Turn Back Time

Comments: e-mail at sstar_luna@yahoo.co.uk or Review button below.
Rating: PG-13 for now, although that may change later. Will be slash later in the story.
Spoilers: Books 1-5. Do not read unless you have FINISHED Order of the Phoenix.
Disclaimer: I don\'t own anything except the plot. All Harry Potter™ characters and settings are the sole intellectual property of JK Rowling, Warner Bros. and various others who all aren\'t connected to me in any way. No money is being made with this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.
 
 
Turn Back Time
Chapter 1: Birthday Surprises
 
 
 
Harry woke up, the sheets tangled up between his legs, panting hard as though he had been running a marathon. Taking several deep breaths to calm his racing heart he sat up, blinking several times, trying to remove the last images of his godfather, Sirius, falling through the Veil at the Department of Mysteries. Reaching out, Harry picked up his glasses from the bedside table and put them on. His surroundings came into focus, and from the streetlight coming in through the window Harry made out the figure of Hedwig, who had been watching over him silently ontop of her cage.

Softly, as not to wake up his Aunt or Uncle, he asked \"Hey girl, were you out hunting?\"
In response, Hedwig flew across the small room to land on his knee and Harry\'s attention was drawn to a letter attached to her leg. Probably from the Order checking up on me, he mused, as he untied it. Hedwig gave a soft hoot and nipped his finger affectionately before she spread her wings and left the room through the open window.

Holding the unopened letter in his hand, Harry\'s thoughts strayed to the events of his previous year: Umbridge and the DA, OWLs, Occumancy, Voldemort, and the Department of Mysteries. Almost a month had passed since Fudge\'s admission of Voldemort\'s return and almost every night Harry was suffering nightmares where he relived Sirius\', and occasionally Cedric\'s, death. The outcome being that Harry usually woke up a few hours after he had fallen asleep, tears falling down his cheeks and his body shaking from the dreams he had relived.

Luckily, one might say, Harry had not had any visions from Voldemort. A few days after Harry had arrived at number 4 Privet Drive, the guilt of his godfather\'s death combined with his anger and frustration at his own inability to block his mind from a Legimens attack, and the subsequent manipulation, led Harry to send Hedwig to Flourish and Blotts. In a short note to the manager of the store, Harry had requested a book from which he could learn Occumancy and several DADA and Duelling titles, specifying that the money for the purchases should be paid for out of his Gringotts vault.

This particular summer, Harry had been granted a lot more freedom from his relatives, mainly due to the threat that they had received from the Order (especially Moody) at King\'s Cross Station when they had come to pick up Harry from his fifth year at Hogwarts. So much so, they had taken to avoiding Harry as much as possible, not that it was much different to what he normally experienced at the Dursleys, however Harry barely noticed, nor did he take much advantage of the situation. So wrapped up was he in his feelings of guilt over the events at the Ministry and helplessness over the contents of the Prophesy, Harry was usually found either brooding or studying.

The warning, however, was particularly fortunate when one morning Hedwig and two other post owls arrived at breakfast in the Dursley\'s kitchen, with the books Harry had ordered. Uncle Vernon, his face rapidly turning purple, started shouting at Harry about \'those damn owls\' and was threatening him with being locked up in his room when he was reminded about the \'warning\' from Aunt Petunia. At this, Uncle Vernon paled and in a terse voice told Harry, that in the future the owls should go directly to his room, and quickly left for work. Harry did not bother to reply, too busy gathering his purchases, and left the kitchen without eating to return to the solitude of his room, where he began on the \'Guide to Occumancy\'
Casting his thoughts back to the present, Harry gave a soft sigh and decided to fall into a light meditation. After the dreams, more often than not he would be unable to go back to sleep, and thus would spend the rest of the night either reading up on useful spells or writing letters to the Order and his friends. The worry and pity evident in some of the letters Harry had received so far this summer made him feel very uncomfortable. Mentions of Sirius\' death and statements such as \'don\'t blame yourself\' and \'it\'s not your fault Harry\' fed his anger at himself and perhaps irrationally, to the writer of such letters themselves. Harry oconalonally wondered to himself whether he would be able to cope with living at turrourrow or Grimmald Place. He suspected that Hermione would take the first opportunity available to get him to talk about how he was feeling and how he was coping concerning the events at the Ministry … and about Sirius. Mrs Weasley, instead, would fuss over his appearance. Normally the Dursleys would ration the amount of food Harry ate, but this summer he was free to eat however much he liked. The only problem being that Harry had lost his appetite. His relatives did not notice nor were they bothered by his small weight loss, after all in their eyes, food was provided. Harry knew that Mrs Weasley would not understand that he simply was not that hungry anymore, that he couldn\'t tell her about his worry over Voldemort and the guilt that ate at him. Other people would look at him with pity, something he especially hated.

However, his greatest fear was that there would be anger in their eyes directed at him, that they did blame him for what happened. He knew that talking about everything, well everything except the Prophesy would help him, but he just couldn\'t. The pain was still too much, the guilt too great. Harry just wanted to forget for a while, he wanted Sirius back; he wanted the impossible. Snape believed that Harry wanted the fame that came with the scar on his forehead, that he went looking for it. If he could, Harry would give it all up to know his parents, to have Sirius back in his life. Instead, all it had brought him was pain, loss, and loneliness. Those were Harry\'s last conscious thoughts as he managed to fall back asleep, the letter still unopened under his hand.

**********

Harry woke up a few hours later to the sound of the doorbell ringing followed by the shouts of his Uncle. \"What the hell are you lot doing here? We\'ve done as you said, the boy has assured me that he\'s been sending you letters and we\'ve had bloody owls all over the house for all our troubles. He\'s fine, so go away\" and on that note, the door was slammed shut.

\"Oh no\" groaned Harry as he got out of bed and stumbled to the bedroom door. He heard the doorbell ring again and as he hurried down the stairs, Harry saw Moody barge past a pale Uncle Vernon, wand in hand.

\"Now see here Dursley\" he growled, \"we came here to see Potter, not your ugly face, so you just be good and let us in.\" Turning to face Harry, Moody greeted him with \"Ah, there you are Potter. Didn\'t you warn this lot that we\'d pay you a visit today?\"

\"I didn\'t know you were coming. Is there something wrong? Is everyone alright?\" asked Harry.

\"Everything\'s fine Harry. Didn\'t you get our letter?\" a familiar voice replied. \"We sent it with Hedwig to say we were coming around this morning.\"

\"Professor Lupin!\" exmed med Harry. \"Hello! You sent a letter with Hedwig?\" Pausing for thought as the memories of last night came back to him, he let out a small groan. \"Oh, oops.\"

\"Oops?\" Lupin questioned, with a raised eyebrow, as he put several packages down on the floor in the hallway.

\"Yeah, I got the letter late last night but I fell back asleep before I opened it. I think it\'s still in my bed. Sorry\", finished Harry with a sheepish grin. To his surprise, Lupin did not comment, but instead, swept Harry into a hug, which he returned.

Moody grunted and turned his attention back onto Uncle Vernon, who was looking nervously between the wand and Moody\'s revolving eye. \"So, why are you here then?\" asked Harry curiously.

\"Don\'t you know what today is Harry?\" replied Lupin with a small grin, his hand remaining on Harry\'s shoulder, like a reassuring weight.

Any reply Harry was about to make was cut off by a crashing sound as Tonks tripped up just as she walked into the house and the packages that she was carrying flew from her arms. One in particular hit Uncle Vernon, but any shouting was quickly stopped as Moody pointed his wand at him. Harry watched with interest as Moody and Lupin cast levitating charms on the packages before Moody announced, \"Now why don\'t we go into the kitchen rather than crowd the hallway here\". He began directing the packages in that direction as the others followed with a red faced Uncle Vernon bringing up the rear.

\"Ah, sorry about that there\" apologised Tonks. \"Couldn\'t see the floor what with all those things I was carrying. Hey there Harry, how are you today?\"

\"Fine, but I don\'t…\" his reply was cut of by screams from inside the kitchen as Aunt Petunia and his fat cousin Dudley noticed the floating objects, followed by Moody and the rest of the group. Uncle Vernon had finally entered the kitchen and was now trying to get his wife and son out to safety, but Moody had noticed with his magical eye and stopped them.

\"Not so fast Dursley\" he growled at the retreating group. \"Aren\'t you going to stay and wish Potter here a \'Happy Birthday\'? Why don\'t you take a seat?\" he finished, with a smirk on his face.

\"My-my birthday, it-, is it, it\'s today?\" stuttered Harry.

\"You didn\'t know it\'s your birthday?\" came from an incredulous Tonks.

Harry blushed as he looked from one adult to the other. Lupin looked at him with a small understanding smile, while Moody seemed to be staring at the Dursleys, as if he wished he could turn them into rodents. Tonks shook her head, let out a rather unlady-like snort before grabbing Harry, and kissed him on the cheek. \"Happy 16th Harry. We couldn\'t let you celebrate this one on your own, after all it\'s an important one for the muggles, right?\"

A still shocked Harry replied, \"Umm, yeah, I suppose.\"

\"What\'s so special about turning 16 then?\" asked Moody.

\"Well, you can leave home when you\'re 16 in the muggle world\" began Harry, but was interrupted by Uncle Vernon.

\"Ha, well if you are 16 then, why don\'t you get out of our home then. It\'s not like we really want your freakishness h"
"

\"Now Mr Dursley\", Lupin started in a stern voice, \"you and your wife know that Harry has to stay here for summer, so we\'ll stop with the comments like that then?\"

Harry, used to his relative\'s attitude regarding him and his magical abilities, carried on regardless, while also listening amused at the comments Lupin made under his breath. \"I think you can buy cigarettes legally\" Better not, Mrs Weasley will have something to say about that! \"you can leave school as well\" definitely wouldn\'t want to give Snape the satisfaction of that! \"and you can legally have sex!\" finished Harry with a sly grin at his one time Professor, his green eyes bright with laughter, something that had been missing for quite a while.

Tonks burst out laughing, at the scandalous looks Harry received from the older Dursleys, as well as the look on Lupin\'s face when he realised what Harry had just said. Currently Lupin was occupied trying to stop coughing, a light blush staining his cheeks. \"Good one there Harry, although I think Remus might disagree with me!\" she choked out.

Moody\'s lips were twisted into what Harry presumed was a grin, while his magical eye was revolving in its socket, most likely looking for any intruders outside the house. Lupin, having gained a measure of control though still blushing slightly, asked the amused birthday boy whether he\'d like to open his gifts now. Harry was otoo too happy to oblige and opened a large square box Lupin pushed over to him. Inside was a beautiful iced hdayhday cake from Mrs Weasley. Smiling, Harry asked everyone whether he or she would like a slice. Of course, the Dursleys declined with a disgusted look at both the wizards and the cake. Harry, however, noticed that Dudley\'s piggy eyes were firmly stuck on the box containing the cake. After he had cut a slice for the three guests and himself, he went back to the presents that Tonks and Lupin had bought with them.

Harry was shocked at the number of gifts on the table. He was sure he didn\'t know enough people, and this year there wouldn\'t be one from Sirius … shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts from his mind, put a smile on his face and took the next gift from Tonks. Opening it, he found a book titled \'Quidditch: The English Lions\', from Ron. Unsurprisingly Hermione\'s present was also a book, \'Curses, Hexes and Jinxs for the Discernible Dueller\'. \"That should be useful to use against Malfoy if he tries to hex me again\" he mused out loud, and put it aside with the small heap of sweets he had received from Ginny as well as Neville and Luna.

Next, he was handed a small box that was curiously warm to the touch. Opening the card that was attached to the box, Harry recognised the messy scrawl as being Hagrid\'s handwriting.

Dear Harry,
Happy 16th!
I recently came across this egg and thought you might like it. I had the Headmaster put a warming charm on the box and egg \'til it hatches, but I don\'t know when that\'ll be. I\'m not entirely sure what kind of egg it is though, it looks kind of familiar, but it\'ll be a nice surprise when it hatches Harry!
If them Muggles aren\'t treating you right let me know (or Moody, I swear he wants to hex them!)
Hope you have a good day and all,
Hagrid
 

\"What is that?\" inquired Tonks as Harry opened the box to peek at the mysterious egg.

\"It\'s from Hagrid\", started Harry. \"I don\'t know if this a good thing or not, but he says he\'s not sure what type of egg it is. What do you think?\"

Tonks just rolled her eyes, obviously used to Hagrid\'s fascination with strange animals. Lupin looked curiously into the box, but seemed none the wiser for it. \"Well, I don\'t recognise it either. But I can tell you this Harry, it\'s definitely not a dragons egg\" at which Harry grinned at Lupin, \"or something of that ilk. I don\'t think it\'s dangerous. Then again, you won\'t know until it\'s hatched. It could be some sort of bird I suppose, or maybe a snake, but then it\'d be a rather large one then\" he mused. \"But you wouldn\'t have problems if it was then would you? Moody, do you recognise it at all?\"

\"I don\'t know lad, it isn\'t my area, but if I were to guess, I\'d say its some sort of bird\" replied Moody from where he was watching the Dursleys, who were either whimpering or silent with shock at the mention of dragons.

\"Well you may as well put it aside and keep an eye on it then, it doesn\'t look like it\'ll hatch for a while yet, so your safe. Besides, if it\'s big and scary, it\'ll give Moody and I something to do! Now come on, there are more presents to open!\" came from an impatient Tonks, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Next came presents from Bill and Charlie Weasley. Bill had sent him a wand holster, which was met with approval from Moody, who had told Harry off the previous year when he had gone to put his wand in his back pocket. Charlie had sent him a necklace of sorts. \"Is that a dragon\'s tooth?\" exclaimed an excited Tonks when she saw what Harry was curiously examining. It was a tooth of some sort, most likely from a dragon, due to the second eldest Weasley\'s work with dragons, which was threaded onto a black leather thong. However, there were two gems somehow embedded in the tooth, an emerald and underneath it was a sapphire.

\"It\'s beautiful\" breathed Harry. It reminded him of the Hungarian Horntail from the first Task in the Triwizard competition. The two wizards and one witch all chuckled when Harry read the small note from the two brothers, telling him that while they knew their mother wouldn\'t approve of a fang earring like Bill\'s, but hoped that the necklace would be okay. With that, Harry immediately put it on, the weight of the tooth hanging comfortably from his neck.

\"Going for the rebellious look Harry?\" teased Tonks.

Harry flashed a quick grin at Lupin as he replied to Tonks, \"Why? Don\'t you think it suits me?\"

\"Oh definitely not!\" she exclaimed. \"What with the geeky glasses and clothes. You need something more flash there Harry.\" By this point, Tonks was looking as if she would almost burst with excitement. Harry raised his eyebrow at her behaviour before looking at Lupin hoping for an explanation.

\"Well you see, several people at the Order got together and we decided to get you some things\" he started, but Harry\'s attention was drawn to Tonks, who had whipped out her wand and was levitating several soft bundles over to him.

\"What Remus here means to say is that we saw what you\'ve been wearing, and quite frankly Harry, it sucks!\" Tonks exclaimed. She grinned at an embarrassed Harry, her wide grin, and green hair adding to the manic look on her face. \"We can\'t have a young good-looking lad like you walking around, looking like … well you know. Besides, I bet you haven\'t had any new clothes, especially from this lot\", she finished with a dark look at the Dursleys. At this, Uncle Vernon lost his temper again.

\"We gave the boy a roof over his worthless head, we\'ve fed him and spent who knows how much on him, so who the hell are you to tell us how to treat him\" he shouted.

\"Those clothes are perfectly fine when that boy was given them\" retorted Aunt Petunia. \"After all, why bother buying him clothes, especially when he\'d probably do some freakish thing to them anyway and ruin them\" she finished with a sniff.

At this, Moody decided that he had heard quite enough, and he cast a silencing spell on the Dursleys, leaving the three muggles gaping like goldfishes. Meanwhile Harry was busy pulling various items of clothing out of the various packages while Lupin and Tonks looked on with amusement.

Harry sorted through the clothing, finding trousers and T-shirts amongst it all that actually were his size. As he unwrapped a package containing shirts, he said out loud, \"This is too much. I can\'t take this, I mean, how much must all this have cost. It\'s too much!\"

Lupin, in his typical calm reassuring manner replied, \"Don\'t worry about that. Lots of people put a bit in and well, we ended up with all that. Besides, it\'s your birthday! You probably haven\'t ever been spoiled, so we\'re starting now. I think some of the people at the Order felt sorry you had to stay here for the summer. You should accept the present for what it is Harry\".

Harry knew that Lupin was right but it felt so strange. After all, he wasn\'t used to things like this. The most expensive thing he could remember receiving was his Firebolt from Sirius in his Third Year, which was currently in his room after being returned after the demise of Umbridge. Harry\'s roaming hands came across another pair of trousers and he spoke up in a rather strained voice \"Ummm, Professor? Tonks? Who exactly bought these things? I mean, I think you\'ve got my size right and all, but who would buy me a pair of LEATHER trousers!\"

Lupin\'s amber eyes held a mischievous glint, while a smirking Tonks answered a crimson-faced Harry. \"Ooo, I was wondering what Bill was upto? He disappeared and then handed me a wrapped package and wouldn\'t tell me what he bought, even when I threatened to hex him. I was worrying we might have bought the same thing, but I like his taste!\" Pouting at the birthday boy, she asked, \"So Harry, are you going to try those trousers on for me then?\"

Coughing to cover his surprise, Harry managed to stutter out an apology to Tonks while turnindeepdeeper shade of red as he heard the sound of laughter from the other two wizards. Tonks merely shrugged and told him, \"Well, I suppose I\'ll let you off, but mind you wear them for some hot date with your next girlfriend mind!\" and gave him a kiss on the cheek. To cover his embarrassment, Harry asked who had bought all the clothes so that he could thank them later.

To his utter amazement the list included Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill, Charlie and the Twins, Kingsley, several other witches and wizards, and Professor McGonagall (at which Harry gaped at Lupin, who replied that she felt he had an image to project at school and she thought those rags he had been wearing were utterly unsuitable!). Finally, there were themselves, Remus and Tonks, who had also bought most of the clothes. Harry was so overwhelmed by the generosity of the clothes that he sat in shock for a moment before jumping up and hugging Tonks and Lupin, all the while repeating his thanks.

Before Harry sat back down, Hedwig and another owl came flying in through the open kitchen window. Uncle Vernon, who was still mute, got up out of his chair as if to remove the owls but quickly sat back down with the rest of his family as Moody pointed his wand at him again. Harry untied the parcel and unwrapped it as Lupin offered the tired birds some water and bacon.

\"I thought we got all of Potter\'s presents at Headquarters\" remarked Moody. \"Who\'s that from?\"
Quickly scanning the card that came with the parcel, Harry grinned at the other three. \"It\'s from member of the DA. I don\'t believe it. It says that most of them got Outstanding in their exams and they decided to send me a thank you gift. Wow\". He ripped off the wrapping paper and looked at the two books on Advanced DADA.

\"Congratulations Harry,\" replied Lupin, smiling at him. \"Between the four of us though, Professor McGonagall told me that the Fifth Years in the DA got the highest marks in their DADA OWL exams and the NEWT students also did very well. That\'s something to be proud of\" he praised.

\"Thanks, but we all agree that you were the best teacher we had\", replied Harry as he accepted another package from a blushing werewolf. Frowning slightly, Harry held up a full-length black dragonskin coat, and a rectangular box fell out from the inside the coat.

\"Who\'s that from Harry?\" asked Tonks curiously.

Reading the note attached to the box, Harry realised that the coat and box were from Fred and George Weasley.

Hey Harry (our wonderful Investor),
Happy 16th Birthday mate.
Hope you like the coat. After all wred red and Forge, owner of Weasley\'s Wizarding Wheezes, can\'t have our prized Investor wearing those plebeian things that \'normal\' people wear, so in the tradition started with our own drakin kin jackets, we present you with your very own, finest quality, dragonskin coat of your own! (We thought black would be better, more intimidating! However, if Charlie asks, we didn\'t buy it! He\'s already sent us a howler about our jackets.)
As you may have also noticed dear Investor, we have included a second present. The box has been enchanted so that if you are in need of a \'Canary Cream\' or one of our fireworks for example, all you have to do is think of the prank you want to play and something suitable will appear in the box! We got the idea from the Room of Requirement, isn\'t it great. That box is the only one we made especially for you, since you were generous enough to help us start up! Thank you so much, come and visit the store soon!
Gred and Forge, Owners of WWW.
 

\"Umm, it\'s from Fred and George. Apparently, Charlie\'s been giving them grief over their jackets, so they\'ve warned me to be careful\", Har Harry laughing.

\"But the box is empty. What’s it supposed to hold?\" quizzed Tonks as she peered into the box, looking as if she expected something to jump out at her. Harry explained that the box worked on the same principles at the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts and took the box from Tonks to demonstrate. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on skipping a torturous Potions lesson with Snape, opened the box, pulled out a Skiving Snack, and handed it to Tonks who seemed quite impressed.

Harry looked at the large pile of presents that he had already unwrapped. He couldn\'t believe the generosity of his friends, but the part of him that was missing Sirius weighed heavily on him. He couldn\'t help thinking that he would have given up all his entsents just to have him back, alive, and in his life. He knew it was selfish, but he couldn\'t help it, he missed Sirius so much and it was entirely his fault. Moody, who had been calling out his name, jerked him from his thoughts.

\"Sorry, I was a million miles away. What did you say?\"

\"Well Potter, what with everyone running around for your birthday, I thought I better get you something\", he said. \"Mind you, I wasn\'t going to spend galleons on anything silly, may as well get you something useful after all. Besides, I hear you fancy being an Auror right?\"

\"Uh well yes, I was thinking about it, but I don\'t know if I\'ll get the grades for it\" replied Harry. \'Or if I\'ll still be alive then\' he added mentally.

\"Well, we\'ll find out soon enough I suppose, but you\'ve got decent reflexes, and a good head on you when you use it. Anyway here you are Potter, but don\'t go telling people about this\" as he put a small box on the table. With a wave of his wand, the box grew into a trunk. It was similar to the one Moody had been trapped in for most of Harry\'s Fourth Year, except rather than 7 locks, it only had 4. \"And don\'t either of you two say anything either or I\'ll hex your mouth shut for a week\" he threatened as grins appeared on their faces.

\"Wow. Moody, are you sure?\" asked Harry as he examined the trunk. It was the darkest blue with gold locks and Harry knew that he could fit everything in with lots of room to spare. His eyes were drawn to a small metal plate and he raised his eyebrow as he read the engraving which simply said \'Harry Potter\'. \"Well, I suppose I\'ll have to take it, after all, there is only one Harry Potter right?\" he said.

Tonks chuckled and with a sly smile at Moody, she whispered in Harry\'s ear, \"you know, we all suspected he had a soft spot for you Harry. Did you know he wouldn\'t tell anyone if he got something for? So? Some people thought he was doing a Snape and was going to ignore your birthday\". Harry saw Moody move to point his wand at Tonks, who held her hands up and stood back up. Lupin cleared his throat, smiled at Harry, and nervously slid his present across the table.

Opening the gift, Harry ran his fingers over the fabric. It was a dark shade of green, rich in colour with a delicate gold and silver trim design, which reflected the light well. Standing up, Harry held up the dress robe and his mouth fell open in admiration. There was a dragon stitched with the same gold and silver threads on the robe. The head of the dragon was found on the right hand side, at the front of the robe, just under the neckline. The dragon\'s neck twisted around the side of the robe, partly obscured by the sleeve where it met the body which lay on the back of the robe. The dragon\'s tail snaked out from the back and curled up around the bottom of the robe. \"Professor\", whispered Harry, \"it\'s beautiful\". He carefully folded up the robe and then grabbed Lupin in a hug. \"Thank you\" he told him as Lupin returned the hug.

\"You know, all things considering Harry, you should call me Remus, or if you prefer, Moony\" he told Harry after they had separated.

\"I\'ll try, I\'m used to you as a professor though\" said Harry.

\"But you call Mad-Eye there, Moody\" countered Tonks.

\"But I didn\'t actually teach him, it was that Barty Crouch Jr\" Moo Moody.

\"Yes, well, leaving that, how about we pop all your presents in your new trunk for now and take it up to your room? sur sure the Dursleys would like their kitchen back\". Lupin\'s statement drew their attention to the mostly forgotten Dursleys, who had watched Harry unwrapping his presents with wide disbelieving eyes. They were currently caught between glaring and sulking, but were obviously much too afraid of the wizards to do anything. \"Now, I\'ll just remind you of the talk we had at the train station. We don\'t want to hear of any bad treatment towards Harry going on, trust me, you don\'t want to see me on one of my \'wilder d'\" '\" he finished. With that, he levitated the trunk out of the kitchen and up the stairs into Harry\'s bedroom leaving Moody and Tonks to deal with the Dursleys once they had been unjinxed.

**********

Closing the door after Harry had stepped into the room Remus sat down on the bed, and Harry sat down next to him, hands clasped in his lap. \"Harry, I have a few things I need to talk to you about\" he said. \"Firstly, I don\'t mean to nag at you, but have you been eating?\"

\"Yes, I have\", Harry replied.

Lupin raised his eyebrow at Harry, his expression clearly saying that he didn\'t believe Harry.

\"What about you? Have you been eating because you\'re not exactly a normal weight either\" Harry snapped.

With a self-depreciating smile, Lupin shook his head. \"No, I admit, I sit down at mealtimes, but I\'m lucky if I eat half of it. Molly\'s going spare, she doesn\'t know what to do with me. I think she might suspect I\'m insulting her cooking by not eating\" he finished with a small chuckle before looking at Harry again.

With a sigh, Harry admitted \"same here. I just don\'t seem to finish meals. I\'m just not hungry. I can\'t stop thinking about Si-him, reading seems to be the only thing that can distract me at the moment.\"

Remus held the smaller boy in a loose hug. He could see the tiredness, guilt, and the pain reflected Harry\'s face. He knew it was mirrored in his face as well. \"Harry. I\'ll make you a promise. I\'ll eat dinner each night if you will as well. Okay?\"

\"Resorting to bribery now?\"

\"If I have to\" came the reply.

Harry got off the bed and began pacing in the small bedroom. \"I\'m not some kid you know. I haven\'t been one for a long time. Not anymore. I don\'t need someone to tell me what to do\" he told Remus angrily.

\"I know that\" responded Remus in a sad voice. \"I\'m not going to, nor do you want me to. I can\'t be James, and I won\'t take over Sirius\". Harry hid the small flinch at his godfather\'s name. \"I don\'t know Harry, I\'m as lost as you are. I see you, a young man, growing up in a world of pain. I empathise with you. I don\'t know if you want a friend, or if I can be that person for you either. After all, you already have Hermione and Ron. I suppose I\'m saying I can try to understand. If you want you can shout at me, hit me, or talk to me, whatever you want, I\'ll try to be there for you. I make no promises to always be there or anything like that, after all it\'s a promise all to easy to break and I don\'t want to hurt you any more than you have been. Besides, you still haven\'t answered my original question\" he finished.

Harry stopped pacing as he thought about what Remus had said before turning around to face his one-time professor, his green eyes filled with a mixture of desperation and understanding. \"Can you treat me as an adult and not a child? Can you tell me the truth when I ask questions?\" he demanded.

Remus sat on the bed in silence, carefully considering Harry\'s words before replying. \"I can\'t treat you as an adult because you aren\'t one yet. You\'re still growing up, still fighting, not to find your place in the world because I think that\'s already been thrust upon you, whether you wanted it or not, but to find out who you are. Nor are you old enough to fully cope with the consequences that come with being an adult\".

Any protest Harry would have made was stopped by the fierceness in the older man\'s amber stare. \"I can, however, treat you as the young man I see. I recognise the experiences you have undergone and understand that it has made you emotionally older than your 16 years and I will respect you for that, what you have and will have to go through and I hope to treat you accordingly. I won\'t lie to you, but I may not always be able to tell you the truth when you want me to. That is something you must come to accept and not just of me. It\'s a childish trait; the world isn\'t made up of black and white, truths and lies, as you have already experienced Harry. I will be there for you, to help you understand if you need it, to carry your burdens for you if you want it. I won\'t treat you like a child, that much I know. However, tomorrow has yet to come, and we don\'t know what it will bring\".

Remus stood up and walked over to Harry, his hand under Harry\'s chin tilting it upwards until their eyes met. \"I will stand by your side until I can no longer, and even then I will still be with you. I don\'t think you understand yet, but you draw people to you. They can\'t help but follow you\". The grip on Harry\'s chin tightened ever so slightly. \"Understand Harry, they follow out of their own free will. Not obligation, fame, or fear, like Voldemort inspires. You cannot blame yourself for that you cannot control. You have to understand that the Order, your friends, people, make their own decisions and if they are lost because of it, so be it. It cannot always be your fault. You do not control their actions, as they do not control yours. If your friends and loved ones die, they will still be with you, in your heart. For one so touched by death and pain, you have a remarkable amount of love to give and you inspire the same in others for yourself. It is a gift both rare and powerful, but I think you are one who can use it wisely. Can you accept that Harry?\" Breaking off from Harry\'s confused eyes, Remus returned to the bed and sat back down. \"So, do we have a deal?\" he repeated.

\"What? Oh, umm, er, yes?\"

Remus chuckled, lifting the serious mood, \"I don\'t think it was a question, but I\'ll take what I can get\".

\"Huh?\"

\"Eating at dinner?\" Remus reminded. \"Come on now Harry. Besides, can you imagine Molly if we both stay at Headquarters looking as thin as we both are? Which is something else I need to ask. Do you want to come over to Grimmald Place later this summer if the Headmaster gives the all clear? You don\'t have to, I can understand if you don\'t\" he finished.

\"I suppose I should. It\'s just being there, bringing back those memories. I can\'t forget he hated it there. That he was hurting having to stay there but I can do it. I have to do it. For Sirius, for my parents. For you\" he whispered. \"Especially since I asked you to treat me as an adult, I should stop being so childish about a house I suppose. Besides you\'ll be there, won\'t you?\" asked Harry.

\"Yes, I\'ll be around\" a warm smile on his lips. \"On a slightly more educational note, there\'s a small problem with the OWL results. Well, more like yours. Someone noticed that your results have been tampered with. It\'s not that big a deal so don\'t panic, they\'re rechecking them just in case, but you should get your results soon\". Harry nodded and sat back down next to the older man. \"Harry?\" Remus hesitantly began. \"I have one more present here for you, from Sirius\". Harry stared at Remus, his heart pounded in his ears. Harry felt a warmth filling him while at the same time tears formed unbidden is eis eyes.

\"I wished, you know, I\'d have given all this up just to have him back, but I didn\'t expect anything, I couldn\'t ask…\" he trailed off.

Remus smiled understandingly. \"He somehow managed to get you an open appointment at an Opticians, I believe that’s what they\'re called, in Diagon Alley, to be made at your convenience. You\'re supposed to get new glasses, and he specifically said you had to get contact lenses as well. You know, sometimes the muggles really know how to do a good thing. It\'s a pity some people don\'t try to understand. Anyway, Sirius said you might argue about the contacts, so he was trying different ways to persuade you to get them. I think he ended up with \'He\'s growing up into a handsome young man, and we wouldn\'t want to hide those eyes from the all those girls and even some of the boys at Hogwarts now would we? We wouldn\'t be doing our duty as Mauraders if we weren\'t causing some sort of mischief or distractions with any and all tools available, and I think Harry is it!\' I don\'t think he quite got what he wanted to say right, but he\'s correct, a new pair of glasses would do you wonders. We can get a unbreakable charm put on them as well\" he told Harry, who was caught between amusement and embarrassment at what his godfather had said.

Before either wizard could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. \"Remus!\" Tonks
yelled through the closed door. \"The Dursley\'s have left the house, I think Moody scared them off. Anyway we have to go, Moody\'s muttering in the kitchen and I think he might curse you if you take much longer. Sorry mate\" she finished and Harry heard her walk down the stairs, presumably to the kitchen.

\"Looks like I have to leave. Try and keep well, and remember, if you need to talk, just sme ame a letter. If you don\'t, send me a letter anyway\" grinned Remus, trying to distract Harry. Opening the door, Remus and Harry walked down the stairs until they reached the hallway and where Moody and Tonks were waiting.

\"Thank you for coming over this morning. I still can\'t quite believe I forgot my own birthday. Can you thank the Order for buying those clothes? It\'s still too much … but thanks\" said Harry gratefully.

\"Will do Harry\" replied Tonks cheerfully. With a wickedn, sn, she asked \"Can you make sure you pack those old clothes of yours and bring them to Headquarters? I want to make a small bonfire. You don\'t mind do you Harry. I swear though, if I see you wearing them again, I\'ll set fire to the clothes with you wearing them!\" she threatened.

\"Of course Tonks. Thanks\" and he hugged her before nodding to Moody. Turning to Remus, he gave him a small smile and hugged the werewolf again. He whispered a quiet \"Be safe Remus\" before letting go of the older man. He watched the three left number 4 Privet Drive and disappeared before closing the door and reing ing to his room. He spent the rest of the day organising his schoolbooks and other such items into separate compartmentshis his new trunk and sorting out the new clothes he now owned. He had a strong suspicion that Tonks had slipped in some items while Remus had not been looking. After all, why did he have a silk shirt or two! Shaking his head at the loveable yet strange metamorphagus\' behaviour, he settled down to start reading the Duelling book from Hermione. Not once did the Dursleys disturb him that day and remembering his deal with Remus he finished his dinner before returning to his room to carry on reading his new book.

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I apologise in advance for any mistakes, spelling, grammatical or otherwise. It is all my fault since this is unbeta\'d. Please review and send any helpful comments, all will be appreciated. Any flames, however, will be, in all honesty, disregd. Td. Thank you for reading!
SStar