A Harry Potter Fanfiction By Majokai Yukiko
Pairing: Sirius + Remus
Warning: Slash
Rating: PG-15, so far.
Spoilers: Prisoner of Azkaban (A 'What-If' that takes place after canon)
This is an amateur effort and does not intend to infringe on the rights of J K Rowling, Scholastic Books and their associates.
A/N: I know this is a very old plot, clichéd idea and all. But doesn't that make it all the more challenging to write? I'm trying my best over here, peeps. So, please review. Thank you.
Dedicated to Ally. Merry Christmas 2003I can't finish it in time, so I'm making it a point to try complete this by Easter.
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"You know what is in Room 101, Winston. Everybody knows what is in Room 101." ~O'Brien to Winston, 1984
Sirius pushed through the crowd wildly. In his haste, he ignored the various people who had come up to him, congratulating him on his newfound freedom. The words of Cornelius Fudge resounded in his ears. He was a free man. After twelve years, he was finally free.
"The court hereby proclaimed Sirius Black innocent."
Behind him, Peter was screaming his protests while being escorted out of the courtroom by a couple of Dementors. The magically enhanced handcuffs around his wrists prevented him from using his Animagus power to escape once again, the way he had done so long ago.
Sirius ignored him. He only had one thought on his mind, one person to find to share this happiness with.
"Sirius!" Harry threw his arms around his godfather, a wide smile splitting his face into two. "Sirius?" Harry frowned at the look on the man's face, following his frantic gaze around the courtroom.
"Where is he?" Sirius demanded, pulling Harry's arms off his neck and held the boy at arm's length away.
"Where is who?"
"Remus! Where is Remus?!"
Harry's face fell, not knowing how to answer to his godfather's question. Sirius shook the boy none-too-gently, the expression on his face dissolving into fearful worry.
"He didn't come. Said he was busy…" Sirius' arms dropped off Harry's shoulders limply, hanging boneless by his sides. The noise around him seemed to be most deafening silence. He could not hear anything, nor see anything.
There was only one thought on his mind.
Remus didn't come. Said he was busy.
He was busy.
Didn't come. Remus. Not here.
Ron Weasley limped over to where the two were, his left leg still hurting from his last run-in with Padfoot. He drabbed his arms casually around his best friend's shoulders and grinned. But Harry did not turn to smile back at him.
"Harry?" Ron looked up, his grin slipping away when he saw the lost expression on Sirius' face, and the hot tears rolling from hurt-glazed eyes.
***
Harry flipped onto his back on his bed and threw his arm over his eyes. Two weeks. He had waited for two weeks of the summer holidays for his godfather to magically appear at the Dursleys' doorstep and take him away from the mean family he spent the past twelve years with, just like what Hagrid had done on his tenth birthday, albeit permanently this time. He never wanted to look into the pudgy face of Dudley again, nor set eyes on that little house on Privet Drive. Ever.
The Dursleys had treated him almost civilly from since they came to pick him up at the station and when Ron gleefully let slip that the supposed mass murderer they saw on TV, Sirius Black, was in fact Harry's godfather. Not only was he an ex-convict, he was a powerful wizard who would more than likely pay them a little house visit sometime over the holidays.
But after a fortnight of not hearing two barks or a growl from Padfoot, Harry was beginning to doubt if it had all been another crazy dream of his.
Harry bolted upright from his bed when he heard Aunt Petunia's shrill scream and a familiar chuckle from below. He dashed out of his room and down the stairs, only to meet with a very amusing sight at the doorstep.
Sirius was half-kneeling on the floor, fanning worriedly at an unconscious Aunt Petunia in his arms and staring daggers at the bemused brunette beside him.
"Really, Moony, the least you could do to is to offer help, please?" Remus chuckled louder.
Before Harry could even greet his father's best friends, Uncle Vernon came storming in from the backyard, a heavy-looking rounders bat in his hands. When he saw Sirius, his red face blanched with fear.
"Holy Mothers! You are Sirius Black!"
Sirius arched an eyebrow and lifted the woman into his arms, brushing past Uncle Vernon to the living room, where he could set her comfortably on the sofa. Remus followed in, offering the owner of the house a pleasant smile and his hand out for a handshake.
"Good day to you too, sir. My name is Remus Lupin, a professor at Harry's school. This, as you obviously already know, is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, as named by James when he was still alive."
Uncle Vernon kept shaking his head dazedly. "He doesn't have a godfather."
Sirius smoothed out his shirt and then tucked his hands into his pants pocket. "No, he didn't. Not when I was...er…preoccupied with other things. But now he does." Harry took it as his cue to enter the living room.
"Sirius! Professor Lupin!" He exclaimed. Remus ruffled up Harry's already messy black hair affectionately. "We are not in school now, Harry. You can call me Remus."
Beside them, Sirius was still looking expectantly at Vernon for a reply. He pursed his lips for a while, raised his eyebrows a little and then rolled his eyes skywards at the delay. He snuck his hands into one of the many pockets in his leather duster and took out his wand. "Well, Mister Dursley. We don't have all day."
Uncle Vernon turned green at the sight of the much-feared object and quickly jostled Harry up the stairs. "Go, Boy! Pack your things and leave! Don't even think about coming back!"
Harry let out a whoop of delight and printed up to his room, two steps at a time. Sirius tucked his wand back into his coat and grinned.
"Well, well, if I knew showing him my stick would have such an effect, I'd have done so the minute I walked in."
***
The hunt was on.
He walked slowly through the dark alleys, enjoying the taste of human fear in the air, so strong that it was almost tangible. He smiled and closed his eyes for a while. Right in front, his prey was only right in front.
It had been too long, simply too long since he was feeling this free. The freedom was like adrenaline pumping through his veins, giving him the power to keep moving, to keep hunting, to kill, to tear, to chew, to shred and to slowly savor the taste of human blood in his mouth. He felt himself growing increasingly aroused with eager anticipation.
He found her soon enough. He knew he would. The only challenge was to drag the hunt out for as long as it was pleasurable for him.
She huddled alone, back against the wall signifying the alley's dead end, bright blue eyes glistening with tears of barely controlled terror. He slowed down and walked leisurely towards her, his most polite smile on his face.
"Don't be afraid," he whispered. His face was hidden in the shadows. There was no moon that night; the streets were dark, too dark for anyone who valued his life to not stay indoors obediently. His prey clutched the fronts of her jacket tightly together over her low-cut tube. She was young, too young to be out partying till so late. Her glittery eye shadow was dissolving in her sweat. But it was not a warm night.
London nights were never warm.
"What do you want?" She asked, trying to sound a lot braver than she really felt. It was no use, since he could smell her fear. He always could.
"You," and then he struck.
***
"Where's Remus?" Sirius asked as he walked down the stairs, yawning. He was growing more tired day by day. It seemed as if he was not getting enough sleep regardless of how early he turned in or how late he crawled out of bed, if the eye bags on his face were of any indication.
It had been a week since Harry moved in with them. Sirius liked the kid, he really did, considering the fact that they had almost twenty years between them; they could get along remarkably well with each other. Sirius originally had his reservations about having a teenager moving in with Remus and he, but Harry had been wonderful so far. Accommodating, accepting, and generally easy to please.
Harry looked up from his Daily Prophet and cocked his head to one side, arching an eyebrow curiously.
"I thought you would know, seeing that you are the one sleeping right next to him at night," the teenager teased, enjoying the blush that colored his godfather's face. It was a shock when his father's two remaining best friends cornered him in the kitchen on his first day at Number 12, Grimmauld Place and came out to him. He was glad, nonetheless, that they had decided to treat him like an adult and be honest with him. He would hate to have the lovers sleeping in different rooms just to have him there. Harry did not want to feel more like a burden than he already did.
That explained Sirius' reaction when Remus did not appear at his trial, Harry figured, still wondering about the reason for Remus' absence. Since neither Sirius nor Remus had brought up that incident, Harry figured it would be best to just let sleeping dogs (or wolves) lie.
Sirius muttered something about kids who were overly upfront with their guardian's sex life and wandered into the kitchen, pouring a cup of hot coffee for himself. He rested the rim of his mug against his lips, slowly breathing in the sweet aroma of caffeine before taking a couple of careful sips. The dark haired man leant against the kitchen counter and sighed, finally feeling human enough and awake enough to hold a decent conversation.
Bless God for making caffeine.
"What's on the news?" He asked, pointing at the Prophet in Harry's hands. The boy only raised it slightly to show Sirius a clear view of the headlines.
It was a report on some ghastly murder that took place at London's East End the night before. Sirius frowned. Why would the Prophet write on happenings in muggle London?
"They think it's done by a werewolf. Looks like it, or so they said," Harry explained, as if reading Sirius' thoughts. The other man only snorted in disgust.
"Obviously they had not done their homework." He placed his empty mug in the sink and watched as Remus' housecleaning spell took over, magically cleaning the mug and returning it back to its original place on the shelf. "It was a new moon last night."
Not that he had looked at the lunar chart himself. Not that he needed to when he had a walking-talking-whining one in his bed. Remus had been complaining of fatigue for the past two days already (that was, until Sirius suggested cure methods that hinged along the idea of naked horizontal activities), so the new moon had to be close.
Harry shrugged and went back to his reading.
***
Remus tugged uneasily at the collar of his shirt. This was the first time in a while since he walked into Gringotts. He never had enough money to feed himself, much less actually keep additional in the wizarding bank. As a matter of fact, Remus was convinced he would have never entered the bank if not for the job recommendation his friend had just given him.
Bill Weasley chuckled at Remus' unease as he led him into the office, explaining about the things a curse-breaker should be doing while openly admiring how the silver streaks in the werewolf's hair catch the light almost playfully.
It had been twelve years since Bill had seen Remus. Ever since Sirius Black was imprisoned for the supposed murder of Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin had also gone missing that very night. There was no news of him ever since, until a year ago when Albus Dumbledore found him again in a little Hungarian village teaching basic magic to the wizarding children there. It was also in that same year that Black had escaped from Azkaban, seeking revenge from the one who had framed him.
Now one year later, Sirius Black was free and was living in his old home at Grimmauld Place with his lover and godson. Bill sighed, and smiled slightly as he took in the changes in Remus' appearance. The last time Bill had seen him, first time after twelve years, was during Pettigrew's trial. Remus had looked terrible then. Dark rings around his sunken eyes, cheekbones gaunt and overly defined. He had looked more like a wraith than anything else. But the difference between then and now was shocking. The Remus Bill had met at Gringotts that day was a different man. His eyes were shining with the light that Bill had not seen since the night when Lily and James died. There was an extra bounce in the way he walked.
Bill had no idea whether to be jealous or glad that Sirius Black had such an effect on the man he had been in love with for almost two decades. Remus was so suffused with love that he was practically glowing.
"I have no idea how to thank you for this, Bill." Remus smiled, sitting down in the chair of his new office. He looked around. He never really had a proper office of his own before, well…unless you count the one he had when he taught at Hogwarts. But he never had one with his name in gold plaque on the door before.
"I can think of one," Bill twitched his eyebrow cheekily, casually flicking a lock of long red hair off his neck. Remus grinned back.
"Nah, Bill. I'll bite you." He curled back his lips to flash his fangs quickly and leant back against his chair. Remus knew that Bill was interested in him. Back in their days in school, the redhead had never really been overly subtle in his flirtations, much to the frustration of Sirius. He had already told Bill many a times that he was not interested, that werewolves mate for life and he had already chosen his long ago.
Bill cocked his head to one side and sat down on Remus' table.
"So…why did you stop teaching at Hogwarts?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.
Remus licked his suddenly dry lips thoughtfully, not knowing how to answer that question without hurting Bill's feelings. As much as possible, he tried not to flaunt his lost and found relationship with Sirius in front of the Weasley. He left his job because he wanted to stay with Sirius for as long as possible, now that they were lovers again. Teaching at Hogwarts would mean he had to stay away for nine out of the twelve months in a year. Both Harry and he would not be with Sirius then. How could he leave Sirius alone in that house that had too many bitter memories of his childhood in it?
"You know why, Bill." Remus replied quietly. It was the most tactful he could manage without lying. Thankfully, Bill seemed to understand, as he nodded and slipped off the table. Covering Remus' hand with his own, he kissed his face chastely and muttered a 'good luck' in his ear.
***
The summer holidays got even better for Harry when Ron came to visit, together with his parents who were at Grimmauld Place on Order business. Sirius did not look particularly pleased to see the Weasleys, but nevertheless he engaged himself in a friendly conversation with Arthur Weasley regarding enchanted muggle items, such as his motorbike and Mr. Weasley's old Ford which Ron and Harry had driven to school and destroyed in their second year.
Mrs Weasley, on the other hand, had spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen; tinkering with the little muggle appliances there with a confused look on her face. Remus had offered to help her out with them, i.e. teaching her the various usage of that microwave Sirius had insisted on buying. But for reasons unknown, his help was rudely brushed off.
Remus stayed in the room he shared with Sirius all day, reading up on his latest job at Gringotts.
Harry and Ron had the most fun, it seemed. The two boys had spent their entire afternoon flying on their broomsticks outside, taking turns on Harry's Firebolt. The good thing about living at Grimmauld Place was that, while the front door was located at Muggle London, the back door opened up to a large green plain. The building itself seemed to be a portal, a gateway between the two worlds. The forest across the field was filled with many magical plants and animals; it acted as a hinterland for Remus when he needed to collect ingredients for commonly used potions such as a cough cure etc.
Finally, night began to fall. Out of the courtesy of a host, Sirius invited the Weasleys to stay over for dinner, an offer that Ron quickly accepted, much to the displeasure of his mother. Harry did not understand the tension between his godparents and his best friend's parents. Mr. and Mrs Weasley had always been kind to him, it was most curious that they did not feel the same towards his family.
Remus politely offered the guest room to the Weasleys to rest in while he prepared dinner. Arthur Weasley looked like he was about to ask if he could stay in the kitchen and study the workings of muggle household appliances when his wife practically wrestled him upstairs with pursed lips and a frown on her face.
Ron looked resignedly at his best friend and shrugged, obviously unused to his mother's behavior too.
Good, Harry thought. So I'm not the only one who thinks she's acting strange.
"Sirius," Remus called from the kitchen, while tying his apron strings around his waist. "Why not you take the boys out for a walk?"
The dark haired man's face brightened up like a kid who had just found his way into a candy store with lots of money in his pockets. In a blink of an eye, the man had become a large black dog with the same expression, wagging his tail furiously while the boys hurried to join him.
"Get your watch!" Remus yelled again. Harry grinned and pounded up the stairs, knowing that the brunette would be terribly upset if any of them were late for dinner, a habit that Sirius seemed to have picked up these days.
Harry grabbed his wristwatch from the dresser, another gift from his godfather, and slapped it onto his wrist, trying to fasten it while running out of his room. He slid to a stop when he heard voices from the guest room.
"You have to stop acting like this, Molly," Mister Weasley chided from behind the closed door.
"What? I can understand why Harry would want to stay with Sirius, Arthur. But that Lupin…haven't you forgotten the way he was after the Potters died?"
"Of course I haven't. But…"
"No buts. He was not the slightest concern over young Harry. All he was concerned about was his 'mate' and then for twelve years he disappeared off the face of the earth! It was his best friend's son, Arthur. But he did not care if the boy lives or dies!"
"I'm sure Remus had his reasons. It was devastating for him too."
"Sure it was! We all know why he came back to England after all these years. At the slightest hint of Sirius getting free and he was right on the trail of it, like the animal he is! He did not care about Harry at all!"
It was all too much for Harry. All this while he had wondered about why he was stuck alone with his relatives, without hearing a single thing from the last remaining Marauder. Harry had assumed that the rest of the wizarding community had shunned Remus for his lycanthropy and had disallowed him to visit his best friend's son. But now he knew the truth.
Remus simply did not care.
Harry staggered backwards from the room, his watch slipping from his frozen hands and landing on the wooden floor with a soft thud. He spun around, wanting to run down the stairs and out of the house, having some time to his own thoughts and emotions when he saw Sirius standing at the end of the stairs, smoking and watching him with a thoughtful look on his face.
"We need to talk, Harry." He said simply.
***
End of Chapter 1
Continue to Chapter 2