Chapter 1

"Harry!" Remus pounded on the door, "Turn it down."

Harry barely turned his stereo down, "Better?"

Remus sighed. Harry had been in a foul mood ever since he got back from Hogwarts. Sirius had nearly died in the Department of Mysteries, and though Harry would never admit it, Remus knew that it had scared Harry deeply.

"No it isn't better! Turn the bloody thing down! There's a full moon tomorrow!"

Instantly the music stopped completely. Remus savored the silence before feeling guilty. He shouldn't have reminded Harry what tomorrow was, but the steady beat from Harry's room had shook the house for a week.

"Thank you," Remus said through the door.

Harry didn't reply.

No matter what he's gone through, Remus thought, he's still a teenager at the core. He felt a stab of pride at this thought, though he couldn't understand why.

xXx

Remus returned to his work shop, where he made blends of the fruits that grew in the greenhouse for tea. It wasn't exactly fun, but it kept Remus from thinking about the full moon.

A slight footstep made Remus swivel around. Sirius stood at the door, reading the Daily Prophet in an uninterested way.

"I see he finally turned that noise off," Sirius said conversationally.

"Yes."

"So… What did you do? Barge into his room and break that thing?"

"No. I told him what tomorrow is," Remus said guiltily, returning to a bowl of oranges he was peeling.

"Ah. Stopped him cold did it?"

"Yes, and now I feel terrible because I made him feel terrible."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "I don't know why you feel terrible, Moony. He's was out of line."

"But using my…condition to shame him isn't good for anyone."

Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I don't understand him, Remus. He looks so much like James…"

"But he isn't. He is Harry."

Sirius growled irritably, "Now you sound like Molly."

"She has a point."

"But James I could understand. Harry can't be that much different."

"But he is. James was raised by a loving family and Harry had the Dursleys. James had two best friends and all Harry has is Ginny Weasley. James was a Gryffindor, Harry is a…"

"Slytherin, Moony. I know."

"The point is, that if you continue to measure Harry up to his father, you'll drive the wedge further between you."

"Further? I feel like we're galaxies apart!"

Remus sighed, "He loves you Sirius. He respects you and counts on you and wants you to be a father for him. He doesn't want me. He's moody because he feels guilty about putting you in danger."

"I survived."

"Barely. It would have killed him if you hadn't."

Sirius sighed, "You're probably right, Remus."

Remus shrugged, "It isn't that hard to tell."

"It is for me. I can't understand him."

"I taught teenagers. They are much more transparent than one would think."

"So what should I do?"

"Stop telling him about how great James was. It makes all those articles seem worse."

Sirius looked at his paper, "Same thing, by the way, The spitting image of his father, with his mother's eyes, Harry Potter's resemblance to his parents hurts those who see the way he acts. It's all rubbish."

"You telling him how great his parents were doesn't help. Especially since he thinks he's a failure already."

"What?"

"To be the son of two great Gryffindors and in Slytherin must be horrible. His house thinks that his family is idiotic, and everyone else thinks he's evil."

xXx

Okay. Slytherin Potter hasn't been going the way I wanted it to. I didn't make the Gryffindors quite as close minded as they would have been, and Ron shouldn't have folded his position so quickly.

So I've started with this concept again. I hope you guys like it.

Reviews appreciated! HC