Sunlight filtered in through the curtains on the windows stirring Harry from his sleep. Sitting up, he reached for his glasses, but felt a weight on his arm. Looking down, Harry could make out the blurry shape of something canary yellow next to him. Squinting hard, he tried to figure out just what it was when it moved and made a muffled sound. Harry watched the yellow change to bubblegum pink, recognizing Tonks' ability.

"Mornin', 'arry," She said through a yawn.

"G-good morning, Tonks."

"I hope you don't mind me crashing in here last night." The witch said as she sat up off Harry's arm.

Harry reached over a but his glasses on. Once he could see clearly, he looked her in the eye, "um… no, uh, that's swell, anytime, I mean–"

"Don't hurt yourself, kiddo."

"Right," Harry mumbled running his hand through his messy hair, "uh, about last night, uh… thanks. I guess?"

"You're welcome, Harry. Don't worry I won't tell anyone that I saw the macho Harry Potter cry."

Harry blushed, "Thanks."

"How's breakfast sound?"

"Great."

"Well you're not getting it in bed, even if you are the Chosen One."

The last of the porridge was being consumed as Harry and Tonks sat around the kitchen table when they heard the front door open, someone stumble in, and Mrs. Black's screams echo through the house.

"FOUL WRETCH! LEAVE MY HOUSE, HOW DARE YOU DISCRASE THE HOME OF MY FAMILY WITH YOUR FILTH!

Tonks jumped up and ran to the door. After a few minutes the screaming stopped, and Tonks returned to the kitchen.

"Was that Lupin?"

"I suppose so, I didn't actually see him, he was already upstairs."

Harry looked towards the door, "should we check on him?"

"I…I don't think so, he–he knows what he needs in this situation."

"Yeah."

"So, what do you want to do today?" Tonks asked, noticeably changing the subject.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and took a bite of porridge,

Tonks' face contorted as she pondered, "Oo, I have an idea. Since it's your house now, what do you say if we try to make it into someplace a teenage boy owns, and less haunted mansionish?"

"I'm game, so long as it doesn't involve shopping."

"Well I'm rubbish at the household spells, so we may need to buy somethings, but we'll probably just plan today." She took a drink, "let's start in the parlor. Eat your porridge and we'll get to work."

The day was spent busy with their task. Tonks' list grew to be four pages by the end of the morning, and another two after lunch. She decided early in the morning that she wanted to try and make some alterations that day after all. Harry suggested she try her hand at the drapes, which were as dower and moth eaten as the year before. Tonks figured that changing the shade of the drapes to a more jovial blue would do the trick, although she probably couldn't do anything about the moth holes. When she finished, Harry teased her that they looked like Cinderella's dress rather than royal blue drapes like she had intended. After that she decided to wait on changing anything more herself.

Lupin never stirred once from his room the entire day.

Around two o'clock, Harry felt the need to check in on his guardian and friend, but Tonks talked him into letting him be. A little while later he had to do the same for Tonks, who swore she heard him moving around upstairs. When they finally sat down for a hastily thrown together supper, well after eight that night, the two were both beat.

"I need to go to work tomorrow, Harry," Tonks said as she set her folk on her plate, "Remus should be feeling better by then, right?"

"I…I don't know, he should be fine, I would think."

"If he's not, I guess I could owl in that I'm sick, but I've used a couple of sick-days for Order stuff recently and taking another one so soon might attract attention."

"No, no, I'll be fine. Even if Lupin is still in bed, I'm used to taking care of myself."

"That's just it Harry, we're not supposed to leave you without a guard. If Dumbledore thought that you might be in danger, he'll send you back to the Dursley's in a heartbeat."

"I'm not even leaving the house, Tonks, how much danger could I really be in? Besides, Lupin, will be fine by tomorrow."

The young witch looked at him with a questioning face, "Alright, but I'll be back as soon as I get off duty."

The next morning, Harry walked down into the kitchen to find Lupin reading the paper, drinking tea. He looked worse for wear with fresh cuts visible above his brow and on his hand along with deep bags under his eyes.

"Good morning, Harry," Lupin said softly, with a tired smile on his face.

"How are you feeling?" the teen asked as he started towards the cupboards in search of breakfast.

"As good as can be expected," Harry pulled out a box of Kix cereal and the bottle of milk, "I take it Tonks changed the drapes yesterday?"

Harry smiled slyly, "Yeah, but I don't think that was as good an idea as she thought."

"It certainly brightens up the place."

Harry sat down across from Lupin. His messy hair covering his head as he turned his attention to his breakfast. About two bites in he heard a chuckle.

"What is it?" he asked with his mouth full.

"I'm just remembering how cranky your father was before breakfast. It was one of the few times of day that you could count on silence from him."

"Dad wasn't a morning person?"

"Not in the least. Sir-Sirius on the other hand was a ray of sunshine and would try to 'poke the dragon' as he said. This more than once lead to an altercation between the two which somehow caught me in the middle."

Harry grinned. If there was one thing he appreciated about Lupin, it was his willingness to share little intimate details about his parents lives with him. Sirius had told him a little bit, but he mostly shared big adventure stories. Lupin would give him little glimpses into their everyday life that humanized them for him.

"The only person who could make James look like an angel in the mornings was you mum when she was hungover."

"Wait what?" the concept of him mum being hungover from a night of drinking had never crossed his mind.

"Let's just say that after you mum and dad got together, your mum started joining our parties more and quickly learned she didn't handle the mornings after near as well."

"You could get alcohol at Hogwarts?"

"We could get just about anything, Harry," Lupin said with a smirk, "The number of rules we all broke on a daily bases should have given Filch an aneurism," they both laughed, "and no, Harry, I'm not going to tell you how we did it."

"The map."

"The map helped."

A peaceful quiet fell between them as Harry returned his attention to his breakfast and Lupin his paper. Harry's thoughts began to wonder to his parents, how life would have been different if Voldemort had never come after them, had he been raised by them in a loving home. Would he have siblings? Would he even know the Dursleys or would his 'uncles' have been Remus and Sirius, not Vernon? What if he had been taken by Sirius after his parents died? Would Sirius have been the same person had he not spent twelve years in Azkaban?

He looked across at the man at the other end of the table wearing a worn cardigan with greying hair. Would his life have been different had he been a part of Harry's?

"Remus, can I ask you something?"

Lupin looked up from his paper at Harry. "Certainly, Harry, what is it?"

"It's, well... I just have been wondering, a lot actually, why didn't anyone ever contact me before I received my letter from Hogwarts? Sirius, I understand, he had an excuse, but what about you? From everything everyone has told me about my parents, you were as good as an uncle to me. Why didn't you ever try to visit, or at least write letters or something?"

Lupin sighed heavily, "There are multiple reasons why I never saw you until I taught you three years ago, Harry. The first being that Professor Dumbledore placed wards around your uncle's house preventing any magical person from coming in contact with it until you were eleven. I couldn't get within three miles of Number Four Privet Drive if I wanted to, which I did. You need to know, Harry, that as soon as the initial shock had worn off the first thing I did after James and Lily were killed, and Sirius sent to Azkaban, I had tried to get custody of you. I first asked Dumbledore for help, but he simply said it was better that you be with your aunt and uncle, that you were far safer there than you would ever be with me. I trusted Dumbledore, and still do, so I left you be. All I wanted at that point was for you to be safe. I admit, Harry, that at first once I was told I could not see you, I felt as if my last reason to live had been taken from me. I eventually tried to forget about you as best I could, knowing that you were safe helped me not to focus on you. I left the country just a few months after everything happened and only just returned before Dumbledore offered me the Defense position at Hogwarts."

"So, Dumbledore is the reason I couldn't have a family who cared?" Harry asked, anger suddenly building in his voice.

"Believe me, Harry, had Dumbledore thought you would have been safer somewhere else you would have gone there. But please understand, Harry, the most important thing to all of us at the time was that you be safe from any of Voldemort's supporters who were still lingering. Dumbledore was especially concerned that a family such as the Malfoys could pull enough strings and gain custody of "The Boy who Lived." I knew that Petunia and her husband were not the most loving people on the earth, but I had faith, as I believe did Professor Dumbledore, that they would not allow serious harm to befall you."

"Unless you count bullying."

"Harry, as horrific as their actions were, and are, they were nothing compared to what you might have faced if one of Voldemort's Death Eaters got you. I'm not excusing their actions, just saying that security was first priority, unfortunately that meant that you had to endure your family's mistreatment."

Harry scowled, "I can't believe that it is what my parents would have wanted."

"Believe me, Harry, it wasn't. However, you said yourself, Sirius was unable to take you for obvious reasons. I have been trying to find a way to get you out of there since I met you three years ago. This arrangement is literally the first feasible solution I found to get you out of the Dursley's home and I'm grateful that you agreed to it, as did Professor Dumbledore."

Lupin stood up slowly and walked over to Harry. Putting his had on his shoulder he added, "I never said this, but I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you for all those years. The excuses I made are just that, excuses and don't pardon me for negligence. But I hope that I can try and make it up to you, Harry, to you and to James and Lilly. I let you all down when you needed me most."

Harry looked at the older man. Tears streaked his tired, scarred face, "Let me be the uncle I should have been."

Harry stood and hugged him. He felt the sob leave his throat as he cried into his cardigan. He didn't worry about squeezing him too tight, he just held him. This last piece of the family he never knew.

Ye Ol' Author's Note: A thousand pardons for the absence and delay in updating this story. I got caught up in life and the writing of my original works which hopefully will be ready for publication in the near future. Hopefully I can be more regular in the future updates. -A.R. Templar