Harry groaned and panted, hanging his head over the porcelain toilet bowl as his stomach emptied itself. He reached up and flushed it, before moving back and turning around, resting his back against the toilet as he idly rubbed the finger on his left hand. Someone knocked on the door, and Remus worried voice floated through, Harry hurriedly cast a glamour on his ring, hiding it from sight as he stood slowly and walked to the door opening it, he gave a weak smile,

"I'm all right." He said, and left the bathroom. Remus didn't seem convinced though, and he kept a constant eye on Harry, as the young elf did random chores around the house, like folding clothes and dusting. Once or twice he caught the elf staring at his left hand, and wondered why, but decided not to ask. As Harry was carrying a basket of laundry into the house, he easily dodged the black dog that raced outside, a pair of pants in his jaws, Harry watched in amusement as the dog named Padfoot romped about with the jeans, and then stepped out of the way as James ran out, shouting and waving his fist in the air,

"Pads, give me my trousers back!" He ordered, ignorant to the fact he was only in his boxers. Harry shook his head fondly and smiled, before turning back into the house, glancing into the basket he noticed it was mainly filled with Remus' things. So, heaving the basket onto a hip, Harry made his way to the man's bedroom. As he was about to knock on the door, the man came up from behind, pushing it open, startling Harry.

"Don't do that!" Harry demanded, angry beyond reason, Remus chuckled, and held his hands up in surrender.

"All right. Are those my clothes?" He questioned, gazing into the basket,

"Of course they're your clothes! Whose clothes did you think they were? Padfoot? If you don't want help, do your own damn clothes!" With that Harry dropped the basket on the ground and spun, dashing into his own room and slamming the door, before falling against the wall and sobbing. Remus gazed silently at the closed door before shaking his head; silently he gathered up the clothes and placed them back in the basket, before lifting it and carrying it into his own bedroom. As Harry sat alone in his bedroom he began to feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed, why had he acted like that? He sighed, and leaned against the wall, moving away from the door, but not onto his bed. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, pictures of one man flashing vividly beneath his lids, he fell asleep thinking of that man. It was a few hours later that Harry awoke, when he did the room was filled with the light of dusk, and he stood, stretching and yawning, before shyly leaving his bedroom. He stepped shyly into the kitchen, where the marauders sat around the table, eating and chattering, they fell silent when he entered. He flushed as Remus stood, then went to the man and hugged him,

"I'm so sorry for acting like that, I really shouldn't have! I am so sorry!" He begged, Remus chuckled, and put his hands on the boy's shoulders and gently rubbed them,

"It's all right Harry, are you sure you're all right though?" Harry nodded shyly, and then took a step back, his right hand rubbing at a finger on his left. Remus noticed this gesture but said nothing; it would not do to press the small elf. Remus smiled and motioned for the boy to sit; Harry did and began to eat with gusto. The rest of the evening passed without incident, all of them sitting silently in the den, Remus reading a book, Harry curled by the fire and trying out his elemental powers on the flames, making them dance in different colors and flicker in oddly shaped patterns. Peter was already asleep, having claimed a headache, and James and Sirius sat across from one another on the floor, concentrating on a game of wizard's chess. The sweet contentment that filled the room lasted well into the night, when everyone said their good nights and retired to sleep. But in the dark of night things began to change and the peacefulness of the day was suddenly washed away.

Author's Notes~

I am so sorry for the shortness of most of my chapters. I am unable to write longer chapters, they end up going off on a tangent. I hope you enjoyed this, please review.