Chapter 8
"To what do I owe the honour?" he asked as he sat up. Of everyone at Hogwarts, Snape was the last one he had thought was going to come and see him.
"I came on behalf of one who I once loved," he said to him and there was such a grief in his eyes that Remus found he did not know what to say for a moment; whatever he had thought Snape was going to say to him, it had not been that.
He did not need to ask who that one was. When they had been at school, just as they had all known James had been in love with Lily, they had known Severus had too.
He had been in love with his best friend since before he had been able to remember.
"And why do you feel you need to come for her?" he asked.
"Why do you think I felt I had to come for her?"
He looked at him and he knew what he was going to say before he had so much as opened his mouth. It was shocking to him how well he knew his old enemy. He did not think Sirius and he were up to raising her child and that was why he had come to him.
"Because you have come to ask me to tell Sirius we are not for the course we have taken and even if he is treated like a servant at his relative's house, we should give Harry back up to them. But if I am right and that is the case then I have to tell you that neither Sirius or I will ever agree to do such a thing."
Neither of them were surprised by the other. Maybe they had already got to the stage in their lives where very little did surprise them.
"I am still bound to come to you for her sake and ask you not to turn the boy in to a mini me of his father. To see his arrogance in her child would not be something she wished."
Remus did not know whether to just except that he was here as a friend who had loved Lily, or whether to order him to get out. He did not want to hear that there were those who did not think he and his best friend were not up to the task they had taken up.
"Don't you dare come in here telling me you are such a great friend of Lily when you let her son be abused for so many years," said Remus.
He knew he had not been any better but had he tried to get in there before he had Sirius support then he knew he would have been hunted down like the animal so many people considered him to be.
"I let him stay there because he was with his family."
If the dog had thought about it for a moment Severus suspected he could have worked out why he had not gone for him either. By the time the war had come to its end, he had had a criminal record for being a Death Eater. No; no matter the history he had had with his dear Lily they were never going to give the boy who lived to him.
But better a Death Eater had him than a Sirius Black.
He could just see already who he was going to strut about the castle when he got there as if he had been born to be there.
Well, he did not think he was going to be able to just sit back and watch it happen. She would not want him too of that he was sure.
"And it did not matter to you in what state he was being kept and how miserable he was. Blood ties are never going to be the bases for a family. That is something you never did and maybe you will never understand."
Maybe it was because he had been expecting him to be low after full moon but Severus had to say he was surprised when Remus begun to fight back. But for the first time in his life the werewolf had something he believed to be own. He had something special; he was never going to allow someone to bad mouth it and he was never going to allow anyone to take it away from him or tell him he should not have it.
Snape had no idea of what they had been through since they had been back together.
The sad thing was, if he really did miss Lily and was as devoted to her memory as he seemed to be then he could have been part of it. He did not believe he had no interest in Harry for if he did not then why was he there, trying to do what he thought in his twisted up little mind was best for him. This could not be just about Lily he thought to himself.
"Do not tell me what I do and what I don't understand about the meaning of the word family."
"Then don't you dare ask me to give up the one thing in my life that is good and pure." He said fiercely.
He did not get so defensive usually. But it had been so long since he had felt like this about anyone.
For the first time in a long while, he was beginning to remember what it felt like to be part of something which was fun and good. And he was willing to admit they were not perfect parents, Sirius and himself. Chances were they were never going to be and perhaps Harry might be better off without a pair of mutts like them. But what made the pair of them different was that unlike every other adult he had ever had in his life was that, they were trying. They were trying hard to do what was best for him.
And if Snape thought he was going to stop on the word of some greasy nosed prat he was wrong.
"Just get out. I need to have a bit of a sleep before I go back and see Harry. He has Lily's eyes you know? There beautiful."
It had been a long time since he had felt the need to be almost sadistic. But there had always been something about Severus. And even if he had been above it a lot of them time when they were at school, he was too tired at that moment to be the bigger man.
It was only when he saw how hurt Snape looked that he realised what he had said. He acted as James had when they were kids and he had to say he did not look back on the boy his mate he had been then with pleasure.
He would have stood by him through anything and he had done but he had never been too in awe of James to tell him when he had been wrong.
He had never been Sirius and now he was growing up he did not want to become like they were when they had been mere kids.
"Oh Severus, I didn't mean that. Please forgive me. It was a tough full moon."
But then he had known he was never going to get forgiveness for saying something like that and so he had to settle for seeing the back of Severus as he strolled away from him.
()()()
When he did get back to the flat, Remus did not think he had been so glad to see the back of one single full moon in quiet a long time. It was not just what he had done to himself that got to him but also what he had said to Severus.
He, who had always been the voice of reason,had lost his cool for just a moment and while he knew Sirius and Harry were not going to care what he had said to Severus, Harry because he had no idea who he was and Sirius because the truth was he would probably applaud him, he felt as if he had let himself down.
He was not a bully and he never had been. Even when he had been hanging about with Sirius and James, he had always tried to be the voice of reason. The sensible one.
When he grew up he did not want Harry to act like that. He wanted him to be a good lad who helped people out rather than put them down. And so he should not be doing it if he wanted to show any kind of example to him. Even if he was doing it out of Harry's site...
He could hear James' voice in his head telling him Snape had only got off him what he had deserved but that was no excuse. When they had made enemies James had been a young man and Remus knew while he was not yet old he was not as young as James had been either. He had been given a precious gift when he had been given the time to grow up and he did not want to waste it when so many of his class mates (and to a certain degree be did include Sirius in that) had not been given it.
He had to make the most of the time he had been given.
He had been about the door a whole of ten seconds when a speeding mass of black messy hair run in to him. It was difficult thankfully now to remember what the flat had been like before he had had Harry's laughter to fill it. He did not want it to be that empty ever again.
Now well practised in the art of making Harry giggle Remus picked the lad up and begun to tickle him as a form of hello to keeping the shrieking running through the flat just a little longer.
And he had to say he did not want him look at him much as inevitable as it was he was going to see him now. No boy should have to see that. But he wanted to delay it.
Sirius on hearing the laughter was only able to assume Remus was back and soon came out to see him and as soon as he did he winced. He remembered when he had come back to school like that after he had 'seen his mum' when he had been a kid. That was why he had made Remus tell them what was really going on because he and James had got it into their heads that Remus' mum and dad were not very kind to their son – in fact, they had thought they were the type of parents Harry's aunt and uncle had turned out to be.
"Rough night mate?"
"Something like that."
Until that point Harry had been far too busy enjoying the attention he had been given to notice the state that his uncle had come back to him in but after his godfather had asked the question he stopped and looked at him.
Remus had known he was going to have to see sooner or later but when he did look at him it hurt for some reason. He did not think he was ever going to know why. But ever since he had got to Remus and to Sirius, Harry had had a relatively happy home. So to see Remus so hurt was a shock.
"I had a fight with a lamp post and lost Harry, don't you worry about me." Said Remus as he bent down and give him a kiss the boy but he did not seem very happy about it and scampered back to the safety of the living room.
As soon as he was out of ear shot the two surviving marauders made eye contact.
"Well, I hate to say it but he is going to have to get used to it." Murmured Sirius.
There were something's no matter how much he wanted to he was never going to be able to protect Harry from and he had to admit one of them was side affects Remus's condition.
When he was older he was going to be able to understand what went on. But that was not yet.
He wished it was because he hated the idea of Harry being scared. He seemed ok but then how could any kid be ok with someone they loved coming home looking as if they had had the crap beaten out of them.
"Why don't you go and stick the kettle on. I am going to be through in a sec but you know..." Sirius trailed off.
He did not want to say he had to go and comfort Harry but that was what he did have to. As much as he knew his friend had had a rough night they both knew they had to put the child first. But making Remus feel bad for something which was not his fault was not what Sirius wanted to do either.
Knowing where his duty lay though he walked the path his god son had just taken to find the lad watching cartoons on the muggle TV they had. It had been one of the many pleasure he had been denied when he had been living with his aunt and uncle and one of the things Sirius had Remus decided would be good for him – a little normality in a crazy world.
"Hey buddy are you ok?" he said as he went in to the room and he had been ready for Harry to be a bit shocked by it, but when he walked into the room he saw there were real tears in the lads eye. He had not been expecting that.
"Who hurt Remus?"
He hated the idea that someone had been horrible enough to hurt someone he loved.
"Mate, I know it is very hard for you to understand what went on but what happened to Remus is nothing more than an accident."
For the first time since he got him back Sirius realised he was lying to Harry. The events of the night had not been an accident and Sirius knew that long ago someone had hurt his best friend as to make him... like this.
It was not what Harry meant, for how could he know but it still made Sirius feel just horrible. And he knew Harry understood he was not telling him something. A stupider kid than Harry would know he was not owning up to something and he believed his godson was a very smart boy.
Harry could not like the feeling he was keeping something from him. But how could a six year old be expected to understand one of his guardians was a werewolf? He had only just got used to the two of them being wizards.
Just as he had got it when Harry had tried to explain why he did not want him to go out with Remus when it had been full moon, Harry quickly seemed to grasp the idea there was a reason his good father was not telling him the truth.
After all, up until that point Sirius knew he had always tried to be very open and very honest with him. Had he a choice, then he would have been but he did not seem to find a way that he could be.
Knowing that Sirius was not going to tell him even if he did ask what was going on, Harry decided it was about time that he put his god father out of his misery.
Moving closer to him, he wrapped his arms about him. He had been so scared when he had seen Remus but the fact that Sirius did not seem over concerned did do something to settle him he had to admit.
If the two of them were not stressing over it then maybe he should not be either.
Eager to believe that the young lad had some sort of grasp on what was going on in his life, Sirius hugged him back fiercely and dropped a kiss in to his hair before he lay back, Harry still tightly wrapped in his arms.
"I swear I will tell you all one day buddy. But for now you have to accept it when I say it is nothing for you to worry over. Let me look after you."
Harry thought about what he was saying for a moment and he knew he was never going to like it but he had been with Sirius long enough to know when he said something he meant it.
Harry had no choice but to admit he had lost that round. "Ok."
Remus was holding his head in his hands when Sirius came back out to him and as they looked at one another both Marauders knew how tired other was. He was always and had always been out of it a couple of days after the New Moon. That was just the way it was. Considering, it was amazing he had managed to do so well at school when he had got there.
"Was it that bad?" he asked quietly as he sat down opposite him and Remus shook his head.
"It was a lot better than all the others one had before you and Harry were here to come home too. They were the ones that killed me. Don't worry," he said to him. "Not about the effects of the full moon any way. "
"What do you mean by that?"
"There is one up at the castle who rather we did not have the little man under our care," he sighed.
For a moment Sirius looked confused. Had he not been there then he knew he would have been as well. After all, Sirius had been through since he had been in jail, their feud with Snape must have looked like small fry. And it had been so long since they were in one another lives.
So unimportant was Snape to Sirius these days that he seemed to have forgotten all about him.
Remus then doubted his wisdom of having told Sirius what had gone on. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was reignite the hate they he had had one another when they had been young.
Really they were all too old for such a thing now. They were not teenagers at Hogwarts any more. They were adults and there was a kid in the middle of it now.
"Does Dumbledore regret helping us get him back? Is he going to try and take Harry from me because I swear I would rather see the old man dead than give him back the boy."
Sirius had a dark look in his eyes. Remus had not seen it since he was a kid and he had been talking about the people he had no choice but to be tied to by blood. He had hated them – and it panicked Remus. Was it the idea of giving Harry back or the professor who was the root of his friend's anger?
"It is not him and I promise you no one is going to take the lad away from the two of us - not now."
It would be far too cruel on all three of them to be separated and it was never going to come to that.
"Well, then who is it that thinks we should not have him – who would dare to?"
It was only then that it dawned on Remus that his friend had no idea there old enemy was now teaching at Hogwarts. He had been out of the loop for so long.
"No one – it is not important, ignore me," he said suddenly changing his mind about telling Sirius what had gone on. But even as he had said the words he had known it was not going to work.
If someone had so much as suggested Harry was not best placed with him, then he was going to make sure they knew to shut their mouth's as they were speaking out of turn.
He did not get how someone who had been free (for they must have been if they were at the castle) had the balls to criticised him for trying to give Harry a loving and stable home when no one else had done a thing to help the lad when he had been in jail. To him it seemed anyone who had been able to had not so much as lifted a finger nail to help his godson when he had been away and to him that was unforgivable. Nothing would change that view of his.
"Don't be a fool Remus; you have known me long enough to know that I cannot ignore something like this. I don't want there to be a person out there in the world saying stuff like that. What if it were to get back to Harry somehow?"
He did not like to think what the lads reaction would be if he were to hear that he was going to be taken away from him. Even if it was just a rumour...
God, he got scared enough at the thought of the two of them going out for the night.
Knowing he had no choice but to go through with what he was saying and that Sirius was not going to let it drop until he did.
"Ok but you have to promise me that you are not going to go off on one."
"You know I can't do that."
It was the first row they had had since he had been back it dawned on Sirius. He knew he had a short fuse when it came to the welfare of the lad but he did not want to lose it with Remus. How long had the two of them been friends? And they were the last two left from the Hogwarts days.
They were brothers.
But neither were saints.
"It was Snape."
Sirius burst out laughing, hysterically. "Oh that is a good one Remus. For a moment you had me going that it was someone whose opinion mattered."
Remus had to say he was not sure how to take the reaction. To say he had been worried his friend might be a little unhinged when he came home from jail was an understatement but this was the first time he had seen any evidence of that. He had always thought that deep down Sirius was fine after all he had been through – or maybe that had just been what he had wanted to believe.
When he stopped laughing though the light his eyes was ore taken by the anger again as he sighed. "He always was an idiot."
"It doesn't matter."
"No..." Sirius muttered as he turned away in to the living room to be with his godson but Remus had a terrible feeling that this wasn't over – that somehow, Sirius was already trying to think of a way to make him pay for what he had said.
When Harry awoke in the middle of the next night, he suddenly felt very awake, he wasn't afraid or unhappy and he did not think he had even had a bad dream but he knew he wanted to play. Knowing Sirius was going to be in the living room, he decided his best bit was to try and sneak in and take his toys out and back to his room.
The fact he had the confidence to do something such as this surely was a sign of the fact that he was slowly but surely healing.
But when he got there and he opened the door he got the shock of his life – for Sirius was not there.
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Author Note: I am so sorry for the delay on the chapter guys – hunt down my lecturers and tutors, not me! I wish I could promise another chapter in the coming weeks but I am still drafting chapter 9. I will have one up for Christmas for you though! Thank you all for your patience.