Remus frowned into the ancient book that sat on his lap. Snape had just been by to forbid him to try anything again, and he'd be damned if he was going to listen to Snape of all people. Who did that man think that he was? Some sort of friend? It was true, that he and Remus had formed some sort of bond over the past year but Snape had hated Sirius. What made him think that Remus was going to listen to any advice he might have on the subject? There was so much miscommunication, so many confused agendas, surrounding his life with Sirius that he was determined this time there would be no meddling from other people—no chance to question motives. If this book was right, there was a chance he could try, one more time. Of course, it required something he was not entirely willing to give.

A loud pounding at the door announced that though the locked door kept people out it did not necessarily keep them from bothering him. "Bugger off Snape! I bloody well swear that if you come in here one more time today I'm going to turn you into a…" The door burst open and Harry stumbled in. "Harry!" Remus exclaimed. Harry slammed the door shut.

As it turned out, there was much to exclaim over in the state of Harry's person. He was undeniably weepy, not to mention disheveled and covered in mud.

"Harry what on earth?" Remus said.

Harry leaned against Remus' desk and panted.

Remus decided to try a different tack. "Harry, why are you covered in mud?"

Harry glanced up through his fogged glasses. "I thought the mud would help, it did last time."

"Help what?"

Remus watched in fascination as Harry's lip began to tremble, his eyes squinched and began to water, then he burst into fresh tears.

"Draco hates me! I—I…" Harry wailed.

"What? Mr. Malfoy…were you two getting along?"

Harry sniffled, and Remus finally gave in. He walked over and patted Harry on the back.

"We were," Harry said, "We were…KISSING… and he was CRYING…and it was AWFUL…"

Trying to work through his shock quickly, so that he could help Harry, Remus endeavored to choke back the coughing fit that he really wanted to have at that revelation. He stuttered only slightly when he asked, "The er, the uhm, kissing? was bad or? Uhm…"

Harry jerked his head up. "NO!" he wailed. "No! The kissing was GREAT but then he pulled away and he was CRYING and…"

"Yes," Remus said, "I got that part. It was awful."

"Yes!" Harry wheezed.

Remus walked back around his desk. He steepled his fingers and tapped them lightly against his lips. "Ok," he said. "Now, see if you can breathe and not sob, long enough to tell me when it went from GREAT to AWFUL. Do you think you can Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Great," Remus said. "Why don't you have a seat? Take your time…"

Harry plopped into a chair in front of Remus' desk and wiped his face with the inside of his robe. Remus cringed, it was one of the many times he was glad that he had not been born a house elf.

"Ok," Harry said. "We were in the bathroom, and we were kissing."

Remus' face screwed up in confusion.

Harry saw. "He had just cut my hair," he explained, "I wanted to see it."

"OH!" Remus said. "So he did! My Harry, that is just a superb cut. I wonder where Mr. Malfoy learned to do that. You do think he'd do something about that Godfather of his if he's got such talent with a pair of scissors though…"

Harry made a 'we were talking about me' face.

"Sorry," Remus said. "Do continue."

"Ok, so, we were kissing," Harry said. "And then Draco made this noise, that just doesn't belong in kissing, you know?"

"A groan?" Remus asked.

"No…"

"A screech?"

"NO."

"More of a choke, or perhaps a cough?"

"Ewh, No."

"Hmm, was it a growl or a bark? Because, sometimes those belong in kissing. I know, that it may be odd to get used to it at first but…"

"Remus!" Harry screamed. "Please don't finish telling me about that."

Remus nodded. "No, yes. You're absolutely right. I was…nevermind. Go on, Harry."

Harry sighed. "And then when I pulled back to see what was wrong, he'd been CRYING for like, AWHILE and it was—"

"Awful?" Remus asked.

"Yes!" Harry said.

Remus smiled. "I'm sure that you're reading to much into this. Did you accidentally bite him?"

"What? No." Harry said.

"Maybe you leaned him into something pointy?"

"I—No, he was leaning on me."

Remus sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, perhaps your, er…bits were uhm…No, I'll start over. Were your pieces and his…did they perhaps get uhm, were you wearing. No, was he wearing tight er, did his pants have a zip? Because sometimes, the zip…"

Harry held up his hand. "Stop it! And NO! My pants were uhm, the tighter and uh… just NO ok?"

Remus nodded gratefully. "No. Very good. Ok. Uhm… Well, tell me exactly what happened before he made this mystery noise."

"Ok, So we were kissing…"

"Yes, I got that part. Tell me what you, uh, did—during the kiss."

Harry blushed. "I, we—" he sighed mournfully. "Wekindofrubbedtogethersome."

"Y-Yes, and uh…what else?"

"Nothing, I pulled him closer and we…uh, rubbed, and uhm… I held him tight and…"

Remus' head jerked up in surprise. "You pulled him tight? You held him close?"

Harry stared at Remus like he'd lost a marble or two. "Well, Yeah. Course."

"And where were your hands?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "Remus, I'm not entirely sure that this is leading anywhere and you're starting to creep me out…so…"

"Tell me where you pulled him from! Where were your hands!"

Harry sighed. "I dunno, his lower back?"

Remus jumped up out of his chair. "Ahhhh HA!" he said.

"Ahh…whaa?" Harry asked.

"Harry," Remus said. "Draco—do you have no idea what he did in the war?"

Harry snorted. "I know he got hurt and missed most of it."

Remus scowled at Harry. "He was crushed at Knockturn. CRUSHED, Harry. His spine is held together with magic now. It's very painful for him to be jerked around or held tightly."

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh," he said. "Oh. Oh…God. But couldn't they fix it?"

"Well they fixed his organs, but his spine was pulverized. Snape's working on a potion to help his spinal cord grow back—some sort of variation on Skelegrow but it's still in the testing phases, not nearly ready for use."

Harry hung his head. "God, I'm so stupid. And I just left him there."

"You What!"

"Well he had this reproachful look on his face…and he looked so…upset with me. I thought…"

Remus snorted. "You and your Godfather…peas in a bloody pod."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

There was another knock at Remus' door. "Snape," Remus shouted. "I swear to God. I'll beat you with a blunt shovel until you look worse than you smell!"

Harry smiled.

The knock sounded again. "Uhm, Professor…" the voice said. "It's uhm, Crabbe. I thought…Well Ron sent me to see if Harry was here."

Remus stared at Harry, then looked back to the door.

"Well is he in there or not?" Crabbe asked.

"Come on in Mr. Crabbe," Remus said.

Crabbe walked in and over to Harry's chair where he promptly smacked him in the back of the head. "That one," he said, "was from Ron." He punched Harry in the arm. "That one was from me."

Harry rubbed his arm and pouted. "What do you want Vin?" he barked.

"Like I said, Ron sent me to see if you were here. And if you were here, I was to make you come to him. So's here I am, and here you go." He grabbed Harry by his robes and hauled him out of his chair.

"Hey Crabbe," Remus said in a Joisey accent. "You be careful with my boy. I'ms lettin you have him, but I better get him back with a head and four limbs. Capeche?"

"No problem Godfather," Crabbe winked.

Harry rolled his eyes as he was dragged from the room.