A/N: Hello all! Hope I didn't take too long. Anyway, this is just kind of a fun chappie that doesn't really move the plot along much, but it just kind of happened that way, ya know? Anyway, hope you enjoy it. I know I said maybe four more chappies, but I'm not gonna make a statement like that again 'cause chapters like this pop up out of nowhere. Relevent but not really. Anyway...thank you guys so much for the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'll try really hard to get the next chapter out soon. Now - on to the story!

Untitled - ch. 17

Remus and Hermione walked all the way back to the castle in silence. She was having a hard time coming to terms with everything he'd told her. Yes she understood why he'd done what he did, but that didn't make it any easier to wrap her head around. Finally they made it to the corridor where their portraits were.

"So I'll see you at dinner then?" Remus said as they stopped.

"Sure," Hermione said quietly, barely looking at him. "Dinner."

She said her password so quietly even he barely heard it and went through before he could say anything else. He looked after her for several minutes before turning back to his own portrait, the bear looking at him expectantly with an impatient expression.

"Alright, alright," he said. "Quidditch."

The portrait opened and Remus went inside.

"Hey," Harry said from the sofa as Remus came in.

"Hey," Remus said with a sigh. He walked around and sat on the sofa next to Harry.

"Went that well, huh?"

"It went well enough. She said she understood what I did and that she wasn't upset about it. I thought she was going to be, but she was pretty calm about the whole thing."

"But..."

"I don't know. She was so quiet on the walk back. Like she wasn't sure what to say to me."

"Well she probably wasn't," Harry said, resting his hand on Remus' knee. "I mean, you just gave her all the details about you being her father and that Sirius was her other parent. She had a lot to think about."

"I suppose so," Remus said, covering Harry's hand with his own and squeezing gently. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For trying to make me feel better," Remus said with a small smile.

"Did it work?"

"A little."

"Just a little, huh?" harry said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Well what if I did this?"

Without warning, Harry leaned in a gave Remus the most passionate kiss they'd shared so far. It was a few moments before either of them could speak.

"How about that?" Harry asked, still a little breathless. "Better now?"

Remus took a few more deep breaths before he answered.

"I don't know," he said finally, with a little smirk on his face. "I'm still feeling a little down."

"Oh really?" Harry said, matching his smirk. "Well what do you think I could do to help you?"

"Well for starters," Remus said as they began to inch closer to each other. "You could kiss me again."

"I think I could handle that," Harry said just before they crushed their lips together again. He was just pushing Remus down onto the sofa when, suddenly, the portrait burst open and Ron came in.

"You will not believe what happened," Ron said, not realizing at first what he'd walked in on. When he did, he stopped dead in his tracks. "I was talking to Dumbledore and I'm interrupting something aren't I?"

"No. Well, yes," Remus said as they both sat up properly. "But it's not something we can't pick up a little later."

"I really did not need to know that."

"So what's the big news, Ron?" Harry asked, hoping to keep Ron on the subject so he would leave again. Soon.

"Oh yeah!" Ron said, the huge smile returning to his face. "I was talking to Dumbledore, and he said that, as flying instructor, the school buys me a broom. You know, to do demonstrations and to referee Quidditch matches. Stuff like that. He said it was best to use my own broom so I would be comfortable with it. Anyway, he said the school usually buys the newest model out there."

"Wait a minute," Remus said as Harry caught on also. "That means you'll get..."

"The brand new Firebolt model!" Ron finished for him, almost shouting it. "And, um, I'm to go get it today before we head back home tomorrow. So I can use the school's credit. Anybody wanna go with me?"

"Hell yeah!" Remus and Harry said together as they bolted off the sofa.

"When do we leave?" Remus asked and Harry smiled at how childlike Remus became at the mention of new brooms.

"We're supposed to floo from Dumbledore's office to the Leaky Cauldron in about half an hour."

"How about we meet you there?" Harry asked, trying not to sound like he was trying to get rid of him.

"I see," Ron said with a knowing smile on his face. "That's fine. Don't be late though, or I'll leave without you."

"We won't," Harry said as Ron closed the portrait behind himself.

"That wasn't very nice," Remus said as Harry all but pounced on him.

"Are you telling me," Harry said between kisses. "That you didn't want to leave so we could get back to what we were doing?"

"Harry," Remus said, suddenly serious and pushing Harry back a little. "I'm not ready for...uh..."

"It's okay," Harry said when he didn't finish. "Neither am I. We won't go any farther than we're both comfortable with."

"In that case," Remus said, looking at his watch. "We have twenty-eight minutes to test our comfort levels."

"We'd better get testing then," Harry said, pulling Remus in for another kiss as they landed themselves back on the sofa.

Ron stood next to the fireplace in Dumbledore's office and looked at his watch. He was early but he was so excited he couldn't help it.

"Ready to go, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked, coming down his stairs.

"Almost," Ron said, turning to him. "Harry and Remus are going with me so I wanna wait for them."

At that moment, Remus and Harry walked through the door, cloaks in hand.

"Looks like you don't have to wait," Dumbledore said with a smile. Ron nodded.

"Are we ready?" Remus asked as he and Harry walked up to Ron.

"Yep."

"Here is a note from me," Dumbledore said, handing a folded note to Ron. "Tell them that you are using the school's credit and that this is the authorization."

"Thank you, Sir."

"You're welcome," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Now. Through the floo with you."

"Ron smiled and grabbed a handful of floo powder. After a quick glance at the others in the room, Ron threw down the powder and was instantly engulfed in familiar green flames.

"Diagon Alley!"

Remus hated traveling by floo. He almost always managed to land on either his arse or his face. Sirius had once called him the worst 'floo-er' in the world. A technical term he was sure only Sirius used and wouldn't even be looked at as real word by anyone else. However, this time, he had managed to emerge from the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron gracefully and, most importantly, upright. He was grateful for this as Harry had gone ahead of him and was waiting, and watching, on the other side.

They made their way down to Quality Quidditch Supplies and Remus honestly thought Ron wasn't going to make it. He seemed to be fine but every minute or so he'd bounce on the balls of his feet and giggle shamelessly. Remus thought they'd both go mad if they didn't get there soon. When they finally did get there, Ron let out an undignified squeal and ran into the shop, leaving the other two men behind.

"That squeal wasn't very manly, Ron," Harry said when they finally caught up with him."

"I don't care," Ron said, not taking his eyes off the broom that was soon to be his. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Remus and Harry nodded as the clerk came over to them.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Ron said, still never taking his eyes off the broom. "I want that one."

"The Firebolt?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," the clerk said, sounding a bit unsure. "And how do you plan on paying for it, sir?"

"Credit. From Hogwarts," Ron said, taking Dumbledore's note from his pocket. "Here's the authorization from Headmaster Dumbledore."

The clerk took the not, performed an authenticity spell, and then nodded and unlocked the case.

"Alright," he said, taking the broom out of its case and handing it to Ron. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," Ron said, taking the broom in a kind of daze.

"C'mon Ron," Harry said as the clerk walked away. "Let's get back to the castle. It's almost time for dinner."

Ron nodded as they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

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