Fake Kisses and All-Weather Friends

Chapter 35

Friday, November 8

Harry arrived at Hogwarts the next evening, Tonks having Side-Along Apparated with him. After a short goodbye, he had walked up to the castle and taken the stairs straight to his common room outside which Ron was already waiting.

"Harry! Your trunk just appeared in our dorm, so I knew you were coming. What happened? McGonagall didn't say…"

And Harry told him what had happened as he followed Ron trudging downstairs again to the Great Hall for dinner.

Ron was saying, "McGonagall said he was hurt during Order business, but Neville got a letter from his grandmother. That's how we knew Sirius was there at the Longbottoms. Mum wrote to me and Ginny too, so we—"

He was cut off as Hermione looked up, surprised. "Harry! Is Sirius okay? We didn't—"

"Yes, everyone's fine! Blimey, Hermione, keep it down!" hissed Ron as they took seats at the table next to Hermione and Ginny. Predictably, people had turned to watch and eavesdrop, so Harry switched immediately to talk about homework and missed classes, which Hermione dutifully filled in for him.

After dinner and feeling comfortably full, Harry and Ron retired to the common room along with Hermione. Harry was just revelling in the fact that both his friends were on good terms again, when Lavender appeared out of nowhere and pulled Ron away to a deserted corner of the common room. Hermione seemed unaffected as she left for her dorm with a muttered 'goodnight', and Harry resisted the urge to curse himself for jinxing it. Parvati came up to him, seeming embarrassed and bored of her friend's antics just as much as Harry was frustrated with his.

"Hi, Harry. I heard about your godfather. Is he alright?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking," said Harry, noticing Romilda and her bunch of friends were watching him and batting their eyelashes. He took Parvati by the arm and pulled her to a corner, feeling compelled to ask, "Tell me if I'm wrong, but have you not told anyone that we're going to Slughorn's Christmas party together?"

Parvati scoffed, pointing a thumb behind her. "And find myself the target of those harpies? No thank you."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Not even Lavender knows?"

"Of course, she does!" exclaimed Parvati indignantly. "What do you take me for? She's my best friend and she can keep a secret. Admittedly, she's been too busy with your friend to even care…" trailed off Parvati.

"Spare me the details," muttered Harry, before adding desperately, "Come on, help me out a little here! If they know we're going together, they'll leave me alone."

"But we're not going together," said Parvati matter-of-factly. "We're going as friends."

"Yes, but at least they'll know they don't have a chance anymore," pointed out Harry.

"Why should I be the one to let everyone know?" said Parvati, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Because, I'd probably look like a prat if I went around saying I'm taking you out just as a friend," said Harry. He could already imagine the teasing that would take place in his dorm, especially from Seamus and Dean.

"So I won't look like one when I tell the same?" said Parvati furiously, her tone rising.

Harry backtracked immediately, not wanting to bring her ire upon himself. "That's not what I meant! This is girls' stuff and all I really want out of this is for those girls—" He looked askance at Romilda. "—to leave me alone. Hermione says she heard them planning to slip a love potion into my drink," he added with a grimace, hoping to gain her sympathy.

Parvati looked skeptical, but Harry could tell she was feeling sorry for him (hopefully). "But, imagine all the taunting and hexing I'll have to endure. You have no idea what it's like in the girls' loo."

Harry looked at her determinedly. "I'll have a word with them, if it goes out of hand, alright?"

Parvati still looked dubious, but then huffed as she relented, "Fine!"

Harry blew out a breath in relief. "Thank God."

"But," said Parvati, and Harry immediately became wary, "I'll tell it to them my way."

She was smirking now and Harry blinked confusedly. "What way is that?"

Without giving any answer, she pulled Harry forward by his collar and kissed him full on the lips. Harry was too stunned to even respond, when she pulled back. "Are they watching?"

Harry was dumbstruck, but realized what she was saying and chanced a glance at the fourth-year girls. Every one of them stared back open-mouthed in horror and disbelief.

"Yes," said Harry hoarsely.

Parvati smiled, "Good. Now, everyone will know by tomorrow. Quick and simple."

Harry stared at her. Girls could be scary sometimes.

oOo

Just as Parvati had predicted, the entire school was buzzing with the fact that Harry Potter had kissed Parvati Patil (when it really was the opposite). It didn't need to be said that they assumed Parvati was his girlfriend and Ron was stupefied by the revelation.

"You never told me you had a thing for her, mate! I didn't think the Yule Ball date went that well for it to carry over to this. But she is pretty, I'll give you that…" trailed off Ron as he wolfed down his breakfast in the great Hall.

Harry sighed. "I don't have a thing for her. We're going as friends."

"I didn't know friends kissed each other that way." Ron smirked at him and waggled his eyebrows.

Harry gave up explaining as he shook his head and caught up with his homework. Hermione and Ginny arrived with the latter taking a seat between Hermione and Harry. He knew Hermione wanted to sit as far away from Ron as possible, but he wasn't complaining if it meant Ginny was sitting beside him.

"Hello, Harry," she smiled and Harry felt the same swooping sensation in his stomach as he greeted her in return. Ron looked up and asked her with a nasty smirk, "Guess who Harry's taking to Slughorn's party?"

Ron clearly had not forgotten Ginny's taunting about him having kissed nobody before, when Harry and Ron had ran into her kissing Dean. Well, he was making up for it a lot with Lavender, mused Harry. Still, he could already sense the conversation was going to go downhill.

Ginny nodded unaffectedly. "Parvati, right? Good for you, Harry!"

Hermione, who had witnessed the exchange, looked at Ron scathingly as she addressed Ginny, "Who are you going with, Ginny?"

"Dean, of course," she said brightly. "I asked him ages ago."

Harry couldn't help but feel a blow to his chest when he heard that. Ron was blustering, "You better behave yourself with him, or I'll… I'll—"

Ginny had flushed in anger and she snapped, "You'll what? Oh, that's right! You won't even be at the party because Slughorn didn't invite you!"

Ron's ears went equally red and before he could say something that he would regret, Harry intervened, "Okay... We need a time-out."

Ron, having finished his breakfast, stood up and stormed out. Harry grimaced at Ginny and Hermione in apology before leaving to catch up with his friend.

oOo

Monday, December 2

The days in Potter Manor wore on grimly as Sirius returned for Order duty within a couple of weeks. There had been an increase in werewolf attacks and also an attempted break-out in Azkaban, which thankfully the Aurors had prevented due to a discreet tip-off by the Order in the form of Kingsley. The Order itself was not gaining much in allies or leads in finding Voldemort's hiding place.

In the meanwhile, the manor had developed a new problem. Remus' greenhouse plants had matured well and were attracting all sorts of magical creatures meandering into the backyard of Number Seven. It took Sirius and Twitchet's combined effort to keep off the gnomes and also the occasional nifflers and hinkypunks from taking up permanent residence.

After a terrible afternoon dealing with a dementor attack in London, Sirius had come home to the peace and quiet of Rosedale and lounged in the drawing room with the gramophone playing the blues and a cup of hot chocolate. The mug was a gift from Harry for his birthday with bold red letters – WORLD'S GREATEST GODFATHER. He didn't know if it was coincidence or if Harry had stumbled upon the photo lying on his night stand in his room. Either way, he was very touched and proud.

He must have slipped into a light doze, as a moment later he startled awake when he heard the door open and then clang shut. He was already reaching for his wand, but stopped short when he saw who it was.

Remus stood on the threshold, looking exhausted, clutching his battered briefcase and sporting more than a few scratches on him.

"Remus!" exclaimed Sirius, shocked as he stood up. "How—what happened to you?"

"Hello Sirius," he said hoarsely.

Sirius hurried towards him, taking in the scratches on his face, which on closer inspection were rather fresh. He pulled him into an embrace, glad to finally have him home after four months, and noticed how cold he was against him.

"Come, sit by the fire," he said, ushering Remus to the couch, worried when he seemed to be leaning onto Sirius for support.

His untouched hot chocolate was still warm as he handed it to Remus, who drank from it deeply.

"What happened to you?" Sirius asked again.

"I have to report to Dumbledore," said Remus, not answering his question. "He should never have sent me of all people to the werewolves if he wanted allies."

"Tell me what happened!" said Sirius urgently.

"I had a less than warm welcome," started Remus, "as I predicted. Greyback had already managed to gather followers from his own pack and were not very considerate of me trying to even have polite conversation with the rest."

Before Sirius could wonder what passed as polite conversation for Greyback and the other werewolves, Remus continued, "I had to leave within a week to escape them. But, Bloodhound, that's another werewolf, was a neutral party and offered to hear me out, so I stayed with his pack. I was making good progress alright, if you count a dozen werewolves who were willing to listen to even a word I said. But, the worst that I had anticipated, happened just two weeks ago."

"What happened?" asked Sirius in a hushed tone.

Remus sighed before speaking again. "One of the werewolves figured out that Dolores Umbridge had passed the new anti-werewolf legislation two years ago, just after I had been sacked from Hogwarts."

Sirius frowned. "What's that got to do with—"

"They think it is because of me that the Ministry was pushed into making more laws against werewolves," said Remus bluntly, staring at the fire and gripping the warm mug between his hands. "They're not wrong really, seeing as it was my foolish decision to think I could ever settle down with a respectable job for once…"

"Don't you dare feel sorry for yourself!" exclaimed Sirius, jumping up furiously. "For all I know, it's that great greasy git's fault for leaking the information that you were a werewolf to the whole school! Oh, I can't wait to hex the life out of him…"

"It would have gotten out eventually," said Remus dejectedly while Sirius paced the length of the room to vent his frustration.

"…sticking his giant nose into things that don't concern him! But Dumbledore is blind, I tell you. Trusting that imbecile…"

Remus rubbed a hand over his eyes and sighed, which distracted Sirius sufficiently. "We should get those scratches looked at. Wait… don't tell me you got into a fight with Greyback himself!"

"No," said Remus, setting the finished mug on the table. "I never saw Greyback after that terrible first week. This—" He pointed at his face. "—was Bloodhound's work, after I tried talking to another werewolf whom he had just converted into one, two weeks ago."

Sirius growled and ran his hand through his hair. "Why did Dumbledore even think of sending you there? I have half a mind to go up to him right now."

"Please, don't," said Remus wearily before flopping onto the couch, looking dead to the world. Sirius swore but decided to do something useful and left to get Twitchet's help in brewing a batch of Essence of Dittany from Remus' greenhouse.

oOo

Sirius and Remus found themselves in the dining room the next morning, having their breakfast. The Essence of Dittany had done wonders and Remus looked much better with his injuries healed and after some food in his system.

Remus used the fireplace to Floo-call Dumbledore and relay whatever it was that he had to report.

After a fifteen minute session of floo-calling and sore knees later, he sat on the couch opposite Sirius. "Dumbledore thinks Voldemort's ranks are bound to increase almost by a third if the werewolves have joined him."

"Why does this sound so familiar?" said Sirius dryly.

"Just like last time," Remus nodded. "The Order is going to be outnumbered if that is the case."

"Let's just hope Dumbledore can get the Ministry to deal with this sooner rather than later," said Sirius uneasily.

Remus looked morose and Sirius distracted him by steering the conversation to Tonks.

"She was devastated," said Sirius, straightening. "She still can't get her Metamorphmagus abilities to work, you know."

Sirius thought he saw a flash of a smile or something on Remus' face, but he must have surely imagined it as he looked, if anything, more dejected now. "And I was right for doing what I did. After these months I spent with the werewolves, I get exactly why people like me aren't meant to settle down."

"But you're not like them, Moony…"

"Aren't I? I don't see the difference."

Sirius couldn't help but feel miserable just hearing that defeated tone and hoped to somehow get him out of it. "For one, you would never willingly hurt a fly, let alone someone who loves you…"

Remus flinched.

"Yes, Remus," said Sirius, nodding. "She does love you! I've seen how she is around you, especially last year. I can't believe you cannot see that."

"Simply loving her will not make my problems go away!" said Remus heatedly. Sirius was almost glad he did not reject the fact that he loved her, when Remus continued, "How do you think I am to support her? I can barely find a house, let alone a job! And what if we had children? I will not be selfish enough to pass on my lycanthropy to an innocent soul. Don't you get it? That is exactly why werewolves never settle down!"

"You won't go to starve as long as I am alive, Remus," said Sirius gravely. "And I don't think Dora minds whether or not you can have a job!"

"I can't live off of you or her, Sirius," said Remus, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I cannot allow that on my conscience."

"I can't believe I am having this argument with you all over again!" exclaimed Sirius, his voice rising. "When we left Hogwarts, James was perfectly capable of supporting you and I will not hesitate to do the same to you now."

"But that is my point!" said Remus, matching his tone. "After James… I was reduced to nothing! If I cannot be independent… no, I can't do that to Dora too!"

"I should have made my point clearer," said Sirius, before breathing through his nose to calm himself. "You won't go to starve even if I die, Remus."

Remus was stunned for a moment as he tried to make sense of what Sirius had said. "You mean—Sirius—No, you can't do that!"

"I can do whatever I want with my money, I think," said Sirius superciliously.

"You have Harry to look after," said Remus, looking like he was groping for straws. "He's your godson; he'll need it more than I do."

"Harry has enough from James and Lily. Besides, you're like a brother to me, you're family," said Sirius, firmly. "You can't expect me to choose between the both of you."

There was a pause as both old friends stared at each other, hard grey eyes boring into unwilling amber ones, before the latter finally conceded.

"I—thank you, Sirius."

Sirius waved his hand dismissively. "You don't need to thank me. And it would be better if you have this conversation with Dora. She'll probably be here in an hour or so."

"Wh-What?"

Sirius snorted at his nervous stutter.

"She comes in to check in on me. Make sure I am alive and sorts," he added casually.

"I'm not ready to see her just yet," said Remus, still in a sense of horrified shock.

The sound of the door opening had both Sirius and Remus turn instinctively. Sirius wanted to laugh, but Tonks' timing and her expression were priceless as she gaped at the two of them. Sirius didn't understand why she had arrived earlier than usual, but he couldn't care less. Remus needed to have that talk with Dora now, before he threw himself into a downward spiral of guilt and depression.

Sirius stood up and said heartily, "Hello Dora! I'll be heading out for a drink I think. Feel free to make yourself at home!" And with a cheery wave at Remus, who looked extremely panicked to see him go, Sirius left the house.

oOo

A/N: Thanks a ton to my amazing beta evadnekapaneos! You've made this chapter so much better!

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