***Disclaimer*** I am not going to do this every chapter, so please keep in mind that it applies to all of them. I do not own anything HP-related. The only things in this story that are mine are the characters of Aaron & Jem & Mel (for now… tee hee hee) and then of course any other characters that may pop up later that you've never heard of because they are my own creation. I am not making any money from this or anything like that, it's all in the name of fun and creativity. That having been said…
Author's Note: Well, here it is! The sequel to my first ff (Together At Last). While this does deal with what happens to Harry, Lily and James now that they are a family again, that is not what the main focus of this ficcy is. This ficcy came about in response to some questions a very persistent reader/friend kept asking about what happened to Aaron and Jem when they left, amongst others. So, without further adieu, here is chapter 1!
Together At Last: A Lupin Addition
Chapter 1: The Past Revealed
"For the love of God, Mel, get your scrawny ass out of bed!" came the frustrated yell from the bottom of the staircase.
"Five more minutes," came the muffled reply.
"Mel, I've already given you an extra 20… don't make me call mom!" When there was no response, the increasingly-annoyed young man rolled his eyes and ran up to his sister's bedroom, throwing the door open. "Come on. We have to meet dad in less than an hour, get out of bed!" With that, he pulled the covers off of his sleeping sister, leaving her lying on the bed in her pajama pants and his old Jane's Addiction tee-shirt, her head covered by the pillow.
"Noooooo, Aaron…" whined the girl. She finally came out from under the pillow, and it was all Aaron could do not to laugh at the way his sister's hair was sticking up at all angles.
"Mel, come on. We can't be late, you know that. Today is really important to dad."
The young girl, Melissa (or Mel), nodded groggily as she stretched and yawned. "I'm up, I'm up. Jesus, Aaron, you are annoying sometimes."
"And you are the laziest little girl on the planet, now get dressed so that we can leave. You're not used to the Floo Network here, and I'm not about to try apparating with you."
"I know, I'll be ready in 10 minutes, I swear."
"Okay, but if you're not, dad gave me permission to just bring you as you are," Aaron told her, grinning from ear to ear.
Mel's eyes opened wide in shock. There was no doubt in her mind that this was true. Her father had in fact done that very thing to her one time in third grade. One day she woke up late (it was the first day – and consequentially last – that she was trusted to wake herself up) and she was just about to put on her other sneaker when the school bus pulled up. She begged her dad for a ride to school, but he said no, wrote a quick note to her teacher, and sent her to school with only one shoe! Can you imagine how embarrassing that is for a third grader? As if she didn't get teased enough...
Once Aaron left her room and shut the door behind him, Mel sprang from her bed and into action. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and ran down the stairs while putting her hair up into a ponytail.
"Five… four… three…" Aaron was counting down, looking at his wristwatch.
"No! I'm here, I'm here! Ready to go," Mel panted, running up to the fireplace in the living room where her brother was waiting.
Aaron grinned. "Uh, Dot? I think you forgot something…"
"What now, Wakko?" she asked angrily as Aaron pointed at her feet. "Aw, man…"
Aaron shook his head and pulled out his wand. "Accio jellies," he said. Mel smiled gratefully as her favorite shoes came flying toward her. "Alright, Dot, now are you ready?"
"Promise not to lose me?"
"Well, as hard as I've tried to for the last 11 years I haven't been able to do it yet…" Mel scowled at him. "Don't worry; I'll take you through myself, Dot." He then lifted his sister up and threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace. "Honeydukes of Hogsmeade!" he shouted, stepping into the emerald green flames.
A few dizzying moments later, the pair stepped out into Honeydukes candy shoppe. "Alright, Dot. You can open your eyes now."
"Do you have to call me that?" Mel whined.
"Yup, 'fraid so. It's my god given right as your older brother, and besides, you call me Wakko. It's only fair. Now, pick out some candy and then we'll high-tail it over to meet dad."
It wasn't long before the two of them were walking hand-in-hand through the village of Hogsmeade toward the Three Broomsticks. They walked in a sort of ominous silence which Mel finally broke. "Are you nervous, Aaron?" she asked timidly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're gonna see them again for the first time since you were younger than me even," she paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I know I'm nervous…"
"Don't worry, Mel. It'll be fine… they're good people, despite what mom used to say. Dad said, remember?" Mel nodded reluctantly. She knew that she should trust her father, but couldn't help but remember all of the horrible things her mother used to tell her. "Come on, Dot, snap out of it – we're here." With those words, Aaron opened the door to the pub and walked in after his sister. He smiled upon seeing his father sitting at a table surrounded by his closest friends in the world. "Wait a minute," he whispered suddenly, putting a hand out to stop Mel from walking any further, his eyes wide with shock.
"What?" Mel asked nervously, suddenly finding it very hard to resist the urge to run to her father. She looked up at Aaron, usually so cool and calm, and was shocked to see his eyes practically bulging out of his head. "Aaron, you're kinda freaking me out here…"
It took what seemed like an eternity for him to speak again. His eyes were locked on two of the people sitting at the table with their father. One, Mel noticed, was a very pretty woman with red hair, and the other… well, the other looked like Harry Potter! But wait a second, Mel thought.
Harry Potter has that scar on his forehead… and he isn't that old… hang on, if Harry is sitting over there with those kids, then who's sitting next to dad? she thought, grasping her brother's hand tightly in her own.
"Holy shit," Aaron muttered, as he finally made eye-contact with the red-head. She looked at him as though she was trying to place him, when suddenly Mel noticed a look of dawning appear on her face. "Holy shit!" Aaron said, much louder this time.
"Aaron?" Mel squeaked.
"Dad! What the fuck is going on here? Mom is gonna kill you!" Aaron shouted, unable to mask his anger and fear at the sight that lay before him.
The red-headed woman blinked, finally breaking the eye-contact, and turned to one of her companions, a wide smile on her face. "Remus, is that-"
"Aaron, why don't you and Dot come join us," Remus said, smiling as he stood up to welcome the newcomers.
Mel bit her lip and looked up at her big brother who was still standing there frozen to the spot. Deciding that she'd feel better with her dad, Mel let go of Aaron's hand and ran over to Remus, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "Hi dad," came the muffled greeting.
Remus just laughed in response and sat back down, pulling his daughter onto his lap. "Aaron, it's okay. They won't bite," he told his son with a twinkle in his eye. Remus conveniently ignored the shocked looks he was getting from his friends, though they did not go unnoticed by Mel. In fact, the look that one of them was making seemed to be teetering somewhere between confusion, anger and jealousy, prompting Melissa to bury her head in her father's shoulder.
As hard as he tried, Aaron found that he was unable to move from the doorway. "Dad, what sort of dark magic is this?" He raked a trembling hand through his fine hair, his hazel eyes narrowed maliciously.
"Aaron," Remus began calmly. "It's not what you think. Come, sit down. We can ex-"
"It's him, isn't it?" Aaron suddenly yelled. "Mom was right, this is all his doing! You said she was wrong, but she wasn't!"
The entire pub was silent, watching the scene unfold before their eyes. Remus carefully lifted Mel off of his lap and set her down in the chair next to his before standing and walking towards his irate 26 year old son, never breaking the eye-contact between them, much like a snake charmer. "Aaron, calm down. It's fine, really. I know what this looks like, but really, it's not dark magic, it has nothing to do with Sirius. You know the truth, Aaron, I know you do…"
"But, dad," Aaron said, barely above a whisper. "Dad, they look just like Lily and James… like how I remember them from when I was little…"
Remus nodded and placed a reassuring arm around Aaron. "They're back," he simply said. "Come and sit down, and we'll explain it all to you."
"But what about mom?"
Remus sighed deeply. "We'll get to that too, I'm sure. Now come and sit down with us."
Mel tried to watch her father and her brother, wanting anything to take her mind off of the look on the man whom she now new to be Sirius' face. For some reason though, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, even though he was no longer looking at her. In fact, Mel was so focused on his face that she jumped when she heard her father speaking to them again.
"Well, I believe some introductions are in order," Remus said jovially, trying to lighten the increasingly tense atmosphere.
"Yes, please," Hermione Granger muttered under her breath, staring hungrily at the handsome addition to their group. Harry, having overheard her, choked back a laugh as Ron Weasley's ears turned slightly red. Harry then not-so-subtly poked his female friend in her side and gestured toward her red-headed boyfriend, sharing a knowing look with the man at the table who looked like himself. For her part, Hermione simply blinked and shook her head as if snapping out of a trance. "Well, it would make things less awkward, wouldn't it?" she hissed. She then smiled and turned her attention back to Remus and his companion. "Professor Lupin?"
Remus smiled at the name. "Hermione, call me Remus, I insist." He then took a deep breath before continuing. "Now, for those of you who don't know him, and for those who may not remember," Remus looked at Harry as he said the last part, "this is-"
"I thought that Jemina took him," came the now icy voice of Sirius Black.
Aaron looked up abruptly, Sirius's words cutting him to the core. He quickly cast a nervous look toward his sister, but replaced the expression with one of surprise before anyone could take notice. He then turned his attention to his father, who, he could tell, was doing some very quick thinking.
"You're right, Sirius, she did," Remus began carefully. "But despite everything that happened, Aaron and I kept in touch behind her back for a number of years. After all, he was legally my son at the time that she took him, regardless of whether or not she realized that the paperwork had gone through. This is not why we are here right now though," Remus continued, deciding to take another approach.
"Oh, really?" Sirius spat. "If it's not, then why the bloody hell did you bring him here now, of all times? And what about her? I'm not as stupid as you may think that I am. How many opportunities have you had during the last four years to-"
"Padfoot. Stop. That is more than en-"
"James, don't," Remus said. "If he thinks that he knows everything, let him get it out." He looked expectantly at Sirius who was still fuming but failed to say anything. The two of them stared at each other with growing intensity for a moment or two before Sirius finally looked away. Sensing that the current battle was now over, though the war still had a ways to go, Remus took another breath and turned to Mel.
"Dot, you know who he is, right?" he asked kindly, gesturing toward Harry.
"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," she responded meekly. Harry smiled at her and waved.
"Do you remember who I told you Harry's parents were?"
Mel nodded. "James and Lily… You and mom and Aaron used to talk about them all the time." She then looked over at Harry again, this time with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Harry smiled again and shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry, you know," he told her.
"But you never knew them," Mel said, tears filling her pale blue eyes.
"But he can now," Remus whispered to her. He then knelt down beside her, his eyes now level with her own. "Something very special happened today. You see them?" Mel nodded. "Do you know who they are?" Mel shook her head this time.
"Lily and James Potter," Aaron said, barely moving his lips as he uttered the names. "But it isn't possible."
"That's what we were just discussing, actually, before you and your sister arrived. I promise you, we will get to that, but right now is not the time." He then turned back to everyone else. "Well, Lily, James and Sirius I expect will remember, but as you were just a baby when he moved away, Harry, this is my son Aaron. He came to live with us when he was only a boy."
"I remember that," Lily sighed. "Aaron, do you remember when we first met?"
"How could I forget?" Aaron asked, his voice taking on a faraway town as he slowly sank into a chair. "I was 8, and had just been taken from my parents and sent to that orphanage…"
"I don't know if anyone told you, Harry," James said, turning to his son, "but while Padfoot and I worked for the Ministry, your mum was in charge of a home for children abandoned by their muggle parents when they showed signs of magical ability." Harry simply nodded in response. "Well then, one day, a few months before we were married, the home was attacked. We found out about it because there was a knock on our door."
"We were all living together at the time," Lily interjected. "James, myself, Remus, and Sirius."
"To this day I have no idea how I found your house, Lily," Aaron said suddenly. "I managed to escape the Death Eaters and somehow made it there. The rest, I suppose, is history." He stopped talking and Mel could tell that he had tears in his eyes. "God, Lily, it's so good to see you again. And James," he added as an afterthought.
Lily smiled and nodded as James grinned. "It's good to see you again too, kid," James laughed. "It's nice to be back, especially considering the alternative."
Mel shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Naturally she knew how Aaron and their father had met, but she had still never been in the company of two people who were supposed to be dead before… not to mention Sirius, who used to be engaged to her mother.
Although he had no idea what was on her mind, Harry did sense her slight discomfort. "So, Dot, how old are you?"
Mel looked up at him, utterly bewildered. Nobody else ever called her Dot before. "Dot?"
It was now Harry's turn to look confused. "I thought that was your name?"
"Oh!" she laughed. "No, my name is Mel, Melissa Lupin. Everyone calls me Mel though, except for them," she told him, pointing at her father and brother. "But I'm 11."
Remus nodded and smiled gratefully at Harry. "Mel's going to be starting at Hogwarts come September, actually."
"Really?" She nodded. "Well, I can assure you that it's a lot of fun," he said, winking at her and causing her to blush slightly. "I just graduated from there today, I dunno if your dad told you that. Anyway, these are my two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. We all just finished Hogwarts."
Mel nodded again, making a mental note to tease her brother about the gawking stares he was receiving from that Hermione girl. "That's what mom and dad told me."
"Yeah? So is your mum coming by too?" Harry asked. "It'd be nice to meet whoever Remus has kept a secret for so long," he added with a wicked grin he obviously inherited from his father.
"Oh, come on now, Harry," Sirius said silkily. "We wouldn't want that to happen. She must be some kind of dirty little secret if he didn't tell anyone about her before. Hidden, let's say, in another country…"
"Sirius," Remus said warningly.
"Sloppy seconds, maybe?"
"Sirius!" Three voices (Remus, James and Lily) shouted.
"Someone who turned her back on her friends, on those who loved her because one was different… only to have him come crawling back perhaps begging for-"
Exactly what she might have been begging for, those sitting at the table never found out. For, at that moment, Mel stood up and shouted "Enough!" with such force that Sirius found himself virtually flying backward and into the wall behind him, landing in a heap on the floor. All eyes were instantly on the little girl, none of the staring faces more shocked than those of Aaron and Remus.
"You don't know anything about my mom! You don't know what she went through! You don't know how it was for her and Aaron, or when Daddy came back into her life! She told me what you were, she told me about all of you!"
"Melissa, that's enough," Remus firmly stated, seeing the unshed tears in his daughter's eyes.
"But-!"
"No, this is between Sirius and me. Do you understand?"
Mel bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"And as for you, Sirius, there is a lot about my life that you don't know. This much, though, I can promise you. She is happy. For just about the first time since she found out about your escape, she is happy. You threw her out, let her go. You could have had her, you could have gone with her, but you didn't. I know why you didn't, why you stayed with us, and god help me," he laughed sadly, "I love you for it. But you were an idiot, a damn fool. You let her go."
"WHAT!" Sirius roared, leaping to his feet. "After what she said, after what she did you defend her?! No. NO. Are you mad?"
Harry suddenly jumped up, perhaps to stand between his godfather (Sirius) and Remus, or perhaps to just yell something to make them both shut up. Either way though, he didn't get the chance. James quickly laid a hand on his son's arm and shook his head. "Harry, don't. They need to get this out and behind them."
"But why?"
"Because his little girlfriend is your godmother, Harry," Sirius yelled, shocking Harry who was unaware that he and his father had been overheard. "Because she used to be engaged to me."
"We were married last summer. Jem is my wife."
Sirius just stood there for a moment, opening and closing his mouth as though searching for the right words that would never come. It was longer still before anyone else spoke either. Finally, Mel looked up to see her brother slowly approaching Sirius.
"S-Sirius?" Aaron began awkwardly. "I know that I'm the last person you probably want to talk to right now, and this is the last thing that you want to hear, but you need to listen to me. Mom left all of you because she was scared."
"Aaron, you don't have to-" Remus interrupted.
"Yeah, dad, I do. Like it or not, all of you, dad included, lied to her and for some reason, that upset her greatly. So, fearing for my safety as well as her own, she took me and left everyone and everything she had ever loved for America."
"She ran away," Sirius croaked.
"No!" Aaron shouted. "You didn't give her a reason to stay. She loved you, so much, Sirius, it pains me to say that because I love her and dad together." Aaron was now standing nearly nose-to-nose with Sirius. "But she still has a special place in her heart for you… she still loves you in a way that nobody else ever will," he whispered. "I know, because I was there. I was 9 years old, and still the one that she turned to with everything." Aaron raised his voice slightly now so that the others could once again hear him. "When Lily and James were killed, and everyone condemned you, she felt only guilt. She cursed you for what it appeared you had done, and blamed herself for having driven you to it. Bet you didn't know that, huh? Yeah, Mom thought it was her fault! Thought that maybe she had broken your heart by leaving, thus sending you into the clutches of the Dark Lord. And she went into this awful depression…" He shook his head, trying to relieve himself of the memory.
"You know, she was so scared for me. Because I lived with you, because she left you… she was scared that you would have someone come after us… so we moved to Virginia, near DC, and I went to muggle school, and had muggle friends with muggle parents… people who would accept me without questioning where I was from or if I knew the Potters just because I had an English accent. Don't get me wrong, she did make sure that I was taught magic. I had tutors for that, and even did meet other wizard children eventually, but that's not the point. She was there for me when I needed her, and I was there for her."
A smile all of a sudden played upon his lips as he continued to speak. "And then dad came back into our lives, well, he and mom were kinda thrown together…"
Remus snickered. "Not that you gave us much choice, son."
"Well, how else were you going to work out your differences?" Aaron smirked. "Anyway, it worked, didn't it?" Remus nodded, obviously defeated, and Aaron flashed a 1,000 watt smile. "We were a family, at last. Granted it was touch and go there for a while, but then the little rugrat appeared and it all turned out alright, don't ya think, Dot?"
Mel pulled a face at her brother. "You can leave me out of this one, thank you very much."
"Granted it all fell to shit about, say, oh, I don't know, 7 years later…"
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Someone had to escape from Azkaban… renewing the fear that people had all but recovered from. Then Dumbledore contacted dad and asked him to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts here, leaving us alone at home. Mom didn't want him to go, but he insisted that he had to, for your sake, Harry. He wanted to make sure that you were safe, see what kind of kid you were growing up to be, if you were anything like your psychotic father."
"Remind me to be offended later," James said dryly.
"You? What about me?" Harry chimed in with mock indignation.
"Like father, like son," Remus and Sirius said at the same time, causing each to eye the other warily.
Lily simply smiled and shook her head, wisely choosing to remain silent.
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