A/N: So here's another one because the last chapter was begging me to end there because of what happens next. Please forgive me for the shortness again of the last chapter, but hopefully this will make up for it.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. Not mine. Never was.

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Previously:

(Remus) "Still, sometimes when I see him, I long for my Sirius."

(Harry) "We both do."

They sat in silence, each lost in their own memories of a brave and clever man who would always hold a special place in their hearts.

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Professors Lupin and McGonagall were deep in conversation about both school and Order business as they walked down one of the many corridors of Hogwarts School. They turned a corner and stopped at the sight of a large black dog chasing its tail. They watched it for a moment before it caught sight of them and barked happily, jumping around them as if asking them to play.

"Really Mr. Black, do try to show some composure," said Professor McGonagall testily. "Besides," she fought back a smile, "you know dogs aren't allowed in the castle."

Sirius transformed, a shocked and accusing look on his face as he rounded on Remus. "You told!"

Before Remus could reply, McGonagall cut him off. "Actually Sirius, it was you who told me of the remarkable feat you and James accomplished. And while I am proud two of my Gryffindors could do such a thing," and here her expression turned stern again, "I expect you to register your form as soon as the war is over. Do I make myself clear?"

Sirius nodded fearfully and dumbly, while Remus stifled a laugh.

"Good day gentlemen. I have important school business to attend to," and she left in a flurry of robes.

"You know – she's getting really good at making her entrances and exits," Sirius commented sagely. Remus simply shook his head.

"Oh Sirius," Remus stated as if he'd only just spotted the young man at that moment, "you wouldn't by chance know why there's a blizzard in the Charms corridor, would you?"

"You mean the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Winter Wonderland that a couple of devilishly handsome evil geniuses set off in a ploy to get out of class?"

"Yes, that would be the one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Professor," Sirius replied, his face the very picture of youthful innocence and his eyes full of mirth. Remus had no doubt Padfoot would have charmed a glowing halo over his head if he could have gotten away with it.

Moony smirked, "Somehow I thought not."

"Indeed."

"And just why would these two 'devilishly handsome evil geniuses' choose to do that particular prank?"

"Getting into the holiday spirit?"

"It's October, Sirius."

"Exactly. Gotta start early."

Remus struggled not to laugh, but it was no use. He burst out in laughter, while Sirius merely grinned and momentarily plotted his next prank to get his old friend laughing some more.

Sirius looked at his watch. "Well Professor Moony, if there's nothing else, I must be off." He smirked. "Got a hot date!"

Remus' eyes widened and he called out, "Padfoot, wait!"

But Sirius had already transformed into the Grim-like dog and bounded off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. 'Just be gentle with my cub' he thought as the memory of his conversation with Harry yesterday came to mind…

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After sharing a few funny stories about the 'old Sirius', Remus and Harry had moved on to lighter topics until Remus pushed his favorite student to discuss his real reason for coming to chat.

"Would it be weird for you if he and I started dating?"

"Who?"

"Padfoot."

Remus had to think about that….

"No," he said, sounding surprised at his own answer, "I wouldn't be bothered by that at all. I just don't see him as the same person as my Sirius, and in truth, he really isn't that same person."

"Do you think he's serious?" Harry made a face at his pun-ny question as Remus smirked. "You know what I mean! He seems interested in me, but I know he has a bit of a reputation…" he trailed off.

'I could say no and put a stop to this before anyone gets hurt' Remus thought.

'But how do you know anyone will get hurt?' another voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like Sirius, argued.

"You know him better than anyone Remus. Does he fancy me or is he just playing around?" Harry asked anxiously.

'Could you really do that to your best friend?'

"How do you feel about him, Harry?" Remus stalled.

"I fancy him. A lot…. He's fun and smart and handsome and he makes me laugh… Oh hell, I fancy the pants off him." Harry sighed in slight frustration.

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Moony!"

"Okay! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist." Remus laughed, throwing up his hands in mock surrender. He looked at Harry, who looked desperate for affirmation or denial about his chances with Sirius, and made up his mind…

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Harry bit his lip. 'He's late. Maybe he changed his mind.' He stood up and paced. 'I shouldn't have asked him. He probably doesn't think I'm good enough. I shouldn't have asked him. I should just - '

Just then the portrait swung open and a huge black dog rushed into the common room and bowled the distracted Harry over.

"Harry!" Sirius panted, beads of sweat running down his face, "I'm so sorry I'm late. I had to shake off Filch and his bloody cat. I've been running all over the castle for almost an hour! I'm sorry!"

'Oh god – you're so adorable!' Harry couldn't help but laugh. "It's okay Sirius. You're not that late. Just relax and we'll go in a minute when you've caught your breath." He smiled at his anxious friend. "You know, you're pretty cute when you're flustered."

Sirius' face erupted with color and Harry laughed again. He went to get a towel for his sweaty friend. Sirius took several deep breaths and tried to relax. He really liked Harry and wanted to make a good impression, but the evening was not going as he hoped so far. The Boy-Who-Lived-To-Make-Sirius-Blush returned with a slightly damp hand towel, and while he was cooling down Padfoot studied his crush.

Harry was still wearing his uniform, but he had ditched the tie and unbuttoned his shirt a bit, and he had rolled up the sleeves exposing lean, muscular forearms. His robes were off, and his hair was wild and ruffled again from him running his hands through it too many times. He looked good enough to eat.

"You ready?"

"All set. Where are we going?"

"The Room of Requirement. We can have some privacy there." At Sirius' blank look Harry elaborated, "It's a room that can become anything you need it to be. Dobby the house-elf helped me locate it. It's only there when you need it to be, which is probably why the Marauders never added it to the map. It's not far, come on, I'll show you."

Harry reached out his hand and helped Sirius up off the floor. When Sirius was standing Harry didn't let go – instead opting to keep a hold of the other boy's hand all the way to the blank stretch of wall across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

Harry let go of Sirius and began to pace back and forth, a look of concentration on his face.

"Ummmm, what are you doing?" Sirius asked.

Harry simply smiled as a door appeared in the wall beside him. He opened it and gestured Sirius in.

Sirius stepped into the room and looked around in awe. It seemed like a cozier version of the Gryffindor Common Room, with only two arm chairs and a sofa near the roaring fire, a small table full of snacks, and a couple of full bookshelves on either side of the hearth. Along a far wall a small potion-making area was located, ingredients and cauldrons awaiting use, and a large empty space was in between with many cushions stacked neatly nearby and a full-length mirror opposite.

Harry came in with a grin and locked the door behind him. It melted back into the wall. "So, what do you think?"

"This is amazing! I can't believe I never knew this was here!"

Harry smirked, "Don't worry too much, even Dumbledore wasn't ever able to find it again after he stumbled across it once. I used to run a secret Defense organization out of this room. It's quite handy when you want to keep what you're doing quiet."

He paused, and then added bitterly, "Too bad some less reputable sorts discovered it." But he seemed to want to stay in a good mood, because he brightened again and said, "But anyway, I figure this would be perfect for us."

"It really is," Sirius replied happily, rubbing his hands together, "Oooh, the trouble we can plan in here!"

Harry just laughed, and Sirius thought (not for the first time), what a great sound it was.

"So…."

"So…." Harry replied, looking slightly nervous.

"Well, Harry, I know what you asked, but it won't be easy."

"I know, but it's important to me."

Sirius smiled gently, then clapped his hands together loudly, "All right then! Let's make you into an Animagus!"

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Remus was pacing in his office, worried sick that Harry and Sirius were on a date, and if they were, what they were doing.

'What if something goes wrong? What if things don't work out and they hate each other? What if things do work out and they fall in love? What if I have a mental breakdown from all this 'what if'-ing and get shipped off to St. Mungo's? GAH!'

"Really Remus, surely whatever's bothering you cannot be that bad."

Remus spun around at the sound, and came face to face with the ever cheerful (and perhaps too nosy) Albus Dumbledore, who had taken the chair by the fireplace of the still life painting in Remus' office, and looked quite at ease.

"Professor - " at Dumbledore's look, he amended, "Albus, what are you doing here?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he simply smiled knowingly, "Can an old man not simply visit with his favorite student-turned-professor?"

"Not really. At least not you," Remus replied dryly.

Dumbledore chuckled. "You know me too well Remus. I thought I'd check up on you. I haven't talked to you since before Sirius returned. How are you doing?"

"Me? I'm great actually. I can't tell you how great it is to have my friend back," Remus replied genuinely. "I know it's only been a little under a month, but he's really settled in, and we still spend time together and talk, so it's not like I feel left out." Remus grinned, "And I have a feeling Sirius is planning to utilize his evil influence over me soon to get my help planning a very large, overly complex prank that's sure to send at least one house in this school into total chaos."

Dumbledore laughed heartily. "Yes, I know you were the mastermind behind some of the Marauder's more – interesting – pranks. I am happy that you and Sirius are able to maintain your friendship." He paused, and then added, "How are Sirius and Harry getting along?"

Remus eyed him warily. "I think you already know how they are getting along, Albus. You don't need me to tell you."

Dumbledore merely stroked his beard and looked at the D.A.D.A. professor, patiently waiting.

"I'm worried, all right?"

"But they seem to be quite happy together, which we know they both deserve after the lives they've lived." Dumbledore replied.

"I'm not saying they don't, or that they aren't right for each other. But what if it doesn't work out between them and that drives a wedge in their friendship? Will I have to choose between my best friend and my cub? I don't think I can make that choice.

"Or worse, what if they fall in love and something happens to either one of them? This is war and Harry is the Number 1 Target. Voldemort could choose to kill or torture Sirius to get to Harry, or simply kill Harry outright. How would either of them go on after that? Harry – could he take that kind of heartbreak after all he's been through? And the only person who could ever bring Sirius out of that level of depression was James."

Dumbledore sighed as he looked at his worried friend. "I understand your fears, Remus. We all have had them about our loved ones, especially in dark times like these. But life is meant to be lived. We cannot lock them in a trunk to keep them safe from all the physical and emotional dangers in the world. And love is the strongest force in this world. It is that force that will help Harry defeat Voldemort once and for all. He needs as much of it in his life as he can get."

"Yes, I know," Remus sighed again. "That's why I told him what I did when we talked yesterday."

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"So basically, the process is, you learn the theory behind the transformation, you take a revealing potion to show you your form, you learn to transfigure inanimate and then animate objects into your form, then you take the animagus potion to help your body make the change, then you transform yourself," Sirius explained as he gracefully sprawled in his armchair.

Harry had been sitting back in his own armchair, popping Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans into his mouth as he listened to Sirius explain all the research he and James had done, and some of the mishaps they had along the way, before recapping what they had to do."

"How much theory are we talking about here?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair in interest.

"Well, we had no help, so we had to learn everything from scratch. Took us about 2 years just to figure that part out. But you're much further along in Hogwarts now than we were, and you have me to help you, so I imagine it won't take long to get through that, and we can probably get you making the transformation in…six months? Maybe less depending how good you are in transfiguration and how fast you learn the theory, because you really need to understand it, or you will have the same problem Peter (they both scowled) did – he was stuck with his tail for a week, while the rest of him was normal."

"Well, then I'll definitely make sure I get the theory down. We can't let anyone know about this – I plan to use this to my advantage." Harry thought for a moment, then made a face at all the books on the shelves, "This means a lot of reading, doesn't it?"

Sirius let out a loud laugh like a bark. "A bit. But I can teach you some of it without books, if you're better at learning that way."

"Yeah, I'm no Hermione – I don't learn from books well. But if you can just tell me some of this stuff, I think I could catch on quickly…" Harry said with an easy smile.

"We can start now if you like."

Harry looked around and stood up. He drew his wand. "Right. Well get your wand out."

Sirius grinned in curiosity, but did as Harry asked. "Okay, so why are we drawing wands?"

"Well," Harry began, and a jet of red light shot out of his wand at Sirius, who reflexively ducked to avoid it, "I have found over the years that I learn best in high-risk situations. So we're going to duel, and you're going to explain to me the theory behind the Animagus transformation."

Sirius had a feral grin on his face at the prospect of teaching Harry while dueling. "Interesting. Is there anything else you like to do in high-risk situations? Petrificus Totalus!"

"Protego! Wouldn't you like to know?" Harry answered, circling the sofa in a predatory manner as his eyes locked with Sirius'. "Now teach. Incarcerous!"

Sirius rolled away from the ropes that tried to bind him and laughed. "Hmmm, where to begin? Do you understand the theory of strength of will?"

"Dunno. Better clarify that one," Harry replied as he slashed his wand and a jet of fire came out headed toward Sirius.

Padfoot in turn swished his wand and a jet of water came out and doused the flame before it even came near enough to heat him up. "Oh, you're good," he complimented Harry with a slight incline of his head, his eyes never leaving those emerald depths. "Well, transforming is a lot like using wandless magic. In fact, it really is wandless magic, since you can do it without one. Basically, instead of focusing your magic through the wand, you simply draw from your own magical core and then make the change. But you must have a clear intent."

Sirius fired off a Jelly-Legs Jinx which just grazed Harry, who lost his footing for a moment before ending the spell and rolling out of the line of fire, crouching like a tiger while stalking around his opponent again. "Have you ever done any wandless magic? Even accidental magic that wasn't just some random accident, but happened exactly how you would want it to?"

Harry's mind rifled through his memories. He remembered when his hair had grown back overnight after Aunt Petunia had butchered it, or when the hideous sweater she was trying to force on him shrank beyond reason. He also remembered more recently when he had blown the door for the cupboard under the stairs open to get at his trunk after blowing up Aunt Marge, and when he had clearly called out 'Lumos' and his wand had lighted, despite the fact he wasn't holding it on the night of the dementor attack.

"Yeah, I really have. Quite a few times, actually," Harry answered, surprised, as he dodged Sirius' "Reducto!" which destroyed one of the comfy armchairs.

"Hey!" Harry cried in mock indignation, "That was my chair!" He noted the laughter in Sirius' grey eyes and figured the same could be seen in his own.

"The room will make you another. Anyway, as I was saying, that's strength of will."

"Wow. That's not so complicated. Although I've only ever done it with my emotions running high, I bet I could learn to hone that for everyday use. Impedimenta!"

Sirius jumped out of the way and then lunged at Harry, knocking them both to the ground. They were laughing hysterically and struggling to knock each other's wands away without actually hitting each other.

When they stopped rolling and struggling, Sirius was lying on top of Harry and they were both chuckling and breathing heavily. Sirius looked into Harry's eyes and ran his thumb gently across his cheek. Harry's breathing sped up again as Sirius leaned in.

Their lips met, and it was everything they had hoped it would be. At first it was a soft caress, their lips just barely tasting each other, like sipping a fine wine. Then Harry dared to run his tongue across Sirius' lips, and they parted to allow Harry access.

Harry's hands cupped Sirius' face, gently cradling it as he tasted his crush's delicious mouth. Sirius was peppermint and a tangy taste that Harry associated with the heady scent of whiskey. It was bitter and sweet at the same time and Harry couldn't get enough.

Sirius' tongue moved to explore Harry's mouth in turn. Harry tasted like cinnamon and chocolate and pumpkin, and Sirius was lost. He moaned and deepened the kiss again, allowing his passion free reign, his hands dipping into Harry's wild hair.

As Harry pulled Sirius closer, falling into the blissful moment, Remus' words echoed through his mind:

"Harry, I think you and Sirius could be really good together. Just take it slow, okay? And know that you have my blessing."