A/N: All the characters contained herein are the property of Ms. Rowling.
Harry sat in the the room of requirement awaiting Lupin's arrival. He had decided to take advantage of the time by practicing his occlumency and was in a deep state of meditation, allowing his mind to wander. Much to his great relief, Harry'd had the opportunity to warn Lupin at dinner about Pansy's faulty potions. Suprisingly, Remus had merely thanked him and told him not to worry, he'd deal with it. Harry saw both Tonks and Remus talking with a very agitated looking Snape shortly thereafter, and smiled to himself, happy that he had managed to protect Moony. Despite the mental drifting was doing, he snapped to awareness the moment he heard the door open and saw his guardian enter.
"Practicing I see Harry," said Remus smiling. Harry nodded.
"I apparently need to. I thought that I had pretty good control of my emotions this summer, but obviously I was wrong," Harry said grimacing. Remus put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Harry. There is a lot more pressure on you here than you dealt with at Grimmauld Place. As for yesterday, once I saw what Malfoy had done to Ginny I could've cheerfully beat the snot out of him. I can't even imagine what you felt," Lupin said as he sat down on the floor next to Harry.
"Yes, but you didn't Moony. I did. I could've killed him. I think I would have if you hadn't said what you did," Harry admitted quietly.
"I think that there are a couple of things about yourself which you are forgetting. First off, you are, as much as you despise the fact, the child of the prophecy Harry. It breaks my heart to say it, but you will be forced to kill before this is over, so you must, of necessity, be capable of doing it," Remus said quietly. Harry shivered. He knew in the abstract what he had to do, but thinking of it in those terms... that he had to be capable of killing repulsed him.
"The other thing you are forgetting is that you are not just the Boy-Who-Lived. You are Harry James Potter. James and Lily's son. You would never, could never, take a life lightly or as anything other than a desperate act to protect those you love. The Boy-Who-Lived was capable and willing to kill Malfoy for what he had done. Harry stopped him because he cared about how it would affect those he loved. You stopped because you knew it was wrong." Harry took a deep shuddering breath.
"I have got to learn to control these powers Moony. The anger... it's still there. If I saw Malfoy right now, I honestly don't know what I would do," Harry said quietly. Lupin looked thoughtfully at him for a moment before speaking.
"You know, there is a muggle saying that your Mum was fond of quoting in her arguments with your Dad... 'With great power, comes great responsibility.' You have that power Harry, just as you bear the responsibility to learn to control it. I know, Dumbledore knows, that you can do this. We will be here to help you until you do."
Harry nodded marveling at how Remus always knew what to say to help him.
"Thanks Moony," he murmured.
"That's what I'm here for junior," Remus said smiling and ruffling Harry's hair. "Now about the D.A. sessions, what nights would you like to hold them?"
Harry smiled, greatful that his guardian had changed the subject. He paused, considering.
"Well, I'm planning on Quidditch practice being Tuesdays, Thursdays, and maybe Saturdays if we need them. I'd umm.. sort of like Friday nights free too," said Harry, blushing slightly. Remus grinned.
"Nice to know that hasn't changed. Friday nights were always date nights for us too. How about we do the more advanced group on Monday and the beginners on Wednesday?" Lupin asked.
"I think that will work," Harry replied.
"Are you sure? That won't leave you much time for your studies," Remus said.
"I'll be fine. Quidditch will be in the afternoons before dinner, which leaves Tuesday and Thursday nights as well as the weekends, even with Saturday practices that should be ok," Harry said.
"Allright. That's what we'll go with for now, but promise me if you start feeling overwhelmed you'll let me know."
"Of course," Harry said.
"I mean it Harry. You keep entirely too much bottled up inside you."
"I promise Moony. I solemnly swear on my oath as a Marauder," Harry said. Lupin chuckled, suprising him.
"You looked and sounded so much like James just then," his guardian said smilingly.
"Moony, how did they do it? Learn to become Animagi I mean?" Harry asked.
"Why do you ask?" Remus queried somewhat suspiciously.
"Oh we're starting animagi in Transfiguration," Harry said innocently. The professor didn't look like he quite believed him, but after a moment answered, smiling reminiscently.
"Well, they began by sneaking into the restricted section of the library to find everything that they could on Animagi. That's actually how I found out about their plans. I caught them one night. Peter's foot was visible under the edge of James' cloak. After the intitial shock of seeing a disembodied foot strolling down the hall, I followed and confronted them. When they told me what they were doing..." Moony shook his head.
"I should've stopped them. It was incredibly dangerous, not to mention illegal. A hundred different things could've gone horribly wrong, but I let them continue. I'd always felt so alone during my transformations, and the thought of having someone there, my best friends no less, I just couldn't tell them no. I helped them instead," he said. His eyes were distant as if he was peeling the years away and seeing into the past.
"Did they use there patronus forms? That's what Prof McGonnagall has had us workng on," Harry asked.
"Yeah they did. That's part of why it took them so long. When we started none of us had even close to the power needed for a patronus. Once we finally mastered that, James and Sirius were able to transform fairly quickly. Peter on the other hand took a while. He always was fairy inept at transfiguration."
"Is there any other way to go about becoming an animagi?" Harry asked. He was fairly confident both Ron and Ginny would master the patronus charm, but he wanted to be prepared just in case.
"There is a spell. It's a bit more complex and alot more dangerous then the patronus, which is why they didn't try it. The spell allows the caster to pick an animal and sort of bond with it, enabling the wizard to transform into it. The side effect is that you take on some of the animal's characteristics in your human form so you need to be very careful what you pick. I've even heard that some wizards have been able to achieve multiple animagus forms this way," Remus said. Harry nodded as he processed all the information he had just received.
"Thanks Moony," he said.
"Your welcome Harry. I'm always glad to help with your studies," Remus said, sounding every inch the professor that he was. Harry felt a surge of guilt for deceiving his guardian, but ruthlessly squashed it down. They were doing this for Moony, so he wouldn't be alone anymore.
"Speaking of studies, I've just realized we didn't leave anytime for my occlumency or other training. There goes Friday night," Harry groaned. Remus chuckled.
"Not to worry Harry. Dumbledore is a step ahead of you. Did you happen to notice the free periods you have on Wednesday and Friday afternoons?" Harry nodded and Remus continued.
"We'll meet here. Wednesdays you'll do occlumency with myself and Dumbledore. Fridays you'll continue your battle training with Moody."
"Thank Merlin for Dumbledore. Ginny would've killed me. She'd have understood, but she still would've killed me," Harry grinned. As if talking about her had somehow conjured her, the door to the room opened and a ginger head popped in.
"Harry?" she called. "Are you ready?" Remus looked at Harry, the twinkle in his eyes could've rivaled Dumbledore.
"Errr..yeah Gin. I think we're nearly finished. Come on in," he said. Ginny entered, followed closely by Ron and Hermione.
"Double date?" Remus asked grinning. Harry blushed.
"Yeah something like that. We're going to work on Ron and Ginny's patronuses and then there is this Slytherin who has been picking on Ginny..." Harry's voice trailed off. Lupin smiled.
"Remarkable. In the space of two weeks I've gone from being the last living Marauder to one of five. For the record, I'm sure somewhere your Mum is doing the dance of joy. That's the one thing she could never talk your Dad into. He and Sirius had a strict no girls allowed policy," Moony said.
"How.... archaic," Hermione snorted. "Maybe I don't want to be a Marauder after all."
"No girls allowed? That's just... just...," Ginny sputtered outraged.
"Calm down ladies. I honestly think that they only had that rule to annoy Lily. James just couldn't resist taunting her. He loved to see her in a temper. They had these spectacular rows and then would spend hours making up. Speaking of which, I had better get home before I have some making up of my own to do," Remus grinned.
"Home? Aren't you staying at the castle?" Ginny asked. Remus shook his head.
"No, we thought, well actually I thought it would be inappropriate for two unmarried teachers to... umm nevermind. We're staying at the Shrieking Shack," Remus said awkwardly, a faint blush tinging his cheeks, much to the delight of the young people in the room.
"C'mon Moony, it's not like we don't know what's going on with you and Tonks," Ron grinned. The others nodded in agreement.
"We're all very happy for you both Professor," Hermione added.
"Thanks, I'll be sure to tell her. I think I'll leave now, while I still have a shred of dignity left," he said, chuckling despite himself. Waving, he headed out the door.
"Allright then, first things first," Hermione said briskly once Lupin was gone. She pulled the book on animagus transformation, which Harry had found in Grimmauld Place's library, from her bookbag.
"I have read this from cover to cover. It is an exceptionally good guide to becoming an animagus. It's very thorough. It would not suprise me in the least if this is what Padfoot and Prongs used to become animagi. Having said that... Based on what I have read and what I know all our talents to be, I think we can probably be fully fledged animagi by the end of term," she said.
"That soon?" Ginny asked. clearly delighted. "I thought it took years."
"Normally it does, but this book has some very good tips, and a rather unusual approach which I have never seen anywhere else. I honestly don't think it will take that long. That's all assuming that you and Ron master the patronus as easily as I think you will. You were both so close last year." Harry stood up nodding.
"I agree. I think we should work on that tonight. I'd feel alot better if you two could do it anyway with the dementors joining Voldemort," Harry said. Ron and Ginny nodded and pulled out their wands. It was decided that Ginny go first. Harry stood behind her talking quietly in her ear.
"Ok Ginny, just relax. Close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. Now go through your mind and sort out your memories. Look for the happiest one that you can find. Nod when you have it," Harry murmured. After a moment she nodded and Harry continued.
"Allright, now concentrate on that memory. Let it fill you, every ounce of you, until you feel like you're going to burst from it. When you're ready open your eyes and say the incantation."
Standing behind her, almost touching, Harry could feel Ginny harnassing her memory. He felt the power build within her. She opened her eyes and raised her wand.
"Expecto Patronum!" she cried. A silvery flash exploded out the tip of Ginny's wand and coalesced into a small graceful feline which prowled the room. Harry heard her soft coo of delight.
"I did it! Oh it's a cat! I love cats," Ginny squealed. She allowed her patronus to disipate before throwing herself at Harry and kissing him.
"Ewww... we're in the room," said Ron.
"Shut up mate," Harry said grinning.
"If you two are done, it's my turn," Ron said impatiently. Harry moved to stand behind, although not nearly as close to, Ron.
"Ok Ron, close your eyes. Take a deep breath and sort through your memories. Find the happiest one you can and concentrate on it. Let yourself be filled by the memory. When you're ready open your eyes and say the incantation," he said. He could see Ron concentrating. His friend then took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
"Expecto Patronum!" Ron shouted. A flash of silver shot out of his wand, but unlike Ginny's his took no form. Ron sighed in frustration.
"Dammit," he muttered.
"It's ok Ron. We'll try again. You almost had it," Harry said. He once again walked his friend through the steps watching carefully. Ron's second attempt was no more successful than the first.
"Aarrgh!" Ron growled and threw his wand across the room where it sparked as it clattered on the floor. "I'm never going to get this!"
"Yes you are. You can do this Ron," Harry said. "You've had a really awful day though, maybe we should just try tomorrow."
"No, once more," Hermione said. "Accio wand!" She walked, smiling over to Ron and whispered something in his ear which caused him to go bright red. Grinning she kissed him long and lingeringly. When she was done, she stepped back and winked at him, causing a goofy smile to appear on his face.
"Try it now," she said. Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the grin still firmly in place. He stood concentrating for a moment before finally opening his eyes and raising his wand.
"Expecto Patronum!" he cried for the third time. A blast of silver shot from his wand and slowly coalesced into a powerful looking lion, which much like Ginny's cat prowled the edges of the room.
"Would you look at that?" Ron cried in delight.
"Bloody brilliant," Harry said clapping him on the back.
"Great job Ron," Ginny said admiringly.
"I knew you could do it," Hermione said beaming at him.
"Does this mean that I get my reward?" Ron asked grinning. Hermione blushed.
"Ron!" she exclaimed, flustered. She shot a significant look at Harry and Ginny, who exchanged mischievious grins. It wasn't very often that Hermione Jane Granger became this discomposed.
"So, Hermione, exactly what reward did you offer my brother?" Ginny said trying not to laugh.
"I... well... that's none of your business. C'mon, we'd better get back to the common room. It's almost curfew," she said, grabbing Ron by the hand and pulling him through the door. Harry and Ginny followed her, doing their best to contain their laughter.
A/N: So now you know. Hope you like what I decided on for their animagus forms, it was not an easy decision. For the record, my son, who does an uncanny impersonation of Rupert Grint's tapdancing spider scene from the PoA movie, thought I should've made Ron's animagus form a giant spider so that he'd be scared of himself. He's got a rather quirky sense of humor. Thanks go out, as always, to Danielle my uber-speedy moderator, my aforementioned son for being a darn good beta, and all of you for your fabulous reviews and wonderful suggestions.