Harry Potter and the Legend of Camelot

Disclaimer: I don't own them and it's a damn good thing, considering my love of the dramatic.

Author: Dimitri Aidan

Rating: R-ish

Pairings: SS/JP, HP, DM/RW, HG/PW, Forge/OMC/Gred, BW/FD, CW/NT, RL/SB, GW/DT

Warnings: Mpreg, AU, Vaguely Evil Dumbledore, and…well. Read and find out, ne?

Notes: College. Is. The. Devil.

Summery: There is more to Harry's parentage (and heritage) than most would have dared suspect. When those thought dead aren't a way to defeat Voldemort and Dumbledore may just be found.

00000000000000000000

Chapter Two

I Carry You Around

00000000000000000000

Remus knew all about James and Severus. May have known about James and Severus before there was actually anything to know about. While Remus had been, at that time in his life, loath to admit any upsides of his…nature he'd been able to sense the emotions of his friends. Smell the subtle differences in their unique scents when they were annoyed or confused or, in this case, aroused.

Lust had made the air so thick when those came around each other that Remus had nearly gagged. As much as James provoked Severus and as many hexes as they threw at each other, Remus had always known it was just some kind of twisted way of pulling pig-tails. A disturbing thought where most people were concerned, but right up their alley. It had been…a stressful few years for him. Hogwarts had always been thick with hormones and pheromones and so that had never particularly bothered him, but that thought that James liked Snape had come very close to shattering Remus' reality.

It was like cats and dogs falling in love or fish flying. It just didn't happen and, considering how tenuous Remus' grasp was at the best of times, it had been very disillusioning. James had always been rather inconsiderate that way.

It was towards the end of six year that it changed. After the Shrieking Shack Incident the lust between them had waned and for a moment Remus had almost believed it was just over. It had taken time to understand it had started to lessen not because the feelings were gone, but because they had been acted upon.

Thankfully that realization hadn't been half as breakdown worthy as figuring out James had the hots for the one person he professed to hate and so Remus had gotten over it fairly quickly.

James had slipped away at least twice a week and come back to the dorms smelling of dank and must mixed with whatever potion they had made that day. He'd claimed to have a girl in Ravenclaw he was seeing but there was nothing remotely feminine about the scent he'd carried back with him. Remus had never spoken about it, figuring if James wanted them to know they would know.

Then James had married Lily but continued seeing Snape. Most people had thought Lily and James was this perfect unbreakable couple but Remus had seen through so easily it amazed him that most people hadn't. There was no real spark between them, no attraction. Every time they were close James would inch away, shift his entire body to make space, and Lily had been far too focused on her work and goals to be Mrs. Anyone so early. She wanted to change the world but Muggle-borns weren't taken seriously at that time, and barely now. Marrying James had given her status and credibility.

He'd never really understood the point of the deception until recently, when Dumbledore revealed Severus' status as his spy in the Death Eater ranks. It wouldn't have gone over well if Dumbledore's Golden Boy and one of Voldemort's Death Eaters were anything more than enemies. Still, it surprised him more people had never seen through what was, to him, an obvious lie. Then again he was a hard man to hide things from at the best of times.

Remus also knew the lie that was Harry Potter. The day a few glamours could fool him enough to not know that one of his best friends was…well, pregnant was going to be a very cold day somewhere very hot indeed. He'd known and hadn't been that surprised.

Genetics weren't something the wizarding world understood really, and the consequences of things like making males able to carry children to further the Pureblood community didn't occur to them like they did to those who were Muggleborn or, in Remus' case, Half-Blood. The idea that it may be passed on through generations, long after the practice was abandoned, had never been thought of.

The fact that Sirius' family was Pureblood and still actively spelled their male children that way had exposed Remus to the idea when they'd gotten together a few months after graduation, as well as solidified the idea of Sirius' family being completely bat-shit insane.

Werewolves couldn't have children, legally. The Ministry forbade it and if any new magical signatures were detected from a werewolf or a werewolf's mate they were destroyed and the werewolf sterilized. None of which had particularly appealed to Remus and so they'd been careful to avoid the situation completely.

Even if Remus hadn't known for sure then he'd have his suspicions now. Why else would James be here, in the home of the man he'd always professed to hate, if there wasn't something more than the alleged hatred between them? Sirius had come to Remus for obvious reasons and Remus was willing to go out on a limb and say the motivation was the same for James.

He wasn't surprised…well, he was surprised obviously because this was all impossible and insane and he was just trying to accept and push past it because the more he thought the less sense it made and the less sense it made the more he realized how impossible it was and…

He knew the moment he knew it was impossible it would be and he'd wake up in his room, shivering and alone with only the leftovers of yet another cruel image his mind had conjured slipping through his fingers like so much water.

"Do you really think he had no idea Lily and James didn't change secret keepers?"

Remus went still, Severus words heavy and falling like stones the moment they left his lips. They seemed to echo, deafening in the silence, and he could only stare. Albus had known…no, Albus couldn't have known. He wouldn't have allowed Sirius to suffer like he did in Azkaban. He would never… Albus was beyond trustworthy; he'd put his own life and name on the line for them time and time again. He'd trusted Remus when no one else would, more than once, and Remus had already betrayed him once.

Severus was trying to manipulate him, turn him against the man. Why he wasn't sure, but it was obvious what was going on. Albus would never do anything to betray them. The wolf, ever present within him, seemed to laugh.

"This man knows everything about everything, from the prophecy to how to defeat the monster in the Chamber to how Tom Riddle became Voldemort; do you really think he'd let something that important slip past him?"

Severus' tone became almost urgent, anxious. He wanted his attention, wanted him to hear what he was saying. Remus could smell the slight tang of deceit in the air around the man, but it was more the scent of one hiding something than one who was lying. In fact there was no dishonesty in his scent, only nervousness and fear.

Remus' brow furrowed in thought. Severus had never been out rightly afraid of him before, not since the incident in the Shrieking Shack. He knew Remus was mild by nature and, more than that, the Wolf accepted Severus' as a constant presence. Trusted him.

It had never trusted Dumbledore.

Which was part of why Remus had been so willing to put all of his belief into him. If the Wolf said it was wrong it must have been right, or so the logic of a young man desperately to be normal and bury part of himself deep inside. Years later he was…he wasn't sure what he was actually.

If nothing else he knew his inner animal wasn't out to get him. Self-preservation was it's number one goal and if Remus died so did it. What was best for Remus was best for it.

"Dumbledore testified that Black was their Secret Keeper, went before the Ministry and swore to that fact, but was easily swayed by a thirteen-year-old boy with a story that bordered on the impossible. He didn't go to the Ministry and recant his story until Black…died, even though it's barely more believable now than it was then, since there wasn't a body or any proof that Pettigrew was alive." Severus paused for a moment, as if allowing his words a chance to sink in. "You aren't overly stupid Lupin, I know you've had to have thought about it before."

Lupin was silent for a moment before he gaze flickered over Severus' shoulder, towards Black. So what if he had? Doubts were…normal. So what if he'd spent nights awake, next to Sirius and wondering how Albus could have been so wrong when the man had never seemed to be wrong before. There was one thing that had always kept him loyal, the one piece that kept the puzzle from being completed.

"Why?" Sirius had always been on Dumbledore's side, what sense would it make to try and get rid of him? It would just cripple their side.

"To keep Potter under his thumb, of course. Imagine how different the boy would be if you two had raised him, how much more independent and harder to control. He would have never been able to indoctrinate him with all of the rot about 'Light' and 'Dark'."

Lupin nodded, more to himself than to anything Severus had actually said and put a hand over his eyes. It made sense. Harry was trusting; clingy almost, and clearly supported Dumbledore's talk of the Light and Dark side. Remus couldn't really believe it, because he himself was one of those supposed Dark Creatures. He knew better but Harry…Harry didn't.

Voldemort needed to be killed because he was a racist psychopath and killed anyone who got in his way, not because he was used Dark Magic, because it didn't exist. There was magic and those who used it, of course, but it didn't have a 'side' of its own without a wielder.

He kept his views to himself. Even if he hadn't been a werewolf and just a few paces away from the Ministry putting him down, permanently, challenging the way things worked could get a person in a lot of trouble. He hadn't seen any harm in allowing Harry to think that way because…well, Dumbledore was on their side. Remus was indebted to him.

So indebted he'd allowed himself to turn a blind eye to everything around him.

How many times had Harry been in a dangerous situation that no child should be in because Dumbledore had set him on that path? Other people could have easily handled half of the things Harry got into, but instead it was a child who handled the burden. Prophecy or no, it didn't make sense for Harry to face so many obstacles alone.

So many things could have been avoided, the least of which was the cynical man Harry was starting to turn into. Things were only going to get worse before they got better and it was already so easy to see how hopeless Harry was becoming, especially with Sirius' death. Voldemort and his Death Eaters-

"You're a Death Eater." Remus said, looking back at Severus who blinked once.

"Of course. I've been a Death Eater since I was eighteen Lupin, this is hardly a new development." Severus' lips twitched. "Unless you mean to ask if my loyalties lie with Voldemort."

"Which they must, since they obviously don't lie with Albus. Assuming I did believe you what should keep me from killing you and hiding these two away? What do you have to offer? Voldemort killed my friends."

"Temporarily it would seem."

Remus growled low in his throat and Severus laughed harshly, all traces of fear gone. Sirius jumped and Remus looked at him again, chest aching at the panicked look that had risen in his lover's eyes. It was so obvious that something was wrong that he would have known it even if his brain didn't scream with the pain Sirius was feeling.

He'd known the moment he'd come into his home to find the other man, sitting in their bedroom and staring ahead blankly, that there was pain. It had nearly overwhelmed him and called to him, begging him to fix it. The cries had reverberated in his mind, over and over until there was nothing else. It had taken time to shove the noise aside and focus.

He couldn't heal Sirius. He knew how to heal minor wounds and sometimes, if he was willing to take the risk and he rarely was, bigger things but Sirius wasn't hurt psychically. The pain was in his mind and that was an area that Remus couldn't even begin to heal. He had the power, sure, but not the knowledge. Maybe, if he'd been trained properly he could have helped him.

With the limited knowledge he had, and that infamous Marauder luck, he'd end up ripping Sirius' mind apart more. The mind was too complex, so many small things that Remus couldn't begin to visualize in order to heal it, so many ways to bugger it up.

He couldn't risk that.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Voldemort is insane and he'll destroy everything if he wins; Dumbledore is a manipulator and the moment he wins he'll see Harry and anyone who threatens him locked away for the public good; the Ministry is thoroughly incompetent and had almost outlived it's usefulness." Severus looked almost amused as he spoke.

"So?"

"I'm out for my best interests. Call me what you will, but I think it's unwise to align with any one force and risk losing, especially when you don't believe in any of their 'causes'."

"So you're manipulating things. Making sure you win." Remus guessed, knowing when Severus grinned that he was right. "You could be lying."

"I must confess it would be amusing to steal one of Albus' favorite pieces away form his chess game. He always fancied you a Bishop: useful but severely limited in your movement. Expendable." Severus' eyes seemed to darken, as if he was thinking about something. "And you would know if I was lying. Lets not make this drag on longer than it must. You can't tell Albus about this."

"Obviously." Remus couldn't quite keep the dry tone under control.

Severus was silent for a moment then, with a frown, walked over to the chair closest to the fireplace. Remus made a gesture towards Sirius and motioned he should sit next to the still sleeping James before taking a seat himself.

"There are many things you don't understand about Albus, or Voldemort for that matter."

"And you do?"

"I have the trust of both parties. Dumbledore is…dangling something above me and Voldemort is secure in the fact I want nothing more than to wipe Potter from this earth for the deeds of his father."

Remus snorted. Severus arched an eyebrow and he shrugged. "I was just wondering if Voldemort thinks you hate James because of how we treated you in school or because he married Lily and kept you to the side."

Severus had obviously made it this far as a spy by never giving anything away. He didn't even blink. He had to know Remus knew but he wasn't going to be making any potentially damaging confessions. Instead he just stared then, after a long moment, smirked.

"I suppose you may be smarter than you look after all."

"Maybe." Remus said, deciding to let the obvious insult go unacknowledged. "What do you intend to do now?"

"Do?" Severus looked at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted another head. "There is nothing I need to do. Take your dog and your friend back with you and figure something out; it's not my concern. Not anymore." The last part was said quietly and if not for Remus' better-than-human hearing he would have missed it.

"Not your concern? James came here, to you-"

"James left." Severus snapped and for a moment there was something more than apathy in his gaze. Rage, betrayal, and… Before Remus could read anything else Severus' face was once again blank. "He made his decision already."

"Far be it for you to let a silly thing like 'dying' trump something done sixteen years ago, in the middle of a war, for your own good."

The infamous Snape sneer was once again firmly in place. "I fail to see how buggering Evans and having a child who has turned out to be the most infuriating student I've ever had inflicted upon me, was for my own good."

"I doubt James intended for Harry to be-" Remus trailed off, the full weight of the other man's words sinking in. He thought that Harry was James and Lily's child. He thought that James and Lily had actually been something more than friends.

Good friends, sure, but little more. If Severus couldn't see that he wasn't nearly as smart as he liked to pretend he was. Remus wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh at him or ask what the hell he had to be thinking. James wouldn't deceive anyone like that, least of all someone he cared about.

He really hadn't had a dishonest bone in his body, the occasional lying about pranks aside, and had been terrible at lying, at least from where Remus stood. They'd always left Sirius and Peter to the alibi portion of a prank because even though James could plan a flawless entrance and escape from the teacher's lounge, if you asked him where he'd been he'd draw a total blank. The idea that he could manage to convince Severus he was marrying Lily for a good cause only to string them both along was laughable. James probably would have fallen into a guilt induced funk at the very thought of such a thing.

That dismissed it did leave a slight problem: How did Severus not know that Harry was his? James wouldn't have hidden something like that on purpose…unless it was to protect Harry in some way. If it ever got out they would have all been in more danger than before.

He must have intended to hide it until things were safe and had never gotten he chance. Obviously he would have shared things with Lily in order to put the whole deception into action, but she had taken that secret to the grave with her. He wouldn't have counted on Remus knowing so it made sense that it had just been…lost…

No. This hadn't been James' doing. It wasn't his style any more than lying to Severus about his reasons for marrying Lily had been. Besides he didn't have the resources that had been needed for such a thing: papers to print the announcement of Lily's pregnancy to the fake delivery in a hospital to managing to actually delivery himself without anyone finding out.

Sure, James could plan like no one else, but that was more of a chess-sort of planning, with things out in the open and easily seen if someone had the mind to. Unhanded things were more Remus' area of expertise, which was why this all seemed so plainly obvious to him now.

Hindsight and all of that.

"Lupin-"

"Albus." Remus muttered, frowning. That was the only logical recourse. James had told Dumbledore who'd organized everything that followed. James had died without ever telling Severus and Dumbledore hadn't either. It would have messed up his plans for Harry had seen Severus seen fit to claim the boy. Plus it was an impressive trump card if Severus ever tried to oppose him.

Remus had a headache all of a sudden.

"What about Albus?"

Remus looked over at Sirius who had occupied himself with staring at the still sleeping James. If he was wrong and James didn't want Severus to know… He couldn't just tell him. It wasn't his place, especially after keeping his mouth shut for so long. If this information was to come from anyone it had to come from James.

He'd just have to wait until James was in the condition to decide for himself before he interfered. Remus resolutely ignored the voice in the back of his head, which insisted that if he'd interfered more in his lifetime things wouldn't have fallen apart like they had, as he answered.

"Nothing."

0000000000000

Petunia Dursley looked up from the shirt she was stitching back together. Dudley had sent home almost half of his uniform shirts after having split the seams, again, and Vernon refused to buy anymore. Things at the drill company weren't going as good as they usually did and they couldn't afford to waste any money on things they would easily do on their own.

Someone was knocking on the door, with slow slightly uneven knocks. A glance at the clock revealed that it certainly wasn't Vernon, though that was to be expected. He'd been spending a lot of nights at his office lately. Or so he said…not that she didn't believe him of course. The fact that he'd only been home in time for breakfast for the past week had nothing to do with why she was still up at this hour. She really did need to get this sewing done.

She put down her sewing and stood up, wondering who would be at her door at nearly one in the morning. A glance through the peephole revealed nothing. She was about to turn around, chalking it up to a prank, but there was another, this time louder and more urgent.

"Hello?"

She heard a thin reedy gasp on the other side and then "Petunia?"

Her hand was on the doorknob before she realized what she was doing. The voice was faint but she'd know it anywhere, and there was no way it was on the other side of this door. She dropped her hand away and took a step back, nearly tripping over the rug in the front hall. Her breath was caught in her throat and her eyes burned but she could force herself to breathe or wipe away the tears starting to gather in her eyes.

"Go away!"

This was a trick. One of those people trying to get Harry, another one of those freaks that did nothing but threaten the lives of normal people. They were trying to get to her to…to…well, she didn't rightly know why but the point was that they were trying to do it and using her dead sister. It was sick…unseemly. How could someone do this?

"I'll call the police if you don't leave." Her voice was steady, amazing considering how badly she was shaking. She put a hand on the wall to steady herself, hoping whoever was out there would just leave. She knew the cops wouldn't be much good against someone with magic, but she could hope at least.

There was a thud, like someone falling against the door. "I have no where else to go. Please, just this once. I promise I won't come back. 'Tunie, I need help."

She wasn't breathing again. Couldn't force herself to draw in air and the world got a little blurry around the edges. She stepped back to the door slowly and turned the knob, expecting to see another one of those monsters or worse on the other side but was meet with only the night. Then the darkness parted like a curtain and she gasped, holding out her arms as the slight form of her sister fell through, red hair flying behind her. Claw-like fingers dug into her arms but Petunia barely winced.

A woman didn't raise a son like Dudley and make a fuss over a little pinch after all. She pulled the other woman inside, kicking the door shut, and all but collapsing in the front hall. She looked down and met the bright green eyes that could only belong to her sister, framed by too long red-hair. Lily smiled at her, weariness seeming to ooze from her body.

"You let me in. I was afraid-"

Petunia sighed and gathered her sister closer. "I'll always let you in Lily."

She glanced up at the door again, frowning. She'd have to hide Lily before Vernon came home; he wasn't likely to take this sort of thing well. Not that Petunia particularly cared. She had always been willing to put her dislike for magical things aside for her sister and if Vernon couldn't do the same she'd have to put it aside for him.

00000000000

HA! Take that college! Take up all my precious writing time will you! …Anyway. The plot thickens! Kind of. We actually haven't gotten to the real plot yet…and I apologize. I do that a lot, chapters and chapters of build up that seem to be going no where and then BAM! Massive plot. It confuses even me. And…I like Petunia, if I didn't get that point across.

Anyway, review responses can be found at my live journal (link on profile) since apparently we aren't actually supposed to put responses in the stories anymore. Either that or adult fan fiction dot net, whichever floats your boat.