Chapter 9: This is my Life

Harry woke to a gentle touch smoothing his hair away from his forehead. Smiling up at Remus he maneuvered himself so they were sitting side by side against the headboard.

"Harry, if you don't mind, I think that I'm ready to tell you more about the last 20 years or so." Remus said, leaning into Harry's side.

Harry leaned back into Remus, "I would like that, if you'll let me fill in the blanks as well. There are several bios out right now, but none of them are terribly accurate." Harry said, his amused tone telling Remus what he thought of people obsessed with his celebrity status.

"It's a deal. I'll make the tea and meet you in the living room?" Remus said, he had been feeling stronger over the last day or so and was able to move around on his own, albeit rather slowly.

A few minutes later both men were sitting at opposite ends of the small sofa turned to each other so that their ankles were brushing where they hung off the edge.

Remus sighed. "When I decided to leave I wanted to go far away. I thought that it would be safer and I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't hear any news of our world. I couldn't stand the thought of article after article about your parents, or worse yet, lurid accounts of Sirius's dark activities."

Remus paused a moment and took a sip of tea.

"I went to Canada. The Canadian wizarding community is much more progressive and accepting than ours is. The laws on werewolves are not nearly as strict. What I told you originally was partially true; I did spend a lot of time doing magical pest control of one sort or the other. When I was lucky I was hired as a tutor for magical children not old enough to attend wizarding school. That's pretty much it. I'd like to take you there sometime, Toronto especially, there is a wizarding marketplace under Eaton Center I think you'd really like."

"I'm looking forward to that, "said Harry, "I guess it's my turn then."

A smile came over the young man's face and he jumped up from the couch and retrieved a thick album from one of the bookcases that lined the living room walls.

"This will make it easier." Harry said, carefully flipping past the few pictures from when his parents were alive. Hopefully someday they could go back and look at those, but he knew this wasn't the time.

He stopped on a picture of himself as a three-year-old riding a large black dog.

"Once Sirius was found innocent he came and got me from my Aunt Petunia's house. I don't remember being there, but everyone says that's a good thing. Sirius says this is one of the first days after we moved into the cottage. It wasn't safe for me to be around wizarding children, so I played with the muggle kids in the village or Padfoot."

Harry smiled as he watched Remus slowly flip through the pages of his pre-Hogwarts years. There were pictures of him on his toy broom, with a gap where his front teeth would be, playing with a muggle football, and perched on Sirius's motorbike complete with a small helmet and leather jacket which earned a snicker from the older man.

"When I was old enough for school Sirius taught me at home. We had lessons every day in reading, maths, nature, and magical and muggle history. I think people were worried he would be too lenient, but he was so afraid something would happen to me he tended to be stricter than any of the mothers in the village."

The next page of the album was a slightly blown up shot of Harry smiling and holding up his Hogwarts letter followed by a few pictures of the platform at King's Cross.

"The first time I went to Diagon Alley was after I got my Hogwarts letter. We figured if I was going to school it wouldn't hurt to be seen in public. I met Ron, my best friend, on the train. Don't tell Sirius, but the sorting hat almost put me in Slytherin. I don't think Sirius would have taken that very well, but I talked it into Gryffindor because I knew Ron would get sorted there. Professor Snape hated me at first sight of course. "

Remus choked on his tea, "Professor Snape? Severus?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah. We got along okay in the end. He teaches potions. My first year was kind of weird. There was this whole thing with the philosopher's stone. I nearly gave Sirius a heart attack when I ended up in the hospital wing. I'm not sure who spent more time yelling at Dumbledore, Sirius or Ron's mum. My second year was almost as bad, but by then Sirius had told me everything he knew about my parent's deaths, including Voldemort's real name. It was a good thing too, because Dumbledore was able to confiscate a cursed diary before anyone got hurt."

"You say that like it was no big deal!" Remus said, alarmed as he flipped through pictures of Harry's thirteenth birthday party.

Harry snorted, "Trouble has a way of finding me."

Remus flipped to a picture of Harry gazing adoringly at a tall red-haired man with a ponytail and smirked. "And who is this you are drooling over?"

Harry blushed. "That's Ron's brother Bill, he was our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in third year. The second best one we ever had, I guess you could say I had a bit of a crush on him."

"A bit of a crush?"

"Okay, so I was hopeless. I was kind of freaked out for a while too, about the whole liking guys thing, but Sirius finally got me to tell him what was wrong. I don't know what he thought I was going to tell him, but when I explained he relaxed instantly and asked what the big deal was. It's never been an issue again."

"Why second-best?" Remus asked, it was obvious Harry had thought very highly of Professor Weasley.

A grin split Harry's face, "You'll see."

Remus flipped through the pages to a newspaper clipping announcing the contestants in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. "I can't believe they brought the tournament back! It's so dangerous. Dumbledore wouldn't even consider it when we were in school."

"Yeah, that didn't go very well. The Deatheaters rigged it. The other kid from Hogwarts was murdered by Wormtail who then brought Voldemort back. I managed to escape though. "

"Umm, Harry? Do you have something a bit stronger, I think I'm going to need it" said Remus motioning to his tea. His mind was spinning over what the man he was starting to think of as "his Harry" had been through.

Harry laughed, "Okay, I think we have some muggle lager. I'll be right back."

While Harry went to the kitchen Remus pressed his palms to his eyes and shook his head. So much danger, so much pain, and they weren't even that close to the present yet. He had missed it all, but maybe it was better this way. He would be able to give Harry a different kind of happiness now than if he'd been there for him growing up. It seemed that Sirius did an excellent job. If he had been a bit over protective who could blame him really. Harry returned with a drink for each of them and settled in closer to Remus on the couch.

"My fifth year was pretty tame. When the ministry tried to interfere and appoint a DADA teacher Sirius stepped in. The ministry couldn't deny that one of their top aurors was qualified for the position. We even had a defense club after class for people that wanted to learn more. I already told you what happened at the end of the year."

Harry gulped.

"Sirius had gone on a short mission for Dumbledore, but Voldemort tricked me into believing he was torturing him at the ministry. Dumbledore and McGonagall were both out of the castle for the night so I decided to take matters into my own hands. You know the result. I was grounded for the entire summer until I mastered occulmency and Sirius nearly had a breakdown when he found out I dueled with Voldemort again. At the end of the year Dumbledore and Sirius decided he could be more help to the Order as an active-duty auror so he resigned from Hogwarts."

Remus shook his head. "I just can't imagine Sirius as a teacher."

"Believe it." Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "He confiscated the Marauder's Map and Dad's cloak. Said he was just trying to keep me out of trouble. I think he was using them for castle security though."

"So who taught defense in your sixth year?

"They found some retired auror to teach the lower years, but the NEWT levels were taught by all the other professors in their best areas. Professor Flitwick taught dueling and Madam Pomfrey taught basic healing, things like that. The extra training Sirius started continued as well. Voldemort didn't attack me directly in my sixth year, although I lost a few friends who had family member's high on his list. Luckily the Weasleys were under the Fidelius, with Dumbledore as secret-keeper, so they were safe."

The next pictures were of Harry at the Hogwarts Leaving Feast. Some pictures were of Harry and his friends, some with Harry holding up his scroll, and some of Harry with Sirius looking so proud he could burst. In each one Harry had a rather distinctive medal pinned to his chest.

"Harry, is that the Order of Merlin?" Remus asked.

Harry blushed again, "Yeah, first class. Voldemort attacked at Christmas during my last year. I was able to channel the power of the people I loved and I took care of him once and for all."

Harry got a far away look in his eye. "It was too late to save Charlie, Cho, or Professor Flitwick though. I got signed to the Arrows a few months later and I've been living with Sirius and playing quidditch ever since."

Remus pulled Harry close to him, wrapping his arms around the younger man, and placed a soft kiss on his temple. "You are so amazing. You've been through so much, but you aren't the least bit bitter."

Harry shrugged, "I'm sure it could have been worse, and I never had to do it alone."

Remus shook his head, "Still, most people would say you've had a pretty bad deal."

Harry just leaned further into his lover's embrace, "Then finding you on my doorstep must be fate's way of paying me back."