((A/N: Well, isn't allowing me to upload my .rtf or .doc files
so I had to upload this as a .txt file which means that I couldn't get
it to include the italics, bold, etc. And there's some kind of glitch
in the system that isn't letting me edit it via QuickEdit. Once they
get that fixed, I'll reupload this chapter. Until then, Viva la Lucky
Charms!
Tia Evans: Thanks! I'll definitely conitnue this. As for the father? Heh, just read. :P
DISCLAIMER: Hmm, nope! Still not mine!))
Harry sat on the bed and stared over at the boy with shaggy dark tawny hair and neutral brown eyes. All he could do was look in disbelief at the person next to him and worry if he was mentally stable.
"Pardon me mate, but what did you say?"
"Sorry Harry, but you're going to find this impossible to understand. But yes, I said I'm Sirius, not Wayne."
"MADAM POMFREY!!!!" Harry called rather loudly as he narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the boy besides him. A moment later, the medi-witch reached the besides, looking slightly flustered about being woken up at this time of night.
"Yes Mister Potter? What seems to be the problem?" She asked but the grogginess still visible in her voice.
"Could you please get the Headmaster and Professor Lupin? I think they need to hear something,"
"And what could be so important that the Headmaster would be needed?" Wayne cleared his throat from his bed and Poppy stood in utter shock as she realized that her other patient had woken up. "Yes, certainly Mister Potter, Mister Hopkins. I shall be back momentarily."
Moments later found Remus and Albus running into the hospital wing in disarray and ended up in a pile on the floor from a stray piece of cloth. Duel chuckles emerged from the nearby beds and Wayne couldn't help but get out of the bed and help Remus to his feet. "Really Remus, you'd think after thirty five years, one would manage to keep themselves on their feet properly."
The werewolf stared at the young lad who'd stuck his hand out to help him up. Harry had also gotten up and was in the process of getting Dumbledore back to his own feet.
"Excuse me, young man, do I know you?" Remus asked cautiously, the graying hair sticking out humorously.
"Well, what a way to greet old friends, eh Moony? Hmm, I'm curious if the Marauder's Map would show me as Wayne Hopkins or Sirius Black…" He trailed off, grinning lopsidedly.
"How…?" Remus began, his eyes now full of distrust for the young man standing in front of him. Sighing loudly, Wayne suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a large hairy black dog that was wagging his tail happily.
"Sirius!?" Albus, Harry and Remus all started to ask at the same time.
"Oh, I'm going to be paying for that come morning. Forgot that this body isn't up to par," Wayne/Sirius stated after returning to young man's body. "Perhaps I should explain…"
------
------
FLASHBACK-
"Now really Sirius, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be looking out for our favorite godchild?" James joked as he noticed the visitor following Lily into the small cottage that the two lived in. Sirius looked over blankly from his friend's statement.
"Perhaps we should explain, Sirius. Take a seat though. This isn't something you're going to like hearing."
Sirius plopped down on one of the chairs that was next to James and looked at the two warily. "What is this all about?"
Lily sighed heavily and began on her tale. "Back in our years at Hogwarts, especially close to our OWL exams, I was beginning to have difficulties in a couple of my classes and needed some extra help if I wanted to pass with high grades. I was able to convince Professor McGonagall to find me a tutor who'd be able to help to get me up to snuff before the exams came. One was for Potions and the other for Defense Against the Dark Arts since the subtle theory behind each was managing to elude me. While I would've preferred a single tutor, the two subjects seemed to split themselves between the student body. So she set up sessions with two different students who were willing to help.
Severus was the logical choice to have for a tutor in Potions as he was the top student in the class and seemed to have an abundance of time on his hands and Remus conceded to help me in the other. I believe he never mentioned this to the others as he believed you'd mock him for being even more bookish than he already was. So I spent ample time with both and steadily my grades in each course began to rise. Even Severus was able to get over his distaste for muggleborns and we were able to have a friendship come out of the situation.
Then in our final year, both of my friendships with Severus and Remus had solidified themselves and I continued to meet with both of them and unfortunately by that time I'd fallen for both of them. Once we had graduated, everyone believed I'd gone off with James, but that was untrue. Yes, I did move in with him, but that was because neither of the two I wanted to be with could offer me a place to live and going back to my parents with Petunia there.
Remus couldn't seem to be able to hold a job so living arrangements were hard enough for him as it was and Severus had already mentioned his family and how muggleborns were definitely not accepted into the manor, so James, being the great friend that he was, offered to let me live at his cottage. Now, during this time, I was still seeing both Severus and Remus, and believe me, I wish I had never done this to them. But within a week of each other, I somehow found myself waking up after sleeping with both men. Most likely I had gotten drunk or otherwise I would've stopped myself. A month and a half later I found out I was pregnant with Harry.
Where did it all fall out is now probably crossing your mind. Luckily for me, both Severus and Remus had managed to put aside their past grudges and work with each other until I was able to make up my mind. I really regret playing both of them like that, but I was young and stupid. But the day I planned on telling Severus I was pregnant, I caught sight of that awful Dark Mark on his arm and fled in terror before I could hear what he had to say. To this day, I regret running like that because I've always been curious to know if it was by choice or force. Anyhow, I was terrified and I fled to Remus, but when I got to his current residence, I found him partly changed into a werewolf. As much as I knew about the Marauders, I never had paid close enough attention to Remus's habits around the full moon. Naturally I fled from him as well before I was attacked.
James, here, was a true friend and stayed by my side and even offered to marry me, which I did accept, and give my unborn child a father. Once I had given birth to Harry, I still didn't know which the father was. Young children, while they can tend to give off traits of their parents, doesn't give any solid proof and as you might know, one cannot tell the color of either hair or eyes from birth. Harry was born bald and as all babies, with blue eyes. Even so, I opted to mask Harry's true appearance since either way, he would be in danger, as would the father. If he is Severus's, then Voldemort will be trying to force him into taking the Dark Mark by blackmailing Severus. It wouldn't be any better off if he is Remus's either. While infecting another person is bad enough, consciously impregnating someone carries an even heavier sentence that would find Remus executed in a truly primal way, Harry w ould be shunned and on the full moon of his sixteenth birthday, the dormant disease would awaken and he'd begin to transform.
James and I used a powerful appearance charm accompanied by a couple of potions to lengthen the effects to change Harry's looks to mirror those of James, even as he was growing up. Even with that though, we saw his true eye color break through both the spell and potion before long. Eyes are the gateway to the truth and this was no exception. While both James and I always knew in the back of our minds that something could go wrong with the war, we didn't let anyone in on this secret, not even Albus Dumbledore. Unfortunately, I believe now around his sixteenth birthday, both charm and potions will begin to wear off and he'll start to resemble how he really should."
Lily finally finished relaying her sad tale to Sirius who just sat there in shock from what he'd heard. He couldn't believe that Lily had been with one of his other best friends as well as Snape.
"How will Harry know what is going to be happening to him if no one knew?" He asked hoarsely, clutching at the armrest on the chair.
The couple glanced back and forth between themselves and then back at Sirius. "You weren't supposed to die yet, mate, and there is important business you now have to relay back to Harry, Remus, and Severus. I believe that their might be a way to return you," James said slowly, looking at Lily for conformation. She nodded and pulled out four envelopes and handed them to Sirius.
"Come, we'll see if perhaps something can be worked out…"
END FLASHBACK
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---------------------------------------
The Boy Who Lived sat there and wished that he was "The Boy Who Didn't Just Hear What He Thought He Heard," and started hyperventilating. Poppy hurried to his side and gently helped him with a calming draught in hopes to relax him enough to stop the attack. ((A/N: ….Having panic attacks is something I've dealt with so don't try to tell me that a calming solution would immediately help. Even with medication, it can still take ten-fifteen minutes for someone to start calming down. Want more information? Ask.))
The nearby table started vibrating gently at first and then gradually built up to a deafening crash as it was slammed against the wall in a fit of rage by Harry's innate magical abilities.
"HIT THE DECKS!" Sirius/Wayne screamed as he rolled off the bed and ducked under it. "He's gonna blow!" The other three occupants of the room took the advice and scrambled underneath the nearby beds to shelter themselves from the sudden explosion of glass from the windows. A few moments later the four emerged from their shelter and approached the boy on the bed slowly.
"Harry?" Albus asked gently as he tentatively placed a hand on Harry's shoulder in an attempt to further calm him down. After receiving no response, he sighed and turned back to Sirius/Wayne. "That still doesn't explain how you are here and in Wayne Hopkins body."
"I suppose it doesn't...Perhaps I should continue with the tale..."
-------------------------
-------------------------
FLASHBACK
The three friends found themselves in a small room with simple white decor and a wizened man sitting at a desk. He frowned as he caught sight of Sirius walking towards him. "Mister Black! Just what do you think you are doing here? By my records, you weren't supposed to arrive for seventeen years, nine months, three weeks, two days, eleven hours, fifty two minutes, and thirty seven seconds!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that Bellatrix decided that it was fun to blast me through the veil." Sirius muttered to himself.
"Haha, hear that you old fart? You weren't supposed to die till you were old! What did you do, overdose on the grapenuts?" James snickered and looked as if he was having a hard time conducting himself.
"Now, what brings you three here?" The man asked, glasses slipping down his nose as he stared intently at Sirius. Lily spoke up quickly and began enlightening the man about their situation with Harry and how no one knew, but they were distracted by a young man appearing in the room, although with a soulless look on his face. "Mister Hopkins! What are you doing here, considering the fact that you aren't dead!" He exclaimed, looking surprised for the second time that day.
"Please let me die..." He said, voice lacking all emotions and eyes empty. The elder looked thoughtful for a moment before staring at Sirius.
"It seems I have just found a way to send you back after all..."
END FLASHBACK
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
"So basically Wayne's body was soulless so he sent me to inhabit this one," Sirius finished, looking a bit sad though. "Seems that Wayne's spirit was dead to the world even if his body wasn't. The old man decided it was kinder just to let him be, and send me back to deal with the present."
"I must say, Mister Black, while we will miss Mister Hopkins, I'm sure Harry is delighted to have you back in our midst." Albus said, his eyes twinkling.
"Who am I?" Harry asked all the sudden, his voice so low it could barely be heard. Remus looked faint from the whole ordeal and collapsed onto a nearby chair to recollect his balance. Albus, Sirius, and Poppy glanced at each other before the Headmaster spoke up.
"Harry, calm down. We have no way of telling since Lily herself didn't know who the father was. The only way to tell right now would be to remove the charm and even then, the potion would still need to drain itself from your body."
"Remove them." He said shortly.
"Are you certain this is what you want?" Albus sighed slowly.
"Yes."
He nodded stiffly, not wanting to place this on the boy's shoulders so soon after hearing this. "Revelare germanum signum," was spoken quietly, yet forcefully, feeling nervous himself as to what was going to happen. Four sets of eyes immediately turned their gaze upon the boy to see the true father.
Harry's hair was a dead give away. Layers of chestnut brown hair with a reddish tint fell around his face as the spell had kept his hair from growing all those years and now made up for it. His body seemed a bit lankier than it had been, but they weren't able to see much with the hair covering his face. Sirius crawled onto the bed and gently brushed away the errant locks and peered into the still brilliant green eyes. Bits and pieces of his face now resembled Remus's instead of James and more parts of Lily shone through. There was still much of James in Harry's looks, but those would be removed after the potion was flushed from his body. Remus walked over, albeit in shock, and tentatively placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Who's am I?"
"Mine," Remus said gently, trying to make it sound as caring as possible. He knelt down and pulled the boy's chin towards him and brushed away the excessive hair before looking into his eyes. "You're mine, and I wish I would've known sooner."
Harry's breathing hadn't stabilized yet and continued his labored breaths. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to hide under the blanket and wish that everything would just go away and that he'd never heard what Sirius had to say. He numbly heard someone say something in the background about cutting his hair to a more reasonable length and felt as a few wisps fluttered into his face after having it cut to just above his shoulders.
Severus chose that moment to enter the hospital wing in his usual fashion, robes swirling at his feet and a sneer placed firmly on his face. In his hands were a few phials of potions that he set down on a nearby table and whirled around to the group. "Your Skin Replenishing Potion, Poppy," he muttered in a silky voice before his eyes trailed down to the young boy with scruffy brown-red hair. "Who is that?" Severus spat, looking distastefully at the person who was the center of attention.
"Am I that unrecognizable?" The soft voice came again, lowering his head down so that his hair would cover his face.
The Potion Master narrowed his eyes and deduced that it had to be Potter underneath all that hair. "So what did our 'hero' do to himself this time?" He spat out, that venomous look falling all too easily onto his face.
Hairs bristled on Remus's back as he heard Severus treat Harry like that. If the charms hadn't been removed, for all they knew, Harry could've been the son of Snape and he pitied what could've happened then. Luckily, Albus stepped in to sedate the man. "Severus, please kindly refrain yourself from talking to Harry like that. As to what has happened, Sirius seems to have been returned to us and while was beyond the veil, learned some information that effected Remus and could've done the same to you."
"Headmaster, are you feeling ill? The dead cannot be returned to life," Severus snapped, shifting uncomfortably where he was standing.
"Actually Snivellus, it seems that this world would've been too devastated to see me permanently removed from here so he sent me back in the body of Wayne Hopkins. Sorry to get your hopes up of getting rid of me forever," Sirius sneered, making it look rather amusing on the face of a once Hufflepuff.
"So then why does Potter seem to be sporting a head of long brown hair instead of his usual black rats nest?"
"It would seem that Lily had unfinished business when she died that she passed on to Sirius during his time with them. She mentioned having both an affair with you and Remus and when Harry was born, she couldn't tell who's he was and masked his appearance for fear of what would happen when he found his biological father. The spells she used would've gone on indefinitely had she not died, but unfortunately she did and now they would've only lasted until around his sixteenth birthday. Harry decided that he'd rather know just who was his father which is why part of the mask is now gone." Albus replied, looking over gravely at Harry for a moment.
The young lad had curled up into a ball and was staring at the wall with a blank expression. "When's the next full moon?" The boy in question enquired with an almost inaudible voice.
"July 31st."
((Like I said, sorry about not being able to properly format this....))
Tia Evans: Thanks! I'll definitely conitnue this. As for the father? Heh, just read. :P
DISCLAIMER: Hmm, nope! Still not mine!))
Harry sat on the bed and stared over at the boy with shaggy dark tawny hair and neutral brown eyes. All he could do was look in disbelief at the person next to him and worry if he was mentally stable.
"Pardon me mate, but what did you say?"
"Sorry Harry, but you're going to find this impossible to understand. But yes, I said I'm Sirius, not Wayne."
"MADAM POMFREY!!!!" Harry called rather loudly as he narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the boy besides him. A moment later, the medi-witch reached the besides, looking slightly flustered about being woken up at this time of night.
"Yes Mister Potter? What seems to be the problem?" She asked but the grogginess still visible in her voice.
"Could you please get the Headmaster and Professor Lupin? I think they need to hear something,"
"And what could be so important that the Headmaster would be needed?" Wayne cleared his throat from his bed and Poppy stood in utter shock as she realized that her other patient had woken up. "Yes, certainly Mister Potter, Mister Hopkins. I shall be back momentarily."
Moments later found Remus and Albus running into the hospital wing in disarray and ended up in a pile on the floor from a stray piece of cloth. Duel chuckles emerged from the nearby beds and Wayne couldn't help but get out of the bed and help Remus to his feet. "Really Remus, you'd think after thirty five years, one would manage to keep themselves on their feet properly."
The werewolf stared at the young lad who'd stuck his hand out to help him up. Harry had also gotten up and was in the process of getting Dumbledore back to his own feet.
"Excuse me, young man, do I know you?" Remus asked cautiously, the graying hair sticking out humorously.
"Well, what a way to greet old friends, eh Moony? Hmm, I'm curious if the Marauder's Map would show me as Wayne Hopkins or Sirius Black…" He trailed off, grinning lopsidedly.
"How…?" Remus began, his eyes now full of distrust for the young man standing in front of him. Sighing loudly, Wayne suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a large hairy black dog that was wagging his tail happily.
"Sirius!?" Albus, Harry and Remus all started to ask at the same time.
"Oh, I'm going to be paying for that come morning. Forgot that this body isn't up to par," Wayne/Sirius stated after returning to young man's body. "Perhaps I should explain…"
------
------
FLASHBACK-
"Now really Sirius, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be looking out for our favorite godchild?" James joked as he noticed the visitor following Lily into the small cottage that the two lived in. Sirius looked over blankly from his friend's statement.
"Perhaps we should explain, Sirius. Take a seat though. This isn't something you're going to like hearing."
Sirius plopped down on one of the chairs that was next to James and looked at the two warily. "What is this all about?"
Lily sighed heavily and began on her tale. "Back in our years at Hogwarts, especially close to our OWL exams, I was beginning to have difficulties in a couple of my classes and needed some extra help if I wanted to pass with high grades. I was able to convince Professor McGonagall to find me a tutor who'd be able to help to get me up to snuff before the exams came. One was for Potions and the other for Defense Against the Dark Arts since the subtle theory behind each was managing to elude me. While I would've preferred a single tutor, the two subjects seemed to split themselves between the student body. So she set up sessions with two different students who were willing to help.
Severus was the logical choice to have for a tutor in Potions as he was the top student in the class and seemed to have an abundance of time on his hands and Remus conceded to help me in the other. I believe he never mentioned this to the others as he believed you'd mock him for being even more bookish than he already was. So I spent ample time with both and steadily my grades in each course began to rise. Even Severus was able to get over his distaste for muggleborns and we were able to have a friendship come out of the situation.
Then in our final year, both of my friendships with Severus and Remus had solidified themselves and I continued to meet with both of them and unfortunately by that time I'd fallen for both of them. Once we had graduated, everyone believed I'd gone off with James, but that was untrue. Yes, I did move in with him, but that was because neither of the two I wanted to be with could offer me a place to live and going back to my parents with Petunia there.
Remus couldn't seem to be able to hold a job so living arrangements were hard enough for him as it was and Severus had already mentioned his family and how muggleborns were definitely not accepted into the manor, so James, being the great friend that he was, offered to let me live at his cottage. Now, during this time, I was still seeing both Severus and Remus, and believe me, I wish I had never done this to them. But within a week of each other, I somehow found myself waking up after sleeping with both men. Most likely I had gotten drunk or otherwise I would've stopped myself. A month and a half later I found out I was pregnant with Harry.
Where did it all fall out is now probably crossing your mind. Luckily for me, both Severus and Remus had managed to put aside their past grudges and work with each other until I was able to make up my mind. I really regret playing both of them like that, but I was young and stupid. But the day I planned on telling Severus I was pregnant, I caught sight of that awful Dark Mark on his arm and fled in terror before I could hear what he had to say. To this day, I regret running like that because I've always been curious to know if it was by choice or force. Anyhow, I was terrified and I fled to Remus, but when I got to his current residence, I found him partly changed into a werewolf. As much as I knew about the Marauders, I never had paid close enough attention to Remus's habits around the full moon. Naturally I fled from him as well before I was attacked.
James, here, was a true friend and stayed by my side and even offered to marry me, which I did accept, and give my unborn child a father. Once I had given birth to Harry, I still didn't know which the father was. Young children, while they can tend to give off traits of their parents, doesn't give any solid proof and as you might know, one cannot tell the color of either hair or eyes from birth. Harry was born bald and as all babies, with blue eyes. Even so, I opted to mask Harry's true appearance since either way, he would be in danger, as would the father. If he is Severus's, then Voldemort will be trying to force him into taking the Dark Mark by blackmailing Severus. It wouldn't be any better off if he is Remus's either. While infecting another person is bad enough, consciously impregnating someone carries an even heavier sentence that would find Remus executed in a truly primal way, Harry w ould be shunned and on the full moon of his sixteenth birthday, the dormant disease would awaken and he'd begin to transform.
James and I used a powerful appearance charm accompanied by a couple of potions to lengthen the effects to change Harry's looks to mirror those of James, even as he was growing up. Even with that though, we saw his true eye color break through both the spell and potion before long. Eyes are the gateway to the truth and this was no exception. While both James and I always knew in the back of our minds that something could go wrong with the war, we didn't let anyone in on this secret, not even Albus Dumbledore. Unfortunately, I believe now around his sixteenth birthday, both charm and potions will begin to wear off and he'll start to resemble how he really should."
Lily finally finished relaying her sad tale to Sirius who just sat there in shock from what he'd heard. He couldn't believe that Lily had been with one of his other best friends as well as Snape.
"How will Harry know what is going to be happening to him if no one knew?" He asked hoarsely, clutching at the armrest on the chair.
The couple glanced back and forth between themselves and then back at Sirius. "You weren't supposed to die yet, mate, and there is important business you now have to relay back to Harry, Remus, and Severus. I believe that their might be a way to return you," James said slowly, looking at Lily for conformation. She nodded and pulled out four envelopes and handed them to Sirius.
"Come, we'll see if perhaps something can be worked out…"
END FLASHBACK
---------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
The Boy Who Lived sat there and wished that he was "The Boy Who Didn't Just Hear What He Thought He Heard," and started hyperventilating. Poppy hurried to his side and gently helped him with a calming draught in hopes to relax him enough to stop the attack. ((A/N: ….Having panic attacks is something I've dealt with so don't try to tell me that a calming solution would immediately help. Even with medication, it can still take ten-fifteen minutes for someone to start calming down. Want more information? Ask.))
The nearby table started vibrating gently at first and then gradually built up to a deafening crash as it was slammed against the wall in a fit of rage by Harry's innate magical abilities.
"HIT THE DECKS!" Sirius/Wayne screamed as he rolled off the bed and ducked under it. "He's gonna blow!" The other three occupants of the room took the advice and scrambled underneath the nearby beds to shelter themselves from the sudden explosion of glass from the windows. A few moments later the four emerged from their shelter and approached the boy on the bed slowly.
"Harry?" Albus asked gently as he tentatively placed a hand on Harry's shoulder in an attempt to further calm him down. After receiving no response, he sighed and turned back to Sirius/Wayne. "That still doesn't explain how you are here and in Wayne Hopkins body."
"I suppose it doesn't...Perhaps I should continue with the tale..."
-------------------------
-------------------------
FLASHBACK
The three friends found themselves in a small room with simple white decor and a wizened man sitting at a desk. He frowned as he caught sight of Sirius walking towards him. "Mister Black! Just what do you think you are doing here? By my records, you weren't supposed to arrive for seventeen years, nine months, three weeks, two days, eleven hours, fifty two minutes, and thirty seven seconds!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that Bellatrix decided that it was fun to blast me through the veil." Sirius muttered to himself.
"Haha, hear that you old fart? You weren't supposed to die till you were old! What did you do, overdose on the grapenuts?" James snickered and looked as if he was having a hard time conducting himself.
"Now, what brings you three here?" The man asked, glasses slipping down his nose as he stared intently at Sirius. Lily spoke up quickly and began enlightening the man about their situation with Harry and how no one knew, but they were distracted by a young man appearing in the room, although with a soulless look on his face. "Mister Hopkins! What are you doing here, considering the fact that you aren't dead!" He exclaimed, looking surprised for the second time that day.
"Please let me die..." He said, voice lacking all emotions and eyes empty. The elder looked thoughtful for a moment before staring at Sirius.
"It seems I have just found a way to send you back after all..."
END FLASHBACK
-----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
"So basically Wayne's body was soulless so he sent me to inhabit this one," Sirius finished, looking a bit sad though. "Seems that Wayne's spirit was dead to the world even if his body wasn't. The old man decided it was kinder just to let him be, and send me back to deal with the present."
"I must say, Mister Black, while we will miss Mister Hopkins, I'm sure Harry is delighted to have you back in our midst." Albus said, his eyes twinkling.
"Who am I?" Harry asked all the sudden, his voice so low it could barely be heard. Remus looked faint from the whole ordeal and collapsed onto a nearby chair to recollect his balance. Albus, Sirius, and Poppy glanced at each other before the Headmaster spoke up.
"Harry, calm down. We have no way of telling since Lily herself didn't know who the father was. The only way to tell right now would be to remove the charm and even then, the potion would still need to drain itself from your body."
"Remove them." He said shortly.
"Are you certain this is what you want?" Albus sighed slowly.
"Yes."
He nodded stiffly, not wanting to place this on the boy's shoulders so soon after hearing this. "Revelare germanum signum," was spoken quietly, yet forcefully, feeling nervous himself as to what was going to happen. Four sets of eyes immediately turned their gaze upon the boy to see the true father.
Harry's hair was a dead give away. Layers of chestnut brown hair with a reddish tint fell around his face as the spell had kept his hair from growing all those years and now made up for it. His body seemed a bit lankier than it had been, but they weren't able to see much with the hair covering his face. Sirius crawled onto the bed and gently brushed away the errant locks and peered into the still brilliant green eyes. Bits and pieces of his face now resembled Remus's instead of James and more parts of Lily shone through. There was still much of James in Harry's looks, but those would be removed after the potion was flushed from his body. Remus walked over, albeit in shock, and tentatively placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Who's am I?"
"Mine," Remus said gently, trying to make it sound as caring as possible. He knelt down and pulled the boy's chin towards him and brushed away the excessive hair before looking into his eyes. "You're mine, and I wish I would've known sooner."
Harry's breathing hadn't stabilized yet and continued his labored breaths. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to hide under the blanket and wish that everything would just go away and that he'd never heard what Sirius had to say. He numbly heard someone say something in the background about cutting his hair to a more reasonable length and felt as a few wisps fluttered into his face after having it cut to just above his shoulders.
Severus chose that moment to enter the hospital wing in his usual fashion, robes swirling at his feet and a sneer placed firmly on his face. In his hands were a few phials of potions that he set down on a nearby table and whirled around to the group. "Your Skin Replenishing Potion, Poppy," he muttered in a silky voice before his eyes trailed down to the young boy with scruffy brown-red hair. "Who is that?" Severus spat, looking distastefully at the person who was the center of attention.
"Am I that unrecognizable?" The soft voice came again, lowering his head down so that his hair would cover his face.
The Potion Master narrowed his eyes and deduced that it had to be Potter underneath all that hair. "So what did our 'hero' do to himself this time?" He spat out, that venomous look falling all too easily onto his face.
Hairs bristled on Remus's back as he heard Severus treat Harry like that. If the charms hadn't been removed, for all they knew, Harry could've been the son of Snape and he pitied what could've happened then. Luckily, Albus stepped in to sedate the man. "Severus, please kindly refrain yourself from talking to Harry like that. As to what has happened, Sirius seems to have been returned to us and while was beyond the veil, learned some information that effected Remus and could've done the same to you."
"Headmaster, are you feeling ill? The dead cannot be returned to life," Severus snapped, shifting uncomfortably where he was standing.
"Actually Snivellus, it seems that this world would've been too devastated to see me permanently removed from here so he sent me back in the body of Wayne Hopkins. Sorry to get your hopes up of getting rid of me forever," Sirius sneered, making it look rather amusing on the face of a once Hufflepuff.
"So then why does Potter seem to be sporting a head of long brown hair instead of his usual black rats nest?"
"It would seem that Lily had unfinished business when she died that she passed on to Sirius during his time with them. She mentioned having both an affair with you and Remus and when Harry was born, she couldn't tell who's he was and masked his appearance for fear of what would happen when he found his biological father. The spells she used would've gone on indefinitely had she not died, but unfortunately she did and now they would've only lasted until around his sixteenth birthday. Harry decided that he'd rather know just who was his father which is why part of the mask is now gone." Albus replied, looking over gravely at Harry for a moment.
The young lad had curled up into a ball and was staring at the wall with a blank expression. "When's the next full moon?" The boy in question enquired with an almost inaudible voice.
"July 31st."
((Like I said, sorry about not being able to properly format this....))