Trickster Chapter Seven

-

Molly came in with wide eyes as she saw the shop full with people. She had just went out for lunch for the kids, and she saw Harry, Jacob, Lottie and the twins handing out vials of something that misted over to all these people. She pushed her way through the crowd and motioned to the food. Harry motioned her to go the back, where the smaller kids were. "What's going on?"

"Full Moon's tonight. We already took our potions, now everyone is getting theirs. I cant believe there's so many people here…" Frankie murmured, taking a sandwhich from Molly's basket.

"So that's what everyone's been working on…you mean my boys were helping brew wolfsbane?"

The children nodded with small grins. "Yep, the twins were anyways. We're not that advanced yet mum." Ron called out, grabbing a sandwich for himself and Ginny.

Molly absentmindedly ate her own sandwhich, looking thoughtful. She looked over as the door opened again, showing Poppy and Severus. They looked surprised at all of the people in the store, and they went to the back.

They stared at Molly and the children. "Full moon's tonight." Ron said around a mouthful of his lunch.

Severus raised a brow, and Poppy smiled at the children. "I heard how all of you are helping Harry out, that's very good of you…"

"We're getting uniforms soon!" Simon said with a grin.

Poppy tried to keep from giggling at the thought. "Well, I'm sure all of you will look quite nice." She glanced to Molly, and Molly walked over, Poppy pulling her aside as they started to talk.

"If I know anything about werewolves, they're still going to have some injuries in the morning. Have all of you planned for tomorrow? like stock up on blood replenishers, and a batch of salves for bruises and cuts…

"Yes, Harry's been quite busy lately, I always see the poor boy working…I don't think he's gotten a decent night's rest in the past three days…"

Poppy sighed. "That will never do. Pour a sleeping draft down his throat if you have to, at least make sure he sleeps tonight. Severus is just as bad, I'm surprised the man hasn't come over and helped here already."

They both glanced over to see Snape getting a bit ansty. They both chuckled. "I'll take care of Harry, you'll make sure Severus stays away right now…"

--

Harry opened his letter excitedly, throwing the envelope to the side. He was getting his NEWT results today! He jumped up and down. Mrs. Weasley looked up from the counter with a frown. "Dear…"

"My NEWT results!" All the kids gathered around as Harry read them out. "I got an EE in Transfiguration, an O+ in DADA, an EE in Herbology, an O in COMC, and straight O's on my OWLS…."

"Woah, Harry, that's amazing…" Fred said, snatching the paper away.

"Little Harry's all grown up now, he can do magic!" Harry stuck out his tongue at the twins. He took out his wand, but Mrs. Weasley snatched it. Harry frowned, and started to pout. "Mrs. Weasley…"

"Don't you pout at me…" She handed him his wand back. The shop door opened, and it revealed a drenched Ron (it'd been storming outside.) "Hey, can someone give me a hand?" Jacob helped Ron with the rather burdensome package and put it in the back. A man stood awkwardly in the doorway, and Molly smiled.

"You're Remus Lupin, aren't you?"

The man nodded, his eyes falling on Harry. Ron came back with a grin. "I ran into this guy, said he was looking for the shop."

Remus looked around. The shop was still rather bare, as they were stocking up on potions and ingredients still. "Um…so do you really own this place?" He looked to Harry.

Harry grinned. "Yep. So, how can I help you?"

The man looked rather uncomfortable. "I…I was a friend of your parents. I was a really close friend actually. I just wanted to meet you." Harry smiled, shaking his hand.

"Well, nice to meet you Remus." Remus looked at the children. "If you don't mind me asking, why are there so many children here?"

Harry grinned. "The uniforms haven't come in yet. They work for me. We're not officially open yet, so…"

Remus raised a brow. "I've been out of the country, so I'm not exactly sure how you're able to own an apothecary."

Harry laughed, checking his watch. "Kids, it's time to clean up." He turned to the Weasleys. "We'll be back from our trip soon Harry."

"We promise to get you all sorts of cool stuff in Egypt."

"You don't have to, just take lots of pictures."

Harry turned back to Remus as everyone started to clean up. "We can have some tea, go upstairs and get cleaned up a bit, that weather's awful out there." Remus nodded reluctantly, going upstairs.

Remus looked around the small flat. It was rather plain, but everything looked rather new. He jumped as he saw a house elf pop up in front of him. "You're dripping on the floor." It said, handing him a towel. Remus looked down to see water on his feet. He toed his shoes off by the door as the elf instructed, toweling his hair dry.

Harry came up a short while later. "Dobby, can you get us some tea please?"

"Yes Harry Potter sir!"

Harry grinned, sitting next to Remus on the couch. "So, what brings you back to the UK?"

"Oh, um, well actually, I'm going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year."

Harry frowned. "Well, you'll see the Weasleys there. Not me, though."

Remus looked to him in surprise. "Why not?"

Harry grinned, handing him his test results. "Just got my results today."

Dobby came back with the tea, and Harry poured them both a cup as Remus stared, gobsmacked.

"Surprised?"

"Actually, not really. Your mother Lily was brilliant, you must get that from her." Harry gave him a small smile, leaning back in his seat.

"Professor Snape said that too."

"Snape? Severus Snape?" Remus said, surprised.

Harry nodded. "You must have been classmates, right?"

"Um…yeah. So…he's a Professor too?"

Harry nodded, taking a sip of his tea. "Teaches potions. He stops by here once in while."

Remus looked down. "That's nice…I suppose."

Harry chuckled. "I gather you weren't friends."

"Not really."

Remus drank his tea with a slight smile. "Wow…you have your own apothecary…and you're almost thirteen…"

"That's right. If you think about it though, hundreds of years ago, it was rather normal to have an apprenticeship at my age and everything. Officially, I'm still contracted to Hogwarts, so the teachers stop by to make sure everything's going okay, but I left last year after some…problems…"

"Like what?"

So Harry told him about what had happened at Hogwarts, which went into Harry's childhood in Knockturne, then it went to his history with the Dursleys.

"That's…wow. I'm surprised you stayed that long."

Harry shrugged. "I can do magic now, since I've taken my NEWTS and OWLS, the majority of them anyhow. I'm going to continue with some studies into alchemy and healing, and of course, potions. I still have to get my license before I can open up this place too, that will be first."

Remus raised a brow. "That's quite a load."

"So, tell me about my parents."

They spent the rest of the evening talking about Harry's father and all the pranks he pulled over the years, and it was quite fun. The evening was wearing down, and Harry yawned. "So…who's Sirius? You mentioned him a few times, but you haven't said much…I get the feeling you don't like him much anymore."

Remus frowned, looking sadly into the fireplace. "Sirius was…in our group. The Maurader's. I…it seems like the night your parents died, I lost the rest of my…"

"Family? Pack?"

Remus looked to him in surprise. "How did you know…"

"Your eyes. I cater to a lot of werewolves Remmy, don't worry."

Remus frowned, looking back into the fireplace. "Sirius was your parent's secret keeper. They were under the fidelis…"

"Wait, you're not talking about Sirius Black, are you?"

Remus looked over at him. "Yep. That crazy insane guy that just escaped from Azkaban last week."

"Shit! It said he blew up 12 people…"

"The night after your parents died. Our friend Peter tried to stop him, but all that was left was his finger…I…."

Remus felt his eyes burn, and arms wrapped around him. "They were my family, you know? I actually got to go to Hogwarts, and…and they knew, and they were fine with it, they were my pack…."

"Shh…" Harry said softly, hugging him tighter. Remus held Harry tightly. "You're all I got left Harry…and I feel awful not being there for you…but I knew I could never…"

"You're here now, aren't you?" Harry said with a small smile. Remus stared at the boy, tears falling from his eyes. "You're…" Remus whispered. Harry eyes widened in surprise as he felt Remus kiss him, holding him tightly.

Harry clutched the front of his sweater, shutting his eyes closed and leaning into the man. Remus pulled away, trembling. "I've…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I…I…" He stood up. Harry stood up, clasping his hand tightly.

"Now wait just a minute." The man looked down at him in surprise. "I'm not going to run you off for…for kissing me." Harry flushed, looking down. "It's alright."

Remus blinked in surprise. "Really." Harry nodded, moving up to the balls of his feet and kissing his cheek. "Really." Harry face felt like it was on fire as he pulled the man to his room. "Harry…"

"Just sleep. It's late, and I think we need to rest. I don't want to be alone."

Remus frowned, looking away as Harry undressed, pulling on a plain nightshirt and getting into the bed. Remus undressed, keeping his boxers on, and got in as well. Harry curled up to him right away, and Remus felt torn as he watched the boy fall asleep. Why on earth did he do that? It was a kid! He was just...a kid….what made him…he fell asleep eventually, hid mind wandering.

Harry woke up first with a small smile on his face. He was warm and comfortable. An arm was wrapped around his waist. He opened his eyes slowly, looking up to see Remus. The man looked so tired. Harry traced the man's face with the tips of his fingers, then his hair, seeing the bits of silver mixed in with the dark blonde. Harry looked down and saw the man was rather broad, with scars on him. He traced those too. A calloused hand grabbed his, and Harry looked up to meet Remus' amber eyes.

"Hi." Harry whispered.

"Good morning."

Harry lowered his eyes. "Would it be terrible to tell you that last night, you were my first kiss?"

Remus sighed, sitting up, turning away from him.

"I'm sorry Harry, I shouldn't have…this is inappropriate. I'll be teaching students your age."

Harry sighed. "Alright. But…you'll still be my friend, right?"

"Of course Harry." Remus murmured, getting up to dress.

Harry got dressed after Remus left the room. Dobby gave them breakfast. "Good morning Mr. Potter sir, and Harry's wolfie!" Harry and Remus both choked on their breakfast at that.

"Erm, good morning Dobby. Did you sleep well?"

"Just fine, Mr. Harry Potter sir, will you open the shop soon? Remember Harry's Snapey will be by soon…"

Harry flushed. "Snapey?" Remus asked, taking a sip of tea with a grin.

Dobby spoke up. "Mr. Harry Potter sir has lots of friends! There is the Snapey, Cat lady, Poppy, wheezys , Tildy, and the cubs!"

Remus smiled. "That's nice, so let me guess, McGonnagal, Snape, and Pomfrey?"

Harry nodded. "And who is Tildy?"

"The squib who owns the bookshop across the street. Matilda. She was sort of a mother figure to me around here, let me read all I wanted from her shop. I think I've read every single one of her books…"

They had a nice breakfast together. Harry grinned as he saw Severus outside waiting. "Hold on, hold on."

Severus gave him a small smile and hugged him. "I heard about the results, congratulations Harry." Harry flushed.

Remus cleared his throat, looking awkward in the doorway. Snape pulled away, his smile dropping. "Lupin."

"Snape." Remus looked to Harry. "Well, it was nice meeting you Harry."

"You too. You better stop by sometime, and write to me from Hogwarts." Remus nodded, getting out of there quickly.

Severus gave a Look to Harry. "What was that?"

"He came by yesterday. He wanted to meet me, and we talked and talked about Hogwarts and what's gone on the past few years…"

"He's a werewolf, did you know?" Severus growled, eyes flashing.

Harry frowned. "Yes, I did Severus. Come on, I grew up with them, I knew right away…."

Harry walked back to the lab. "It's not a big deal…" He murmured.

Severus frowned, following him. "But…he's dangerous…"

Harry turned, gulping as he saw how close the other man was. "I know what I'm dealing with Severus…please…okay?"

Severus frowned, then turned away from him. "Here." He put a package on the counter. "I…thought you might like it…as sort of a congratulations…gift thing."

Harry opened it, smiling as he saw a copy of Cornelius Agrippa's Libri tres de occulta philosophia. "Thank you." He murmured, turning back to the man. "Severus…" He touched the man's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Severus moved away. "Nothing. I…will be very busy with school starting soon."

Harry frowned, grabbing his arm, turning Severus towards him. "Hey…look at me."

Their eyes met, and Harry sighed, hugging him tightly, burrowing his head in Severus' shoulder. "Don't avoid me because…just don't. Please Severus. You're my friend."

Severus looked away. "I should go. I hope you like your book."

Harry yanked him close again. "Dammit Snape, grow up." Harry growled.

Snape frowned. "Coming from a thirteen year old child."

Harry sighed, watching him go. He scowled at the wall, kicking the edge of the counter.

--

September first arrived, and Severus and Remus were 'arranged' to sit next to each other. The other professors thought they knew why the two men were so tense, because of their history as students. But actually, it was because of someone not even there. They hardly spoke a word to each other, being barely polite to each other because they had to.

A month into term, Hedwig arrived, she had a whole stack of letters that were delivered. First, one each for Ron, Hermoine, Neville, the twins, and Ginny. Then the owl flew over to Luna at her table, who smiled as she saw the bird.

Then it flew over to the professor's table and dropped a letter in front of Minerva, and two letters in between Remus and Severus. Both men glared at each other. Hedwig hopped in front of Severus' plate, hoping to steal a bite. Severus smirked at Remus, handing the bird some fake bacon. The bird ate it eagerly, until Remus gave her a bit of toast.

Both men opened the their letters with a tiny smile growing on their faces.

Minerva watched all of this, raising a brow. She opened her own letter, and stifled a laugh.

Minerva,

I'm guessing you're trying not to laugh right now at Severus' and Remus' reactions at the breakfast table. I'm sure those two men have it out for each other. They are being extremely childish, and I'm telling them so through their own letters. I hope you're doing well. You should probably expect the twins to be in right pranking form, don't blame me, I didn't give them any ideas, I think it was Ginny.

Watch out for her, she's quite sneaky.

Hedwig and I miss you, it's kind of quiet around here now. The children are getting taught by Matilda regularly now in the mornings, and they come by here in the afternoons to brew with me. I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't heard about my shop just yet, but then again, we still havent officially opened.

Hagrid came by over the weekend and gave me some of the best stuff ever from the forbidden forest, and I gave him some of my best cakes, so he's probably in a happy mood. I'm so glad he's teaching now, I always thought he could do well there.

Write me soon, I've finished off the books you gave me, and I'm terribly anxious to start trying out some things.

Love, Harry

--

Severus felt his scowl slip away as he read Harry's letter.

Dear Severus,

I know you must be upset with me writing Remus, but he's my friend too. I hope you two can work things out, because I really care about you. I've been working really hard, and I finally got my apothecary license. I'll be hooking up the floo in the next month or so, so you can come by and visit more often.

The children miss you, they say that you're very brilliant, and apparently they think I've got a bit of a crush on you…maybe I can see why. You're smart, your handsome, and you really understand me…I'm making myself blush. But then again, Remus is all those things too. I'm laughing now, imagining the look on your face.

Please visit me. It's much too quiet around here. Come by for dinner, at least, Dobby and I will be fixing a proper feast. Just let me know when. Molly seems to think I starve around here, she visits all the time, but it's not the same not seeing you everyday like I would at Hogwarts.

Miss you,

Harry

--

Severus glanced over to Lupin. Their eyes met, and they exchanged the tiniest of smiles. Maybe they could just…deal with each other.

--

Harry was humming, rushing around the small kitchen, making sure everything was just right. Severus and Remus would be stopping by tonight for dinner. Dobby was setting the table now, making sure everything was in place.

"Harry Potter sir, you must get ready, you is still in your work robes…"

"Fine, fine, kick me out of my own kitchen Dobby…" Harry teased, going to his bedroom. He yanked his usual ponytail out, going through his closet. He smiled slightly, pulling out a shirt and pants, then jumped into the shower.

A little later, he walked to his bedroom, drying his hair. He pulled on his green button down shirt and jeans, putting on some sock onto his cold feet. He shivered, lighting up the fireplace. The floo was only connected downstairs. He checked his watch, and was about to pull his hair back when Dobby smacked his leg with a wooden spoon.

"Ow! Dobby, what the…"

"You is looking nice tonight, don't pull your hair back."

"But…" Dobby stepped up his glare, which didn't really work on the elf, as he was wearing an apron, waving his wooden spoon around.

Harry hid his smile. "Okay, I'm going downstairs."

He went downstairs and waited. He glanced outside to see it snowing lightly. It was November now, the shop would be opening the next week, on the full moon, officially. Everything was fully stocked up, with extras, so everything was ready to go.

The floo flared finally, and Severus tumbled out first, brushing soot off of his shirt. Harry smiled, seeing the man had cleaned up a bit. Harry brushed a bit more soot off, kissing his cheek. "It's nice to see you Severus." Severus gave him a small smile.

The floo flared up again, and Remus stumbled out. Harry grinned, helping him up. "Remus, nice to see you too." He kissed the man on his cheek brushing soot off from his sweater. "The floos are just awful, I wish they weren't so dirty…"

Both men exchanged a look over Harry's head.

Harry led them both upstairs. "Dinner's ready, so eat up. Dobby and I worked hard on this…Dobby, where'd you go?"

Dobby popped up. "Dobby is taking his dinner elsewhere so Master Harry and his Wolfie and Snapey can have a nice dinner."

"Are you sure Dobby…ow!" Dobby grinned, holding up his wooden spoon. "Fine…" Harry murmured, rubbing his shin.

Remus chuckled as they sat down. "Seems like Dobby has good control over you."

Harry laughed. "Just a bit. I think he just worries about me."

They had dinner, talking about Hogwarts for a bit, then they took tea into the sitting room. Harry sat between them, smiling. "I'm glad you both could get over your differences, it makes me very happy." Harry said softly, sipping his tea.

Severus looked away, and Remus coughed.

Harry frowned. "What?"

"Well…we haven't exactly. We've tried, but you know how things are at Hogwarts…" Remus said slowly. Severus sighed, taking Harry's hand into his.

"Things arent easy when many of my Slytherins expect me to…" "Insult me." Remus ended shortly. Remus met Severus' eyes slipping his hand into Harry's other hand, challenging him.

Harry saw the look, then looked down to the men's hands in his. He snatched his own hands away from them and stood, hands on his hips as he glared at them.

"I'm trying to get both of you to be my friends, and I can tell both of you think you can fight over me…trying to win me over, just because of some stupid childhood rivalry!" Harry cried out, feeling quite upset.

"I hate this! If you cared about me enough, you wouldn't fight over me." Harry yelled, going to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. Both men stood and walked over to the door.

"Harry, please, open the door-" "Harry, I'm sorry-"

"Go away. You ruined everything." They heard a murmur on the other side.

Severus and Remus looked to each other with a frown. "Can we please come in?" Remus asked softly.

"….fine."

Remus opened the door, and Harry was curled on his bed, facing away from them.

"Harry…I wish it was that easy, I did some pretty awful things to Severus…"

"And…I did as well…Harry, please look at me…us." Harry turned around sitting up.

The could both see him tears in his eyes as the boy crossed his arms. "I don't like it when people fight, there's enough problems going on with out all of you…fighting over silly little things…."

"He tried to kill me!" Severus said, pointing to Remus with a shaking finger.

Harry's eyes widened as he looked to Remus.

Remus shifted uneasily. "It was an accident, I had no idea, I was transforming in my usual place, and one of the guys told him to meet him…"

"But Potter went and saved me…"

Harry stared at them, then looked down. "This was like…twenty years ago. It was an accident, it sounds like. No one died, no one was bitten. Just…please, get over it."

"It was fifteen years ago." Severus snapped.

Harry frowned, standing up from the bed. "Fine, whatever. But I love you Severus, I have for a while now, but if you don't get over this-"

Severus pulled Harry close, kissing him hard, an arm wrapping around his waist, another twining through his hair. Remus's eyes widened, his jaw dropped. Harry gasped into the kiss, tugging at the man's robes.

Severus pulled away, covering his mouth with his hand. "Don't you dare walk off." Harry murmured, latching onto the man's hand. Harry looked to Remus, who looked so sad now…

"I think we should talk about this." Harry murmured. He looked down at his feet. "You…both feel something for me. This…is part of what this is all about. I…I…think you should both go back to the school, and talk this over with each other. I…don't want to have to choose between you."

Both men stared at Harry in shock. Harry continued. "I care for you both a great deal, but I don't want to have to deal with your shit all the time. And if you say something about our age differences, so help me…"

"But…" Severus started.

Harry raised his eyes to Severus. "Come on, this…taboo is something modern! If you go back years and years ago, this was very common in those days, the age differences, I mean. This…whatever that's telling this is wrong…is just influenced by modern muggle culture, and who cares, it's not like we live in it anyhow."

Harry pulled Remus close by his arm, kissing him softly. Then he turned and kissed Severus. "Now, go back to the school and talk about this. You…don't have to tell me your decision or anything…just…let me know sometime, okay?"

--

Surprised, aren't you?

Please don't flame me!

Smexy time wont happen for a long while (with Harry anyways.)