Author's Note:
Again this is a rather long chapter, sorry about that!
Also not important — but as I was telling my Beta the other day, re-watching original CSI with a friend and there's an episode from season six where Joe Manganiello guest stars and early 2000s Manganiello with his long-ish hair and stubble is how I picture my Sirius Black, just saying — hot! I love Gary Oldman, he's an amazing actor, but the cast of Harry Potter was too old to play the characters they were given even though I cannot imagine anyone else playing McGonagall or Snape other than Smith and Rickman, but they were too old according to the timeline JKR set up. And if I had to fancast Remus Lupin, as amazing as David Thewlis is, I see him as more of a mix between an Andrew Garfield and a young Guy Pierce, but again that's my choices, you all imagine them how you like as that's what's awesome about imagination! Anyway, just thought I would share my random two cents for anyone who may or may not interested.
To those of you who reviews as GUEST — I have no problem with you wanting to be anonymous but maybe you could sign it as something you'd like so I know who you are? Anything you want. Peanut Butter and Jelly OR Amy OR Guest #312. Just something would be really helpful! Thank you in advance!
Reviews and Comments: To Blaze313: I am aware that Harry has Black blood, but Sirius is a Black whereas Harry's blood is diluted. Sirius also had control over the Black vault and I think that also played into effect. To love reading20613: I can't believe there's 151 chapters either! I am happy Remus is out as well! Thank you! To trekkifulron: LOL. I think that is a fair quote about Umbitch. Thank you! To aldigomez2: Thank you! To Millie072: Umbitch definitely knows she was defeated in terms of her bill. She's not stupid enough to go after Remus again. Thank you! To andrellacampos7: It is coming soon, but thank you! I will take that as a compliment! To Wolf's scream: Thank you! Harry is rather cheek, isn't he? And yes, Remus will need time to readjust. To scrappy8: Thank you! I love Harry and Remus as well. To Moony The Sheep: Thank you! I am glad the bill is out of question now as well. I'm afraid that will not be the last we see of Umbitch of course. Thank you for genuinely loving my story! I hope you like the changes I make to the tournament.
To speedsONEandONLY: Thank you! I always enjoy getting a chef's kiss after a chapter. To Guest: Thank you! Remus is going to be a bit possessive, he loves his mate and missed her. To Ana: Thank you! I know, Sirius as Lord Black is just sexy as hell. Harry is going to be a very happy birthday boy! Thank you for saying the scene with Dora was so sweet and so heartbreaking. Thank you so much! To ZeeNooblet: Thank you very much! To Steelcode: Thank you! I loved the bad dog comment as well! To Guest: No, there will be some smut, so your wish is my command! To Guest: Thank you! I'm amazed I made it to 150 chapters as well! To Guest: Harry will get there, but he's a teenager and that means he's moody. But he will grow to love/miss his nickname. To Guest: Thank you! Umbitch was smacked down! I am looking forward to getting some thoughts on Harry's trip to America. Harry having a British accent mixed with a slow southern drawl would be very sexy. Thank you!
To Guest: Thanks for saying the Remus and Dora scene was perfect. He definitely needs more than a blowjob and yes, Tonks will provide that, but everyone was waiting for him. Sirius definitely should order Umbitch's execution, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Thank you! To Cf: I am happy Remus is free as well! Thank you! To HinnyMe: Bagman is a bit of an egotistical prick, isn't he? Yes, Sirius did understand exactly what his friend needed. As did Tonks, we will see more of them. Thank you for saying 'Evans comes out' is the best line ever! To alix33: Thank you! To LeglessFishOnRollerskates: Glad I could entertain you with my Monopoly quote LOL. Thank you! To OneDocToHealThemAll: Thank you for saying my story is amazing. I am sorry to hear you skipped the sex scenes as I think they are worth a read. McGonagall being supportive of Sirius is something I've always loved. Thank you! Yes, I do plan on writing until the end!
To Paola1991: Thank you! To : Thank you! To R4mb0g: Thanks for catching up! Yes, Harry, Sirius, and Zee are going to the USA soon. To Saz J: It is all gravy now! Thank you! I'm glad you loved that James/Lily bit. To aldersprig: I love the comment of just kudos because you have already left kudos — thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying my take on things. To Jmcglynn522: It is not Christmas, but you're welcome for the lots of chapters! I'm glad you loved Harry flicked Remus' nose and calling him a bad dog. I love writing Harry sass! Thank you!
Thank you to my Beta — SilverStarwolfe!
My posting schedule: Every Tuesday or Wednesday (usually the latter) and sometimes on the weekends.
As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE:
The One Where Theo Goes to the Burrow
When Remus and Tonks returned to their cottage that night, Remus sank down onto the couch and closed his eyes. He smiled when Tonks simply straddled him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burrowing close. He put his own arms around her, holding her close and just listening to the sound of her soft, steady breathing.
Neither of them spoke for the longest time and then Tonks turned her head and pressed a kiss to the side of his throat.
"Tell me."
He tightened his grip on her and burrowed his face deeper into her neck. "It wasn't as bad as I imagined. It was bad, but… I imagined worse. Kingsley kept me in a good cell. The Dementors barely ever passed by me directly but… that whole place reeks of them and feels like them and it's just… I had a lot of dreams, old ones and some new, and my transformations were harder as I could feel the influence of the Dementors on my mind. As a wolf I feel like my mind isn't as guarded, I don't know if that's true or not or just my perception of how it felt, but it was harder to deter them when I was the wolf. Sirius felt better when he was in his dog form, but me… I felt more vulnerable. And I was alone and it was cold and dirty and the food sucked and every day I wondered if they were really going to let me go free." He let out a deep breath. "I kept your letters under my pillow. They smelt like you and it helped. It helped more than you know."
He placed a soft kiss under her ear. "And today… seeing Harry with Sirius and Zee, they feel like a little family and having your parents come and… when your mother hugged me — it felt good, Nymphadora."
"They love you and they wanted you to be free as much as the rest of us. You have so many people who love you, Remus. You were on everyone's mind. You know, Harry came over here one night and he cooked me tacos because he said that he didn't want me to blow up our new kitchen before you came home, the cheeky bastard."
Remus chuckled. "But he's not wrong." He grunted when she slapped his arm. "I like that he took care of you."
"He did," she admitted with a smile. "We watched movies and… he's the best. You know that he learned how to become an Animagus for you."
"I can't believe that he's a little wolf-dog."
"I can," she said, kissing him softly. "He is who he most admires. The two men who have been fathers to him. I can't imagine him as anything else."
Remus sighed and closed his eyes, breathing in her scent. She smelt like his Nymphadora; like fresh raspberries and vanilla that he knew was her soap; he could smell her lust for him. "I missed you."
Tonks smiled against his neck. "I missed you so much. The first few days I stayed with my parents; Mum and Dad both tried to keep me busy. I was suspended for two weeks."
Remus pulled away, his eyes wide. "Because of me?"
She shook her head. "No. I was out of order when you got arrested and King told me that I was too close to everything and he was right. I deserved the suspension. But… once you were gone, I didn't know what to do. But Mum and Dad were smothering me and when I got back to my flat it was lonely and then Charlie showed up. Dad went all the way to Romania to get him; told him that I needed a friend. He showed up and we ordered a ridiculous amount of food and spent the entire night eating and… I was crying and he held me and listened to me all night and then in the morning he told me to woman up. We packed up my flat and he helped me finish this place. He said that we were going to make it ready for you. For us."
Remus kissed her forehead. "I didn't say it. I'm sorry for that. It's perfect. Everything looks perfect."
Tonks smiled at him. "You didn't even look at anything. You're only been looking at me."
"I know and you're perfect."
She blushed and ran her fingers through the beard on his face. "Someone can't see properly through all of this mountain man hair."
"I know. I need a trim and I need to shave," he said with a smile. "But someone distracted me in the shower."
Tonks raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I don't recall any distractions."
Remus slid his hand along her smooth leg, up over the cut-off shorts and undid the snap, the zipper slid down slowly and her breath hitched. "I thought about you every single day. I thought about how amazing you feel under my fingers, under my lips. I thought about how delicious you taste and how incredible you smell and I would lie there with your letters under my head imagining what I was going to do when I came home to you."
Tonks shifted, tugging her shorts down and tossing them behind her onto the living room floor. "I spent every night sleeping on this couch or at Harry and Sirius' or at my parents because I didn't want to sleep in our new bed for the first time without you. I wanted you to touch me in it. I wanted to touch you in it."
She untied the dress shirt and slid it off her shoulders, grinning when Remus' hands slid over her abdomen and beneath the crop top finding her naked. His long fingers pebbled her nipples before he leaned in and sucked on one through her top. She let her head fall back in pleasure, her fingers in his soft hair, the new sensation of his beard making her shiver.
His mouth moved up to her neck, sucking the skin there as he tugged the shirt up and over her head before he crushed his lips to hers for a hard, bruising kiss that left her breathless. She smiled and stood up in nothing, but her pale blue cotton knickers and held her hand out to him.
"Come to our bed."
Remus' slow smile made the heat pool between her legs. He accepted her hand and let her lead him into the bedroom. He stripped down to his boxers before he pushed her back towards the bed, smiling when she turned down the duvet and he crawled onto the bed behind her, kissing her bum, and making her laugh. His teeth nipped her knickers and tugged them off, making her shiver in anticipation. Remus planted soft hot kisses along her thighs, spreading her legs wider and wider until she was fully exposed before him and then he simply looked deep into her eyes before he bent his head and licked her core.
She groaned, her fingers fisting in the sheets as his tongue danced and slid over and into her. His talented mouth had her writhing on the bed as he suckled her clit into his mouth as his fingers slid into the heat and she cried out his name, the new sensation of his beard rough on her skin, but not unpleasant. It wasn't long before she came, shuddering before he finally let her pull him up to kiss her.
"I want you, Rem, please," she begged.
Remus' fingers continued to work her as he bent his head to suckle a breast, his mouth wrapping around most of the mound as she cried out. "Mmm, my Nymphadora," he murmured. He tugged his boxers down, kicking them off before he positioned himself over her and she ground against him desperately.
He merely smiled and spread her legs wider, his fingers still moving in a delicious rhythm as second orgasm ripped through her and she screamed. He kissed her throat.
"Mine," he said. "You are mine. All of you. Every. Single. Orgasm," he panted, his finger stroking her clit with every word. "All of you. Mine. My mate," he said desperately and Tonks gripped his hair firmly.
"Yes, I am," she panted. "I'm yours!"
Remus plunged into her and all she could do was hold on. He rode her hard and fast as well as achingly slow and when she came all over again, he lost it and buried himself deeper. He kissed her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, her neck, her throat, her ears, and down her collarbone before finally kissing her lips.
Tonks moaned in satisfaction. "I really missed that."
"Multiple orgasms?" he asked, cheekily.
She grinned and kissed his shoulder. "Yes, but also just sex. I missed feeling you inside of me. I feel whole when you're inside of me, like it feels right. Just right."
He kissed her deeply and began to move inside of her again, rolling over, and taking her with him as she sat up and he let her take control. Tonks placed both of her hands on his abdomen as she rode him. She loved it when he let her take control like this. He didn't do it often enough as the wolf liked to be in control and she loved that about him. But nothing was sexier than knowing that she had him under her, inside of her, and that she was in control. She picked up the pace, rolling her hips in a figure eight pattern that shot her already over sensitive body over the edge and he followed only a minute later.
Tonks collapsed against him, breathing heavy as she kissed his chest, his neck. "I love you."
Remus kissed her lips, deeply, his own breathing ragged. "I love you, my Nymphadora. Mine." He cupped her face in his palm and kissed her again.
She adjusted herself slightly, keeping him inside of her as she fiddled with the necklace around her neck, her ear against his heartbeat. "I am yours, Rem, always. You don't have to worry about that." She kissed his chest. "I made brownies. I almost forgot."
He kissed her temple. "We should definitely go get those."
She laughed. "In a minute. I can't move."
Remus simply tugged her from the bed, locking her legs around his waist and headed into the kitchen. The sensation of still being inside of her while he walked made him hard again and she gasped.
"Rem," she begged, her teeth scraping along the side of his neck.
Remus simply rested her bum back against the island and opened the lid with the brownies, dipping his finger into the chocolate icing. He grinned at her and then painted her breast with it. He dipped his head to lick her clean, his mouth lingering over the scar he had given her and kissing her so gently that she sighed and then he began to ride her where they stood. He pulled out only to lift her down and bend her over the kitchen table before he continued to ride her. He slid his fingers into her and she screamed his name, her hips rocking back to meet him.
He grabbed a fistful of her short curls and dragged her head back as he nipped and sucked on her throat, his other hand kneading her breast before slipping back between her legs and she cried out for him. When the orgasm hit her, she felt boneless and was thankful his arms were there to scoop her back up because she was sure she would have just melted into the floor. He kissed her softly and picked up the brownie tin before he carried her back into the bedroom and sat her in their bed.
Remus sat next to her, helping himself to a brownie. "These are amazing. I haven't had anything chocolate since before I went into the prison."
Tonks ran a hand through her sweaty curls, smiling when he fed her a brownie. "I made them for you." She dipped her finger into the icing and held it out to him and he eagerly accepted, sucking and licking it clean. "By the way, King agreed to give me tomorrow off to help you re-adjust."
Remus licked his lips before he picked up another brownie and straddled her, painting her with the chocolate icing. "Good. I don't plan on letting you out of this bed for at least a day."
She gasped when the brownie slid between her legs and then he ducked his head and ate the brownie, his tongue swiping for loose crumbs and icing and only once he seemed satisfied did he turn on her and used his tongue for something else.
"I can't!" she gasped, her body begging him. "I can't possibly, I'll die!"
Remus smirked at her as he suckled and she came. "I won't let you, I promise," he assured her, sucking her breast. "And you will keep coming for me until I'm done with you, my lovely Nymphadora," he said huskily, his fingers stroking her heat. "My body needs to reclaim yours."
And then she was on her side and he was inside of her again and once more she was lost in pleasure. Her pleasure. His pleasure. She didn't know which, but she knew that he was home and all was right in the world.
~ ASC ~
It was a few days after Remus' return before Harry asked him to come over for the day. Sirius had morning meetings with the Hogwarts Board of Governors and then was spending the afternoon helping Ludo Bagman with something at the Ministry. Remus found Harry in the kitchen cleaning up his breakfast dishes and smiled warmly.
"Good morning, Harry."
Harry smiled at him. "Hey, Uncle Rem, thanks for coming over. No more beard?"
"Of course," Remus said, running his hand over his chin. "Anytime you need me, you know that. And no, the beard definitely had to go. Unlike Sirius, I rather like being clean shaven and Tonks prefers it as well. A little stubble is okay."
Harry nodded and scratched his own chin. His hair was starting to get itchy again, he realized. He hadn't tried to shave again since that first day with Sirius, but he realized that he was going to have to do it again soon, he thought. He gestured for Remus to follow him into the sun room where he had placed the Pensieve basin and the chest of memories.
Remus saw it and nodded. "I wondered if Sirius had given it to you."
"This is the best gift that I ever could have imagined getting. It means so much to me that you and Uncle Sirius would have taken the time to put this together for me."
Remus smiled. "We enjoyed doing it and we travelled down memory lane a bit ourselves, which was great."
Harry nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "I'd like to show you a few memories if I could?"
Remus looked at him bewilderment, but nodded. "Of course, I'd like that." He moved to stand next to the Pensieve on the desk. "I don't think that I've been in this room since I last taught you in here."
Harry grinned. "We don't use it for much anymore. My schoolwork is still hanging on the wall. Uncle Siri mentioned making it into an actual sunroom, but I don't know if he will. For now, it's my old classroom."
Remus chuckled. "You were my star student."
"Now you have lots of those."
"You'll always be my favourite," he said, making Harry grin.
Harry opened the chest and poured three memories into the bowl before he took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," Remus said and together they lowered their faces into the memory.
Remus blinked in surprise when he found himself standing out by the Black Lake looking at Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Neville.
Neville stretched his arms up over his head as he spoke. "I wish that it would storm already. I'm dying to know what animal I can be."
"I know, me too," Harry said with a grin. "We have to figure out how to get the six of us together in case it storms this summer. The potion is ready. If it doesn't storm by the time we go home, I'm going to lock them in a case to put in my trunk."
Neville nodded. "Yeah, I'd say maybe we could all spend the summer together, but you're going to be in America."
"Only for a month," he said with a grin. "I really like Zee's grandparents and they want me to call them Grandma and Grandpa, which is nice. Plus going to Georgia is going to be brilliant. I heard it's quite hot there in the summer."
"Probably, I don't know, I've never been to America. But it was pretty hot in Brazil."
"Brazil's definitely hotter," Harry said with a grin.
"What about Sophie?" Ron asked, grinning at his friend as he continued to skip rocks in the lake. "She's going to miss you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Sophie and I are not together, Ron. We just snogged that one night. We were… celebrating Gryffindor's win."
Hermione sighed. "Sophie snogs everyone, Harry. You're better off, trust me."
He smirked at her. "You're just saying that because you didn't like Cho."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's not that I disliked her," she said dismissively. "I just didn't get the chance to find out as she went out of her way to ignore your friends."
He shrugged and dragged his fingers through his hair. "Girls are complicated anyway. Snogging Sophie was great and honestly, just what I needed after that spectacular Gryffindor win, but I'm not looking to date anyone right now. Besides, Sophie and I both had a bit too much Firewhiskey, which might have attributed to our snogging."
Remus looked at Harry in amusement. "You were drinking? What were you thinking?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Uncle Siri and I already had the talk and he lectured me. Just watch."
Remus sighed, but did as Harry asked. He watched the memory unfold, his hand clutching Harry's arm when Pettigrew appeared, when he changed into a werewolf, and when Harry woke up to learn that Sirius had died — his eyes widened in horror.
"What is this?" he asked, his eyes glassy in shock. "What do you mean that Sirius… he didn't…"
Harry only nodded towards the memory of Dumbledore as he told them that three turns should do it and Remus watched as Harry and Hermione went back in time and saved Sirius from the Dementors. The memory faded out to the bridge leading to Hogwarts. Harry watched as he and Sirius moved over the bridge.
"As easy as it would be to do so, the world is not divided between good people and Death Eaters. There's a lot of grey in the world sometimes and sometimes it is that grey that needs to be sculpted and utilized. Politics are generally a grey area. We will have to tread very carefully around Umbridge from here on out and I will do my best to keep fighting her bill from my position as a lord within the Wizengamot. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Harry?"
"That she's not going to be punished for trying to have Uncle Rem executed."
Sirius sighed. "I'm not saying that she will never be punished, Harry, but right now, no, she will not be punished as despite how she went about it, she was in fact doing her job."
Harry stared at Sirius for a moment. "I thought… I thought that I had saved you only to lose Uncle Moony and…" Tears welled up in his eyes and he stubbornly bit his lip to send them back.
Sirius moved to wrap his arms around his son, kissing the top of his head. "You're not going to lose me or Uncle Moony."
Harry clung to him a moment, nodding against his chest. "Can we really just let Uncle Moony go to prison?"
"I don't blame you or Sirius, Harry, you know that, right?"
Harry nodded, turning to look at his father. "I know. But I still feel like it was my fault."
"It absolutely wasn't. It was my mistake and no one else's. You and Sirius and Nymphadora, you saved my life." Remus said, putting his arm around Harry. "You blamed Sirius for it and that wasn't fair."
"I know," Harry admitted. "We worked it out though."
Remus turned back to the memory.
"Uncle Moony told me that the most important part of keeping your Patronus strong was keeping a happy memory in your head and that the more unhappy or terrible memories someone has, the harder that it is for them to keep that happy memory and that sometimes if they suppress the bad memories, the happy ones aren't as strong as they could be. You suppress everything, Uncle Sirius!"
"Ooh, you hit a nerve there," Remus murmured, making Harry grin.
"I do not suppress everything, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed.
Remus watched as his best friend and son argued intensely about Sirius' past, about the Time Turner, and about him. When Harry broke down and started crying in Sirius' arms, Remus tugged Harry tighter into his arms.
"I'm so sorry that you had to go through this. Dumbledore was wrong to make you and Hermione rush in to save the day."
"There's more," Harry told him. "This is where I told Uncle Siri that he died."
Remus nodded, letting out a slow breath as he turned his attention back to his friend and son in the memory.
"What?" Sirius asked, his thumb wiping away a stray tear from his son's face. "I didn't die, Harry."
"You did," Harry insisted. "The Dementors Kissed you and you died and… Zee was crying over your body and… you were dead!"
"Harry, I didn't die. I'm right here."
Harry spun around, his green eyes flashing. "You did! The Dementors fed on you and snapped your neck!"
Sirius stared at him, shaking his head. "Harry…" He stood up and reached out to put a hand on his son's shoulder and Harry brushed it off. "Harry, talk to me. We don't lie to each other, remember?"
Harry snorted. "That's not true. You never told me about your childhood and how bad it was."
He let out a slow breath. "It's not something that I can easily bring up in conversation. Harry, look at me. I did not die. I'm alive. I'm here, right here in front of you."
Harry slammed his fist on the stone. "But you were!" He spun around, his eyes wide as he blurted out the next words in one breath. "Dumbledore locked us in the infirmary and said that three turns should do it and then Hermione and I used a Time Turner and we went back in time to save you and to capture Pettigrew!"
Sirius stared at him for a full minute, his eyes wide. "You used a… Time Turners are illegal and highly volatile to failure and to the danger of the user. Why did Dumbledore give two thirteen-year-olds one to play with?"
"Hermione's fourteen," he said, bitterly.
Sirius snorted. "Not the issue here, Harry."
"Hermione's been using it all year for her classes. It was a special request from the Department of Mysteries. She's been taking every class offered and using the Time Turner to do it."
"She's been — and you — and her — went back — in time?" Sirius spluttered as he stared at him in alarm.
"Yes. Hermione grabbed Peter when he transformed and I sent my Patronus to protect us from the Dementors."
"Which is why it kept circling us after you had collapsed because you were still standing nearby, the true caster."
Remus whistled quietly. "Sirius definitely wasn't exaggerating when he said that you two had a row. This was after I was arrested?"
"The same night. We had just left the Ministry and you were locked in the cage with Tonks. They tried to make her leave, but that didn't go over so well."
"But you and Sirius made up?"
"Yes," he said as the last memory started to play. "I wanted to share that with you, too."
"Thank you, Harry."
Harry shrugged. "You should have been there so I wanted to make sure that you understood. We had a lot to say and he finally opened up about his past to me. I had no idea that Uncle Sirius had it so bad when he was a kid."
Remus nodded. "It was pretty bad, the way his parents treated him. The day his mum disowned him, Jamie told me that he showed up at his house, his lip bleeding and he was vibrating in rage. He was trying to keep a cool front, be the Sirius that we all knew, but as soon as Jamie opened that door, he broke down. Your grandmother simply pulled him into her arms, cradled him against her and told Jamie to go make up the bed for him. He never even asked to stay there, they just made him a home."
"I wish that I could have known them," Harry told him.
Remus bent his head to kiss Harry's cheek. "They would have been so damn proud of you."
Harry smiled as he and Remus watched the memory unfold. He and Sirius were arguing now about his role as Secret Keeper.
"But I knew that this time I would do everything in my power to protect you, even if it meant my death, I would do it. I understand why you're angry with me over the Dementors, but Harry, if I do anything to ensure your safety; to save your life, I made the right choice."
"I don't want you to die for me!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes narrowed in anger. "Mum and Dad died for me and… why am I worth it?"
Sirius moved over to his son, gripping his hand. "You are the most important person in my life. You have been since the moment that you were born; before that even, since the moment I learned that I was to be your godfather. I love you more than life itself. I do not want to die, Harry. I want to live a long life. I want to see you grow up. I want to watch you fall in love. I want to stand at your wedding, hold your first child in my arms, and watch you have the life that you deserve. But if at any point I do die, and my death is a direct result of you being allowed to have that life, I won't hesitate to die for you. You are too important. Not because of the prophecy; not because a Seer proclaimed that you're the one destined to kill Voldemort because that's bollocks. We are taking out his Horcruxes one by one and when it comes down to it, he will die. I believe that. But you have to live because you deserve it. You deserve a full and happy life."
"If you die for me, how am I supposed to have a happy life?"
Sirius reached over and gently brushed Harry's hair away from his face. "Because I love you and would wish you to have nothing but a happy life. I would hope you wouldn't spend your whole life grieving for me."
Harry stared at him for a moment. "Don't die, okay?"
"I'll try not to. Same for you, okay?"
"I'll try not to, too."
Remus grinned at him. "You two are both so stubborn and bullheaded, do you know that?" He hugged Harry tight again, kissing his forehead as he watched the end of the memory and they stepped out back into the sunroom. "Harry, you know that we love you and that we will be here for you whenever you need us and we'll be here for you even when you think you don't."
He nodded, hugging Remus tightly again. "I'm so glad that you're home."
Remus smiled and kissed the top of Harry's head. "I'm pretty glad to be home, too. I love you, little Prongs."
Harry smiled against his chest. "I love you, too, Uncle Moony."
Remus hugged him close for a long moment before he let go and smiled at him. "What happened after you and Sirius made up?"
Harry scratched his chin. "Well, he lectured me about the Time Turner and said that we had to tell Hermione's parents, which we did the next morning. Then he gave me the Pensieve and we watched three memories from it. The first one was the day that he brought me home from the Dursleys and gave me a bath. The second was my Dad singing 'All You Need is Love' to me in the nursery when Uncle Siri came to visit. And the last one was Dad trying to ask Mum out on a date. It was really embarrassing at how bad he was at it."
Remus chuckled. "He really was. It wasn't until the end of fifth year when we decided to get Operation Make Evans Fall in Love with Prongs underway that he smartened up."
Harry grinned. "You had an operation?"
"Oh, Harry, we had a whole game plan! But most of it involved your dad pulling his head out of his arse and growing up. I talked him up to Lily as we were pretty good friends and he stopped asking her out every two seconds, which helped. I think she missed it a bit to be honest, not that she'd admit to it, and she started looking back at him. He charmed her and they became friends and they fell in love."
Harry smiled. "I'm glad. I'm excited to see more memories of them."
"What other ones did you watch?" Remus asked him, his eyes skimming over the many phials in the chest.
"Just those three."
Remus' eyebrow rose as he turned to look at him. "Why? Don't you want to watch more?"
Harry nodded, his hands moving into his pockets. "It didn't feel right before."
Remus looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean it didn't feel right? I thought that you said that it was a good gift."
"No, it's amazing!" Harry said quickly, his eyes on his father. "I just… it didn't feel right looking at the memories without both of my dads there."
Remus' eyes softened. "Harry…"
He shrugged and smiled when Remus pulled him close for a hug, his fingers curling into Remus' shirt.
"I'd love to watch some of these with you. I love you more than anything and nothing in the world makes me prouder than being a father to you."
"I love you, too."
Remus hugged him tightly, kissing the top of his head. "I'd like to share one memory with you right now, even though Sirius isn't here, if that's all right with you?"
Harry nodded, his eyes twinkling in curiosity. "Okay."
Remus smiled and moved to the chest, his eyes sliding over the parchment to find the right numbered phial that he was looking for. He scooped up the memories still floating in the Pensieve, returning them to their respective bottles before he added the new one. He let out a slow sigh.
"With you learning how to become an Animagus, I thought that I should show you how your dad made the decision to be one and essentially changed my life."
Harry looked intrigued as he stepped towards the basin. "Is this when they found out that you were a werewolf?"
Remus nodded. "When they confronted me about it. It's one of the best memories for me because it was the first time in my life that I truly felt accepted for who I was. Will you watch it with me?"
"Yes."
Together they bent their head and fell into the memory.
"Rem? Can we talk to you for a minute?" Peter asked, taking a seat at the large table his friend was sitting at in the library, books strewn around him.
"Your mum and I always studied together," Remus told him, smiling at the image of a twelve-year-old-Lily studiously looking over her History of Magic book.
"Hey, Lily," he turned back to Remus. "So, can we talk?"
"Of course, Pete, what's going on?"
Peter shook his head. "No, privately."
Remus looked up from his Transfiguration homework. "I still have thirty minutes before curfew, Pete, can't it wait?"
"Please, Remus."
Remus sighed and began to pack up his stuff. "Sorry, Lily."
She waved him off, yawning as she stared at the pages blankly. "Bye."
Remus chuckled at Lily's struggle before he followed his friend out of the library. To his surprise, he didn't lead him to the dorm, but instead behind a mirror on the fourth floor. Remus gasped in surprise to find himself in a large cavern that seemed to lead out of the school before he grinned at James and Sirius.
"That's the hidden area where Hermione and I decided to hide our Animagus potion!"
Remus grinned at him. "Jamie decided to keep the potions there, too. How funny."
"I did," Peter said with a grin, dropping his own book bag on the ground. "It leads to Hogsmeade."
"Brilliant," Remus said, smiling at his friends. "Is this what you wanted me here for?"
James sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Partly. We did want to show you Pete's new discovery, but also we want to talk to you. Rem, we wanted to talk to you about how you've been feeling lately."
"I'm fine," he insisted, scratching his nose. "A little tired, I suppose. I have been studying extra hard lately."
"To make up for the school you've missed," James supplied. "Yeah, we get it. That's what we want to talk to you about, missing school."
Remus shifted uncomfortably. "Look, my parents need me home quite often. My grandmother is a handful and her memory loss is getting quite severe."
"You're grandmother died last year, Remus," Sirius pointed out. "Or that's what you told us."
"No, this is my other grandmother," Remus said.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "She died over the summer."
Remus opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He hadn't realized that he had used some of the same lies, but obviously his friends had been paying closer attention to him than he had realized.
"The scars on Sirius' back, we know those are from his super crazy mother and father. But you seem to collect more scars on a regular basis," James said, gesturing to the eyebrow, neck, and encircling his chest and back with his finger.
"Not to mention that you seem to keep gaining and losing weight with an incredible frequency that seems to always correlate when you have to mysteriously leave the castle," Sirius added, leaning back against the wall of the cavern, arms crossed in front of him and one leg up, foot against the wall.
"Plus I saw Madam Pomfrey hide you in a cloak and hurry you across the castle grounds the other night," Peter said. "My dad works for the Department of Magical Transportation, Remus. If you needed to go home that is the last way that you would be getting there."
James stared at his friend's large slightly panicked eyes now. "The new scar on your neck still looks fresh like you were scratched by a wild animal."
"It's only the end of November, mate, and you've already been out sick nine days!" Sirius exclaimed. "And it's been almost the same days each month!"
Peter slid down to the ground of the cavern, stretching his legs out in front of him. "We're just worried about you, Remus."
"Don't be," he said quickly. "It's nothing to be concerned about. I appreciate the fact that you're worried about me, but I'm fine. Honest."
"When you came to stay with me that last week of summer, Rem, even Mum was worried. She said that you looked much too peaky!"
Remus smiled at James. "Your mother is the nicest person that I have ever met. But in August I got one of those terrible summer colds and I was just coming off the end of it when Pete and I came to stay with you. You blokes are worried for nothing."
"What about the fact that last night at dinner, the house elves had a special plate of food prepared for you which was a steak and kidney pie with the steak made rare?" Sirius asked, eyeing Remus carefully.
Remus chuckled now. "Siri, I just like my steak rare and asked the house elves if they wouldn't mind preparing me my steak as so. Jamie does that ALL the time with his requests of treacle tart at every meal including breakfast!"
James grinned. "It was probably a bad thing when Siri and I discovered how to get into the kitchens last year."
Peter laughed, scratching his cheek. "But worth it."
"Look, I think you blokes are grand for worrying about me, but I'm fine, really! Can we just go back to Gryffindor Tower now?" Remus asked, grinning at them.
"Only if you answer a few more questions," Sirius insisted.
Remus sighed and unbuttoned his cardigan. "Fine."
James nodded at the fact that he was unbuttoning his jumper. "You rarely get cold."
Remus shrugged. "I'm hot-blooded. Dad's like that too; poor Mum is under three blankets and by the fire and Dad and I are just fine in a tee-shirt."
Sirius looked skeptical before he spoke. "Two weeks ago in Potions, Davies' potion exploded and when he jumped back in shock he fell back into the shelving unit and the whole thing came crashing down until you grabbed it and held it in place, pushing it back to the wall."
"So?"
"So, that shelf was full of ingredients and textbooks and weighs a ton! You have to have super strength to hold it in place and put it back the way you did."
"I hardly have super strength, Sirius," Remus said with a laugh.
James' eyebrow rose. "You are freakishly strong, Lupin, you must admit."
Remus shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Okay, so I'm a little strong, is there something wrong with that?"
"No, it's just weird," James said, his eyes moving over his friend's rather skinny arms and long legs. "Considering how skinny you are."
"And pale!" Sirius added.
"Sirius, you're paler than me!" Remus exclaimed, rolling his eyes now.
"Every single time you have to leave for some family thing, the day before you have a headache and you move slower like your muscles and joints hurt!" James exclaimed, trying to make his friend take him seriously.
Remus simply stared at his friends. He couldn't believe how much they noticed about him. "Just spit out what you blokes are trying to say!"
"Your eyes are the colour of golden whiskey, but when the moonlight hits them they turn almost a feral amber," Sirius said softly.
"You always have nightmares after you come back to school," James added.
Remus paled now. He closed his eyes and let out a slow sigh. "Everyone has nightmares. Sirius has nightmares almost as much as me."
"Um, rude!" Sirius said, making James laugh.
Peter spoke up then. "And Sirius said the other day, the one that really made us worry, Rem, those days you leave always correspond with the lunar cycle. It was a full moon."
Remus' fists clenched tightly at his sides and he grabbed his bag, turning to leave. Sirius grabbed his arm and Remus shoved him back, the strength surging through him. Sirius stumbled and James grabbed him. "I'm fine!"
James grabbed Remus' arm now, but to Remus' surprise he simply pulled him into a hug. Sirius wrapped his arms around both Remus and James and Peter hugged Remus from the back.
"You're not fine, Rem. You're not. And lying to us all of the time can't be easy," James said, his voice low by his ear. "You're our best mate and we love you."
"We really do, mate. Not to mention that you are the genuine to our genius!" Sirius supplied, with a smile and Remus chuckled into his shoulder.
"And we don't care if you howl at the moon," Peter added from behind.
Remus froze in their grasp and the three of them held him tighter.
"We know, Rem," James whispered.
Remus shook his head. "You — can't!"
Sirius pulled back and gripped Remus' face between his hands, holding him still. "We've known since the end of last year. Well, we suspected at the end of last year, but we confirmed it this year."
Remus pulled away from Sirius' grasp, but then James' hands replaced Sirius' on his face. "Let me go!"
"No," James said. "You're our best mate and we don't care that you're a werewolf."
The tears spilled down Remus' face before he could stop them and the sob that slipped out was so loud that he startled himself. His three friends engulfed him in a hug again and he clung to them, crying. When he finally managed to control himself, he pushed them away.
"How did you know?"
James grinned. "From all of the signs listed above, Rem." He pulled Remus down to the floor of the cavern and the three of them sat around him, a solid unit, each holding him. James held his left arm, Peter his right, and Sirius his ankles. "Right after finals last year, Sirius mentioned how it was kind of strange that you always seemed to have to leave suddenly around the full moon. Then after finals, the full moon came and you left early to go home. Over the summer, you looked peaky according to my mum and I remembered that the full moon was three days before you came over."
Sirius smiled, squeezing Remus' ankle gently. "We started looking closer at you for more signs and sure enough, end of September, the full moon, you had to go home because your dad was sick."
"Then when the October moon cycle came around, that's when we noticed the new scars and we started researching in the library," Peter said. "James said werewolf right away, but I told him you couldn't be because werewolves are vicious and dangerous creatures and you… you're nothing like that."
The tears spilled down his cheeks again and he wiped them away hurriedly.
"After my birthday, we kept a close eye on you," Sirius said, watching his friend. "We watched for all the signs. Your strength, the headache and slow movements, and when sure enough right before the full moon, you went home: We knew."
"We snuck under my invisibility cloak and we followed you to the hospital wing. We followed as Madam Pomfrey bundled you under this large cloak and led you across the grounds to the Whomping Willow tree. She immobilized the tree with her wand, hit something on the trunk and the two of you disappeared beneath it. Fifteen minutes later, she came out alone," James explained.
The tears streamed down his cheeks now and he tried to break free from his friends, but they tackled him, lying on top of his body to hold him in place.
"I'm sorry that I lied to you!" he exclaimed, struggling beneath them. "I'm a monster! Dumbledore knows… he planted the tree for me so that I could get away from people to keep them safe! I'll… I'll see if I can get a new room. Get — off — me!"
"A new room?" Sirius asked in confusion. "Why would you need a new room? Is that what's beneath the Willow?"
James glared at Sirius and turned back to Remus. "We still want you to be in our dorm, Rem."
Remus stared into James' hazel eyes. "What? You want to room with a disgusting vicious monster?"
James looked shocked. "Remus! How dare you say something so rude about Pete! You know how sensitive he is about his anger issues!"
Peter shrugged good naturally. "Don't make me mad. I'll turn into a big green killing machine."
Sirius laughed. "Hulk reference, nice," he said, grinning at Peter. "Which we would never know about if you hadn't shown us you Muggle comic book collection, Rem."
Remus stared at the three of them. They were just joking around as usual. As if a huge bombshell hadn't just been dropped.
"What the fuck is wrong with you three?" Remus exploded, pushing them away and climbing to his feet, his eyes flashing in anger. "You just found out I'm a bloody werewolf! Do you have any idea how dangerous I am? I'm a fucking monster!"
"You just look like Rem." Sirius said simply.
Remus' anger deflated instantly. "You — you don't care?"
James grinned at him. "We already know how great you are and funny and smart and seriously, mate, a right genius at pranks, but now we know your secret, too. So, you can be dangerous sometimes. You're a werewolf. So bloody what?"
"But — but, I'm diseased!" he spluttered.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Are you planning on biting any of us in our sleep?"
"What?" Remus said in confusion. "No, why would I —"
"Exactly," Sirius said, grinning at Peter. "Didn't Jamie just say that he was smart?"
Peter shrugged. "Maybe he lost a few brain cells when we tackled him to the ground."
James grinned widely and pulled Remus back to the cavern floor and the four of them huddled together. "And for the record, Rem, we don't think that you're a monster. You're just Remus. Our best mate."
Sirius suddenly cackled, holding his hand over his mouth in surprise. "Merlin! Rem, I just realized!"
"Realized what?" Remus asked, carefully. He was still in complete shock over the three of them just accepting him as if he was normal.
"Your name… mate, you were meant to be a wolf."
"What?"
"Remus Lupin the werewolf, mate, your name practically means Wolf John Wolf!" he said as he laughed.
Peter grinned, laughter escaping him. "Merlin! Sirius, you're right!"
Remus simply stared at them as they all busted into laughter. "My name is Wolf John Wolf and I howl at the moon," he said, grinning widely. "Son of a bitch."
James' eyes turned serious as he draped his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Hey, Rem, are you, I mean, when you, you know transform and whatnot, are you always alone?"
"Of course I'm alone!" Remus exclaimed, eyes wide in shock. "I would hurt someone, Jamie! I'd probably kill them! I don't even… I wouldn't even remember it!"
James nodded. "But only people, right?"
Remus looked bewildered. "What? What are you on about?"
A small half-smile formed on Sirius' face as he looked at James. "James, you really are bloody brilliant!"
Peter looked between the three of them completely confused.
James smiled at Remus. "Werewolves don't bite animals."
"What are you on about, Jamie?" Remus said in exasperation. "I turn into a fucking wolf! I can rip the throat out of any animal if I so choose to!"
"No," he said grinning widely. "I mean, if you bit an animal, say a rabbit for instance, they wouldn't turn into a rabbit-wolf hybrid."
"Well, obviously not," Remus said carefully, wondering why his friend was asking such a stupid question. "I mean, the rabbit would probably be dead, but no, it wouldn't become a werewolf."
"Animals are safe."
Peter still looked confused. "So, Remus can be around other animals when he's changed into a werewolf, so what?"
Sirius slapped Peter on the back, squeezing his shoulder. "Exactly what James is saying, Pete." He grinned at Remus. "If we were all animals you wouldn't have to be alone."
James nodded. "Precisely."
Remus didn't know what to say. The three of them were grinning at him widely with love and admiration and he had never felt so good about himself in his entire life. "You — you want to be animals so that I won't be alone?"
James grinned. "Yes. We'll learn to become Animagi."
"Sounds great! James, do you know if we get to pick our animal? I think I'd want to be something bloody fantastic like a mother fucking dragon!"
"Sirius, be realistic! How could we hang out with Remus in secret if you were a dragon?" James said, rolling his eyes. "That would be brilliant though!"
Peter grinned. "And you don't get to choose, Sirius. My Uncle Don is an Animagus and he's a raven. He said flying is the best thing that he can explain."
"Aces!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure that there's an old book on Animagus transformations in my father's study. I'll find it when I go home for Christmas."
James slapped his hands together with a grin. "Excellent! I can't wait to get started."
"You — you'd really do that for me?" Remus asked in shock, staring at them with wide eyes. "It's supposed to be incredibly difficult and painful to become an Animagus. It can take years! You didn't think this through," he said, his hands going up to his hair and making it stand on end as he looked even more frazzled.
Sirius and James simply smiled as Sirius spoke. "It's for you, Rem, we don't have to think about it."
James grinned at Sirius. "Maybe you could be a griffin, those are pretty majestic!"
Peter laughed. "Also hard to keep quiet about on the school grounds. I'd like to be a giraffe."
"You just want to be taller, midget," Sirius said as he opened up James' invisibility cloak and wrapped it around the four of them.
Peter sighed. "Yeah, more height would be great."
"We're only twelve, Pete, be patient," James said on a laugh. "Oooh, how great would it be to be a lion or a giant bear?"
"Wicked," Peter said, tugging Remus under the cloak. "Come on, Remus, we have to get back to the dorm, it's way past curfew."
Harry stared at Remus as they exited the memory. "You were so surprised."
"I still am," Remus admitted. "I couldn't understand why they just accepted me and I was so grateful for them. You accepted me much the same, six years old and you found out I was a werewolf and you reacted the same. You told me we were the same when you traced my scars and then your own. Kids accept things in ways that adults don't."
"Uncle Siri decimated that bill, Uncle Moony. That horrid woman can never again get it passed. It's been voted out of the Wizengamot."
Remus smiled. "I'm grateful for that. But the world isn't going to stop treating me differently. The Ministry of Magic has an entire department devoted to keeping werewolves registered and to keep their eye on them. Dumbledore… me being at Hogwarts is something that I'm going to be forever grateful for and that petition… I don't know how you put that together, but thank you."
"It was all Ginny," Harry told him. "It was right after you had been arrested and she went to Percy and together they talked to the whole school. Everyone loves you and no one wants to see you leave."
Remus smiled. "I am honoured by that. Truly. I love teaching and when I resigned, it was the worst feeling to know that I wouldn't be able to go back."
"Well, now you can. Everyone is just as excited for Defence Club as well."
"I'm glad," Remus said with a smile. He watched as Harry put the memory away and closed the chest. "By the way, Nymphadora told me that you went and stayed with her and cooked in our new kitchen. It means the world to me that you tried to take care of her while I was gone. I know that she's always been a big sister to you and I guess I never thought about what me being with her would be like for you, how that would change… there's an age difference between the two of us and sometimes I wonder if she regrets choosing me."
"Never," Harry said. "She would never regret it. You're her entire world, Uncle Moony, and the only way that you could make her any happier is if you asked her to marry you."
Remus blushed a little at that. "Marriage to a werewolf is something else entirely, Harry. I don't think that I'm ready to subject her to that."
"Umbitch's law didn't pass, Uncle Moony."
"Umbridge, Harry," Remus corrected with a smirk. "I see that Sirius is rubbing off on you entirely too much. I know that her bill didn't pass, but now that I'm officially a registered werewolf, if she marries me, she's going to be getting a lot of flak and… she's a beautiful, young, and vivacious woman and I don't want to completely ruin her life."
Harry rolled his eyes. "She'll hex you if she hears you saying that."
"Probably," Remus admitted. "I've never loved anyone the way that I love her and I hope she knows how important she is to me. I mean… living with her… I know it's only been two days officially, but it's everything that I have ever wanted. She makes me really happy."
"Good," Harry told him. "You make her really happy, too, and when you went to prison she was a bit of a mess. She won't appreciate me telling you so, but she was. Charlie came to stay with her, knocked some sense into her, and helped her finish up the cottage to move in. She is like a big sister to me, but she's also my friend and my family just as much as you are."
Remus smiled. "Yeah, she is."
Harry smiled. "So, listen, about my Animagus transformation, Uncle Siri keeps trying to give me a nickname, said it's mandatory for my animal, but that's not true, is it?"
Remus shook his head. "No. McGonagall doesn't have a nickname for her Animagus, does she?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "According to Uncle Siri it's Minnie Meowly."
Remus laughed. "Minerva will kill him if he calls her that."
"And he keeps calling me Pup, Padpup, and Pupfoot and he tried to name Ginny Puffpatch."
He chuckled. "I kind of like Padpup. I think he just misses calling you Prongslet to be honest. You didn't say, what animals have your friends become?"
"Ginny's a red panda, which is why Uncle Sirius said Puffpatch because she's a little puffball. Ron is a wolverine, Neville's a badger, Luna's a hare, and Hermione's a red fox."
"All wonderful animals," Remus said with a smile, looking thoughtful for a moment. "The New Marauders proudly present Digger, Hopper, Athena, Check, Padpup, and Puffpatch."
"No," Harry said, laughing now. "Check?"
"Ron likes chess," Remus said simply. "I don't know, I just thought of them now, I didn't say they were good."
Harry smirked at him. "Just Harry, Uncle Moony."
Remus nodded, wrapping an arm around his son. "All right 'just Harry,' whatever you say."
~ ASC ~
Ginny ran through the garden when she recognized Theo walking down the drive. She hurried down to hug him, kissing his cheek.
"Theo! You actually came!"
He grinned at her and hugged her back. "I actually came. If my father finds out that I came here, he'll disown me," he told her, looking up at the ramshackle house that was The Burrow.
"How was the party?"
"Pretty great. Blaise made a toast, his mum cried. Pretty typical."
She smiled at him. "Come on, my mum wants to meet you."
He smiled as she took his hand and led him up the drive to the house and they stepped into the kitchen. Ginny was incredibly surprised that Theodore Nott had even agreed to stop by. She hadn't really thought that he would, as much as she wanted him to. He was so nice and she had really enjoyed spending time with him over the last few weeks of school. Their nightly kitchen dates had been a lot of fun and she felt like she had really gotten the chance to get to know him. He was different than the persona he often presented: The pureblood Slytherin, the Nott heir. He was funny and a bit of a smart-arse and he genuinely liked her.
Mrs Weasley was cleaning up their lunch dishes and Ginny grinned. "Mum, this is Theo, Theo, my mum."
Theo extended his hand to her, a small smile on his face. "Hi, Mrs Weasley, thank you for having me."
"Of course, dear, you're more than welcome!" she said, brightly. "Ginny show him to Ron's room, he can stay on the cot for the night."
Ginny nodded and led him upstairs. "Too bad you can only stay for the night, but I guess you're heading off to the Malfoy's?"
Theo nodded as he followed her up the winding staircases that seemed to stop and go in strange places. "Yeah, Draco and I have plans. Plus his dad is taking us to the World Cup in August."
"Ooh, I'm so jealous!" she said as they reached the top and she pushed the door open to Ron's room.
Ron was lying on his bed, the newest edition of Which Broomstick open in front of him. "Nott," he said, steely.
Theo grinned at him. "Weasley."
Ron glared at his sister. "I can't believe that you made friends with a Slytherin."
"Don't be a git, Ron."
Ron simply pulled his magazine up in front of his face.
Ginny led Theo back through the house, showing him where the bathroom was before they headed outside by the pond. She dipped her feet into the water, smiling at him. "Sorry my brother's such a git, he was born that way."
Theo smirked at her, pulling off his own shoes and socks to dip his feet in the water. "I can handle Weasley, don't you worry."
She smiled at that. "You better watch out for Fred and George, too, they're sneaky. Percy has basically moved into his room when he's not at the Ministry so, he's probably safe."
"The Ministry?"
She nodded. "He was lucky enough to get hired right out of school. He's working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He really loves it and his boss, someone named Crouch, who he talks nonstop about."
Theo grinned. "Sounds interesting."
"Not even a little bit," Ginny told him, laughing. "But it's what he's always wanted, to work in the Ministry."
"Doesn't your dad work in the Ministry too?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah, but unlike Percy, Dad has no ambition in terms of politics and government. Dad's fascinated by Muggles. He's Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Department and he loves it."
"As long as he loves it that's all that's important."
"Very true," Ginny told him. "So, tell me about the party."
"Expensive," Theo said with a grin. "I swear even the plates were bejewelled. Everyone was wearing fancy dress robes and enough jewellery to feed a small world country. Stephen was actually there."
"Really?" Ginny asked in surprise when she recognized the name of Theo's ex-boyfriend. "Why was he invited?"
"His grandmother was and I guess he was staying with her."
"Did you talk to him?"
Theo shrugged. "He tried to apologize to me. Said something about how I confused him and it wasn't that he didn't like me, but that he was pretty sure he liked girls."
"Well, he can like both if he wants to," Ginny said, simply.
"I said as much to him, but he looked rather scandalized at the thought."
Ginny laughed. "Poor Stephen."
Theo grinned. "Then I tugged him into the wine cellar and we snogged."
"Even after he said all that?"
Theo shrugged. "I was very persuasive with my mouth, even more so when I was on my knees." She blushed and he laughed. "Does the fact that I like to suck cock embarrass you, Ginny?"
"No," she said. "Not that you like to do it, but that you feel the need to tell me about it."
He chuckled. "Well, when you decide to do it for the first time you can tell me all about it if you want to. I'll even give you some pointers." She turned scarlet and he grinned. "What else have you been up to all summer?"
She shrugged. "Spent some time with Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Neville. Harry was worried about you spending time with me, seemed to think that you had intentions."
He grinned, his eyes twinkling in delight. "What did you tell him?"
"That if you were going to have intentions towards anyone it would be him and he got this adorably confused look on his face."
He smirked. "Bloke's protective of you."
"We've been friends a long time. I think he sees me as a little sister that he has to take care of sometimes."
"Sorry, that's rough."
She shrugged. "He's one of my best friends and just because I think he's rather gorgeous doesn't mean that he has to like me as anything other than a friend. And I kind of saw him naked by accident the other day."
"What?" Theo exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Is he hung? I always imagined Potter was hung with massive balls of steel considering how many times he's survived against the Dark Lord. So, is he hung?"
Ginny flushed. "I only saw the back of him."
"Well, that's just an awful shame and avoidance of the questions. I mean, you could still have seen his dangly bits between his legs. Is his arse at least as nice naked as it is in his Quidditch uniform?
Ginny flushed and bit her bottom lip and Theo laughed. "As I was saying, I definitely don't see him as one of my brothers and that's on me, he's one of my best friends. I told him if I wanted to snog you or anyone else that it was my choice, not his."
"Well, if you ever want to plant one on my lips, I won't say no, as long as you know that I'll be picturing one of your brothers instead."
She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.
"No really, that picture I saw in the living room of you with that redhead with the long hair and the fang in his ear? He's sexy."
"That's Bill, He's a curse breaker in Egypt."
"I'd let him break me in any time."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "He's not gay."
Theo shrugged. "That's an awful shame."
"And he's going to be twenty-four in November."
"Maybe I like older men."
"You're incorrigible."
He grinned. "So my friends are always telling me. How have you been sleeping since you came home?"
"Good. You?"
"So-so," he admitted. "My father's in Croatia staying with a friend and I'm hoping that I don't even have to see him this summer."
"I wish that you were closer to your dad, it sounds rather lonely."
Theo shrugged. "If you knew my father you'd disagree." He smiled at her. "So, what else is there to do around here?"
End Author's Note:
To answer a review on the summer timeline. The whole Pettigrew and Time Turner issue took place within the last week of May. Harry came home from school in June; Remus was released at the end of June. Harry is going to America — next chapter — he will be there for his birthday. Hope this helps.
Thank you for reading and please review!