Author's Note:
This story is a happy, friendly, lovely, something that I dreamed up and I hope you just love it as I do.
It will not be super long. It's nearly completely written, and will be complete in less than 10 chapters, and should come in at about 15k words total.
This is a Remus/Tonks/Severus survive AU but everything else sticks pretty straight to canon. Takes place the holiday season 2 years after the end of the war.
The story does include a Draco/Harry pairing, but will not include any explicit M/M sex, though it will include M/M romance and some light adult stuff in relationship to that.
Enjoy! :)
Remus Lupin followed his young son as he sought out the other residents of 12 Grimmauld Place. His son loved living in the old Black house, where his Uncle Harry lived, with his best friend Hermione Granger.
It'd been two years since the end of the war, and Hermione and Harry had settled down in the house immediately after the final battle. It'd caused some friction among their friends, who assumed the two to be coupling up, but in actuality, they just wanted some peace and quiet time alone to heal from the trauma of the previous year.
The fights that arose from Harry's refusal to join the Auror Corps, and Hermione's refusal to return to Hogwarts were, in a word, epic. Remus had admired the two for their strength in those fights. Not many could withstand the wrath of the Weasley family and come through the other side whole, but these two did.
Ginny Weasley, who'd adored Harry Potter since childhood, had imagined their life together to be fabulous and full of Ministry Balls, magazine interviews, and a quick marriage. What she didn't expect was Harry refusing to enter into their on again, off again relationship. She didn't expect to hear that he felt rather ill in her presence, that he felt tainted when she was near, the lingering dark magic in her from her time with Riddle's diary fighting with his sense of self-preservation after having a sliver of the monster removed from his own head.
She'd also not expected to hear that he was dating former death eater Draco Malfoy!
Harry didn't much care for what she expected, nor the rest of the Weasley's. Ron imagined Harry and Hermione owing his family a great debt for "accepting" them during their childhoods, and despite the kiss they shared during the battle, Hermione had absolutely no intention of finding any sort of life with Ronald Weasley. Not after he'd abandoned them, yet again, during the horcrux hunt. Not after the way he sneered at her after her torture by Bellatrix Lestrange, telling her to "cover up that disgusting scar", reminding her he couldn't bear to look at the nasty word carved into her arm.
She'd been living quite privately for the last two years, spending the first six months after the battle in near complete solitude. Harry had changed the wards on Grimmauld to allow access to only Minerva, Remus, Draco, and Severus Snape, whose survival was touted as a medical miracle. She was grateful the public didn't know she'd developed the potion that helped to purge the venom from his body, allowing him to be brought out of stasis and back into life. Severus immediately accepted her as an apprentice, and they worked from his home in Spinner's End as often as they worked from the small lab in the basement of Grimmauld.
The house was quiet, as Teddy trampled along the halls, first to the kitchen, then to the study.
Remus knew if they didn't find the two here, there was only one place they'd be, and he guided his young son to the library on the third floor.
Hermione already knew the two were in the house, as Harry had keyed her to the wards when they'd taken up residence, and she'd felt them cross the barrier and heard them wandering the lower levels of the house. She tucked a bookmark into the thick tome she'd been perusing, setting it on the table next to her, before folding her legs underneath her, and flicking her wand to stoke up the fire, as the cold had begun seeping into the house as winter arrived in Great Britain.
The door to the library creaked openly slowly, followed by a loud shout, as Teddy ran to the couch and up into her lap.
"Mine!" he cried, still unable to say Hermione properly, as he wrapped his tiny arms around her neck. She wrapped him in a tight hug, pressing her lips to his cheek.
"Hi Teddy!" she exclaimed, sending a smile at Remus and she snuggled Teddy into her side. "What are you doing today?"
"Dad took me to the shops, and we got a bunch of chocolate, and some new jumpers, and books!" Teddy spoke excitedly.
"My goodness!" Hermione laughed softly, "All my favorite things! Books, chocolates, and warm sweaters!"
"Yeah!" Teddy jumped up from the couch suddenly, causing another laugh to erupt from Hermione's chest. "We got you something too, Mine!"
"Oh, really?" she inquired curiously. "And what is that?"
"Give it to her Dad," Teddy pleaded, tugging on his Father's hand.
Remus blushed lightly, clearing his throat. He rose from the chair he'd plopped into across from the couch that Hermione rested on, before settling himself next to her on the couch.
"I don't know Ted, are you sure?" he joked with his young son.
Hermione punched him playfully in the shoulder, "Please Moony!" she pleaded.
He smiled gently at her, adoration shining in his eyes. Living in Grimmauld together after the war had brought them close, taking care of an infant Teddy, sharing hours in the library engaged in discussion over potions, charms, politics, or whatever book one of them had managed to scrounge up that day.
His wife had left after the war, disappearing with an Auror from the Corps. He'd heard from her only once, nearly a month after the battle, through her solicitor, in a missive requesting the dissolution of their marriage and waiving all parental rights to Teddy.
At the time, it had broken his heart, the idea of his son growing up without a mother, his wife off with another man, forever. Harry and Hermione had supported him through his grief, becoming "bonus parents" to the young boy. Remus healed, rather quickly, as Moony seemed delighted to be rid of the metamorphagus.
He knew what he felt for the young witch was much more than friendship, but he was happy to just be near her. She brought him comfort, her kind heart and compassion for the world was a breath of fresh air.
He spent hours watching her brew. She was working on a new version of the Wolfsbane potion, that would stop the change completely. It wasn't a cure, but it was an amazing development in potions, and he was eager to test it, once she'd worked out the kinks.
He let out a barking laugh, before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a shrunken package, thrusting it into her lap.
Teddy toddled back over to the couch, crawling back into Hermione's lap, plucking at the wrapping paper on the package.
"Open it, Mine!" he begged the witch, "Open it!"
She gave the boy a quick squeeze before sliding a finger under the seal of the wrapping paper. As a small hand darted out, ripping a chunk out of the paper, she let out a laugh. "Oh Ted, you're excited aren't you!"
"Come on, Mine! Faster!"
She put her decorum aside, ripping into the package with glee. Once the paper was free from the packaging, she lifted the lid off the box, gasping slightly at the sight in front of her.
Nestled in the box was a picture. She remembered the day it was taken. She'd given Remus a Wizarding camera for his Teddy's birthday, wanting him to be able to capture the young boy's life as he grew.
Remus had swept her up into a hug, tightly holding her against his body. She had been holding Teddy, and the young boy was smushed between them, laughing brightly, as his hair morphed to match Hermione's, a smattering of freckles across his cheeks.
Harry had snatched up the camera and snapped a photo of Remus spinning them around, smiles beaming from their faces.
As she looked at the photo in her lap, she saw the look in Remus' eyes as he swept her off her feet. It was more than happiness, wasn't it?
She pulled the photo close, hugging to it her chest with tears glistening in her eyes, as Teddy drew her attention back to the package.
"And this, Mine! This too!" he exclaimed and pulled out a thick jumper.
Hermione laughed, Teddy had told her they'd gone jumper shopping.
"I picked it for you, Mine! I chose it!" the boy explained excitedly.
It was a deep eggplant color. Despite popular belief, her favorite color wasn't Gryffindor red, but the dark purple color she was holding in her hands. embroidered into the lapel was a small wolf.
"It's a wolf, Mine!" Teddy hollered joyously, "A wolf! Like my Dad! Like my last name!"
He dropped to the floor and let out a playful howl, causing a new stream of laughter to erupt from both Hermione and Remus.
Hermione thanked the boys profusely, before pulling the jumper on and snuggling Teddy back into her arms, as she rested quietly on the couch in front of the fire. As she drifted to sleep, Remus pulled her into the crook of his arms, his large hand smoothing her hair back, and resting softly around her shoulders, before succumbing to sleep himself.
Harry found them, late in the evening, curled together, with Teddy snoring softly and Hermione's face pressed into Remus' chest.
He knew how the two felt about each other, watched them tip-toe around their feelings. He encouraged Remus to tell Hermione about his feelings, and though the man had not openly spoken to Hermione about it, he could see the two were only getting closer.
He draped a large blanket across the three, flicking his wand to enlarge the couch for their comfort. He spotted the framed photo that he'd taken, and a smile crept across his face. He knew he'd need to capture this moment for them as well, and he summoned Remus' camera and snapped a quick photo of the slumbering trio, before casting a nox at the lights, and closing the library door quietly behind himself.