*** Sorry, for the monstrous delay. I got busy with school and work, but now I'm staying a chapter ahead and there will be updates every 7 to 10 days. ***

Chapter 2

After Harry's talk with Remus, he was in much higher spirits. Not necessarily back to normal, but he was well on his way to being there. Talking with Remus helped him clear up a lot of things. Harry was able to move past his previous feelings of him being responsible for Sirius' death and accept that it was Voldemort's fault. Still, he wasn't entirely able to get over Sirius' death and whenever he closed his eyes, he still saw Sirius.

Abruptly, two owls barreled through his open window, into his room. One was Hedwig, his snowy owl, to whom he immediately apologized for his earlier outburst and gave an owl treat. She nipped his ear affectionately and perched on his shoulder. The other owl, a much smaller one, flew around excitedly before Harry was able to snatch him out of the air like a Snitch. Now that he got a hold of Pigwidgeon, he was able to take off the two letters attached to his leg.

One was from Ron, he could tell by the messy scrawl on the envelope of the letter. The second one Harry did not recognize. He knew it wasn't Hermione and couldn't think of anyone else who would write to him. He opened Ron's letter first.

Dear Harry,

I hope those Dursley's are treating you alright, feeding you and all. Mum will go ballistic if you she sees you and you're all "peaky". So make sure you eat.

How's your summer been so far? I know you've probably been better and if you ever need to talk or something like that, I'm here for you, mate.

The Cannons aren't doing too well, but I'm pretty sure they'll be able to make a run for the cup if they can win out the rest of the season. They just got this new seeker who looks like he's going to be brilliant. Small and wiry and he can really cut turns. You had better hope you don't grow anymore, don't want to be too big to play seeker, and I don't want to have to move you to beater or anything.

Hermione is going crazy. She has already made a calendar so we can start reviewing for NEWTs. NEWTs Harry! NEWTs don't start for another two years and you know when the schedules started? The day we got off the Hogwarts Express! She's mental to think we should start studying now.

Anyways, write back.

Ron

Now that Harry thought about it, he hadn't eaten since he got back from Hogwarts. He quickly walked downstairs to the kitchen hoping beyond all hope that none of the Dursleys were in there. Today must have been his lucky day because he didn't find a single Dursley in the kitchen. He quickly made himself a few sandwiches so that he could have one now for lunch and some more later for dinner. He didn't feel like running into the Dursleys' later either.

As he got back to his room, he read over Ron's letter again. This was the typical letter from Ron, and that wasn't a bad thing. Always talking about food and Quidditch and Hermione. When would those two come to their senses and realize the feelings they've been tiptoeing around for the past couple years. One thing, however, was different in the letter; Ron actually sensed how Harry was really doing. He didn't pry or anything like Hermione might do, he offered to listen whenever he was ready or needed an ear. It was clear that Ron was maturing some.

The other letter caught Harry's attention again. Who in the world could it be from? He quickly opened the letter and saw it was from Ginny. This thoroughly confused Harry. Why would Ginny be writing to him? Sure, they talked some last year, easily more than ever before, but why would she be writing him a letter? Harry pondered this and then began reading.

Dear Harry,

I know you may find it weird that I'm writing to you. I kind of feel the same way. We never really talked that much. My first few years I could barely stand in the same room as you, but I promise my butter dish days are over. The past two years you were just too busy, your fourth year with the TriWizard tournament, and fifth year you were just all moody and always brooding. No offense, I'm just telling the truth.

Things at the Burrow are the same as always. Mum is going crazy, Dad's already crazy, and Ron is love struck with a brainy Gryffindor. It's pathetic really, any time her name is mentioned; he instantly begins to blush a shade only a Weasley could. Those two just need to get together and have a good snog. Maybe they won't bicker as much all the time.

I know things must be difficult for you, but chin up Mr. Potter. Nobody wants to deal with you when you're sulking like a certain Potions Master.

I'm here if you need anything. To talk or just write to over the summer. Just don't bottle everything up like you normally do, and I think you'll end up fine by summer's end.

Yours truly,

Ginny

"Wow." That's all Harry could say. He never thought he would get a letter from anyone but Ron and Hermione, maybe Mrs. Weasley sending him a mince pie or something like that. But Ginny?

Even more surprising was the fact that she was able to pin him so well. He always thought he was able to keep his composure most of the time and not give anything away. But boy was he wrong when it came to her. He was also shocked that she said Hermione and Ron should have a good snog. That definitely wasn't the innocent little Ginny Weasley that he had saved in the Chamber of Secrets. She had definitely grown up over the years; he just never took the time to notice. He always just saw her as Ron's little sister, but he'd definitely try to change that.

With that thought, Harry grabbed a quill and some parchment and began writing his reply to Ginny. He looked for Pig, but he had already started his flight back to the Burrow. Harry called Hedwig over and attached his letters to Ginny and Ron to her leg. Hedwig nipped Harry's fingers and flew out to deliver his letters.

Harry decided he might as well start on some of his schoolwork assigned over the break. He went over to his trunk, grabbed his Transfiguration book, and began his essay on the Animagus transformation. This, Harry thought sadly, was going to take a while.

* * * * * * * * * *

Remus returned to Grimmauld Place the afternoon after his check-up on Harry. Things could not have started any worse than they did, but they turned around rather quickly. Harry was able to open up to him, and Remus was able to support Harry when he needed it. He was also able to get through Harry's emotional barriers, helping him come to terms with Sirius' death and realize that it wasn't his fault. This also helped Remus cope with his own loss of Sirius, he had lost his best mate once before, and was a wreck then, but this would have been unbearable without someone there to help him pull through. Now Remus had Harry and Harry had Remus. Things were looking brighter indeed.

As he strolled into Headquarters with a slight spring in his step, thinking about what had just transpired, he ran straight into a similarly inattentive Tonks. Remus hit the ground and Tonks crashed right down on top of him.

"Wotcher, Remus!" Tonks said cheerfully while lying on top of Remus.

"Um, hey, Tonks." Remus stuttered out.

"Don't tell me I've gotten the old wolf all flustered now," Tonks grinned down at him deviously.

"Um, no, well, yes, well…"

Tonks stood up and offered Remus her hand, which he graciously took as she helped him up off the floor. Remus was still a little flustered, a slight pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Not every day you get to embarrass a Professor." Tonks teased. "How did things go with Harry?"

"Well, they started off a little rocky, but we were able to get through it. He seemed better by the end of our talk."

"Aw, well that sounds great. How did he look? Did it look like he had been eating and sleeping regularly?"

Remus thought for a moment in silence. "He has definitely looked much better and it doesn't help that he was wearing those hand me down clothes that are much too big for him."

Tonks expression became very dimmed as Remus described how Harry was doing, her hair cycled wildly from a bright bubblegum pink to a dreary grey as Remus continued. All of a sudden, she looked like a light went off in her head and her hair instantly returned to its prior brightness.

"I've got it!" Tonks exclaimed. "Why don't we take Harry shopping for some new clothes and stuff?"

Remus' eyes shone with this thought, Harry could definitely use some new clothes and it would be good for him to be around people that cared for him. Not to mention I'd get to spend the entire day with Tonks as well. Remus began to grin at the thought.

"I'll take that as a yes."

And with that, Remus quickly sent Harry an owl seeing if he'd be okay with meeting up tomorrow for lunch and then take a shopping trip with him and Tonks.

* * * * * * * * * *

Harry finished his Transfiguration essay on the Animagus transformation, baffled at the complexity of the entire process. How his father and Sirius were able to transform without any help from professors baffled Harry to no end. The immense amount of concentration that it took to merely discover that you could even have the opportunity to be an Animagus took months of insight into ones mind to find where the ability lay dormant. Then, one would have to study the anatomy of the creature until it was known as a second nature, and instinctively. After that, one begins a rigorous process of slowly transforming each part of your body into the homologous part of the creature. But the worst part is that unlike a normal Transfiguration, the Animagus transformation breaks the bones and reforms muscle tissue to match that of the desired creature the first time it is attempted. This is one of the reasons that many people do not even want to attempt to become Animagi. The sheer pain alone is comparable to that of the Cruciatus curse.

Harry knew one thing for sure, becoming an Animagus would be one of the most beneficial skills that he could acquire. It would allow him to move around almost undetected, escape from dire and dangerous situations, and could become a formidable weapon for him to use. He knew that this must be one skill he needed to learn over the upcoming year. And one thing that would help him discover his Animagus form would be Occlumency.

Harry shivered at this thought. His only experiences with Occlumency had been awful at best, especially since they had been with Snape. Snape didn't even try to help Harry learn Occlumency; all he did was try to pry into his mind. No instructions were given other than "Clear your mind". How in the hell was that supposed to help. That had to be the most vague description one could get. It would be like telling a person learning to operate on someone to cut carefully. Not only would Occlumency help advance his Animagus training, it would help protect his mind from Voldemort's intrusions and control his emotions.

Harry looked over at his clock again and saw that it was just past eleven o'clock. It was nearly time for him to go to sleep, and he was exhausted to say the least. He still was barely able to catch any sleep. As he was getting ready to lie down, Hedwig glided through the window and dropped a letter onto Harry's lap. He quickly opened the letter, seeing that it was from Remus, and read over it. Tomorrow Remus was stopping by with Tonks to take him out, but nothing else was revealed in the short note.

He tried to go to sleep after reading the letter, but it would not come to him. Every time he would close his eyes, his memory of the Department of Mysteries would replay before him and would always show Sirius' death in agonizingly slow motion. Something that occurred in seconds seemed to never pass by. Knowing that sleep was impossible, Harry got out of his bed and tried to find something to keep his mind occupied. He returned to doing more of his schoolwork, and when he got tired of that, he decided to read through some of the books he had.

Hours passed by as Harry continued being absorbed in the books. He never imagined that he would be reading through books over the summer, but somehow he was unable to stop. Maybe it was because it was a distraction from the tragedy of his own life, or maybe he actually enjoyed it. Scratch that second part, Harry thought to himself, he was no Hermione, and rarely enjoyed reading. But maybe something was changing within him. Maybe something finally clicked. Maybe he somehow unconsciously realized that his fate relied on him becoming as skilled and prepared as he could be for his final showdown with Voldemort. Now something really clicked inside Harry. He knew there was no way that he would survive another meeting with Voldemort if he wasn't better trained and prepared. With that realization, Harry began reading again. Taking notes on every spell he encountered, every jinx, every charm.

This continued into the morning, until he felt the house beginning to rattle as Vernon woke up. Wanting to be able to grab a quick bite to eat before the Dursleys ravaged the kitchen and left no food for him, Harry scrambled down the stairs and grabbed a glass of juice and fixed some toast real quick and hurried back up to his room. Harry quickly scarfed down his breakfast and continued the task he set before himself.

Before long, the sun rose high into the sky and Harry heard a knock on the door. Crap, Harry thought, I forgot to tell the Dursleys about Remus and Tonks stopping by. Harry ran down the stairs to get to the door before any of the Dursleys and swung the door open real quick and closed it behind him as fast as it was opened. Before Remus and Tonks could get a word in, Harry ushered them down the path to the sidewalk and along the street out of the view of the Dursleys.

"Sorry about that. I forgot to tell the Dursleys about you two stopping by this afternoon." Harry rattled off quickly.

Remus and Tonks quickly took in Harry's appearance. He looked exhausted physically with dark rings under his eyes and a slouched posture, but his actual eyes seemed to hold a light of hope within them. They were greener than they had been in a little over a year, but that still did not hide that deep down Harry was still suffering from the death of Sirius.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks said trying to wake Harry up a bit, "Are you ready for our little adventure?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so." Harry didn't seem to be too enthused. He seemed to be waiting to discover where this "adventure" would lead him. "So where are we going?"

"Well, I was hoping you would ask," a faint smile playing on Remus' lips. "First where headed to Diagon Alley to stop at Gringotts so you can have some walking around money, and then Tonks' is taking us shopping."

Harry's face began to light up; he had never done any shopping for anything other than school supplies. His possibilities seemed endless now. He never thought about going shopping for leisure before, and that pushed away the thoughts that have been clouding his mind over the past few weeks.

"I can't wait. I've never really been shopping before." Harry said.

"Well, you're in for a treat now aren't ya Harry. You get to go shopping with none other than your favorite Auror Tonks," Tonks glowing the whole time.

Harry and Remus took a second to look over Tonks. Her hair was her normal bubblegum pink, and she appeared to be wearing some of the most mismatched clothes one could have put together. She was wearing what appeared to be a violently purple leather jacket, with an orange Weird Sisters shirt underneath. Making the whole outfit worse though, was her lime green pants. How anyone could go out in public wearing that, Harry and Remus didn't know. Well, it did help probably that she could change her appearance at will.

"Well, are you two ready to go or are you going to continue standing there with that blank look on your face?" Tonks questioned seeing Harry and Remus with those looks on their faces.

Harry quickly snapped out of his trance, "Uh, yeah. I'm ready to go."

And with that, Remus lifted his wand into the air and a huge, purple double-decker bus screeched to a halt right next to them. Great, Harry sarcastically thought to himself, this is gonna be one fun ride.

The Knight Bus stopped on a dime in front of The Leaky Cauldron, and Harry, Remus and Tonks stumbled off the bus after paying their fare.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." Tonks slurred.

"Yea, that must not help your balance issues either." Harry playfully chided.

Tonks playfully knocked Harry over the head. "You better watch your mouth, Potter." Tonks said in a mock stern tone.

The three of them walked through The Leaky Cauldron, and the patrons' noticed the instant Harry's presence whispers and stares locked onto him. Remus and Tonks quickly ushered Harry through The Leaky Cauldron to the brick wall that hid the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Great," Remus sighed. "Now we need a way to disguise you a bit. Dumbledore mentioned that such a situation would arise. We can't just have you walking around in the open when a certain dark wizard wants you out of the picture."

And with that Remus began to transfigure Harry so that he may not be as recognizable. First, Harry's oversized t-shirt became a long, grey cloak. His hair was no longer a raven black, now it was a chestnut brown. Last, but not least, Remus transfigured Harry's glasses to a square frame.

"Now that looks a little better. From a distance no one will really be able to tell who you are." Remus said looking at Harry, inspecting his work.

"Yea," Tonks said, "I don't think much more could have really been done without using a Polyjuice Potion."

Harry quickly thought back to his Transfiguration textbook on human transfiguration. The book stated, Human transfigurations are difficult and do not yield lasting permanent results. These effects last only for a limited amount of time depending on the expertise of the caster. Human transfigurations also limit what can be done to the body. Actual body shape cannot be changed using spells, only coloring, such as changing ones hair color. The only way one can effectively change body shape and parts is through being a Metamorphogous, see page 756, or by the use of a Polyjuice Potion. Harry's eyes went blank for a moment. How in the world was he able to remember all that? Was he turning into Hermione or something?

Remus and Tonks snapped Harry out of his daze and the brick wall began to open into an entrance to Diagon Alley. One thing was for sure; there were not that many people out and about. The normal life and activity that Harry had known give life to the alley seemed to be entirely gone. As the three of them walked down the alley, Harry noticed that a few of the shops were closed up with boarded windows and various enchantments protecting the shops.

"Wow," Remus whispered, "I don't think I've seen Diagon Alley this empty since the First War."

"It's just astounding that there are so few people here. You-Know-Who has clearly re-instilled a fear that was hiding in people's memories. This is only going to make things easier for him."

Harry didn't say anything; he was just listening and discovering their insight about the oncoming war. Before they knew it, they had made it all the way to the steps of Gringotts, towering over the rest of Diagon Alley. As they entered, Harry noticed the engraving on the doors like he always did:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

Harry had heard rumors of what might be lurking in the deep vaults of the ancient bank. According to Ron, they had dragons to protect some of the most important vaults. Even worse than dragons, was the possibility that a Nundu had been rumored as well to be guarding other important vaults. Harry shook at the thought; a giant leopard whose breath can kill a man could possibly be thousands of feet below him. How the goblins captured one still baffled him, as Hagrid had once mentioned it as the most dangerous creature in existence and no less than one-hundred wizards could even attempt to subdue one.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, we've been expecting you to be stopping by soon." A goblin at one of the counters drawled out.

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts as the goblins words broke through his thoughts.

"Uh, hello. I'd like to withdraw some money from my vault, if that wouldn't be a problem?" Harry asked baffled at how the goblin recognized him.

"Your key, Mr. Potter," the goblin stated.

Harry rummaged through his pockets hoping that his vault key was in his pocket, and luckily enough it was.

"Here it is, sir," and Harry handed his key over to the goblin.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. Except for one thing…" the goblin paused, rummaging through some papers. "Yes, here it is. We have a minor complication, Mr. Potter. It appears as if you do not have enough room in either of your vaults, numbers 687 and 711, to hold all of your assets. We need to move you to another vault, one lower down."

Harry's mind started reeling. How in the world could he have two vaults now? And how in the world could neither of them contain all of his "assets"? Finally something clicked inside him, Sirius…

Remus quickly saw Harry's changed expression, and intercepted the conversation with the goblin.

"Why were these assets added?" Remus questioned.

"Mr. Lupin isn't it," Remus nodded. "In accordance with one Sirius Black's will, half of his assets were to be divided evenly between Harry Potter and Remus Lupin. Also, the Black Family Home is to go to Remus Lupin as well."

Remus' face went blank. He had never really had any money, and never had a true home. Now he had both, and that shaggy black dog was to blame. Sirius knew how to stir things up even from the grave. His mind went blank for a moment; this was when he truly new that Sirius was gone and never coming back. Remus was the last of the true Marauders. Only he was left, a lone wolf.

Harry came back to the real world after being lost in his thoughts. He was too pained to actually go down to wherever his new vault was to be located. He couldn't bear to see anything relating to Sirius.

"Is there anyway I could just take out some money here instead of going down to my new vault?" Harry mumbled out. At the moment, Harry wasn't ready to see some of Sirius' things. He needed more time still.

"Absolutely, Mr. Potter," the goblin stated. "We here at Gringotts actually offer a small service to some of our substantial clients." The goblin reached behind the counter and pulled out what seemed to be a small, deep green money pouch, about the size of the palm of Harry's hand. "This here, Mr. Potter, is our handcrafted money pouch. It has been enchanted so that you can access all of your funds from the pouch. You can just reach in and take out as much as you need. It is made from the hide of the Common Welsh Green dragon to make it neary immune to simple summoning spells and other thieving acts, and crafted in such a way that makes it as soft as silk. But every withdrawal you make costs a small fee, an amount insignificant compared to your current wealth."

Harry, just as curious as every teenager, asked, "How much money do I have in my vault?"

"Well, according to our current count as of the merging of the Potter and Black funds, your total comes to 18,458,232 galleons, 6 sickles and 4 knuts."

Harry's eyes opened in shock. He knew that he had money, just not that much.

"Um, is there any way that I could change some galleons for some muggle pounds?" Harry asked so that he could have some money for the afternoon of shopping ahead of him.

"Yes, not a problem Mr. Potter." The goblin handed him his money pouch. "Just reach into the pouch and pull out however much you want to convert."

Harry untied the top of the money pouch and reached in feeling around for some galleons. Eventually, Harry had withdrawn 500 galleons and the goblin handed over 2,500 pounds to him. Harry pocketed the muggle pounds into his jeans so he wouldn't mix it up with all of his wizard money. He attached the money pouch to his belt loop, and was thanking the goblin ready to go until he remembered one thing.

"Oh, um, what is my new vault number, sir?"

"731, Mr. Potter," the goblin said matter of factly.

"Thanks, for everything Mr…." Harry was waiting for his blank to be filled in.

"Ragnok." The goblin gave a toothy smile as Harry nodded and walked out of Gringotts with Tonks and Remus in tow.

As they were walking out, Harry thought back to both his new vault number and the goblin's name. It was just so bizarre that his vault number was the same as his birthday. Though, it did make sense seeing as the further down you go in the vaults the larger the number and vault size. His old vault number was 472, and he did recall seeing the size of Vault 713 when he was with Hagrid his first year. His new vault must be huge to hold all his money. He had over 18,000,000 galleons.

Ragnok also triggered a memory inside Harry. He was the goblin that Bill Weasley had worked with for some time. Apparently Bill was trying to convince Ragnok to support Dumbledore, and came to little success. It seemed that the goblins couldn't be swayed with just words.

"Harry, so where to now?" Remus asked, he must have finally snapped out of his own daydreaming while in wizarding bank.

"Well, I'd like to go to Flourish and Blotts to pick up some books to help me out over the summer, and then maybe Madam Malkin's to pick up some new robes. I kinda think I've grown out of all of mine."

And that couldn't have been truer. Harry seemed to have grown several inches over the past years. He was still a few inches behind Ron, but he was no squirt.

Harry, Remus and Tonks wandered into the bookstore so that Harry could find whatever he was looking for. Immediately, Harry became swamped in towering shelves of books that stopped off mere millimeters from the ceiling. There were books on everything, literally. He saw books on dragons, books on daily housing charms, and books on how to perform "private" prevention charms. Finally, Harry walked into the section he was looking for, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry quickly began filling his arms with every book in reach. He didn't want to miss anything, and wanted to be prepared for the worst. After Harry grabbed as much as he could, he placed them on the counter and went in search of a few Transfiguration and Charms books. Harry returned to the counter and the clerk quickly checked him out. He reached into his pouch and Harry gave the clerk the correct change and grabbed his bags. Quickly, Harry realized that there was no way he was going to be able to carry the bags, he must have purchased at least twenty different books. Remus and Tonks came to his rescue, performing a few shrinking and lightening charms and Harry was able to fit it all in his pockets.

"I'm so excited," Tonks was jittering with excitement, "I can't wait to help you pick out some new robes."

Harry and Remus eyed each other wearily, this could turn out to be a disaster.