Disclaimer: Yes, I am J.K. Rowling and I own everything in the world. Except… Wait… Oh, right! I'm not, and I don't.
A/N: Yay! Almost 2.000 words! Enjoy! And something I should have said a long time ago: I have no beta, so forgive any mistakes, please.
Branwen777: Thanks! Sorry for the delay.
Serpent91: Thank you for reviewing and enjoying!
HyenaWolf: Thanks, here's more Sirius for you!
EsScaper: Well, more SiriusHarry in this chapter, finally. And Remus shows more of his anger here, not to mention Sirius. Thank you very much for reviewing.
Save-A-Broom-Ride-A-Chaser: Thanks!
maraudermania: Well, here is some HarrySirius! Thanks for your review.
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i'm a misfit: It is hard, but Sirius is already making it better! Thanks for reviewing!
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The next few days were very nice for Harry, for a change. He spent his time with Remus and Charlie at the common room, listening to the dragon keeper's stories of what a 'joy' (his own words) it was to transport 4 dragons to Britain for the Triwizard contest. Apparently, the Hungarian Horntail also slashed Charlie on his shoulder and back, leaving a (another) white scar. Harry, for his part, shared the whole philosopher's stone story from his first year and the Chamber of Secrets story from his second year. Charlie demanded to see the scar from the basilisk's tooth. Remus too told quite a few tales about himself after he left Hogwarts (as a student), including a close call he had with a female dementor (to what Harry promptly added "They have genders?") that decided he should be her mate. It goes without saying that he was teased for about two hours; in which point he made it quite clear that if Charlie didn't stop teasing, he wouldn't walk straight for a week; and if Harry didn't stop, the next love potion incident would involve the gryffindor and Filch.
The three of them continued to talk about little things, including (a subject brought on by Remus' threat) Harry and Charlie's theory on the likelihood of an affair between Filch and Mme. Pince. As Remus laughed, he told them that he once caught the librarian and the old and very female divination teacher snogging in her little library booth — which brought conjectures about an affair between Mme. Pince and Mme. Pomfrey. Since their talk was so loud, they didn't hear someone calling out for Charlie outside, nor the sound of the portrait opening to let someone in.
"Charlie, I've been looking for you everywhere!" Sirius cried, panting from running up the stairs. "Your bro-" the gray-eyed man saw Harry looking at him with wide eyes, and promptly climbing up to the dorms. He sighed. "Your brother is out from St. Mungos. Your mother asked me to tell you that they'll be at the Burrow," the animagus finished dejectedly.
The red-head smiled sadly at him. "Thanks. I'd better go see them," he said getting up and heading to the portrait hole.
"Wait!" Remus asked, getting up as well "I'll go with you. Now, you," he added looking pointedly at Sirius, "go talk to Harry. But don't push the subject. And for Merlin's sake, be honest with the boy!" He gave Sirius a quick hug and went on his way, hand entwined with his boyfriend's.
Sirius took a deep breath, looked at the stairs leading to the boys dorm rooms, exhaled and made a beeline to Harry's dorm.
When he reached the door, it was open, and Harry was sitting on his bed, reading a rather large book. However, his eyes were clearing unmoving and one of his hands had clenched into a fist. He was also softly biting his lower lip.
"Harry," Sirius started, tentatively. "We have to talk."
Harry's eyes closed and he inhaled deeply. "No, we don't. There's nothing for us to talk right now."
The older man sighed, walking to the bed and sitting down next to the hurt gryffindor. "Yes, there is. You know there is," he murmured, stroking the mane of messy black hair next to him. Harry, however, kept his eyes down. "I've missed you, Har. I really have."
Finally, Harry looked up right into his eyes. "It doesn't matter. I can't go back to living with you. I can't keep seeing you every time I look around, or..."
The animagus braced himself. "Or what?"
Again, Harry looked him in the eyes, piercing his soul. "Or I won't get over you. 'Till then, it's best that I don't see you, alright?"
"No! It's not alright!" Sirius answered bitterly. "It's not alright that I don't get to see you! It's not alright that I don't get to open your door late at night and watch you sleep! It's not alright that I don't get to hold you!" he said, getting up and pacing through the room. "And it's certainly not alright that I'm so fucking confused about you right now," he added quietly.
Harry looked at him, perplexed. "Confused? Confused how? You know what? It doesn't matter! I'm sorry that my feelings make your life so unbelievably unbearable," he said dryly, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm sorry that I love you, you stupid mutt! God knows I've tried not to!"
Sirius looked at the youth, enraged. "And do you think I like it? That I like needing you so much?! I don't! That I like that I started to have feelings for you? That I like being the pervert that fancies his best friends' son, his own godson, for fuck's sake!"
The older man opened his mouth to continue, but Harry's mouth crashed on his on a bruising, deep kiss. A velvety tongue plunged into his mouth and stroked his lower lip, coaxing a moan out of the animagus. He wrapped his arms around Harry, bringing them as close as possible.
When they interrupted their fierce kiss, the green-eyed gryffindor laid his head on Sirius' shoulder inhaling deeply. "I've dreamed about this for so long…"
Sirius sighed. "I know. I- I'm still not sure Harry. I'm not sure of almost anything. I had no idea that I had these feelings. I don't know when they came up… And, most of all, I have absolutely no bloody idea what to make of this," he said, gesturing to the two of them.
Harry looked at him affectionately, with a smile. He knew where the man was coming from; he did. He had been there a few years back. "I know," the young man said, stroking one of Sirius' cheeks with his thumb. "Talk to Remus, lo- Sirius." He almost said love there! Better keep a close watch on his mouth. "You can talk to me too, of course. But it wouldn't be fair, I'm absolutely biased and will most certainly always tell you that this is all great and we are meant to be together," Harry added, reasonably. "He will help you, he has some degree of outsight, after all."
It was Sirius' time to look at Harry tenderly. He brought the youth into a tight hug and muttered almost in the shell of his ear, "I don't know if you make it all easier or harder being so much more mature than myself."
Harry looked up at him, pleasantly noting that Sirius was just a few inches taller than himself. "Do talk to Moony, though. Ron and Hermione helped me understand this all so much better. I needed them then, you need him now." He quickly pecked Sirius' mouth and went to sit on his bed. Sirius just nodded to himself and started for the door. "Wait!" Harry interrupted him. "I've gained some- err… experience with Remus and Charlie these past few days, and… Well, just make sure to bloody knock before you enter any room, bathroom, broom closet — or any closet in general, for that matter — where they might possibly be."
The animagus let out a deep, infectious chuckle that soon had them both laughing. "Thanks for the tip, love. Good night." And he was off.
Harry let his head hit the pillow with a thump, smiling smugly, but happily, at Sirius endearment for him. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know!" he said loudly to the room.
Suddenly the his pale ghost friend appeared through a wall and answered, "Why do I care, I'm already dead! Except… Do you reckon I'll be turned into a cat?" There was a moment of silence before the two friends burst into hysterical laughter.
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The Burrow was utterly full of Weasleys (and one Lupin) there to celebrate the safe return of Bill to their lives. Ginny used a spell make her enormous hand-drawn banner, that was hanging from the ceiling of the kitchen, to sing 'Welcome Home, Pretty Unicorn', her favorite song as a child. Charlie had gotten his older brother a hat he asked Remus and Harry themselves to ward against any kind of evil — the boy had an amazing talent for warding spells.
"This is from Harry and me. Wear it next time!" he warned Bill, with a smile.
Ron, who was still home for the holydays, had joined their father to find a suitable gift. They bought together an auto-translating rune dictionary; one that lit up Bill's face when he received it, and earned the both of them tight hugs and the subsequent legendary Weasley blush. The younger Weasley boy then went to talk to Charlie to find out how Harry was doing.
When the twins, however, were about to let out their own gift — a set of mummy-shaped fireworks to scare Bill's curse-breaker friends — Remus caught them by the back of their robes and roughly pulled them into a nearby room. When they were thrown into a wall, they looked back and saw Remus with a feral glint in his amber, now almost golden, eyes. The man's canine teeth were showing and he was growing softly.
"How dare you, you little shits!" That made Fred start to shake and George look wildly for a way out of the small room. There was none. "If you ever hurt my cub or my boyfriend again," the werewolf said, grabbing their collar and lifting them so their feet were hanging several inches from the floor. "I will personally make sure you understand exactly why werewolves are considered dark and dangerous creatures by the Ministry," Remus growled at them, threateningly.
At that moment, Fred was able to see Sirius staring from the door. "Sirius… Help us!"
But the animagus was looking at them with narrow, dangerous eyes. "Remus said you hurt his cub," he started, with icy calm. "The only cub he has is Harry. But you couldn't possibly hurt my Harry, since you are well aware that I will rip apart anyone to do so." Remus by now had dropped them to the floor and went to stand by his best friend, both pair of eyes shining with anger. The twins were absolutely speechless, and Fred specially looked like he was about to wet his pants.
Just then Charlie entered the room, looking for his boyfriend. Finding his brothers backed up in a corner he muttered, "Out. Now!" at them, and they left, leaving him to deal with two fuming men.
The red-haired dragon keeper took Remus' hands in his and kiss them, muttering in an almost inaudible voice calming words that Sirius couldn't hear. When Charlie decided Remus was more calm, he enveloped the older man in his arms and let him rest his head on his shoulder. Sirius, however, wasn't getting calmer (since Charlie wasn't a black-haired, green-eyed, 16-year-old destined to save the world), and simply said coolly, "Explain."
Charlie and Remus looked at each other and, after a few moments, the lycanthrope sighed. "It's better if I explain," the latter said. "Let's go to Grimmauld Place. I'll tell you what those…" Remus curled his hands into fists, and Charlie tightened his hold on the man, offering his soothing presence. Regaining a little control, the tawny-haired werewolf said, "What they did. Let's go to Grimmauld Place."
Answering with a curt nod, Sirius disapparated. Charlie turned Remus to face him. "Want me to go too?" he asked simply.
Remus smiled, albeit just a bit. "No. I want to have a living boyfriend when this whole ordeal is over." With a quick, but passionate kiss on Charlie's lips, Remus disapparated.
The red-head sighed. "Good luck," he said to no one in particular and made his way back to the kitchen, where his mother was sure to be serving a banquet and screaming her lungs out at the twins.