Chapter 2:
Into Uncharted Territory

Harry wasn't home that night. He came back from his phone call and excused himself, laughing about something to do with someone named Ginny. I was in the guest room unpacking when I caught a glance of him lowering a ramp from his van. It just didn't seem right to me that someone so young and so vibrant was destined to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Watching him, I could now see James Potter in his face, but those eyes were all Lily. It annoyed me that I didn't see it before. For all my loathing of Potter, I couldn't say that there was much of his personality in his son. The boy didn't have the arrogance or the mean spitefulness. To be the son of James and raised in a house with Sirius and not come out a complete ass was impressive. I guessed that he had Lily's genes and Remus' influence to thank for that miracle. Despite everything, I was intrigued.

I joined Remus in the kitchen for dinner. It still felt terribly early to me, because I had not yet gotten used to the time changes. I was not in the best of moods, but decided to at least try to be civil to my host.

Remus was dressed in loose fitting khakis and a button-down, blue shirt. Anyone could see why I had been so enamored with this man in our younger years. He always had been an extremely attractive man, but it had been a long time since I'd looked at him with lust. Dating Sirius had made me reconsider my attraction to him. Maybe if it weren't for Harry, I would have been interested in him again. He smiled at me. "You look tired. I know how annoying it is to get into the swing of things after traveling."

I took the glass of wine he offered and sat down. On table was a delicious looking fare. There was balsamic chicken and rosemary potatoes with asparagus and a strawberry topped spinach salad. "You've been busy," I commented.

He beamed. "Not really. I'm used to cooking for a crowd, so dinner for two isn't that much of a stretch for me."

I nodded. "Harry is missing out."

He laughed. "He gets tired of my cooking. When he was a boy, he used to beg me for boxed macaroni and cheese. Harry only got prepackaged food when I was away and it was up to Sirius to feed him."

"So then he's close to Black?"

Setting his fork down, Remus sighed and rolled his eyes. "Sirius was one of the worst things to happen to him, I think. He always wanted Harry to be James, and he most certainly isn't. It always hurt Harry when he failed Sirius, which of course Sirius let him know. Especially by not walking," he added bitterly.

"He actually blamed the boy for his handicap?" I asked incredulously. It was hard to believe that anyone could be that much of a bastard, but if anyone could be that low was Black. The man sickened me. He always had.

"I don't know how much of this I should be telling you, so I'd thank you not to repeat any of it," he told me. His usually jovial eyes were filled with regret. "Sirius took James' death hard. When the we were informed that we were to take custody of Harry, he didn't want him originally. The doctors told us that Harry's brain damage was severe and that he'd have to be taken care of for the rest of his life in a home. He didn't move and wasn't responsive to anything. Luckily, he was breathing on his own, but the future looked dim for him."

"That changed though, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. We got a miracle. I was in his room one morning talking to him, when he looked at me and squeezed my hand. The doctors still warned us not to be too hopeful, but Sirius was determined that Harry would make a full recovery. He was always telling Harry about everything he and James did in their school years, and how they would do that together. It was heartbreaking when Harry finally realized that this was as good as he was going to get, and that it wasn't enough for Sirius." Remus played with the food on his plate. I'd lost my appetite as well.

I fiddled with the base of my wine glass. "I'm sure that wasn't helping your relationship either."

"No, it wasn't. We fought constantly. He was very jealous of how much attention I paid to Harry. Over time, he was away on 'business' more and more. I suspected he was cheating on me, but didn't have it in me to give a damn anymore. I was afraid that if I left him he wouldn't let me see Harry just for spite, or worse ship him off to his god awful relatives."

I sat there for a moment digesting all that I had been told. My hatred of Black deepened, something I hadn't been sure was even possible. Black and Potter tormented me mercilessly in school. Sadistic fuck that he was, Black tried to push me into a ravine my senior year. Remus and Potter pulled me back, but the damage was done and they were almost expelled for the stunt.

Giving up the pretense of eating, Remus began to clean up the meal. He put plastic wrap over a dish for Harry and excused himself to bed. I think our conversation upset him more than he would have ever admitted to me.

I spent the remainder of the evening sitting in recliner in front of the TV. The old adage "no matter how many channels you have, there's never anything on" definitely applied. Harry obviously had the sports package on his satellite dish. Finally, I settled on an old movie and dozed until I heard someone pull up the drive.

Harry rolled into the room with a smile on his face, despite his obvious exhaustion. "You're in my chair," he said. I raise a brow and moved to stand. "No, I was just teasing. It's the most comfortable spot in the whole house."

I glanced at the clock on the VCR flashing 2:13. "You're home late."

He laughed. "Don't start. I've only recently convinced Remy that I don't need a curfew anymore. Want a late night snack?"

In response my stomach growled. "Why not."

I followed him into the kitchen. This time around, I noticed all of the little innovations that were obviously intended to make things easier for him. The counter tops were lowered and had no cabinets under them. Everything was set up to be within his reach. The top shelves of his side-by-side refrigerator were bare. He rolled around easily maneuvering the chair.

"What looks good to you?" he asked sitting in front of the fridge. He inspected the wrapped plate and set it back down.

"Whatever you're having is fine by me," I said simply.

He pulled a frozen pizza out from underneath the vegetables, threw it in the oven, and then rummaged behind cans of soda to find two beers. He grinned impishly at me. "Don't tell Remy, or he'd have some kind of coronary."

"He did mention that you don't appreciate his cooking."

Harry's laughter was mesmerizing to me. The way it made his gorgeous green eyes sparkle made me feel things I hadn't thought about since I was sixteen. "Hey, I appreciate everything about the man, but you can only eat so many pieces of quiche before you want to throw it at him. I'm a very low maintenance guy; I like to eat simple food."

Pizza and beer never tasted so good as they did sitting facing Harry. We ate off of paper plates, and hid the evidence in the outside trash when we were finished. He yawned loudly. "I'm glad you're here, Severus. We'll have to do that again sometime."

I watched him push himself down the hall with a bemused expression on my face. When the door clicked shut, I hurried to my room and pulled out my notebook computer. Words were flying from me. Something in me had sparked and I could right again. This time, it had nothing to do with a Parisian skyline or Sicilian sunset. This was beyond anything I had ever known.