9. Making Plans

"Harry, will you please help me do the dishes?" Remus asks. He is still feeling weak, because he has been ill again. Sirius is out, to a music festival, and Remus wants him to come back to a clean house. Harry had always helped out in the house, so his godfather feels like he isn't asking for much, especially not now he is still recovering from being ill.

"I've got homework," Harry says, and he leaves the kitchen.

"Harry?" Remus asks after him, and he puts down a plate, and follows him into the living room. "Please, it'll take only a few minutes. Afterwards you can do as you please, and I won't ask you for anything again. But just help me out with this?"

"No! I just told you, I've got homework," Harry says, looking irritated, and he grabs his phone from the table, and storms towards the hallway. The door opens, and Sirius walks in. Harry storms up the stairs, stomping his feet, even though Remus still has a headache.

"Harry, please don't be like this," Remus tries, as he follows Harry into the hallway. He sees his husband standing there, looking confused.

"No, do it yourself!" Harry shouts, as he storms into his room.

"What is going on?" Sirius asks, as he wraps his arms around Remus, who is looking really quite upset. He knows how much Remus loves Harry, and how much it hurts when Harry shouts at him, and treats him like that. But unfortunately, lately he has been acting this way a lot.

"I asked him to help me with the dishes. He said he had homework, so I should have let it go, but…"

"No, don't," Sirius says, and he lets go of Remus. "Don't blame yourself. He has been like this for weeks, to me as well. But I really don't think it has anything to do with us."

"I just want him to be happy again," Remus says, and Sirius nods, and puts a hand on the side of Remus' face.

"I know, hun. Me too," he says, and he gives him a kiss. "I'll go try and talk to him. Again," he adds, and he goes up the stairs. He knocks on Harry's door, but there's no answer. So he opens it, and finds Harry sitting on the bed, typing away on his phone. "Put it down," Sirius says, as he goes to stand in front of the bed.

"No," Harry says, staring at the screen.

"Put it down. Now." Sirius repeats, raising his voice.

"Piss off," Harry says. Sirius grabs the phone out of his hands, and throws it against the wall. Harry looks scared, and Sirius is glad. At least he has made his point.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sirius asks, raising his voice, sounding really angry. Harry has never seen or heard him like this, and it is really quite intimidating. "We took you in, we give you everything you need, we work day and night to provide for you. We love you like you're our own. And this is how you treat us?" Sirius asks, shouting at the teenager. "You know what? I can deal with it, I've seen kids like you. I've been like you. Acting tough on the outside, treating people like dirt, because something is wrong, in here," he adds, pointing at his head. "But don't you dare treat Remus like that. He has been nothing but good to you. He would die for you. So don't you dare treat him like this. Don't you fucking dare!"

"I…," Harry tries, but no other words leave his mouth. His heart is racing, and tears are burning in his eyes. Tears of embarrassment, of shame, of regret.

"Don't," Sirius says, and without saying another word, he leaves the teenager's room. He goes downstairs, and finds Remus sitting at the bottom of the stairs, crying. Sirius knows that it is because he has just shouted at Harry, and Remus thinks that they should never shout at Harry. But honestly, Remus is too nice sometimes, too good for this world. What Sirius had said, was the truth. He used to be like Harry, treating people like dirt, because he felt bad about something that had nothing to do with the people he was being horrible to. So he also knows how to deal with it.

"He just…"

"I know," Remus interrupts his husband, and he gets up. "But that doesn't make it any easier."

"True. But hopefully it has worked," Sirius says, and they go into the living room. They sit down on the sofa, and cuddle up, leaving the dishes for what they are.


They are still cuddled up, when footsteps start coming down the stairs. They come carefully, nothing like how Harry has been stomping up and down the stairs for the past few weeks. Harry comes into the living room, his head hanging down, his eyes red from crying.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, and his two godfathers let go of each other and sit up. "I ehm… I'm just really sorry. I truly am."

"Good," Sirius says, still showing him some tough love.

"And Remus…," Harry begins, but then he stops, looking down at his hands.

"I'll leave you two to it," Sirius says, and he leaves the room. Remus signs for Harry to come over, so Harry sits down next to him, feeling really uncomfortable and guilty.

"I am so sorry for how I've been acting, I just…"

"I know," Remus says, flashing a small smile.

"And I didn't mean those things I said to you last week. I don't know what I was thinking… I really am so so sorry. I do love you," Harry says, his voice breaking, as he is fighting his tears.

"I know, and I love you too, Harry. Come here," Remus says, choking up as well. He gives his godson a big hug, and they both stay there for a while, crying, until Sirius enters the room again.

"Care to share the love?" he asks, and they open up the hug, so Sirius can join.


Harry is outside, staring at the spring flowers, when someone grabs his arm. He turns around, and sees Draco, looking nervous.

"What's wrong?" he asks, immediately assuming the worse.

"Follow me," Draco orders, and Harry does as he is told. He follows Draco to an empty classroom, and Draco locks the door behind them.

"Where did you get…"

"I took them," Draco says, as if it's no big deal, and he puts the keys back into his pocket. "What? It's not as if they are going to expel me," he shrugs. Which is true, because his father knows people, and he would never allow his son to be expelled, or suspended, not even over something like stealing a teacher's keys.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I was wondering what you're doing this summer."

"I'm probably spending it at home, watching far too many black and white movies with Remus. And I'll probably go and see a bunch of bands with Sirius. Why?" Harry asks, as he sits down on the teacher's desk, actually feeling like a bit of a rebel for doing it.

"I was thinking, maybe we can go away together. Go to Amsterdam again for a couple of days. Or some other place. If you're up for it."

"Yeah, of course."

"We'd need a good cover though. You'd probably need to tell Ron, so he'd cover for you to Lupin."

"Ron knows," Harry admits. "And so does Hermione…"

"What? Why?" Draco asks, looking both scared and hurt. "I thought we were keeping this a secret? Don't you know what would happen if my father were to find out?"

"I know, but they're my best friends, and they won't tell anyone. And they will help us. I promise."

"They better."


It's the morning of Remus' birthday, and Harry has just woken up. The last few weeks have been tough, because he is struggling with having a secret relationship, which basically means that he can see Draco only a few minutes every other day. And maybe a few hours, when both Sirius and Remus are out of the house. And Sirius and Remus are still happier than ever, which is only making Harry think about Draco more.

When he enters the kitchen, he quickly covers his eyes with his hands.

"Oh, god," he says, and he backs away out of the kitchen again. He had just found his godfathers enjoying themselves a bit too much on the kitchen table.

"Sorry about that," Remus says, his face flushed, as he comes into the living room, a minute later. "Sirius is ehm…"

"Cleaning the table?" Harry suggests.

"Yes," Remus says, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Happy birthday," Harry says, simply not knowing what else to say. But in this situation, after what he had just walked in on, it just seems a bit of an awkward comment.

"Thanks, Harry."

"All cleaned up," Sirius says, as he comes into the room, a big smile on his face. He wraps an arm around his husband's waist, and kisses the side of his neck. Remus' face turns bright red, and he quickly pushes Sirius away.

"Ehm, yes," he says. "Ehm, let's have breakfast, yes?"

"Sure," Harry says, but honestly, he wants to disappear right now. This has got to be the most awkward morning of his life.

They were planning on having a party for Remus' birthday. But then a few days ago he had gotten ill again, and he had asked them to cancel it. He had preferred to celebrate it with just Sirius and Harry. But Sirius had just gotten a call, and he had to leave, but it had been a bit of a mystery where to. So Remus and Harry are now watching a movie, one of those black and white ones that Remus loves.

"Is that Sirius?" Harry asks, when he hears noise near the front door. He gets up, and goes to see what is going on. When he sees what Sirius is carrying, he cannot help but laugh. Remus turns off the tv, and they both walk into the living room.

"Surprise." Sirius grins, as he holds up the fluffy little thing in his hands.

"A puppy?" Remus asks, looking confused. "You got me a puppy?"

"Yes, I did," Sirius says, and he hands over the little thing to his husband. "Do you like him?"

"Like him?" Remus asks, a big smile on his face, as he looks down at the little thing in his arms. It starts licking his face, and Sirius is pretty sure that he can feel his heart melting. The small thing is grey and white, and he has got bright blue eyes. He looks like a small wolf. "He is perfect."

"He's going to be a lot bigger, but I figured that'd be fine," Sirius says, as he starts petting the puppy.

"What is his name?" Harry asks, feeling really excited, because he had always loved dogs. But he was never allowed to have one, back where he used to live.

"He doesn't have one yet."

"Do you want to name him?" Remus asks, and the puppy starts licking his face again. His face is beaming, and his smile honestly couldn't get any bigger.

"No, you go ahead," Sirius says, and the puppy gives a little bark. Remus puts it down on the floor, and it starts walking around, curious to see his new home.

"Jimmy," Remus says, and both Sirius and Harry look at him. Harry with a confused look on his face, Sirius with a loving smile on his face.

"Why Jimmy?" Harry asks.

"It's just a nice name," Remus says, as he keeps looking at the puppy. But Sirius knows better, and he grabs his husband's hand, giving it a small squeeze. They share a look, and then look back at the puppy, who has just started to chew on one of Sirius' boots.


"Just a nice name, huh?" Sirius asks, when he and Remus are in bed that night.

"I didn't want him to think that I named the puppy after them for the wrong reasons."

"What wrong reasons could there be?"

"Hi Harry, I named a puppy, an animal, after your dead parents. I see your parents as animals," Remus says, and Sirius can't help but laugh. One day, back at school, they had had a conversation about the future, about marriage, about having children. James and Lily had already decided that they would want to have a baby. The four of them had then thought of names, and eventually they had all come up with loads of names, Harry being one of them. But they had, for then, settled on Jimmy, the name combined from James and Lily. And for years, they had talked about 'Jimmy' when they had talked about the future and their future baby. Naming the puppy Jimmy, it reminds them of those conversations, of making future plans with their friends. Of having fun with their friends.

"I'm sure he wouldn't think like that," Sirius says, but Remus shrugs. "Are you just a bit embarrassed?"

"A bit," Remus admits. "But I just felt like remembering them, and honouring them. Thanking them."

"What for?"

"I know that it must sound horrible, but for giving us the perfect family," Remus says, feeling guilty. But Sirius understands how he means it, and he feels his entire body burning with love and pride.

"It isn't horrible at all. And it is."

"It is what?" Remus asks, looking confused.

"Perfect."