Alright! Two days in a row! Thank you so much for the reviews of the last chapter. I'm glad to hear you guys are liking it. So...quicker than I expected...here is the next chapter! Same rules as before apply. Not mine. No beta. Yada yada yada. Like before, I hope to get the next chapter typed and up in the next couple of days. And who knows...if I get such wonderful reviews as I did for the last chapter, it could be tomorrow! Imagine...Three days in a row! It'd be a first for me. :-) Anywho! On to the story!

Untitled - ch. 8

The next morning found Harry eating breakfast at the kitchen table alone. It was a rare morning when he actually woke up before Hermione and he couldn't wait for her to find out. She usually got up extra early for a week after she'd find him like this. Like she expected it to happen more than once or twice a year. While he was eating, there was a knock on the door. When he opened it, he found Dumbledore standing on the other side.

"Hello, Harry!"

"Good morning, Sir. Come in," Harry answered, standing aside to let him in.

"Thank you, dear boy," Dumbledore said, walking in. "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you. I just finished breakfast."

"Oh. Where is everyone?"

"Still asleep. I just woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep."

"You even managed to awaken before Miss Granger?"

"Yeah. Doesn't happen often," Harry said with a smile which Dumbledore returned. "What can I do for you?"

"I was actually here to speak to all of you."

"Well, give me a moment and I'll go wake them. That way you don't repeat yourself."

"That's fine, Harry. Thank you."

Harry went upstairs and woke Hermione first, then Ron. He found himself standing outside Remus' door much sooner than he'd hoped.

"Go on, Harry," Hermione said as she passed. "Wake him up."

Harry nodded and opened Remus' door a crack.

"Remus?" he said quietly, creeping into the room and over to the bed. "Remus?" he said a little louder and reaching to shake Remus' shoulder. "Rem..."

He never finished calling a third time. Half-way through he found himself flying through the air and being pinned to the bed. Not entirely a bad thing but he could tell Remus was not quite awake and didn't know who he was.

"Remus it's me! Harry!"

"Harry?" Remus said, finally waking up. When he realized their exact position, he scrambled out of bed. "Harry! What are you doing in here?"

"Dumbledore's here. He wants to talk to us. I didn't mean to startle you," Harry said in a rush.

"It's okay. Sorry I...uh..." he said.

"Don't mention it," Harry said before realizing he was still in Remus' bed. He jumped up and all but ran to the door.

"I'll...uh...I'll meet you downstairs."

"Sure," Remus said as harry bolted out the door.

When Harry came downstairs, Hermione and Dumbledore were talking about her University courses and Ron was sitting off to the side looking completely uninterested.

"Everything alright, Harry?" Hermione asked when she noticed Harry looked a bit flushed.

"Fine. Um...Remus will be down in just a second. He just needed to...uh...wake up a little."

Hermione and Ron shared a look and Dumbledore just nodded. As Harry was sitting down, Remus came into the room.

"Sorry," Remus said, finishing buttoning up his shirt.

"Quite alright," Dumbledore said. "It is rather early in the morning. Lemon drop?"

"No, Thank you," Remus said, sitting down.

"Now I have you all here," Dumbledore started, putting his lemon drops away. "I wanted to invite you all to Hogwarts in October for a talent show."

"A talent show?" Ron asked, clearly unimpressed . Dumbledore had organized these things before and he never liked the outcome. He always ended up singing and he always fell flat on his face.

"Well, more of an exhibition. Sort of, what muggles call open mic night. Anyone who wants to perform may do so. It is open to professors, students and anyone else in attendance that night."

"So you're inviting us so we can perform?" Hermione asked.

"I'm inviting you because I thought you might need a night out. It falls at the same time as your break from school, Hermione. You do not have to perform if you attend, but I believe it will be fun."

"Well, I'll be there if I don't have to sing," Ron said and Harry agreed.

"Me too," Hermione said.

"Fine, fine. It will be October 12th and if you do decide to perform, all you have to do is give your name to Minerva. The time will be owled to you when we figure it out."

"Sounds good," Remus said as Dumbledore stood.

"So none will be performing then?" Dumbledore asked as he began walking to the door.

"Absolutely not," Ron said, very loudly, almost immediately.

"Probably not," Harry said next.

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "I'll have to think about it."

Dumbledore nodded and turned to Remus.

"Remus?" he said, stopping and turning around.

"I dunno, Albus. It's been a long time."

"It would be a shame if you don't. I do miss hearing you. Will you at least think about it?"

"Sure. I'll think about it."

"Good," he said, resuming his walk to the door and opening it. "I look forward to seeing you all there. Good bye."

"Bye," they all said together as Dumbledore shut the door behind himself. As soon as the door shut, Remus found all eyes on him.

"What?" he asked, walking over to the couch and sitting down.

"You never said you could sing!" Harry said.

"No one's ever asked."

"When?" Ron asked.

"Years ago. When I was in school."

"And?" Hermione said, sitting down in a chair across from him.

"And what? I suppose you want to hear all about it then?"

He sighed as three heads nodded yes.

"Alright," he said and Harry and Ron sat down as well. "There's really not much to tell. When I was a fifth year, James, Sirius and myself decided we'd start a band. The three of us could play guitar. Really play, not with magic. Peter was going to play the drums for us but he had Absolutely no rhythm so we had to charm them. We had out little band until we graduated. Every now and then, Dumbledore would have one of these shows or have a party and he always asked us to play. It was quite fun."

"Why didn't you keep playing? You could have been famous," Ron said.

"Well, everyone got jobs and we really didn't have time anymore. Besides, it was common knowledge around here what I was, even then. Most people could spot a werewolf outside the school. We never would have made it very far with a werewolf for a lead singer."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at the floor.

"So you were lead singer then," Harry asked.

"Yep. Sirius said he'd rather play guitar and James couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. That left me. So I sang and sometimes played, Sirius played and sang backup and James just played. We were pretty good."

"I think you should sing," Hermione said.

"I don't know. It's been so long."

"C'mon. We could play for you if you want. Me and Hermione both play guitar and Ron can drum. It'd be great!" Harry said excitedly.

"I'll think about it. Okay?"

"Okay," they said in unison.

"Harry," Hermione said. "How did you know Dumbledore was here?"

"I was up," Harry said smugly.

"You were?" she almost squeaked.

"Yep. I'd just finished breakfast."

"Why were you up so early?" Remus asked.

"I dunno. I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. So I figured I'd just get up."

"Well," Hermione said, standing up. "I have some reading to do for school."

"Hermione, you don't go back to school for weeks," Ron whined.

"Exactly!" she said as she started up the stairs. "I'm running out of time!"

Remus and Harry chuckled as Ron shook his head.

"Well," Ron said, getting up. "I'm gonna go finish sleeping. It is way to early to be awake."

"It's almost nine," Remus said, looking at his watch.

"Exactly," he said, going up the stairs.

"You going back to bed too?" Harry asked.

"No. Once I'm up, I'm up to stay. You?"

"Nah. Not sleepy. Probably take a nap later."

Remus nodded and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Well," Remus said finally, standing up. "I think I'm going to go find some breakfast."

"Hey Remus," Harry called, stopping Remus at the kitchen door.

"Yes?" he asked, turning around.

"You...um...you wouldn't want to...uh...would you...would you want to go to Dumbledore's show together? With me?"

To say Remus was shocked would have been the understatement of the century. Could Harry really be asking him out? He took a deep breath before answering.

"You mean, like a date?"

"Yeah. I mean, unless you don't want to call it that. We could call it something different if you..."

"Harry?" Remus said, cutting him off. Otherwise he'd have gone on forever.

"Yeah?"

"I'd love too," he said, smiling sweetly.

"Yeah?" Harry said, sounding a little relieved. "Great! That's great."

"I'm gonna go eat now. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Se you later."

Remus smiled and walked into the kitchen.

"Yes!" Harry said quietly as soon as Remus had left, pumping his arm in the air and trotting upstairs.

"In the kitchen, Remus was just sitting at the table, staring off into space. At least that was how Hermione found him about twenty minutes later.

"Remus?" she asked, getting no immediate response. "Remus are you okay?"

He slowly nodded his head, then slowly lifted it up to look at her.

"What happened?" she asked, sitting down beside him.

"Harry..." he said, not quite sure how to approach the subject of her best friend asking someone of his age on a date.

"Harry? What happened with Harry?"

"He..." Again he stalled, not sure exactly what to say.

"He what!?" she asked, becoming concerned.

"He asked me out."

"He what?" she said after taking a second to breath.

"He asked me out. On a date."

"And?"

"And what?" he asked, a little confused.

"What did you say?"

"You're alright with it?" He wondered if she'd still be alright with it if she knew the truth.

"Of course I'm alright with it! I'm the one who told him he should do it!"

"You did?"

"Well, me and I think Ron talked to him as well. Seems he is good for something."

Remus smiled, taking a deep breath.

"So," Hermione continued after a minute. "You said yes right?"

"I did," Remus said.

"So where are you going?"

"He asked me to go to Dumbledore's show with him."

"Not till then? That's more than a month away!"

"That's perfectly fine. It'll probably take me that long to get used to the idea of going out with one of my best friends' children."

"You'll be fine. You should ask him to go see a movie or something before that."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Hermione. I thank you for your concern but he asked me for the show and that's when it will be. If we both are comfortable with going out earlier then that, then maybe we will. But for now, let it be."

"Okay," Hermione sighed. "Sorry to be pushy."

"It's okay. You only want Harry to be happy."

"You too. You've both lost so much. You deserve to be happy."

"Well thank you. Sometimes I wonder if I remember what it's like to be happy."

"I saw you happy. Nine years ago when you found out Sirius wasn't guilty."

"Yes and two years later he was taken away again. Happiness is something I've learned not to get used to."

"The fighting and dying is over, Remus, and Harry isn't Sirius," Hermione said, standing up. "Don't be afraid to be happy. It is allowed. Even for you."

He smiled and nodded as she left the room and wondered if maybe she was right. It is okay to be happy and damned if he wasn't going to give it his best shot.

Well, there it is. Remember, reviews are love AND they get chapters up faster!