The ashes under his feet were cold; the air felt like it was burning against his skin. There was no wind, no plants. There wasn't even a sun, not a single breathing being. There was just the burning sky and the ground covered in ashes. Because there was nothing else to do, he walked. Each of his steps dug a hole in the ashes, but it was quickly filled again, so that once again the sea of ashes would be endless and undisturbed. The left was identical to the right and the back to the front. There was only the burning sky and the ground covered in ashes. He walked on…

Harry woke up in a start. The summer air was warm and sweat covered his body. Sitting up in his bed, he looked around him, his left hand absent-mindedly rubbing on his scar, though for once the nightmare had not been accompanied by the searing pain in his forehead which he had become used to. The room was dark and Harry could hear Ron snoring loudly on the other side of the room. He sighed heavily. Something about the night air made him feel restless. Careful not to wake Ron, the raven-haired boy got out of bed. He lightly walked across the room and opened the door. He stopped reflexively when it creaked. The raven haired boy stood for a few moments, listening intently. Thankfully, it seemed that nobody had heard it. He slipped through the door and closed it behind him.

The Burrow was empty at this time of the night. Harry usually didn't mind the dark much; courtesy of living in a cupboard for ten years. But now he felt that the lurking shadows were oppressive. As he reached the stairs he finally gave in to his fears and murmured Lumos. He told himself that it was better that way as it would not have been good if had fallen down the stairs which would surely have resulted in the whole house being woken up. The downside to this was that if someone came up now it would be difficult for them not to notice that he didn't have his wand with him.

Under the comforting ball of white light he had just cast, Harry walked down the stairs. The wooden staircase creaked quite a lot and each time it seemed to fill the night with noise equivalent to the roar of a dragon. Yet, nobody seemed to hear or wake up at the dreadful noise. Well, it probably wasn't that dreadful, Harry admonished himself, it just sounded dreadful to him because of this silence surrounding him. Perhaps the tension had something to do with it as well.

Harry reached the ground floor and stopped. Where was he going? He peered at the room that was faintly lit by the Lumos. The sofas and beat up armchairs which usually looked comfortable and welcoming, appeared cold and forbidding in the relative darkness. The fireplace was empty as it hadn't been used in a few months. Harry hesitantly took a few steps into the room before deciding to go in the kitchen. Normally he didn't go there much. It was Mrs Weasley's kingdom and children were usually not welcomed in it unless it was for chores. His attention was immediately drawn to the large window that occupied a large part of the wall in front of him. The garden was dark, only lit by the moon. Tonight was the last full moon. Tomorrow, it would start to wane. Tomorrow he would be fifteen.

He was sweating profusely now. In a corner of his mind, a little voice told him that maybe he should go and change out of his wet shirt. The voice felt distant though, and Harry found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from the white orb. His green eyes were fixed on the circle of dim light that seemed to simply float in the night sky. He stood there transfixed by the beauty of the milky light. Somewhere in the sitting room a clock stroke midnight. Happy birthday, Harry. As the thought crossed his mind he felt an overhelming pain all over his body. His body arched in pain. He gasped as he fell to his knees. His bones felt like they were melting. His muscles were screaming and his head felt like it had been filled with stone. And all the while the moon shone indifferently as the boy rolled in pain on the kitchen floor.

As the pain in his body subsided, the raven haired boy felt his left flank ache more violently than the rest of his body. His flesh was burning, following a thin line of fire. The pain spread from just over his waist line to the bottom of his rib-cage. He clasped his hand on the painful area, in an attempt to cool down the flesh. He gasped as the burning intensified.

All of a sudden it stopped. Harry lied on the floor, panting as if he had just run a marathon. He couldn't feel any pain anymore but the memory of it was still vivid. He got up slowly, grabbing the furniture for help. At last, he was on his feet. Once again, his eyes went to look at the moon. As he gazed upwards his restlessness grew. He wanted to go out there. He wanted to run and let the air ruffle his fur. The raven-haired boy didn't stop to think that he did not have a fur. In fact, he couldn't think properly, his mind a messy bundle of thoughts.

Harry got to the front door before he even knew he was on his way. The urge was becoming stronger with each step he took. He unconsciously held his breath as he opened the door. He inhaled deeply as he felt the air change about him. He could hear the ground under his feet humming joyfully and the summer breeze sliding along the trees. He could feel the magic pulsing around him. Exhilaration washed over him as the power of his surroundings echoed with his own. And then he knew. The change took him swiftly. It was quicker than he had thought possible and surprisingly painless. Overcome with the joy, the freedom of his new body, he leapt forward. He ran. Ran until his head was clear, ran until the urge had dimmed. He felt whole and free as he raced under the moon. It felt right; it was something he had always wished for, deep down in his heart. It had been buried so deeply he hadn't even known he had had those feelings. But now, it couldn't be clearer.

He slowed down as he neared a small lake. Well, it wasn't much of a lake anymore, more of a pond. The extremely hot summer they had had was responsible for the little water that was left. Harry trotted until his front paws were in the water. He lowered his eyes and looked at his reflection. The faint light of the moon seemed as bright as the sunlight to his canine eyes. He could see quite clearly the shape of the tall pitch black wolf standing in his place. His eyes were still the same emerald green and his fur was as messy as his hair had been. He smiled a wolf smile: jaws slightly parted and tongue sticking out.

He messed in the water for a little while. Rolling and yapping happily, engrossed in a game only the young wolf understood. He suddenly shot out of the water and ran. Never in his life had he been so happy. He halted brusquely and sticking his nose in the air howled his joy.

Harry woke up, the exhilaration of the night still fresh. How he had gotten in bed was a mystery, though. He couldn't remember going back to the Burrow. But then, it didn't matter that much. He stretched his human limbs. They felt weak and slow compared to his wolf body. He jumped of his bed and went to pick some clothes in his suitcase. He looked at himself in the small mirror stuck in the lid of the case. His green eyes shone brightly, they looked much greener without the glasses in between. It suddenly struck him that he was, indeed, not wearing his glasses. Yet he could see perfectly well. The raven-haired boy decided it was a side effect of what had happened the night before and left the matter aside.

As he stripped from his pyjama shirt, his eyes fell on a tattoo on his left flank. Odd, he was sure he hadn't had a tattoo yesterday…He suddenly remembered how that very area had burned the previous night. His fingers traced the intricate pattern of the black lines. The lines twisted around each other, forming Celtic-like patterns. And the various forms and runes hidden in them assembled into a sun in all its glory. It was beautiful; even though it was completely black it gave the impression of burning with hot red flames.

Harry finally looked away and put on a green shirt, effectively hiding the tattoo from view. He then took his bottom pyjama off and slipped on black jeans, throwing the sweaty pyjamas on the floor. Ron was still sleeping in the next bed so Harry left the room quietly shutting the door after him. He stopped for a second behind the door. Should he say anything about the tattoo or his transformation? He wanted to trust the Weasleys, but this felt too intimate to talk about. No, he decided, he wouldn't tell, at least not for now.

He appeared in the living room and greeted Mrs Weasley. The red-haired woman was the only one up and had been cooking breakfast. The rest of the family joined them soon after, Ron a noticeable last and the twins already pranking everyone. The day was spent playing Quidditch with Ginny, Ron, Fred and Georges, as well as Charlie. Hermione joined them in the garden after lunch, when she arrived. She didn't play with them and they soon stopped in order to spend some time with her, especially since Sirius and Remus had arrived as well. They had both come to celebrate Harry's birthday. Sirius had arrived as a dog but had turned back into himself as soon as he had reached the safety of the Burrow's wards.

The afternoon passed quickly, Harry and the Weasley children listening to Sirius' tale of the Marauder's time at Hogwarts and Hermione engaging in a conversation about dragons with a passionate Charlie and a distracted Remus. The werewolf darted furtive glances at Harry from time to time, paying little attention to the conversation. His cub's smell had changed since the last time he had seen him. The wolf inside him was growling sensing a powerful and potential enemy in the boy.

Dinner was as joyful as the afternoon had been. Remus was still glancing awkwardly at Harry. Sirius seemed to notice his discomfort and raised an eyebrow at him in a silent questioning. The werewolf just shrugged signalling his lack of knowledge on the matter. The black haired man didn't enquire further about it as Harry began opening his presents. There were a green knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley, books from Hermione, boxes of sweets from Ron, trick products from the twins, a knife which could open every lock from Sirius and a photo album with photos of his parents from Remus. When he opened the album, Harry smiled brightly and went to hug the werewolf tightly. The gesture surprised the man a little. He returned the hug with a big grin on his face.

Harry thanked everybody again for all the presents, which he put away to free some space for the cake that was now being cut by Mr Weasley. Remus decided not to dwell on the strange smell emanating from his cub too much and started discussing the Quidditch season with Ron and Sirius.

During the following weeks, Harry began to feel changes. They were very slight changes and he doubted that anybody else would notice. He had started to react upon instincts he never knew he had. Thankfully, he managed to control them which saved him from attacking the twins after they had suddenly Apparated behind him in order to surprise him. He also got surprisingly better at Wizard's chess; it shocked not only him but also Ron when he beat the red haired. He figured it was some kind of analysing ability that was growing in him, because he was getting better at judging people from their behaviours and words. He found that he could tell when the twins were lying or about to play a prank from their slight change in attitude. However what surprised him the most was when he discovered that he had seemingly developed a perfect memory. After that discovery, he eagerly started reading all the schoolbooks he owned, from the first year ones to the ones he had used the year before. He managed to surprise Hermione a few times with his new knowledge.

He was careful not to abuse the use of his recent skills, though. After he had won a game of Wizard's chess against Ron, he had made sure not to anymore. He managed to make it look like a fluke quite convincingly, by losing five times in row, to Ron's delight. As for Hermione, he only quoted Hogwarts a history a few times, knowing that the bushy haired girl would only see it as proof that he actually listened to her when she talked, which wasn't always true. He didn't really know why, but he felt compelled to hide his recent changes. He was wary of his friends' reactions. He kept telling himself that it was ridiculous and that if he couldn't trust Hermione and Ron, then he couldn't trust anyone. Yet, every time he tried to talk to them he found a convenient excuse to back out at the last minute.

Two weeks passed by and Harry had yet to tell his best friends about his new 'condition' and tattoo. He vaguely felt that it was better that way and wasn't remotely trying to change the situation. It was during the third week after Harry's birthday, that Mrs Weasley decided to make a trip to Diagon Alley in order to buy their school things. She had been delighted when Hermione and Ron had been made prefects. Harry was a bit jealous of his friends, but more than that he felt left out. He had had the feeling that his friends were growing more distant during the summer. Before his birthday, when he had been staying with the Dursleys, they had barely written to him. When he had arrived in Grimmauld Place, a day before they went back to The Burrow, he had learnt that both Hermione and Ron had been staying there and were well informed of the activities of a group led by Dumbledore called 'The Order of the Phoenix' which fought against Voldemort. After he'd realised just how much his friends had been hiding from him, he had felt extremely annoyed and had to restrain himself not to burst in anger. He had successfully managed to hide his annoyance and his anger had subsided as he spent the rest of the summer with them.

The whole Weasley family, Hermione and Harry, had assembled in front of the sitting room's fireplace. One by one they took a handful of Floo powder from the jar Mrs Weasley was holding, stepped in the fireplace, and disappeared in green flames after saying 'Diagon Alley' while releasing the powder. When they had all gotten to their destination they separated. Harry had managed to convince the Weasleys to let him shop on his own, since he needed to go to Gringotts to retrieve some money first anyway. He had to plead and beg, and promise that he would be extremely careful, but Mrs Weasley finally let him do as he wanted. He wasted no time and marched, without a glance to his friends, towards Gringotts. He felt the tension of the past weeks leave him as he separated from the group. Lately, he'd found that being near Ron and Hermione was increasingly difficult.

He walked in the Great Bank and approached one of the Goblins.

"Good morning." he said at the small creature perched on top of his desk. "I would like to take some money out of my vault."

The Goblin watched him carefully, his eyes flicking to the boy's forehead where the scar was faintly visible amidst the raven hair.

"May I see your key?"

Harry passed the small golden key to the Goblin and waited patiently as the creature examined it.

"Very well, Mister Potter, Gornuk will take you to your vault." said the goblin motioning to another.

The second Goblin stepped forward and took the key from his colleague.

"This way please." he called to Harry.

Gornuk led him to the carts and they both mounted one of them. The ride was as fast as Harry remembered it to be. Unlike Hagrid, Harry enjoyed the speed and crazy turns and didn't feel sick in the slightest. This earned him an appreciative glance from the Goblin as they stepped out of the cart.

"Vault 687." announced the Goblin.

He then inserted the little golden key inside a tiny keyhole placed at Goblin-height, which approximately at Harry's waist. There was a click as the key turned in the lock, followed by the sound of many devices uninstalling themselves before the door opened. Harry passed in front of the Goblin and entered the vault. He marched towards the closest pile of gold and gathered enough galleons to take care of his shopping and food expenses on the train. He placed the money in a pouch which he placed in his robe s' pocket and left the vault. The Goblin closed the vault's door and handed him back the key before taking the raven haired boy back to the surface.

After Gringotts, Harry decided to go to Madam Malkins to get new robes. He bought a few to replace those that had become too small and left for Flourish and Blotts. He spent some time in the bookshop looking at the titles and picked a few extra books that looked promising. He chose: Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up, which somehow reminded him of his own situation, and Spellman's Syllabary. After paying for his books, he went to pick Potions supplies and some owl treats for Hedwig. His last stop was, of course, Quidditch Quality Supplies. Harry examined all the new products of the shop, purposefully taking his time. It was with great regret that he left to meet up with the others.

When he joined the group, Ron started complaining about Harry having left, while Hermione watched him suspiciously. Feeling his usual discomfort settling in, Harry followed in silence, barely listening to the red hair's rambling. Remus and Sirius were supposed to come for dinner that evening. It was to be a full moon and they were to stay for dinner and then Apparate in an empty location for Remus' transformation.

The two men arrived soon after they had Flooed back from Diagon Alley. Mrs Weasley had immediately retreated to the kitchen while everyone else went to lounge on the sofas. Harry was quiet all through the evening. He wasn't the only one to be distracted though; Remus was also silent fiddling absent-mindedly with his battered shirt. The werewolf was unnerved by that unknown smell coming from his cub. It could smell it more strongly now, as the full moon approached. He didn't really understand what it was. It felt ancient somehow, similarly to how unicorns smelt ancient. Most races who had been around for a very long time gave that feeling. More recent races like werewolves smelled younger. Those rules, however, only applied to magical creatures; which Harry wasn't. Or was he? Remus was grateful for the distraction when Mrs Weasley called them to the table.

After dinner they went back to the sitting room. As the sun started to set and the moon to appear, Remus became more and more restless. He wasn't the only one however. Harry was also aware of the moon's closeness. He could feel it, the ripple of the air on his skin, the slight change of the wind, the light dimming, and more than anything the intense wilderness. He felt it in his flesh, his bones and all the way down to his soul. It was calling with such power that Harry didn't know how he could have missed it before. When the sun had completely set, the raven-haired boy couldn't fight the overwhelming power anymore and got to his feet. The sudden movement didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Sirius his voice full of concern.

The werewolf who had been distracted for a while now was called back to reality by the sudden silence and the concern in his friend's voice. He looked at Harry who had been sitting on an armchair on his right. The boy was standing. He was looking in the distance. Looking at the door, Remus realised. There was something horribly wrong here. Harry's eyes were distant, unfocused, his gaze never leaving the door. His eyes seemed a deeper green but that, Remus thought, was probably because he wasn't wearing his glasses.

"Cub?" called Remus worriedly, slowly rising from the sofa he'd been sitting on.

The raven-haired boy didn't seem to hear him. Without looking back he went to the door and walked out. Remus followed immediately. The others were left in a stunned silence until realisation hit them and they all hurriedly followed Harry and Remus. Harry hadn't stopped walking and he was now a little distance from the Burrow, Remus following after him while sending worried glances at the moon that was already high in the night sky. All of a sudden, Harry stopped. Remus stopped a few steps behind him. He was about to ask the boy what was wrong, when all of a sudden the boy's body started changing. It wasn't like a werewolf's transformation. There were no bones cracking or cries of pain; it was as if Harry's skin, flesh and bones were rearranging themselves into a new shape. The man watched as his best friend's son changed from a human child to a young black wolf with piercing green eyes.

Remus had watched the change with a kind of fascinated horror. He couldn't avert his gaze as the tall wolf turned around to face him. The emerald eyes peered into the brown ones. Then, the wolf extended his throat towards the sky and howled. It was a deep melodious howl which Remus immediately recognised as an invitation.

A sudden pain in his body brought the werewolf back to the harsh reality. He was changing. He fell down on his knees with a stifled groan. The pain was unbearable and soon he was crying in pain. The others, who had stayed back when they had seen Harry stop, had watched with a growing fear as the boy transformed. Their fear was now as it highest point as they watched the werewolf transform in a cacophony of cracking bones and cries of pain. The change lasted only a few minutes during which, Sirius who was more accustomed to this than the others, had changed into a black hound and stepped closer to his lycan friend.

As the pain faded and his wolf instincts took over, Mooney lifted his eyes to the black wolf who had been watching patiently as he had changed. The green eyes were not fearful but expressed a delight at seeing another wolf. The young wolf, which the werewolf could easily see was barely older than a cub, sprang forward yelping happily at Remus. The young adult ran around the brown wolf a few times before darting towards the trees. With a joyful bark and an inviting glance at the hound, the werewolf followed in the steps of his new pack brother.