Aha! My dears! I am back! Back with a vengance! And omfg. I am soooo sorry that I haven't updated in... ever. I promise you with all my heart that I will NOT drop this story, even if I want to I intend to finish it. I'll try to update quicker and I'll try to take on less creative projects at once, (writing a novel, making movies, painting, and of course school.) They're overpowering my fic writing time majorly.
Salazar Slytherin's Heir: Awww. thanks. my story loves you too.
Jensindenial3516: I now rock? Aw. I do believe I always rocked but oh well. better late than never. And isn't rl/hp just adoreable?
Danielle: . . . wtf PIM? Wtf? whatever. thank you. and don't whip me anymore, Im working on it! okee?
Talons: Heh, well I'll be honest. I love Snape eh, ignores 6th book and I'm planning on making him somewhat friendly to him. they wont be best buds or anything, but on good terms. Also, Sev will mostlikely act sort of awkward around him, like he doesn't know HOW to act.
Flamegirl22: Loved "finding comfort" ignore the bastard who flamed you. If you get flames find a way to laugh at them and roast marshmellows over their idiodic and juvinile heat. Everyone love s'mores!
blah: poppers are fun. and bad jokes are better. sometimes... I wish Americans had better traditions. we're so boring.
Eowyn23: GASP! slaps self sorry. I swear I knew that. See, I miss-spelled it one time and the spell check entered it as the correct spelling and changes it automaticaly. I'm working on de-stupifying it.
Serena R. Snape: thank you! and for the snape and harry thing. look to my responce to "talons" (four comments up)
ravel queen: indeed. a necessity. but anyhoo. I wont give away the ending to where Harry is going to live wink. And yes. this chapter. there will be almost completely Harry and Remus. and SLASHY-NESS AHOY! Boy crushes are just too fun to write.
queenofdakittys: OH I'm sorry to worry you as I no doubt worried you about THIS chapter. But I swear, I don't plan on abandoning this. I only abandon fics if only like... one person ever reviews. I HATE it when people abandon fics so I'll steer clear of it. And lastly. this is AU. I love Sev. He is not evil in this fic. no voldie puppets of doom for him.
sweetangel99 : You again! hah. Don't worry. I love your reviews, I love long reviews and yours are always long. keep em coming. ramble away. now to respond. Yes. England rocks, and Planes doom and dispair. Camden town the fucking best. And My life non-existant. sorry. However, my brain writers block of agony.
sami1010220: heh. that's right. Sara Connor, distracting kids form school work one chapter at a time... (yes, my name is Sara Connor. And yes... I have heard terminator jokes so much I could hurl.)
MAJOR THANKS TO MY LOVELY BETA SOLITARY POISON!
Disclaimer: Sara has no money,
Sara has no job,
But she is still funny,
and yet she's a slob.
So hears the deal.
Sara don't own shit,
her owning HP? puh-leeze Get real!
Just read and deal with it.
&HP&
Harry sighed and flopped in an almost graceful manner into an armchair by the fire. He brought his knees up to his chest and stared at the fire dully and he was so caught up in his staring contest with an inanimate object that he didn't notice Remus enter the room. If he had then he would have seen Remus freeze and admire him for a brief moment before catching himself, therefore stopping the whole "but he could never like me" thing our boys are experiencing. That would completely ruin our story though, so Harry conveniently didn't look up. Remus walked quietly into the room with a concerned look crossing his face as he noticed how forlorn Harry looked.
"Hello Remus." Harry said calmly without looking up, causing Remus to jump. He would never get used to Harry being able to sense his presence so easily. Remus shook the thought from his head and continued forward.
"Hello Harry, why so blue? You look like you just had your heart broken." Remus replied with a calm smile as he sat in the armchair just next to Harry. Harry smiled a bit without looking from the fire.
"No. It's more of a gradual heart ache." He responded jokingly with a small sigh. The joking bit was lost on Remus and he began to internally panic.
"I see." Remus started slowly. 'He likes someone? And they don't like him back? Are they mental? Who could he like? The only people he's met so far are Dumbledore (ew no.), Snape when he delivered my wolfs bane a week ago (Harry only saw him for two minutes so no), Hermione (I severely doubt that.) And me and Sirius... no... Bloody hell!' "Who is it then?" He asked boldly once he found his voice again. Remus watched Harry frown and blink a few times. Seconds later he was faced with those brilliant green eyes.
"Who's what?" Harry inquired with a tilt of his head that hade him far more adorable than should have been legal.
"Well the person who has got you in heart ache, naturally." Remus answered. The response he got was not what he expected, Harry stared at him for a moment before breaking into laughter.
"What? No! That's not what I meant! I wasn't referring to a person causing me heart ache!" The younger boy got out through laughs.
"So... Wait, you're not pinning after someone?" Remus asked with surprise on his face.
"No!" 'Except you that is, but I'll refrain from telling you that little tidbit.' Harry thought to himself, he didn't see the relief flood Remus' golden eyes.
"So what's wrong?" Remus asked calmly, trying to not let it show that he was internally doing the happy dance of relief. Harry's face got more serious and he looked back to the fire.
"It's been two weeks Remus. Two weeks since I moved in here and I haven't been outside once! I'm about to die! Two weeks inside is enough to depress anyone, and I was raised as an elf! Elves pretty much live outside, it's killing me to stay in here." Harry got a look of such sadness across his face that Remus only just caught himself from reaching out to hold the beautiful boy before him. He thought over all this in his head and tried to think of something to do for Harry, his thoughts were cut off by a voice from the doorway.
"Then you should go out, my boy!" The two people in the room looked up to see that the owner of the voice was none other that Albus Dumbledore, with Sirius stood next to him. "I believe Sirius told me something about you needing to buy your own clothes so you could go on a shopping trip in London. You could get some lunch and just get some fresh air. You can go into the woods to see your family tomorrow if you'd like. You would have to go tomorrow when all the students will be inside so they cannot see you. Today would be to busy, it being Sunday and all." The headmaster added with a kindly smile causing Harry to smile brightly.
"You mean it? I've always wanted to see a muggle human city too! Alice would be so jealous! And would it be ok if I stay a while with my family too? I've really missed them, and that way I can come back on a school day as well." Harry replied with excited eyes, Albus smiled and nodded.
"Just one more thing though, someone would have to accompany you on your trip to London of course. I would ask Sirius to go as well but he has promised to help me with something today." Sirius looked to Albus at these words with what looked to be surprise. Albus looked back at the black haired marauder and Remus could've sworn he saw Albus wink before Sirius nodded.
"Yeah, I promised, sorry Harry." Harry looked somewhat crest fallen at Sirius' words. "Hey! I know! Remus, you could take him right?" Remus blinked in surprise and looked at Harry, he found Harry looking at him with eagerness and pleading in his eyes.
'Like I could say no to that face. Or the prospect of spending a day with Harry no less.' Remus smiled kindly and nodded. "I would love to Harry." His heart gave a flutter at the happy smile that broke Harry's pale face. The fluttering of his heart changed to a surprised and flustered pounding when he suddenly had an armful of Harry in his lap. His cheeks turned a bright red, his breath caught in his chest and his arms automatically found their way around the lithe body against him.
"Thank you so much Loup!" Harry breathed out happily into the werewolf's ear(1). 'Wait! Holy hell! I'm hugging him! He's hugging me back! Bloody hell he's warm... Bugger! I'm in his lap!' Harry pulled back quickly and moved back to his own chair with an attractive blush on his cheeks and his eyes on the floor. "Sorry."
"Heh, no worries. I'll just get my cloak and such and we can go." Remus said with a somewhat embarrassed smile as he stood. Harry smiled back and nodded to him as he turned to go back to his room to fetch his things. Harry stood a bit after him and walked to his own room, he turned to the two men in the doorway.
"Thank you so much Headmaster!" He said with a smile before turning to get his stuff.
"Of course my boy." The headmaster responded to Harry's back. Since Harry's back was to the headmaster and his godfather he didn't see the conspirators look they shared. Once Harry had left Sirius smirked at his former Headmaster and raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you had been in Gryffindor. That was a very Slytherin move." He murmured jokingly with mirth in his blue eyes. The Headmaster raised his own eyebrows and gave a look of surprise and confusion.
"I have no idea what you're talking about dear boy." The elderly man replied as he turned to leave though his claim was betrayed by the infamous twinkle in his eyes. Sirius merely chuckled as he left and shook his head. He hoped Albus' plan would work. How that man knew about those two he had no idea, he himself had only figured out his close friends feelings two days ago.
&hp&
/Flashback.../
Sirius had seen the blushes, the prolonged stares, and the longing glances. He had seen all of them and he was only beginning to put it all together. The only reason he saw all of this in the first place was because of how close to Remus he was. Remus was actually a very sneaky person and someone not very close to him would have missed all of the hints, Sirius didn't though. It took him a bit, but Sirius figured it out. He looked up and saw Remus walk casually into the room, flash him a smile, pick up a book and sit down to read it. Sirius returned the smile and waited the appropriate amount of time before speaking.
"So..." Sirius began without looking up, he saw Remus look away from his book out of the corner of his eye. "How long you been lusting after my godson?" He inquired conversationally. He heard Remus' book slide form his hands onto the ground and a rather odd noise escaped his throat.
"What?" Remus squeaked out with wide eyes. Sirius bit back a smirk and looked at his long time friend with a raised eyebrow. " I'm not lusting after Harry! I mean how ridiculous is that? He's your godson! I mean sure he's gorgeous and sweet... and funny... and smart..." Sirius bit back a snicker at the slightly forlorn glazed look in his friend's eyes. Remus blinked and blushed before bending to retrieve his book. "But that is completely irrelevant!"
"Me think you doth protest too much." Sirius replied in a sing-songy voice and with a smirk on his face. Remus looked up sharply and frowned.
"Fine. I... I wouldn't say 'lusting'... It's rather that I... fancy him..." Remus looked over at the wall with embarrassment on his face. "A lot." Sirius' smirk softened and he let out a sigh.
"You really do? Like him a lot I mean." Remus nodded sadly.
"Yeah. Sorry Padfoot. You must want to kill me." Sirius sighed and shook his head.
"Naw... It's... weird... extremely... I'll have to get used to it. Harry's a big boy... I'm gonna have to accept that." Sirius ran a hand tiredly through his hair. "So what do you plan to do with this little infatuation?" Remus blinked and smiled a bit.
"Thanks siri... and... Nothing. He could never like me like that." Remus replied, looking rather put out at the last bit. Sirius rolled his eyes and stood up to leave."Whatever you say Moony." He muttered loud enough for his friend to hear as he walked into his room.
/end flashback.../
&hp&
Remus stumbled out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron and began brushing soot off his clothes with a sigh, he would never get used to floo travel. There was a flare of the fire behind him and Harry stumbled lightly from the green flames, once again seeming almost graceful about it. Remus sighed at this and gave him a small pouty glare; Harry blinked in surprise and blushed.
"What?" He asked while tilting his head in that way. Remus couldn't resist the cuteness. He stopped glaring and gave a small laugh.
"Nothing, it's just you bloody elves and your grace. I've been traveling by floo for years and I still fly out like a troll with its shoelaces tied." Harry blushed again and laughed with him.
"You think that was graceful? Are you mad? I nearly fell on my arse! I'm the clumsiest one in our village back home!" Harry replied with a smile, Remus rolled his eyes.
"Only you could manage to be gracefully graceless." Remus felt a tiny bit of pride flare in his chest at the laugh and blush he got. He suddenly realized that a lot of people were staring at Harry, in fact most of the pub. He began to internally panic until he noticed that they weren't looking at him like one would look at a previously dead savior. However Remus' inner wolf growled angrily at the looks they were giving him, he had to admit that Harry made quite a picture. Long black hair pulled into a messy ponytail and a light blush high on his cheeks, a bit of soot on his right cheekbone even looked alluring somehow. He wore a black button up shirt that clung nicely to his body and sat untucked from his form fitting low ride jeans that had several rips in all the right places to give tantalizing glimpses of skin. Remus stepped forward and brushed the soot away with his thumb, internally smiling when Harry's blush increased at his touch. "Let's go Romeo." He said with a smirk as he pulled him to the door. He was stopped before he could get there.
"Remus! Darling! How are you?" A short woman with cat glasses and bright, piled on makeup said with a fake smile. Remus nearly gagged as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Skeeter." He replied disdainfully. Rita Skeeter. She had been the reporter sent by the daily prophet to cover the tri-wizarding tournament three years ago. She had quickly gotten on Remus and Sirius' bad sides with her obviously fabricated stories about the competitors. They had nearly throttled her when she wrote a story about them. As the two "heart throb" professors on campus (at least that's how Sirius put it) she had tried to tie BOTH of them romantically to the Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory. It was ridiculous! Cedric had and has a girlfriend he was extremely happy with and both Remus and Sirius were and are very single, to the enjoyment to the hormonal teenagers in Hogwarts (according to Sirius.) "How can I help you?" Rita smiled cheesily and replied.
"Well, I was just having a drink when you stumbled in with this... stunning... boy, " She said with a head-to-toe scan of Harry's body. "I just had to come over and say hello!" She finished as she tore her eyes away from their hungry inspection of the now very uncomfortable Harry. "Is he one of your students Remus?" She asked with a flutter of the eyelashes. Remus caught sight of her quick quotes quill hovering nearby, waiting for him to say something for it to twist around. He kept his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes. Rita raised an eyebrow and huffed. "Fine. I'll just ask him!" Remus' eyes widened and before he knew it Rita had shoved by him and presented a neon green clawed hand to Harry, who hesitantly shook it. "I'm Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet, and you are?"
"Eh... Evan. Evan Jameson." Harry replied, thinking quickly. "I'm not one of his students either... I've gotten... eh... Home schooled." Rita smiled in what she thought to be an alluring way.
"Oh! Well Mr. Jameson, how did you come to meet Remus here? And if he's not your teacher what exactly is the nature of your relationship?" She cooed with a "seductive" smirk and a suggestive wiggle of the eyebrows. Harry blinked and stared for a second before another blush bloomed on his face and his eyes got wide.
"What? No! Remus and I aren't involved! We're just friends!" He was going to go on when Remus grabbed his arm gently but firmly.
"We should go Evan." He cut in with a cold glare at Rita. "Pleasure seeing you Skeeter but we really must get going. Good day." Remus spat out as he steered Harry to the exit, suddenly very glad they had covered Harry's scar with muggle makeup.
"Well alright then Remus dear, good bye. I do hope we meet again Mr. Jameson, I would so love having a chat with you." Rita responded to the departing duo, her voice taking a suggestive tone on the last bit.
"Yes, bye." Harry responded shortly as he stepped through the door.
&hp&
"What was with that woman?" Harry asked with a huff as they walked through the streets of London towards the tube station. Remus sighed and shook his head.
"Bloody reporter. She's mental, makes up stories. Terrible woman. Best to ignore her Harry, I mean Evan. Nice save back there by the way, despite what Sirius says I think you'd make a good Slytherin." Harry blushed and smiled at him.
"Thanks, and where to first?" He asked as they headed down the steps to the train.
"Well, we got your bank card already so..." Remus stopped to think. "How about Oxford Circus?" He suggested with a helpless shrug showing that he wasn't all that experienced in the whole shopping thing. Harry patted his back in a silent gesture to show that he didn't know either.
"Sounds good." He responded as they sat down on the trains blue plastic seats. While in between the second and third stop Harry noticed three girls sitting rather close and whispering things to each other with grins in his direction. They all blushed a bit and broke into giggles when he looked at them. The train suddenly came to a stop and Remus stood up next to him. He looked up at him and stood as well.
"Here's our stop, lets go." Remus said with a smile, Harry followed him to the door and moved to cling to Remus' arm as he gave a small, embarrassed smile at the girls. Their giggles grew tenfold and one girl threw him a wink. He faced forward and noticed Remus looking at him with a raised eyebrow, probably wondering why he was suddenly clinging to his arms.
"Teenage girls are scary." Harry mumbled as a response. Remus looked over his shoulder as the girls who responded with smirks, giggles, and little waves. He raised an eyebrow and gave a smirk of his own.
"I see." He said as he turned back. They climbed the stairs to the street and began to wander down the street looking for a store to go into out of the endless number of them along this particular street. Eventually they wandered into a rather large shop. Both of them looked at the endless racks of clothes helplessly and shared a pitiful look.
"Can I help you?" A voice said from their side. Both of them turned and were faced with a woman in her early twenties, she obviously worked there and wore a smirk. She seemed to find their predicament amusing.
"Yeah." Remus answered with a sheepish thankful smile. "We need a whole new wardrobe for him." He finished with a nod to Harry. The woman smiled and looked at Harry for the first time, as he had been sort of hiding behind the older man. She grinned and nodded excitedly when she took in his appearance. Harry got the impression that she would enjoy giving him things to put on, like a life size doll. She led him over to the dressing rooms and told him to wait a moment. A bit later she came back with a huge collection of clothes, which Harry took. Something told him this would be a bit of a long day.
&hp&
About two hours later Harry and Remus were at the register paying for a large amount of clothes. Two other sales girls and one very flamboyant sales boy had joined Anna (as they had learned was the name of the first sales girl) at some point, everyone had enjoyed playing dress up with him. Most of the outfits had Remus practically drooling; did ANYTHING look bad on that boy? Remus himself had even bought two outfits due to Harry's insistence. Anna had forced him into the dressing room and Harry pleaded with Remus to add the clothes to the pile of things to buy. Remus had finally relented but it fortunately wasn't that bad because he had actually noticed the hungry stares Harry was giving him. Harry handed his bankcard to Anna with a smile. A bankcard was pretty much just like a credit card that took money directly from his vault at Gringots.
"Thanks again Anna. Don't know what we would have done without you." Harry said with a blush and a smile as they walked towards the door with several large bags. Anna smiled back a waved.
"No worries! It was fun! You two are the cutest couple I've ever seen by the way!" She replied back. Harry and Remus froze and blushed deeply, they were about to correct her but she was already out of sight. They looked at each other and chuckled in embarrassment.
"What's with people thinking we're a couple, ey?" Harry joked nervously while Remus shrunk their bags behind the cover of a rather large clothes rack. Remus laughed a bit and nodded. As they walked out Remus took a bit of a gamble and slid his arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Guess we look so good together they just can't resist." He joked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. He mentally held his breath as he waited to see how Harry would react. Harry looked at him quickly with a blush and wide eyes before breaking into laughter. He slid his own arm around Remus' waist and rested his head on his shoulder.
"I guess so." He responded with an eyebrow wiggle of his own. Remus laughed as they headed down the street, oblivious to the occasional person who would look appraisingly at the pair. They had opted to each wear an outfit they had just bought. Remus now wore dark blue jeans and a form fitting, light brown, turtle neak pull over that brought out the gold in his eyes. Harry wore dark jeans as well and a dark green v-neck pull over with a black undershirt, he looked like a seductive little Slytherin and Remus couldn't help but silently thank Anna for her clothing choices.
&hp&
They had decided to get lunch next and had taken the tube to Leicester Square. Harry now sat in a cafe like restaurant white Remus went up to the counter to order. Harry looked out the large front window of the cafe at the busy streets outside; there were so many people and so little animals. The city was nothing like the village back home, Harry had to admit he liked it here though.
"Excuse me." Harry looked up and found a girl with blonde hair, brown eyes, and far too much makeup standing by the table with a smile. "I couldn't help but notice you sitting all alone over here and thought you might like some company." She said with a smile while she twirled her hair in her fingers; she raised an eyebrow at him and let her eyes look him over. Harry blushed for what felt like the thousandth time that day.
"Well, I'm not actually alone. I-" He was cut off when Remus came back. Remus set a cup of tea in front of him.
"Sorry it took so long love." He said with a smile. Harry thought his heart would explode when Remus leaned down and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He stood up straight again and looked at the girl in surprise. "Oh, can I help you?" He inquired as he tilted his head slightly. The girl spluttered and blushed as she looked between them.
"I... No. Sorry." She responded quickly as she turned on her heel and marched off. Remus smiled and sat down at the table with a glass of iced tea. Harry stared at him for a few moments with curiosity written on his face, Remus offered him a sheepish grin.
"You looked like you could use help." He supplied with a smirk. Harry chuckled and shook his head.
"Thanks Remus." He responded as he took a sit of his tea.
&hp&
Remus finished ordering and turned to head back to the table. He was surprised to see a blonde girl standing there; she was obviously trying to flirt with Harry. Remus frowned witheringly at the girls back, the frown changed into a smile as Harry gave her a look that clearly said "what the hell? Go away".
'That's right. Just turn around, he's not interested.' Remus thought to himself. The girl didn't take the hint though. ' That's it.' Remus raised an eyebrow as he walked calmly to the table. He set Harry's tea in front of him. "Sorry it took so long love." He said with a smile as he leaned down ho kiss him lightly on the cheek. He straightened up and looked at the girl as if he had just noticed her. "Oh, can I help you? " He asked as innocently as he could. The girl began to splutter and blush before leaving while muttering an apology. Remus smiled to himself and sat casually at the table. He looked up from his iced tea and saw Harry staring at him like he was crazy. He gave a shrug and smiled. "You looked like you could use help." He said as an answer to the silent question. Harry laughed and shook his head.
"Thanks Remus."
&hp&
They were heading back to the Leaky Cauldron after they finished eating. Harry had had a salad and Remus had had pasta with salmon, they had shared a scoop of vanilla ice cream after and Remus was oddly satisfied to notice the girl from before staring at them jealously the whole time. Once they got to the pub Remus and Harry were glad that Rita Skeeter seemed to have gone. They flooed back into their shared sitting room and dusted themselves off. Harry turned to Remus and gave him a dazzling smile.
"Thank you so much Loup, I had a great time!" He said as he wrapped his arms around the older man in a hug. Remus smiled and hugged him back.
"Any time Harry, I had a great time as well." Harry pulled back and picked up his bags with a smile.
"I should put these away. I'll put your things in your room." Remus nodded and Harry turned and disappeared into his room. Remus watched him go and let out a small sigh. Why did Harry have to be so bloody amazing? Remus headed into his own room silently. Meanwhile Harry silently put his new clothes in his trunk with a sad look on his face. Why did Remus have to be so bloody amazing? Neither of them had noticed Sirius as he had stood in the doorway of their mini-kitchen with a satisfied smirk on his face.
&hp&
There we go! How did you like it? I PROMISE I'll try as hard as I can to get the chapters out with shorter intervals in between them!
Some finishing notes, To those who don't know or didn't figure it out, the tubes are the British equivalent of the subway in New York. Also, Oxford Circus is a tube stop and a street name. It's pretty much completely shops and department stores. And lastly, the little bit where I tell you what Remus and Harry had to eat might have seemed pointless but I had to do that. The cafe is a real place and I had this pasta with salmon... oh. My. God. It was delicious.