Author's Notes:

Hi everyone! I hope you're all healthy and practicing safe social distancing from wherever you are! We're still on a stay at home order here and we've been doing our best to limit our travel. But that doesn't stop us from moving forward with our lives! I have some awesome news this week. First off, I have my LAST LAW SCHOOL CLASS EVER on Friday! Yay! Secondly, my fiancé and I decided to tie the knot so to speak so that I can legally change my last name and avoid some dumb fees for reissuing diplomas and certifications. So, yay I'm married! We're still having our wedding in October, though, and keeping the legalities of this under wraps. But exciting none the less. Finally, I have an interview for a job that will get me into the field of my choice on Friday afternoon! It's for a judicial clerkship with a family law judge here in PA. I'm super excited because he sounds like a really good boss and it pays really well compared to other counties. (For those not knowledgeable with the legal field, a clerkship is basically the judge's writer, editor, mouthpiece (sometimes), etc. I would watch court proceedings, do research on topics, write most of his opinions and edit those he writes, and read through the briefs for cases.) This is the best way to get a job as an attorney in the family law practice. I'm very nervous and hopeful for this interview. I even had two of my professors agree to be a reference and one wrote me a letter of recommendation. I'll update you guys when I find out about the job! I'm not getting my hopes too high though because normally they like to see higher grades. I mean, I'm a solid B-A student, but I definitely get more B's than A's.

I also want to take a moment to calm you guys here. This fic is 100% AU! Some stuff will closely follow the books, some stuff will extremely differ. That being said, THIS WILL BE A REMUS/TONKS FIC! But right now Tonks is 10/11 years old and can in no way date Remus! I 100% believe that Remus had a life before Tonks and I'm sure he dated a woman or two. Also, you'll see in this chapter that Rick, Hermione's father, is definitely around and I tried to give some explanation as to Jean and Hermione's past. I promise I have a plan and that this connection is more for character development and plot. And, again, the focus of this story is DESTINY and how changes of decisions can affect the timeline or if some events were just destined to be.

Midnitewanderer: Don't worry about the Jean/Remus thing, as I mentioned above, I have a plan! Also, We'll see more about Sirius down the line; James isn't totally out of denial himself either. Geekymom: Can I just take a moment to love on your screen name? I, too, am a geeky mom and I just love that you embrace it. Thank you for the review! HinnyFTW: Harry will definitely have his true to him moral compass, but he will definitely be playing more pranks. I don't think he's grasped that that wasn't a good prank. Also, I promise I have a plan with the Jean/Remus stuff.

Well, enough of my (now weekly) ramblings. Thank you everyone for reading and for trusting me with the direction of this story!

Chapter Sixteen: Women and Shenanigans

James stepped out of the fireplace at the Burrow to an extremely busy Mrs. Weasley cleaning the dishes from dinner. She looked over at him as she heard the fire roaring and smiled at James.

"Welcome back Lor—I mean James."

"Hello Molly, I'm here to pick Harry up. Is he around?"

"Yes, I think they all went into the living room. I assume you heard about his break down earlier today?"

"Remus told me. Thank you for flooing him. I'm glad that Harry was able to open up on his own though. How was he the rest of the day?"

"Oh he was so well behaved. Fred and George pulled a prank on Ron, he's quite traumatized. They turned his teddy into a spider! Where they come up with these ideas, honestly. Just so you know in case Harry brings it up."

"Do Fred and George pull pranks often?" James asked, his curiosity peaking.

"I'm afraid so. I can't figure out why for the life of me. And in front of their sister! I couldn't believe it. She even tried to take the blame herself; honestly!"

"Hmm. Are you sure Ginny didn't have anything to do with the pranking?"

"Oh I doubt it. Ginny is a girl's girl; she wouldn't have anything to do with pranks.

Mr. Weasley, who had been listening from the doorway, spoke up, "Now Molly, you know that isn't true. Ginny is the mastermind behind a good bit of the pranking done in our house. She's just as bad as Fred and George. I wouldn't be surprised if she was telling the truth."

"Arthur! She's only two and a half."

"And she's a bright two and a half, Molly," Arthur supplied, "James, don't ever let her innocent face fool you. I love my little princess but she is a mastermind at pranks and revenge; she gets it from her brothers and I dare say they encourage it."

"She sounds like quite the spitfire," James said laughing, "How did Harry get along with the kids?"

"He and Ron hit it off immediately. He seemed weary of Fred and George, for good reason. They're good children and I love them but they need to reign in some of those pranks and magic. They're almost six. And he and Ginny seemed to get along very well. By the end of the day he stuck to her and Ron like glue. Thank you for letting him come over, we'd love to have him again whenever you'd like."

"I'm glad he made friends with them so quickly. I was concerned that he would be too shy to really connect. Maybe next time we can have them over to our house. We have a few muggle games I think they would enjoy playing."

"Muggle games?"

"Yeah. We have some muggle board games and a few video games. Lily—she always wanted Harry to be a part of both worlds. I'm trying to do that for her."

"Oh, how sweet!"

"Why don't the five of them come over on Saturday? You two can have some time to yourselves."

"That sounds lovely. Though, I'm not sure how much Percy will enjoy the trip. He's more of a bookish type than the playing games type."

"That's fine, he can hang out in our library. I'm sure he'll find something to read in there."

"You have a library? He would love that!"

"Awesome! Then send them on over on Saturday. They can have lunch and dinner at our house if that's ok."

"That sounds wonderful. Come on, I'll take you to the kids."

Mrs. Weasley led James into the living room where they found Ron, Ginny, and Harry all laying on the couch together. Ginny was laying with her head on Ron's lap while Harry was curled up into the arm. James smiled at Mrs. Weasley and bent over to pick Harry up, trying to be as gentle as possible in lifting him so that he didn't wake.

James shifted Harry into his arms so that he could carry him back to the fireplace. He turned and waived goodbye to Mrs. Weasley before stepping into the fireplace and heading home.

~ID~

Harry woke on Wednesday morning as excited as he could be. He was meeting a new friend today at the park with his Uncle Moony. They were going to get to play all around the park together all day.

Harry quickly dressed himself in a pair of dark green trousers and an orange shirt and sandals with socks before rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen. He found his Uncle Moony already sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand, the newspaper in his other.

"Good morning Doe, how did you sleep?"

"Ok. I'm too excited to go to the park!"

Remus laughed and patted the chair next to him, "Well, you definitely can't go until you eat some breakfast. Besides, we aren't meeting Hermione and her mom until two so you have some time still. But we could do something later; maybe practice your reading or learn something new!"

Gus walked over to the table and placed a plate of pancakes in front of Harry, "You is eating all of these, Master Harry. You was skipping on food yesterday but you is needing to stay strong to grow!"

"Ok, Gus," Harry took a big bite of the pancakes before him, "Mmm, are these snickerdoodle?"

"I is knowing they is Master Harry's favorite!"

"Thanks Gus!" Harry quickly scarfed down the pancakes. In a few minutes his plate sat empty before him.

"So, Harry, what do you want to do until it's time to go to the park?"

"Can I fly on my broom?"

"Sure, Doe. Just make sure you stay on the property and no higher than the treetops, ok? I'll let your dad know where you wandered off to."

"Thanks Uncle Moony!" Harry called as he ran out of the room.

Remus smiled and looked back down at the newspaper before him. Today was going to be a good day.

Several hours later Harry and Remus walked off the Potter property and onto the little road that leads to the park down the street. Harry had packed a small bag with some snacks and juice as well as a few toys that he thought Hermione might enjoy playing with like his blocks and a few shovels for the sand.

Remus and Harry bobbed along the road as the park in the distance grew larger before their eyes. As Harry's excitement grew, he began bouncing and skipping while he walked, practically vibrating with anticipation of a new friend. Remus, on the other hand, felt quite the opposite. His stomach was in knots and he was quite nervous for the play date. Harry hadn't, to the Marauders' knowledge, had a playdate with a muggle child before. He was hoping beyond hope that Harry wouldn't perform any accidental magic in front of them.

"Harry," Remus began, "Before we get to the park, we need to go over a very important rule, ok?"

"What's that?"

"No magic. You can't do any magic or talk about the wizarding world as if it were real. Ms. Woodward and Hermione are muggles, ok?"

"What's a mugler?"

Remus laughed at Harry's pronunciation, "A muggle is someone born without magic."

"Like Dudley?"

"Yes, like Dudley. This means that they don't know anything about the wizarding world and they can't find out about it. Ok?"

"Ok," Harry said disappointedly.

"Alright. Now let's go find a nice bench so I can read while you play."

Harry smiled and rushed towards the playground and quickly found a bench. Remus smiled at Harry's enthusiasm and headed to the spot Harry had found and made himself comfortable in the shade. He let Harry run off, promising to call him back when Hermione had arrived.

Remus didn't have to wait long before a small shadow crossed over him and he heard a very loud and excited squeal. He looked up and into the face of Jean.

He smiled, "Afternoon, Jean. Harry! Come back over here; Hermione has arrived!"

"Hello Remus," Jean said as she took the seat next to him, "I hope you weren't waiting long. My class ran over."

"No, not long at all."

Remus looked up as Harry ran over to him, his green eyes alight with excitement. The small girl next to him pressed herself closer to her mother's legs before Jean gave her a gentle push and a smile.

"Hello," Hermione said to Harry, "My name is Hermione. What's yours?"

"I'm Harry! Harry Potter. Do you wanna go play on the slide?"

"Ok," Hermione said a little nervously.

Harry, remembering how Ginny helped him when he was nervous, took Hermione's hand in his and led her toward the slide. Hermione seemed to relax a little as they walked and began talking rapidly to Harry about spending time at the park and her mom being in school. She was extremely well spoken for a four-year-old child.

"She speaks well for her age. Is she in school already?" Remus asked Jean.

"She's in preschool right now. They've been very impressed with her and so am I."

"Well it sounds like she has a bright future ahead of her."

The two adults smiled at each other before each pulling out their respective book. They sat like that for awhile while Harry and Hermione played together. The two children ran around the park playing all sorts of imaginary games. They played everything from astronauts to safari explorers. Harry had even come up with a game about searching ancient ruins and finding hidden treasure. He had based the game on what he had heard from Ron about what his brother Bill wanted to do when he finished at Hogwarts.

Remus and Jean spent much of the afternoon reading off and on and talking to one another about their pasts. Remus told Jean about his time at an abroad boarding school where he met his best friends as well as his dreams of working on a cure for cancer. Cancer was, of course, his code for lycanthrope. They discussed how Harry had come into his life and how close they are. Jean was especially interested in how he, Sirius, and James all lived together and were raising Harry. She thought it was sweet and admirable. For some reason, Remus felt incredibly comfortable talking to Jean. It reminded him of all those fireside talks he had shared with Lily during their Hogwarts years.

Jean told Remus about her time in college. She had spent her undergrad time abroad in America at Stanford and earned her B.S. in biology and premed. She then came back to England to complete dentistry school where she had met Hermione's father. They had had a few dates but he turned out to be a not so great person as Jean had put it. Remus suspected that something more had occurred on that front but he didn't pry. When Jean had discovered she was pregnant, she had told Hermione's father who had decided he didn't want anything to do with the child. So, Jean decided to raise Hermione on her own. Jean had just begun her last year of schooling and talked animatedly about the offices she had applied to. Her grades would allow her to work at some of the top offices in Brittan. She also spoke highly of her close friend, Rick Granger, and how they had been friends since they began school together.

"So, are you and Rick dating, then?"

"What would give you that idea?"

"Well, I mean, you two sound so close."

Jean frowned, "No. Rick doesn't see me that way and he's been head over for another woman in our class, Shawna. I've decided that it's time to move on and accept that Rick will never see me as more than his good friend. I can live with that."

Remus looked at Jean. She was looking at him over the tops over eyelashes, her bangs hanging over her eyes, slightly obscuring them from his view. He looked at her small, pink lips which were curved up into a smile. He smiled back at her as he ran his fingers over the stubble on his face. He was suddenly conscious of the fact that he hadn't shaved that day. Why didn't he think of that?

Jean tucked a stray bit of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear, "Maybe we could meet for drinks sometime. Hermione's grandparents are going to look after her this weekend and I could certainly use the time out of the house."

Remus smiled, "I could probably arrange for drinks. Did you have anywhere in mind?"

"Well, there's this new bar called the Full Moon. I've heard good things about their wine bar and it's not too far from here."

Remus snorted, he couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the name of the bar. With tears in his eyes from laughing he said, "I think that sounds like a lovely idea. You can tell me how your exam on Friday goes."

"Should we meet there, then? How about 8 on Saturday?"

"That sounds perfect."

~ID~

James returned home after a late practice with the Portree team. His muscles ached from having not used them or played quidditch in years. As he now couldn't turn his head without stinging pain, he was beginning to wonder if he had made the right decision career wise.

As he grabbed a beer from the fridge, twisted the cap off, and took a long swig from the bottle. The dark, amber liquid felt wonderful on his dry tongue. Why he didn't think to bring more than one bottle of water to practice was beyond him.

He took the bottle of beer with him and hopped into the shower. James was of the group of people who fully and completely believed that a cold, crisp shower beer was absolutely necessary when one felt as shitty as he did right then. And, honestly? He had never tasted anything quite as good as that beer did while he stood under the scalding water.

James leaned his hands against the side of the shower and let the water beat down on his back. As he stood there, he heard a knock at the door.

"Shower!" he called.

"Can I come in?"

"Who is it?"

"Sirius."

"Uh, yeah? I'm in the shower though."

"That's fine," Sirius said as he opened the door, "You won't make me feel any less attractive by being naked."

James rolled his eyes as he took a swig of his beer, "Yeah, because that was my concern. What do you need that couldn't wait for my post work out shower to be over?"

Sirius sighed and slid down the side of the shower next to the door and sat on the floor, his legs spread out, "I just wanted to relax somewhere and you were offering a free sauna."

"Uh huh. Spill."

"I was bored. Want to go to the bar while Harry is with Moony?"

"What bar?"

"Dunno. Do you think that little pub is still there from when we were in school?"

"Might be. Are you talking about Brixon's?"

"Is that the place with the old jukebox and dollar drinks until someone pisses happy hour?"

"Yeah! I completely forgot about that place," James said as he started washing his hair.

"Do you think they still do that happy hour?"

"After we drank over £500 of alcohol? Probably not."

"Hey, hey, hey! That's the benefit of being a wizard. Being able to vanish your piss. Speaking of piss, I need to get piss ass tonight. You in? We could go now and have Minnie babysit. I bet she would."

"I don't know, Sirius. It's pretty last minute," James replied as he turned off the shower, "I'd hate to put her in a predicament."

"I already asked and she said she would be here at 7 once he was in bed. And Remus said he would meet us after Harry is asleep."

"Oh," James dried himself with a towel behind the steamy shower door, "Well. I guess I can't really say no then, can I?"

"Nope. Plus, you need a night out too."

"Alright, alright. Let me get changed."

"I picked out your clothes. You're going to love them!"

James sighed as he heard the door to the bathroom click shut behind Sirius. He stepped out from the shower and wiped away the buildup on the mirror so he could look at himself. He tried to make his hair look nice, but no matter which way the hot air from his wand blew it, it looked extremely messy. He sighed and put his glasses on; what did it matter how he looked anyway?

After carefully wrapping a towel around his waist, James stepped out into his room and glanced around for the clothes Sirius supposedly left out for him. His eyes finally fell on the bed where a small pile of clothes were laying. He quickly picked up the shirt and looked at it and frowned.

Sirius had left James an extremely tight, white, V-neck t-shirt, a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, a medium blue denim jean jacket, and James' favorite pair of black chucks.

"Sirius!" James yelled, "What the hell is this? Why are all of these clothes so tight?"

"Tis the season, Prongs! Do as the Muggles do!"

Sighing, James pulled the shirt over his head and looked down. It wasn't nearly as tight as he had feared it would be, but it was still tighter than he would have liked it to be. He shrugged and turned to the jeans. He greatly feared whether his balls would fit in that monstrosity.

Carefully, James tugged and pulled the jeans up his legs and over his thighs. At one point, they got stuck and he had to do a weird and awkward shimmy to get them to go all the way up to his hips. James sighed again when he realized that they sat quite low on his hips. Unable to button the pants, James ended up having to lay down on his bed before they would close. He found the jeans uncomfortably comfortable.

Throwing the jacket on over the shirt, he noticed the hat laying on his bed for the first time. He looked at it and shook his head, he would avoid that part of this outfit.

James did his best to walk down the stairs in his new clothes and met Sirius at the door to the Manor. Sirius nodded as if approving of his outfit, despite having chosen it, before they both walked out the door.

A while later Remus and Harry arrived back at the Manor. Harry was thoroughly exhausted from his expedition out of the house. He had had a blast with his new friend Hermione running around the park all afternoon. Remus had found that Hermione was extremely intelligent for her age as well as well spoken and articulate. They had made plans for Hermione to visit Potter Manor later the next week. Jean, having already been given the address, would have no issues seeing the home on the day in question.

It didn't take long for Remus to convince Harry to get into bed and go to sleep. They had already eaten dinner at the parka and Harry was quite exhausted. Remus had only just closed Harry's bedroom door when Cirri appeared in front of him to inform him that Minerva had arrived.

Remus hurried down the stairwell and into the library to greet Minerva who was still cleansing the soot off of her robes.

She looked up as Remus entered the room and smiled, "I hope I didn't miss him. Is Harry still awake?"

"Sorry Minerva," Remus replied, "I just got him into bed. He was downright exhausted after his day at the park. He made a new muggle friend."

"Ah. Yes, well, I'll just have to stop by this weekend and visit. To keep his chess skills sharp," Minerva quickly added, a small smile gracing her face.

"We could probably arrange for tea. James had been talking about inviting Sirius' cousin Andromeda and her husband, Ted Tonks, over as well. I think you know their child, from my understanding they're Hogwarts age—I don't know much else about the child."

"Ah, yes, Nymphadora Tonks. She begins at Hogwarts this coming year. I expect nothing but excellence from her given how both her parents were in school. She's going to have a difficult time if she's sorted into Slytherin given her mother's apparent transgressions."

"Apparent transgressions?"

"Yes. Her mother and father, Druella and Cygnus Black, removed her from the family tree when she decided to marry Ted Tonks instead of Rodolphus Lestrange. Her sister, Bellatrix, married him instead. It was quite the scandal with the war going on at the time. And, of course, her other sister, Narcissa, married Lucius Malfoy."

"I hadn't realized that there had been so much contention from the marriage. I admit I never thought about the fact that she had been a Black before her marriage to Ted. But given that Sirius was removed from the tree himself, I guess it doesn't take much to have that happen. In any case, they're looking for a sitter. They don't know that they want to make—Nymphadora you said? Come to a boring dinner party."

"Even with Harry here?"

"Well, there's quite an age difference between them. Harry is three while Nymphadora is eleven."

"I see. Well, I believe you had somewhere to get to, didn't you? I brought some essays with me to mark. I might have quite a few extra if we can't find a replacement for Professor Bilious. I may end up teaching Ancient Runes next year."

"Dumbledore is looking for Runes professor?" Remus asked, his interest peeking.

"Yes. hopefully we can find someone qualified for the post. And once again we need a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. I swear that post is cursed!"

"Well, if I come across anyone during my research who would be interested in either post, I'll certainly send them your way."

"Please do," Minerva began, "Though, have you considered applying for the post? I recall during your time at Hogwarts you were quite proficient at both subjects. And I know for a fact that you tutored several classmates in both."

Remus ran his fingers through his hair and replied, "Yes, well, I hardly think I would be the best candidate given my…er, furry problem. Parents would lose their minds if they ever discovered my affliction."

"Oh posh, Remus. Be realistic. Times are changing and, honestly, many of the parents now a days either went to school with you or know of you. I'm sure most of them have the mental capacity to separate your affliction, as you call it, from your capabilities as a teacher."

"Yes, well, I do think that I'm late meeting James and Sirius at this point. They're probably both drunk already and need me to get them home. Thank you for watching over Harry, Minerva. We'll see you in a few hours.

Minerva stood up straighter at this abrupt change in conversation and nodded curtly, "Take care of them, Remus. I'll be in the library."

By the time Remus arrived at the pub both James and Sirius were relatively drunk. Sirius was sitting at the table, his arms around two attractive women while James was animatedly going on about sports. The two women must have been witches, though Remus had never met them, because all four were discussing the latest quidditch game.

Remus grabbed a pint of ale from the bar and joined in the merriment. The two men accepted him gladly and pulled up a chair. The group of five drank together for a few hours. James and Sirius continued buying shots for the table. Remus turned the drinks down, preferring to nurse his one beverage that evening.

Eventually, Sirius conned James into a round of karaoke. The two men butchered several songs including Stayin' Alive, I will Survive, and, for some reason, Dancing Queen. Remus made sure to make a copy of the memory of the two men singing Dancing Queen for future blackmail. You never know when you'd need a bribed favor from a friend.

Around 11 Remus was able to corral James and Sirius and drug them home. Sirius, of course, drug the two women back with him. Remus simply sighed as he led the four drunk adults back to Manor and let them into the house.

He watched as Sirius led the women upstairs as James told Sirius that the women needed to be gone before Harry woke up. Remus made sure to yell up that silencing and locking charms were also required. No one needed to hear whatever was going to happen in that room.

Remus walked to the library after a drunk James. He watched in horror as the scene before him unfolded.

"He—hello *hick* Minnieeee!" James slurred between hiccups.

"James, what has gotten into you?" Minerva replied.

"Jussa li'l vodka!"

Minerva looked imploringly at Remus at the same moment that James leaned over and retched into a houseplant.

"Oh god. Minerva I'm so sorry. I didn't realize he was so…"

"Piss faced?" Minerva supplied.

"If you want to put it that way." Remus started patting James' back as he vomited on the orchid, "I've got this, Minerva, you're welcome to head out. I'm going to let him finish, give him a potion, and then throw him in his room for the night."

"If you're sure," Minerva said, her mouth pursed as she gathered her rolls of parchment.

"I'm sure. Thank you for watching Harry. We'll owl you about tea this weekend, too. Have a nice evening."

"You too."

With that, Minerva flooed back to Hogwarts.

Somehow, Remus managed to get James to stop vomiting long enough for him to shove the potion down James' throat. The potion stopped James' queasiness and would, hopefully, prevent the massive hangover that would ensue from their evening shenanigans. He helped James stagger up the stairs and into his bed. It was only an hour or so after the fact, as he lay in bed for the night, that he realized he should have just levitated James into bed.

End Notes:

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