Chapter 9: Little White Lies

Remus was waiting patiently outside the school for Harry, not far from another couple.

"I hope she made friends…" the woman said softly to her husband. "She's such an unusual child… I do hope that this one goes better than the one in London…"

"Hermione will find her place, Beverley," the man murmured. "Don't fuss."

A woman in her thirties, whom Remus recognized as the headmistress for the school, exited the school and called, "Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Mr. Lupin, if I might have a word?"

Remus groaned in unison with the couple, muttering under his breath, "Merlin, what's he done now?"

The three adults entered the school behind the headmistress, who led them into her office just off the entrance, where Harry and a little girl approximately the same age were sitting in the chairs. Remus was slightly mollified to see Harry looking abashed, his eyes fixed very carefully on the unraveling laces of his trainers, rather than on Remus' disapproving expression. The little girl, on the other hand, looked terrified and maybe even a little confused.

"Harry, what have you done?" Remus asked quietly, kneeling down to retie the laces.

"I didn't do anything wrong, Remus," Harry insisted. "I only made a mistake, that's all. It's okay, Hermione," he added innocently, reaching over to squeeze the girl's hand. "They don't throw people in jail for making mistakes."

"I'm sorry, Mummy," the girl pleaded, eyes watching her mother.

"What happened?" the man asked the headmistress sharply.

"It seems that Mr. Potter and Miss Granger here," the headmistress began to say disapprovingly, "thought it would be an amusing pastime to melt together the zipper tags of a classmate's schoolbag so that he couldn't open it."

The little Granger girl's parents both had identical expressions of shock on their faces. The headmistress, on the other hand, was giving Remus a very piercing stare. He knew that stare. McGonagall used to give him that stare all the time – him and James and Sirius, every time something exploded, or stopped working, or began thinking for itself…

He ran the house's layout through his mind, trying to determine if Harry could've swiped something…

No. He didn't have anything that would burn, or at least not at that sort of temperature in that short a timeframe. They didn't have anything that Muggles would use for starting fires – did they? What had Professor Edwin called them in Muggle Studies – matches? No, they didn't have matches. He used his wand if he needed to start a fire. Spent enough years mastering that skill, and he was damn well going to use it…

"I assure you, if there were flammable substances involved, it did not come from my house," Remus said finally.

"Nor from ours," the woman agreed, a sliver of ice in her voice. "Perhaps you ought to have your teachers keep a better eye on their classroom drawers."

*~*~*

"Disgusting," the woman muttered to her husband as they left the building, holding tightly to her daughter's hand. "Imagine accusing an innocent child of such an act… As if my Hermione would do such a terrible thing…"

"Astonishing," her husband agreed.

"Does this mean I'm not staying here?" the little girl asked sadly.

"Why, sweetheart, did you want to stay here?" her mother asked.

"Yes," the girl nodded. "I like it here. I have friends here." She paused, looking back behind her again at Harry. "Are you coming to school tomorrow, Harry?" she enquired.

"Yes," Harry replied enthusiastically. "Aren't I, Remus?" he asked, looking up at Remus again.

"Of course you are, Harry," Remus said with a slight smile fighting to cross his face. "Can't very well just pull you out of classes, now, can I?" Rolling his eyes as Harry grinned at him happily, he was forced to pause when the little Granger girl's parents turned to look at him. "I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I'm Remus, Remus Lupin."

"Lupin?" the mother asked curiously. "I thought the headmistress said his name was –"

"No, Harry's last name is Potter," Remus admitted. "I'm his guardian. I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your names."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I don't know where my head's gone! Beverly Granger," the woman said, holding out her hand. "This is my husband, Mark, and my daughter, Hermione," she continued as Remus shook her hand.

"We've just moved here about a week ago, from London," Mark spoke up, shaking Remus' hand. "How long have you been here?"

"Just about a year, haven't we, Harry?" Remus said, laughing slightly as Harry nodded animatedly.

"We moved from London, too," Harry announced. "When Sirius and Jenny went away."

Beverly frowned slightly at him, and Remus explained quietly, "His godfather and godmother were killed in the building collapse last year."

"God, that's awful!" Beverly gasped, her hand over her mouth.

"I'd heard they were investigating the construction company that was doing the renovations, weren't they?" Mark asked.

Remus shrugged. "To tell you the honest truth, I don't pay attention anymore. After James and Lily – Harry's parents – I've decided we don't need to know every gory detail. Suing them until we're both broke isn't going to change what happened, and frankly, I don't like the concept of putting a price on somebody's life."

"Oh, do I even want to know what happened to his parents?" Beverly asked, glancing over at the children as they ran off into the playground together.

"They were killed close to two years ago," Remus replied. At Mark's disbelieving expression, he said dryly, "Yeah, it's been a bad couple of years."

"No doubt," Mark said with a shake of his head. "How did they die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Murdered," Remus said shortly. "The police have asked me to keep the details quiet while they're investigating."

"They're still investigating? After two years?"

"Like I said, it's been a bad couple of years."

*~*~*

"Harry, you just can't be doing things like that," Remus said as he opened the front door. "I know you can't help it, but you have to try."

"But it wasn't me!" Harry protested. "It was Hermione!"

"Oh, sure, Harry, blame the Muggle," Remus replied with a roll of his eyes. "Very classy. Go get changed."

"But it was!" Harry insisted, voice trembling.

"Go, Harry," Remus repeated.

*~*~*

"Remus?" came Harry's tentative voice in the middle of the night.

Groaning, Remus buried his head under his pillow. "Not until the clock turns to 6, Harry," he growled drowsily. "Go back to bed."

"I know," Harry replied, climbing up onto the bed. "Can I come sleep with you?"

"Fine, just this once," Remus grumbled.

"I'm sorry, Remus," Harry offered, scrambling under the covers with him. "I didn't mean to be a naughty boy."

Remus sighed as the little boy nestled into his arms. "Oh, I'm not angry with you, Harry. We just need to be careful about magic happening while we're here."

"It really was Hermione, Remus," Harry yawned.

*~*~*

He was reading the Daily Prophet at breakfast the next morning when he saw it. It was a small article, hidden in amongst the evidently more important stories about the Chudley Cannons' fifteenth straight loss this season and the growing number of forked-tailed Crups in London.

NEW LEAD IN COLLAPSE DEATHS IN LONDON

Recently, investigators from the Department of Magical Catastrophes into the wizarding-related collapse of a Muggle building in London last year have uncovered a startling fact: there may have, in fact, been a survivor of the terrible tragedy, which – until recently – was believed to have killed five people.

Investigators are now probing this latest discovery, and are not releasing details to the public.

"What are you reading about, Remus?" Harry asked, climbing up into his lap. "Can you read it to me?"

Remus looked at the wide, innocent eyes of his little charge and contemplated telling him the truth: that Sirius or Jenny might still be alive. Then he lost his nerve. "Look at this, Harry, the Chudley Cannons lost their game last night."

"They haven't won any games," Harry said, watching the Keeper in the photo dive wildly at the Quaffle. "They aren't playing very well. Remus, can I have a broom?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "No, not until you're 12."

"No, I want a broom now," Harry told him frankly.

"Not until you're 12."

"But everybody gets a broom when they're four, Remus," Harry said knowledgably.

"Well, you aren't four anyway, are you?" Remus answered with a laugh. "You know, I didn't get my first broom until I was 10. And my father trained Quidditch teams for a living. You don't need a broom when you're four. Where would you use it?"

"Here," Harry answered immediately. "I'd play Quidditch on it. And at the World Cup."

Remus shook his head. "The World Cup isn't until 1986, Harry. You still have a few years to go, yet."

"But that's time to practice."

*~*~*

"So did you hear about that new find, in London?" George, one of Remus' Muggle coworkers, asked everybody in the lunchroom.

"You mean the building collapse?" Victor asked. "Yeah, astounding, isn't it?"

"No way a building just goes to the ground like that," Bernard said with a shake of his head. "And no way a person survives a collapse like that."

"I haven't read the paper yet this morning, what's going on?" Remus asked carefully.

"The investigators looking into the collapse say that it looks as though the foundation was in severe disrepair. They're amazed it stood as long as it did," George explained, just as Bernard added,

"And now they think some lucky jackass walked out of that destruction."

"That'd be some lucky jackass," Tom laughed. "Practically magical, if you ask me."

"What makes them think somebody walked out, anyway?" John asked curiously.

"Something stupid and ambivalent like a hole in the rubble big enough for a person to have wriggled out of," Bernard replied dismissively. "Can't believe they're going public with something like that. I mean, think of the victims' families –" He stopped as the men all looked at Remus. "Oh, God, I'm sorry, Remus. I completely forgot…"

"It's okay," Remus sighed. "I'm used to it."