A/N: So. It's been nearly four years since I last updated this. To anyone still waiting for this, I am completely embarrassed and so, so, sorry. Would anyone believe me if I lied and said I was kidnapped all this time and have only just now managed to access a computer? Yeah, I didn't think so. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please excuse me while I go crawl in a hole and attempt to hide my shame.

Chapter 7

The first week Harry spent at the Burrow passed in a blur. Madame Pomfrey had instructed him to take it easy (and had made sure to tell Mrs. Weasley too) so, he and Ron spent most of their time inside, but there was always something to do.

They played endless rounds of exploding snap and wizard's chess and eventually on one particularly boring day Harry even taught them all the muggle game of hide-and-go-seek. Harry was glad they didn't find it too childish, and he felt something mend inside of him at finally being able to play one of the first games Dudley had ever excluded him from with his friends.

They played for hours, until the twins decided to spice things up by hiding in peculiar places and popping out screaming at anyone that walked by rather than just waiting to be found. Mrs. Weasley ended their game after they jumped out at her thinking that she was Percy and accidentally caused her to spill the fresh laundry.

The trip to Diagon Alley had gone much differently than Harry had expected. Getting lost in the Floo Network had been weird enough, but the encounter with the suddenly changed Draco Malfoy had really been strange.

Harry had watched feeling slightly disoriented as Draco Malfoy left Flourish and Blots. He had allowed himself to be ushered out of the shop by Mrs. Weasley and had turned to his two closest friends as soon as they were outside. "So, on a scale of one to ten exactly how sure are we that Malfoy hasn't been replaced with a pod person? Because right now I would probably vote negative seven."

Ron had looked bemused by Harry's muggle reference, but Hermione had laughed loudly. "I agree he is acting extremely odd, but it's still highly unlikely that he's an alien clone." Ron (having understood the reference then) had nodded in agreement.

"You're right 'Mione, it's much more likely that he's up to something." Ron had said, narrowing his eyes in the direction which the Malfoys had left in. "We should keep an eye on him this year. It must be pretty bad if he's trying that hard to throw off our suspicions."

Harry and Hermione had agreed, and Harry had tried to ignore the one possibility none of them had voiced. Maybe Malfoy really had changed over the summer. Still, Harry had decided, it wouldn't hurt to keep a close eye on him. If he actually had changed it would be evident soon enough.

At the end of the day it had been sad to see Hermione go, but at least school would be starting soon. She had been extremely understanding and sympathetic about Harry's abuse and had thankfully not asked too many questions. She had however made it clear she was willing to listen if Harry ever needed to talk.

Finally, two days after they had gone to Diagon Alley, it had been a full week since Harry had woken up in the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey visited the Burrow and gave Harry a check-up and reluctantly cleared him to fly. Mrs. Weasley still made them wait a day to have the actual Quidditch scrimmage they had been planning. The twins had even blackmailed Percy into playing so that there would be an even number of players, though there was no telling what kind of dirt they had on him.

As soon as breakfast was finished the next morning everyone ran (or in Percy's case, was dragged) out to the orchard by the Weasley's house to play. Harry and Ginny were seekers Fred and George doubled as beaters and keepers while Ron and Percy were chasers.

They didn't have the proper balls, except for an old practice snitch that came when you whistled to it so that it couldn't fly away and end up in the nearby muggle village, so they used substitutes. They had an old football that Mr. Weasley had been hiding in his shed of muggle things that they used for the quaffle and Fred and George just pelted apples at the others instead of bludgers.

Harry was pleasantly surprised to find Ginny was actually pretty good at seeking so he didn't have to go too easy on her. (Although, she still couldn't manage to speak to or in front of him.) He was still a lot better than she was though, and Harry had just taken a mad dive to catch the snitch and had barely left any room at all to pull back up when he realized they had a spectator.

The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with grey. - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry and the others, who had likely noticed the man while Harry was diving, landed and approached the man together. When they reached him the man said, "For a moment I forgot and thought I was watching a young James. Then I remembered even James wasn't that good. And anyways, James was a Chaser."

Harry's heart swelled slightly at the comment the stranger made. He paused for a moment, "I'm sorry sir but, who are you?"

The man ducked his head with a sad smile. "I don't expect you would remember me. Hello, Harry. My name is Remus Lupin. I'm your godfather."

Harry had never been a truly shy person but, he suddenly felt very nervous. Before Hogwarts, Harry had spent many years imagining a long-lost relative who would come and save him from the Dursleys, now faced with exactly that, he had no idea what to say.

Professor Dumbledore had assured him that his godfather had wanted him for many years and, Harry did believe him, but there was still a small part of him that worried. What if Lupin decided he didn't like Harry and then was upset that he was stuck with Harry? What if the problem wasn't the Dursleys and simply that Harry was undeserving of familial love?

Still, Harry was in Gryffindor for a reason, so he took a deep breath and offered the man a skittish smile and a handshake. "Hello, Mr. Lupin. It's very nice to meet you."

Lupin's smile widened as he grasped Harry's hand, and he suddenly looked much younger. "Please Harry, call me Remus. Molly has made us some tea if you would join me inside. I believe we have a few things we need to discuss." The man was thankfully able to keep the final sentence from sounding too ominous. Although, Harry was still a bit uneasy as he and the others followed Remus back to the house.

Once inside the Weasley children were herded off by their mother to give Harry and Remus a bit of privacy. Harry was grateful that Ron clapped his shoulder and whispered, "Good luck mate. He seems pretty nice." encouragingly on his way out.

Harry sat in a squashy armchair and watched as Remus fixed their tea. He preferred it very sweet, but only asked for one sugar because he didn't want the man to think him childish. He felt a bit silly though when Remus put three sugars into his own. It was too late now though, so he sipped at it politely trying his best not to visibly blanch while he waited for his godfather to speak.

"Harry, I..." Remus trailed off and shook his head. "I've waited years to be able to speak to you, and now I've no idea what to say." He smiled ruefully.

Harry laughed. "I think I know the feeling."

"I guess we should get the important things out of the way and then we can get to know one another." Remus sighed and cleared his throat.

"Professor Dumbledore has of course informed me of your treatment at the Dursleys, and I will not ask you to speak to me about it until you are ready. He has assured me that he will be punishing them discretely and has convinced me to let you return under Professor Snape's watchful eye, but I wanted you to know that I fully intend to make them pay legally for what they've done to you the instant you turn seventeen and we no longer have need of them. They will not get away with this. I feel I should have pushed Dumbledore harder to let me see you, but it is far too late now. I am so sorry Harry."

Harry swallowed deeply and looked at his feet. He wasn't used to people caring so much about what happened to him. It was especially bizarre to have a stranger so concerned. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.

"It's fine Sir. Professor Dumbledore said that you had asked for me loads of times and that he's the one that decided I would be better off with the Dursleys. If that's true, then it really wasn't your fault. I mean, who expects Professor Dumbledore to be wrong?" Harry flushed as he realized what all he had said. What if Professor Dumbledore had only said that stuff to be nice, and Remus didn't actually want him?

Before Harry could get himself too worked up with doubt, Remus noticed and reassured him. "I do want you Harry. Very much. I write Professor Dumbledore every month and ask about you, and every year on your birthday and on Christmas I ask him to reconsider letting me see you. His reasons are always very sound, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to be in your life. Finally, this year when I wrote him in June, he said he would set up a meeting later this year, but then this happened. I am very glad to finally get to meet you, though I would give anything for it to be under better circumstances."

Harry was very relieved to hear Remus say those things, but part of him thought maybe it would have been better if Remus hadn't known Harry existed either. Then he wouldn't have had so many years to build up an idea of who Harry should be, and he wouldn't be disappointed if Harry couldn't live up to it.

Before Harry could dwell too long on his perceived shortcomings, Remus spoke again. "There is one thing that I feel you should know about me before you agree to see me." Remus shifted and cleared his throat uncomfortably. The man very obviously didn't want to voice whatever it was he was about to say. Harry was just about to try to give him an out when Remus breathed out a deep huff and said bluntly, "Harry, I'm a werewolf."

There was an awkward silence for a moment while Harry sat shocked. He was surprised, Harry had never met a werewolf before, but he was also a bit confused. Harry wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say, or why Remus thought that his being a werewolf would make any difference to Harry at all.

Eventually, when it became obvious Harry wasn't going to say anything, Remus began to elaborate. "I know that you've not been in the wizarding world for long Harry, but I'm sure that you must have heard at least some of the prejudice against werewolves, and I would understand completely if you would rather not be around me." The man said all of this while staring intently at his shoes.

Oh, Harry thought in saddening clarity, poor Remus. He seems far too used to this. Harry suddenly realized that he didn't know very much about werewolves at all. They hadn't covered them in Defense Against the Dark Arts yet, and though Professor Binns had mentioned them a bit last year, it had really only been in passing and besides, History of Magic was more nap-time than study time for Harry. "You only turn on a full moon though, right?" Harry asked earnestly.

Remus blinked at Harry's question in surprise. He had obviously assumed that Harry was going to ask him to leave. "Yes. Though sometimes I can be a bit crabby on the days before, and a bit tired on the days after. Especially if I don't have any Wolfsbane Potion that month. Wolfsbane Potion," Remus explained having noticed Harry's confusion, "Is a potion which allows me to retain my human thoughts and feelings while I'm in my werewolf form. It can be quite difficult to come by sometimes, as it is an extremely hard potion to make. Thankfully though, Professor Snape has agreed to make it for me during my stay at Hogwarts."

Harry was twice as sad for Remus now, knowing that even though there was a potion that made Remus practically harmless, the man had still expected to be turned away. "Remus, do you know why the Dursleys hurt me?"

Remus looked up at Harry in surprise. Harry stared back evenly. After a moment Remus shook his head sadly. "I can't imagine why anyone would hurt a child Harry."

"They hurt me because I have magic. Because I'm different from them. Because they are scared of what they don't understand." Understanding seeped across Remus's face. "I don't care if you're a werewolf Remus. As long as you're a nice person, you could be a cross-dressing alien from Mars and I wouldn't care."

Suddenly Remus burst out laughing. He seemed to be a bit hysterical, and it was a long moment before he was able to compose himself enough to say, "You are so like Lily it's scary. When she found out, she said almost the exact same thing to me, except she said the moon instead of Mars." He smiled at Harry with unshed tears in his eyes. "She would be so proud of who you are. They both would."

Harry was used to being compared to his father, but no one had really ever told him anything about his mother until now. So far, the only things he had heard about her, was that she was a very bright witch and that Harry had inherited her eyes. He hadn't even known what either of his parents had looked like until a few months before, when Hagrid had given Harry the photo album he had put together. Harry wasn't very sure what to say. He wanted to bombard the man with questions, but he didn't want to seem rude.

In his loss at what to do, Harry forgot how awful his tea tasted and took a very large swig. Not only was it far too strong for his taste, it had long sense gone cold. It was all Harry could do to keep from spitting it all over the floor. His face must have made obvious exactly what had happened, because Remus once again started laughing. Thankfully though, once they both composed themselves, Remus vanished what was left of Harry's cup.

"So, Harry, how many sugars do you really take in your tea? I thought one was a bit mature for your age." Remus teased gently.

"Three. Sometimes even four. I'm not actually very fond of tea." Harry admitted while smiling ruefully. Remus chuckled again and fixed him another, much more suitable cup.

"Now, I'm afraid I have to leave soon, but before I go, I have something I would like to give you." He reached into his robes and pulled out a plain silver chain with two rings dangling from it. "These were your parent's wedding bands. After their deaths, Professor Dumbledore gave these to me to hold until you were old enough to have them." Harry felt as if he had swallowed the snitch again, like he had in his first Quidditch match. He blinked back a few tears and reached out tentatively as Remus handed the rings and chain over.

"In light of recent events though, I've added something to them. They are now portkeys. Your father's band will take you to Dumbledore's office, the necklace will take you to myself, and in case the moon is full or I am indisposed for some other reason, your mother's band will take you to Professor Snape. To activate them you just tap one with your wand and say the password. Your father's ring is Prongs, the necklace is Moony, and your mother's ring is Lily." Remus said, gesturing to the rings to make sure Harry knew which was which. He continued, "It is imperative that you keep these with you at all times Harry, and only use these when you absolutely need them. Also, don't tell too many people about them or Professor Dumbledore and I could get into trouble. We weren't exactly authorized to make these, but we both agreed that we didn't ever want you to be stuck in a dangerous situation like earlier this summer again."

Harry put the necklace on and nodded solemnly. "Thank you." He said earnestly. The only thing of his parents' that Harry had ever had before was his father's Invisibility Cloak. "But wait," something suddenly occurred to Harry. "What about the underage magic trace?"

"It won't activate it, since technically, you're not doing any magic. But you should still only use it in emergencies." Remus stressed as he stood. "Now, I'm afraid I have to be going. There are some errands I need to finish to prepare for the upcoming school year. I believe Professor Dumbledore has already informed you that I will be Madame Pomfrey's assistant this year in lieu of an apprentice. If I don't see you before school starts, please come and visit me after classes on September 2nd."

Harry rose too, and Remus clasped him warmly on both shoulders. "I'm so glad that I've finally gotten to meet you Harry. Your parents really would be proud of how you've grown up." Remus looked Harry over for a minute, and Harry debated giving the man a parting hug, but before he could decide, Remus pulled back and went to bid the Weasleys goodbye. Harry smiled at how well the meeting had gone and went to find Ron so that he could tell him about it.