A/N: For the Five Things challenge, 1/2 claims. No beta, all mistakes are my own. I heart reviews! And I don't own anything HP, if I did there likely would have been no epic camping trip.
1.
"Remus?"
The bedroom door creaked open, and Remus peered out from beneath the covers just long enough to see his daddy frowning from the doorway.
"I had a bad dream," Remus mumbled. Apparently Daddy had heard though, since the bed shifted as he sat down beside the pile of blankets that Remus was currently using to hide.
"Well, you haven't got to worry," Daddy said. Remus could almost hear the smile in his voice even though he made no move to pull the blankets away. "I'm here now. What was this bad dream about?"
Finally Remus tugged the blanket off of his head, but kept his eyes on the pillow.
"The big monster that got me."
The look that passed across his daddy's face was odd, like he was almost angry. Then he just looked sad and ruffled Remus hair.
"He won't get you again," Daddy said, "He won't come back."
"You promise?"
"I promise," Daddy nodded.
The pair sat quietly on the bed for a moment, sort of looking at each other and unsure of what best to say next. Then Daddy glanced at the window and tapped the glass with his wand, making swirls in the frost.
"Look at that Remus," Daddy pointed to something with his wand. "That star's falling."
A shooting star arched across the sky, and Remus eagerly pushed away the blankets, pressing his face against the window. The glass was cold as the December air outside and starlight and moonlight mingled on the snow below. His breath fogging the window, Remus glanced once at the moon, then back to the trail the falling star had left behind.
"You know," Daddy said, looking very pleased with himself, "Falling stars have a special kind of magic. If you make a wish on them, your wish will come true."
"Like the genie in the lamp?" Remus asked.
"Something like that," Daddy smiled. "Did you make a wish?"
Remus squeezed his eyes shut and wished very hard that the bad monster would never come back. And the moon - that the moon would go away forever. Every month the monster came out when the moon was full, and made Mummy and Daddy very sad. Remus hated the monster, and he was always very tired and very hurt afterward, but even more he hated seeing Mummy and Daddy so sad. He opened his eyes and frowned at the sight of the moon still hanging over the snow-topped trees, halfway full.
"I wished that-" Remus started, but Daddy shushed him and shook his head.
"You shouldn't say what you wished for. It undoes the magic," Daddy said. He had on his most serious expression, except Remus always thought that Daddy thought it was funny to be serious because he always looked like he was about to laugh. "Now," Daddy handed Remus his stuffed dragon, which had fallen to the floor, "I think it's time you got back to sleep."
Remus would have argued had he not yawned at a very inopportune time, and he let Daddy tuck him back into bed and kiss him goodnight. Once the door closed, Remus rolled over so he could watch the window and fell asleep waiting to see if his wish came true.
2.
Remus tumbled into the common room, falling face-first into a pile of cushions that had been left on the floor. Peter arrived next, gasping and red-faced and sprawling on the nearest couch with little to no hesitation. Sirius dove in last, just as the portrait was swinging shut and telling them off for wandering the corridors after curfew. For a few moments the three of them simply stared at each other, hearts racing. Then James reappeared from beneath his cloak, laughing so hard he was crying. And then everyone else was laughing as well, even though Peter's sounded more like he was still choking for air and Remus could not remember the last time he had laughed so hard.
"That...was...brilliant..." Sirius managed, wiping his eyes. "Close, but brilliant."
"They'll be in for a surprise tomorrow morning," James agreed.
"Need a...faster...need a faster way back though," Peter said. The heavyset boy had fallen behind twice, Sirius and Remus all but dragging him up the stairs.
"We'll work on that," Sirius said. "Where'd you find that charm Remus?"
"I...well. I read," Remus shrugged and halfway grinned, raising an eyebrow.
"You and your reading," James shook his head in mock solemnity. "Whatever shall we do with him Sirius?"
"I think it best we put him to work. Use his freakish talent against the Slytherins," Sirius said.
"An excellent idea," James turned now to Remus. "You're officially our spy among the dastardly books. Find out what they know."
"And then report back," Sirius continued.
"I think I can manage that," Remus said. He managed to keep a straight face until James' mouth started to wobble and the messy haired boy was laughing again. Then the four of them were laughing, and Sirius was doing some mad reenactment of their attack on the Slytherin draperies. And Remus would never admit how utterly thrilled he was to be included, to have found laughter and life and friends, and he wished with all his heart that they would never find out his secret.
3.
"I just don't understand what everyone sees in him," Lily growled, shoving a book back onto the shelf with rather unnecessary force. "He's awful."
"Really he can be...nice," Remus winced as another book thudded into place. "Sometimes he's even capable of being polite."
"You," Lily rounded on him now, green eyes flashing, and even though Remus stood a great deal taller than his fellow prefect he unconsciously took a step back. Lily's temper was infamous. "You have spent the last five years defending him. Being friends with him." Friends was emphasized as though when used in reference to James Potter, the word became something distasteful. Further emphasizing this point was the small finger poking him in the chest.
"Lily, I...I don't see anything wrong with being friends with anyone. You're friends with a certain Slytherin that no one else seems to like very much," Remus pointed out carefully.
"That's...that's different," Lily insisted. "And I don't pretend to defend him when I know he's wrong."
"I've no idea what your referring to," Remus said. "I dock points. Sometimes."
"Exactly. Sometimes. When no one else is around to see you do it."
"You know, he's really pretty alright when he's not trying to get your attention," Remus attempted, eyes very pointedly looking at the floor.
"You're saying it's my fault?" Lily demanded, her finger pressing harder into his chest as she closed the distance between them. Remus was immensely thankful that she had left her wand in her bag, two tables away and well out of reach.
"N-no! No. I was just saying that he's just doing it to get your attention," Remus stumbled over words in his hurry to defend himself. Of course, he was also trying to determine if he would have time to escape if Lily did decide to retrieve her wand. He was surprisingly good at sneaking away.
"Has it occurred to him I don't want his attention?" Lily asked.
"I think it's crossed his mind," Remus said.
"I'm really not interested in him."
"I had begun to think not, no."
"Maybe I'm interested in someone else."
"That would be the likely conclusion."
"Maybe I'm more interested in you."
Remus froze as butterflies exploded in his stomach and his heart took off as though he had sprinted back to the common room. He tried twice to respond, but words refused to come and he ended up opening and closing his mouth. Finally he settled for pointing toward himself and managing a choked "Me?"
"Yes, you," Lily said. "Don't act so surprised."
The surprise was no act, but before he had time to tell her that she had grabbed him around the neck, pulled his face down to meet hers, and kissed him soundly. Remus remained frozen in utter shock for a few more seconds, and then his arms were around her waist and he was kissing her back. Then they broke apart, breathing hard and faces flushed and Remus sincerely hoped she could not hear his heart racing as clearly as he could hear hers.
"I'll be in the common room later," Lily smiled. "See if you can sneak away from your friends for awhile."
She turned and left, dark red hair trailing behind her as she grabbed her bag and exited the library. Remus stayed planted to the same spot as though someone had jinxed him, thoughts racing and wishing very, very much that James Potter had never expressed an interest in Lily Evans,
4.
Rain splattered down on the mourners, black robed and solemn faced. The caskets waited on the edge of the grave, reflecting the pale half-light of the day. Remus watched through red-rimmed eyes as the minister finished and the Potters were lowered into the ground. The caskets vanished beneath the edge of the hole, an echoing thud resounding through the air as they reached the bottom. Then the hole vanished, leaving only a patch of dirt and new grass, and a carved stone that bore the names of two of his best friends. Slowly the mourners began exiting the cemetery, likely off to another victory celebration. But Remus stayed where he was, staring down at the grave. This was the last funeral of the war, and arguably the one with the largest attendance. Wizards from across Britain had come to pay their respects to James and Lily Potter. There had been no funeral for Peter - there had been no body to bury. And although Sirius might as well be dead, his sentence to Azkaban merited no ceremony. Remus' eyes were dry, he had long since run out of tears. In the drizzling rain he could see the ghosts of what had been, not long ago. He could see Peter cheering at a Quidditch match and Lily stooped over a Transfiguration essay. Sirius laughing and transforming into Padfoot, James ruffling his ever-messy hair and catching the stolen snitch. And with a beam of sunlight, the vision passed, and Remus found himself desperately wishing that nothing had changed.
5.
Silently Remus slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. Light shimmered from the globes of light on the ceiling, charmed to shift through colors all night. Stuffed animals and baby books lined the shelves and spilled off onto the floor. And on the far side of the room rested a white wooden crib, a purple haired baby peering overtop.
"I didn't expect you to be awake," Remus smiled and lifted his son out of the crib. Teddy gurgled and laughed, hair fading to green then blue then red in time with the lights on the ceiling.
"Very impressive," Remus said. Teddy reached out and latched onto his father's pajama shirt and pulled until Remus shifted his hold. Promptly Teddy's face was buried against his shoulder, hair now turquoise, now his own sandy brown. "Are you quite comfortable?"
Teddy's only response was a sort of gurgling noise that Remus had begun to take as meaning he was quite comfortable, thank you.
"You ought to know Teddy," Remus glanced down at his son, "That I love you very much."
Teddy looked up at him and smiled and Remus' heart leaped at the thought that he was holding his child. His son.
"The end of this war, it may be coming up soon. And I may have to leave for awhile. But I promise, I'm going to do my best to come back," Remus kissed Teddy on top of the head, and the baby laughed happily again.
"Of course, that means you have to look after your mum while I'm gone," Remus smiled and pretended to look solemn, although he knew he failed miserably. Teddy managed to look solemn for a moment as well, though whether more from confusion or tiredness Remus was unsure. Either way, he held Ted a few moments longer, humming a lullaby as his son fell asleep on his shoulder. Just as he was lowering Teddy back into his crib the door creaked open behind him.
"I wondered where you'd wandered off to."
There in the doorway stood Dora, hair violet and curly and tousled with sleep.
"I have to take advantage of the little alone time I can get with my son," Remus said. "No one here seems inclined to share."
"Merlin Remus, you're the one hogging him half the time. And if you're not holding him you're taking pictures," Dora crossed the room and kissed him on the cheek before bending over the crib and kissing a now-sleeping Teddy as well. "I swear, he's going to have some sort of complex when he's older. Wondering why no one's worshipping him and taking pictures."
"I'll be sure and explain that it's purely something that adoring fathers do," Remus wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and pulled her close.
Time seemed frozen for a moment, as Remus held his wife in his arms, watched his son's sleeping form. He had never felt happier, never loved two people more, and he wished on every falling star and every beat of his heart that he would have a million more moments like this.