Complicated
By Neurotica
Three
It usually took a lot to make Remus Lupin's mind reel in confusion. He took pride in being able to catch onto things rather quickly, and he enjoyed the fact that he could figure out what was happening in his world easily. But the last few days had involved situations that made Remus wonder if he was losing his mind.
First, he'd met a wonderful woman; while he really enjoyed talking to her, he was reluctant to think about starting anything other than a platonic relationship with her. Then he'd dreamed he was marrying her, and that he knew every detail of her life, almost better than he knew his own. After that, though he'd convinced himself he wasn't going to be able to forge a relationship with her, she'd called to invite him to a fair with her and her sister.
And if that hadn't been enough, his best friend arrived home and announced he had a daughter with the woman who threatened to do things much worse than a Dementor could ever manage when he was arrested and taken to Azkaban.
"So I guess this means you never went through with the divorce, Aletha?" Remus asked the witch who was sitting so close to Sirius that she might as well have been sitting on his lap.
"Divorce?" Sirius asked sharply, looking at her. "You wanted a divorce?"
"I thought about it," she told the wizards. "After you were taken away, Sirius, I really wanted no connection with you. I thought you'd betrayed us, and I hated every fiber of your being."
"What changed your mind?" Sirius asked quietly.
"Meghan," she said simply. "When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't go through with filing all the paperwork. I don't know why, but I just knew I'd never lose my connection with you because of her, so I just went on with life, still married to the man I thought to be the scum of the earth–"
"Thanks for that," Sirius murmured sarcastically.
"And tried to pretend none of it ever happened," Aletha continued, squeezing Sirius' hand. "I never told Meghan what happened to you, only that you'd gone away and she'd probably never get to meet you. I told her all the good things about you. As much as I hated you, I didn't want my daughter to know that feeling."
Remus watched Sirius wince painfully when Aletha said she'd hated him. "Aletha," Remus said quietly. "You said something about a dream you had, that it was how you knew Sirius was innocent…?"
Aletha nodded, and told Remus about her dreams.
"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "I had a dream last night too. It was about that woman I met the other day, Sirius, the one from the playground."
"What's her name? Danger?"
"Danger?" Aletha said in surprise. "Danger Granger?" Sirius burst out laughing and both his best friend and wife glared at him, the witch adding a slap to his head.
Once Sirius' laugh faded off into a snicker, Remus looked back to Aletha. "You know her?"
"Know her? She was my best friend before Hogwarts! I left for school, and when I came home for the summer, her family had moved. I haven't seen her since… But she was in my dream too, come to think of it."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "So we're both having dreams about the same person? I wonder if that's a coincidence."
"Well, what happened in your dream, Moony?" Sirius asked, a grin still on his face.
"Er," Remus said, blushing a bit. He knew if he told this to Sirius he'd never hear the end of it. "I, um, I don't really remember actually."
"Wait, let's make sure we're talking about the same person, here," Aletha said.
Sirius turned to her with a straight face. "How many people in the world do you think are called Danger Granger?"
"It's not her real name, idiot," Aletha said. "Her real name is–"
"Gertrude," Remus finished quietly for her.
She nodded. "Right, but she never tells anyone that, not since I came up with her nickname… How did you know?"
"It was in my dream."
"Thought you didn't remember?" Sirius grinned.
Remus' blush deepened and he could feel the heat radiating from his face. "Er…" he said intelligently.
"Sirius, leave him alone," Aletha said. Remus sent her a grateful smile. "So these dreams," she went on, ignoring Sirius' sniggers at Remus' face. "Do you think they're just coincidences?"
Remus looked as thoughtful as he could with Sirius sitting across from him, ready to bust him for one little mishap. "I don't know. You were dreaming about what happened in the past, and I dreamed about–" He broke off, looking warily at Sirius' grin.
"Yes?" Sirius pressed.
Remus cleared his throat. "Anyway, Aletha, I'm not sure…"
Sirius' grin only widened. "Maybe Remus' dream was wishful thinking."
"Sirius, please don't make me hurt you in front of your wife," Remus threatened.
"Oh, please don't let me stop you," Aletha grinned. Sirius stuck out his tongue at her; she immediately pulled her wand and threatened to curse it off.
Laughing, Remus looked around the living room, finding it lacking two people that were there before. "Did either of you see the kids slip off?" he asked.
Sirius turned to look down the hall. "They're probably in Harry's room," he said, standing and making his way to check if he was right. Remus and Aletha followed.
Indeed, Harry and Meghan were there, playing quietly with some of Harry's toys. Remus noticed a smile on Sirius' face that he'd never seen the Auror wear as he watched Meghan – the only time he'd seen it in the past was on James Potter.
"Is this who I think it is?" Aletha walked into the room and knelt beside the kids, picking up a charmed Mister Potato Head – it was Sirius' favorite of all of Harry's Muggle toys.
"That's Professor Potato Head," Harry said, looking at what Aletha was holding. "I saw him at Hogwarts. I didn't like him much, though."
Sirius laughed. "That's two of us, buddy."
"Who is it?" Meghan asked interestedly, taking the toy from her mother and examining its long greasy hair and hooked nose.
"Somebody we used to go to school with, honey," Aletha said, sending Sirius a look over her head – he'd opened his mouth to say something very different.
The rest of the evening for Remus was spent sitting back and watching his best friend attempt to divide all his attention equally among his wife, daughter, and godson. It was rather odd to think of Sirius as a father, but if his time with Harry was any indication, he'd be excellent in the role. The Head Auror was absolutely smitten with Meghan – she seemed much brighter than the average almost-four-year-old, and Remus knew that it was Aletha's influence.
As the sun began to set, Remus started to wonder what Aletha would do in regards to her living in America and Sirius being in England. Sirius wouldn't let them be separated again, so either he or Aletha would undoubtedly pick up and move at some point. And if it was Sirius doing the packing and moving, Harry would most likely go with him, since Sirius was Harry's legal guardian.
That thought wiped off the smile Remus had on his face from watching Harry and Meghan tackle Sirius to the floor. After everything they'd been through in less than a year, there was now a slight possibility that the trio of Sirius, Harry, and Remus could be broken up. Of course, Remus could think of no reasons, save his own selfish ones, that Sirius should stay if he and Aletha made the decision to go to America and live. He had a family now, and Remus wouldn't be the one to break that up – he'd never seen Sirius as happy as he was now. What kind of friend would Remus be if he suggested Sirius stay in England, away from his wife and daughter in America?
Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren't you, Moony? said an amused voice in his head. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours, and you're already thinking about this kind of thing? Stop thinking and enjoy yourself for a change…
As odd as it was to admit, the voice was right; he was getting ahead of the situation, and thinking too much. But for five miserable years, he'd been alone, ever since a week after Lily and James' funeral when Naomi had come to break his heart and leave him.
Great, now he was getting depressed. Sighing, he stood from the sofa and quietly went into the kitchen for a fresh Butterbeer. He stood at the window, looking out at the backyard wondering what, exactly, his problem was. Sirius was the happiest he'd ever been in his life, and Remus sat around thinking about his Death Eater ex-fiancée and things that hadn't even been suggested yet. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice somebody else enter the room and lean against the counter beside him.
"Are you okay, Remus?"
Remus started and turned to see Aletha looking at him in both amusement and concern. "I'm fine," he said, trying to smile. It was obvious she wasn't buying it – she always could read him like a bloody book; perhaps that was why they'd been good friends in school. "Honestly, I'm okay. I was just thinking that I'd never seen Sirius so happy before. Even after he was released from Azkaban and we went to get Harry from Lily's sister… It's amazing what a few hours can make."
Aletha smiled, but it faded a moment later. "I wanted to ask you about that, actually… Why is it that nobody contacted me after he was released? I would have been back here months ago with Meghan had I known."
Remus sighed. "Well, that's a bit complicated," he began. "Don't think that Sirius hasn't thought about contacting you. I think he was afraid that you wouldn't believe him, or maybe that you still would have blamed him for what happened to Lily and James." Aletha opened her mouth to retort, but Remus held a hand out to silence her. "He's still blaming himself for everything. He thinks if it hadn't been for him suggesting Peter as Secret Keeper, they'd be alive. I've tried to tell him none of us could have known about what Peter was, but I don't think he believes me…"
"I heard Peter got the Dementor's Kiss," Aletha whispered.
Remus nodded gravely. "He did. Sirius and I were there to see it, actually. I'll never get those images out of my head." He shook his head to clear out the images that floated to the surface of his mind. "I'm still not sure that Peter deserved it." Aletha raised an incredulous eyebrow. "What he did was awful, and even that's a major understatement, but there's still the part of me that remembers the boy I knew in school." He shook his head again. "I still have trouble believing he could do what he did to Lily and James, but when I do think about it, I think he deserves much worse."
"Where is he now?" Aletha asked curiously. "St. Mungo's?"
"No," Remus said. "He's in Azkaban. Mad-Eye Moody decided Peter deserved to be there for not only what he did to Lily, James, and those Muggles, but also for what he did to Sirius. Sirus spent five years in that place, and he was innocent the entire time. And then you add kidnapping Harry and attempting to bring Voldemort back to power…"
"Kidnapping Harry?"
Remus stared at her for a moment. "You didn't know about that," he said. She shook her head slowly. "On the Full moon in August last year, Sirius took Harry to Hogwarts. They'd gone down to Hagrid's hut for a bit, and Harry left behind a stuffed animal that he still carries just about everywhere. At some point during the night, Harry realized his stag was missing, tried to wake Sirius but couldn't, and went out to get it himself. Peter was waiting in the forest to sneak into Hogwarts to steal Harry, but then Harry walked right into his hands."
"Oh my God," Aletha said quietly. "And that's when Peter tried to bring Voldemort back?"
Remus nodded. "The following night, actually. Sirius caught up to Peter just before the ritual was complete and I think you know the rest of that story." Aletha nodded pensively. "But you asked a different question, and I want to give you the answer," he went on. "Besides the fact that he didn't know how you would react, despite my numerous reassurances that you'd be as thrilled, if not more, to hear of his innocence as I was, he's still trying to get used to normal life. There're still a lot of people who think him guilty, and he deals with that on a daily basis. I don't think he wanted to bring you into that. It hasn't been easy for him, Aletha."
"Well, even still," Aletha said. "I could have been here to help him. He should have known how I'd react to hearing the truth. I never wanted to think him guilty in the first place, you knew that."
"I did," Remus said with a sigh. "I'm sorry it's taken this long, really I am."
Aletha smiled slightly. "It's okay. I'm here now, and I know what's really happened."
Remus smiled back. "Meghan seems like a wonderful child," he commented.
Happy for the change of subject, Aletha's smile widened. "She is," she said. "She has a lot of Sirius in her – for example, his inclination to play pranks on me while I'm asleep."
Remus laughed. "Just a warning, that's one of the many things he still hasn't outgrown, and he's taught Harry to do the same at least twice a week."
Aletha rolled her eyes fondly and looked at the clock. "We should probably be getting back to the Leaky Cauldron; it's nearly Meghan's bedtime."
Remus raised an eyebrow. "You actually think we're going to let you stay at the Leaky Cauldron? We've got plenty of room here."
"I didn't want to impose," Aletha said.
The wizard shook his head. "You'd be doing no such thing. Why don't you go tell Sirius that you're taking Meghan back to London and see how he reacts."
Finally, Aletha gave in and Remus happily went to conjure a small bed in Harry's room for Meghan to sleep on. In the morning, if they woke before the adults, they could keep each other occupied for a bit. Aletha told Sirius they'd be staying the night, and the Head Auror's eyes lit up mischievously, a large grin spreading across his face. The witch only rolled her eyes, but the same glint was in them, and she and Sirius went back to the Leaky Cauldron to gather her and Meghan's things.
While they were gone, Harry and Meghan wandered into Remus' room to ask if they could have some ice cream. "That sounds like a great idea," Remus smiled, leading them both by the hand to the kitchen. Harry climbed eagerly into his chair at the table and Meghan sat next to him. "What kind of ice cream do you like, Meghan?" Remus asked, looking through the freezer.
"Chocolate," the little girl said happily, her legs swinging from the edge of her chair.
"I'm afraid all we have is vanilla right now. It seems Sirius has gotten to that as well. But I think I can conjure up some hot fudge… How does that sound?"
Both children replied enthusiastically, and Remus began to dish out three bowls of ice cream. He pointed his wand into each bowl and covered the vanilla scoops with hot fudge as promised. The three of them enjoyed their dessert, the wizard listening to Harry and Meghan exchanging stories – Meghan told them all about America and her friends; Harry in turn told her about Hogwarts, Hagrid, and the giant squid that lived in the lake. When they'd finished half an hour later, Sirius and Aletha hadn't returned to the cottage yet, but Remus knew better than to worry – they'd probably become a bit preoccupied…
Sensing Meghan was starting to grow tired, Remus called it time for bed. Regardless of the large yawns both children had emitted only a second before, they protested, saying they weren't the least bit tired. But the moment they were in their beds, and Remus made to turn off the light, both of them were sound asleep. Chuckling to himself, he closed the door, leaving it open a crack, and went back to the living room to wait for Sirius and Aletha.
His wait wasn't a long one; just as he opened a book to pass the time, the fireplace lit up in green flames and Aletha emerged, carrying a bag. Sirius was just behind her, carrying three more.
"Honestly, woman," Sirius grumbled, setting the bag's down. "How long did you plan on staying? Three years?"
Aletha smirked. "Aw, the big Head Auror is having trouble with the mean little bags."
"It's not the bags I'm having trouble with. What did you put in here, bricks?"
"Yes, Sirius, just for you, I filled our bags with bricks, because I just knew you'd have to carry them," Aletha said sarcastically. "Hey, Remus, how'd everything go here?"
"Excellent," Remus smiled. "The kids had some ice cream – I hope you don't mind, and now they're asleep."
Aletha stared at him. "You got Meghan to sleep after ice cream? What's your secret?"
"He uses sleeping charms," Sirius said collapsing into his armchair. "They last twelve hours… Brilliance, I tell you."
"Liar," Remus said. "They only last for six. Actually, they both seemed pretty exhausted. They both had rather eventful days."
"They had eventful days?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow. "I just found out I have a daughter. How do you think I feel?"
"Are you complaining?"
"Not at all," he said, eyeing Aletha's own raised eyebrow. "Couldn't be happier."
Remus grinned at Aletha.
The three talked for another hour or so, then, stifling a yawn, Remus told the couple he'd see them in the morning and headed down the hall to his own room. He peeked in on Meghan and Harry, who were still fast asleep, and smiled. If Aletha decided to stay in England instead of going back to America, Remus could see the two kids becoming fast friends.
And if you and Danger get together, there's Neenie to add to that equation… said a sly voice in his head. Remus raised an eyebrow at himself and entered his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
AN: Okay, so I lied. But I didn't know I was going to lie until this morning when whydoyouneedtoknow offered to beta this so I could get it posted (personally, I think she offered just so she could read the chapter first...) So many thanks to whydoyouneedtoknow for doing this on short notice! It's definitely much appreciated! Enjoy the chapter, kids, and please review!