4. Harry gets a family

Remus apparated to Hogsmeade and went up to the castle. He found Minerva and asked her to support his plea with Albus. She smiled and said she'd try her best. He grinned and said:

"Great, Minerva! I knew I could count on you. And please do come for tea if you can spare an afternoon!"

"Thanks, I gladly will do that."

They both went up to Albus' office. He greeted them and asked with a smile:

"What leads you here, Remus? Are there any problems?"

"No, no problems at all. I was wondering, if you'd be willing for us to take Harry to us for a while. At least over his birthday. I think he should have at least a nice birthday after all he's been through. I just know he's miserable in Surrey."

Albus took a deep breath.

"I do understand your wish, Remus. I would love for you to have him, but there's that protection..."

"Don't you think that he won't be of much use if he brings himself down there? With the aid of his dreadful relatives, of course. He has had a few weeks alone, it's certainly time now for him to get some real care. And that protection - are you sure it still works, now that Voldemort has his blood?"

Albus paled.

"I never thought of that - Remus! That protection is there and it's based on their blood relation. He could probably just walk in there, only he doesn't seem to know! Go and get him out of there, before Voldemort realises!"

"I'll set up wards over my house. I can't put all of the Hogwarts wards there, but most of them. I've studied them quite thoroughly and I have the incantations for the charms available. Sirius will help me… Oh, and I'd like to invite you two to the party in five days!"

"Why, thank you, Remus, I'll gladly come!" said Albus.

"I'll come with you to get Harry, Remus!" said Minerva.

"I think that's an excellent idea," said Albus.

"Yes, do come with me. And don't bother changing. I know they detest our sort, but I'm not going to hide," said Remus gesturing at her robes.

"I'll take the apparition ward down for an hour, Remus. If need be you can apparate right inside their house."

"Good."

Remus and Minerva walked to the gates and apparated to Privet Drive. Both knew well enough where it was, both had been there when Remus had set up the wards on the house. They walked to the drive of No. 4 and when they got into the garden, they saw Harry, who worked to weed the flower beds. Remus called:

"Harry!"

Harry turned around and when he recognised Remus and Minerva, he started to grin and ran to Remus to hug him.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, Professor Lupin! How is Snuffles?"

"He's just fine, Harry. You're certainly wondering why we are here, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course. Sorry, Professor McGonagall, I should have said hello!"

"I quite understand, Potter. Can we go inside to talk about our visit?"

"Yes, of course, though the Dursleys will probably be furious. I haven't finished yet..."

"Don't worry about them, I think I'm perfectly capable to put them into their right place!" said McGonagall crisply and followed Harry into the house. He led them to the kitchen and asked:

"Would you like some tea?"

"I'd love to, but I think we can do that a bit later, Harry. Let us explain..." Remus started.

He was quite rudely interrupted by Uncle Vernon, who came storming into the kitchen and screamed:

"Who allowed you inside, boy? You haven't finished your work and you're not going to eat until you have done it all, as you very well know! Get back out there and work, you ingrate little..."

Then Vernon noticed the two other people surrounding Harry. They both wore robes, so it was clear they were some of his freaks.

"And who allowed you to let anyone of your... kind... in here? You're not welcome in my house, get out at once or I'll call the police and have you..."

McGonagall wasn't taking any of it. She cast a quick spell that shut Vernon up and pointed her wand straight at his heart, then said calmly:

"Mr Dursley. You do not know me, but I will introduce myself. I'm Minerva McGonagall and I'm the Deputy Headmistress of Harry's school, Hogwarts. You do NOT contradict me! I'm not the person to take nonsense, not from my students, my colleagues and least of all, from an insignificant Muggle like you! You have been misusing Harry long enough, we will take him out of your care right this moment. Now get out of this room, or clear the path, so we can gather Harry's belongings… Harry! Lead the way, please!"

Harry had never seen her so powerful. He looked at Remus who had a very amused smile on his lips. Remus whispered to Harry with a merry twinkle in his eyes:

"Isn't she just adorable, when she's so regal?"

"I've never seen her like that..." Harry whispered back.

Then he followed the order and led his teachers to his room, where he gathered everything he owned. He had some started homework on his desk and put everything in his trunk just as it was. Then he pried the loose floorboard open and took his letters and his wand out. Hedwig slept in her cage, luckily. He shut the door of the cage and said:

"Well, I'm ready."

"Very good. - I'm sorry to fall into the house like that, Potter, but Remus has just dropped a question which has caused Professor Dumbledore to rethink the necessity of you to spend your vacation here. He wondered, if the magic based on blood relation that's protecting you here is still working, now that You-Know-Who has your blood! We decided on the spot to come and take you to another location."

"So where will you take me?"

"To my house, Harry. Do you have something we could turn into a Portkey? I realize it's not your favourite method of travel, but it's the fastest and safest way to get you there. We'll all three use it instead of apparating, okay?" asked Remus.

"Okay. How about this little snow globe here? It's broken anyway, and Dudley won't miss it."

"Yes, that would do just fine."

Remus pulled out his wand, shrunk Harry's trunk to matchbox size and put it in his pocket, then he took the little globe and enchanted it to become a Portkey.

"It will activate in three minutes. I'll take Hedwig's cage, okay?"

"Okay."

Then they all touched the globe and waited. Three minutes later, Harry felt the familiar pull behind his navel and steadied himself to land straight on his feet. They all popped up in Remus' living room. Harry let the globe go with relief, and for the first time he had managed to stay on his feet. Remus put the globe down.

"There we are. Now how about that tea?" Remus said.

At that moment, Sirius came inside with a giggling Ronja next to him and a giggling Rashid on his arms. They were going to get something to drink from the kitchen, but as soon as they entered, Sirius froze.

Minerva screamed! And pulled her wand, but Harry and Remus both fell into her arms, then apologised.

"Are you crazy, Remus? Don't tell me you helped him after all?" Minerva shouted, but Remus calmed her down.

"Minerva! I thought, Albus had told you about Sirius! He's innocent. We know that he didn't do it, he wasn't James and Lily's Secret Keeper. Please, you have to believe us!"

"What? Remus, is that really true?"

"Yes, it's true. Albus must have forgotten in our haste to go and get Harry, that he hadn't told you, or he would have held you back. He knows that Sirius is here, in fact he sent him here."

"Black! Please tell me it's true, please! I'd be so damned happy that it wasn't you if it's true..." Minerva pleaded in a low voice.

Sirius dared come closer.

"Please, Professor, believe me. It's true. I wasn't their Secret Keeper and Pettigrew didn't come after me, I went after him."

"You went after him? Why would you have done that?"

"Because he was the one. We switched and told nobody. There were many reasons for me to step down from my offer to be their Secret Keeper, but the main one was that I was too obvious. We thought if everyone expected me to be it, they would try to get it out of me and I wouldn't have been able to tell them anything. I still don't understand why no one ever noticed, but I mistrusted the wrong friend, Professor, I thought the spy was Remus."

"Sirius! You never... oh, I can't believe it. All the time I felt so sorry for Pettigrew and now you tell me, he was their Secret Keeper? But the Muggles... the Muggles who were killed..."

"Pettigrew did it. He was ready when I caught up with him, blasted the street open with his wand in his back and killed the Muggles in the process. Then he vanished."

"But how could he vanish? And the Aurors found one of his fingers and bloodied fabric..."

"The fabric must have been from a Muggle. His finger? He cut it off, I saw him doing it. He cut it off, transformed into his rat form and vanished in the sewer..."

"He what? Transformed into a rat? Pettigrew? No way could he have been able to do that!" Minerva cried out.

"Actually he could, Minerva. Since his fifth year. He had competent help of course, as James and Sirius were both Animagi, too. They did it to help me..." Remus said with a small voice.

And for proof Sirius transformed into Padfoot.

"Meet Padfoot, Minerva. James transformed into a stag."

"Pettigrew... an Animagus... I can hardly believe it... oh, now I remember you! It was you who I fetched from Hagrid's cabin last month, wasn't it?"

Sirius came back.

"Yes, that was me."

Ronja and Rashid had both placed themselves in front of Sirius and Ronja said defensively:

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt Padfoot! He belongs to my Daddy and we keep him! Professor Dumbledore gave him to us to look after him!"

This statement from the six years old tiny girl eased the tension. All the adults had to laugh and Minerva finally said:

"Well, Ronja, I believe him, since Professor Dumbledore gave him to you!"

"Phew... glad we got through to you, Minerva. Seeing you in rage once in a day is more than enough," said Remus.

"I'd gladly come back to that tea offer now!" Minerva replied and sank down on an armchair.

Throughout the exchange, Harry had stood in the room, frozen, but he relaxed now, too. Remus turned to him and said:

"Let me just resize your trunk, so you have your things back."

Remus did that and then said:

"Harry, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Ronja, who will be six years old tomorrow and my son, Rashid, who's two and a half. Children, this is Harry Potter, as you know he's Siri's godson and he'll stay here until he goes back to school."

"Hi Harry! It's nice to have you here. Now I have a big brother!" said Ronja.

"Hi Ronja. It's nice to meet you," said Harry, still a bit dazed.

He was still wondering what she had meant with Sirius belonging to her Daddy. While Remus proceeded to the kitchen, Sirius hugged Harry, sat down on the sofa and said:

"Come, sit down. Oh, and won't you open Hedwig's cage? I'm sure she hates it in there."

"Oh, yes, of course. Here you go, girl, freedom is yours, no one will keep you locked up here..." Harry said softly.

Hedwig hooted, came out of her cage and perched on the back of a chair. Ronja went to her and caressed her.

"She's very nice! I've seen her the other day and she's been all kind to me," she told Harry.

"Yes, she's really a very nice girl. Hagrid gave her to me. Do you know Hagrid, Ronja?"

"Yes, but I haven't seen him often. He's nice, too!"

"He is."

Then he turned to Sirius.

"You're looking a lot better already, Sirius."

"Thanks. I feel a lot better, Harry."

"Did you know that Professor Lupin had children? He never said anything about them..."

"No, I didn't. I was probably even more shocked than you are. Oh, and there will be one more around Christmas, Minerva."

"What? I thought they were..."

"They are. Just now. They settled it last Friday."

"Oh." Minerva went very quiet for a moment and then she asked:

"Who'll get the children?"

"Remus. All of them."

"I'm relieved. I didn't think Anna would be a very fit mother."

"She's a bit distant with them. But she does treat them well, really."

Harry seemed to be one big question mark, so Sirius explained:

"Remus and his wife Anna, or better his now ex-wife, have just decided to go separate ways. Well, not just now, it seemed to have been coming for a while, if I understood that right, but they are divorced now. Anna still partially lives here, she's in the course of getting her own flat closer to St. Mungo's where she works as a mediwitch. She's moved out and has the spare room now. The one downstairs that is. You'll get the one on the first floor. Remus told me he would ask Albus whether he'd allow for you to come, at least for a few days over your birthday, and it seems that Albus said yes..."

"Not only that, Sirius. As you can see, Harry brought everything with him, he'll stay here. Remus was wondering if the blood protection would still work and that startled Albus. He thought it might be better to get Harry away from his aunt's place, before You-Know-Who finds out he could try to waltz in there..." interjected Minerva.

"Oh - because he has my blood?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry. Remus is going to set up heavy wards for this house, almost like we have them at Hogwarts, so you'll be as safe as we can offer you."

"But... but if I'm here, then Professor Lupin and the children, and Sirius - they're all in danger because of me, Professor! You can't allow that, you can't!"

"Harry, we would be in danger anyway. Voldemort wanted Remus in his ranks back in the first war. Remus categorically stayed away from the Death Eaters, he'd never turn to them. But Voldemort wanted his power and the werewolf. He still either wants him as his servant or dead. Remus had already started to put the wards he wanted to set up together, check his desk in his study and you'll have proof. He's not only putting them up for you, but for us as well. I was on Voldemort's list of people to eliminate as well. So you see you're not the only one in here who needs protective wards. And let me tell you, if there's one specialist on wards alive today it's Remus. He's re-enforced the ones at Hogwarts countless times already, hasn't he, Minerva?"

"Yes, Harry, that's very true."

"I'm so afraid they'll go after Ron and Hermione," Harry said.

Remus floated a tea tray over. It was filled with biscuits, cake and a few little tarts that Harry recognised immediately as Canary Creams, to his horror. Remus had already instructed Ronja and Rashid not to touch those when they went to talk to him in the kitchen, now he set the tray down on the table and poured the cups. Sirius thanked him, and Minerva smiled when she took hers.

"I see you still have the teacups your Mum gave you so long ago..."

"Yes, that's still the ones. Well, help yourselves. There's enough to eat."

Minerva didn't see the glint in Remus' eyes, when he offered her one of the Canary Creams. Harry held his breath, when both, Minerva and Sirius absent-mindedly bit into one of the little sweets. Immediately they were turned into canaries, and both hopped around for the minute or so it took them to turn back. Remus and Harry had a blast! They laughed themselves silly and Harry asked:

"Don't tell me you bought them from the twins, Professor? Oh, this is too funny, they will love to hear about that one!"

"Actually I did. They offered me a few little things, but I just took those. You can't keep their jokes very long, because they're all edible."

"That's true, but they're really ingenious with their inventions! And they have countless ideas."

When Minerva and Sirius turned up again, Sirius sputtered:

"Moony! You just broke the rule that you're never ever pulling a trick on a fellow marauder! This means prank war! You're officially warned!"

Remus just laughed. He saw a glint in Sirius' eyes that he had missed so far, and if it took a prank war to get him back to life then he would gladly take it. Minerva was another matter though. She looked at Remus and was so shocked she didn't seem to know what to say. Then she looked over to Harry and back to Remus.

"What on earth was that, Remus J. Lupin?"

He looked at her and just grinned.

"Sorry, Minerva, but I just couldn't resist! I was actually just going to try them on Siri, but you took one, too, so, I really couldn't stop you, you know..."

"Potter! You knew perfectly well not to take them, didn't you?"

Harry grinned, too.

"Yes, Professor. Ever since Neville fell for one last winter. They're called Canary Creams. Neville said they tasted nice... everyone in Gryffindor common room knows much better than to accept anything the Weasley twins offer to eat. Or almost anyone else for that matter."

Now Remus laughed straight out. He giggled and tried to stop, but then giggled again and didn't seem to be able to compose himself. Sirius looked at him and thought he had never seen him so adorable since their successful pranks back at school. He had missed that carefree laugh so much. He had missed laughing on the whole, he mused.

"Oh dear, I'll never live that one down. Is this another invention of the infernal Weasley twins?" asked Minerva.

"Yes, Professor."

"Those two! They would have even given you a run for your money, Sirius Black!"

"Oh, I seem to have to plan my revenge on them, then..."

"That would be an excellent idea, Siri, really," said Remus.

"You're just trembling in fear of my next prank! Remember, I have a wand again..."

"You do?" asked Minerva and Harry together.

Sirius smiled happily and pulled it out.

"Yes. Dumbledore arranged it with Ollivanders, so I could get a very regular new wand, properly tried out and bought."

"That relieves me, Sirius, I was so afraid you'd have nothing to defend yourself," Harry said.

"You knew about Black being innocent, Potter?" Minerva asked.

"Yes, since that night at the end of my third year. We all saw Pettigrew, Professor, Professor Lupin, Ron, Hermione and I. He was Scabbers, Ron's pet rat. That's why Sirius tried to get into Hogwarts, to get at Pettigrew."

"Oh my! You might have alerted us, Sirius. We might have actually been able to take that rat and force Pettigrew to show himself."

"I was on my own, Minerva. Would any of you have believed me? I don't think so."

"No, you're probably right, we probably wouldn't have. Especially Severus, who tried to tell everyone that Remus was helping you."

"Don't mention Snape, please," Sirius said with an icy voice.

The rest of the afternoon passed fairly pleasurable with the children coming and going and playing next to them. Harry watched them. It felt strange that Professor Lupin actually had a family. From what he had told them in the Shrieking Shack he hadn't done very well over the years, but the house looked fine, there seemed to have been enough food and the children looked very healthy and happy. And what had Ronja meant when she had said Sirius belonged to her Daddy?

After Minerva's departure, Sirius looked at Harry and said:

"There's something Remus and I will have to tell you, Harry. It's very personal and I hope you can accept it like Ronja and Rashid did."

"What is it, Sirius?"

Remus sat down next to Sirius and the two of them looked at each other and at that moment, Harry knew what Ronja had meant.

"You two... are... together?"

"Yes, Harry, we are. We have, in fact been together quite a long time before you were born. When I came here, Remus , or I, whatever, we just knew it wasn't over. I was quite shocked, when I came here and noticed that Remus was married - with two children."

"But he took it quite well. We talked about it and I told him, that Anna and I were rather just living under the same roof, but that we were hardly a couple anymore. The divorce had already been inevitable before Sirius broke out of Azkaban. But once I knew he was innocent I also knew I wanted him back. Anna had known about us and she had known I was mated with Sirius. She's the one who brews my Wolfsbane potion here."

"Oh… So you're both happy?"

"We're very happy, Harry, and having you here now is sort of the icing on my cake, believe me. Once I got close with Ronja and Rashid I noticed, how much I missed you. And how much I missed not seeing you grow up. When I mentioned it to Remus, he said he often felt the same. That led to our idea to ask Albus to let you stay here. I'm afraid you're now stuck with us..." Sirius said, grinning.

Harry got up to hug Sirius. Sirius pulled him close and it was impossible for Harry to be mad at him for not telling him about Remus having been his lover. Once he got time to mull it all over in his head he had to tell himself that he hadn't seen his godfather often enough to even talk about personal things. So he just smiled at them.

"That's... great..." he said.

Remus got up and said:

"Come and let me show your room, Harry. Luckily we have one free room left. It's a bit small, but it should do. If you want to do your homework you can always use the table in the dining room, that's nice and big and has sun most of the day. Come along!"

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said.

Remus stopped and smiled at him:

"You really don't need to call me Professor, Harry, just call me Remus or Moony."

"Okay, Remus!"

Harry grinned. He picked up his trunk, but Remus waved him off and levitated it up the stairs. While they went to his room, Remus explained:

"To the left here is Ronja's room, then Rashid's, this is one of the bathrooms and this one is your room. You can choose, do you either want to share the bathroom with me and Siri or rather with the children? Either is fine. The other bathroom is just here."

"Well, that's closest to my room, so I guess this one?" Harry suggested.

"Perfectly fine. You're very welcome to help me tell Sirius off for leaving the tooth paste open."

Harry laughed. And said:

"Too much information..."

"Well, you will have to live with it, I'm afraid. We're not the most disciplined people and we do tend to be quite physical. I'd feel very uncomfortable if you are uncomfortable with that, I'm telling you quite frankly."

"Well, just don't mind me. I'll probably get used to it. Don't you worry about your children, though?"

Remus grinned.

"Not very much. It's not that we're having sex in public, just that we like to touch and kiss. So if that happens, just disregard us."

"I will."

"The children are perfectly used to it, as Anna and I weren't very different."

"I see."

"Okay, so, let's see if we need to do anything about this room, I haven't been in here for a while..."

Remus opened the door and then had to open the curtains, the windows and the shutters. Once the afternoon sun poured in he could see what needed to be done.

"Hm. Dusting first… Done. Then we need to get the old stuff out of the cupboard so you can put your things in it."

He opened the cupboard doors and shrunk everything inside and put it into a basket. Then he looked at the bed and summoned fresh linens. Once the bed was made he moved to the nightstand, but that was perfectly empty as was the chest of drawers, where Remus only found some baby clothes stored. He smiled when he took them out and said:

"Oh, good, they will be needed again after all..."

He showed them to Harry.

"Isn't it amazing? So tiny! I remember when I held you in my arms for the first time, Harry. You were the very first baby I had ever held and I loved the feeling. No one but one of my friends would have entrusted the werewolf with a baby, but you don't even have an idea how often Siri and I would just send your Mum and Dad out to have dinner together or go to the cinema or dancing, just so we could baby-sit you! We loved to baby-sit you."

Harry felt a lump in his throat. It was a strange feeling that he was now aware of the fact that Remus had already known him as a baby. Remus put the baby clothes on a pile and sent them to his own room. Then he looked back at Harry:

"I've missed you so much after your parents had died. But I didn't even try to get custody of you, not even Dumbledore would have given you to me. And he was right, I was not fit in any way for a long time. But I always missed you. Some of us went to see Arabella Figg about once a year just so we could get an update on you, whatever she could find out about you..."

"Arabella Figg? You don't mean the crazy old lady with all the cats who lives two streets away from Privet Drive?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"She's a witch? Why didn't she ever tell me?"

"She wasn't allowed to. She was a part of your protection, she is your Secret Keeper, Harry."

"Oh."

"She used to be our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher..."

"Wow."

"Well, I hope you like the room..."

"It's much better than what I had at the Dursleys, Remus, you've seen it after all. Thank you so much for taking me in."

"You're very welcome, Harry. Sirius and I love you very much and who knows? Maybe Ronja is right and you get to be her big brother!"

"She seems nice enough to be a little sister, Remus."

"You'll get to know her soon enough. Sirius already discovered Gryffindor material in her. Make yourself comfortable and then come down again, we'll probably be in the living room - or the kitchen, it's already dinner time!"

"If I can help you with anything, just tell me..." Harry offered.

"Don't worry. You're not going to work here! Our housework is done with a few well placed spells. See you later!"

"Oh, shucks. I'm still not used to a wizarding household," Harry said and grinned.

Remus passed his bedroom and went inside to stow the baby clothes into a box in which he would prepare everything for the new baby. He smiled again when he looked at the little garments. 'Can't wait!' he thought and remembered the same impatience when Ronja and Rashid had been on the way. 'My pack; complete with Harry now. How good it feels,' he thought and then put the box down. He went down to the living room and announced he was going to cook dinner.

Anna apparated into the kitchen.

"Hi Remus," she said.

"Hey! How's your day been?"

"Oh, the usual. Quite okay actually. I've chosen the flat, Remus, I'll move out immediately. I just need to furnish it a bit. At least bedroom, living room and kitchen, then the rest in time. It has a living room, dining area and kitchen on the first floor and a master bedroom, bathroom and two small rooms on the second floor. Good enough for the children to visit, if they want to come."

"I'm sure they will, Anna. That's fine then. - We have another guest. Minerva and I went to get Harry from his relatives."

"Harry Potter? Oh."

"Yes, Harry Potter. You know that Sirius is his godfather?"

"Yes, I knew that. So Harry knows about Sirius then? Oh yes, you said so, now I remember."

"Yes, he does. And I think he loves Sirius very much."

"Good. What's for dinner?"

"Stew and mashed potatoes and salad."

"I'll lay the table..." she said.

"Thanks."

Sirius made the children wash their hands, then accompanied them to the dining room. Remus called Harry down and when the boy entered the dining room, introduced him to Anna. Then they sat down to eat. Ronja sat between Harry and Sirius and told him:

"Tomorrow's my birthday!"

"Oh... it's mine in three days..."

"I love my birthday! It's always fun! Even though it's during the summer break and my friends from school can't come here."

"Do you have friends then?" Harry asked her.

"Oh yes, quite a few. There's Tricia, Bella, Sandy, Toby and Bradley, and then there are some others, but these are my best friends."

"Where do you go to school?"

"Hogsmeade. I go there through the Floo every morning. It will be my second year this year."

"Oh, that's great then. And what's your favourite subject?"

"I like them all. Almost all anyway. I did quite well, Daddy was quite happy with me."

"That's true, little one, you were one of the best in your year. I'm very proud of you," Remus confirmed.

"What's your favourite subject, Harry?" asked Ronja.

"I like Defence against the Dark Arts. And Charms."

"Do you have a broom? I like to fly, but I'm only allowed on a toy broom."

"Yes, I have a broom, I'm the seeker of the Gryffindor team, you know."

"Wow! You must be good on the broom then..." she said with admiration in her eyes.

And then, conspiratorially, she asked:

"Will you take me up on your broom once, Harry?"

Harry threw a cautiously questioning glance at Remus, who had heard the question and Remus said:

"Well, maybe. We'll see. Let Harry settle in first, okay?"

"Okay."

"I haven't been flying for almost a year, Ronja. I'd maybe better not take you on it..." Harry said.

"Which reminds me, you can fly freely here, Harry, just not over the height of the trees, okay?" Remus said.

"Thanks, Remus! I'm looking forward to that. I need to get a bit of training anyway, we missed a year of Quidditch and we really missed it! Even Oliver's early morning training sessions were better than no Quidditch at all."

"Early morning training sessions? Sounds very much like a certain James Potter - he used to get us out of bed with a threat to empty a bucket of cold water over us..." said Remus.

"You were on the team?" Harry asked, incredulously.

"I was. Surprised?" Remus asked with a smug grin.

"Yes, just a bit, actually, though I don't know why. Everyone's always been talking about Dad being so good at it. And I don't even know what position he played."

"He was a Chaser. Didn't get in during our second year, but he got to be reserve and made the team for good in our third year. He became Captain in our fourth year, that's when I made the team as a Seeker. Sirius joined us in the middle of that year as a beater, when one of our beaters had to give up after a bad injury. I might still have a Snitch somewhere..."

"That would be cool!"

Harry's eyes shone and he was all excited. This would be a great summer break and for the first time he wished it was longer. Then he said:

"Getting the Firebolt from Siri was the best gift I ever received from anyone. That broom is just great! You'll have to try it out, Sirius."

"Wow, you would let me? Great, I'd love to."

"I'm not stingy. Even Ginny has already flown it..." Harry said with a smile.

"Ginny Weasley?" Remus asked.

"Yes. Speaking of a Weasley. May I tell Ron and Hermione where I am?"

"Well, to keep you out of harm's way is one reason of taking you here. You could write to them of course, but you have to be aware that letters can always be intercepted..." Remus warned.

"I could write to Hermione through Muggle post... she could then tell Ron."

"Do you have her phone number?" Remus asked.

"Yes, I have it noted down somewhere - why?"

"You can call her. There's a phone in my study."

"Wow, that's great! I'll gladly do that."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a few glances and an amused smile. They were going to invite the Weasley clan and Hermione for Harry's birthday.

After dinner Harry went and looked for the note he had received from Hermione with her phone number. When he found it, he brought it down and Remus led him to his study, where the phone was. Harry dialled the number and waited. It seemed to be Mrs Granger who picked up the phone.

"Good evening. This is Harry Potter. Could I speak to Hermione, please?"

"Hello, Harry, yes, of course, I'll call her right away, just a moment."

Harry thought, Mrs Granger had a very pleasant voice. It didn't take long and Hermione had taken the phone, squealing in delight:

"Harry! You're calling! How are you doing? Are the Muggles actually letting you use the phone?"

"Hi Hermione. I'm not at the Dursley's, I'm at Professor Lupin's house! They'd never let me use the phone there, as you well know. But he doesn't mind at all. I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for the rest of the break."

"That's great! Can I send you owls?"

"As long as they're inconspicuous ones. I can't send Hedwig to you, she's much too obvious."

"Why don't you ask Professor Lupin if there's a way to colour her brown?" Hermione suggested.

"Now there's an idea! Not sure whether she would like it, but it would be a good thing, for her own protection, too, I'm sure it's only too well known that I have a snowy owl."

"That's it."

"Sirius is here, too, Hermione. It's like heaven, I think. And Professor Lupin has two children..."

"What? Wow!"

"There's more. He has left me and closed the door now, so I can tell you... he has two children, and there's one on the way, but he and his wife just got divorced!"

"Oh. That's sad..."

"He keeps the children. Even the one that's still coming. Around Christmas he said. Ronja and Rashid are cute. Ronja is turning six tomorrow, Rashid is two and a half. I really think I like them. Ronja is fun and Remus says his father told him she's like he was when he was a small boy."

"That sounds really cute. Does she look like him?"

"Quite. Brown hair, brown eyes and his face. But their mother has brown hair, too. Rashid could be her twin, he looks practically the same."

"Aww... I'd love to meet them."

"I'll ask them, if we can arrange something. There's four weeks until school anyway and the letters have to come in and we'll have to go to the Diagon Alley to shop. I don't think they'll let me go alone. There's still more, Hermione."

"What else? Something you have a problem with?"

"Not really, though it takes some getting used to. Since Anna, that's Remus' ex, has moved out of their bedroom and into the guest room, Sirius shares the bedroom with Remus. They told me quite bluntly that they're together."

"Oh… wow... quite surprising, though I thought there was a bit more in that embrace in the Shrieking Shack. And the glances they threw at each other answer some of the questions I had been asking myself."

"They exchanged glances?"

If Harry could have seen Hermione, he would have seen her rolling her eyes. He could guess from her answer though.

"Harry! They were so obvious! Short of kissing, but I'm sure they didn't want to show off in front of us. At least now that's fairly clear to me... I think it's great, Sirius needs someone. And he won't be able to go out and meet someone, maybe not for a long time."

"That's right. Though he says that they are looking for Pettigrew everywhere."

"Some day Pettigrew will be seen in the open. And that will be a field day for the Daily Prophet, Harry. They'll only love to pick at the Ministry."

"They pick at the Ministry whenever they can, Hermione, even you could be Minister and do everything perfectly and they would still pick... but I suppose it could swing the public opinion if someone saw Pettigrew and reported it to them. Everyone would have to ask questions how he can still be alive."

"Exactly. Did you start your homework?"

"I'm done with History and Herbology. Working on Potions now. Still have Charms, Defence and Transfiguration. You're probably done already, aren't you?"

"Almost. Just the finishing touches on the Potions essay. That one's been quite an interesting subject, actually."

"Yes, I think so, too. I have some reading to do still. But thinking of doing an Invisibility potion is quite thrilling. Wonder what made Snape choose that one. I mean, we could brew it in our dorms, couldn't we?"

"He'll probably tell us... did you start the reading on the Transfiguration essay?"

"Nope. But I will, soon. Only, I'm allowed to fly here and I do want to go out and fly as much as I can..."

"There's going to be Quidditch again, after all, so yes, you do need to fly. You do want to get that Cup again, Harry!" she said sympathetically.

"And I want to play with Ronja and Rashid. She thinks I'm her big brother now. She loves Sirius to bits already it seems. And because he's my guardian she declared me to be her brother."

"That's so sweet, Harry! She sounds like a jewel."

"As I said. She seems fun. Sirius thinks she'll be a Gryffindor for sure. - But I think I have to leave it at that now. It was great talking to you, Hermione. You probably shouldn't tell Ron through the Floo where I am..."

"Who do you take me for? I'm not that stupid, Harry. Will you tell him though?"

"We'll figure out a way to do it, yes, I will. You can write to him and tell him I'm with Snuffles and Snuffles is with Moony..."

"Good, I'll do that. Thanks for calling me, Harry, that was a great surprise! If you give me the number there I can call the next time..."

"Let me check it... oh, here..."

Harry gave her the number which she noted. Then he wished her a good night.

When he got back to the living room, only Remus and Sirius were there and they watched the children play outside in the garden. It was still light and Remus let them exhaust themselves before putting them to bed. He turned away from the window and said:

"Need to go and take the potion... I'll be right back and then it's about time to call them inside. Oh, there you are, Harry, is everything alright at Hermione's?"

"Yes, she was quite thrilled that I called. I gave her your number, is that okay, too?"

"Yes, of course. Feel free to call her any time."

Remus went out to the kitchen. Harry went to Sirius and looked out to the large garden, which was enclosed by a fence and a hedge. Ronja was on her toy broom and sped over the grass. Rashid tried to run after her, but couldn't reach her, because even though her broom couldn't rise over a metre off the ground, she was able to give it quite some speed.

Harry felt Sirius' arm around his shoulders and looked up. He noticed a very happy expression on Sirius' face.

"You're happy, aren't you?" he asked.

Sirius nodded. Then he said quietly:

"After the initial shock... it's amazing. Remus gave me a ready made family, Harry. I don't know what I did, but it seems like the children have taken to me well. And Remus..."

Harry felt a pang of jealousy. He started to realise that he would not be the single focus in Sirius' life anymore. He really had to pull himself together not to show a sulky face, but it was hard. He felt a lump in his throat. But Sirius seemed to have felt what was going on and said:

"Harry, you're important to me. To us! We love you both and we love you a lot. But Remus and I are in love with each other and it's different. It's just the difference between the love to a partner and the love to a child. You're our child now, Harry. And that alone makes you important. Add to that the love we hold for you and you should be reassured about that."

Harry swallowed, feeling caught. He dared to look up into Sirius' eyes and saw affection and warmth in them. There was still a lot of that deadened look from Azkaban in them, but by now Sirius had begun to make himself happy memories again and it started to be pushed away. Harry gave a shy smile and Sirius pulled him close.

"Welcome home, Harry..." Sirius whispered.

"Thank you, Sirius. I love you, you know..."

"I know and it makes me very happy, Harry. After all I do feel responsible for your parent's deaths..."

"But you're not! You couldn't have known that Wormtail was in league with Voldemort..."

"But we should have. The signs were there, but only now can we interpret them correctly, Harry."

"But then you couldn't know. It's not your fault, Sirius, it's Wormtail's - and Voldemort's!"

Remus had returned to the living room and followed some of the conversation. Now he came to them and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Then you should not feel guilty either, Harry! You couldn't know that the cup had been turned into a Portkey. That's how Voldemort is, you know. He's miserable, ugly, a brute and the single worst thing in this world. He'll do whatever he can to get you and you can't help it. You are a wonderful, brave boy, Harry," he said quietly.

Harry turned around and stiffened.

"It's not the same, Remus!"

"Oh yes, Harry. It's exactly the same. The same way, the same curse, the same perpetrators. Voldemort doesn't lose a thought whom he kills. Cedric was in the way, so he was put out of it. Kill... that's one of the two things Voldemort does. He kills and he tortures. He promises power, but only he himself holds it."

"Sounds like an adequate description of the man..." Harry muttered.

"I know him, believe me. We've met and I was lucky to get away," Remus said.

"You did?"

"You don't want to know, Harry, it took two weeks until the silver was out of my system... but now let me call my two brats back inside."

Remus went to call his children inside and when they got in, Ronja declared that Sirius was the one who was to bring her to bed. Remus smiled.

"You got yourself an admirer, Padfoot..."

"Well, I've always had success with the females of the species, Moony," Sirius replied smugly.

"Oh yes, there was a collective outcry when you made it clear who you loved," Remus said and grinned just as smugly.

Sirius kissed him on the tip of his nose.

"You know exactly that I'm just the lovesick puppy around you... and you always use it, no fair," he pouted.

Remus returned the kiss quickly and said:

"You know exactly why, Paddy... let's get the brood to bed. Come on, children, say goodnight to Harry and up you go!"

Ronja hugged Harry and ran up the stairs, followed a bit slower by Sirius who by now knew the routine. Remus lifted Rashid up. The boy was almost asleep already. He carried his son upstairs and brought him to bed. Then he returned back down to the living room. Harry was sitting on an armchair and looked a bit forlorn. Remus went to get his chess set out of a cupboard and asked:

"Would you want to play some chess, Harry?"

Harry looked up and smiled.

"Oh yes, that would be fine. Though you might find me a bit inadequate..."

"I'm only an average player, I'm afraid, but then we should meet in the middle, eh? Black or white?"

Remus sat down on the sofa and put the board and the box on the table. Harry asked:

"Would you mind if I'd like to play with my own chessmen?"

"No, of course not. Just go and get them."

"Okay. I'll take black for a start..."

"Fine."

Harry went upstairs, rummaged in his trunk and found his chessmen. He brought the box down and set up his black chessmen. They started to play and after about fifteen minutes Remus wondered:

"Now what could Sirius and Ronja be doing that takes so long?"

"Having fun?" Harry suggested.

"No doubt. She's thrilled about him. I'm glad that my children have accepted him so quickly."

Harry studied the board and sent his rook forward. Sirius came back down and was smiling. He sat down next to Remus and caressed his neck.

"Hey! Is she sleeping?"

"I think so, at least by now. She was almost out of it already right after brushing her teeth."

"You're getting the hang of parenting quickly, love."

"If it's always that much fun..."

"Unfortunately it isn't, Siri. Sometimes you have to remember the little word 'no'..." Remus sighed.

He leaned in to the touch while he made his next move. After a few more moves, Sirius kissed Remus on the forehead and said:

"You're toasted, love..."

"Looks like it, doesn't it? You seem to be far better than you announced, Harry."

"That's only Ron's doing then. I've yet to manage to win more than once a month when playing against him. Fred and George told me they gave up long ago. I think Ginny is the only one who can still beat Ron fairly regularly."

"She's good at chess?"

"Very. But I think she's good at most everything she does."

"She was a good student and I remember her well. Active and quite studious. But she didn't have very many friends..." Remus remarked.

"Probably because her first year was a bit difficult. Being possessed by that diary didn't exactly give her the opportunity to make friends. And in her second year it seemed almost too late. She's got Hermione though."

"What about you and Ron?" Sirius asked.

"I know Ron and Ginny are quite close. At least when they're at home..." Harry said.

"But at school you and Ron are always together and don't have time for her, eh?" Sirius asked on.

"Sort of. What exactly are you driving at?" Harry asked, finally noticing something in Sirius' tone.

"Nothing, really. But she sounds like a really great girl!"

"She is. Really."

"Well, maybe it would be time to throw a closer look at her then..." Sirius hinted.

"Oh, that's what you mean? It's awkward. She's had that silly crush on me forever..."

"Oh, I see..." Remus stressed.

"You two are bad! Really!" Harry said, then he noticed them laughing.

"Just teasing, Harry."

"Anyway, you know what would happen, if I had a girlfriend. Voldemort would know soon enough and she'd be almost dead by default!" Harry pointed out.

Sirius and Remus sobered instantly. Sirius remarked:

"If your parents would have thought this way you wouldn't exist, Harry. You can't think this way. If you do, he wins. Instead of making your own life miserable, enjoy it, live! Live to the fullest extent even, like there's no tomorrow, Harry, because you don't know for sure if you have a tomorrow, even with all of our protection. Anything could go wrong again. We had to learn the hard way that we're not invincible. Don't lose a second of your life, don't let anyone intimidate you and if you fall in love, act on it! The worst that can happen is that the girl says 'no' and even that doesn't end the world. Try to see it from a completely different angle: if you are happy you have something to defend! You have a reason to fight to keep that happiness and it will give you strength beyond your power. If you feel hopeless and sad you're much easier to bring down. Voldemort knows that very well and he plays with you, believe me. He loves to manipulate this way and must enjoy himself immensely. And then, when you're really down, he'll bring you down completely."

Harry stared at his godfather. It took a while for the message to sink in, but then he said defiantly:

"But it would put her in danger!"

"Believe me, Harry, any girl who gets involved with you will know about that danger. And I'd bet that a girl who wants to be with you will be ready to face that danger. But it will be her decision to face the danger. Not yours. You look for yourself, your girlfriend will watch out for herself in that regard. Just like your Mum did when she was with your father. She was no weak witch, believe me."

"I guess not. What with her protection and sacrifice on my behalf," Harry muttered.

"Exactly. And that was only one of her daring things," said Remus.

This remark led to some stories about his parents, to which Harry listened with reverence. It was the only way he could get to know his parents at all and while he listened, he realised that the loss of their friends still tormented Sirius and Remus. It became clear to him why: while he never really had the chance of knowing his parents they had known them for more than half of their lives. They had all been so close and when everything went up in smoke and death they had truly lost an integral part of their lives. The realisation struck Harry and saddened and pained him to no end. He saw the hurt in both their eyes when they spoke of James. They had only become really close with Lily after she got engaged with James, and they had been two couples out to have dinner and dances together.

"Maybe that's when Peter drifted off," Remus mused, "he must have felt very left out. He didn't often manage to find a girlfriend and when he did the relationships usually didn't last. He managed to hide his jealousy well, but once James and Lily were married we saw less of him. He didn't even show up when Sirius and I had our small ceremony at which Albus sealed our love. We had invited all of our friends, but Peter was 'unavailable'."

"You were married?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Well, not like regular couples, but there is a legal standard in the wizarding world, that allows homosexual couples something similar. The legal status is then like regular couples, which is why Remus has access to my vault at Gringott's and to inherit everything from me should I die," Sirius explained.

"I see."

"Anyway, after you were born it got more and more difficult with Peter. We thought he was jealous and just drifted away from us, as life sometimes happens. But none of us would have dreamed he'd run to Voldemort..." Sirius finished that particular story.

"Actually he spent more time with us in the last year before your parents' deaths, which should have made us suspicious. We thought he had found some peace and was more okay with the situation of us together and James and Lily together. We'd never thought he came back to spy on us."

"But he did?" said Harry. It wasn't a question.

"He did. Now we know."

"Oh, Christ, this is so horrible. What a miserable 'friend'..."

"I've seen his mother a few months ago. I wanted to go and tell her that her rat of a son is still alive," Remus said.

"You did?"

"She's STILL wearing black robes. Quite pathetic, believe me."

"Wonder if it's for her husband or her son..." Sirius mused.

"Both, I'd guess. - What I really wonder is if Peter was on the Death Eater raid that killed him. He was the only one in that family who had all his senses together," said Remus.

"Now, that would be interesting to find out..." Sirius said.

"Whatever - I have to start the work on the wards. Can't do this during the day. And I have to do it before the full moon, because I'll be too weak to do it in the days immediately around it. Once I'll be up again I'll reinforce everything."

Remus went to get his wand and went outside to start his tedious work. Sirius followed him and told Harry:

"Better go to bed, Harry, I want to be around Remus to protect him, should it be necessary. Everything has ears again, I suppose..."

"Okay. Good night, Sirius!"

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well!"

Harry went upstairs and to the bathroom, then back into his room and undressed. He closed the window again and pulled the curtains. Then he went to bed. Compared to the rickety old bed he had had at Privet Drive this one was really comfortable. He cuddled into the duvet and even though he didn't expect to fall asleep he did so quickly.

Outside, Remus worked for about four hours. It was very late in the night when he lowered his wand. Sirius had helped with some of the charms.

"Well, that's the first bit. We will have at least two or three more night shifts on them, Siri."

"Yes, that's about it. Nothing else we can do, just work on them until we're done."

"And then hope for the best. We'll set up several objects as Portkeys to Hogwarts. Throughout the house. Any danger and one of us grabs a child and Portkey. I'm not going to endanger my children's lives by unnecessary heroism. If they manage to surprise us we're toasted if we don't run for it," said Remus.

"You're right on that one. Now all we have to do is to hammer it in Harry's head."

"Same procedure for him. Grab a child and a Portkey. He'll follow that or he'll get to learn to know me!"

Sirius grinned, put his arm around Remus' shoulder and steered him back into the house. They went to bed without any detour, just drank a goblet of water on the way.


Adressing the reviewers:

kungzoune: thanks, I really do feel flattered...

Audrey: Think, you got your wish here, eh?

Shadow Cat17: Yes, I think, Ronja really is a doll, but then... she's Remus' daughter, you'd expect nice children from him, wouldn't you?