favourite — for Canada and for what is happening in Russia and all over the world. It completely fascinates me, the whole idea of how the Great War came to be and the revolutions and decolonizations that followed. I also have a minor in classical civilizations which would be ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, and Celtic — specifically I love the Celtic mythology stuff, playing on my background (French, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Scandinavian — basically I'm the whitest blue-eyed red-head ever LOL).
Also — I was a bit of Marvel comic book geek until I was about 12, read everything I could from the library — haven't read any Marvel comics since and I'm now 32 so now I'm pretty much just MCU based. I used to love Captain Marvel, Captain America, and my brother used to read DC, mostly Batman, when we were kids. I only ever read one Dr Strange comic — so it hardly counts lol. Had to add a bit of my own geekdom there and I thought Mr Granger was a good excuse to toss it in. Never got into Doctor Who myself, but I've seen a few clips and have a few friends who are obsessed. If that helps?
As for my story, 2 things:
******* WARNING DARK SCENES AHEAD (MENTIONING OF NOVAK AND VOLDEMORT SCENE) *******
Also, in my mind, Harry would definitely be growing taller because being with Sirius means that he had a healthy childhood and wasn't malnourished and ill-treated. I'm basing his growth spurt on my little brother who by the time he was twelve dwarfed me in my 167 cm (five feet six inches) of height and now at age twenty-four, he is 195 cm (six feet four inches) (which to me is Ron Weasley/Remus Lupin height) lol. Just in case you were wondering.
Thanks to Steel for helping me with this little scene — every boy has to learn somehow!
Also, this chapter is a A LITTLE LONG so I apologize for that, but it just kept going LOL
And for anyone interested in a good story. I just finished reading an amazing story by the lovely liliansilver called Sour Grapes; It is a Dramione fic, with Hinny (and what I enjoy most about it is that it's not a Ron-bashing fic) and honestly the bromance that she has written between Harry and Draco is my favourite thing. I LOVE me a good bromance! It is wonderful and I urge you to please check it out.
Reviews and Comments: To darkhk: Thank you very much for being here from the beginning! Yay! Congrats on getting a cat. To alix33: Thank you! Good to know. I do not think ASC will reach 600+ chapters though. That's a a whole lotta NCIS fanfiction haha. To purplevictory: Thank you! I love that you are excited to see a new update. Ha, I understand wanting everything right now, but there's a whole lotta story to go! To midnitewanderer: Thank you so much! I am so honoured that you love my story is much. It is nice to see something with one's eyes to really understand how much James and Lily loved him. Harry deserves that. I really wanted to show Remus he was appreciated. To show how much the students loved him as a teacher. He deserves all the love! He is such a kind soul! Thank you so much for your thoughts on the Grangers — I completely agree! It was fun to show them early on, to show them communicating with Sirius. I don't know if we're going to involve them in the war, but one never knows. Thank you so much for that wonderful review!
To scrappy8: Thank you! To LunaFireFly11: Thank you! I thought it was time for Harry to get the memories. He deserves it! To speedsONEandONLY: Harry will share some of his own memories eventually yes. Remus definitely appreciates the letters and the petition. I think he is still a bit shocked over them. Hermione's parents definitely need to be aware. I love them having the mirrors and yes, they will set a schedule and ha, yes, if he doesn't answer not to freak out it is fair. Snort, he could be balls deep in Zee, this is true LOL. Thank you! To Paola1991: Thank you! I think McGonagall probably wrote them a letter detailing the information, but I wouldn't be surprised if Hermione, clever witch that she is, went out of her way to make sure they didn't get it. Hermione isn't an angel after all. To alwayswithnewnames: Thank you very much! I am so glad that Zee is one your favourite OCs from all of the fics you've read! What a great compliment! To geekymom: Thank you!
To hills: I do have up to 162 written and it is only halfway through fourth year LOL. I'm glad you find that so entertaining. Thanks for saying I am writing a wrong by having Sirius fill the Grangers in. I think Hermione needed an adult to step in. Thank you! To andrellacampos7: Thank you! I appreciate that you read my author's notes. Thanks for saying I am one of your favourite writers! To supersandman86: It definitely would have changed things. Her parents will definitely have some reactions in this chapter. Thank you! To Matt9917: Thank you! To Ana: Thank you! Yes, no drama. A nice change for once LOL. Remus is strong and yes, he will survive Azkaban. The conversation with the Grangers was needed and it's not done yet. Thank you!
To Moony The Sheep: Thanks for the interest! I explained my history likes at the beginning of the author's note. I'm glad you loved the memories tremendously! There will be more to come! Yes, Remus has the letters to help try to keep his mood up. Poor Remus. Thank you! To coloredwords: Nothing too crazy I suppose, but we will see them around. Sirius definitely did the right thing, thank you! To PolarWriter95: Hermione might definitely be in more than a little spot of bother LOL. Thank you! To trekklfulron: Haha, thank you! To Guest: Thank you! Thank you for saying that you love the little things in ASC that are "scattered about as it gives it such a realistic feel." We will definitely see more memories and lots of Hinny stuff (eventually). Thank you! To Georgexzy: Thank you! To AntiCreator: Thank you! I have a little Marvel knowledge pre-MCU, but almost nothing on Doctor Strange (re above Author's Notes). Thank you! To Steelcode: It is so nice for Sirius and Harry to relive the past and yes, Remus should be around for them. Thank you! To Wolf's scream: Thank you! James definitely had some cheesy lines, thanks for noticing! To HinnyMe: I am sorry I made you cry with the memories. And yes, that poem! Poor James indeed. Thank you! To CF: Thank you! Yes, Hermione's parents are not going to be too happy once Sirius and Harry leave and they can speak to their daughter alone!
To Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you need more Zee and feel sad for Remus. To Saz J: It is lovely for Harry to experience these memories. The Grangers definitely haven't said everything yet — that will be in this chapter! To Bookworm17: Thank you so much for saying that ASC is "probably the best fanfic you have ever read." You're too kind! To akshutalankar: Thank you! And no, they won't be like they were in the Beginning Series. And yes, trust me, parents can be like that. To Jmcglynn522: Thank you for saying this is your favourite story. I love that I made your geeky heart squeal! Ha, as to dropping 5 or 10 of those chapters all at once — No. LOL. But good try! To krelofwerewolf: Thank you! To DisneyGirl1991: Thank you! I love that you re-read my Remadora stuff! To Niamh Hickey: Thank you for catching up! I love that you think ASC is "soooo good" and "can't wait to see what happens next." Thank you!
Thank you to my Beta — SilverStarwolfe!
My posting schedule: Every Tuesday or Wednesday (usually the latter) and sometimes on the weekends.
As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN:
The One Where They Drink the Potion
Greg closed the door behind Harry and Sirius that afternoon and let out a slow breath before he moved into the living room. His daughter was still sitting on the couch next to his wife and he nodded.
"Well, that was rather enlightening."
Hermione bit her bottom lip. "Dad —"
Greg held up his hand to silence her. "No, I think that it's time for your mother and I to talk now, Hermione."
Hermione lowered her head. The disappointment in her father's voice cutting right through her.
"Mr Black was kind enough to give us a means of communicating with you while you're at school without having to wait for you to send us a letter and I hope that means that at least once a week, you will call us and tell us what's going on with you. Finding out that you did something like travelling through time for your academics is not…"
Jean squeezed her husband's hand in her own as he trailed off before she turned to look at their daughter. "He said that you lost six months of your life, Hermione. Six months! What does that mean? Are six months older than you actually are?"
She nodded, her eyes still downcast. "Essentially, yes."
"That is very serious! You can't just make yourself older! You are fourteen years old, almost fifteen, and I know how much you want to grow up quickly and be the adult, but you need to stop and enjoy being young while you can and… I know that there are a lot of things that you haven't told us, Hermione. Your father and I are well aware that you are off at magic school for most of the year and are off doing your own thing and we understand that. By sending you to a boarding school it allows you to be more independent from us, and we love that about you, but it's the secrets that have become a problem, Hermione. And that's going to stop right now."
Hermione's head popped up. "But Mum, some of it I — you're Muggles!"
"Yes, we are," Greg said sternly. "But we are first and foremost your parents and we love you very, very much. I may not understand it when you tell me that you learned how to transfigure something, but I still want to know about it. Do you think that we don't relish in your academic success? We don't care if it's Potion Making instead of Chemistry or History of Magic instead of Tudor History — we're proud of you! Do you think that we don't want to learn about your friends just because they're magical and we're not?"
"No," she said, quietly.
"Good," Jean replied. "I think that it's time for you to start talking, young lady. You told us about your first year, the Philosopher's Stone, and the mountain troll — which nearly gave your father and I each a stroke, but you told us. Your second year however, we wouldn't have even known that you had been petrified if Mr Black hadn't let it slip at the train station!"
"And you never quite explained to us how you turned yourself into a human-cat hybrid before Christmas either," Greg added. "You left more than few things out."
Hermione let out a slow breath. "You really want to know everything? Even if some of it is a little… out there?"
"Everything," Greg repeated.
Hermione sighed and pulled her bushy curls back into a high ponytail. "All right. I guess it really starts with Harry and him being known in the magical world as The Boy Who Lived."
Jean merely lifted an eyebrow. "Go on."
And she did.
She spent over an hour telling her parents everything from the war with Voldemort to his downfall; how Harry had lost his parents to meeting Harry and Ron on the train. To Professor Quirrell having Voldemort living inside of him to the whole story behind the Chamber of Secrets. To the Polyjuice Potion and how they thought that it was Malfoy; how she had accidentally added cat-hair to her potion. To the Basilisk being free in the school, which had resulted in her being Petrified, and to Harry having saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets. She told them about the escaped Death Eaters from Azkaban that summer and who Pettigrew and Lestrange were in association with Harry and Neville. To how Sirius was connected to Pettigrew and how he was the reason why Harry's parents had been murdered. To deciding to become an Animagus and what learning that would entail. To Professor Lupin being a werewolf and to his arrest and imprisonment. And finally, to the very real possibility that the darkest wizard to ever have lived was trying to make a comeback. She made no mention of the Horcruxes as she felt that it was something that she didn't have the right to share and if she was honest, she didn't want to see her parents look any more horrified than they already did.
Her parents were staring at her like she had two heads. Neither of them spoke for a long moment before Greg finally spoke up.
"I understand that attending a school of magic means a different set of rules and a different set of expectations to come up against but… are you really safe there, Hermione? Truly?"
"Yes!" Hermione exclaimed. "Mum, Dad, Professor Dumbledore is one of the most powerful wizards in the world! I am safe there, I promise! I can protect myself and the teachers there are… this year there was a Defence Club, and it's been brilliant!"
Jean nodded. "You won't lie to us anymore. We want you to know that you can talk to us, Hermione."
"I know that already, Mum. I'm sorry for not telling you."
"And you're grounded," Greg added.
Hermione's face fell. "I guess I deserve that."
"Two weeks at least," Greg said sternly. "Nothing other than academics and chores, jellybean. We love you, Hermione, and we want you to trust us with what is going on in your life."
Hermione nodded, biting her bottom lip. "I love you, too. I'm sorry for keeping this from you."
Greg pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head before Jean did the same.
Jean tucked a curl behind her daughter's ear. "And since Mr Black was kind enough to give us these mirrors, I want to talk to my beautiful daughter at least once a week. Let's say, every Monday at eight."
"But Professor Lupin is teaching me to play the piano on Mondays, or well, he was last year, but I'm hoping that he will again," she added.
Greg merely tugged her back under his arm. "Okay, nine PM then, got it, jellybean? We'll be waiting for you to call us."
She nodded, smiling at her parents. "Got it."
Greg kissed her forehead. "Good. Now, for your first punishment, you can join me in re-organizing my comic book collection in my study. Your mother is trying to say that I have too many of them."
"You do, Greg," Jean said sternly. "I think it's time that you get rid of some of them."
Greg kissed his daughter's cheek and whispered in her ear. "Maybe a bit of magic can help me hide them."
Hermione grinned at her father and kissed him in turn, hugging him close. "I can't do magic outside of school, Dad, but we'll think of something."
He winked at her and hugged her tighter and she knew that everything was going to be okay.
~ ASC ~
When Harry and Sirius returned to Black Cottage, Sirius nodded at the Pensieve that was still sitting on the coffee table from last night.
"Up to viewing a few more of those?"
Harry stared at the medicine chest and shook his head. "No."
Sirius merely raised an eyebrow. "No?"
Harry shoved his hands into his pockets. "The memories are perfect, Uncle Siri but… it feels wrong to watch them without both of my dads here."
Sirius sighed, moving to put an arm around his son, dropping a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "I agree. I miss him too, Prongslet-Harry," he corrected.
Harry moved to hug Sirius. "Do you really think that he's okay?"
"Yes. I'm sure that he's lonely and depressed and maybe a bit scared, but he's okay, I can promise you that. He'll be back home with us soon enough and I'm sure that he would love to watch some of those memories with you. I think that you should also share with him the memory of the Time Turner. He would want to see that."
Harry nodded, staring at the box of memories. "Can we add it?"
Sirius smiled and pulled his wand out. "You bet we can. You remember how?"
Harry nodded and concentrated on the memory, nodding to his godfather who pulled a copy of it from his brain and put it into a glass phial. He labelled it TT for Time Turner.
"I think he'd also like to see our talk from last night as well."
Harry agreed and they added that memory as well. He smiled down at the box. "And the night after his trial," Harry added, smiling at his godfather when he extracted third memory. "That's perfect. Thanks Uncle Sirius."
"You're welcome. Now come stand over here so that I can measure you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Seriously?"
"Yes, I am seriously Sirius Black, now get your butt over here — seriously!"
Harry dragged his feet over to the doorway in the kitchen and dutifully stood in the doorframe, giving his father the stink eye as Sirius stood in front of him, his wand sitting on top of his head.
"How much longer are you going to make me do this?"
Sirius grinned at him. "Until you're all grown up," he said, cupping Harry's cheeks and kissing his forehead noisily. "One hundred and seventy-seven centimetres, you jumped ten centimetres since Christmas — ten! What the hell are you eating at Hogwarts? Bamboo? You're not using an engorgement charm, are you?"
"No," Harry said with a smirk. "How tall was my dad?"
"Ten centimetres taller than you are now. Always pissed me off that both he and Moony were taller than me. I used to be the tallest at one time."
"Think I'll be taller than you?" Harry asked him, grinning widely.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Rate you're going, you'll be taller than me by September."
"Think I'll be taller than Uncle Moony?"
"No," Sirius said with a chuckle. Remus had always been the tallest, towering over all of them at one hundred and ninety-five centimetres "Moony's a Celtic giant. My guess is that you'll be close to your dad's height." He marked Harry's height on the doorframe before he let Harry move.
Sirius actually just skimmed under one eighty three, but he liked to tell people that he was one eighty-five. He scratched his chin.
"Merlin, this beard has got to go!"
Harry smirked at him. "Why did you keep it?"
"Mostly because I was too lazy to shave it," he admitted. "I like having stubble, but the beard I find is too much for me."
Harry scratched his own chin and Sirius smirked at him. "What?"
"You're starting to get a little hair yourself, on your neck and above your lip there."
Harry blushed. "Not really."
Sirius smiled at him and gestured for Harry to follow him. They went into the master bathroom and Sirius urged Harry to stand next to him at the sink. "You used to sit up on the counter here when you were little and watch me get ready in the morning; used to fascinate you."
Harry shrugged as he put his hands on the counter, his eyes meeting his father's in the mirror. "Probably because you spent so much time on your hair."
Sirius stuck his tongue out, making Harry laugh. "You're just jealous of this perfect masterpiece."
"Right," Harry smirked. "Why do you want me here?"
Sirius grabbed his can of shaving cream and held it up. "I think it's time that we get rid of your stubble as well as my beard."
Harry blushed. "You're going to teach me how to shave?"
Sirius grinned at him and turned on the water to wet his face. "Yes, I am. I think it's time."
"I barely have any hair on my face!" Harry protested.
Sirius tilted Harry's chin back and pointed to the little patches of black fuzz that were on his neck. "Barely there is still there, Harry. You're growing up and shaving is a part of life. You don't want to be patchy, trust me. No facial hair until it grows all over, that's the rule. No one likes patches."
Harry grinned and wet his own face and neck as Sirius did.
"Now, a warm towel helps with opening up the pores," he told him as he used his wand to heat up a warm towel and handed it to Harry who dabbed his face with it as Sirius instructed before applying a generous dollop of shaving cream to his face and neck as Sirius did the same. Sirius pulled a razor out from the drawer. "There's a charm, simple and easy to use. The incantation is 'tonsorem,' which essentially means 'to barber.' However, I myself have grown fond of the Muggle razor, as if you are not incredibly precise with your charm, you can remove the hair on your head by mistake."
Harry blanched at that. "Yeah, the razor seems better."
Sirius chuckled. "The razor is better for you as well since you can't technically use the charm when not at school nor seventeen." He pulled out a second razor from the drawer and passed it over. "See how it stands, this is the way the blade cuts so you always want to brush it in this direction over your skin. The trick with shaving your face is to shave in the direction the hair grows." He held the razor near the bottom of his neck and slowly brought it upwards. "Like this."
Harry nodded and did the same, stopping at his chin the way Sirius was.
"When you get to your face, you want to shave in a downward motion as it prevents cuts." Sirius gestured again, rinsing off this razor and sliding the blade across his skin.
Harry followed suit, wincing slightly when he cut the tip of his chin.
Sirius grinned and healed the cut with his wand. "Happens all the time. Just keep going, nice and easy. Good. Now the lip, you want to shave downward from your nose, like this."
Harry watched him carefully and then followed suit until his face was baby smooth.
Sirius, who also now had a baby smooth face grinned at him. "Perfect. For a good close shave, you want to use long strokes rather than short ones to keep your face smooth. Unless you want to keep the sexy stubble look like me," he said winking as Harry rolled his eyes. "Wash your face now."
Harry did as he was told and grinned when Sirius slapped some aftershave on his cheeks before adding his own just as a shadow entered the doorway.
"Well, boys, what kind of trouble are we getting up to in here?"
Sirius grinned at Zee in the mirror, turning and tugging her into his arms to kiss her deeply. "Man stuff."
Zee grinned against his lips and turned to smile at Harry. "Sorry to interrupt the highly secretive man stuff, but I was listening to the wireless, and I heard that there's a ninety percent chance of thunderstorms this evening."
Harry's eyes widened. "Really?"
Zee nodded, grinning widely. "I thought maybe you should invite your friends over in case it storms."
Harry grinned at her before he turned and ran out of the bathroom.
Sirius chuckled, grabbing Zee's waist and tugging her back against him to nuzzle her neck. "You just made his day."
"Were you teaching him how to shave?"
"What? A man's gotta learn somehow?"
Zee smiled and ran her hands over his smooth face. "I don't think that I've ever seen you without stubble."
Sirius grinned as she stroked his smooth cheeks and his neck with her hands. "Don't worry, baby, it will be back by the morning."
She laughed and kissed him again. "You boys eat yet?"
"We had lunch at the Grangers. I want to head to Hogwarts and see Peter."
Zee nodded. "I'll stick around here with Harry and his friends, let them wait out the coming storm. I know how excited he is to learn how to become an Animagus."
Sirius kissed her again. "You'll stay the night with me?"
Zee's eyebrow rose. "Your son and his friends will be here."
Sirius kissed her just below her ear. "Harry and I had the talk. He says that you can sleep over if you want to."
"Oh really?" Zee said, chuckling. "He gave us permission, did he?"
"Even permission to have sex, provided that we use silencing charms on our bedroom first. He was pretty clear on that."
Zee laughed and kissed him again. "Oh, well if Harry says that it's okay." He grinned at her and she laughed. "I'll consider it. Go see Pettigrew and figure out what you want to do. We'll talk when you get back."
Sirius nodded, putting his shaving stuff away. "All right, that sounds like a plan."
While Sirius and Zee were discussing Peter, Harry Floo-called Ron and Ginny. Mrs Weasley answered the call and Harry waited impatiently for his friends to come into the living room.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed, rushing to the fire with Ron behind her. "What's going on?"
"Can you and Ron sleep over tonight? Zee says that there's a ninety percent chance that it's going to thunderstorm in Sidmouth tonight."
Ron's eyes widened. "Animagus!"
Harry grinned broadly. "My thoughts exactly! Can you come?"
Ron turned his head and yelled. "MUM! GINNY AND I ARE GOING TO HARRY'S FOR THE NIGHT, IS THAT OKAY?"
Mrs Weasley came back into the living room doorway. "Ronald, you two just came home yesterday!"
"Please, Mrs Weasley," Harry begged from the fire. "Just for the night! Please!"
"Please, Mum!" Ron pleaded as Ginny nodded next to him.
Mrs Weasley sighed. "Oh, all right. But be back tomorrow afternoon at the latest."
Harry grinned. "Excellent! Come in say, an hour?"
Ginny smiled at him. "We'll be there."
Harry Floo-called Neville next who eagerly promised to be there soon. Mr Lovegood told him that Luna had gone for a walk, but he was sure that she would be thrilled and that he would send her over as soon as she got home. He used Sirius' mirror to contact Hermione. She answered right away.
"Harry!"
"Hey, Hermione! This is pretty great, right?"
She smiled into his mirror. "Yeah, it is. What's up?"
"It's supposed to storm tonight and everyone's coming to stay over. You in?"
Hermione turned to look at her father who was lovingly organizing his Spiderman comic book collection. "I'm grounded because of the whole Time Turner thing."
"No!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes downcast. "You have to be here! It's going to thunderstorm and the potion is ready!"
Hermione turned to her father, biting her bottom lip. "Dad, remember how I told you that I'm trying to learn how to perform this really difficult piece of magic called becoming an Animagus?"
Mr Granger looked up from his desk. "You're grounded, jellybean. You can learn it after your two weeks are up."
Hermione pouted. "But Dad!"
"But Hermione!"
"Tonight it's going to storm and that's really vital towards learning how and it could be ages before I get another chance if I'm waiting on the lightning!" she said quickly, her eyes pleading at her father.
"Please, Mr Granger," Harry begged from the compact mirror in her hand. "I promise that she'll be home tomorrow and I won't bother her again the entire time that she's grounded, but we really need her here! It's important! We have to do it all together!"
Mr Granger sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, biting his bottom lip with a contemplative look on his face. "Well, I suppose maybe just a few hours wouldn't hurt since it is something academic related, but you can't stay the whole night; only until the storm ends."
"Yes! Thank you, Daddy, thank you!" Hermione squealed, jumping to her feet to hug her father tightly.
Harry grinned. "I'll ask Uncle Sirius or Zee to pick you up. See you soon!"
He closed the mirror, grinning widely just as Sirius and Zee both came downstairs.
"Hey, can one of you go pick up Hermione? Her dad says that she can come for a few hours, but can't stay the whole night because she's grounded. He's only letting her come over because it's for an educational reason."
Zee smiled. "I'll go do it. Sirius is going to head out to talk to Peter so, I'm going to stick around while you wait for the storm."
"Brilliant," Harry said.
Sirius reached over to slap Harry's smooth cheeks lightly. "Look at that handsome face, smooth as a baby's bottom!"
"Uncle Siri!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation, trying to pull his face out from his father's hands as Sirius chuckled.
"You know what to do tonight?"
Harry nodded. "If Hermione and I brewed the potion correctly, when lightning strikes it will turn blood red and then we can drink it."
"And?" Sirius prompted.
"And once we drink it, an image of the animal we will become should appear in our minds. The moment we see the animal, we have to say the incantation."
"Which is?"
"Amato Animo Animato Animagus," Harry told him.
Sirius smiled. "Right, which of course you've all been doing every sunset and sunrise since you added the Mandrake leaf to the potion?"
"Yes, haven't missed once," he told him. He had done it last night when he brought his stuff up to his room and before he and Sirius had gotten into their discussion.
"And after you drink it, you should begin to feel the effects of the potion."
Harry nodded. "A fiery pain and an intense double heartbeat."
"Exactly," Sirius told him, draping an arm over his shoulder. "That means that you did it right. Then it's a matter of envisioning the animal that you are to become and making the transformation."
"Will it happen right away?"
Sirius shook his head. "Highly unlikely. It took Jamie and I about two weeks to transform. You have to really concentrate on the animal you are to become. It takes patience, concentration, and practice, not to mention a bit of meditation on the subject. But you'll get there, I promise." He kissed the top of his head. "All right, I'm off. I might be back by the time it storms, but if I'm not, good luck. I know that you can do this."
Harry beamed at him as Sirius kissed Zee and headed out.
"So, is everyone on their way over now?" Zee asked him, her hands on her hips.
Harry nodded. "Pretty much within the hour, yeah. You'll pick up Hermione for me?"
"Absolutely. Do you know her address?" Harry rattled off Hermione's address in Heathgate and Zee smiled. "I'll be back in five. Why don't you see what we have in terms of food in the fridge?"
Harry grinned at her as she hurried outside to Apparate just as Neville came through the Floo, grinning widely.
"Harry! I can't believe that it's finally going to storm!"
"I know, I'm buzzin' for this!" Harry told him. "Mr Lovegood said that Luna was out walking, but he would send her along when she came home. Zee just went to pick up Hermione."
Neville grinned. "So, what's the plan?"
Harry gestured for Neville to follow him and they headed upstairs to his bedroom. "I have the potions in that airtight, no light container that Hermione made. I'm thinking we can bring it up to the treehouse and we'll wait out there for the storm."
"Excellent," Neville said, tossing his bag on Harry's bed. "Are we all going to stay out there tonight?"
Harry nodded. "Definitely. Want to help me bring the blankets and stuff out?"
Neville grinned. "Let's do it."
~ ASC ~
Sirius made his way through the gates of Hogwarts feeling a bit anxious. It had been over a week since he had seen Peter or since he had angrily held him against the wall of Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore had told him that he was healing up nicely, but he had still avoided coming here. He had wanted to talk to Harry first; to understand what had happened and to make peace with his son about his own past and his own mistakes, before he dealt with Peter's mistake. The thought that Peter had shown up, had gotten that close to Harry in the first place, was enough to make him furious all over again.
He made his way through the castle and to McGonagall's office. She was waiting for him and only nodded when she saw him, moving to hug him tightly and kiss his smooth cheek.
"So smooth. I don't think I've seen your face like this since you were sixteen?"
He grinned. "I was teaching Harry to shave. Don't worry, I'm still sexy."
McGonagall rolled her eyes and linked her arm with his. "Pillock," she murmured, making him grin. "How's Harry?"
"He's doing all right. Everyone is coming over tonight to wait out the storm."
"Ooh, a lightning storm; he must be so excited."
"He is. I just hope that the storm actually has lightning. When I did it, it took months for lightning to actually appear."
McGonagall smiled. "I can't wait to see what his animal is. Come on. We both know you didn't come here to make small talk with me."
He let her lead him through the castle, down to the dungeons to one of the deserted wings and through the portrait hole. The password was 'secret' and the portrait swung open. Sirius was relieved to see that behind the portrait was a barred wall. McGonagall unlocked it with her wand and they slipped inside. Pettigrew was lying on the bed. The claw marks from Lady Godiva had mostly healed, but had still left ugly red marks across his back and front. Dumbledore was looking out the window that looked out onto the Black Lake; he turned when he saw them.
"Poppy's been keeping him subdued with a sleeping draught to heal, but he should be waking up soon," he informed them, moving to sit in one of the chairs that he had conjured.
Sirius took a seat next to Dumbledore. "Has he said anything?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, as I said, Poppy's been keeping him in a sleep-induced coma to heal. We spoke about it and it seemed like the best idea while we decided when we were going to talk to him."
"Can he transform?"
Dumbledore shook his head again. "No. I placed an Anti-Animagus Charm on him in order to prevent him from doing just that."
Sirius nodded and stared at the bed. "I'm almost scared to find out what he knows. If he'll even tell us anything at all."
"He has no reason not to," McGonagall told him, squeezing Sirius' hand in hers. "He knows that if he doesn't talk, you'll simply turn him over to the Dementors. Pettigrew is a lot of things, Sirius, but he values his own survival."
He had to agree with that statement, he thought as he stared down at the man that he had once considered a brother.
They didn't have long to wait. Within five minutes, his eyes fluttered open and he blinked around the room in confusion.
"Pete, nice of you to finally open your eyes," Sirius said watching as Peter's eyes widened in surprise and fear.
"S-S-Sirius!"
"In the flesh," he said, leaning forward in his chair. "We have some questions for you."
"Where am I?" he asked, looking around the room, fearfully.
"You're at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, quietly. "The Death Eaters won't know that you're here."
Peter closed his eyes. "Doesn't matter. I brought the Longbottom boy back and Bella knows it. I'm a dead man."
Sirius snorted. "So, start talking — to us."
Peter stared at him, his eyes narrowing. "What do you want me to say, Sirius?"
Sirius stared at him. "You came here with a message for Harry. Why?"
"I already told you. She was bragging about this gift and the Dark Lord doesn't give gifts. There's something strange about that Cup, I just know it."
"Why tell me?"
"I told you because you have access to her vault!"
"No," Sirius said, carefully. "Why tell me, Peter? Why risk coming here to tell me about this cup? What do you really know about it?"
Peter swallowed, his eyes darting between Dumbledore and McGonagall. "I-I-I I don't know."
"Mr Pettigrew, Peter," McGonagall said, softly. "You do know something about it or you would not have risked your life to come out and warn Harry about it in an attempt to get the message to Sirius."
Peter swallowed again. "Can I have some water?"
Sirius grabbed the cup from the nightstand and murmured 'agamenti' filling the cup before passing it to the man in the bed. He watched Peter drain the glass before he spoke again.
"What do you know about the Cup, Peter?"
Peter stared at him for a moment. "The Dark Lord said that it was vital to his resurrection."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "His resurrection?"
Peter nodded, holding the glass out to Sirius who quietly refilled it and watched as Peter drank more. "He said that it had to be kept safe as it was vital for him to be reborn; that it was part of his second coming. I didn't know what he meant but… it sounded dangerous."
"You're not wrong," Sirius muttered.
Peter drank more water, swallowing slowly. "But if you get the Cup first then he won't have access to it."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment. "Peter, that memory you showed us of Neville Apparating with you and Bellatrix, you said something to her about 'needing to feed the Dark Lord,' do you remember?"
Peter paled and gulped the water so fast that he choked. "N-no."
Sirius pulled the glass from his grasp. "Yes, you do. Why did she need to feed him, Peter? Has he already been reborn?"
Peter's bottom lip trembled and his hands fisted nervously in the covers of the bed. "There was a ritual… I… I didn't want to participate, but they made me… watch; it was… awful."
McGonagall's eyebrow rose. "Tell us."
He trembled, his voice almost a whisper. "It started a few months ago. Bella and I were spying on this couple in Croatia — the Novaks."
Sirius' eyebrow rose. "The Croatian Auror whose wife went missing?"
Peter nodded. "You heard?"
"It's been in the papers. Novak has been adamant that she is missing and that she would never leave him of her own accord. She was pregnant."
"Yes," Peter said slowly. "Almost nine months when Bella and I took her."
"Took her where, Peter?"
"I can't tell you," he said, his eyes wide.
"You can and you will," Sirius demanded.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, he cannot, Sirius." He moved his wand in a circular motion around Peter and a black smokey figure of a knotted tongue rose over him. "As I suspected, he was tongue-tied to secrecy."
Sirius snorted. "Smart move not to trust the rat, wish I'd thought the same."
McGonagall linked her fingers with Sirius' as she spoke. "You kidnapped the woman, Peter, why?"
"Bella said that we needed her. She was a pureblood and she was important. We kept her in a guest suite; kept her well-fed and taken care of until it was time."
"Time for what?"
Peter gulped as he looked into Sirius' eyes. "They tied her arms and legs and they cut into her belly and pulled the child from her still in the sac. I thought that I was going to be sick, but Selwyn wouldn't let me leave the room."
"Selwyn?" Dumbledore asked.
Peter nodded. "Woodrow Selwyn. He had shown up around the time we kidnapped Novak. His father Wendall had been there beforehand."
"So, Woodrow Selwyn wouldn't let you leave. What happened next?" Sirius demanded.
Peter's hands shook as he spoke. "They… they pulled the sac with the child from her body. She was screaming and… Bella put the sac with the child on the floor and the snake… absorbed it."
"What snake?"
"The snake that the Dark Lord was possessing."
Sirius looked into Dumbledore's eyes and he was relieved to see that his old Headmaster was looking just as an uneasy at those words as he felt.
"He was possessing a snake?" Dumbledore prompted.
Peter nodded. "For months now. He made friends with another snake, a larger one and she seemed to be… taking care of him in some way. She's rather terrifying. He calls her Nagini. The Dark Lord had destroyed the body of the snake, it looked half-dead and was wilting away, but he held on, and then he absorbed the sac and… disappeared into the child."
McGonagall looked ill as she squeezed Sirius' hand. "And the child?"
"Bella stuffed the child back into its mother's womb. Novak was screaming and… Bella bathed the child in her blood and then… she pulled him back out. The baby's skin looked reptilian and red and then it seemed to shimmer and… vanish, but when the child opened its eyes… they were red, too," Peter said carefully. "And then the child spoke and it was the… it was the Dark Lord's voice."
Dumbledore stood up, moving to look out into the Black Lake again, his arms crossed behind his back. "He possessed the child?"
"He became the child," Peter said, quietly. "He is the child. He's a baby and helpless in his physical form. He must be fed and cared for like a child, but he's gaining strength quickly. He can hold a wand now."
Sirius paled slightly. "What does this mean, Albus?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I've never heard of such a dark ritual succeeding before. Something of this magnitude… he can't stay in the child indefinitely, like the snake, it is a vessel for him and it will fall apart and disintegrate much the same… though I imagine that absorbing the amniotic sac will make him stronger still."
"He says that he has a little over a year," Peter told them. "There's another ritual that he must perform within that time frame."
"What kind of ritual?" Sirius demanded. "What else is this monster going to do?"
Peter shook his head. "I don't know! I just know that he needs the flesh of a willing servant." He swallowed carefully. "Bellatrix said that it would be mine; that I would be the one to sacrifice a part of me for his return… that I would be his right hand…"
Sirius stood up so quickly that the chair he had been sitting in was overturned. "You would sacrifice yourself to bring that fucking murderer back to power, but you wouldn't risk your own life to save the people who fucking loved you? To protect the little boy who loved you? You make me SICK!"
He shoved Peter roughly, making him hit his head on the headboard as McGonagall grabbed his arm.
"Sirius! Your anger is justified, but it doesn't help anything right now!" McGonagall exclaimed. She squeezed his arm gently and tugged him back, putting herself between Sirius and Peter. She turned to look down at the man in the bed. "What about Novak?"
Peter swallowed. "She was alive the last time that I saw her."
"For how long?" Sirius asked.
Peter shrugged. "Until Wood and Thad get tired of her."
McGonagall closed her eyes, her hand going to her heart. "Oh Merlin, that poor woman."
"They healed her first," Peter said. "Cleaned her up, but they left her tied to the bed. Bella force feeds her food, promising her that she can see her baby soon and then Wood and Thad go in and… she's been well broken in… in every orifice."
McGonagall stared at the man in disgust. "How dare you just sit back and let them treat that poor woman… you disgust me!"
Peter snorted. "You never liked me, McGonagall, don't pretend otherwise. Everyone knew that you were too busy shagging Sirius to care about anything else."
Sirius turned and slammed his fist into Peter's face so fast that McGonagall gasped and blood spurted from Peter's nose. Dumbledore turned from the window and erected a magical barrier between Peter's bed and Sirius.
"Enough!"
Sirius glared angrily at his former friend. "How dare you, Pete! You know how important Minnie is to me! Don't you dare sit there and tell some bullshit lies about her! She's a fucking goddess who deserves nothing but your utmost respect!"
McGonagall took his arm again and tugged him towards her. "Sirius, it's fine."
"No, it's not fine!" Sirius exclaimed, whirling on her. "He knows, Minnie! He bloody fucking knows what I went through! He fucking knows that I always thought of you as…" he glared at Peter. "You can't even keep the good memories good, can you, Pete?"
Peter looked a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry, Professor. That was uncalled for. You were like a mother to him. The only time I ever remember him being ashamed of anything was when he disappointed you."
McGonagall nodded, holding Sirius' arm and keeping him close to her. "He never disappointed me, but you, Mr Pettigrew… I can't see how you could hurt your friends the way that you did. And now to hurt this woman and to help Voldemort return… I can't see it."
Peter stared at the three of them for a long moment. "People change."
"Yeah, I guess they do," Sirius said, quietly. "When is he doing this ritual, Pete?"
Peter shrugged. "Not sure."
Dumbledore turned to look at him sternly. "Do not lie to us."
"I'm not lying," Peter told him. "I don't know. I know that the Dark Lord isn't strong enough yet. He still needs certain ingredients. The blood of the pureblood child that he is residing in needs time to meld with his own. I know that it won't be for months yet, if not longer. It's why he needed a strong and healthy pureblood child to hold him; to hold his magic as he grows."
Dumbledore nodded. "We still have time to prepare then."
Sirius looked back at Peter. "And him?"
"Are you still willing to move him to the safe house?"
Sirius looked at him in disgust. "Do you really think that he has anything else to tell us?"
McGonagall touched his arm softly. "Better to be safe."
Sirius looked like he wanted to protest, but he swore under his breath instead. "Give me ten minutes to get it ready and then bring him there."
He didn't speak as he stormed out of the castle to Apparate to Number Twelve. He called for Kreacher the moment he came inside, still vibrating in anger.
"Kreacher. I am bringing a wizard into this house to be held as a prisoner, do you understand?"
Kreacher nodded, his eyes wide. "Yes, Master Sirius."
"He is a bad man, Kreacher. He has been helping the Dark Lord, but we think that maybe he might know more than he's been telling us; that he can help us take down the Dark Lord once and for all, do you understand?"
Kreacher nodded. "Yes, Master Sirius. He's a very bad man."
"I need a room prepared for him; a room where he will be entirely confined and will not have access to the rest of the house."
Kreacher stared at him. "There's a room by the study; the one that Master Arcturus stored his valuables in. You cannot hear anything once inside of it nor can you get out without it being opened from the outside. It's like a vault, Sir."
Sirius nodded. "Can you show it to me?"
Kreacher led him to the room kitty-corner to the study. At first glance, it looked like a tiny hallway but once inside, it stretched out into a small room with a cot, a chair and a dresser.
Sirius pulled his wand out and muttered an Anti-Animagus spell, locking the room down and preventing anyone from transforming or Apparating while in the room before he turned back to his house elf. "Kreacher, it will be your responsibility to make sure that this prisoner has food and drink. If this is too much for you, you do not have to do it. I will find someplace else for this bad man to go."
Kreacher tugged on his ears for a moment. "Does this man want to hurt Master Sirius and Master Harry?"
"Not directly, no, but he knows who does and has worked with them. He was once my friend. He's the reason that I went to prison."
"I is glad to help you keep him prisoner, Master Sirius. I is feeding him gruel."
Sirius chuckled. "You can feed him whatever you want, but he must stay in this room. I forbid you to talk to him. I don't want him using you."
Kreacher nodded, an ugly toothless smile up at his master. "I accept this, Sir."
Sirius smiled at him. He never thought that he would admit it, but within the last few years he had become rather fond of the old elf. "Thank you, Kreacher. And you'll let me know what he says or does?"
"Every word, Sir!"
Sirius slapped his hands together as he heard McGonagall and Dumbledore come in through the front door. "Excellent. He's here. Let's lock him in."
Kreacher simply beamed at him.
~ ASC ~
While Sirius was trying to figure out how to hide Pettigrew, Harry and Neville had five sleep areas set up in the treehouse and the potions ready on the chess table inside of the sealed box. Hermione had joined them as they were bringing the last of the blankets out. Zee asked Harry if they wanted anything particular for dinner and he told her anything worked so she got busy preparing cheesy bacon potato skins and a Mexican dip with ground beef. Harry, Hermione, and Neville were snacking on the veggies, cheese, crackers, and deli meats that Zee had laid out on the table when Luna came through the Floo, smiling dreamily.
"Hello, Harry, hello, Neville. Daddy asked me to let you know that we must watch for any lightning to hit the sand down by the beach."
"Why?" Harry asked, munching on a carrot stick.
Luna simply smiled. "Why, for a fulgurite of course."
Neville raised his eyebrow. "Er, right, of course."
Hermione rolled her eyes at the clueless looks on the boys' faces. "When lightning strikes sand or sandy soil, it fuses together the grains to create a small glass-like tube known as a fulgurite. They are quite valuable to determining new facts about the natural phenomenon."
Harry simply nodded. "Right."
The Floo lit up again as Ginny and Ron came out, grinning widely. Ginny rushed forward, a big smile on her face. "I am so excited to find out my animal!"
Ron nodded from behind her. "I really hope that I'm something brilliant like a dragon or lion."
"A lion would suit you, Ron," Hermione said.
He grinned, the tops of his fears flushing. "So, what's the plan?"
Harry offered the vegetables to Ron, who stole a cucumber slice and a chunk of cheese from the other plate. "Wait for the storm."
Zee smiled at them. "In the meantime, I'm making a Mexican dip for dinner. Harry, you can take those outside with you. I'll let you know when dinner's ready."
"Thanks Zee." He kissed her cheek, making her smile fondly at him as he grabbed the vegetable tray and urged Ron to grab the one with cheese, meat, and crackers on it as the six of them headed outside.
Harry led the way up into his treehouse, putting the food tray on the floor and shoving Marauder off to prevent him from diving into the food. "No, Marauder, stay there."
Marauder whined until Ginny scratched his ears and then he rolled over onto his belly and stared at her adoringly as she and Luna began to rub his belly.
Ron smirked at the dog. "He's pathetic."
"Isn't he though?" Harry said with a laugh. "Complete attention whore."
"Where's Sirius at?" Ginny asked as she continued to rub Marauder's belly.
"He went to Hogwarts to talk to Pettigrew. I wanted to go, but he that said he had to do it alone," he told them, frowning.
Ron stared at him for a moment. "Did you talk to Sirius?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, we kind of had it out. There's no more secrets between us which I think is good."
Hermione nodded. "I figured that you must have when you showed up at my house this morning."
Ron's eyebrow rose. "You went to Hermione's house?"
Harry sighed. "Uncle Siri and I talked last night about everything; about his past and about what happened with the Time Turner. Then he lectured me on how dangerous it was and how important it was for Hermione's parents to know the trouble that she was getting into. Then he pulled the parental card; we went over there and he told them all about it."
"They were really upset," Hermione admitted. "I filled them in on everything after you left, Harry. I told them about the escaped Death Eaters, about Professor Lupin being a werewolf, the Chamber of Secrets, the Animagus Potion — everything. I'm grounded for two weeks or until my parents deem it acceptable. Dad only let me come out today because it's for an academic reason, but as soon as the storm ends, I have to go home."
"That blows," Ron told her.
She shrugged. "I kind of deserve it. I haven't been honest with them and they don't deserve that. Speaking of parents, Zee is being very mother-ish, isn't she?"
Harry grinned. "I love her. She's… great and I like having her around. She's easy to talk to and she's…"
"Like a mum?" Hermione asked, smiling kindly at him.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, like a mum. I'm excited to stay with her grandparents this summer. I think that Uncle Sirius is a bit nervous about it, but after our talk, I think that he needs the little break as much as I do."
"What else did you and Sirius talk about?" Neville asked, stretching out on the bottom bunk bed and reaching for a chunk of cheese and yellow pepper.
Harry hopped up into the hammock, putting his arms behind his head rather casual like. "Honestly, everything. Before we talked though, Uncle Sirius took me to HQ for another FUVP meeting and we destroyed the ring."
"Ring?" Luna asked. "Is that the ring with the Deathly Hallows symbol on it? Daddy was telling me that Sirius had found something about the Hallows."
Harry nodded. "Er, kind of. I forgot that I haven't told you, Luna."
"That's okay, I'm easy to forget."
Ginny frowned. "Not true, Luna!"
Harry nodded. "Ginny's right. It's just that we often have these talks late at night in the Gryffindor common room and being that you're not a Gryffindor, you're not there."
He spent the next thirty minutes telling Luna all about the Horcruxes. She stared at him intently as Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny all chimed in to help him explain about them.
Luna nodded in understanding when he finished. "And the ring was one?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "But like your dad told you, there was this symbol on it, the symbol of the Deathly Hallows."
The sound of Zee knocking on the closed door of the treehouse startled them as she poked her head inside. "Sorry to interrupt, but the food's ready if you lot are hungry."
"Thanks, Zee." When she closed the door behind her, he turned to Luna. "I'll finish it later on, okay?"
Luna smiled at him. "Whenever you want to, Harry, that's fine."
They all headed back into the house to eat as Zee turned the Wireless on in the kitchen to listen to the weather. They were calling for an intense thunderstorm full of lightning to start in the next hour and the six of them grinned widely at each other.
Zee asked them to explain the Animagus process to her while they ate as she found it fascinating. Hermione took the lead, explaining how they had to brew the potion and how Neville had procured them the Mandrake leaves. She listened intently as they dipped the beefy, cheesy, taco dip with tortilla chips and added salsa and freshly diced tomatoes with sour cream.
The sky was starting to get dark as they finished dinner and Harry hurried to the window to peek out, his eyes wide.
"I think the storm is starting."
Zee smiled at them. "Go on then. If you lot need anything, I'll be in here."
Harry beamed at her and the six of them hurried back out into the treehouse. Harry stared at the box containing their potions. "The moment the storm ends, we can check it."
"The moment the first strike of lightning hits, technically," Hermione corrected him.
Ron slapped his hands together. "Excellent."
Thunder quaked and Ginny jumped making Harry laugh. She threw a pillow at him before moving into the hammock to make herself comfortable.
Harry frowned from where he stood near the window. "Um, my spot?"
Ginny simply raised her eyebrow. "My spot now. You snooze, you lose!"
Ron grinned. "You did get up, mate."
Harry sighed and sat on the floor next to the hammock, rubbing his hands together. "Uncle Sirius said that we'll be able to see our animals, but we most likely won't be able to transform right away."
Ron frowned at that. "How long did it take them?"
"About two weeks. He said that we have to really concentrate on our animals."
"When we see the animal in our mind, should we share it?" Hermione asked, her eyes on her friends.
Neville bit his lip nervously. "I don't think that we should."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"I agree with Neville," Luna said. She was stretched out on her stomach on the blanket. "I think that if only we know our animal, we can focus on it more, meditate on who we are meant to become without any outside sources influencing us."
Ron looked like he wanted to protest and then he shrugged. "You know what, that kind of makes sense."
Harry nodded. "It does. I don't know if Uncle Siri or my dad told each other about their animals before they changed."
Ginny shrugged. "I'm all right with keeping it a secret. I can't wait until I can become an animal! The first thing that I'm going to do is scare the crap out of Fred and George."
Ron laughed. "You would! Do you actually think that you'll become a ferocious animal? You're so tiny!"
Ginny glared at him. "Oh, tiny, am I, Ron? Do you want to see what I can do with my wand?"
Ron grimaced. "Er, I just meant if you're not a scary animal, they won't be afraid of you."
Ginny smirked at him. "Most people wouldn't consider me scary now, but you boys certainly ran when I Bat Bogeyed Fred over Christmas."
Ron paled. "Bill never should have taught you that spell."
Harry chuckled as the rain poured outside of the treehouse. "All right, so we're all in agreement then? Animals are a secret until we can fully change into them?"
Everyone nodded their acceptance as the strike of lightning lit up the garden.
Hermione took a slow breath and headed to the box, carefully lifting the lid as lightning struck a second time. Her smile widened as she looked inside. "All six of them are blood red in colour."
Harry grinned. "Excellent. That means that we did everything right!"
Hermione reached inside to hand each of them their respective potions, all initialed so that they knew which Mandrake soaked leaf sat in each potion. They grinned at each other and on the count of three, the six of them gulped back their mouthful of potion.
The description of a fiery pain was pretty accurate, Harry thought. It slid down his throat like a hot flaming torch, settling in his gut and bubbling like he had drank hot sauce straight from the bottle. He swallowed slowly, trying to fight the urge not to vomit as the potion seemed to boil in his gut and then suddenly there was a whooshing sound like a high wind rustling past his ear; then he heard it. The faint thump-thump, thump-thump, that was the double heartbeat.
He watched as the image passed through his mind, his animal running and leaping, its dark black and silver-white fur only highlighting the bright green eyes that he recognized as his own.
His eyes popped open and he grinned, focusing on the animal that he had just witnessed and he spoke quietly. "Amato Animo Animato Animagus," he repeated, focusing on the animal as he did so and listening to his friends recite the same incantation.
Once he repeated it, he focused again on the animal that he had seen and he tried to imagine what it would feel like to become that animal. But as Sirius had warned him, absolutely nothing happened.
He sighed and grinned at his friends who all looked as disappointed as he felt.
"Did you all see something?"
Hermione nodded, biting her bottom lip. "I did."
Ron grinned widely. "It's going to be fucking brilliant, mate!"
Hermione glanced outside. "The moment one of us shows any signs, we have to write!"
"Agreed," Harry said.
Ginny squealed and hugged Hermione. "I'm sad that you have to leave!"
"Me too," she admitted, hugging each of her friends in turn. "But the storm is ending and my parents will be furious if I'm late. Harry, will Zee Apparate me home again?"
Harry nodded as he hugged her goodbye. "Yeah, just tell her that it's time to go. As soon as I become my animal, I'll let you know."
She kissed his cheek and hurried outside.
Harry grinned at his friends. They were off to a great start and he couldn't wait to change into his animal.
He just hoped that it didn't take him too long to figure it out.
End Author's Notes:
Yes, I'm making you wait to find out because I'm mean like that. And I thought it would be more fun if they all surprise each other with their animals. Don't you think?
Thank you again for reading and please review. You're reviews are what give me life and to those that take the time to leave me a review after every chapter, you are GREATLY appreciated. Thank YOU!