Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.
Author's Note: I'm writing this for my teammate Gab (our 2nd Year), but I'm also writing this because my friend Magi Silverwolf introduced me to the concept of Celestial Petals (Sirius/Remus/Lily). So this is for her as well as Gab. Basically this is a Lily Lives! AU
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: MC4A; House Competition (Term 4)
House: Hufflepuff
Role: Player (7th Year)
Category: Pre-Round Challenge
Prompt: Gab (Ship)
Representation(s): Neurodivergence; Small Town Boundaries; Magic; Harry Potter; Rule 4; Triad; Potters/Blacks/Lupins
Bonus Challenges: Queen Bee; Second Verse (Nontraditional; Found Family; Wabi Sabi; Tomorrow's Shade; Unwanted Advice; Some Beach; Unicorn; Three's Company; Lost Llama; Creature Feature; Machismo); Demo (Where Angels Fear)
Secondary Bonus Challenges: SHoE (Terse)
Word Count: 800 words
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Finding Mayhem
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Remus walked leisurely behind Harry. The seven-year-old was reading, paying barely any attention to their surroundings. More than once, Remus had used a hand on his shoulder to steer him around obstacles or stop him at an intersection. Lily and Sirius wouldn't have indulged Harry, but Remus understood the love of immediately opening a new book.
It also felt good to have the reminder of how trusted he was, even if it was only by his little family.
It wasn't often that he had to deal with the prejudice against werewolves anymore. Since James' death and the end of the war with Voldemort, Remus had been living most of his life outside of the wizarding world. Working as a librarian at the local library was a very soothing job, and it was not too hard to arrange to have the day after the full moon off every month. Remus was fairly certain that the head librarian believed that he was Wiccan but quiet about it.
The entire village knew that about the family that lived in the cottage on the far outskirts of the town. Remus and Lily were the ones they saw most frequently. They traded off walking Harry to school and activities. It helped that Harry preferred to do his homework at a work table in the library. Sirius was the only one who worked formally in the wizarding world, and as such, he rarely had time to make an appearance in the village. According to the rumors Remus had heard spread, the village believed Sirius was either military or Intelligence, which wasn't far off since Sirius worked in Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and that their family was living in near-isolation for protection.
For whatever reason, the village did not seem to mind their unconventional family dynamic, nor did they ask too many questions about anything else unusual about them. The nearest anyone had come to that was the arrangements made for Harry's advanced schooling when the boy showed how intelligent he was and the strong recommendation to have Harry evaluated for autism. Other than that, they were left alone, with the village willing to accept them as they were.
With a gentle nudge, Remus guided the reading boy off the paved sidewalk onto the gravel path that wound through the woods that separated their cottage from the village. The trees blocking the sunlight pulled Harry from his book. Marking his place with a clay-colored ribbon, he slid the book into his messenger bag before reaching out a hand to Remus. The gesture warmed Remus as much as the silent trust had, as Harry was particularly energy sensitive on his hands and there were times when the wild undercurrent of Remus' magic due to the lycanthropy was too much for the boy.
They were within the ward boundary when they heard Fred screaming at something. Instantly, they both took off running. They hit the gated archway within moments.
Only to freeze at the sight of the front garden.
Fred was stomping her hooves on the stoop, carrying on like it was the end of the world. Sitting nearby and looking thoroughly unimpressed with the world was Murder. The brown and white cat sat like a sphinx awaiting an answer to its riddle. The stub of Murder's tail flicked in irritation as Fred made another piercing scream. Something tiny and black was nestled between the cat's front legs.
Before Remus could fully assess the situation, Harry was jogging across the yard. Remus would blame Sirius for teaching him such impulsivity, but truthfully, James had been just as bad when it had come to sniffing out trouble. Padfoot and Prongs had been well-matched, almost as well as Lily and Sirius were now. By the time Remus had caught up, Harry had his hands on whatever creature that Murder had brought home.
At least this one didn't appear to be bleeding.
Unfortunately, Remus recognized the look on the boy's face as he cooed at the squirrel pup he was holding in one hand as he petted it with the other. Fred nudged Harry's side, thankfully silent now that one of her humans had arrived. Harry leaned against the goat as he turned his bright green eyes towards Remus.
As if Harry really had to beg for permission to keep the thing that looked to be eighty percent fluffy tail.
As if Remus would deny him anything.
"Okay, but you get to tell Mum," Remus signed. Harry's attempt at looking pitiful evaporated in the face of his obvious joy. He shifted the pup to one shoulder where it clung with little fistfuls of Harry's wild curls. Hands freed, Harry answered in a quick flurry of motions.
"Mum will love Mayhem just like Murder!"
Resignation settled over Remus.
Like mother, like son.