((A/N: Disclaimer: Alas, still not mine.
Wow, 12 reviews from you all! Thanks! You're making me feel special. ;
Ariana Dumbledore Thanks! Here's the update!
Anon: Here's more!
Lunawolf Thanks! I saw yours and liked it as well.
Tempest in Blue: Hehe, well, I made Lily woosey since I had no clue who I was going to use as the father at the beginning. Remus was upset, but not anymore. And yes, Harry is angry and there's more on that in this chapter. Nope, he's not gonna get a sudden growth spurt, but sooner or later I'll knock the glasses off since well, just read :P.
DARKMARK33LV Remus makes a better father than Snape any day. Heh, believe me as I've written a Severitus challenge as well. Those just always seem to end up extremely OOC, and I include myself in that too. Severus will play a part in this as it's part of the challenge requirements, but I do love writing him as a crabby bastard.
Tia Evans I liked Sirius's return as well, heh, besides, it works for the storyline. And write! I wanna see Harry finally as a werewolf in your story!
mac1: Lily isn't stupid.... I bet she hated that Fudge-arse as much as Harry does, and didn't want to take the chance that he'd be executed.
dragonbluephoenix I have to remember to thank Tia Evans for sending people over here from her fic. Anyhow, thanks!
mochalattee Your user ID makes me thirsty! Here be the update. ;
Sirius' son I'm not sure if I'll be adding any ships or not. I've found out that when I attempt to write relationships, they tend to turn out lousy.
Hermione Malfoy Potter Here's the update. :D Just I think I'll keep him male instead of making him go off and slapping a couple of Weasleys. Hehe, I recognized your name/story.
bookgodess15 Thank Tia Evans for the challenge. ;) I'm just stealing the idea and making it my own.
Now! On to the story!))
-- -- --
July 31st. It rang through his head like an echo in a metal room. First he was angry at his mother and fath….James for not telling him or anyone else, nor had they planned too. Then hearing that his mother had relationships with both Snape and Re…his father, and now to find out that his looks changed and now seemed nothing like he used to. And to top it off, he was now being told that promptly on his 16th birthday he'd be transforming into the wolf for the first time.
"Please leave me alone," Harry said in a deadly whisper, eyes narrowed and giving them a look that rivaled even Snape's worst. Albus, Pomfrey, and Severus complied without hesitation but Sirius and Remus exchanged glances.
"Harry," Sirius began but was cut off by that murderous glare. The two sighed and left the young man alone to draw the curtains around the bed. Nervously he summoned a mirror from the wall and glanced in. The James was still there as the potion hadn't finished its course, but already he looked like a new person. The chestnut locks looked odd as he'd been used to the raven black hair, but his skin tone lightened respectively to make it look more natural. Eyes were still green, albeit a touch bit darker with a hint of blue in them from his father. Some of the chubbiness around his face began to disappear a bit and his knees were as knobbily as ever.
Breathing heavily, he was partially grateful for Remus being his father instead of Snape. Even if the man could reproduce, Harry doubted if he could ever actually love someone. Giving up on it all, he put his head back on the pillow and promptly fell asleep.
-- -- --
"Good morning, sunshine!" Sirius grinned, looking down at his godson still half asleep on the bed. Harry had calmed down enough from that night, but waking up to a still unfamiliar face staring down at him was slightly unnerving.
"Go 'way, dog breath," he grumbled, swatting a hand around randomly to try and get Sirius to leave him alone.
"Oww, that hurt," Padfoot replied to the insult and jumped up on the bed in full doggy mode.
"Bloody hell Sirius, get lost," Harry snapped, as he still was feeling hurt from yesterday. If he'd been Snape's, he figured he would've already killed himself from the absolute hatred the man had for him. He doubted it would change even if he wasn't a Potter; now he was a Lupin and just as bad in Snape's eyes.
"Hey, I know you don't want to be around anyone, but how about getting some breakfast? All these injuries make healing take a lot out of you."
"Fine," he stated shortly, throwing on a random robe sitting near his bed and stalked off in the general direction of the Great Hall. The young man who was now Sirius huffed in exhaustion to catch up and grabbed his arm.
"Hey! What is the matter with you? I mean, I could understand you acting like this if it were Snivellus, but it's Moony."
Harry looked over at him with dulled eyes and started walking again. "I'm not mad at him, well, I am about what he did to my mum, but that's beside the point. Why didn't they tell someone before? Why couldn't she let someone know I was either Snape's or Moony's so that I wouldn't have had to stay at the Dursleys all those years? And now you're telling me that I'm turning into a bloody werewolf for my birthday present?" He raged, storming away and down to the Great Hall.
As he expected, only a few members of the staff were there; Albus, Severus, Remus who looked exhausted, Minerva, and Hagrid. Grumbling, he placed himself as far away as possible from the rest of the staff and took a chair on the other side of Hagrid. A moment later Sirius waltzed in, although still looking in rough shape and glanced around before seating himself next to Harry. He'd remembered that he was in the body of a Hufflepuff student and it might look awkward to sit near the professors and not Harry.
"Uh, Albus, who are the two young gentlemen?" Minerva inquired a few minutes later and once everyone had a good start on their meal.
"This is going to be hard to explain. As you may remember, this is Wayne Hopkins, or so we thought. It turns out that Mister Hopkins was unfortunately abused at home and his spirit died, but the body continued living. Some how it seems that Sirius Black was sent back to us in this body," Albus chuckled, looking at the horrified and grimace on Minerva's face at the same time.
"Yes, I'm sure he'll pull off quite a few spectacular pranks during his two remaining years here," Remus added in, glancing at his best friend with a snigger on his face.
"Oh bloody hell! Does that mean I have to put up with doing History of Magic essays again?" He groaned, slapping his forehead.
"Then who is the other laddie?" Hagrid rose, looking confused by the chestnut brown haired boy sitting next to him.
"This is the more confusing of the two, although you've all met him," he gestured towards Harry to have him brush back his hair.
He complied and brushed aside the scruffy hair so that his scar was visible to the surrounding people. Minerva and Hagrid gasped and looked back at Albus.
"Who-how-what's going on?" Minerva stuttered.
"Now for the interesting part of the story," The Headmaster replied calmly and proceeded to relay the tale Lily had told Sirius. Severus sat there, jaw firmly in place when the story came to his part in it with Lily and Remus lightened a few skin tones and suddenly found his plate very interesting.
"So then just last night you found out that Harry is really Remus's son, although he could've been Severus's, and his mother is still Lily?" Minerva asked, trying to set things straight in her mind.
"Yes," Remus told her faintly. His son was sitting in his chair, knees clutched tightly to his chest and rocking slowly with ragged breathing. Sirius sauntered over and kneeled down to get a good look at his godson. It seemed that after hearing the story again, his entire body had gone into shock once more. Gently he pulled the boy into a hug and tried to keep him from exploding again like the previous night.
"Is there some reason Harry is acting like this? I would've thought that he'd be happy to find out he has a living father," McGonagall queried, seeming utterly bewildered at the panicking young man.
"It might be partly finding out he's now a werewolf," Lupin whispered, glancing at the shaking cloak as if it desperately wanted to disappear. Sirius sent him a glare that could be translated roughly as 'get-your-arse-over-here-before-I-hurt-you' and realized it wasn't a bad idea.
Once again Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the concerned face of Re…his father staring at him. He stiffened slightly as he was drawn into a hug, but being neglected most of his life, he hadn't become a person dependant on physical contact. "What's the matter Harry, what has you so distraught? Is it me? I wouldn't blame you, or what I did to Lily? I know that was terrible of me to do. Or is this about the werewolf thing?" He coaxed, trying to get his son to talk. At this point, Harry wasn't even listening; his mind had shut down hours ago.
"My goodness Remus, a father for less than twelve hours and already you make him cry. Such a pity," Severus drawled, looking viciously towards Harry.
"Severus, shut up afore I make sure yer mouth is fused tagether permanently," Hagrid boomed loudly, sending the said man a despised look. Severus caught sight of five more glares being sent his way and was backed into a corner. Looking particularly nasty, he stormed out of the hall, robes billowing behind as per the norm.
"Like I said Harry, at least you aren't dealing with an overgrown bat," Sirius joked as he patted the boy's back. "Be gratefully you're a werewolf instead of a bloody vampire."
"This is true, and don't forget Harry, you'll have the Wolfsbane potion so it won't be as bad as it could," Minerva sent the boy a smile.
"Didn't my mother say that if werewolves reproduced, the infected parent would be executed?" Harry questioned, looking perplexed.
"Erm, your mother already took care of that in the letter she sent me. I just need to send that in and the Ministry will clear me. As she is already deceased, she wrote that it was her fault and that she'd put me under the Imperius spell so that I had no control over my actions," Remus blushed, looking guilty again.
"So they'll believe the letter then?"
"There are spells that can prove a letter's sender is authentic, but not he content, so they'll have no choice," Albus grinned, "Besides, that bloody old coot Fudge is gone. I don't think you heard about the new Minister of Magic being Madam Bones, did you? No? Well, she'll be easier to sway into breaking the tradition anyhow."
"They got rid of Fudge?" Harry grinned lopsidedly. "No more mad Minister running around and trying to turn everyone against me? I think I could sing!"
This got everyone laughing; it was no secret that Harry hated the Minister with a passion for calling him a liar, a murderer, trying to get him expelled, and then for sending Umbridge to Hogwarts.
"So I don't think we'll have a problem clearing your father's name," he said brightly, the damnable twinkle ever present in his eyes. "Ahh, and Harry? Could you please come to my office today after lunch? I have something I need to discuss with you."
After slipping out of the Great Hall, Harry found himself wandering out to the Qudditch Pitch only to be surprised by his Firebolt hovering in the air before him. He bent down and looked at the note attached.
-- -- --
-Harry, I figured you might want this back after Umbridge apprehended it. Cheers!
-Headmaster Dumbledore
-- -- --
With that, Harry abandoned all sense of precaution, snatched the broom, and kicked off before one could say 'slimy Slytherin'. The wind whipped through his hair and for the time being, felt a sense of freedom that he hadn't had in a long time, especially with having the Firebolt confiscated last year. For the time he was in the air, he was nothing but a boy without a care in the world, like one his age should be, not one with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He pressed the broom to its limits, feeling the sheer speed of the item and watched as the world around him turned into nothing more than a blur. Minutes went by, and then hours and before long he realized it'd be time for lunch soon and quite frankly, he didn't want to be the cause of a search party.
He hurried up to the showers and had just enough time to get rid of the grim that he'd managed to cover himself in while flying. While shampooing his hair, he decided that long hair was a pain since it took so much longer to get clean. Once clean, he grabbed one of the fluffy white towels sitting by the bath and dried himself off before realizing he didn't have a change of clothing with him, nor did he have any of his stuff.
"Hey, did you really think they'd let you be here without any of your stuff?" Sirius grinned from the door with a change of clothes in one hand and a brush in the other. "And we're finally going to tame that rat's nest."
Harry shrank back at the mentioning of combing his hair; he'd had enough problems with that earlier this morning and didn't relish the thought of getting the snarls out for a second time that day. Sirius plopped the robes at his feet and turned around as if telling him to get dressed. The boy rolled his eyes and resigned himself to the torture that was sure to come and pulled on the necessary items.
"That's better, now, for the fun part," Sirius said with a teasing evil grin on his face and brandished the comb in the air.
"Oh no you don't!" Harry screeched and ran out of the bathroom and collided hard with his Head of House. She looked flustered from the collision and stared at the person who'd done the deed.
"You know, Harry, it would be a lot easier for you to see where you're going if you'd comb that hair of yours…" She mentioned and transfigured a nearby candle into a brush and handed it to him. "Now, make yourself presentable," came that no nonsense and no arguing tone of voice.
Glaring right back, he ran the brush through his hair a few times and only succeeded in only making the mess worse. At that point, Sirius had finally caught up with them and noticed the battle of glares and broke the silence.
"Perhaps we should just shave it all off so you don't have to worry about it anymore," the Animagus grinned and caught Harry off-guard enough to start working out the tangles.
"I don't like you…" He grumbled, his face scrunched in pain.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure Mister Potter, or I guess that would be Mister Lupin now. It's time for lunch so let's be off. Dumbledore still wants you fed properly here before you head to the meeting," McGonagall told him sternly.
Harry nodded and started off in the direction of the Great Hall with Sirius next to him. More members of the staff had decided to show up today as Filch, Sprout and Flitwick were scattered about the table. Looking up there, he realized Sprout had taken his seat from breakfast, and Filch, Sirius's. The only two open seats at the moment were in between Remus and Snape. Decided it wasn't a good idea to let Sirius sit next to his childhood nemesis, he resigned himself to sitting next to the man who was dedicated to making his life a living hell.
Remus looked a bit hurt at the seating arrangement, but said nothing of it as he picked at the roast chicken occupying his plate. It did sting though that his son would rather sit next to someone who hated him with a passion. Sirius looked up at his friend, silently cursing this body's shortness, and patted him on the back.
"Hey, he'll come around," He said softly enough so Harry wouldn't be able to hear. "Besides, I think he just didn't want me sitting next to Snivellus."
"Perhaps, just make sure he doesn't go running out of here after lunch. He looks as if he's a caged animal at the moment and I can sense that he desperately doesn't want to be in the room with anyone. And one other thing, I'd recommend not pranking Severus so soon after returning."
"Will do, mate. Besides, I have the next two years to make Snivellus's life a living hell," Sirius grinned in anticipation.
Remus just groaned.
The end of lunch finally came and Dumbledore smiled and looked at Harry. "Come along Harry, our meeting awaits," His jubilant attitude at least got the boy calmed down slightly and followed the Headmaster up to the office where the gargoyle stood stoically. "Skiving Snack boxes!"
Harry couldn't help but grin at the password that had been chosen; Fred and George would be proud. They entered the room where Albus moved behind the desk and motioned for Harry to take a seat on an overstuffed red chair.
"Now, I realize that you've been having a hard time accepting all of this, especially with the panic attacks and outbursts you've been having. What I don't understand is why since as Sirius has pointed out a few times, this is Remus and not Severus who is your father."
"I-I…" He sighed softly, "It's not that it's him, I mean, Moony's great. It's just I've been living a lie, one lie after another and it never seems to stop. And now I'm probably going to have to lie about my parentage along with being a werewolf. Are my friends even going to accept me anymore?" He rambled on, not hearing two other people enter the room.
"Is that what's been bothering you?" Albus asked gently. "No, we're not going to hide your parentage, but what we're going to do; it's not going to be able to be spread around either. I am sorry, Harry. Hear us out before you do anything rash."
"We were planning on enrolling you here as my son so you don't have to worry about hiding your parentage or that you're a werewolf," Remus replied, standing in the corner and looking at the others.
"Then what are you going to do about 'Harry Potter' then?" Harry asked, clearly worried. "It'd look suspicious if I suddenly showed up after 'he' is gone."
"Well, that's where Sirius comes into the picture. Professor Flitwick is going to put a strong appearance charm on Sirius's body so that he'll look like you did before. This will eliminate the chance that someone will connect your sudden appearance to him. And this will mean that you'll have him around on the full moons to help keep you under control should you need it. I heard that a certain big black dog does was able to keep a werewolf in check many years ago," He winked.
"What about Wayne Hopkins then?" Harry asked.
"His mother thinks he died that night I retrieved him so it won't be hard to get it across that the young lad has died. Is this sounding acceptable to you?" the Headmaster replied.
Harry nodded slowly, "What am I going to be called then?"
"Ahh, good question. I was hoping that Remus would supply the name you'd be using if that is alright." Albus asked, looking at the boy for conformation. After another nod, the Headmaster motioned Remus over.
"I-I hope you like it. Last night after Albus told me what he hoped to do, I spent the rest of the night and this morning trying to come up with a name. If you don't, you're free to choose another," Remus whispered.
"What is it?"
"Silas Alexander Lupin."
Harry, or Silas, conceded and approved of the name. He stared at the wall which was still full of moving portraits and other annoying trinkets that had been repaired after his tantrum a month ago. He realized he never did apologize for that outburst.
"Headmaster, I want to apologize for my actions at the end of the term. I shouldn't have broken your possessions."
"There is no need to apologize, what I did was wrong as well. Besides, I really should clear out some of the junk in here. Oh, by the way, I have your OWL results," He said as he opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope and handed it over.
((A/N: Heh, you have to wait till next time to see Harry's results.... I'm just mean like that.))