Resolutions

By Neurotica

Twenty

Remus sat in a chair across from Dumbledore's desk, staring at his feet, feeling quite miserable. It had been three days since he'd woken up in the hospital wing with James and Sirius arguing at the foot of his bed—three days since he'd found out what Sirius had done. He'd made good on his threat of moving out of the Marauders' dormitory—he'd been sleeping on a common room sofa since Madam Pomfrey had released him from her care. James had asked him dozens of times since then to move back in, but he stubbornly refused. And of course the rest of Gryffindor tower wanted to know why he was sleeping in the common room, but Remus wouldn't tell them anything—only that Sirius Black was the world's biggest pillock. Naomi had gotten the truth out of him rather quickly, though—she had a way of getting people to admit things, and Remus wasn't sure if he liked this about her or not just yet. But the next time she'd seen Sirius, she'd put a Bat-Bogey hex on him that still hadn't worn off completely. That had been a day and a half ago. She'd wanted to do worse, but Remus had pulled her away, trying to keep her from getting detention. But if Flitwick hadn't come around the corner at that moment, he probably would have let her curse Sirius worse.

Dumbledore had sent for Remus during his potions lesson that day. He'd wanted to discuss what had happened on the full moon night a week ago, but had wanted to wait for Remus to get caught up with his classes first. Remus' parents had been informed that something had happened involving Remus in his transformed state and a fellow student, and that both were fine. His parents would be arriving the next afternoon to speak with Dumbledore as well. Remus wasn't certain why, though; were they going to discuss Remus' removal from Hogwarts? If that were the case, Naomi wouldn't need to curse Sirius—Remus would do it himself.

"I've noticed something rather abnormal over the last few days, Remus," Dumbledore finally said quietly. Remus looked away from his shoes and into the Headmaster's face. "Admittedly, the only chance I have to see you and your friends is at mealtimes and when you're being escorted to this office by Professor McGonagall, but I've noticed that you've not been particularly social with Sirius Black recently. This is bemusing, because for the last six and a half years, you were rarely spotted outside Mr. Black's company." Remus resisted the urge to raise an incredulous eyebrow. "I was curious as to why you've not spoken with him..."

Remus thought it was quite obvious why he was no longer speaking to Sirius, and couldn't figure out why Dumbledore was asking about this. "Because he used me, sir," he finally answered. "He used the fact that I am what I am to get back at someone he loathes. And personally, I don't appreciate that very much."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Quite understandable," he said softly. "Might I ask what you think you are, Remus?"

Remus averted his eyes, hesitating to answer. But Dumbledore would get it out of him one way or another. "A monster..." he said, his voice barely audible.

The Headmaster didn't reply for quite some time, and Remus looked back at him, only to find him gazing calmly back. He sighed sadly. "I'd hoped that would not be your answer," he said quietly. "Why do you think yourself as such?"

"Because that's what I am, sir," Remus said, feeling disgusted with himself. "Once a month, I have the power to tear a person apart, a power that I nearly demonstrated last week."

Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "Remus, we all have things about us which we are not proud of—I myself have many. For example, I do not wish it to be common knowledge that I am an avid collector of Muggle street signs—" Remus raised a surprised eyebrow. "For one, it is against the law, I have learned, to take a street sign from a road. And I believe my colleagues would think I've gone a bit mad if they were to get word of this."

"Sir," Remus said, trying not to laugh at Dumbledore's revelation. "No offense, but I think my secret is a little more serious than stealing street signs."

"No offense taken, my boy," Dumbledore said, inclining his head slightly. "I will say this, however; our secrets are only as serious as we make them out to be. I have never heard you call yourself a monster or any of the other things you call yourself in your mind. In fact, the only time I've heard you speak of your being a werewolf was the day I delivered your Hogwarts letter. There have been a few instances in between that we've discussed the arrangements made for you on full moons, but other than that, you've made no mention of this as far as I know—until today, that is. Remus, you mustn't allow one event shape your entire being. If that were the case with everyone, we would all be monsters."

Remus shook his head. "I could have killed Snape last week," he muttered. "And then the Ministry would have had me killed."

"But did you kill Severus Snape or even harm him?" Dumbledore asked. "No, you did not. What happened this past full moon was highly regrettable, and could have been avoided had Mr. Black used a bit more common sense. But the fact is that it is now in the past. Mr. Snape, though somewhat bitter and perhaps a wee bit embarrassed, is perfectly fine, as are you. Let me ask you this, Remus, what is your definition of a 'monster'?"

Remus sighed, biting his lip as he thought of a suitable answer. "A being that kills without second thought, and without regret," he began very quietly, his voice trembling. "Something that doesn't care if what they kill is friend or foe. Someone who has the power to kill and uses it to his advantage..."

"A very precise definition," Dumbledore said approvingly. "Now, of those examples you've just given, under which do you fall?" Remus looked down at his shoes again. "I should like to add to your definition, if I may, and say that a monster does not care to love anything or anyone. A monster does not laugh at a good joke, or cry when it is sad, nor does it pull pranks with its friends in the Great Hall under its professors' noses." Remus cracked a smile. "Unless my eyes have forsaken me, you've been seeing Miss Naomi Watts for some months, am I correct?"

Now Remus really did smile as he looked up. "Yes, sir," he said quietly.

"And does Miss Watts know that you are a werewolf?" Remus nodded. "What are her views on this particular subject?"

"She doesn't care," Remus said softly. "She's known since first year, and she still stays with me."

"If I may ask a far more personal question, do you love her?"

Remus didn't think Dumbledore would have asked the question if he hadn't already known the answer. He nodded. "Yes, sir, I think I do."

Dumbledore smiled. "You are not a monster, Remus," he said gently. "Far from it. Once a month you may become something you have no control over, but every other day, you are as normal as any other student in this castle.

"I am going to tell you something, Remus, that I do not normally share with students—I try not to show favoritism if I can help it." Remus' brow furrowed in question. "I am proud of each and every student that has ever walked the halls of Hogwarts during my time as headmaster and a teacher. Yes, there are a few students whom I wish would have made different decisions regarding their lives, but it is impossible to have an effect on every aspect of every student's life.

"I have had the great pleasure of teaching some of the most brilliant minds in the wizarding world. There have been students whom have gone far beyond my expectations, and I often marvel at how they were able to do so—some of them came from far worse situations than you did, Remus. I have had students whom have not had the blessing of a family who loved them and would put everything on the line for their well-being. I have had students who have gone their entire seven years without making one lasting friendship. You, Remus, are among the students I am most proud of."

Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "When I first met you, you were shy and lacking the experience of socializing with those in your peer group. But I watched you grow, and in a matter of months, you were surrounded by people who enjoyed your company as much as you theirs. Your professors have only the best things to say of you and I've even seen younger students approach you for help in their own studies.

"I've argued your calling yourself a monster, Remus, because I know for certain that you are not—you would not have the friendships or respect you do if that were true. However, you will face times in your life when you will doubt what I've said today. Others will try to convince you that you are beneath them in some way—you will face prejudice. But if you remember nothing else of this conversation, Remus, please remember that our choices define who we are—you have the choice of whether you become the monster you believe you are. And if you ever doubt what I am saying, look no further than Miss Watts' opinion of you, or even Misters Potter, Pettigrew, and Black.

"I understand that you are quite upset with Mr. Black at the moment, but I ask that you do not let this one event with Severus Snape ruin what I know to be a very strong friendship. You have a very bright future ahead of you, Remus; many good things will happen to you. Remember this when the bad try to bring you down. Do not forget there are people who love you, and will support you through everything—you are not alone, Remus. And you never will be."

As he turned a corner, heading for the guest quarters, Remus was unaccountably nervous. His breakfast with Dumbledore and Snape had been mostly silent, except for Dumbledore commenting on the taste of the eggs. He'd left the other two wizards to talk—there was much more Dumbledore had to sort out with Snape than there was with Remus. But now he was going to face Emmeline. He'd have to tell her what he'd done—what would she say?

Before he was ready, he was facing a portrait depicting an arctic scene, with a large penguin on an iceberg. "Fish breath," Remus said, unable to hold back a smile at the ridiculous password. The penguin saluted him with a fin and the portrait swung open.

Naomi, who was on the sofa in front of the fire, snapped her head to the portrait hole as Remus climbed through. Her jaw dropped. "You're back," she said finally in a disbelieving whisper.

"Lovely to see you as well," Remus said, looking around for his wife and best friend. He was happy to see Naomi, but even more he wanted to get the other two reactions out of the way. He walked over to the sofa and looked down where Mira was grinning toothlessly up at him. "She's gotten bigger," he said quietly, reaching down to tickle the baby girl's stomach.

"Every day," Naomi said with a chuckle. Remus sighed and looked around again. "Sirius is at work," she said, answering his unasked question. "And Emmeline is still asleep. I don't think she even closed her eyes until moonset this morning..."

Remus winced. "I should let her sleep, then."

"You'll do no such thing," Naomi said sternly. "That woman's been going mental, worrying over you. Now you get your bony behind in that bedroom and kiss her senseless."

He raised an eyebrow at her, his lips twitching. "I don't remember ever you being this bossy..." But he did as he was told. He stood in front of the closed door he knew to be the bedroom, his hand on the doorknob. As he turned it, he glanced over his shoulder at Naomi, who was watching him closely with a small, encouraging smile. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, entered, and closed it quietly behind him. He silently moved around the bed to where he could make out his wife's form, even in the dark. Gently, he sat down beside her on the edge of the bed, and just watched her for a minute, one hand moving automatically to her belly. With his free hand, he moved a stray strand of hair on her face to tuck behind her ear, then traced her jaw line softly. She sighed a little, her eyes opening slowly.

Remus and Emmeline stared at one another for long moments before she realized what she was seeing. "Remus?" she gasped, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Tell me this isn't a dream."

He smiled a little. "This isn't a dream," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her deeply. She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. He used the hand formerly on her stomach to balance himself on the bed so he wouldn't fall on her.

Their kiss lasted long, blissful minutes until she pulled away, signaling the need for air. She sniffed as she looked him over. "Are you okay?" she asked in a shaky voice.

He nodded, running his fingers through her hair. "I'm fine," he said quietly.

"Thank god," she sighed.

Then without any warning, she slapped him hard across the face. With wide, shocked eyes, he tentatively felt his stinging cheek. "Don't you ever do that to me again, Remus Lupin," she threatened.

He gulped, feeling slightly fearful at the look in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said lamely. "I'm so sorry."

After that, the Lupins held each other wordlessly for what felt like hours. Explanations would undoubtedly come later, but right now they didn't matter. All that mattered was two people very deeply in love, reassuring one another they were together again.

Word travels very quickly through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, so by the time Remus and Snape had entered Dumbledore's office, someone was already on their way to tell Harry Potter—but not before telling ten other people, of course. When the news finally reached Harry's ears, it had mutated slightly, as gossip nearly always does.

"Exactly how is it possible," Ginny said to Lavender Brown in a tone of strained patience, "for anyone to ride a dragon into Hogwarts? And besides, Remus has no reason to want an army of vampires."

"No, he prefers an army of grindylow," Harry said, grinning to Ron. The redhead snorted into his eggs, and Harry turned back to Lavender. "So other than vampires and dragons, did Remus seem all right?"

"How should I know? I didn't see him," Lavender said. "I heard this from Susan Bones." She was called to the end of the table by Parvati Patil just then, leaving the Weasleys and Harry looking at each other oddly.

"Do you really think he's back? Remus, I mean," Ron asked, sipping his pumpkin juice.

"I don't see why Lavender Brown would bother talking to me if he wasn't," Harry said, looking up at the staff table, hoping to see Dumbledore. The Headmaster wasn't there, but the next best thing was walking past the Gryffindor table. "Where is he?" Harry asked hastily, reaching out to grab the arm Naomi wasn't using to carry Mira.

Naomi raised an eyebrow at him. "Good morning, Harry," she said cheerfully. "It is a lovely day, isn't it? Yes, I'm well, thank you for asking. And how are you?"

Harry rolled his eyes, his arm dropping limply at his side.

The witch chuckled. "No need to be so impatient. Remus is with Emmeline," she added quietly, adjusting Mira so she could take hold of the finger Ginny extended to her. "And as far as I could tell, he's just fine—his knee seems to be bothering him a little, but he made it back to Emmeline's room on his own."

Harry nodded in relief. "D'you reckon I should go see him?"

"Later," Naomi said. "I imagine he and Emmeline have a few things to work out first. But I won't let him forget about you."

"Thanks," Harry said.

Naomi winked. "Now if you'll excuse us, Mira and I need to eat. See you lot later. Stay out of trouble."

"See you," the three Gryffindors called as Naomi turned away from them.

"So it's Saturday," Ron said, finishing off his breakfast. "It should be a Hogsmeade weekend, but we all know that's not going to happen this year. I say we go see Hermione."

Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother but smiled. "There's a surprise," she said, gathering her books. "He's right, though; it would be almost criminal to just let her read all day without annoying her."

Harry laughed, making a bacon sandwich with his toast, and stood. Ron led the way out of the Great Hall and down the corridor towards the hospital wing.

They found Hermione predictably sitting up in her bed with a large book open on her lap. She looked up as her friends entered and smiled. "Morning," she said in a hoarse but cheerful voice, setting her book aside. Ron repeated the sentiment, kissing her quickly but thoroughly, and sitting beside her on the bed. Harry and Ginny pulled up chairs to sit next to them.

"How're you feeling?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged. "All right, I suppose. Madam Pomfrey says I'll be allowed to return to classes in a few days, once she runs a few more tests."

"More tests?" Ron asked incredulously. "She's already done about a hundred already."

"Well, she's never seen a case like this before, and she wants to know all the side effects before letting me leave," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "I honestly don't mind—it's rather interesting, learning how my body has changed."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "There is nobody else in this entire world who would say that except you, Hermione." Harry and Ron laughed; Hermione rolled her eyes. "And I suppose you want us to bring you all the work you've missed in the last—what is it?—a week?"

"No, I've already got them," she said. "Professor McGonagall brought all my work by last night so I could start getting caught up. I only wish I could be in Professor Black's classes—is she really teaching you how to tell if a corpse is an Inferius?"

"Yes, and it's very creepy, I'll tell you," Ron said, shivering. "She had these pictures last lesson, and... Ugh, I can't even think about it."

"She's only preparing us for what we could possibly face outside of Hogwarts," Harry said reasonably. "Sirius told me a few weeks ago that there've been at least a dozen reported Inferi sightings, and two people have actually been killed because of them."

"It's still creepy," Ron said. "Dad showed us this film once on the telly-thing he had in the shed—it was a horror film, remember, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes, and I also remember how you couldn't sleep without that little ducky nightlight in your room for a week."

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing while Ron turned bright red. "Shut it, Ginny," he growled at his smirking sister.

Harry continued smiling once everyone had stopped laughing. This had been the first time since Mr. Weasley's death that Ron had even been able to mention his father without becoming thoroughly depressed right afterwards. Ginny had her moments of depression as well, but for the most part she was coping with her father's death rather well.

He looked over at Hermione, who was smiling fondly while Ron tried to get rid of his blush. She didn't look as horrible as he thought she might. There were three scars on her face, all running vertically from her forehead to the bottom of her cheeks — all three were jagged and swollen-looking. She had more scars on the rest of her body, mostly on the right side, where Greyback had attacked her. So far she'd shown no odd effects besides having a larger appetite than she normally did and wanting her meat cooked rarer. On the full moon, she'd been a little grumpy and had gotten very tired at moonrise. But after the first ten or fifteen minutes, when a werewolf would have finished its transformation, she'd gone back to normal. Madam Pomfrey was very impressed by her progress.

Hermione had been obviously worried about the reactions of her friends seeing her scarred face, particularly Ron—though they'd seen the results of the attack before she'd even woken up and gotten themselves semi-used with Hermione's new appearance. When she'd first seen herself in the mirror, she'd burst into tears, but Ron had been right there to comfort her, and there'd been no further comment from her on the scars on her face.

"Oy, Harry," Ron said. "Toss me that box of Bertie Bott's."

"Didn't you just have breakfast?" Ginny asked.

Ron shrugged as he took the box from Harry. "I'm a growing boy, I need my nutrients."

"Oh yes, Ronald," Hermione said sarcastically. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are just bursting with nutrients."

"They are!" Ron insisted. "Look, a nice, fruity orange-flavored bean." He popped it in his mouth and gagged. "Hot pepper," he gasped, reaching for Hermione's goblet of water and taking a deep gulp.

"How do you put up with him?" Ginny asked Harry exasperatedly.

"Same way as you," Harry replied with a grin. "Trained patience and lots of discipline so you don't actually hit him."

Ron threw a bean at him. "I heard that, Potter. You're lucky my sister likes you, otherwise I'd have to hex you."

Harry snorted. "I'd like to see you try, Weasley. I'm a Marauder, mate, anything you can do to me, I'll do twice as bad to you."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ginny. "They're hopeless," she said.

Ginny nodded. "Maybe we could sell them at the circus for a few galleons."

"No, we'd have to pay the circus to get them to take these two."

Ginny laughed. "Well, my money bag is rather light this week, so I guess we'll just have to keep them, eh?"

Hermione smiled at the two wizards who were now arguing about Quidditch. "Guess so," she said amusedly.

Sirius nodded hello to his Aurors as they took down the charmed chains around the Hogwarts gates and let him enter. He'd noticed the Anti-Apparition jinx that had been cast in Hogsmeade and just outside Hogwarts had expired—he'd set Johnson the task of recasting the jinxes before setting off quickly across the grounds. He wasted no time inside the castle, heading towards Emmeline and Remus' quarters, hoping his best friend would be there rather than the hospital wing—Sirius had had enough of the hospital wing for the time being. He muttered the password to the portrait of the penguin and was halfway through the hole before the portrait was all the way open.

"Is he here?" Sirius demanded of his wife who seemed to have just returned to the room with Mira herself.

Naomi rolled her eyes at him. "What is it with you and Harry today? Don't either of you know how to properly greet a person?"

"Naomi, please," Sirius said quietly.

The witch smiled a little. "He's with Emmeline," she said.

Sirius nodded, crossed the sitting room in three long strides, knocked once on the door, and opened it. He seemed to have interrupted the Lupins mid-snog, but made no apologies. "All right, Remus?" he asked his best friend as he pulled away from his wife.

Trying to keep his lips from twitching, Remus nodded solemnly. "All right. You?" he said.

"I am now," Sirius replied, entering the room further. "You wouldn't believe some of the things I've heard this morning. I'm glad to see at least one of them isn't true." He sat in a chair beside their bed and looked Remus over with a critical, worried eye. "You look horrible," he said bluntly.

Remus chuckled a little as Naomi and Mira entered the room as well. "You should see the other guy."

Sirius' smile faded. "Well, I haven't seen him personally, but I have read a report of someone who has," he said quietly. Remus suddenly looked away, pulling his hand from Emmeline's. She looked at him in surprise, but he avoided everyone's eye.

"Remus," she said gently, taking one of his shaking hands from his lap and holding it tightly in both of hers so he couldn't pull away from her again. "What happened out there?"

Remus gulped, reluctantly looking around at his wife and friends. He opened his mouth a few times to speak, but closed it quickly each time, unable to form the words. "Not now, okay?" he asked them pleadingly. "Soon. Tonight maybe, just not right now. I've not even really wrapped my own head around it yet."

"Take your time," Naomi said quietly. The others nodded.

Remus nodded back. "Thank you. Tonight, after dinner, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Dinner that night was an interesting affair. Harry had been permitted to join his family instead of eating with the rest of the school—the advantages of being Head Boy, he'd said with a grin. After Harry's initial moments of seeing Remus, nothing was mentioned of where Remus had gone or what he'd done until after dessert.

Remus and Emmeline sat together on the sofa, the witch leaning back comfortably in her husband's arms, while Sirius and Naomi shared an armchair, and Harry and Mira lay on the floor, Mira sitting on Harry's chest while he supported her. They all waited for Remus to begin his story, not wanting to rush him. It was his story to tell, and he had to get his words formed before he could tell them. Not to mention he was probably deciding what to keep in and what to omit.

"I suppose you all know already where I've gone, right?" he said quietly, staring into the fireplace. They all nodded. "I didn't even really have a plan," he admitted. "I just walked into the Underground, gave the werewolves a fake name and story, and that was it, I was welcomed into the pack."

"Just like that?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just like that," Remus confirmed with a twisted smile. "The only condition of my staying was that I had to spend the night with Greyback at an undisclosed location and survive."

Harry sat up cross-legged, placing Mira in his lap. "And how did you manage that? Sirius said you didn't take your Wolfsbane..."

Remus shook his head. "I only had the one dose before I left for London," he said. "And one dose doesn't do much of anything. Personally, I think there were many reasons that I made it through—I'd stolen a small phial of Felix Felicis from Slughorn's storerooms to take with me and I took it right after Greyback and I portkeyed to our destination—"

"You portkeyed?" Naomi asked, surprised. "How in the hell did you manage that? No one down there is a wizard, right?"

Remus chuckled shortly and told them about Snape's sudden appearance in the Underground. Sirius growled a few choice words about the other wizard that caused Harry to look at him appreciatively and Naomi to slap him in the chest. "For a bit, I was worried he would give me away—he'd recognized me, see," Remus continued. "But if he was going to give me up, he would've done it before the portkey activated."

"See, he can be decent when he wants to be, can't he?" Emmeline asked, turning her head to look at him.

"I'll get back to you on that," Remus said, kissing her forehead. "Anyway, I took my Felix Felicis and waited for the moon to rise. My only concern was whether the potion would still work when I was transformed. It did, and in the oddest way... The wolf was in control as always when I don't have my Wolfsbane, but not so much that my mind was completely lost. I was still able to think, and recognize the position I was in. Greyback, however, had taken the Wolfsbane, so he was in full control. Now, I'm not sure if he recognized me in my transformed state or not, but he challenged me. In the werewolf pack of the Underground, Greyback was the Alpha wolf and my wolf recognized that—I should have submitted to him, but the side of me that was still human refused. I remembered why I was there in the first place—Greyback was a threat to everyone I, and by extension, the wolf on that particular night cared for and loved. It didn't take much more than me remembering the twins were about to be born before the wolf took control of the situation."

This was the part of the story Remus had dreaded telling his family. They looked at him with mingled expectance and reluctance. Emmeline even turned around slightly to face him. He licked his lips, wasting time before he had to admit what he'd done. "I don't even remember most of the fight. The beginning is clear, but once we wrestled each other out into the field, it's all a blur until moonset," he said in a barely audible whisper. "I've seen what werewolves can do to one another—I just never thought that one day I'd be the one to do something like that. There was hardly anything left of him—he was still transformed; when a werewolf dies in his transformed state, he remains that way," he explained, adopting his professor tone briefly. "Never before have I ever wanted to kill a person. I never wanted to end a life, but I couldn't sit around and wait for Greyback to attack another innocent person. What if in a few years he'd gotten a hold of one of my sons? What if he turned one of them the way he turned me? I had to end it..." His tone was almost pleading, as if asking his family to forgive him for what he'd done, and not to hate him.

"Remus," Emmeline said, placing a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "I will love you no matter what you do. What happened last night... Well, I can't say I'm too sorry to hear it. Greyback was a monster, not a human being. He's done things you would never, not even in your wildest dreams, even think about doing. You're not a vindictive person by nature, but when those you love are in danger, you can't be expected just to watch them all be hurt. Greyback deserved what he got and more. I'm just so relieved that you came back to me."

Smiling slightly, Remus bent his head to kiss her. He looked around to Sirius, Naomi, and Harry. "So none of you think I'm some horrid beast now?" he asked, looking ashamed.

"Oh, I think you're a horrid beast, Moony," Sirius said lightly, earning raised eyebrows from everyone. "What, don't tell me you lot haven't thought it... When he gets up in the morning and he hasn't had his coffee, he's rather scary."

Remus stared at his best friend for a moment before bursting out laughing. He was followed quickly by Emmeline, Naomi, and Harry.

Once they were finished laughing, Sirius said, his amusement forgotten, "Honestly, Remus, I've never seen you as a horrid beast or any of that rubbish. At this very moment, I see you as a right hero for what you did. There is no one in the world mental enough to have gone down there and challenged that sick bastard, but you did, and you lived to tell the tale. I'm quite proud of you."

"Thank you, Sirius," Remus said sincerely.

"Let me guess," Naomi said. "You've been worrying all bloody day about how we would react to this, haven't you?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "You think you know me so well, don't you, Naomi?"

"Not think, dear, I know..." Naomi smiled. "I've heard all this before—all of your self-deprecating speeches... And if you start in on that again, I'll have to do what I did when we were dating."

Remus raised his eyebrows high, his lips twitching. "What, you're going to get on my lap and kiss me until I'm blue in the face? Because I think my wife and your husband may have something to say about that."

Naomi glared at him. "No, you git. I'll hex you. Badly."

"Point taken." Remus grinned. "Anything you'd like to say, Harry?"

Harry thought, trying to keep Mira from grabbing his nose. "Only that you're all insane and it's a wonder I've lived this long."

"You made us insane, Harry, don't ever forget that," Sirius said gravely.

"How have I made you insane?" Harry asked. "You raised me, remember?"

"I remember quite clearly, thanks," Sirius said.

"If you two are quite done," Remus said, grinning, "I have a rather odd craving for double chocolate chip cake with fudge frosting and a bottle of Butterbeer."

Emmeline chuckled. "How have you not died of a sugar overdose?" she asked rhetorically, sitting up so Remus could go to the fireplace and call for the house-elves.

"Anyone up for a game of chess?" Sirius asked, extracting himself from the tangle of arms and legs he and his wife had made on their chair.

"I am, if you take this monster you call a daughter," Harry teased.

"Oy," Sirius said in mock-insult. "She's much better-behaved than you were at that age."

Emmeline rolled her eyes at Naomi, who grinned back. "We do love them, right?" Emmeline asked.

Naomi chuckled before responding. "That's what they tell me. Though sometimes I wonder..." she trailed off, watching as Harry took out his wand and cast a Jelly-Legs jinx on Sirius. The Auror responded by waiting for Remus to take Mira from his godson and hitting Harry with a tickling charm.

Remus ducked out of the way of Harry's return jinx and sat by Emmeline. "They're both completely mental," he said matter-of-factly.

"That they are, my love," Emmeline said, smiling at Mira, who was about to fall asleep in his arms. "But at least we're mental enough to enjoy it."

Remus chuckled.

A few minutes later, the fireplace filled with flames, and a house-elf exited, carrying a tray of butterbeer bottles and a large cake. Harry didn't see him in time and returned fire to Sirius with a hair-growth charm. Instead of hitting the Auror, the cake was the victim; and instead of it growing hair, the entire cake exploded, covering everyone in the room in chocolate.

"Harry Potter blows up a cake," Remus said after a few shocked, silent minutes. "And the world goes on as though nothing at all has changed."

Sirius walked over to Harry, running a finger down the boy's cheek, getting a large amount of frosting on it, and tasted it. "Really good cake..."