Wow! I feel so loved! I got so much BETA help! So I just randomly selected one of you who offered. Don't be offended if I didn't choose you. It was nothing personal. Also, one of my lovely reviewers that goes by the name of critic unknown suggested I use more British slang. So I'm going to try to do just that, if any of you have any complaints or if you want to know what a certain word I used meant, just ask. I'm sorry if it was annoying that I'm making these British people sound so un-British, but that's what you get when a southern Californian Yankee writes this shit. On to answering reviews!
SolitaryPoison: Well I'm glad to know that I'm not brutally offending anyone. It's always a worry to me that everyone over in Europe and just about everywhere else is laughing their arses off at us stupid Americans with our stupid war and legally retarded leader. I hate that stereotype. I hate Bush and the war. I'm a hippie. Ok, sorry. That's the end of my little rant there. As you've probably figured I've selected you for BETA. I do hope you manage to put up with my shite spelling and all of my other nonsense.
critic unknown: as you read in the first part of my beginning notes, I'm going to attempt adding British slang. Thanks for the site; it's both helpful and interesting. And I'll take the advice you gave me about the web address for the sex scene thing. As you've probably figured I've selected you for BETA.
Queenofdakittys: oh thank you dearie. And that would suck, Malfoy finding out. I'm sure Harry would just love all that publicity. But you're right… He wouldn't mind looking to Remus for comfort. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry all this is happening. Let me hold you in my arms whilst you rest your pretty little head on my shoulder to cry." He he.
shadow hunter 01: no prob. I'm guessing you've read the pairings now judging by your response. Remus/Harry and Ron/ Hermione. Hope it doesn't put a damper on your reading.
Layce74: HELLS YEAH! You tell 'em! That's an interesting way to look at it and I agree! Thanks for your support.
sami1010220: Thank you, and you're right. Bigots like that are unavoidable. And don't worry… I have my plans for our two lovebirds… evil smirk
Xurtan: Yeah, sorry about that. I know it was short, sorry. But one of my friends (the one who types nonsense and curse words of praise in reviews) was begging me for another chapter, so I tried. Sorry if it sucked.
Well, that's it. But I would like to take a moment to thank the people who offered BETA to me: SolitaryPoison, fanfictionfreak, Coreys-angel, Rikke Leonhart. Thanks to all of you! Now onto the story!
&HP&
The Hogwarts grounds were silent and dark. It startled Harry how incredibly different the grounds were during the nighttime. Elves had a bit of a nocturnal vibe and you could always be sure that no matter how late you went out in the glade you would be sure to see one or two people out and about. Not at Hogwarts. The usually busy and noisy grounds and halls of the castle were silent as a graveyard and more barren than a desert. The only movement Harry could spot was the occasional rustle of bushes or trees caused by either the wind or a night walking animal at the edge of the forest.
Remus and Sirius had gone to sleep ages ago and Harry found it nearly impossible to go to sleep. He smiled briefly at the thought of his godfather and Remus. Though Sirius and Harry hadn't known each other for many years Sirius didn't yield in his affection to Harry. He was glad of this fact. He first thought it might be awkward, sitting with the man he was supposed to have lived with but didn't, the man he hadn't seen for nearly his whole life, the man who thought he had been dead for that same amount of time. He was wrong. Their conversation was anything but awkward; Sirius was kind and had a fatherly quality to him. Yet he was fun and seemed like a best friend rather than a parental figure. He could tell that the illegal animagi truly cared for him deeply, he would be talking to Remus or reading and would look up to find Sirius watching him fondly with a small smile. Normally this would have unnerved Harry. He always hated people starring at him, but with Sirius it was comforting.
Then there was Remus. Oh Remus… If Harry had any doubt that he had a crush on the older man it was gone. The more he got to know Remus the more appealing he was. He was almost contradicting to Sirius yet the got along famously. Unlike Sirius, Remus was calmer and quieter. He was sweet and soft spoken, but at the same time he was witty and had a wicked sense of humor to his name. Just like Sirius Harry would catch Remus starring at him at many random moments. When Harry caught Sirius starring his godfather would smile wider but keep on starring. When he caught Remus starring Remus would smile quickly and look away, sometimes Harry would swear that a small blush would appear on his cheeks as well… But he was most likely just imagining it. Harry didn't mind Remus watching him as much as he normally minded being watched. But it did make him nervous. He felt so flustered under the intense stare of those amazing golden eyes. Aside from the ever-growing schoolboy crush Harry had, the afternoon had been fantastic.
He had spent a lot of time talking to his two new companions. They had told him stories of their school days, including many stories about his parents. Harry loved these stories in particular, though the stories about their pranks and jokes around the school were great, he loved hearing about the parents no one had been able to tell him about before. He had told them stories about him and Alice back in the forest and the antics that took place with their earlier days of people watching, the days before they were experienced in the art of spying. Like the time Hagrid and Snape had come into the very edge of the forest for potions ingredients and Hagrid had almost caught them. Alice thought quickly and grabbed a decent sized stone and hurled it to an area behind the half-giant, hopping the noise would distract them. She had succeeded; in her own way… the stone had hit something that made a great deal of noise when hit that caused Hagrid to turn around. The only thing was that the particular thing she had managed to hit was the back of Snape's head. Harry and Alice had quickly run back to their homes, laughing the whole way. This story had provoked a lot of laughter from his avid listeners as well.
They had eaten meals in their rooms and Harry was sleeping in a spare bedroom that was nestled in between Sirius and Remus' own rooms. Well, he was supposed to be sleeping, as expected he was sitting on the window ledge looking out at the black glossy lake, silent forest, and shadowed town of Hogsmade. He sighed and slid off the windowsill and wandered across the room. He hated this feeling, he was tired, tired enough to feel lethargic and have his eyes feel itchy and gravelly. But he wasn't tired enough to sleep. Harry sat on the edge of his bed and eyed the door that was on the left of the room. He had to use the loo and there was only one way to get there. But he didn't want to wake Remus up, so after a quick mental debate, he stood and creeped over to it silently. He turned the knob and pushed it open silently and peered inside. The room was dark but years of living with elves in a forest caused his eyes to adjust to the darkness quickly and saw Remus sleeping calmly in his bed. Harry pushed the door closed behind him and much to his dismay it squeaked loudly as he did so. Remus stirred slightly in his bed. Harry bit his lip and stalked quietly over to the bed and looked down at the occupant to make sure he hadn't woken him up. Remus had a serene look on his handsome face and his hair was splayed across the pillow. He had one of his hands up and tucked behind the pillow and the other hand was draped carelessly over his chest. Harry's cheeks burned. It was draped over his bare chest. His bare and quite well toned chest. His blanket was down around his waist and tangled in his long legs. From what Harry could see, Remus was just wearing some loose pajama pants. He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued quickly to use the loo.
Harry finished his business and walked back through Remus' silent room, forcing himself not to look at his half-naked crush that was sleeping in the bed just to the right of him. He was cautious of the squeak in the door when he closed it once he was back in his own room.
"Heya, Mate!" Chirped a voice from the window. Harry jumped and let out a few quick curses in surprise. He looked quickly to the window and saw Alice sitting on the sill with her legs dangling over the side to his room and a cheeky smile. "How goes it love?" Harry starred at her for a few moments, still a bit surprised to find her sitting in his window, but eventually moved away from the door to walk towards her.
"Well… I suppose it's fine… What on Earth are you doing here? I would've thought your mother would have grounded you to hell and back after what happened last night." Alice snorted and rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Oh no, she did. So naturally I climbed out my window and dashed through the forest to see my mate like the degenerate I am." She replied casually. "Besides, it seems like I haven't seen you in yonks!" It was Harry's turn to roll his eyes.
"Alice, it's only been a day." He said with a smirk, knowing full well that it must have seemed like ages to her because she had no doubt spent all day wondering how things were going for him and what he'd learned about humans. She gave a great sigh and got off of his window ledge and went to plop down onto his bed.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm not daft. So what did you do all day? What's Shadow like? And what about Loup? Have you confessed your undying love to him? Were you coming from his room because you both just had a brilliant shag? Come on Harry! I'm dying here! Give me some news!" Harry was torn between being amused by her antics and embarrassed at her suggestion that he just had a romp with Remus.
"Sirius is fantastic, real nice and funny. No I haven't confessed my undying love and no I didn't just shag him, I was using the loo thank you very much." Harry said blushingly as he sat backwards on a chair sitting at a desk in the room so he was facing Alice. "I was practically having kittens at the thought of just meeting him. Let alone shagging him. Besides… He wouldn't want to shag me anyways." Harry cursed the disappointed tinge that found it's way into his voice as he said the last bit. He hoped that Alice hadn't caught it. She had.
"Aww! Don't be sad Harry! He's probably having a dream about boffing you right now!" She said, partly teasing and partly reassuring him. Harry made an interesting noise and blushed more.
"Come off it already! Can we please change the subject?" He asked with irritation edging his voice.
"All right! All right! No need to get narked! So Sha- eh… Sirius is cool?" She said, raising her hands in apologetic defense.
"Yeah, he's really brilliant. Funny, nice, entertaining, and he really seems to care about me." Alice smiled and nodded her head.
"Yeah, I always thought he would be, judging by what we saw of him. And of course he loves you! Everyone loves ickle Harry; you're just a cuddly guy! So, what's Remus like?" Harry took a moment to realize that he had just been referred to as cuddly before replying.
"He's really nice. Sweet, calm, even-tempered, and real funny as well. Him and Sirius sort of have a friendship like ours. They're always making fun of each other and teasing each other." Alice giggled and grinned.
"How is that like our friendship you birk?" Harry chuckled.
"Figure it out on your own you dolt." Alice laughed a bit and continued her rapid fire of questions about what happened. Harry told her to shush and explained his whole day, starting with meeting up with Sirius. Harry mentioned seeing Hermione in the halls and Alice burst out laughing.
"Oh wow! She actually followed our advice! Oh that's priceless! Was she doing it right?" Harry nodded with a smile and Alice continued laughing. Harry shook his head and poked her laughter shaken body with his foot.
"Oy, shut up will ya? You're going to wake them up you git!" This only seemed to make Alice laugh harder as she fought to conceal the noise of her mirth by putting her hands over her mouth. It was all in vain because moments later the door opened and a very sleepy Sirius Black stumbled through the door with his wand in hand. Harry had been keeping it together but this was the last straw. Sirius' long black hair was an absolute mess and he had a fluffy pink dressing gown draped over his broad shoulders. His face was a flawless picture of confusion and overwhelming sleepiness. (1) Harry lost it and joined Alice's violent laughter, which had increased at the sight before them. Sirius starred at them blankly looking even more lost than before. They were so caught up in their fits of laughter they didn't notice the other door open and Remus step in the doorway with a curious look on his face. He was tired looking as well but still better off than Sirius. His hair was less of a mess and the dressing gown he wore loosely around his thin frame was black, not pink. He was quite surprised to find a disheveled and pink clad Sirius black standing in the doorway. He was starring at two people sitting on Harry's bed who seemed to find the picture Sirius painted absolutely hilarious, it was, but Remus was too confused to laugh at the moment. One of the people was a pretty blonde elf girl that Remus didn't recognize and the other was Harry. Remus watched Harry for several moments, he was absolutely beautiful when he laughed, but then again he was beautiful to start with. Harry was the first to recover and wiped some tears from his eyes. "Ah, sorry Sirius, we didn't mean to wake you up… hahaha. Nice dressing gown by the way…" Sirius blinked and looked down, immediately blushing scarlet.
"Oh… well…. Yeah. It was the first robe I grabbed, I didn't really look at what I put on." He murmured in his defense. The three occupants of the room looked to the other door when they heard a soft chuckle. Harry blushed a bit to find Remus standing in said doorway in nothing but dark red drawstring pants that rode somewhat low on his hips and a black robe that tied loosely around his waist. He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.
"Dare I ask why you had a pink robe in your closet to start with?" He asked calmly, causing Sirius to blush again and tilt his head.
"Yes… Well I don't really know…" He muttered, sincerely confused. Harry and Alice started laughing again but forced themselves not to break into another laughing fit. "So." Sirius started, looking back to Harry and Alice. "What exactly is going on?" Alice answered with a smile.
"Sorry to wake you Mr. Black, You probably remember me, I'm Alice, Harry's friend." She leaned forward so she was able to look at Remus better. "And nice to meet you Loup!" Remus smiled and returned the phrase, Alice looked back to Sirius. "I was dying with curiosity as to what was going on and what dear Harry was up to and snuck out of my house to pay him a visit. He was telling me about his day and about you two when he mentioned something funny and I laughed. That accidentally woke you up and… well you came in and… well…" She smiled and looked to Harry.
"You came in and it just got funnier." He finished for her, causing Remus to laugh and Sirius to glare good-naturedly.
"I'm glad I'm so bloody amusing. And I'm not sure that I should approve of this late night booty call." Remus had stopped laughing and looked up sharply at these words, looking to Harry to see how he reacted. He was relieved to see that both him and Alice look terrified.
"Ew!" They both chorused together.
"Sirius that's sick! Alley is my best mate! I've known her forever! Me shagging her would be like you shagging Remus!" Harry's declaration caused both Remus and Sirius to gasp in disgust. (2)
"Oh ew. That's… That was unnecessary." Remus muttered with a sour look on his face.
"Sorry, I wanted to prove my point." Harry said with a smile. Sirius sighed and walked further into the room.
"So what was it you two were talking about?" Alice and Harry smiled and began telling him and Remus about the day they spent with Hermione that Alice liked to refer to as "flirting 101". After hours of talking Alice gave a great sigh and stood up.
"Well, It's getting late. My mom will kill me! See you mates." They all said their goodbyes and Alice climbed back out the window. Sirius stood up and moved back to his room.
"She's right. It's late as hell. You should go to bed Harry." Harry nodded and returned the quick one-armed hug Sirius gave him before disappearing into his room. Harry got into his bed and Remus gave him a smile.
"Night Harry. Sweet dreams." He said before heading back into his own rooms. Harry smiled at him too.
"Goodnight Remus." The lights went out and Harry was asleep in no time.
&HP&
Hehehe… I loved this image. If anyone likes to draw fan art I would adore a picture of that. Heh.
I'm actually a fan of SB/RL but since Remmy is paired with someone else I'm going to make them like brothers. And therefore the idea of shagging is gross.
So, how do you think I did with the British slang? Was it crap? Was it good? Tell me. And if you're lost on a few words just ask. They're all pretty self-explanatory though.