I took just a bit longer to up this one cause it's a much longer chapter then I usually post (I think it's longest yet, The Guardian's chapters included…anyway P)
Thank you to those who reviewed! A special thanks to my old readers :) And the greatest thanks to Hollee for beta-reading for me yeye \o/
Err I think that's it :P please read note at the bottom about the plot and stuff
JK owns them :) I just &¨ them oo
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His third year was approaching and Harry was still enjoying the end of his summer vacation. He had visited The Burrow, Ron's house, countless times before and he was very excited that today Ron would be the one visiting him. His best friend had had a really hard time getting his mother's permission to go, but of course Harry didn't know that bit, he knew even less the reason of her reluctance.
Hermione was coming over too and her parents didn't really mind letting her do so, being muggles meant they didn't understand what it meant to willingly visit a werewolf's home. To them witches, werewolves, and vampires all seemed the same.
"I can't wait till you see the back yard," Harry said grinning, "Dad built a quidditch pitch when I made the team; he said he'll play us. Of course he's much better, but…it'll be fun" he said animatedly.
The messy haired boy was walking along with Ron and Mrs. Weasley, the first two slightly behind. They were going inside of The Burrow, so Ron and he could floo to his house.
"And also dad, Remus I mean, said he was gonna make hot chocolate in the afternoon. You have no idea how good it tastes, probably the best there is!" he kept talking.
The red-head one was uncharacteristically quiet. Truth was, while Harry was more-than-excited to be having his friends over for the first time, Ron was unable to put aside the overwhelming knowledge that was taping at the back of his mind. He was going to meet a werewolf face to face.
Sure, Mr. Lupin was Harry's dad; sure he just had to be a nice bloke. But, unlike Hermione, Ron had grown up listening to scary werewolf tales, he grew up fearing the full moon and all of that, it was not something he could get rid of that fast. He vowed, however, that he'd try not to show it, that he'd at least meet the man before being scared.
"Hermione said she'd be getting there soon" Harry was saying as they entered the house.
Ron said nothing back though; he was daydreaming about a muscular wolfish man on the other side of the fireplace just waiting for him to get there.
"Well, off you go now," Molly said, still a bit apprehensive "Harry, you say hello to them for me alright?" she said warmly, putting a hand on his shoulder, then she turned to her own son. "And Ronald, you behave!" she ordered, giving him a look. The look, however, was understood differently by both boys. Unlike Harry, Ron knew what she was saying with her eyes, 'Be careful', and it did nothing to ease his nervousness.
"Here's the powder," she said gesturing to a pot "You first Harry."
The boy nodded and, still grinning, he got into the fireplace and threw the powder down as he said clearly "River's Side!"
When he was gone, the Weasley matriarch looked at her son and breathed out heavily. "Ron, you… be careful alright?" she said once again and looked as though she was already regretting her decision. "If anything happens, you come straight home, alright? And also…" she started and placed something around his neck "Take this, just…in case of an emergency" her voice had never sounded so… guilty before.
He frowned as he looked at the family locket, it was one of the few prized possessions they owned and Molly wore it around her neck all the time. The picture of her children was inside, by her heart.
"… What do you mean 'in case of an emergency'?" he asked, not understand how he'd be protected by that thing.
"… It'll protect you, so just… go on now" she dismissed, not wanting to explain.
"How will it protect me?" he insisted, frowning.
"It's silver Ronald, now go!" she said in the same tone, giving him the 'no-nonsense' look.
Ron stared at his mother in disbelief and he shared her guilt as well… he was as good as taking a weapon to his friend's house.
Before he could argue, Molly spoke again.
"Go Ron, at least I'm letting you go…" she said, as though that statement would make her feel better.
He said nothing and didn't try to argue, he just grabbed the powder like his friend had done and breathing heavily he went after Harry.
--
When he felt the magic stop he opened his eyes slowly, afraid of what he might find. Having done so, he saw Harry first thing.
"Finally you came!" the boy said, still in that excited voice he wore all day "Come on, I wanna introduce you" he said, heading out pass the living room they had arrived in and into a smaller adjacent room that was filled with books from floor to ceiling.
Ron felt his breath get caught in his throat as he tried to come down. He had wondered many times before why he was in Gryffindor (especially if the events of last year with the spiders were anything to go by).
Determined, he went in after Harry and saw that there was a man sitting on a chair, working on something that was over his study. When said man heard them he looked up and Ron couldn't help but stare at him for a while.
He had a semi-wavy honey-colored hair that looked really soft, even with the gray platinum highlight here and there. He was very thin for a man, but looked as though he had a hidden strength, the way he moved so determined. In his awfully fair skin Ron could see white scars, two of which ran down his face, but they were very faded, as though having been made years ago.
He couldn't decide what captured his attention more: if it was the man's eyes, not the fact they were an unusual amber color, but the fact that they looked really kind, they had a special light to them that made you want to be taken care of by this person. Or maybe it was that beautiful genuine smile on his face; he looked as though he was a very happy person. It was really hard to describe. Should Ron need to describe that man, he'd just say he impersonated peace; that was at least what he felt around him.
Finally, Harry's voice cut through his thoughts
"Ron, this is my dad, Remus" he said, looking at him "Dad, this is Ron."
The man approached him smiling even more, and put his hand briefly over the boy's head. "Hello Ron, nice to meet you at last, Harry talks about you and Hermione all the time" he said, "It's great to have you here, make yourself at home, ok?"
The Gryffindor just stared at him without blinking, he was still processing Harry's introduction.
"I'm… I'm… I… nice to meet you too Mr. Lupin" he finally managed to say "Thank you for inviting me."
Then it sunk in.
This was Remus Lupin.
Ron was still gaping, when did the big closet-like, muscular, hairy, wolfish werewolf he had expected turned into this kind, peaceful looking, thin and awfully young man?
The lycanthrope nodded, still smiling, and followed them out of his personal library.
"Since you're already here, I'll start making lunch" he announced, as he headed for the kitchens.
"What are you making dad?"
"Roast beef, is that ok with you Ron?" he answered, turning to the red head again, who in turn nodded sharply.
"I love roast beef" he said, feeling his mouth water. Suddenly breakfast seemed like it had been years ago.
"Well then, Harry why don't you go and take Ron's stuff up to your room? Hermione will be here soon" the man reminded.
The messy haired boy nodded and started going back towards the stairs, but before leaving he frowned.
"Where's dad anyway?" he asked, noticing that the house was too quiet.
Remus' entire expression changed. "Well, I called him, but he wouldn't budge. Sirius is unbelievable, just let him be, hopefully he'll get up before dinner" he said with a playful tone, a smile to match on his face.
Harry chuckled knowingly and continued his way.
"Let me show you my room!" he said as they reached the top of the stairs.
Ron was still a bit dumbstruck and followed mindlessly after his best friend, only when Harry opened the door to his room did the freckled-one snap out of it.
"Bloody Hell, it's brilliant" was all he managed to say as they stepped in.
The room's wall were half wood half paper-covered, its color being a light yellow with some random patterns that contrasted with the mahogany colored wood. The beddings, curtains and rug were all a dark red, one could easily tell a Gryffindor lived there -well, the crest on the wall was a dead giveaway. Breaking through the more traditional look there were loads of quidditch posters on the wall, and one could see Harry's broom and balls set on the corner.
"You can take the bed, I'll sleep here" the messy-haired boy said, jumping on a mattress that lay on the floor.
Ron was still looking around, but at Harry's voice, he placed his bags down on the boy's bed and sat, facing him.
"It's really cool" he said.
"Thanks, we put the whole thing together when I was sorted into Gryffindor, dad wanted to do it before that, but I didn't want to…you know?" he told smiling.
Ron nodded; boy, did he remember their nervousness in first year.
"Hey, but where is Hermione gonna sleep?" he asked all of a sudden, noticing that there was no third sleeping arrangement anywhere.
"Dad said 'A young lady needs her privacy, so she gets her own room'" Harry answered, imitating Remus' voice. "She'll be in the guest room." He said shrugging, what was the problem of them sharing a room? It was kind of stupid really, well, at least she was staying over.
As if on cue, they heard a female voice coming from downstairs, had they been paying attention they'd have noticed the voice much sooner. And Harry looked at the door sharply. "Come on! She's here!" he said, running out of the room.
When they got down stairs, they saw not only Remus and Hermione, but also the tall and imposing figure of Sirius Black.
"'Mione, you're here!" Harry greeted before anything, grinning at her and receiving a hug.
"Hello!" she said back still hugging him, then she stepped back frowning as she acknowledged his sudden growth spurt.
The girl turned to Ron, both of them nodding awkwardly like they always did, and Harry just shrugged it off, what was it with those two?
"Morning Dad" he said giving his father a hug like he did every morning, it was briefer then usual, but a hug none the less.
"Morning kiddo" the man said, messing up his hair and grinning.
His voice seem to cut through the entire scene, one couldn't help but give him all of their attention.
"Harry, she is even prettier then you said!" Sirius said all of a sudden, with a very marauder look on his face as he turned to Hermione.
"Dad!" the boy looked at his father eyes wide; he had said no such thing! Count on Sirius Black to put him in embarrassing situations, he had been doing it for years.
But the man just laughed "I'm just teasing!" he said, approaching the bushy haired witch. "It is, however, a pleasure to meet such a fine young lady. Sirius Black, at your service." He said in an overly-polite tone, placing a kiss on her hand, his mischievous eyes glinting.
"Pleasure, Mr. Black" she replied, inexplicably feeling heat coming up to her face. He was more impressive then Gilderoy Lockhart!
Remus nearly rolled his eyes, for Merlin's sake!
"And who's this? Surely not a Weasley?" he winked at the freckled boy.
"I'm… Ron, nice to meet you…" he said suddenly feeling all uncomfortable.
To the red-head, Sirius was a scary man to say the least, he looked awfully intimidating. Especially with that smirk on his face all the time, it was like Fred and George! Walking bombs, you never knew what they were up to, though his good looks made up for it. He had straight, awfully black, hair that reached the bottom of his neck and was cut in a rebel way. And then there was the pair of silver gray eyes that seemed as livid as its owner.
And though both of Harry's parents had nothing to do with the previous image he had of the scary werewolf, should Ron have needed to point out which one was the lycanthrope, had he not known already, he wouldn't even have thought twice before pointing to Sirius.
"Go show Ms. Granger here to her room, right Harry? Then you guys can come to the back yard and we can play a bit, got you brooms?" the man said, obviously meaning quidditch.
The three of them, Hermione not so much - she couldn't really appreciate the beauty of a quidditch match, enthusiastically climbed the stairs at once.
Seeing the kids disappear at the top of the stairs, Sirius yawned and stretched a bit, the shower hadn't done much to wake him up.
"Remmie, why did you abandon me?" he asked, in his best victim tone as he approached his lover, who was getting busy in the kitchen, and hugged from behind. "Got something good for me?" he asked, resting his chin on the crook of Remus' shoulder, and, not being able to resist it, placing soft kisses on the man's neck.
"I'd stop that and step away if I were you," the werewolf said gesturing with a knife in hands, said object suddenly looking much sharper than Sirius remembered it to be. "You said you would behave" he said matter-of-factly.
"Correction, I said I would behave in front of the kids. Since said kids are nowhere to be seen, I, therefore, am not breaking my promise." He said, in the exact same way he used to speak to McGonagall when trying to escape from a well-deserved detention.
Remus turned his way giving him a look, though wearing his amused expression as he was trapped by his lover.
"You are hopeless, you know that?" he said.
Sirius whispered something on his ear and earned a roll of eyes from Remus who just mock-hit him in the arm and said "Sit!"
The man laughed good heartedly and stole a kiss from his lover before going to sit and hope Remus would still make him some food. Their relationship hadn't changed a thing!
--
"They're really nice, Harry" Hermione commented as she moved her legs back and forth in the water. "Mr. Lupin knows so much about everything! I mean, have you seen how many books he has?" she said, her eyes sparkling.
"Of course he has, Hermione, he lives here." Ron said smartly and Harry snorted.
The girl just shook her head.
"I knew you'd like him 'Mione, he's actually an awful lot like you" Harry said as he threw a rock in the lake. "Can't seem to let go of books, it drives dad mad" he told chuckling.
"Well…some of us, believe it or not, think of reading as fun" she defended.
Both her friends just laughed, bookworms would be bookworms.
"You even sound like him, it's scary."
The red head nodded in agreement. "You know, he's a nice bloke, nothing like I imagined" he said, as though out of the blue, the hidden meaning of his phrase left unnoticed. "And Mr. Black, he's brilliant! He must be the coolest bloke his age! He should have gone pro, ya' know? At Quidditch, I mean, I've never seen someone fly like that before. And he was holding back for our sake," he was obviously idolizing the man already "And he's really funny, bet he was worse than Fred and George back at school, must have given the teachers quite a headache." he reckoned grinning "But… he's kind of scary at first right…?" he admitted looking back at the house.
"That's just for show, he's just like that. But you're right, McGonagall would say, the two of them and my father, James, were worst then the twins! They were known as the marauders" he said, always imagining all sort of adventures the three, err…four, of them must have had back then. "They know all the secret passages and how to get everywhere, dad would tell me - he tried to, before - but dad won't let him." he told, sighing.
"Oh please, Harry, it's not as if we don't get ourselves into enough trouble already. Now you wanna go looking for secret passage ways?" Hermione reprimanded, taking her feet off the water.
Before either boy could say anything else, the bark of a dog interrupted them. And sure enough, an enormous black dog was coming their way.
Ron froze, staring eyes-wide at it; he didn't think at all, all he registered was that the animal looked too much like a wolf, never mind that it wasn't a full moon. His fear that had been long forgotten filled him up again and his had shot up to his neck, unconsciously seeking protection in the locket his mother had given him. But it wasn't there; he had left it among his outer clothes inside the house…
Hermione just frowned, seeing as it was confusing to see a dog that size acting like such a puppy. It was one of those silly dogs that, completely oblivious to their size, wanted to jump on you and such, she just laughed at it. Hagrid came to her mind, why couldn't he like something like this instead of the giant-three-headed counterpart?
Harry smiled, being the only one who truly understood who was standing there, and he was about to say something when the dog came up and licked his face, sitting between him and the bushy haired girl.
"What a beautiful dog!" Hermione said, amazed at its size and color, petting it with her left hand."Is it yours, Harry?" she asked barely looking up from it, as she continued to stroke a strategic spot behind his ears.
Harry was trying as hard as he could not to burst out laughing, so much he was slowly turning blue. Ron, on the other hand, was still suspiciously looking at the animal.
"It scared me! He's…so big ain't he? Looks…like a wolf" he muttered that last part. "You shouldn't just go and play with it like that, Hermione; do you even know where it came from? It could have bitten your head off!" he exaggerated, as always.
"Oh please Ronald, does he look dangerous to you?" she asked arching her eyebrow "You're just a big puppy, aren't you?" she said, now turning to the animal completely.
"Surely you'd say that, what with that beast you've gotten."
"Oh, leave Crookshanks out of it!" she said, shooting him a dirty look and positively ignoring him next. The dog just stood there looking like he had a big grin on his face and when his eyes locked with Harry's, the boy burst out laughing.
Both his friends looked at him, arching an eyebrow.
"What?" The red haired asked, frowning.
But the Boy-Who-Lived was lying on the grass trying to contain his laughter, it was too much! Oh Merlin!
"What is it, Harry? What's so funny?" Hermione asked, looking around, finding Ron with the same confused expression.
"'Mione, that's… that's my…" tears had gathered in the corner of his eyes and he was trying really hard to catch his breath. "That's my d-dad!" he finally answered, giving into his laughter once again.
At the same time, as if it was the result of a hex, the bushy haired which became the reddest Harry had ever seen, her eyes were wide and she let go of the grim-like dog, completely and utterly embarrassed. The freckled blue-eyed boy went eye-wide too, but for a very different reason, he thought Harry had meant Remus.
The dog walked away from them a bit and slowly stood on his rear paws, morphing back into the handsome Sirius Black. Who was, like his son, laughing, although much more reservedly.
"I… I… I'm sorry Mr. Black… I… didn't…" Hermione started, trying to say something.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I thought you knew I was an animagus." He said smiling "Don't be embarrassed, it's all Harry's fault anyway" he stated, though at the same time throwing his son a 'well-done-Marauder!' look.
"Blimey, it's just like professor McGonagall!" Ron finally said something after his amazement permitted.
Sirius nodded, grinning and then looked back at the house.
"Well, come on! Remmie's done with dinner and asked me to come get you guys. He said you'd have to get cleaned up first too, so come on, up up up!" he called, heading the house's way.
When they got there Harry went to his shower and Hermione to the guestroom's, leaving Ron to wait till his best friend got out. He was up in Harry's, looking around as he waited.
He noticed his stuff had been all put away nicely and that the clothes he had shed off before going out to the lake were neatly folded on the bed.
He was about to put them away together with the others – hey, boredom does that to a person – when he noticed something strange about it. They were…red at some places? He frowned, looking carefully. There were tiny little red drops on the clothes and bed, as a matter of fact; there was a trail of said drops on the floor between the bed and door.
He kneeled down, watching the random to-be-stains, and finally he saw it, his locket was on the floor as well…and it was speckled with the red liquid. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach drop, what had he done? Before he could even think, he heard voices coming from the hallway and he looked at the door eyes-wide, he didn't have time to move an inch when it opened.
"-clean it up" the voice was saying when it came in.
Mr. Black stood there, wand in hand, looking precisely at him and Ron froze.
"… I'm sorry" was all the boy managed to say standing up abruptly, shocked to suddenly see the man's eyes, that before only showed a kind mischievous glint, so cold and severe.
He saw then that Mr. Lupin was there as well, hands heavily bandaged.
Remus didn't know if Ron had understood what was going on, but he acted as though the boy did and he just smiled.
"It's ok Ron, it's fine, don't worry" he assured, looking as though nothing had happened "Come, let Sirius clean this up, ok?" he said, gesturing to the door.
The animagus hadn't said a thing; he wasn't even looking at the boy. He was fixedly looking at nowhere, as though just waiting for them to leave.
The red-head didn't argue, holding his breath as though even that could cause chaos, he followed the honey haired werewolf to the hall.
"I… Mr. Lupin, I'm sorry… I didn't…" he stopped, didn't what? Know? He bloody well knew… and he was bloody ashamed of it too. He didn't know what to say… "I never wanted… I mean…"
The man just shook his head. "Ron, it was an accident, you don't need to worry about it alright? I was careless" he said and the red-head could see he meant every word. The pain he was feeling… unfortunately the boy could see that too.
He lowered his gaze to the floor and nodded, why did something like this had to happen…?
"I'm sure Harry's already getting out, so you can get your stuff together" Remus said, as Sirius left the room announcing he'd go ahead and set the table. "And ahm… if you… rather not tell him about it…" he trailed off, he didn't know what his son would say…
Quietly, Ron nodded and went back into his best friend's room.
That evening's event was hidden from the Boy-Who-Lived, and said boy was told his father had just burned his hands while making their dinner. And he wouldn't have figured it out either, had he not been able to read his fathers' expressions so clearly. He could see Remus' pain and, especially, he noticed how Sirius had gone suddenly quiet.
It didn't take long for him to figure it out. After his friends left, two days later, he cornered his animagus father about it… and the man didn't lie. They were both very protective of the werewolf, even Harry being the son, both having witnessed what they had years back… and Harry was so enraged he muttered darkly around the house till the beginning of term, a week later.
If Ron had not forgotten the incident, he made a good job of hiding it, since he acted like nothing had happened, it only enraged Harry even further and the Boy-Who-Lived shunned him out completely.
And finally, on the day the red-head dared confront his friend about the different treatment, well, it was the first and probably most serious fight their friendship ever had to endure.
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A.N:
Err… ok giant chapter lol, I couldn't cut it up smaller then that though :P hopefully it wasn't boring –laughs- but this isn't over, I mean, this whole scene (duh! It's why it says 'part one' lol) I was thinking of just…not putting this scene all together, but for pete's sake, I worry so much about plot I end up cutting a bunch of scenes I love just to make the story flow (like in the guardian) so please, bear with me here :P
But on the bright side, the next chapter (part 2) is the last chapter before plot starts eyey XD so be happy and hang in there!
Notes about chappie:
- I swear I'm trying to keep a hold on Hermione, I'd hate to make her OOC! Especially if it's like the 3rd movie girly Hermione of doom! Nooooo!! I hope she isn't too far off, Well, I think she used to drool over Gilderoy and she's all lovey dovey with Crookshanks so that wouldn't make her too OOC regarding Sirius/Padfoot, I just hope you guys will agree with me –laughs-
-I don't usually like to describe people, or at least I don't use full paragraphs to do it. But this scene with Ron couldn't be helped: for me, it was very important to show you guys exactly what he was seeing :)
-The original part where Remus gets hurt was really, really big and Ron saw it happen, but because the chapter was too big already I had to change it / I think it came out a bit confused…so…sorry '
-Can anyone tell I don't really…like Molly? LOL I hope I didn't force this attitude out of her… but I based it on her comments about the werewolf in the ward (when Arthur gets bitten) and then she knew a werewolf already, if that was as understanding as she got then she's an idiot u.u I still don't like to do unnecessary and uncanon bashing, hope it didn't seem that way…
-Again with the lockets tsk tsk tsk, see, it's cause for me all purebloods sort of have a family locket (like the brothers back at The Guardian) seems like something fitting, the head male/female of the house would wear something that at the same time would impose respect and would protect them somehow (same way I believe the door knobs in old pureblood manors are made of silver…).
Answer to Reviews:
TokioHotelLover26: Thank you! Here it is!
XxXpassionatemuseXxX: Ohh so am I heheheh but I'll have a bit more kkkk :P
Blue-in-Blue: Oh I'm gald! :D Here it is!
LittleHero: Yeye hello again! :D Oh, good! ;) Thanks!
Illyra: You know what? I'm not either -laughs- I mean, I like them...but Remus and Sirius are soooo much more fun! heheh So don't worry you will be hearing from them :P Thank you!
LadyVisionary: Oh good! :) Err it was long but not loooong kkkkk :P I'm used to updating every three days hehe, so it's unusual for me, but here it is anyway :P I guess they are, although Ron's a bit more thickskulled hehe And as I told Illyra, Remmie/Siri is my OTP, so don't worry you will see loads of them ;) Thank you!
Moony73: Ohh I'm so happy to hear that! Yes, it's awful writing along with canon, and I have to repeat some things that just drives me mad, I wish I could just skip it LOL Oh Im so worried about OOCness its wonderful to hear that! :D Err sorry about the m I'm writing in a rush! I'm really glad to hear you like my writing :D I'd love reading your review! Thank you! (I hate when writers say they hate fanfic and stuff, I mean, it's what keeps Harry potter alive you know? -sighs- mean autie JK!).
If you've read and didn't review -gasp- please do LOL, cause I need reviews to keep me going, seriously!!
Kisses!!