Harry steadied himself as his portkey delivered him in the Dursley's front garden. Harry bit his lip nervously as he went and opened the door. He walked into the living room, where his aunt and uncle were watching the news.

'Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia.' Harry cleared his throat sharply. 'Don't expect to see me in the morning, I'm taking my stuff and using my portkey to get to Diagon Alley. Remus is going to drop me off at the station.'

'Who's Remus?' Uncle Vernon grunted, not taking his eyes off the TV.

'My dad's best friend, Remus gave me a job at his shop this summer.' Harry said

'Oh, him.' Uncle Vernon said darkly. 'The one who let you stay with him when we kicked you out for the week?'

'Yes, Uncle Vernon.' Harry said obediently

'Very well then. How are you getting to this school anyway?' Uncle Vernon asked

'I need to catch the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three Quarters at Kings Cross at 11 o'clock.' Harry said

'Funny way to get to a magic school – 'Uncle Vernon said

'It's called Hogwarts.' Harry corrected irritably

'A train, magic carpets got punctures, have they?' Uncle Vernon continued as though he hadn't spoken.

'Actually, they were outlawed quite some time ago under the international statute of secrecy.' Harry said matter-of-factly, rather happy that he knew that already; he'd got a copy of the Hogwarts curriculum and they didn't teach that until sixth year. Harry was actually rather surprised that the Goblin wars - which only lasted about half a century – were the only thing that was taught for five years. He would be sceptical about the witch trials and Grindelwald's reign put together – both long and defining parts of wizarding history – taking that long to teach. Perhaps Harry would start a study group or a petition to get the curriculum changed. He couldn't wait for Hogwarts; he just knew it'd be way better than his muggle primary school!

'Fine then, when shall we expect to next to be burdened by your abnormality.' Harry supposed this was his uncle's way of asking when he'd next be home.

'Next summer, Remus has offered me to stay with him during the Christmas and Easter holidays.' Harry told them

'Very well.' Uncle Vernon grunted, and Harry, who recognised this as his dismissal, went upstairs and started packing his trunk.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

'Shut up!' Harry yawned, swatting his pet phoenix – who he'd named Spero – who was waking him up.

Spero flew and flung open his wardrobe and took a plain white school shirt and grey trousers from Harry's primary school days as well as a Hogwarts robe that Harry had bought from Diagon Alley. Harry yawned again, before reluctantly getting dressed. Spero flew around the room, packing his school bag. Hundreds of books of magic fell in – most second-hand ones from Remus' shop which he gave Harry for free, no matter how much he tried to protest. Remus – or Moony as he occasionally called him – had tried to give him brand-new ones, but Harry had refused. Besides, the second-hand ones were in perfect condition and Remus had given him several hundred books for free.

Clothes also fell into the bag. They were Dudley's old ones, but Remus shrunk them all to fit Harry, fixed them and changed them to colours and designs Harry liked. Potions ingredients fell into the bag, both basic and advanced. Harry got bored with the first through third year in a few days, and was reading up on much more advanced things. Remus gave him ingredients that he grew himself for free. Remus sold a lot more things than just books, and it was the perfect shop for students to get everything they needed.

Harry put his bag on and apparated to Lupus Books, a place that was more like home than anything to him; a place where someone he was beginning to think of as a father had taken him in when he needed it most. A place he knew with no doubted he was loved.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

'Whoa! Steady there. If you're going to apparat illegally you ought to be careful or you'll get arrested.' Remus said

'Sorry.' Harry grinned sheepishly

'Have you had breakfast?' Remus asked

'No. I almost overslept.' Harry said

Remus rolled his eyes, laughing fondly.

'Well I better get you something, then.' He smiled pleasantly. 'How does the usual tea and cookies sound?'

'Chocolate chip?' Harry asked

'What else?' Remus grinned

'Sounds great.' Harry grinned back

'Excellent. I suppose you'll want to read at the table again?' Remus asked

'If you don't mind, of course.' Harry said

'No, I don't mind, I was just wondering if you could read over a plan for the contents of a book on advanced potions I'm writing – aimed at sixth years studying for their NEWTs.' Remus said. 'Maybe you could make a few suggestions?'

'Yeah, alright.' Harry agreed

They walked together into the kitchen/dining room/living room/study/storage room in the back room of Remus' shop. It was cosy and comfortable, and always interesting to see what was going to put out for sale later on in the room. All the fascinating discussions and debates he'd had with Remus over meals and study sessions.

The room was spacious yet cluttered in a homely manner. Warm, fluffy and comfortable pillows, blankets and furniture were all around the room. There was a dark wooden circular with around a dozen seats crammed to fit in. There were obviously made with cheap random items that were laying around stuck together and reinforced with magic, with pillows and blankets thrown on, though it did have a rather modest and charming appeal. In front of it was a fluffy rug and a fireplace. There were shelves lining all the walls filled to the brim with books and trinkets. In one corner was a small kitchenette where Remus would cook.

'Here, I already had the cookies baking. Let me go put the kettle on.' Remus said

'Alright.' Harry said, picking up the parchment and reading it. 'This is all pretty good, covers a lot of important things many other books fail to mention. But I think it'd be quite helpful to include something on how Herbology and Potions are strongly connected – probably just a paragraph or two but many students don't realise this and it does hold them back.'

'Good idea, it's just where to put it… Perhaps in the introduction?' Remus suggested

'Yeah, that'd probably be best.' Harry said as Remus set a cup of tea in front of him.

'Excellent. Would you mind writing a chapter or two for me for my books while you're at school. I'll pay you, of course, and give you credit, list you as co-author of the book, etc, and you don't have to if you don't want to, I know you'll be busy with school and everything.' Remus said

'It's fine, Remus, I'll be happy to help. And you don't have to pay me, although it'd help if you could give me credit for the chapter. If anything, you'd be doing me a favour, it'd help me a lot when it comes to me graduating Hogwarts and getting a job.' Harry said

'Well until then you're more than welcome to stay here. I like having you around; it makes my job easier not having to be running around everywhere while still trying to attend to the register at the same time.' Remus said, setting down a large plate full of mouth-watering cookies.

'I still think you overpay me.' Harry commented

'You're a good kid, and you work hard. You deserve it, Cub.' Remus said firmly

Harry smiled slightly at Remus nickname for him; he'd certainly adopted him as his cub, maybe not legally but Harry knew that wasn't necessary for them both to think of each other as family.

'Thanks…' Harry muttered, embarrassed.

Remus ruffled his hair reassuringly, a habit that he'd had since Harry was a baby.

'Come on, eat up.' Remus coaxed

Harry grinned a little, taking a cookie off the plate and devouring it. He loved Remus' cooking.

'How long until we're leaving?' Harry asked

'You seem excited.' Remus laughed

'I can't wait to get to Hogwarts! I wonder what house I'll be in..? I hope it's Gryffindor!' Harry said enthusiastically

'I'm sure you will be. Remember, the hat takes your choices into account. If you really want to be in Gryffindor, you can ask the hat to put you there. But any house is fine, really, no house is better than another.' Remus said

'I know, I just hope I'm not put in Slytherin… With their history… I really don't think I'll make too many friends there.' Remus pointed out

'I know it doesn't, I just don't think I'll fit in too well there. I think I'll make more friends in Gryffindor, or maybe Ravenclaw… The traits of those houses just seem to suit me better, you know?' Harry said

'Fair enough, I guess.' Remus agreed. 'Stay there; I have a present for you.'

Remus got up and took something from the kitchen counter.

'A mirror?' Harry asked him in confusion, wondering if it was a prank.

'Not just any mirror. When we were in school the Marauders each had a mirror that we used to contact each other. I thought sending letters would take so long so I hunted this down for you. This one was your dad's.' Remus turned the mirror over and Harry saw a hoof print and the word Prongs written underneath.

Harry launched himself at Remus, hugging him tightly.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!' Harry exclaimed, torn between joy and sadness at this present.

Remus patted Harry's back comfortingly as tears rolled down Harry's face.

'It's okay…' Remus murmured, unsure what else to say to him.

'I'm sorry…' Harry sniffled as he calmed down a bit, backing out of the hug.

Remus looked at him uncertainly.

'Are you alright..?' He inquired hesitantly

'Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine… Thank you so much for this…' Harry said

'No problem. I expect you to call me on it at least weekly, if not daily.' Remus said

'So demanding..' Harry teased

Remus laughed, rolling his eyes.

'Our portkey to the station leaves in a minute. Here, I packed you some food for the train. A blueberry muffin, two chicken sandwiches and a bottle of pumpkin juice.' Remus said, putting a brown paper bag in Harry's school bag. 'Here, hold this. It's our portkey. It'll leave in – '

Everything swirled around them and Harry felt his breath taken from him and dizziness overwhelm him as he stumbled to the ground.

Remus helped him up, laughing.

'I still don't know how I haven't got the hang of this yet…' Harry said, disgruntled.

'It's takes ages to do it. You're pretty good at it, but I've been making portkeys once or twice a month for over twenty years. Now come on, let's go find you an empty compartment. We're early, so it shouldn't be that hard.'

'Where is everyone?' Harry asked, glancing around the platform which only had about half a dozen or so small families on it.

'We're an hour early. Here, this one is empty. The Marauders claimed this when we were going home for Christmas after our first term at Hogwarts. Sirius was going to stay at James' for the summer. We charmed it so nobody else could come in. Later on, we added Lily to those charms. We all the spells and magic we knew on it, the whole of the six-hour journey was dedicated to making the compartment better and more secure, all four, and later five of us. It was enchanted so only we could go in. Now, something you have to understand is that other than when it's reserved for Hogwarts students, the train takes other wizards from London to Hogsmeade. So, when you were born all took the train and went to the compartment and added you to the wards so you could work with the magic on the compartment and it'd let you in. This is by far the best compartment on the train.'

Remus opened the door to a compartment.

Harry's jaw dropped.

It was clear they used magic on it.