Sorry for the delay folks! My internship likes to keep me busy! This chapter is a lot longer then normal, and also kind of a grief filled chapter. I know there's been a lot of that so far, but I think this is pretty much the end of that! Hope you enjoy! Please R&R! I get excited when I get a favorite story or subscribe email, but I get even more excited when I get a review email! I try to respond to all my reviews, if I miss you I apologize! But there is always a general thank you!

~Elle~

3 weeks later

Harry lay in his bed…no, not his bed, but the bed that Uncle Remus had transfigured for him to use while he was here…his bed was at home; but nonetheless he lay thinking about all the scary and confusing things that had been happening since his uncle picked him up at the Longbottoms instead of his daddy, what felt like ages ago. Harry wondered if it was too early to go downstairs. The clock had a 5 at the beginning, and Harry knew it had to be a 6 at the beginning before he was supposed to go downstairs unless someone came to get him earlier. That was Uncle Remus' rule after Harry had tried to make breakfast at 5am all by himself, two mornings in a row. Harry looked up at the stars on the ceiling, bewitched there to make Harry feel like he was back in his own bedroom, but it could just never be just like his own bedroom, even if they copied the stars.

Harry wanted his daddy back. His daddy looked OK to him today; he'd hugged him tightly, given him a big smile, and told him how much he missed him, but he had to stay at the hospital. Uncle Sirius got hurt too, but Uncle Sirius got to go home a whole entire week ago, and he was fine! He even came to stay with Harry for a few days because Uncle Remus was sick. That got Harry worried, he hoped Uncle Remus didn't have to go to the hospital like his daddy; after all didn't sick people normally stay home? But Uncle Remus returned good as new shortly. Uncle Remus said Daddy was a lot sicker then Uncle Sirius. Daddy seemed OK when Harry was there, but he was sick inside and his medicine wasn't working. But if that was true why did Daddy look so normal?

Harry didn't understand; his daddy looked perfectly fine, why couldn't he go home so that Harry could go home, too? Not that Harry disliked staying at Uncle Remus' house, he loved his Uncle Remus! But Uncle Remus didn't make the same voices as his daddy did during bedtime reading. And Uncle Remus never remembered that Harry didn't like crust on his sandwiches; of course it wasn't hard to take off once Harry reminded him, but his daddy always took the crust off before even giving the sandwich to Harry. And when there was a monster under Harry's bed, Uncle Remus looked in all the closets and under the bed to show Harry that the monster was gone, but he didn't fight the invisible monsters the way his daddy would have, to make sure that Harry's room was a completely monster-free zone. Yes, Harry missed his daddy, and he was anxious for his daddy to come home.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by a tickling in his tummy. Uh-oh, he knew that feeling! He jumped out of bed and raced across the hallway to the loo, where he relieved himself, washed his hands, and went back to "his" room. He looked at the clock; still a 5. Harry sighed, and curled back up underneath the sheets, and his thoughts went back to their meanderings.

There were other things that bothered Harry too; like why was Auntie Alice sad every time he saw her? Why did she keep leaving Neville with Remus and going off by herself? When Harry tried to hug her and make her happy again, she gave him a quick hug and hurried off. Not at all like her normal ginormous hugs. Harry knew Auntie Alice was sad because Uncle Frank had to go to heaven; and he knew what heaven was because that's where his Mummy was. Heaven was where good people went when they had to leave earth. Harry couldn't see his Mummy in heaven, but he knew his Mummy was looking down on him and watching over him, because that's what people did once they went to heaven. Harry also knew that he could talk to his Mummy in heaven; he did that all the time! She never answered him back, of course, but Harry knew she could hear him; his Daddy had told him so.

Neville was sad, too. He still played like normally sometimes, but sometimes Neville would start to cry because he missed his Daddy, or because his Mummy was upset, or because he missed sleeping at his own house, or because his Mummy dropped him off by Uncle Remus' again, and Neville didn't want to be with Remus, he wanted to be with her. Harry had tried to comfort him. He told him about his Mummy and what heaven was. But Neville just said that his daddy didn't really go to heaven forever, he was just visiting Harry's mummy because he missed her. He would be back, soon; after all he promised to take Neville flying and Neville's daddy never broke a promise. Neville just hoped that it was really soon, because he missed him!

Harry wondered if this was true; he wished he could go and visit his Mummy too. If Uncle Frank really was coming back (and Neville seemed sure of it!) maybe he could tell Harry she was like, and what heaven was like, and if she was happy, and if she was proud of him.

Harry's tummy growled loudly, and pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned to the clock once again, just as the number 5 turned into the number 6! Harry jumped out of bed and put on his socks, before racing through the hallway and into the empty kitchen.

"Uncle Remus?" Harry called out softly, to no answer. He tried a little louder, "Uncle Remus!" again, to no answer. Harry contemplated trying to make himself breakfast again, but Uncle Remus hadn't liked it very much when he did that last time. But it was waking-up time, and Uncle Remus didn't wake-up yet. And Harry was hungry! So Harry turned on his heel and raced back to his Uncle's room, loudly slamming open the door and pouncing on top of the mass under the covers that was his sleeping uncle.

Harry heard Remus groan from underneath the covers, and decided that bouncing would be a good way to get him out of bed faster; so sitting on top of his uncle he started bouncing slightly, then harder, until he was practically jumping.

"Wake up sleepyhead! It's morning!" Harry shouted, "and I'm hungry!" he added. Pretty soon Harry felt himself being thrown backward onto the bed, before the tickles started. Harry loved tickles, and he laughed as his uncle pulled himself up over Harry and pulled his arms up over his head for better access to the tickling of Harry's armpits. Harry squealed in delight and hysteria as he kicked his little legs at his uncle's stomach, to no effect. Finally, Remus stopped the tickles, threw Harry over his shoulder, and made his way to the kitchen to feed the hungry little boy.

"Is daddy coming home today?" Harry asked, the same question he asked every morning, as he was placed on his bum on the tabletop.

"Not today, bub," came the usual reply as Remus began pulling out supplies for pancakes. True to Lily's wishes not to have Harry grow up dependent on magic and understand the value of the muggle way, Remus was on board with using as little magic for every day household things as possible.

"When will he?" Harry asked, as per usual.

"The healers don't know yet, hopefully soon, I know he's anxious to get home to you," Remus answered, as always.

"Will we go visit him today?" came the next question as Harry moved farther toward the middle of the table, and sat cross legged.

"This morning Neville is coming over," Remus replied. "Uncle Sirius will take you this afternoon if he's still here."

Harry nodded his agreement, as he picked up the pepper shaker and shook some pepper into his open palm. "When is Neville coming?"

Remus finished stirring the batter, and set it aside as the grittle heated up. He decided to surprise Harry and snuck out a bag of chocolate chips, and dumped it into the batter. "After breakfast sometime," Remus replied, not completely sure what time that would be.

Harry brought his hand up, and then quickly dropped it and watched as the tiny pepper flakes flew up and then landed back on his hand, while a few fell to the sides. "Neville is sad when Auntie goes away," Harry verbalized his observation, "he wants to go with her." Harry blew the pepper flakes out of his hand, and they scattered in front of him. He picked up the pepper shaker again and dumped more flakes into his palm.

Remus sighed; he wondered how a 3 year old could pick up on something like that. He never ceased to be amazed at Harry's intelligence, and his vocabulary. He also knew Harry was correct; Neville didn't like being left here while his mother did whatever it was she did all day. He wanted to say something to her, but didn't know how to bring it up. Alice was grieving; everyone grieved in their own way and Remus figured Alice just needed a little space right now. He didn't want to stick his nose in where it didn't belong, or make her feel like he's telling her what to do; but at the same time it had been 3 weeks and she left Neville with him every single day since then apart from when he was away for the full moon; even overnight twice. Remus recalled James not wanting to part from Harry even for a moment, after Lily's death. Remus recalled having to drag James off to bed to get the man to sleep. Remus did his best with Neville every day; but he knew it was his mother that the boy really needed. He'd lost one parent, he needed some familiarity. But he couldn't very well refuse to take the boy.

"Neville misses his daddy too," Harry continued when Remus didn't respond. "He cries, lots." Harry continued to play with the pepper shaker as Remus focused on the pancakes, not knowing quite what to say at this observation. Harry was silent for a moment, before verbalizing the thing he'd been wondering about.

"Neville said his Daddy's not in heaven forever like my Mummy, he went to visit her and he's coming home, why can't Mummy come home?" Harry asked his uncle as he continued to fill his palm with pepper. The smell made him want to sneeze, so he quickly closed his palms together so he didn't make a mess with the flakes.

Remus was shocked at this. How had Neville come up with that? And what in Marlin's name was he supposed to do about it? As little as he wanted to have this conversation right now, he knew he must. Remus turned toward Harry, sitting cross legged in the middle of the table with his hands clasped on his lap, big green eyes looking so innocently up at Remus. He went to the table and leaned down on his elbows, so he was eye-to-eye with Harry.

"He's not coming back, Harry," Remus told him gently.

"But he promised to take Neville flying!" protested Harry. Neville's daddy never broke a promise! That had to settle it!

"Sometimes bad things happen; sometimes people get hurt. Uncle Frank didn't want to leave his family, but sometimes we can't control things," Remus attempted to explain.

"But he promised to take Neville flying!" Harry repeated.

"I know, bub," Remus said, leaning forward to kiss Harry on the forehead. He wasn't sure how else to explain this, and he didn't even want to start with Neville; Neville needed to hear this from his mother. And he decided at that moment that Alice wasn't leaving Neville today.

"He's really not coming back?" Asked Harry, sadly, and continued at Remus' sad nod, "He's with Mummy? She will take good care of him," Harry told his uncle. "Mummy's are good at that. Tell Auntie that."

Remus chuckled and ruffled his nephew's hair. "You are the sweetest boy I ever met," he told the tyke, fondly, before a smell got his attention. He turned back to the now burned pancakes, and threw the batch away, before ladling new ones. Magic sure would make this easier! But if muggles could do it, so could he.

Harry opened his fist full of pepper flakes, and with his free hand he stuck his finger in the middle. Harry liked pepper…Daddy sometimes put it on his food and it tasted good. Harry pulled out his finger, opened his mouth, and clapped the hand full of pepper into his open mouth. For the first second he felt nothing, and closed his lips. Then his mouth started burning, it was HOT! He tried to swallow but his throat wouldn't work. His tears in his eyes were a mixture of watery eyes and crying tears. He couldn't breathe! He opened his lips and coughed, causing a dust of pepper to fly out of his mouth, but there was still enough in his mouth to hurt. He cried out to get his uncle's attention, who quickly turned at the sound and rushed to Harry's assistance. The strong arms lifted Harry off the table, and placed him on the counter, before a glass of water was touching his lips. The strong arms tilted Harry's head back and he allowed the water into his mouth.

"Swish and spit, just like mouth wash," Harry's uncle told him. Harry obeyed, and swished the water in his mouth before spitting it into the sink. He could breathe again! But his mouth was still very hot. He reached for the water again, and Remus let him have it. Harry swished it around, once again, before spitting it into the sink. "It's hot, Uncle Remus!" he exclaimed through the fat tears that rolled down his cheeks. His uncle handed him a cup of milk, instead, which Harry downed, immediately asking for more. Remus obliged, and Harry downed a second cup. Harry felt much better now, just a little tingly in his mouth.

"What did you do?" Remus asked in exasperation.

"Ate lotsa pepper," Harry told him, still a little teary.

Remus couldn't help but chuckle slightly, but turned it into a cough so Harry wouldn't notice. "And why did you do that?" he asked the boy, to a shrug in response. "Well, I don't think you'll be doing it again, hey?" he asked, receiving a frantic shake of the head.

Remus plucked Harry off of the counter and onto the floor, shaking his head. Honestly, eating a handful of pepper? He turned back to the pancakes, now black. He sighed and sneakily tossed the second batch into the rubbish bin before conjuring some beautifully made chocolate chip pancakes. Harry never need know he didn't actually make the pancakes.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Alice came through the floo with Neville a short while later. She kissed the boy goodbye, told him to be good, and began to head toward the floo despite the tears being cast by her only child. Remus, already standing near the fireplace when they came through, stepped in front of it as she turned back toward it.

"We need to talk," he told his friend as gently as he could. Alice, for her part, didn't resist. She agreed, and allowed him to lead her to the couch.

"Neville, come here," he told the boy, holding his arm out. Neville readily came, and Remus pulled him into a hug. "Mummy's not leaving you here today," he promised, and Alice looked at him in surprise. As realization came upon Neville, the tears stopped.

"She's not?" he asked, looking first at Remus, then at his Mum.

"No, she's not," Remus repeated, nudging Alice to assure her son.

"Not today, baby," Alice finally agreed as she reached out to run her hand down Neville's cheek. Neville nodded slowly, wiping the tears from his face.

"Will you go play with Harry in his room? Mummy and I need to talk for a little while, and we'll see about doing something special for lunch." Remus told the boy. Neville nodded in agreement and ran off to find Harry.

"Why can't I leave him here today?" Alice asked as soon as her son was out of earshot, "I thought you didn't mind helping me out."

"I don't mind helping you, and I love that little boy, but I don't think taking him every day is helping either of you, Alice. Do you realize what it's doing to him? Neville just lost one parent; he needs you now more than ever, he needs to know that he hasn't lost two parents, that your still here for him. He needs consistency and familiarity," Remus explained softly.

Alice sank back in the sofa, "I know," she agreed, "I just can't bear to look at him sometimes. He looks so much like Frank I can't stand it, and taking care of him seems like more then I can bring myself to do right now," she admitted. "I know every day when I drop him off that I shouldn't be; I promise myself it will be the last day, but then I pick him up and there's Frank again. Sirius told me the same thing, I need to be with him right now. It's just so hard. I try to turn off my emotions in the evening and morning, and be as pleasant as I can for him, but it's so exhausting. It's easier to bring him here during the day then to think about trying to get through a day with him."

Remus looked at her, taking in everything she said. He guessed he could see how it would be hard; still, this was her son, and he was still here. And when had she talked to Sirius?

"You know what Harry told me this morning?" Remus asked, "he told me that Neville cries because you go away, and he wants to go with you. And that Neville cries because he misses his daddy. And Neville concocted this idea in his head that Frank simply went to go visit Lily in heaven, and he would be back because he promised to take Neville flying. Neville is convinced, Alice, and you need to set that straight."

Alice shook with sobs as Remus spoke. What kind of mother was she, abandoning her son when he needed her most? And of course Neville would come up with some story, because she hadn't been around to talk to him about it. Alice needed to start putting her son first, and she knew it. She'd known it for awhile, but she'd done the easier thing. She felt Remus' arms around her, and allowed herself to soak up the comfort for several minutes.

"I'll be here for him from now on, I swear I will," she told Remus, still engulfed in his comforting hug.

"I'll be here to help you," Remus promised.

Finally letting go, Remus fixed two cups of tea, and handed one to Alice. "Where have you been going every day?" he asked the question he was curious about for some time.

Alice took a long sip of tea, and paused for a good minute before answering. "Sometimes it's the graveyard," she told her friend, "I went to see James in the hospital a few times, but I usually go to Sirius' place."

Remus was taken aback. Sirius? But Sirius was over here almost every afternoon; taking Harry to the hospital to visit his father or staying with Neville while Remus took Harry to visit his father. Alice connected his facial expression of confusion to her statement about Sirius, and continued.

"Sirius has been a huge comfort, he just lets me do what I need to do; he talks to me when I want, sit in silence when I want to, or play a game if I need a distraction. He lets me stay till I need to leave, and then I pick up Neville and go home. He's told me over and over that Neville needs me right now. I guess it was easier to hear when my baby was safely over here. I asked him not to say anything about my being over there, and I guess he didn't," she finished.

Remus appreciated his mate's looking out for Alice in her time of need. Still, he wished he'd refused to allow her to neglect her duties as a mother, especially when he could see how sad Neville was when he saw him every afternoon. He couldn't blame the man, though, hadn't he done the same thing? Enabled her to go into her own little grieving world while he looked after her child? Not anymore, though. He decided the best way would be to tell her like it was.

"I'm glad Sirius has been there for you, but you can't leave Neville here anymore. You can come over anytime, as long as you stay here with him. I'm sure Sirius will be more than happy to continue going over there with Neville. I can help you find a counselor if you think that will help. When you see Frank in Neville, why don't you try to think of the wonderful legacy he's left behind rather than his loss," Remus suggested.

Alice nodded, fully in agreement. Hard as it was, she was ready to try to continue going with her life for both her sake and her son's.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

The week continued, and Alice followed through with her promise. She never left Neville once, outside of the house anyway, and was turning back into the mother and auntie that the boys new. Remus and Sirius were there for her whenever she needed it; they were always available to her. Neville was happier; though he still cried for his father, as did Alice, he had his mother to comfort him now.

James' condition finally started to improve. The medications the healers had been giving him seemed to counteract with the curse, but at long last they found a treatment that was working. James was slowly gaining more energy, gaining the use of his lower body muscles, able to keep food down, and the boils that had erupted on every inch of his body minus the face were starting to go away.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had stopped by 3 days before his release, and James verbalized the thing that he'd been thinking about a lot lately. James told his boss and friend that he wouldn't be coming back to work. As important as his job is, as good as he is at it, and as hard as it was to come to the decision to quit, he knew how close he had come to losing his life. Three gifted Aurors had died that night, and it could have easily been any of them. James wasn't willing to leave his child parentless; he had promised Lily that he would raise Harry right and he intended to keep that promise. Kingsley wasn't surprised. He'd almost been expecting it. He would miss his team; his was the finest team of Aurors that had been in the department for a good many years; but he didn't blame James in the slightest for coming to terms with the danger the job presents, and walking away from it.

After 7 weeks of treatment, James was released.

James opted not to tell his family he was being released. When they visited the day before, he acted like all was usual. He wanted to surprise his son. He detoured to Diagon Alley before he went to Remus', and bought a tiny orange and brown kitten, tiny enough for him to easily tuck away in his inside jacket pocket.

At long last, he stepped through the floo of Remus Lupin, and became the object of the staring of 5 pairs of eyes. Harry recovered from the shock first, and practically flew across the room and into his father's arms. James caught him in his chest and spun around once, holding the child close. How he'd missed this!

"Are you really home, for real, Daddy?" asked the little voice.

"For good, Harry! I'm all better!" James answered enthusiastically.

"Don't ever leave me like that again!" Harry scolded. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, munchkin," came the reply.

A short while later, James pulled the tiny kitten he had nearly forgotten about out of his pocket, and handed her to Harry. Harry's eyes lit up like Christmas, "Is she mine?" he asked. James nodded his approval. "What's her name? Is it a he or she?"

"Well, you'll have to name her," he told his son, "It's a girl."

Harry decided that "Moo" would be a good name for his new pet, and so Harry and Neville spent the next few hours playing with Moo, under the supervision of the adults, as they liked to be a little rough with the wee kitten.

The group had a nice dinner at Remus' house, before James and Harry went home, where Harry was enthusiastic to sleep in his own bed, in his own room, under his own stars, in his own house, with his own daddy, and his own brand new kitten, Moo.

Sirius accompanied Alice and Neville back to their house, having promised Neville that he would read him his good night story that night. Sirius made great character voices, and Neville loved it. The little boy began to drift off to sleep halfway through the story, and by the end he was out cold. Sirius kissed him goodnight, slid off the couch and pulled the covers on top of the child, before sliding quietly out of the room.

Downstairs he found Alice sitting on the couch with two cups of tea. He accepted his cup, and sat down.

"He must have been tired, he's out cold," Sirius commented.

Alice nodded, smiling slightly. "Did you know James was being released today?" she asked.

Sirius shook his head, "No idea, it was a surprise to us all," he told her. Alice nodded and weakly smiled, and Sirius knew something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concernedly.

"Nothing," she responded hastily, before correcting herself. "I mean, it was just unexpected, seeing him like that. James hasn't been out of the hospital since…well, you know. I'm glad he's out, don't get me wrong. It just made me realize…now that he's healthy, he's home, he has Harry, life is back to normal for him. Without having to take care of Harry, life is back to normal for Remus, and for you. But it's different for me, I have to raise Neville alone. Frank will never come back and lately, Neville has stopped asking for him. He's only 3, I don't know how many memories of his father he'll have when he's grown," Alice said, letting her feelings out, but able to hold herself together as she did so.

"We all lost him, Alice" Sirius responded after a moment. "None of us will ever go back to what normal was before. Frank left a hole behind, and it will never be filled, but we have to build around it. We have to create a new normal. We're all here to help you and Neville, you don't have to do this alone; and I know Frank's mother wants some part in that too. Neville will have memories of his father, because you'll continue to remind him. We all will."

Alice nodded, tearfully. She wiped away the tears and busied herself by taking a long sip of her tea. She hadn't gone a day since his death without thinking about him, but now that everything was getting back to "normal," maybe making a new "normal" for her and her son wouldn't be so hard after all, with the help of her friends.

I know it's sappy/corny! I just couldn't do this chapter without sappiness! Hope you enjoyed!

~Elle~

PS. Section breaks...ie, little stars (*) or a line of x's, they are super annoying on FF! :P