Do you want another chapter? Okay, here you go then *winks. I'm trying to make updates as quick as possible but what with job hunting, interviews and grumpy parents, it's quite hard to find the time, oh and I guess a little procrastination.
Disclaimer: I don't own it *Le cries.
"So what were those people?" said Harry, nibbling on a biscuit.
Remus resisted the urge to correct Harry on his speech as he sat down at the kitchen table, a steaming mug of tea clutched in his hands. Sirius had gone out to help deal with the aftermath of the World Cup attack, leaving Harry and Remus alone in the house.
"They're called death eaters Harry, they're Voldemorts followers." said Remus, taking a chocolate biscuit from the tin.
"But why were they at the cup? Is it because of Voldemort?" said Harry, blowing on his tea.
Remus hesitated, setting his cup down before speaking.
"Dumbledore thinks that Voldemort is getting stronger, these attacks are in a long line of incidents over the country, he doesn't say, but he's worried." Remus admitted.
"But why? Voldemort is dead isn't he?" said Harry, taking a sip of his tea.
Remus shook his head slightly, wandering how exactly he could explain it to Harry.
"Yes and no, they never found a body you see? Most people like to believe that Voldemort really is dead but Sirius, Professor Dumbledore and myself have other theories." Remus answered.
"So you think the death eaters are attacking because Voldemort is coming back?" said Harry, feeling anxious at the very thought.
Remus looked into Harry's eyes, gauging his reaction before continuing.
"There has been speculation, between Dumbledore and old order members that Voldemort may be getting stronger but push it from your mind, you're safe here with me. But I must ask of you to stay safe at Hogwarts, no more running into trouble." said Remus sternly.
"I know, what order?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh I forgot to explain. The Order of The Phoenix is an organisation that works together to aid in the downfall of Voldemort and his death eaters. It was disbanded after Voldemorts downfall, shortly after. But Harry, I really must insist, be careful this year."
"Yes Uncle Remus." said Harry, adopting his being-told-off-voice.
Remus chuckled and took a sip of his tea, wincing slightly as the heat burnt his laps. He could just see from the way Harry was biting his lip and kicking the floor that he was itching to ask another question.
"Go on. Ask me." said Remus, raising his cup to his lips again.
"But why? Why did they do that to those muggles? That's just sick." said Harry, remembering as the masked men flipped the muggles upside down and spun them around.
"Harry, what you've got to understand is, these people think it's funny to treat muggles and muggleborns like that. They have no morals. There are people who think that all muggles and muggleborns are scum and should be treated as such." Remus replied.
"That's not right, they're just people like you and I. How can they help it if they don't have magic or come from a muggle family?" said Harry, shaking his head.
Remus shook his head, Harry still had a lot to learn, sometimes, his naivety was endearing but Harry still needed to know this stuff if he were to grow up in the wizarding world.
"That's the way it is, I'm afraid Harry." said Remus shaking his head again.
Harry went quiet as he took a sip of his tea, silently thinking. What had the world come to when people couldn't just live in harmony? Why did there always have to be conflict? It would be nice for everybody to get on but that would never happen, not while there was still people like Lord Voldemort and the Malfoys.
"Knut for your thoughts?"
Harry looked up, grinning rather sheepishly at Remus.
"Sorry, I was miles away." said Harry, setting his empty cup down.
Remus chuckled softly. "I can see that, care to enlighten me?"
Harry sighed. "Its just, I don't understand why people can't just get on. I mean life would be so much easier and I think it's pretty stupid hating on someone because of blood status."
Remus smiled proudly at Harry, he really was his mothers son. Lily had gone on a little tirade about it, once upon a time and now, watching as Harry;s cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed, Remus was filled with nostalgia.
"You are an amazing young man, you know that?" said Remus, leaning back and smiling at Harry.
Harry blushed and ducked his head, suddenly, uncharacteristically bashful. Remus chuckled and shook the biscuit tin, offering it to Harry. Grinning, Harry took the biscuit and bit into it. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the house, causing Harry and Remus to jump out of their seats, wands raised simultaneously.
"OUCH! WHO PUT THAT THERE?"
"Tonks, for heavens sake be more careful." came Sirius' exasperated voice.
"I am being careful." came the first voice, just as there was another loud crash.
"You were saying?" said Sirius, sounding amused as his voice came closer to the kitchen.
The door burst open, revealing an amused looking Sirius and a short, rosy cheeked woman who had an air of mischief about her. The first thing Harry noticed about her was the short bubblegum pink hair and the wide grin that was currently on her face. She was wearing a pair of torn jeans and a tatty Weird Sisters T-shirt, Harry found himself liking her immediately.
"This is my cousin Nymphadora." said Sirius, smirking when her hair turned tomato red and she glared at him "Or as she prefers to be known, Tonks."
"Nice to meet you Tonks." said Remus, reaching out a hand for her to shake.
To Sirius' amusement, she blushed before taking his hand. Harry looked inquisitively at Sirius, who just shook his head.
"Remus Lupin, nice to meet you." said Remus, smiling.
Tonks then turned to Harry, thrusting a hand in Harry's face. "Wotcher Harry, been up to any mischief recently?" she said, shaking Harry's hand.
Harry found himself blushing and shook his head, ignoring the amused glances sent his way by Remus and Sirius. Tonks ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance and went to sit down, missing the chair by about a foot and crashing down onto her bum on the kitchen floor.
Sirius burst out laughing, while Harry and Remus helped a fiercely blushing Tonks to her feet and made sure the seat was within sitting distance this time. Tonks grinned as she sat down, blushing when Remus smiled at her.
Harry and Sirius exchanged smirks as Tonks and Remus chatted, exchanging subtle glances every now and then. Harry began to feel sleepy, so shuffled up the stairs, where he collapsed on his bed, fully clothed, falling asleep at once.
He woke up to an almighty headache and someone stroking his hair, he blearily opened his eyes, the blurred outline of Remus coming to view. It seemed that Remus had tucked him in and taken his glasses off while he slept. Very slowly, he eased himself up and reached blindly for his glasses, slowly pushing them on his face.
The room and Remus came into focus. Remus was looking rather concerned and stressed, making Harry immediately feel guilty. He smiled apologetically at Remus, rubbing his sore temples. Remus sat down on Harry's bed, facing him.
"Have you got a headache?" said Remus, reaching out and feeling Harry's forehead, sighing with relief when he felt no sign of fever.
"Mm yeah." said Harry, still rubbing his temples.
Remus stood up, crossing the room and grabbed Harry's pain potion, measuring it out in the cap and then handed it to Harry, who downed it gratefully. He yawned loudly and leant against his pillows, looking decidedly tired.
"How much sleep have you had Harry?" said Remus, concern stirring in the pit of his stomach.
"Mm about six hours. Where're Tonks and Sirius?"
"You wouldn't be lying by any chance would you? And Tonks has gone home, Merlin knows where Sirius is."
Harry chuckled. "Lie to you? Blaspheme!"
"Less of the cheek you." said Remus with mock sternness.
"Sorry." said Harry, dragging out the word.
"Oh Harry, you're just like your father." said Remus, smiling and taking Harry's hand.
"Well he is my dad." said Harry cheekily.
"Yes all right Mr smart arse." said Remus, chuckling at Harry's cheek.
"Anyway, what's going on between you and Tonks? Do you fancy her?" said Harry, opening his eyes and grinning teasingly.
"I barely know her, I only met her just today." said Remus, raising his eyebrows but blushing slightly.
"Ha! You do fancy her." said Harry, laughing softly.
"You know? You're not too old for a smacked bottom." Remus teased.
"You wouldn't dare!" said Harry, blushing at the very thought.
"No I wouldn't do that but it's fun to threaten you with it." chuckled Remus.
Harry glared at him. "Well that's nice isn't it? Threatening your favourite person in the whole wide world."
Remus sniggered at Harry's affronted expression and patted his knee fondly. "How do you know you're my favourite person? It might be Professor Dumbledore or Professor Snape."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, you actually like that greasy git?"
Remus demeanour turned slightly stern. "Harry don't be rude." he said, trying not to laugh.
"What? I'm just telling the truth, and he looks like a vampire." said Harry childishly.
This time, a chuckle did escape Remus and then again and again. Soon, he was rolling around on Harry's bed, laughing his head off. Harry sat staring bemusedly at Remus as tears of mirth rolled down his face and he started to wheeze and clutch his ribs.
"Er Uncle Remus? Are you all right?" said Harry, looking utterly perplexed.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine you just reminded me so much of your father then." said Remus, ruffling Harry's hair.
Harry rolled his eyes and attempted-rather unsuccessfully to flatten his hair again, growling in agitation when it sprung back to it's original position
"Oh I forgot to say. Madame Pomfrey will be over this evening, giving your next dose of chemo." said Remus, smiling sympathetically at Harry.
Harry slumped against his pillows, visibly deflated and nodded. Remus clucked sympathetically and stood up, looking out at the magnificent view from Harry's windows. Harry sighed and climbed out of bed, standing next to Remus and watching as the sea slowly eroded the cliff face, in hundreds of years, the coastline would be even further back, Harry thought, smiling slightly.
"You'll be fine Harry." said Remus, turning to Harry and smiling reassuringly.
"I know that." said Harry, shaking his head and grinning at Remus.
"Come on, lets' go find that mutt godfather of yours." said Remus, chuckling as he imagined what sort of mischief Sirius could have gotten himself into.
In all honesty, Remus had been extremely worried about Sirius as of late. The moment he had got out of Azkaban, Sirius had been loud and exuberant, acting like a mischievous teenager as opposed to a fully grown adult. Remus didn't miss the haunted look in his eyes or hear the whimpers and cries as Sirius revisited Azkaban in his nightmares. Remus really didn't know what to do when Sirius wouldn't admit that something was wrong.
Harry had noticed something was off as well but every time he attempted to talk to Remus about it, Sirius would slope into the room, often yawning loudly, hair tousled and huge bags underneath his eyes and Harry would have to shut up quickly, knowing that it would hurt Sirius.
Nonetheless, both of them were extremely worried about Sirius' mental state, something had to give and it wasn't going to be Sirius' mind.
Harry traipsed down the stairs, ruffling his tousled hair and yawning numerous times. He felt unwell after his most recent does of Chemo and it was taking all of his willpower not to throw up, even with the potions. He went into the kitchen, surprised to find Sirius sitting at the table, staring at his hands, deep in thought.
"Hey Sirius." said Harry, sitting down next to him.
"Hey Mini-Marauder." said Sirius, looking up and offering Harry a rakish smile.
"Where's Uncle Remus?" said Harry, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the stove.
Harry thought he saw a flash of jealousy in Sirius' eyes when he had said his name for Remus but almost as soon as it had appeared, it was gone, leaving behind Sirius' usual cheeky grin.
"It's full moon, he's resting up before he goes down to the basement." said Sirius, leaning back in his chair and grinning at Harry.
"D'you want a cup of tea?" said Harry, pulling a chipped mug from the cupboard, hand hovering over a second.
"Please." said Sirius, who had his eyes closed and a hand on his forehead.
Pouring two cups, Harry handed Sirius his own before settling down at the kitchen table, sitting on one foot. Harry sighed, he was bored but Remus had insisted that he stay in the house on full moon days, not wanting Harry to become infected with lycanthropy. Harry had argued rather fiercely at this one but Remus had been adamant, saying that he would be grounded until next Christmas if he didn't obey his rules.
They sat in a comfortable silence, the only sound being that of the occasional sip and the thunk as their mugs were set down on the table. Sirius made a low noise in his throat, attracting Harry's attention from the wall, which he had been staring at for the past ten minutes.
"Harry, I need to talk to you." said Sirius, suddenly looking very sombre and serious.
Harry's heart started thudding loudly and a loud ringing filled his ears. Was he in trouble for some reason?
"I didn't do it." said Harry, almost automatically.
Sirius snickered and shook his head fondly at the sheepish boy, obviously he'd done something that he didn't want Remus to find out about.
"No, you're not in trouble," Sirius said quickly "I actually wanted to tell you something."
Harry raised his eyebrows, slightly perplexed and set his tea mug down, missing the welcoming warmth.
"Oh and Pray Tell?" said Harry, curious as to what had got his godfather so worked up.
"Well you see, the thing is Harry. The Ministry have offered me a job and I've taken it." said Sirius, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Really! That's brilliant, doing what?" said Harry brightly, pleased for his godfather.
Sirius gulped before continuing. "An Auror, but the thing is Harry, it's the Scottish Auror corps and they need me to live there, Glasgow to be precise."
Harry's heart sank. He was happy for his godfather, he really was but he'd only just got to know the man and now he would be saying goodbye already.
"Oh, as long as I still get to see you." said Harry, quietly, trying to hide his disappointment.
"Of course you will." said Sirius, smiling fondly at the anxious look on his godsons face.
"Does Remus know?" said Harry, stirring the remaining dregs of tea around the bottom of his mug.
Sirius nodded, smiling sadly.
"Yes, he was sad to see me leaving but he knows having a job will be good for me." said Sirius, the most peculiar look crossing over his face.
Harry knew why Remus had said that, maybe he was right, maybe this job and a change of scenery would help Sirius to overcome the demons that had been there since Azkaban. Nonetheless, he would miss Sirius greatly when he left but he thought that maybe Sirius needed to find himself again and if fighting dark wizards was how he had to go about it, then so be it.
"When are you leaving?" said Harry, setting his empty mug down.
Sirius took a long draught of tea before setting his own mug down, looking into Harry's tired eyes.
"September 1st so I won't be able to see you off to school." said Sirius, shrugging apologetically.
Harry tried not to let his disappointment show, term started in two days so Harry only had two days left with his godfather. He plastered a huge smile on his face for Sirius' benefit, despite his nerves, Sirius seemed excited about this change and Harry was not going to ruin his happiness, not for all the gold in Gringotts.
"That's fine, we can write right?" said Harry, smiling at his godfather.
Sirius nodded and reached across the table, squeezing Harry's hand tightly. Harry squeezed back just as hard, offering Sirius a small smile.
"Of course we can and I can arrange time off training to come and see you, you'll have to send me a list of all your Hogsmeade weekends." said Sirius.
Harry nodded, promising Sirius that he would. They sat for a long while, just enjoying each others company, sending each other small smiles every now and then. Finally, the door creaked open and Remus, shuffled in, looking like death warmed up.
"You look awful." said Harry bluntly.
"Thank you Harry." said Remus sarcastically, putting his head in his hands.
"You're welcome, what're you doing up? The moon rises at eight." said Harry, taking in Remus' haggard appearance.
"Go to bed Moony." said Sirius firmly, standing up and helping Remus to his feet.
Too tired and fatigued to argue, Remus allowed Sirius to lead him upstairs, settling him in his bed, whereupon he fell asleep instantly. Sirius closed the door with a snap, making sure the alarm was set first, before walking quietly down the stairs to where Harry was laying on the sofa, looking pale.
"You all right there Harry." said Sirius, sitting in the armchair near Harry.
"M'fine. Just waiting for my potions to kick in." Harry mumbled, one hand on his stomach, the other thrown over his face.
"Well, I'm making some lunch soon." said Sirius, reaching over and feeling Harry's forehead for sign of fever, sighing in relief when there was none.
"M'kay, sure." Harry mumbled, removing his hand momentarily to peek at Sirius.
Sirius smiled and grabbed the blanket from the back of the sofa, throwing it over Harry's thin body. He moved into the kitchen, taking out bread, cheese, ham and salad stuff, along with a flagon of butterbeer as he began to prepare Harry's sandwiches, remembering to cut the crusts off.
Setting it on the table, Sirius went back to the living room, stopping when he saw that Harry was fast asleep. He moved slowly across the room, dropping to his knees by Harry and carding his hands through Harry's thick hair, gazing sadly at his pale pallor. Sirius was so scared for Harry, he was just fourteen years old and suffering from a life threatening condition that caused too many complications. He sighed sadly as he thought that Harry's future seemed bleak, what with Voldemort on the move, the prophecy and cancer, Harry was lucky to still be alive.
Sirius would protect Harry no matter, what, even if it meant dying himself. Because after all, it's not like he would be a loss to society would it? A half insane ex-convict with more problems than you can shake a stick at, Harry wouldn't miss him, he had Remus. Remus had denied this most vehemently when Sirius had said this, stating rather loudly that Harry worshipped the ground Sirius walked on and would be broken if Sirius were to pass on.
Regardless of whether he lived or died, Sirius refused to let Harry get hurt more than he already had been, he loved him more than life and as such, would do anything, even kill to see him safe and happy. With that thought, Sirius pressed a kiss to Harry's sweaty brow, flopping into the armchair as he watched his godson sleep.
Just a quick question, I've been doing some thinking and I am in two minds on whether to have Harry compete in the tournament or not, I mean I already have one story like that and I don't want them to be too similar. Should I or shouldn't I? and if I changed the name of the story, would I lose all of my reviews, follows etc.?
