First of all, thanks to all of you who have reviewed! I appreciate the support and feedback. I'll be replying to some of you soon, promise! And, here's Chapter 4!

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 4: Action

Harry awoke to Hedwig hooting impatiently in his ear. Still half-asleep, Harry took the note she carried then shooed her away. Hedwig hooted indignantly as she was brushed aside. Harry sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and read the note. It said, Congratulations, cub! I'd be happy to help. 9am at the park?

Harry glanced at his alarm clock. It was nearing 8 o'clock, so Harry hurriedly scribbled an affirmative on the back of the note and sent Hedwig off again, promising a treat when she returned. Harry then got dressed and packed his trunk. He was glad he was no longer expected to make breakfast for the Dursleys, but he still felt he ought to do something for Dudley, due to their conversation the previous night. Harry wrote a short note on a scrap of parchment and used a temporary sticking charm to Hogwarts, A History. Harry was doubtful of Dudley's ability to get through such a large book—he'd only read it through once—but it was the thought that counted, right? The note simply said: I'm leaving. If you're still curious, I'm giving this to you for some background reading. Then you can send me a note. My owl Hedwig will get it to me. –Harry

Harry delivered his gift via a levitating charm to put it on Dudley's desk in his room while his cousin still slept and a silencing charm on the creaky door. Harry ate a quick breakfast downstairs and then departed. He left his dirty dishes in a fit of spite toward Petunia. His bedroom Harry left bare, his full trunk shrunk and feather-light in his pocket. Harry was very grateful for summoning charms—he never would have been ready on time without them.

Harry met Remus in the park like he had before, and Remus greeted him with a hug. Then Harry spoke. "I think we'll have to take muggle transportation, because I only have an address. And don't you have to have been there before in order to apparate?"

"That is the ideal situation," Remus said with a nod. "You can also use map coordinates, but that's more dangerous, especially for side-along."

"Then we'll catch a bus," Harry said and led the way to the nearest bus station.

When the bus arrived, Harry gave the driver the address. Eventually they'd reach it, the bus driver said, especially since it was on the other side of London and there were many other stops before they would get there. But neither Harry nor Remus minded the lengthy trip. They found a pair of seats and passed the five-hour bus ride in casual conversation.

Harry told Remus what he knew about the house (and the rather humorous story of how he acquired it) as well as the study plan he'd drawn up for himself. Remus approved of the plan except, he told Harry, he needed room to relax as well. Harry conceded the point and a good chunk of the drive was spent revising his schedule to be less demanding.

Finally, they reached the closest stop to the cottage. The house itself was still a brisk walk down the road, but the bus didn't go that way. So Harry and Remus disembarked and were more than willing to walk the few remaining miles. They reached the cottage at about three in the afternoon.

The grounds were completely overgrown and the garden that surrounded the place was choked in weeds, but it still had a certain charm and there was definite potential. It would take a lot of work but could be restored. The cottage resembled the grounds—in fact it almost was the grounds. Thick curtains of ivy hung from the eaves, concealing the pinkish bricks beneath. The roof was concave in some places and the door hung off its hinges, revealing an interior every bit as dusty and nature-invaded as the outside. The windows were opaque with grime and the wood flooring had collapsed in some areas.

"This is worse than I thought," Harry said, somewhat dismayed. "No wonder they wanted to tear it down. I think I was overcharged for this."

Remus chuckled. "They might not have had to if they had waited much longer. It's inches from collapsing under its own weight," he added with some amusement. "But it's nothing a little magic can't fix, and a little bit of elbow grease wouldn't go amiss either."

"Shall we get started, then?" Harry asked, grinning and rolling up his sleeves. Remus nodded. The two gingerly crossed the threshold and began casting the strongest cleaning spells they could manage at the worst of the dirt, disturbing the nests of many small rodents in the process. They began in the living area and the kitchen but ranged throughout the entire house.

Having eaten lunch on the bus from some snacks Harry had brought, they didn't stop until the sun was beginning to fade. Once the worst of the dirt was gone, Remus repaired the broken floorboards and conjured two brooms and two mops. He taught Harry to conjure soapy water from his wand, and once he could manage it, the two got to work sweeping out the dust their spells had missed and then mopping until the floorboards shone like new.

All the while they talked. It was odd and awkward at first, because Harry had never had an adult to confide in and Remus was still hesitant. But before long they were conversing naturally, as friends. Both avoided any topic or story that involved Sirius—the wound was still raw—but they swapped stories. Remus shared stories of his childhood before Hogwarts and some of the pranks he pulled with James and funny moments with Lily—she and Remus had been friends long before she fell for James. In exchange Harry recounted some of his adventures with Ron and Hermione as well as some of his incidents with accidental magic from his childhood.

"And when I woke up the next morning, all my hair had grown back, exactly as it was before. Dudley was so disappointed that he couldn't tease me anymore," Harry finished, smiling at the memory.

"You grew your hair back?" Remus asked with more interest than Harry expected.

"Yeah. Why?" Harry was confused.

"I've never heard of that happening as regular accidental magic before. But Tonks mentioned that something similar happened to her."

"Tonks? Do you reckon I might be a metamorphmagus then?" Harry asked, suddenly very interested.

"A partial one, at least. And probably a late bloomer, too—most metamorphmaguses show their talent from birth, but I've heard of a few who don't find out until their later childhood. And because you grew up not knowing magic was even possible, it hasn't happened since."

"Do you think I could do it now?" Harry asked excitedly.

Remus smiled. "You can certainly try and see what happens. And if it turns out you are, perhaps Tonks can help you with it, if you don't mind her being in on your secret."

Harry shook his head, grinning. "I wouldn't mind. So, how do I do it?"

Remus shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I would assume you just picture what you want and try to feel your magic. That's how most spells work. Just do whatever feels right."

Harry nodded then closed his eyes. He pictured the hair style he'd given himself the previous day when he went to buy the cottage. He also remembered how it felt to cast a spell successfully for the first time and tried to combine the two. It took several minutes and a lot of concentration, then Harry felt that sudden flow of magic and heard a surprised but pleased exclamation from Remus.

"Well done, cub! I assume you intended to make your hair that length?" There was laughter in his voice.

"What?" Harry turned toward Remus, confused, and felt hair brush his chin. He raised a hand and discovered he'd lengthened his hair past his shoulders. Harry smiled sheepishly. "Not that long. I guess I need more practice."

Remus chuckled. "That is quite a talent you have, though. The possibilities are practically endless."

"One more thing I'll add to my list of things to learn this summer," Harry said, part resigned and part excited.

"And we can talk to Tonks soon so we can discover the extent of your abilities. She'll be able to help you learn to control it much better than I could," Remus added. Harry agreed enthusiastically.

Throughout the rest of the evening the two worked to clean up the house and perform basic magical repairs like the ones Remus had done on the floorboards in the sitting room. Harry would frequently pause and practice his newfound abilities, making Remus laugh at his attempts. Most of the time it was a mistake, but once Harry deliberately imitated perfectly Tonks's usual style of spiky pink hair. They couldn't stop laughing for several minutes at that—it looked utterly ridiculous on Harry.

By about eight at night, the house was mostly clean, at least on the surface, and the majority of the repairs had been done. Any furniture they found was broken up and burned in the lot outside, along with trails of ivy they had been able to just pull off the house. Two rooms had been deemed livable—the sitting room and one of the two bathrooms. The kitchen was usable but not pretty. In fact, none of the house was very visually appealing. As the dirt was cleaned up badly peeling paint was revealed in rather untasteful and dreary colors. A lot of work still remained to be done, but Harry was beginning to see the charm of the cottage. He was looking forward to living there. Though, it would of course be much more pleasant once everything was properly clean and decorated.

"It's almost worse than Grimmauld Place," Harry muttered upon seeing the décor under the dirt. "At least that house is standing."

"I agree. At least this house is free from rogue dark magic," Remus pointed out.

"I guess. I still can't believe I'm voluntarily spending another summer cleaning. But let's eat something and then decide what to do next."

Remus nodded in agreement and conjured a rug for the newly scrubbed sitting room floor. Harry took out the leftovers from the food they'd purchased from a flea market on the way to the cottage. They sat on the floor and ate quickly. Both were tired as well as hungry from cleaning all day, so there wasn't much conversation.

As they finished, Harry and Remus discussed their next course of action. Harry didn't ever want to go back to the Dursleys, except perhaps to visit Dudley—at one point during the day Harry told Remus about his conversation with his cousin the night before. Harry was perfectly willing to sleep on the floor or a conjured mattress I the living room, and mentioned as much. He also said that Remus was welcome to join him, as there was still a lot of work to be done and it would be more convenient for Remus. The only way, Harry said, that Remus would get out of staying the night there was if he talked to Tonks that night and brought her along the next day. Of course, this was only after Remus had expressed hesitance to talk to her, for reasons he would not divulge. However, Remus agreed, his pride winning over whatever fear he had. Once they cleared away supper they cleaned for another hour or so. Then Remus conjured a mattress and bedding for Harry before apparating away.