Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters and alas, not even the universe. Immense praise goes to JKR who does own this and who created it. I'm merely sharing what I think should/may happen inside her universe while we wait to see what really does.
When they pulled away completely out of breathe, all Harry could say was, "Wow."
Over the next few days Harry and Ginny became very close. Harry was confiding almost everything in Ginny and Ginny was doing much the same with Harry. She was certain to remind Harry everyday, sometimes more than once, what she had told him in the attic, just like he asked her to.
As they were talking one day, Harry said something that threw Ginny for a complete loop. They were playing wizard's chess taking a break from the books Professor Lupin found in the library about Defense.
"Ginny, what would you say if I said I wanted to have parents?" Harry asked, looking Ginny in the eyes with a questioning, probing gaze.
Ginny sat across from Harry momentarily stunned. Harry wanted a family? He wanted people to care for him? She knew her mum and dad would adopt him in a heartbeat, but didn't think that was what he wanted. She figured he wanted a close connection to his parents.
"I would say," Ginny started hesitantly, "that you have every right to parents and that you should talk to an adult about getting some, I would recommend asking Remus first, though."
Harry looked genuinely relieved. She didn't think this was an outrageous request, but a reasonable one. It wasn't something that he should feel ashamed about at all. Talking with Ginny always eased Harry's mind and he felt could talk to her about anything and everything; he really liked the relationship that had grown between them. They'd come extremely close and now knew each other almost as well as they knew themselves.
"Gin, would you mind if I stopped this game and go talk to him? I've been wondering about this since yesterday when I was thinking back to my first encounter with Dumbledore of this summer. I asked Remus to accept me as a son, and I would like to solidify that acceptance. Maybe then I can get him to get me a mother too," Harry said with a far off gaze and a mischievous smirk on his face.
"Harry, you cannot ask for both at the time being. You can only ask for a father, which I believe Remus will be more than willing to abide your request. Don't ask him about Tonks though, OK? Now go!" Ginny making a sweeping motion with her hands towards the door.
Harry immediately complied and got up to find Remus. Harry began wandering through the house. As he went up the stairs to the second floor he heard raised voices from his and Ron's room.
"You need to start studying for the N.E.W.T.S., they're only two years away. You need to be prepared for the classes you're going to take next year!" he heard Hermione insisting, most likely to Ron. He wondered why she wasn't badgering Ginny about her O.W.Ls they were closer than Ron's N.E.W.T.S. were.
"Hermione, N.E.W.T.S. aren't for another two whole school years and a summer between them! I am taking the same classes as Harry, and I don't see you hoarding him about studying for his classes a few weeks into the summer. For Pete's sake, classes just let out and we just took our O.W.L.s, don't you think we need a break, for, like, at least a month! You need to learn how to relax and have fun and take your nose out of those bloody books every once in a while!" Ron responded heatedly. Even though Harry had no idea what had brought on the subject of N.E.W.T.S., he knew Ron had just gone too far.
"Well, Ronald, if that's how you feel then I should probably leave you alone from now on. You know, it would do you some good to actually stick your head into a book every now and then." And with that Hermione stormed out from Ron's room and across the hallway into the room she shared with Ginny, slamming both doors shut behind her.
Harry cringed at the sound of the doors slamming, but refrained from entering either room. He didn't want to take sides in this argument of theirs and besides, he had other things to do right now.
He continued on his quest to find Remus. He'd checked everywhere he could think of, but couldn't find him anywhere. Then it hit him: he was probably in the attic, the one place Harry didn't think to check, back behind the boxes Ginny had shown him.
As Harry walked up the stairs he heard muffled voices. "Remus, talk to him. You're never going to get your answer from me; I'm not Harry and cannot answer that question for him. But it's huge, you really need to talk to him about this if you think he hasn't been talked to yet," he heard Tonks say seriously.
Harry wondered what they were talking about, but decided he would find out soon enough. A grin spread across Harry's face when he realized what he was walking into. As he approached the space behind the boxes, he cleared his throat. Remus and Tonks peered around the boxes with a surprised expression on their faces.
"Why were you two seen in the attic behind the boxes and where have you been for the last four hours?" Harry asked in his best imitation of Remus from the other night. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a huge grin took over his face and he began laughing. Remus and Tonks joined in and Harry joined them in the alcove.
"What brings you up here Harry?" Remus asked once he was able to stop laughing.
"I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something, and I got the impression you wanted to talk to me about something too," Harry began, not sure exactly as how to best approach the issue.
"I think I'm going to see if Molly wants help in the kitchen," Tonks said excusing herself and getting up, leaving Harry and Remus to talk.
"Why don't you go first Harry," Remus said gently sensing this was something of great importance to Harry and that he wasn't quiet sure to continue.
"You see, the thing is, I've always wanted a family: someone to yell at me when I was in trouble, someone to hold me when I cried, someone to help me through hard times. As I've grown up, after getting my Hogwarts letter, I've come to realize how much I want these things from watching the Weasleys and getting to know them and spending time at their house during the summers. When I asked you to be my guardian, I was kind of hoping you could more than that too. I was hoping we could grow a father-son relationship or an uncle-nephew relationship or even a godfather-godson relationship," Harry said looking kind of sheepish, but determined all the same.
Remus was shocked. He knew where Harry was coming from, but to ask him, of all the people he could have asked, he picked him. Remus was touched, truly touched. "Harry, I don't know what to say. Of course I'll develop a father-son relationship with you! I'm really, I don't know what to say," Remus said, as tears welled up in his eyes.
Harry looked at Remus trying to make sure this wasn't some sort of misunderstanding. Had Remus just told Harry that he would be his father? Would Harry finally have the family he'd always dreamed of? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Harry smiled a bright, happy smile, one that many of his friends hadn't seen since before the graveyard and pulled Remus into a bone-crushing hug. Harry held onto him for dear life and Remus returned the hug, just as tightly.
"You know," Harry said with a sly smile on his face, "now you have to find me a mum, too."
Remus blushed deeply and pulled out of the hug to look at Harry. "You know, now that I'm going to be a parent to you, that you actually have to behave again?" Remus said with a mischievous look.
"What do you mean! I behave!" Harry asked feigning outrage.
"You sneak off at all hours of the day and night with Ginny, whom I'm assuming either is or is soon to be, your girlfriend. I know you've at least kissed." Seeing Harry's look of shock, Remus added, "Mad-Eye. And then there comes the issue of Dumbledore."
Harry bowed his head in defeat. He knew that he would start to heed someone's demands, and those would be Remus' and eventually Tonks if they every got their act together.
"Harry, don't look like you've been caught with your hand I the cookie jar," Remus said lightly, "I will figure out to deal with Dumbledore at each and every Order meeting depending on the situation and you will just have to listen to me when I say enough is enough, alright? As for Ginny, well, there will be some ground rules soon, once I figure out exactly what rules are suppose to prevent you two from doing without changing how you've been interacting with each other. She's been good for you, and she's helped pull you out of your brooding, closing off stupor."
"Fine. I'll listen to you in the meetings and stuff, but depending on the ground rules, know here and now that one thing Sirius told me was that rules were meant to be broken, or maybe that was Ron, I don't know," Harry said with a sheepish grin.
"It was probably both of them. Speaking of the Weasleys though, how are you going to tell Ginny's over-protective brothers that you're dating their only younger, baby sister? I would like to know so I can be there during that conversation so you don't get yourself killed," Remus said curiously with humor and sarcasm dripping from his voice. Although Harry knew that this was just said to lighten the mood, he also knew that Remus was right.
"I think I'll tell them at the next Order meeting, and that's all I have to say, which by the way, has to be tonight because it's been over a week, and according to schedule-" Harry started but was interrupted.
"How do you know about the Order's schedule? You've only bee here a week or two?" Remus asked genuinely surprised.
"I watch and listen. The nights my usual guard was away or someone different than usual or when the teachers were trying to act normal but dismally failing at school meant there was a meeting. When you catch these things enough you start to discover a pattern. I even did that without the help of Hermione," Harry said proudly imitating Hermione when she'd achieved something great.
"Wow, I didn't pick up on the pattern until just now when you mentioned it. Be careful, Hermione probably needs to start studying now if she wants to maintain her top-mark record. I mean, you don't study over the summer so if she does, then she'll be ahead of you already. If she doesn't, you may end up ahead just by attending the classes and not doing the reading!" Remus said chuckling as Harry was aware this was an overstatement that was only slightly false.
"Remus, I don't think that I would ever surpass her in grades, although I might surpass her in preparing during the summer, well this summer at least, " Harry said slightly proudly, slightly embarrassed.
"What do you mean Harry?" Remus asked, almost unsure as to whether or not he wanted to know.
"Didn't you ever wonder how I figured that we could do magic in here?" Harry asked raising one eyebrow at the red flag he put up without anyone noticing.
"Well, I guess I never really thought of how you knew the information. I just assumed you'd heard about it somewhere, but now that I think of it, I don't think that's very probable," Remus said slowly as if thinking and pondering at the same time.
"The first week back from school, before I made Tonk's bring me here, I read all of the school books I had from front to back along with the ones Hermione sent me that she hadn't read yet. Since she was on vacation she let me read them. I think she was just happy that I wasn't yelling at her or ignoring her for the most part like I did after Cedric and the graveyard incident, and that I was actually reading my schoolbooks before asked to for a change," Harry said calmly.
"Harry, now that I think back to, like, the first forty-eight hours that you were here; you did a lot that I didn't think anyone other Dumbledore could. Like wandless magic. Can you try summoning something right now, without your wand?" Remus asked Harry, looking at him curiously wanting to continue to question him but also see if Harry could do this.
"What do you mean wandless magic? I've never done it before," Harry insisted thinking of all the fame he could get from more brilliant stuff being accomplished by the bloody Boy-Who-Lived.
"Harry, I think you have. Do you remember at the Order meeting the morning after you arrived here? When you were angry with Dumbledore for making you explain to him what was wrong, the entire room changed to match your mood. Everything was energized and sparked, just like I imagine you felt when you were angry. That, son, was wandless magic," Remus said gently, not even realizing his word choice.
Harry looked at him in shock for a few moments before throwing his arms around Lupin in a tight hug he appeared to cling to for dear life. "Can I summon anything I want to?" Harry asked when he pulled away with a mischievous glint in his eyes, ignoring Remus' questioning expression as to the meaning of the hug.
"As long as it resides within this house I don't see why not," Lupin said narrowing his eyes very aware that Harry was going to do something that might not be considered a good idea.
Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. He concentrated on Ginny and what he'd felt like during their first kiss in the kitchen a few days before. He concentrated on feeling her in his arms and her lips on his. A moment later Ginny appeared in Harry's lap with her lips on his.
Harry pulled away from her with wide-eyes as he looked down upon a shocked Ginny. "I . . . I . . ." he started at a complete loss for words at what he'd just done.
"Harry James Potter, what are you doing to me!" Ginny asked in a somewhat stern voice as a smile played about her lips, her eyes glinting.
"Oh my God!" was all that Remus could say.
"So, what'd ya think of that display of wandless magic dad?" Harry asked smiling fondly at Remus.
Remus and Ginny both looked at him with shock evident on their faces. Harry had just called Remus 'dad' and there was nothing that felt more right to either Harry or Remus. Tears welled up in Remus' eyes has he looked at Harry and saw how joyful he was at being able to call someone his father. "Well Harry, I think by the end of this summer you could do your N.E.W.T. level spells all wandlessly since the first thing you accomplished was to summon Ginny without harming her through many floors without a wand."
"Harry, did you just call Remus your father? And did he just say that you summoned me wandlessly!" Ginny asked as her eyebrows flew into her hair, her eyes wide with shock and awe.
"Yes and yes," Harry said smiling down at Ginny before placing a lingering kiss on her lips.
Remus cleared his throat after a few minutes. The two teens blushed at looked up at him, he was grinning like Christmas had coming early. "Ground rule number one, I don't mind if you two come up here, I know this is a special place for both of you, but please tell someone when you do, and promise me that things won't get out of hand. I'm placing a lot of trust in the two of you," Remus said seriously looking both teens directly in the eye and looking more significantly at Harry.
They both nodded in reply. "Harry, how much have you learned over this summer?" Remus asked when he received confirmation both teens accepted the terms of the first ground rule.
"Um, I'd say more than I have ever learned at Hogwarts. I can get around most of the Ministry's Underage Magic laws even when not in a house protected by the Fidelius Charm. I know pretty much all of the Ministry's laws on 'creatures' as they so kindly classify them and I think I found a loop hole about part-humans. I've read up on my potions and I want to try reading the book on the Wolfsbane Potion that in the library. Ginny and I have been reading up on the Defense Books in Sirius' library too. Other than that just my school books and a few Quidditch books," Harry said trying to remember if that was everything he'd read or/and learned over the summer.
"Wow! I think we need to sit down and go through what you've learned because it could be great help to the Order and your school work if you've really gain all that information in a week. Wait a minute Harry, are you pulling my leg? How could you have possibly learned all that in a week?" Remus asked Harry disbelievingly.
"Well, I learned most of the stuff from my school books by reading them, and the other stuff I just read. I would go to sleep at night, have a horrid memory re-living or the other dream and an hour after I fell asleep I would be awake. I did that every night and after I woke up I never went back to sleep. I would make a really strong batch of coffee while the Dursley's were sleeping and managed to stay up the entire night the rest of the day without feeling drained. But, now I'm more of a regular schedule again which I like much better," Harry said honestly.
"Okay Harry, once again I'm on overload. Why don't we go downstairs and eat something and we'll talk again tomorrow. I need to digest what you've just told me. Don't forget there's a meeting tonight. Ginny, if you put on the Invisibility cloak and stay in the corner adjacent the door and the fireplace then you could probably stay for the meeting again, I'll tell Mad-Eye. Be in the kitchen in place by 7:30 so no one notices you. Meeting starts at 8," Remus said as he got up and helped Ginny and Harry up from the floor before walking down to the kitchen with the two teens holding hands behind him.
A/N: I hope you enjoy the longer chapter, sorry it took so long. Please review!