Chapter 16: Marriage of Convenience

Harry, Ron, and Neville all felt bad that Hermione had gotten in trouble, especially since she would have to serve detention with Snape, which could lead to him finding out that she had been the one to set him on fire. When the four friends left the Quidditch pitch, they didn't make it to Hagrid's before Hermione slid to the ground and just started crying.

"I'm sorry Hermione; we didn't know what you had done to stop Harry from being killed." Neville placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, and Hermione leaned into him.

"Yeah, we also didn't realize you would tell McGonagall. If we had known that, we would have tried harder to shut you up." Ron slid down on the other side of Neville and pulled a chocolate frog that Harry had given him out of the pocket of his robes.

"I always babble endlessly when I get upset, and I was really upset that she didn't believe me," Hermione stated through her tears. "She's right, though; I guess I did jump to conclusions. I just wasn't thinking because I was so scared for Harry, and when I saw Snape, I panicked. Now the question is, if Snape wasn't the one jinxing the broom, who was?"

"I don't know Hermione, but I'm glad you tried to save me. It meant a lot to me." Harry slid down on the other side of Hermione then laid down to just look at the sky. "When I wasn't in control of my broom, I couldn't help but think that I now understand what you and Neville must feel when you're 20 feet in the air supported by nothing but a broomstick. It was extremely frightening, and I just wanted to get out of the air."

"Tell you what Hermione, next time you start babbling hysterically like that, one of us will clamp a hand over your mouth to shut you up," Ron stated with his mouth full of chocolate. "You just have to promise not to bite us."

"Thanks guys." Hermione wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robes and stood up. "Why don't we head inside? Harry hasn't eaten much today, and I'm sure that with the Gryffindor win, there will be a party."

"Sounds good," Ron commented as he jumped to his feet as well. "I'm absolutely starving, and nothing at Hagrid's is going to be edible."

"You're always starving," Neville pointed out.

"I'm a growing boy," Ron defended as they walked back toward the castle.

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November passed without much more excitement. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville spent almost all of their time together with Harry, only leaving for Quidditch practice or family night. The four friends had decided that Harry stood less chance of being attacked again if he was with someone at all times, even if his companions were usually a gang of first years. Whether it was the fact the attacker had given up, or Harry really was safer by traveling in his group, the kids didn't have to worry about anything more than being annoyed by Malfoy and his idiot cronies. The three Slytherins had taken the pain of their loss and turned it around to mock Harry about how he should be in the ballet rather than playing Quidditch, since he obviously depended on his teammates to protect him while in the air.

Harry had long ago decided that Malfoy wasn't worth the effort and had decided to just ignore him, especially since they didn't have to put up with him very often. Harder to ignore, though, was Minerva's order to spend a week in her office after school until his homework was finished because Professor Quirrell had told her Harry had failed to turn his homework in one day.

"But Minerva, it's not like it matters," Harry had complained when she'd taken five privilege points. He had immediately cowered under the furious look she had given him and hurriedly continued on to explain his thoughts. "I mean it's not like he teaches us much. If anything, he shows his terror more than anything. All he does in class is stutter, or jump at the slightest thing."

"That may be true, Harry, but Defense is a very important subject; even more so for you." Harry had quailed at the stern look the woman shot him at this point and had hastily started on his missing essay. "Even if Professor Quirrell doesn't teach you very much, you have books and homework that help teach you."

"Yes ma'am," Harry mumbled as he flipped through his textbook. He could see her point in that. Even if his teacher was scared of his own shadow, the book had some decent information. What he didn't completely understand was why Minerva thought that he might need Defense more than the other students. He didn't dare question her, though, and instead just started on his homework.

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After the first week of December, it seemed that chaos had broken out in many classes, and some of the teachers had given up on teaching anything. Class time in Defense and Astronomy was now mostly used for playing games or chatting with friends about the upcoming holiday. Other teachers had tried to maintain a little bit of structure but made allowances for the waning attention spans by adjusting their lessons to reflect the holiday spirit. In Herbology, the first years helped harvest magical fairy garlands as they also learned about the different magical plants and that came into bloom, had to be harvested, or could only be found around Christmas time. In Charms, Professor Flitwick had them stringing magical baubles together and then let them help decorate the giant Christmas trees Hagrid brought in by levitating the baubles around the tree branches.

Minerva and Professors Snape and Binns seemed to feel as if the holidays didn't even exist. Minerva and Snape demanded full concentration in their classes and also handed out plenty of homework to keep them busy and focused. Professor Binns had, predictably, seemed completely oblivious to everything going on around him. Of course, that also meant that he didn't completely see that the students never paid attention on normal days and were completely clocked out now that Christmas was around the corner.

Minerva had also come around Gryffindor tower with a list for students to sign if they planned on staying in the castle. Before Harry could even ask, Minerva told him that he would not be staying for the holidays. She and Albus would be getting married the day after school was released, and the family would then spend the remainder of the Christmas Holiday in the Caribbean. Harry was extremely excited to hear that since he had never been allowed to go on any type of holiday with the Dursleys. Even when they went to visit Uncle Vernon's sister Aunt Marge, Harry was sent to stay with Mrs. Figg for a few days.

The Dursleys had never stayed away for many days. They didn't want to be around him, but they didn't trust him to act "normal" for long and didn't want the neighbors finding out about his freakishness. They only trusted him with Mrs. Figg for a few days because they had long since decided she was completely crazy and senile. He had thought so as well since he had sat in her living room several times and had even talked to her about life at the Dursleys.

She had always listened politely and told him that everything would be alright. Harry didn't know why, but Mrs. Figg had always made him feel confident and at ease. He knew there was no way it was possible, but she had seemed to know something that nobody else had. As it turned out, she had! She had known that he was a wizard and that one day everything really would be alright. Maybe that was why she hadn't informed anyone. The Dursleys weren't stupid enough to kill him. They were too afraid of the neighbors finding out that they didn't have a perfect life, but they were even more afraid of the wizards. She had known that he would be relatively safe until he would be able to get to Hogwarts and maybe turn his life around.

She had been right. Harry found it hard to not be angry with Mrs. Figg for not helping him sooner, or, at the very least, not telling him at least a little bit so that he had a bit of hope to cling to. How many times had he wished for a miracle to come and rescue him? He had told her everything, and she had just left him there. He found it in his heart to forgive her, though, because even though she hadn't told him help was coming, she had made him feel safe and had given him an occasional safe haven to retreat to when he needed it.

Later, Albus had shown up with the full story, and Harry had originally felt anger that this man had been the one to leave him with his relatives in the first place. The rage had subsided, though, as he listened to Albus explain about how he had wanted Harry to have a shot at a normal life, had hoped his relatives would have treated him better, and because of the blood wards, Harry had been safest with his mother's sister. Between the explanation and the fact that Albus had seemed sincerely apologetic at having put Harry through the neglect and abuse at his relatives', Harry had found room in his heart for one more bout of forgiveness. In Albus's opinion, this showed just how much like his mother the boy truly was.

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When the time came for the train to leave Hogwarts and take them back to platform 9 and ¾, Hermione and Harry were all packed up and ready to go. Neville and Ron would be staying at the castle, since Neville was so excited to have friends to keep him company, and Ron's parents were leaving for Romania to visit his brother Charlie and couldn't afford to take the entire family along. Harry saw how red his friend's face became at this comment and chose to ignore it.

Hermione, on the other hand, was going home to spend the holidays with her parents. Since Hermione was an only child, the Grangers wanted to spend as much time with their daughter as they could. She had also never been away from home before, so she had started missing her parents considerably.

As for Harry, Albus and Minerva would be meeting him on the platform and would make their travel arrangements from there. The wedding was planned for the next day, and Harry had been assured that it would only be a small ceremony with very few guests. Harry was glad to hear it, since he wasn't a terribly big fan of large crowds, especially when everyone in that crowd knew his name and his past better than he did.

He and Hermione passed the time on the train by playing a few games of exploding snap, and Hermione then talked Harry into taking turns quizzing each other on what they had learned in the past few months. Their trip was blessedly quiet with no interference from Malfoy, but Harry was still ready to say goodbye to Hermione and leave with Albus and Minerva so that they could return to their small cottage. Albus and Minerva, however, had no plans of returning to their little cottage. Instead, they had a surprise for Harry.

"I do hope you had a good trip, Harry," Albus smiled as he placed a hand on the dark-haired child's shoulder. He then turned to Hermione and continued to smile pleasantly. "Riding the train is so much more pleasant when you can pass the time with friends. Would you care for a lemon drop, Miss Granger?" With that, Albus extended his other hand and held out a small tin with the crystalized lemon candies. Hermione looked absolutely stunned, and Harry could barely suppress a laugh as he shot his friend an "I told you so" look.

"No thank you, Headmaster," Hermione smiled as she declined politely. "Both of my parents are muggle dentists, and I don't eat a whole lot of sweets."

"Well that is really too bad, Miss Granger, but I wish you the best this holiday." With that, Albus selected a drop for himself and popped it into his mouth before offering the tin to Harry.

"Really Albus," was all Minerva could say as she stood straight and stiff, looking as stern as ever. This made Harry and Hermione exchange another look and just smile at each other before Hermione spotted her parents and waved goodbye, telling Harry that she would see him at school. In the past few months, Harry had spent plenty of time with Minerva at their family night meetings, and as a result, he wasn't anywhere near as intimidated by her as he had been. She was strict, but she really cared for him. Harry just had to learn to work around her prickly side by making sure he did what he was supposed to.

"Well, Harry, now that you are here, why don't we head out? We already have a guest waiting for us at home, and it would be a shame to keep him waiting." With that, Albus cast a featherweight charm on Harry's trunk and led the way off of Platform 9 and ¾ and onto the rest of King's Cross station, where they took the trolley once more to the Leaky Cauldron and then flooed to their small cottage.

Harry was happy when he didn't fall on his face like he had the last time, but he was shocked when he looked up to see a worn man sitting on a chair reading the Evening Prophet. At the sound of the Floo, the man looked up, and for a moment he just stared at Harry, taking him in. He then slowly got up, placed the Prophet on the chair he had been sitting on, and walked towards him.

"Harry?" The man looked tired and wore torn-up clothes, but he spoke in a gentle voice that calmed Harry's nerves a bit. Harry took a single, cautious step towards this man without taking his eyes off of him. All he could do was watch the man in silence for a moment, and then jumped a foot in the air when the Floo roared to life once more behind him.

"Harry what on Earth?" Minerva demanded as she narrowly avoided stumbling over the boy. "You can't just stand in front of the fireplace when people are coming behind you." With that, she took Harry's arm and led him away just in time for Albus to come through.

"I'm sorry, Minerva, it was my fault." The man that had been reading the paper spoke up, but his eyes never left Harry. This made Harry trust him a bit more since he hadn't just let Minerva shout at him. "I startled him, but he just looks so much like James. I didn't expect it to hit so close to home."

"You knew my father?" Now Harry's voice was completely stunned, but he was unable to help a slight desperation that slipped out. He had heard a few stories from Albus and Minerva about his father and mother, but this man looked like he would be about his parents' age, and that would mean he could learn about his parents from someone who possibly grew up with them. Even if the man had only known his father, it would be a start. On the other hand, that left the question about where this man had been when he'd been shipped off to the Dursleys.

"I knew your father, and your mother, but I knew your father the best." The man finally looked away from Harry, and at Minerva and Albus.

"Harry, this is Remus Lupin, and he was one of your father's best friends." It was Albus that spoke, and he wore his normal kind smile, but what caught Harry off guard was that even Minerva had a small smile. The woman was always so serious, and according to her, Harry's father had done everything short of blow the entire castle to the ground. To see her smile at seeing a man that could have helped his father create havoc throughout the school was slightly unusual. Albus could be expected to have a smile, since he seemed to take most things with a grain of salt and would probably see it all as a very fond memory now, but to see Minerva smile was a bit of a shock.

"Your father and Remus met when they started Hogwarts. They were in my house, and I can promise you that they practically turned the entire castle upside down." Minerva moved around the group to sit on the couch, and everyone followed her lead, sitting down as well so that they could continue their talk.

"Be fair here, Minerva, I was the sensible one of the group that tried to keep the others reined in at least a little bit." Remus's smile faltered and he attempted to hide behind a throw pillow when Minerva glared at him. Harry couldn't help but smile at that; if Remus's statement was true, then he could understand that Minerva might be happy to see him because he had been the one to try and keep his friends from turning the dungeons into a giant swimming pool just to see if purebloods taught their children to swim.

"A lot of good you did with that, Remus. I still seem to remember James and Sirius taking a mattress from your dorm and levitating it to the tower steps before surfing down them with you right behind them."

"Oh come on, it was all in good fun, Minerva. We were young."

Harry, Remus, Albus, and Minerva spent the entire evening just talking and filling Harry in on life at Hogwarts in the '70s. In the past, Albus and Minerva had mostly told Harry stories about his parents. He knew that his mother had disliked his father for years before she dated him, but the details had been sketchy since teachers only know so much of the drama that fills adolescent life. When Remus explained that James had once managed to sneak into the girls' dormitory and kidnap all of Lily's clothes leaving her only a skimpy little outfit, Harry could understand why his mother had been so annoyed by his father.

"Remus Lupin!" Minerva scolded. "Would you care to explain to me just how Mr. Potter managed to get into Miss Evans's dorm? Boys are not able to get up those stairs, and I am fully aware that you boys knew that."

At this, Remus colored slightly and became very interested in his paper once more. "Do you remember how James was an excellent flyer, Minerva? Well, he had no trouble in locating the female dormitory window." This made Harry crack up laughing, but a scowl from Minerva shut him right up.

As the talk continued, Harry felt more comfortable with Remus but couldn't help wondering where he had been when Harry had been sent to live with his relatives. According to the stories the man had to share, he had been very close with both of his parents by the time of their murder, and it wouldn't have been unheard of for a close family friend like that to take in a child if something were to happen to the parents. Had Remus been so emotionally unstable at the murder of his friends that he hadn't been able to take care of the child? Had he not wanted Harry because he would be reminded too much of the loss of his friends? Was he just not the type to raise a family? Had Albus talked him into thinking that Harry was better off with his relatives because of the blood wards? If it was this last one, how had Remus felt about letting Harry go away to live with Muggles and not see him for many years with the possibility of never seeing him again?

All of these questions chased themselves around Harry's mind, but he decided to file them away for another day. Right now, everyone was in such a good mood, the wedding was tomorrow, and it was nice just to hear stories about his parents. Now that Harry knew about Remus, he would have plenty of time to talk to the man, even if it had to be through owl, but he would prefer to be able to ask him such questions in person. It would be nice to get a physical reaction from the man rather than just a piece of parchment that could hide all of the emotion.

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The next morning dawned early for Minerva McGonagall. The nerves had set in as soon as her last class had ended, but she had been trying to hide them. Visiting with Lupin had been tremendously helpful since it had taken her mind off of the pending wedding. It had felt good to speak with Lupin and remember Lily and James some more. They had all been careful not to mention either Sirius or Peter the entire evening. While Harry would find out eventually, they hadn't thought that the day before a wedding in preparation for adoption was the best time to tell him that his father's best friend had betrayed Harry's father and mother, and then turned around and killed another member of their group.

Harry also hadn't asked where Lupin had been the past ten years, and that had come as a major relief. Minerva could only hope that the boy understood that Albus had wanted him to grow up away from the Wizarding world and that they had thought living with his mother's sister would be the safest place for him because of the protection of the blood wards.

For right now, though, Minerva could only focus on her nerves. Minerva had carefully kept her heart locked away ever since she had fallen in love at 18. Dougal McGregor had been an incredibly handsome and clever boy and everything she could ever want in a man. However, he had been a muggle and that would have meant locking away her wand and spending her life watching her children grow up performing magic and trying to hide it from the neighbors, just like her mother had done. She hadn't even been able to tell Dougal why she couldn't marry him because she would have broken the International Statute of Secrecy and lost the job pending for her at the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement for which she was giving up the love of her life. Yes, Minerva had decided long ago that she would rather have a career than a husband.

It wasn't as if Minerva had not been given another chance at marriage. Shortly after she had returned to Hogwarts, her former Ministry boss, Elphinstone Urquart, had proposed. That would have been a marriage that would have given her a husband and allowed her to continue magic since it would have been a marriage inside the Ministry itself, but she had turned him down because she was still in love with Dougal. Elphinstone had continued to propose again every now and then just to see if Minerva had changed her mind and had actually made his most recent proposal just last Christmas, but she had never even considered accepting.

Now she was not only going to be married at 17:00 this evening, but she was going to be married to a man that was twice her age. Albus Dumbledore had been her Transfiguration teacher when she had started at Hogwarts back in 1947. Albus had been her mentor for practically her entire life and had even been the one she studied under when she became an Animagus. Now she was about to marry the man, and it all seemed beyond strange to her.

She just had to tell herself that this was for Harry. For an adoption to be legal, the Ministry required a two-parent home, and that meant marriage. Sure either she or Albus could have kept things simple and just taken guardianship of the boy, but to offer maximum protection, aside from the blood wards of course, Harry needed to legally be the son of his guardian—or in this case, guardians.

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17:00 on Saturday December 21, 1991 arrived, and Minerva could hardly breathe as she stood beside the man who had taught her practically everything she knew and had been a type of grandfather to her. She felt that a wedding deserved a certain type of respect but had definitely not wanted to go the full nine yards with an elegant white gown, veil, and tiara. Instead, she stood in peach dress robes that flowed easily around her with a single line of tiny pearls stitched into the hem of the robes as well as the hem of each sleeve. On her feet, she wore low peach-colored heels that matched her robes, and her long hair had been pulled into a more frilly type of bun with curls cascading down the base of her neck.

Even Albus had toned down his wardrobe for the occasion and stood beside Minerva in pale blue dress robes that matched the eyes that twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles. His long white hair and beard were trimmed neatly and his black boots were freshly polished.

Albus and Minerva stood side by side as they faced a Ministry official. A severe and beat-up man Albus called Alastor Moody, and Remus referred to as "Mad-Eye" Moody, stood to the right of the official with a woman that looked even older than Albus named Bathilda Bagshot. These two would serve as the required two witnesses, but Harry couldn't help but think that with the Moody character as a witness, nobody would dare question the marriage. He wore one glass eye that revolved completely around like a marble and walked on an artificial leg, both of which made the man look intimidating enough without his serious demeanor that seemed to never relax and gave the impression that fun was a foreign word to him.

The ceremony began with the Ministry official reading the required text. Albus and Minerva then spoke their vows to each other, were pronounced man and wife, and then finally sealed the marriage with a polite kiss that both knew would be the only one to ever pass between them.

After the ceremony, there was a dinner prepared, and Harry was properly introduced to the handful of guests that had been invited to this small wedding. Remus was there, of course, but he was the youngest member of the guest list, and Harry felt that he was only there for his benefit.

Mad-Eye Moody, as it turned out, was a retired Auror. When Harry asked what an Auror was, the man had shot a glare at Albus and Minerva as if he thought that knowing about Aurors was one of the most important things Harry could learn about. As Harry listened, he decided that Aurors were kind of like the muggle police force and military all rolled into one. It was actually pretty interesting, and Harry could understand what made Mad-Eye so serious and untrusting, especially since he had served during the last wizarding war.

Bathilda Bagshot turned out to be the most famous historian of this century and had lived next door to the Dumbledores when Albus was growing up and was also the great aunt to a childhood friend of Albus's that wasn't really mentioned.

Another guest was a man named Elphias Doge who turned out to be one of Albus's best friends from Hogwarts. Harry was interested to learn a little about how Albus was at Hogwarts and laughed at the story of Albus lighting his bed curtains on fire in their fourth year. Albus swore that it was an accident, but Elphias teased him that Albus had never liked those curtains to begin with.

The final guest, Harry was surprised to see, was Neville's grandmother , Augusta Longbottom. One glance at the woman made Harry understand why Neville was so timid. She simply looked intimidating. Harry was still polite and talked to her for a moment and updated her on how Neville was doing. Harry was highly entertained to learn that Mrs. Longbottom had gone to school with Minerva, and the two witches had been decent enough friends to keep in contact. Even with how intimidating Mrs. Longbottom was, Harry was interested in hearing some stories about Minerva at school but was not surprised to hear that Minerva had been the top student of her year and served as both Prefect and Head Girl. Harry could easily picture Minerva and an older version of Hermione just calmed down by life, especially since she had fought in the last wizarding war against Voldemort in something called the Order of the Phoenix.

The guests stayed late just talking and catching up on old times. Finally, everyone dispersed except Remus. Harry had spoken with Albus and Minerva and asked if there was a time he would be able to talk to Remus alone for a while. Albus had come up with the idea of asking Remus to spend the night, and Remus had agreed. Harry was ecstatic. He had had several questions before the wedding, but now that he had heard about so many other things, Harry had formed quite a list of questions that he wanted to hear from a different perspective. He was mostly interested in this Order of the Phoenix, since his parents had supposedly served in it with Remus, as well as Albus, Minerva, Mad-Eye, and Mrs. Longbottom.

As it turned out, the Order of the Phoenix was an organization that was led by Dumbledore and had opposed Voldemort and his followers. Harry was fascinated to hear that there was a group of young people that had gathered together to stand up against Voldemort instead of simply run and hide like so many had. Everyone in the Order had practically vowed that they didn't care what happened to them; they would never become Death Eaters. As a result, many had lost their lives or, in the case of Neville's parents, been tortured to insanity. While Harry felt bad for what had happened to many of the people in this organization, he couldn't help but feel proud that his parents had been members of this opposition organization.

Author's Note: You probably don't believe me, but I'm incredibly sorry it has taken me so long to update. I really am not giving up on this story; I just had writer's block so it took me a few weeks to write. Then my editor was finishing up her semester in the University so she couldn't get to it for another few weeks and it all just added together. I'm definitely not going to make you wait this long again. I've already started the next chapter and will get it to you as soon as I can.

Coming up, Remus spends the night and talks to Harry. He tells him more stories about James and Lily, but also tells Harry he's a werewolf.

~Lily