Chapter 26

Its his birthday now

Ron and Hermione left an hour later, claiming that they had to go back to their children before they killed Molly and Arthur. This left Remus, Harry, and Severus. Harry was cleaning up the dishes so Severus and Remus could talk in the living room in private. Besides, Harry found that doing chores relaxed him.

"I'm glad to see you forgave him after all." Remus said softly to Severus, listening as Harry turned on the tap to do the breakfast dishes, humming quietly to himself.

"He altered one of my memories, but I saw it as it really went on when Harry came to tell me goodbye. I felt horrible and I went searching for him after he walked away, hoping that I hadn't missed him. I had, but I knew where this cottage was so I came here looking for him." Severus explained. He and Remus had become friends after Harry's "death" and still remained so, even if Sirius and Severus didn't like each other still.

"I wish I could say that that sounds like Harry, but I don't know Harry anymore." Remus said, clasping his hands together, looking down at them. "Like how he handled Sirius when he found out that he was beating me and Crystal. How he dealt with us, and how he revealed himself. Harry's nothing like he was." Remus said softly. He looked up at Severus to see him nodding.

"I don't know this Harry, and that scares me as well, but I'm not going to let Harry slip away from me again. I'll spend the rest of my life getting to know this Harry if it means I can be with him." Severus said softly. Remus looked sad, and nodded.

"I'm not sure that Harry knows himself anymore, either. So many of his memories were altered. Did you see Charlie and Marlene after it happened? They seemed so lost. But when Harry came out, he seemed unaffected. He hasn't asked about things that he should be remembering, he hasn't asked about things that he shouldn't be asking about. I'm not completely sure if Harry knows who he is, nor do I know if he doesn't know who he is." Remus explained. Severus looked even sadder.

"But it would sound like our Harry to hide things like that, wouldn't it?" Severus asked softly. "Like his feelings towards how he wasn't prepared, and you know, Harry was right. He wasn't prepared and he couldn't get that training back at Hogwarts. None of us could have prepared him for Voldemort turning out to be Dumbledore. And none of us could have given him an alternative from killing Dumbledore." Severus said softly. Remus nodded.

"Harry did the right thing in leaving. We should have looked past our own noses to see that we couldn't win the war if we continued to shield Harry like we had been." Remus said softly. He then heard Harry coming. "So, did Harry tell you my happy news?" He said, quickly changing the subject. Severus glanced towards the door in which Harry was approaching.

"No, what?" Severus asked, brightening up.

"I'm pregnant." Lupin said happily.

"What?" They both jumped and turned to see Harry was leading Sirius, who prompty fainted.

"Well... I guess today is now his birthday..." Harry said slowly. Lupin glared at him but smiled at the unconscious Sirius.

"It's how he reacted when I told him I was pregnant with Crystal." Lupin said fondly.

"Well, we know who's the submissive in the relationship." Severus drawled, and he was rewarded with a pillow to the face.

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