A/N - With gratitude for J.K. Rowling, who created the wonderful world of Harry Potter and so many intriguing characters for us to play with - strictly for amusement and not for profit. The original characters and the rest are my own, and not to be redistributed.
While this can be read as a stand-alone, it is also a short, one-part sequel (which may contain spoilers) to The Stone House Cats, a much longer work which is still in progress. I was inspired to write this by a reviewer's request to allow the romance between Remus and Catherine to heat up a bit - and the knowledge that there's a lot that has to happen in The Stone House Cats before it does. In the meanwhile, this little vignette will provide a bit of warm and fuzzy Remus-centric fluff; I hope you enjoy it.
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Remus made his way slowly up the stairs, a rare frown creasing his forehead as he tried to decide just how worried he should be about Harry. The initial jubilation in the wizarding world that Voldemort had been defeated was subsiding, but the funerals for the known dead had given way to memorial services for those missing and now presumed dead. Harry had been to too many of them, even if very few people knew that he had attended anything other than the first Weasley funeral.
Still recovering from his own injuries and numb with shock, Harry had been utterly unprepared for what he had encountered at what was, in the view of a large parts of the magical community, the hero's first public appearance. Hastily summoned Ministry officials had been hard pressed to regain control of the crowd outside the church - writhing masses of witches and wizards struggling to get close to their hero, screaming his name and disrupting the service until a few well-placed Silencing Charms shut out the noise.
At Harry's request, the Ministry let it be known that he would not be attending any other funeral services or making any public appearances until he had fully recovered from his injuries. In reality, Harry had continued to attend funeral services - carefully concealed in James' Cloak.
Kate, still dressed, was lying on top of their bed when Remus came in, but she opened her eyes immediately.
"Did I wake you, love?" he asked quietly, shutting the door behind him. "I didn't mean to." He wondered guiltily if that was entirely true, for his troubled spirit instinctively sought her out.
"You didn't. I meant to take a nap, but my brain wouldn't cooperate," she admitted, with the odd flash of a Kate-smile that affected him more powerfully than a huge bar of the best chocolate ever made. She reached up to cup the side of his face in her hand, and he covered it gratefully with his own as she studied his expression. "Worried about Harry?" He turned his head to press a kiss into her palm before allowing their linked hands to drop.
"Yes. This has been so hard on him, and - "
"I know."
"He doesn't smile anymore. I know it's ridiculous to say something like that when it's much too soon - " he broke off helplessly.
"He just needs time," Kate soothed him, her blue-gray eyes full of sympathy as she tugged on their linked hands to pull him down on the bed with her. He settled on his side beside her, pulling her back into his arms, and the world righted itself. She snuggled against him, and he wondered how he could ever have been lucky enough to win her for his own.
"I don't think the world wants to give it to him."
"No. They want him to be the happy hero. Pretend that killing Voldemort was easy and didn't really cost anything. Wave for the crowds in the ticker-tape parade." The little edge in her voice told him they shared the same opinion of the current public sentiment.
"I worry about his starting training so soon," Remus confided. "He'll be so alone - " Kate twisted slightly to look at him.
"I wanted to talk to you about that," she began.
Remus smiled indulgently at her. "What are you plotting now?" Kate frowned at him.
" 'Plotting' sounds so manipulative," she objected. "I was only going to tell you about an idea I had."
"A poor choice of words on my part," he apologized quickly, knowing his wife thought of her various carefully designed efforts to improve other people's lives as 'helping' them - whether or not the beneficiaries were even aware that they needed 'help.' "Tell me more about your idea," he prompted as she continued to look a little dubious.
"I thought Harry could take a year off," she told him, still looking a little hurt. "Ask for a postponement. He certainly has cause."
"That's not a bad idea," Remus mused aloud, turning it over in his mind. Kate harrumphed at him slightly, and he briefly tightened his arms about her warmth in silent apology. "If Ginny gets in when she graduates, they'd be starting together, and a lot of this should have died down by then. Maybe he could get away for a while, take a trip or something."
"If he wants to, of course, but he might want to stay here." There was a strange note in Kate's voice, and Remus drew back enough so that she was lying fully on her back and he could study her face.
"What aren't you telling me?" Kate's beautiful blue-gray eyes twinkled up at him.
"I thought you'd have figured it out by now," she told him mischievously, "although I planned to tell you on our anniversary if you hadn't."
Remus felt the world reel, anchored only by the light in his wife's eyes. "Kate?" he whispered hoarsely. She smiled at him then.
"We're going to have a baby," she confirmed, and Remus caught her against him so tightly it drove most of the breath from her body, although she didn't seem to mind. Then he abruptly loosened his hold, pulling back with a horrified expression.
"Did I hurt the baby?" he demanded anxiously. "I just grabbed you so hard, I - " Kate was crying just a little now, but they were the happy tears she had cried the day of their engagement, and she was beaming at him and shaking her head and laughing all at once.
"We're fine. I'm fine," she reassured him quickly, "and I liked it. Your grabbing me, I mean." His heart was so full he was amazed that it didn't burst out of his chest.
"Kate, I love you so much," he told her as she dried her eyes with a tissue.
"I know," she replied, hiccuping a little. "I love you too. I think that might have had something to do with the baby," she teased, setting the tissue aside and nestling closer.
"When will - " he began, and felt Kate tense infinitesimally in his arms. "Kate?" he prompted, puzzled.
"The end of February," she told him in a very small voice.
"The end of - " his brain began to function, and he suddenly went cold. "The end of - " he repeated, breaking off again as he struggled to control his temper. "You were pregnant when we - "
"Just a little bit," she admitted, adding hastily, "but I wasn't sure. I hadn't been to see anyone or get it confirmed or anything."
"Kate!"
"Well, we were a little busy just then," Kate pointed out defensively.
"Busy preparing for battle," he agreed grimly. He had been terrified of losing her. Facing that possibility was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He had been closer to asking one of the best fighters in the Order not to participate in what they knew would be a key battle than he wanted to admit, restrained only by the knowledge that he would hurt her terribly if he did. It would have been selfish - and wrong -
- and if he had known she was carrying their child -
"Remus, you're shaking," Kate's voice seemed to be coming from very far away, but then she wrapped her arms around him and held on in silence.
"Don't ever do that to me again," he said at last, after the trembling stopped and he could trust himself to speak calmly again. "Please."
"I won't, Remus, I promise," she assured him contritely. "I really wasn't sure then, and I didn't want you to worry unnecessarily."
"I'm entitled to worry," he told her firmly. "That was part of the deal when we got married. I'm your husband, and I've got a right to worry about you." He drew back enough to meet her eyes, wanting to make sure she understood. "You don't get to protect me from this, Kate. It doesn't work that way."
He saw the comprehension flash in her eyes. "You're right, Remus, and I'm very sorry," she apologized immediately. "I didn't think of it that way, and I should have."
"I think I'll be able to forgive you," he told her humorously, pleased to see the dancing light return to her eyes. He hadn't lost her, he reminded himself fiercely. She was here, and safe, and they were going to have a baby.
"We're going to have a baby," he repeated aloud, feeling the grin spreading across his face as he tested the words. Kate laughed.
"And he or she is going to need a godfather," his wife pointed out. Remus chuckled.
"So that's what you're up to."
"Well, it seemed like a good idea - but only if you want to," she assured him quickly.
By way of an answer, he leaned over and kissed her with rather more enthusiasm than some might have considered proper with an underage third party in the room.
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Harry came down for supper in a mood he could have described as numb at best, but the sight of Catherine and Remus smiling at each other across the little round table they used when it was just the three of them warmed him a little. The previous summer, Stone House had seemed to be full of people, but when Catherine and Remus had brought him back to convalesce this year, he had been relieved to find that they were the only occupants. He didn't have to worry about coping with either thoughtlessly painful congratulations or awkward condolences, however well-meant. Catherine and Remus both seemed to have a gift for being present without intruding, allowing Harry the psychological space he needed to begin healing without leaving him feeling abandoned or unsupported.
The three of them were chatting in a desultory fashion in the family room after the meal, Catherine curled up against Remus, who had slipped an arm about his wife. Oddly, their open affection for each other had never seem to exclude him; instead, he found it obscurely comforting.
"I don't know if I ever really thanked you properly," Harry said awkwardly during a lull in the conversation. "For having me here and - well - everything." Remus smiled at him.
"You're always welcome here, Harry," he reminded him gently. Catherine's eyes twinkled at the younger man.
"We sort of like having you around," she confided, before exchanging glances with her husband.
"Are you looking forward to starting your training?" Remus asked him in a casual tone. Harry frowned into the fireplace.
"I guess," he said, aware of the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. "I mean, I still want to be an Auror, it's just that, well, it's going to be strange going back to school right away, and everyone will want to talk about what happened and - " he trailed off helplessly, relieved to see that Remus was regarding him with sympathetic understanding in his amber eyes.
"Have you thought about asking them to defer your admission for a year?" he asked. Harry blinked.
"Would they do that?"
"I suspect they could be convinced," Catherine told him dryly. "It's not actually an unusual request, and you've certainly got more cause than most," she pointed out. Harry thought about this. Not to have to start right away would be a relief; he was still so numb and tired that he wasn't sure he had the energy to cope with starting Auror training, but -
"Will they think I'm unstable if I ask for another year because of what happened?" Harry asked at last. "I don't want them to think I won't be able to be a good Auror, that I can't handle it."
"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Harry," Remus told him, a little amused. "But if it makes you feel better, you could tell them you want the deferral because you'll be needed at home," he suggested with a strangely significant air.
Harry let another small wave of warmth wash over him as he inwardly acknowledged that this could now be 'home' before he asked, "But why would you need me?" They had house-elves, it wasn't like they needed help with the dishes.
"We're going to have a baby," Remus said, with such bewildered joy in his quiet voice that Harry could only stare at him.
"In February," Catherine confirmed, sounding very satisfied. Harry could feel his face breaking into a grin.
"That's wonderful! Congratulations." Remus looked rather like he had somehow accidentally won the Quidditch World Cup and wasn't at all certain how he had done it, while Catherine merely looked quite pleased with herself. Harry realized with a growing sense of wonder that she had a baby growing inside her. He didn't realize where he was staring until he heard her gurgle of laughter and flushed.
"Er, sorry, that's just - wow," he stammered apologetically, relieved to see that her eyes were twinkling at him.
"Don't worry about it, Harry. I probably won't start getting really difficult to live with for a little while yet," Catherine informed him lightly, before turning to look into Remus' eyes. "The good part is that no matter how moody and temperamental I get, I'm still going to expect ridiculously sentimental Christmas presents this year," she teased. Remus laughed, and Harry marveled at how happy he looked.
"I think I can handle that," Remus agreed, claiming a brief, playful kiss from his wife before turning to look at Harry, who was beaming at the pair of them. "So, what do you think? Can you wait another year on your training to help me hold the fort here, or have we frightened you away?"
"After Voldemort, I think I can manage to hold my ground against a baby," Harry responded, knowing that he was probably still grinning like a loon.
"Spoken like a true godfather," Remus said.
"Godfather?" Harry repeated stupidly.
Catherine quirked a brow upwards. "Unless you'd rather not. We can always ask Severus instead," she pointed out dryly.
"No, I'll do it," he assured them hastily. "Godfather," he repeated under his breath. He wondered if it would be all right if he told Ginny. It had been a long time since he had any good news to share. "When are you going to tell people?" he asked. "I mean, - "
"You're the first," Remus said, and Harry felt the answer send another wave of warmth through him. "We're waiting for Michael to get home so we can Floo him later tonight." Catherine's brother lived in America, so his normal workday wouldn't end for a few more hours.
"If you're writing to Ginny and you want to tell her, go ahead," Catherine told him indulgently. "She won't get the owl until after Michael's home anyway."
"Thanks," Harry said, almost bounding out of his chair as he hurried off, leaving Catherine and Remus alone in the family room.
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"That went well," Remus commented idly.
"Of course it did."
"You're sure Michael won't be offended?" he asked again, with a sudden pang. "He's been wonderful to me, and I'd hate for him to think I - "
"Don't be silly," Kate told him. There was a comfortable silence, then she added, "Of course, if you're really worried, we could always have another baby."
"Kate!" Remus protested, lips twitching. "We're months away from the first one!"
"Well, I like to plan a little in advance - just in case."
"I'm beginning to understand that." He deftly repositioned her so that she was lying further back on the sofa, and saw the light in her eyes shift to a look he knew was only for him. "Just how many children are we talking about?" he inquired huskily. "Because there are a lot more potential godfathers than just Harry and Michael among our acquaintances." A thought struck him. "Were you just teasing about Severus, or are you really - " Kate started kissing him before he finished the sentence, and he sort of lost track of what he had meant to say.
"You could think of it as a public service," Kate proposed impishly, her hands on the fastening of his robes.
"Public service?"
"Well, Harry's smiling again," she pointed out. Having deftly gained access to the skin usually beneath his robes, his wife's hands began a teasing exploration.
"He's not the only one," Remus muttered disjointedly, struggling to hang on to the thread of the conversation. It was an impossible task, for how could he manage to think while his beloved Kate was touching him that way? Even better, he was touching her, feeling the warm silk of her skin beneath his fingertips, tasting her, exploring her with his lips and his hands until there was nothing left but the very essence of Kate, and this desperate need to lose himself in her.
He began to come back to himself listening to the sound of a heartbeat; at moments like this, he could never manage to figure out whether it was his or hers. When they had first become lovers, he had worried about what she was really thinking at such times - if his weight was bothering her, or she thought he was being inconsiderate - but the deepening intimacy of their marriage had done a great deal to banish those fears. He was now comfortable that she hadn't been merely trying to spare his feelings when she told him, looking rather surprised at the question, that she liked it when he collapsed on top of her after they climaxed. Her matter-of-fact directive on a later occasion when she was uncomfortable ("Move your leg") had been tremendously reassuring.
"What were we talking about?" he asked at last.
"I suggested that you might want to regard producing more godchildren as a public service," Kate reminded him.
Remus smiled as he bent his head to the delicate hollow at the base of her throat, claiming it with a languorous, open-mouthed kiss and feeling her pulse accelerate beneath his lips.
"I think you talked me into it."