Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or any other character you recognize. The plot, any character you don't recognize, and any pranks mentioned are mine, ALL MINE! MWAHAHAHA! TAKE THAT, YOU EVIL LAWYERS :muse smacks me: Sorry about that.

Chapter 7: The SCS Marauder and O Bad Croww

Sirius frowned; he couldn't find Remus anywhere. It had happened a great deal recently, something Sirius hadn't been expecting – after all, where could Remus hide in a house that Sirius had designed and built?

Well, Remus helped build and design it, too, Sirius conceded, as he checked Remus's room again, but he wouldn't add on anything without telling me, would he? Yes, he decided. He probably would, to get a bit of privacy.

Normally, Sirius had respect for privacy – well, Remus's privacy, anyway – but this wasn't the best time for Remus to be sneaking off to places Sirius didn't know about. Nosy? Yes. None of his business? Yes. Selfish of him? Yes. Required to make sure the schemes he and Alice cooked up to go at least close to according to plan? Yes.

Sirius stopped in front of a wall, pressed a certain brick, and a section of the wall moved forward a few feet, wide enough for Sirius to walk along side it and peer into the opening at the end. The room inside it looked very cozy and was decked out in different shades of blue. It contained a comfy, bulging leather couch, a polished cherry nightstand on which lay a lamp and a reading glass (for the small-printed books Remus sometimes read), shelves that lined the big, long wall that lay in front of the couch and of which were stacked with books, candy, pictures, and assorted knick-knacks, a couple of broomsticks criss-crossed below a giant picture of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in seventh year that Sirius and James had been members of on one wall, and a charmed cupboard that contained butterbeer, regular muggle Pepsi, water, tea cups and bags, mugs of hot chocolate, and cups of chocolate milk.

Remus, however, was no where to be found.

Deciding to give up for the time being and let Remus enjoy his privacy, Sirius chose a book about an American wizard boy in colonial times who'd been kidnapped by Indians. Grabbing a bottle of butterbeer, he turned on the lamp, made himself comfortable on the couch, and, after a glance at the Quidditch team picture, began to read.

Bubbles frothed, as the potion darkened into a deep purple. A quick addition of sycamore root quit the bubbles and turned the potion into a dark pink.

Harry grimaced as Uncle Sev approached, mentally saying a curse that he'd heard Sirius utter. He turned up the flames of his burner with his wand, which made the pink turn a few shades darker so that it almost looked like a light red – almost.

Uncle Sev looked down his nose at the potion, then frowned at Harry, displeased, as shown by him crossing his arms.

"Harry, how exactly can you mess up such a simple potion as a boil curing potion when you can manage to make a more difficult potion such as the Hair-Growing potion perfectly?" he drawled.

"It's – it's not too bad, Uncle Sev," said Harry quickly. "I mean, it's not red, exactly, but its close."

"But not close enough," said Uncle Sev, sighing. "You added too less of snake fangs and too much of horned slug skin. Next time read my instructions more carefully."

"Sorry," Harry muttered, wishing the class to be over all ready.

They were in one of the training sessions that had started a little over a year ago, just like Lily had requested (which Harry knew). He was taught Potions, Defense and Dueling, General Spells (charms and simple transfiguration), and Magical Creatures Study. He very rarely had homework, except to practice spells and to feel fry to read up on things that he studied in the library.

Harry thrived in three of the four sessions, especially Defense and Dueling, but he was, at best, only average in Potions. It wasn't because he didn't have a good and caring teacher; if anyone watched the classes Severus gave at Hogwarts, and the lessons that he exclusively taught to Harry, they would be quite surprised at the difference in Severus's attitude. It was just Harry just wasn't good at it.

But Severus was determined; he wouldn't let James Potter's atrocious Potion talents (or lack there-of) get in the way of teaching Lily Evans' son the skills he needed to know. He gave small pointers that he'd never divulged to anyone (unknowingly to Harry, they'd been pointers that Severus and Lily had discovered in their partnerships in Potions), went over the same potions continuously with Harry, and made flash cards of ingredients and what they usually did, as well as what they shouldn't be combined with without a medium. It was very different to how he treated his official students at Hogwarts.

'Quite a difference, indeed.'

Such were the thoughts of Remus Lupin as he watched them on more than one occasion (hidden, of course; there were a few passage ways that no one except Remus knew about the in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Marauders; an advantage of being one of the prime builders of it). Today was such a juncture, mostly because of the seemingly illimitable appearances of Sirius that happened wherever Remus seemed to be. It was rather like having an adhering and stubbornly persistent shadow. Sirius was stalking him, of that Remus was no longer equivocal, and, if past escapades were of any indication, that meant he was up to something. Therefore, Remus was desiring some time alone, in a place where Sirius couldn't find him – and this passage way, clandestinely one of those added by Remus at the time that this house was built (about seven years ago), was such a place.

Remus wasn't considered the "Smart Marauder," the "Cautious Marauder," and the "Secretive Marauder," for nothing (as said by Sirius, backin their Hogwarts yearsand Sirius was ranting about how he wasn't in a lot of stereotypes like the restwere, resulting in the nickname of the "SCS Marauder" for Remus).

Sitting down in a chair that he had thoughtfully put there in this passage way, Remus relaxed, looking out of the wall at his fellow guardian and their ward. The wall was simply but effectively hid, thanks to a spell Remus had read up upon one day when he was bored at work: you could look through it from the inside, but not the outside, unless you were standing directly in front of where the passage way was and knew about it. It was only one of the reasons why Remus thought it useful to work in the Official Britain Archives, Documentations, and Collections for Research of Witchcraft and Wizardry (or "O bad croww," as Sirius had named it after discovering what neologisms were).

Remus smiled as he saw Severus mouth, "Damn you, Potter," while looking upward, and had a feeling it wasn't directed at Harry. Where once he would have scowled and transferred his sometimes detrimental hate of James to Harry, it was quite obvious that Severus no longer hated Harry. It was the exact opposite: Severus loved Harry. Somehow, that boy had reached his heart in a way that only one other person in the entire world had ever managed.

Love. That word seemed to have a very substantial history with Remus – or rather, with this entire household. It was most likely because that's what held the household together, like some weird type of glue, all thanks to Harry.

Actually, that wasn't completely true. It wasn't just because of Harry. It was because of his parents: Lily, who'd forged a friendship and, at one time, a romantic relationship with one of the most shrewd (and seemingly heartless) of Slytherins; and James, who'd forged a friendship with a werewolf and a boy outlawed from his own family (as well as the most notorious traitor of the century, but that was an unfortunate lapse of judgment on all of their parts).

Harry had what two of his guardians had always wanted: a family who loved him. He had a nice house with his three guardians, lots of friends, went to a good school, and had immense promise of being a powerful wizard.

And yet…something wasn't complete at the charming red-bricked, black-shuttered house on Pembercy Lane that was the envy of the neighborhood (and known to be inhabited by the most interesting of people). An absence of a sort that was only felt at the quietest of times when, like a sly beast, it would sneak into the house, from every nook, cranny, and crag, into the ear of whatever human was aware enough, and whisper, 'I am here.'

Remus knew what it was, although Sirius, Harry, and perhaps Severus were unconscious to it: a woman's touch.

Sirius had had girlfriends, being the lady's man he'd always been, but none of the relationships managed to get too somber. Remus had always been single even before Harry had come to live with him, first citing his need to get a job, then his concern over Lily, and lastly his responsibility of looking after Harry. Severus didn't love any woman, except Lily and his mother, and both were dead.

Perhaps that was why Sirius was so eager to set him up with Heather (Remus had known Sirius far too long to expect anything else). Perhaps that's why the windows had plain red and gold curtains instead of fancy ones, and why none of the beds had tons of pillows and sheets with lace on them. Perhaps that's why Harry had refused to be read to before bed ever since his mother died, because it didn't feel right for a man to do it. Perhaps that was why there were Quidditch books instead of Jane Austen; the Weird Sisters instead of Celestina Warbeck; Martin Miggs instead of Witch Weekly; books on hexes, curses, spells, and potions rather than books on cleaning charms (although Remus did have a faded, moldy old copy of House Cleaning for Idiots James had given him as a joke in fourth year that he'd later found out had been given to James by his grandmother).

Perhaps that's why Remus didn't mind that Sirius was trying to play matchmaker – or maybe it was something else entirely.

One thing was for certain, though; that absence had nothing to do with the fact that Remus was glad that it was Heather who would be involved in whatever plans Sirius had.

Not much but it's something, right? It's a sort of filler, giving me time to figure out which ideas I'm going to use as match making ploys. They seem to be popping up everywhere all of a sudden. It also explains why Remus isn't going to great lengths to stop Sirius from setting him up – yes, Remus knows what Sirius is up to (shocking!), although he doesn't know Alice is in on it.

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JeanieBeanie33