Hello! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I'm afraid that this chapter is cursed, every time I finished it something happened and I would lose it or it would be deleted, so I'm sorry for the long wait, but here you go, this chapter is pretty OC heavy, so be warned! Please be sure to check the Author's note at the end!
Sirius cleared his throat and started reading.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
The Weasley and Black twins cheered, while the rest of the group that knew about the cabin smiled
It took Harry a few days to get used to his strange new freedom. Never before had he been able to get up whenever he wanted or eat whatever he fancied.
Many growls were heard around the room and many turned to look sadly at the boy, who tried to ignore of the looks coming his way
He could even go wherever he pleased, as long as it was in Diagon Alley, and as this long cobbled street was packed with the most fascinating wizarding shops in the world, Harry felt no desire to break his word to Fudge and stray back into the Muggle world.
"The Muggle world isn't really that interesting anyway, I much rather explore Diagon Alley" Harry smiled
"It is quite amazing isn't it?" Lily smiled at her son, who nodded quickly
Harry ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky Cauldron, where he liked watching the other guests: funny little witches from the country, up for a day's shopping; venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in Transfiguration Today; wild-looking warlocks; raucous dwarfs; and once, what looked suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woollen balaclava.
"Didn't know your mother was still around" Remus whispered to Sirius, grinning widely when the boy interrupted his reading with laughter, everyone in the room turned to look at them
"What's wrong?" Lily asked curiously, Sirius shook his head and cleared his throat to start reading again. Lily turned to Remus who just shook his head and smiled innocently, before allowing his friend to keep on reading, this time with a smile on his face.
After breakfast Harry would go out into the backyard, take out his wand, tap the third brick from the left above the trash bit, and stand back as the archway into Diagon Alley opened in the wall.
Harry spent the long sunny days exploring the shops and eating under the brightly colored umbrellas outside cafes, where his fellow diners were showing one another their purchases ("it's a lunascope, old boy - no more messing around with moon charts, see?")
"That sounds useful" Leon mused out loud, blushing when he heard his friends snorting
or else discussing the case of Sirius Black ("personally, I won't let any of the children out alone until he's back in Azkaban").
Sirius didn't stop in his reading, though the smile had slid off his face and he looked grimmer than before, Remus looked at him and put a hand on his knee, squeezing once tightly and receiving a grateful glance from Padfoot
Harry didn't have to do his homework under the blankets by flashlight anymore; now he could sit in the bright sunshine outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, finishing all his essays with occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing a great deal about medieval witch burnings, gave Harry free sundaes every half an hour.
"That is so not fair" both Leon and Ron whined, pouting when Harry stuck his tongue out at them
Once Harry had refilled his money bag with gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts from his vault at Gringotts, he had to exercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once.
"What? Why? Just have fun with it" James looked baffled at his son, who nodded at the book instead of answering
He had to keep reminding himself that he had five years to go at Hogwarts, and how it would feel to ask the Dursleys for money for spellbooks, to stop himself from buying a handsome set of solid gold Gobstones (a wizarding game rather like marbles, in which the stones squirt a nasty-smelling liquid into the other player's face when they lose a point).
"You shouldn't have to worry about that!" James and Sirius looked confused "I mean, that's only your trust fund"
"My what?" Harry asked confused
"Your trust fund, you still have the main Potter vault that is where the money from your trust fund comes from, every month or so you have a certain amount of money transferred to your vault, not to mention some ancestral vaults and Lily's own vault at Gringotts" James explained to his son
"Not to mention that you probably have your grandmother's old vault as well since that is separated from the Potter vault, and I'm sure you must have a vault designed to keep family heirlooms only, I know the Blacks have one" Sirius interrupted, putting the book down, then chuckled once he saw Harry look over at him, completely overwhelmed
"We'll talk about it later, yeah?" James smiled at his son, who quickly agreed
He was sorely tempted, too, by the perfect, moving model of the galaxy in a large glass ball, which would have meant he never had to take another Astronomy lesson. But the thing that tested Harry's resolution most appeared in his favorite shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, a week after he'd arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.
Curious to know what the crowd in the shop was staring at, Harry edged his way inside and squeezed in among the excited witches and wizards until he glimpsed a newly erected podium, on which was mounted the most magnificent broom he had ever seen in his life.
Sirius and James had started drooling along with the other quidditch fans in the room who knew about the Firebolt already, Harry smiled at his friends, who disguised their chuckles with coughs
"Just come out - prototype -" a square-jawed wizard was telling his companion.
"It's the fastest broom in the world, isn't it, Dad?" squeaked a boy younger than Harry, who was swinging off his father's arm.
"Irish International Side's Just put in an order for seven of these beauties!" the proprietor of the shop told the crowd. "And they're favorites for the World Cup!"
A large witch in front of Harry moved, and he was able to read the sign next to the broom:
** THE FIREBOLT **
THIS STATE-OF-THE-ART PACING BROOM SPORTS A STREAM-LINED, SUPERFINE HANDLE OF ASH, TREATED WITH A DIAMOND-HARD POLISH AND HAND- NUMBERED WITH ITS OWN REGISTRATION NUMBER. EACH INDIVIDUALLY SELECTED BIRCH TWIG IN THE BROOMTAIL HAS BEEN HONED TO AERODYNAMIC PERFECTION, GIVING THE FIREBOLT UNSURPASSABLE BALANCE AND PINPOINT PRECISION. THE FIREBOLT HAS AN ACCELERATION OF 150 MILES AN HOUR IN TEN SECONDS AND INCORPORATES AN UNBREAKABLE BRAKING CHARM. PRICE ON REQUEST.
"Chances are if you have to ask you can't afford it" Remus sighed
"oh of course he can! Buy it Harry, Buy it!" James grinned
"Stop it James" Lily glared at her husband "Go on Sirius"
Price on request... Harry didn't like to think how much gold the Firebolt would cost. He had never wanted anything as much in his whole life - but he had never lost a Quidditch match on his Nimbus Two Thousand
"wow, really? You've never lost?" Sirius asked impressed
"He's the best seeker of the century" Leon smiled "the youngest as well"
"That's amazing!" James grinned widely at his son, pride shining through his eyes
And what was the point in emptying his Gringotts vault for the Firebolt, when he had a very good broom already? Harry didn't ask for the price, but he returned, almost every day after that, just to look at the Firebolt.
There were, however, things that Harry needed to buy. He went to the Apothecary to replenish his store of potions ingredients, and as his school robes were now several inches too short in the arm and leg, he visited Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and bought new ones. Most important of all, he had to buy his new schoolbooks, which would include those for his two new subjects, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.
"You're taking divination? Why?" Lily asked "it seems like a pretty useless subject if you ask me"
"It's not useless, if you have the 'inner eye' it's a very useful subject, if taught correctly" Mr. Weasley said gently "but it's not something that can be taught to those without the gift"
"So it's useless to us then?" Ron asked, pointing to Harry and himself
"Well, maybe to Harry, I don't know, but it might be useful to you, the Weasleys have seer blood in them don't they Arthur?" Sirius asked
"Well, we do yes, but there hasn't been a proper seer in centuries" said Mr. Weasley, almost everyone seemed interested for a while, the looks that the golden quartet shared went unnoticed by almost everyone, only the Weasley and Black twins seemed to notice their suspicious look.
Harry got a surprise as he looked in at the bookshop window. Instead of the usual display of gold- embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs, there was a large iron cage behind the glass that held about a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.
Harry pulled his booklist out of his pocket and consulted it for the first time. The Monster Book of Monsters was listed as the required book for Care of Magical Creatures. Now Harry understood why Hagrid had said it would come in useful. He felt relieved; he had been wondering whether Hagrid wanted help with some terrifying new pet.
"That's….good?" said Bill confused
"It's brilliant" Harry said seriously, while Leon pouted and shook his head
As Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, the manager came hurrying toward him.
"Hogwarts?" he said abruptly. "Come to get your new books?"
"Yes," said Harry, "I need -"
"Get out of the way," said the manager impatiently, brushing Harry aside. He drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick, and proceeded toward the door of the Monster Books' cage.
"Well, how rude" Mrs. Weasley frowned "he didn't even know if you needed one or not!"
"Hang on," said Harry quickly, "I've already got one of those."
"Have you?" A look of enormous relief spread over the manager's face. "Thank heavens for that. I've been bitten five times already this morning -"
A loud ripping noise rent the air; two of the Monster Books had seized a third and were pulling it apart.
"Stop it! Stop it!" cried the manager, poking the walking stick through the bars and knocking the books apart. "I'm never stocking them again, never! It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worst when we bought two hundred copies of the Invisible Book of Invisibility -cost a fortune, and we never found them... Well... is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Wizards" Lily and Hermione said at the same time, rolling their eyes
"Yes," said Harry, looking down his booklist, "I need Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky."
"Ah, starting Divination, are you?" said the manager, stripping off his gloves and leading Harry into the back of the shop, where there was a corner devoted to fortune-telling. A small table was stacked with volumes such as Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate Yourself Against Shocks and Broken Balls: When Fortunes Turn Foul.
"Here you are,,' said the manager, who had climbed a set of steps to take down a thick, black- bound book. "Unfogging the Future; Very good guide to all your basic fortune-telling methods - palmistry, crystal balls, bird entrails.
But Harry wasn't listening. His eyes had fallen on another book, which was among a display on a small table: Death Omens- What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming.
"Oh, I wouldn't read that if I were you," said the manager lightly, looking to see what Harry was staring at. "You'll start seeing death omens everywhere. It's enough to frighten anyone to death. "
But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the book; it showed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar...
The Marauders shared a look, Sirius quickly started reading.
The manager pressed Unfogging the Future into Harry's hands.
"Anything else?" he said.
"Yes," said Harry, tearing his eyes away from the dog's and dazedly consulting his booklist. "Er - I need Intermediate Transfiguration and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three."
Harry emerged from Flourish and Blotts ten minutes later with his new books under his arms and made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, hardly noticing where he was going and bumping into several people.
He tramped up the stairs to his room, went inside, and tipped his books onto his bed. Somebody had been in to tidy; the windows were open and sun was pouring inside. Harry could hear the buses rolling by in the unseen Muggle street behind him and the sound of the invisible crowd below in Diagon Alley. He caught sight of himself in the mirror over the basin.
"It can't have been a death omen," he told his reflection defiantly. "I was panicking when I saw that thing in Magnolia Crescent... It was probably just a stray dog..."
This time it wasn't only the Marauders that shared an amused glance, though no one noticed the golden quartet either.
He raised his hand automatically and tried to make his hair lie flat
"You're fighting a losing battle there, dear," said his mirror in a wheezy voice.
"Embrace the messy hair Harry" Sirius grinned at his godson
As the days slipped by, Harry started looking wherever he went for a sign of Ron, or Leon, or Hermione since plenty of Hogwarts students were arriving in Diagon Alley now, with the start of term just a fortnight away. Harry met Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, his fellow Gryffindors, in Quality Quidditch Supplies, where they too were ogling the Firebolt; he also ran into the real Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, forgetful boy, outside Flourish and Blotts. Harry didn't stop to chat; Neville appeared to have mislaid his booklist and was being told off by his very formidable-looking grandmother. Harry hoped she never found out that he'd pretended to be Neville while on the run from the Ministry of Magic.
It wasn't until the end of the week that he met Leon, he was going to see the Firebolt again when he saw his friend glued to the window. Harry went near him, but before he called him he got an idea, he chuckled, going quietly to where the brunet was standing and, once he was close enough, yelled in his ear "Hey there Leo". He couldn't contain his laughter when he saw Leon jump and squeal
"You're an ass, I didn't squeal" Leon pouted while everyone laughed
"yes you did" Harry laughed "I'm pretty sure Lavender Brown couldn't didn't squeal that high after seeing a spider in the girl's dorm"
"That's not true!" Leon shouted
"Boys, stop it" Lupin sighed, smiling gently
"That wasn't funny Potter! My heart is still racing; I'm going to have a heart attack!" Leon glared at his friend
"Sorry, the temptation was too big Leo" Harry laughed, Leon shook his head chuckling a little.
Leon, Harry noticed, had changed little over the summer, he still looked scrawny and thin, his sandy-brown hair had grown a little and was in a mess, though it still looked neater than Harry's, he had grown taller so he was now a couple of inches bigger than Harry-he looked as sickly as he ever did though, making him look younger- his eyes, that were the brightest amber color Harry had ever seen (even if he hasn't seen many) however were twinkling in amusement and that alone seemed to take the attention off how sickly he looked.
"You sure know how to flatter a guy" Leon deadpanned, raising an eyebrow
"What are you doing here anyway? Didn't you say you were coming the last week of summer or something, like Ron and Hermione?" Leon asked, tilting his head to the side
"Well, yeah, but…well…something happened" Harry said avoiding Leon's curious gaze
"Well, you can tell me later, I have to go home now actually" Leon said looking at the sky almost annoyed, and then he seemed to get an idea and smiled at Harry "why don't you come? I'm sure my uncle will love having you over, you can stay the rest of the summer too!"
"So you didn't even amuse the idea of asking first?" Remus smiled wryly, chuckling at Leon's unabashed smile thrown his way, ignoring the fond glances from his brother and Sirius
"They never do, this lot" Lupin told his younger self
"I wouldn't want to be a bother" Harry said quickly, Leon laughed and shook his head "but…well if you don't mind…my things are at the Leaky Cauldron though"
"No problem, it's only the next two weeks, let's go before it gets late" Leon assured him
They went to get Harry's things and after a small talk with Tom, who seemed to like Leon,
"Everyone loves Saint Leon" The Weasley twins teased "Almost as much as they love Saint Harry"
they went over to his home, they talked about a lot of things on the way, and Harry told him the story of how his Aunt Marge had insulted his parents all week, Leon looked really upset at that and when Harry told him how he blew her up he laughed really hard telling him how brilliant that was; Harry knew that Leon would understand how he felt about his Aunt Marge's insults, Leon had explained last year that his own mother had died after giving birth to him, and Harry didn't know anything about his father but when he asked Leon just shrugged and refused to say more, so Harry assumed that he had died too,
Romulus looked as if he wanted to ask something, but a look and a small shake form his brother's older-self, made him shut up
And so he had gone to live with his uncle and his "cousins" Adhara and Zania, who were both pranksters and best friends with the Weasley Twins, which was the reason he had known Ron even before entering Hogwarts, though according to them, and the twins, they didn't like each other much back then.
"We didn't have a lot in common" Leon said "And he was annoying, no offence"
"None taken, I thought you were boring, being honest" Ron grinned
After a few minutes they finally arrived to Leon's House, the house was somewhat like the Burrow, but it was less crooked though it looked old and the wood seemed to be black in some places, as though it had been burnt, the garden was gigantic, colorful, and beautiful, 'must be the twins' work' thought Harry; behind the house there was more garden and a forest that seemed to be nearby, with enormous trees and no visible limit.
"Oh, you leave in our old house?" Romulus asked his brother surprised
"Father left it to me after he died, not long after Harry was born" Lupin answered, smiling sadly, Romulus nodded understandingly while Remus looked heartbroken, if his math was correct then that meant that in three years or less he was going to lose not only his best friends but also his family; he was snapped out of his thoughts by a hand on his knee, he looked surprised at Sirius, who kept reading normally, though he squeezed Moony's knee gently, smiling when he felt his hand on top of his own.
"Welcome to our little cabin in the woods" Leon smiled and pointed to the forest "we go camping every summer, into the deepest part of the forest we can get to, maybe next year you can come with us"
"I'd love to, it sounds like fun" Harry grinned back following his friend towards the house
"No, Harry, it's not fun, it's terrible" Sirius said grimly "there's fleas, and mosquitos, and there's no bathroom, or privacy"
"Oh stop it you drama queen, you know you loved it" James grinned
"I did not! It was terrible" Sirius pouted "why are you letting our kids suffer through that Moony!"
"Well, they beg me to take them every year" Lupin answered smiling, chuckling at the blush on his younger self
"Yeah! Camping is fun!" Adhara and Zania chimed in, grinning widely
Leon went to the front door and, smiling, he opened it letting Harry come in; Harry's first impression was that the inside looked a lot bigger than the outside. The front door led to a small corridor, with three open doors and some stairs near the ends, on the left side on the first door there was a small corridor that lead to the kitchen, there were two doors, one of them-Leon explained- is a cupboard where they kept all the useless stuff, the other led to the basement, also known as the Twins' bedroom
"The basement?!" Molly looked at Lupin, who shrugged and motioned for Sirius to continue
"Why do they sleep on the basement?" Harry asked, surprised
"well, they used to sleep on the second floor, on the new guest room, but after…well, an explosion they caused, my uncle made them clean the basement as a punishment, when they finished, they decided they liked it and stayed there" Harry laughed when Leon finished explaining, that indeed seemed like something Zania and Adhara would do "I'll show you their room later, first let me show you were you'll stay yes?"
He guided Harry through the stairs and unto the second floor; there were a lot of doors, each with a different color ("the twins' fault, they were trying a painting charm, in the end they wouldn't let my uncle change them back") and the corridor was larger than the one downstairs.
"Correct me if I'm wrong" Romulus grinned "but isn't it forbidden to use magic outside your school?"
"Accidental magic" the twins answered without missing a beat
"Accidental my ass" Charlie laughed loudly, ignoring his mother's glare
"I'm afraid this two inherited a terrible disease from their father" Lupin sighed "his inability to behave or follow rules"
"Those are my girls!" Sirius grinned before continuing
"This is my room, the red one, the green door to the right is yours, the blue one at the end of the corridor is my uncle's, the bathroom is the pink door to the left" Leon explained, Harry asked about the other 3 doors-2 on the left side and 1 on the right side-"well, this grey one besides your room is another guest room, the purple one next to the bathroom is a study of sorts, we make our homework and we used to have classes there, before we came to Hogwarts of course"
"You had classes here? Why didn't you go to school?" Harry asked surprised while looking at some papers, some of them looked like a research of sorts, or maybe and essay
"I get sick a lot, and the teachers got frustrated, that and my Uncle loves teaching, so it was a win-win situation" Leon smiled and then pointed to the last door that was a bright orange "now this one is my favorite, it's our very own library"
He opened the door and Harry was surprised by how many books there were, the walls were covered till the top, a table in the middle of the room, between other two bookcases, had a lot of books on it
"So I take it your family likes to read" Harry joked, Leon laughed and nodded, they got out of the library and went downstairs again
"The collection's gotten bigger" Remus said wide eyed
"Yep, we've been adding stuff here and there" Zania grinned
"It sounds marvelous" Percy whispered in awe. He, unlike his brothers, had never had occasion to visit the Cabin
"Come, I'll show you the twin's room, I have to go down there so we can start on dinner" Leon said while they walked
"Start on dinner? I didn't know you cooked" Harry questioned
"Well, I'm not very good but it doesn't really matter, since we all help make it" Leon shrugged, they got to the twin's bedroom and he opened the door-that Harry now noticed was both green and red, both color swirling around each other-and they both went down the set of stairs.
"Very nicely done" Lily said kindly "but why didn't you just chose a color?"
"Well, it used to be orange, before the accident" Adhara explained
"but when we moved we wanted to change it" Zania continued
"we couldn't agree on which color, so we just…" interrupted Adhara
"Made it swirl like that" continued her sister
"We thought it looked cool" they said at the same time, shrugging
The room was not what Harry had expected, there were two beds, one with a red blanket and another with a green one, along with two small bookcases on either side of the room and two desks, one on each side of the room, all together it looked like two different rooms put together, both of them looked neat though on the right side (with the green bed) there seemed to be a lot more of books and papers than on the other side, 'organized chaos' his mind suplied, and on the left side of the room were the twins, looking at them.
"Did you take them by surprise?" Charlie grinned at Leon, who was sitting at his side
"I like to believe we did" Leon smiled
Adhara and Zania Black looked identical from head to toe, though their personalities were polar opposites, and they enjoyed using that to their advantage, confusing everyone around them just like the Weasley twins. Last year their black hair had been long, almost reaching their waist but now they had both cut it so that it looked almost as short as Leon's, they both had blue eyes that twinkled with mischief and an air of nonchalance and confidence around themselves that seemed to come naturally.
"Just like Padfoot" whispered Remus to himself, smiling slightly, not thinking that anyone had heard him, so he was surprised when he felt the hand on his knee tighten slightly, but when he looked up to his friend he just continued reading, at this point almost everyone had noticed the position of both their hands, though they found that they couldn't be bothered to move
Both of them were looking at their guests, Adhara grinning at them while her sister Zania gave them both a small smirk
"HARRY! How nice to see you! I didn't know you were coming" Adhara said, coming over to give him a hug.
"Yeah well, I didn't know either" Harry laughed, hugging her back, Zania came over and messed his hair laughing at his comment, Harry mocked glared at her while Adhara released him chuckling "so what were you doing?"
"Nothing, really, we've been really bored without our partners in crime, that might change now that you are here though, nothing is ever boring around the great Harry Potter" Zania said pointing at him smirking "but it might be better if we talked upstairs don't you think?"
They climbed up the stairs and went to the living room, that was the first door to the right of the small hallway, the twins sat on a love seat, both of them with a book, Harry chose a single couch and Leon sat on a chair nearby, leaving a full couch alone, between the couches there was a coffee table with the newest number of the Daily Prophet, the tittle of this one was pretty much the same it had been for the past weeks 'Black still at large' the picture of Sirius Black, the first person to ever escape Azkaban seemed to look at them with his shadowed eyes.
Sirius' voice, that had up to this point sounded amused and friendly, turned to ice, all emotion bleeding out, he continued, without paying attention to the worried glance James gave him nor the gentle squeeze on his hand from Remus
Zania took the newspaper and threw it in the trash suddenly, realizing what Harry was looking at; Harry looked at Leon and asked "Have you been following the story then? About Black?"
"No, we haven't, we couldn't care less to be perfectly honest, but our dad likes to follow the daily prophet" Zania said shortly, not looking at Harry
"What do you know about Black Harry?" Adhara said, her voice, though kinder than her sister's was shaky
"Not much actually, I only know what people have been saying, that he was a big supporter of Voldemort, and that he killed thirteen people with one curse" Harry said and then quickly added "and that he is the first to ever escape Azkaban of course"
"Well, that's really all there is to know" Adhara smiled sadly then, with a sigh she looked at the clock, she stood up "I think we better get started on dinner yes? Dad won't take long to arrive"
"Yeah, I'll go with you, you two stay here and relax, we'll take care of dinner" said Zania, before standing up and following her sister
"What just happened? Are your sisters ok?" said Harry after they both left, Leon sighed and shook his head
"No they're not" Bill sighed "best leave them alone"
"Don't worry about it, they've been like that ever since…well, ever since Black escaped, but…well, let's just say that HE is a touchy subject around here" Leon said looking at Harry from the chair
"Why? I mean, I get that he's dangerous and all that but why should it be a 'touchy subject'"
"You really had no idea" Zania said surprised "it didn't even cross your mind?"
"Well, Black isn't a really uncommon name in the muggle world" Lily said, coming to her son's rescue
"well you see, Black is not a common name around the Wizarding World, in fact, there is only one family that bears that name" said Leon looking at Harry "The House of Black, which is where Sirius Black is from, the family tree is rather limited, there are many purebloods that are related to the House, but only a few that actually hold that name, and currently alive…there's only three"
"So, does that mean the twins and Black are related?" asked Harry confused
"They are, very closely…I probably shouldn't say this…but most people know this anyway, and I think you deserve to know"
"I probably shouldn't say this he says" Fred laughed
"and then he goes and says it" George nodded, both of them laughing at Leon's blush
Leon paused, thinking of a way to explain, much like when he explains to Harry or Ron a very hard subject at school "Black is….err…the twins' father"
Harry looked blankly at Leon for a second, half expecting him to laugh and tell him he was kidding, even while knowing this would not be the case.
"Well, I can see why it's a touchy subject then" said Harry softly, Leon nodded, they stayed in the living room a little while, discussing different topics, Harry took the opportunity to ask Leon about his homework and then about the books that he had sent him on his birthday, they were about to go to the kitchen and help the twins when they heard the door open and close suddenly.
"Enters Moony/Remus!" Sirius, James, and Romulus, all of them grinning from ear to ear
A man had entered the house, he was dressed in some old and worn muggle clothes, he looked quite young even though his light brown hair-much like Leon's- was flecked with gray, he had a few scars in his face that Harry tried really hard not to stare at; he had his blue eyes fixed in Harry, for a second he seemed confused before he smiled and looked kindly at him.
"Well hello there, I didn't know we had a guest" the man said smiling "Remus Lupin, a pleasure to see you Harry"
"Nice to meet you too sir" Harry said smiling back, not bothering to ask how the man knew his name "I'm sorry for intruding but Leon…"
"You look so much like your father, of course I knew your name, even if I hadn't seen you in ages" Lupin chuckled
Lupin laughed and waved away Harry's apology "don't worry about it, I'm used to having unexpected guest, no one in this house seems to care about my opinion in that matter"
"It's not that, we care, really, but we know that you will say yes anyway, so we don't bother asking" said Leon grinning, Lupin chuckled and shook his head "the twins are making dinner by the way, we were just about to go and help"
"Very well then" said Lupin already walking to the kitchen "let's go see if we can help, shall we?"
"Hi dad, how was your day" said Adhara when he saw them at the kitchen door, she was cutting some vegetables in the table, adding them to the frying pan once she finished.
"You're late by the way" Zania said smiling and hugging Lupin "You said you only had to go to a meeting"
"Terribly sorry, I had to stay a little late to…fix a little problem with the headmaster" he said hugging Zania and kissing her on the cheek, the went over to Adhara and kissed her on the forehead
"You really do make a great father Remus" Lily said smiling sweetly at the oldest Lupin, who smiled at her
"You really, really do" Sirius whispered to the younger counterpart "I'm glad that they live with you"
"A student giving you trouble?" asked Leon, looking at the meat that was on the stove, Harry remembered Leon mentioning something about his uncle being a professor on a muggle school, which would explain his clothing.
"Ah, not quite…hmm what is that you're making girls? Smells pretty good"
"Subtle, really smooth Moony" James laughed at his friend.
"Oh, it's just steak, some vegetables with butter and mashed potatoes" Adhara shrugged but Zania looked suspicious at Lupin
"She knows you well Moony!" Sirius grinned, winking at Zania, who laughed with him; Remus groaned and hid his face in Padfoot's shoulder, embarrassed.
"Do you need any help?" said the man, smiling kindly at Adhara, she grinned back but shook her head
"No that's alright, we're almost done but you three can help Zania with the table though"
While they were putting everything in the table Harry was amazed about the mechanic of things at Leon's home, it was nothing like the Dursley's but it wasn't like The Burrow either. The Burrow was always full of life, everyone was nice and Harry loved it, but here…it was different, a good kind of different but different nonetheless. Lupin was asking Leon and Zania about their day and they joked around while they put everything in the table; Lupin listened to them and never did he stopped smiling at them.
"Harry, lad, are you okay?" Lupin asked looking concerned
"Ah, yes, sorry, I tend to space out a lot" Harry said blushing
"It's true, he does" Leon nodded
"Well, why don't you take a seat? All of you actually, I'll bring the food" said Lupin once again smiling kindly
They all sat down, and once Leon's uncle came back they all began to eat, none of them were silent, and the conversation didn't seem to ever stop.
"So, what have you done all day? Besides the obvious lazing about" Lupin teased
"well, we finished our homework today, we read that new book you brought the other day" Zania said cutting her meat "you know, the one about Eastern Magic and its History"
"Noooo, Moony, don't corrupt them!" James cried
"How is that corrupting them exactly James?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow at her husband, who gulped and shook his head
"That's great, is it any good?" He asked
"It's very interesting, it's a shame we have Binns as our history professor, it would be nice to study that instead of the gobbling rebellions again" Adhara said laughing
"Ah, Binns, the one thing I don't miss about Hogwarts" Lupin sighed, everyone laughed at that, including Harry "he could make something as interesting as the war against Grindewald sound boring"
"Yeah, besides that we didn't do much, well, we went swimming for a little but it got boring" Zania finished
"What about you? Harry, Leon?" asked Lupin, now looking at the two boys
"Well, I went down to Diagon Ally, to see the new broom these two have been talking about, I found Harry there, he gave me a terrible scare" Leon said glaring mockingly at Harry "and when he told me that he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron I thought it would be best if he stayed with us"
"Really? Why were you staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" Lupin asked curiously
"Err…well, there were some problems with my relatives and in the end it was decided that I should stay in the Leaky Cauldron" said Harry looking at his plate, he could feel Lupin's eyes on him
"What kind of problems Harry?" Lupin asked softly looking at Harry
"My Uncle's sister was in town and she's staying with my relatives and….well, they were going with her on a trip and they…well…they didn't know if they would be back in time for me to come back to school" lied Harry, he didn't want Lupin or anyone to know what really had happen, he had been lucky and got away with blowing his aunt and he saw no need to push such luck
"well, next time something happens with your relatives, you are more than welcome to stay here, you will always be welcome" Lupin said kindly, Harry looked at him and saw him smiling gently, giving Harry the feeling that he knew that Harry was lying
"I've had a lot of experience Harry" Lupin smiled at the boy
"Thank you" Harry muttered looking away
"And what about you uncle? You said there was a problem at school" Leon said taking the attention away from Harry, he mouthed a 'thanks' at him and Leon winked at him
"Oh that was nothing, don't worry, and anyway, summer school is officially over so I will be here all day now" said Lupin finishing his vegetables
The rest of the meal went by without problem, they made some small talk and made jokes, the twins told Lupin about some of their old pranks and to Harry's surprise he laughed at them, and on some he just shook his head fondly, but he didn't tell them off or punished them, he just told them to be careful, when they were done they all helped cleaning up, and even though Lupin told Harry to just sit he insisted in helping, finally Lupin just chuckled and let him help. Once they were done they went to the living room, the twins played chess while Leon read and Harry used that time to finish the first 'Lord of The Rings' book that Leon had given him, Lupin was also reading a book and every once in a while he would look up and observe everyone, giving little hints to the twins.
After a couple of minutes the twins finished their game and, kissing their dad in the cheek, bid them goodnight, Harry finished the chapter and Leon, who was watching him put everything away, put his book on the table and stood up.
"Come on, let's go to sleep yeah?" said Leon "good night Uncle"
"Good night boys, see you in the morning" said Lupin pleasantly
"Well, what do you think, about…well, my home" Leon asked once they were out of sight
"I love it" answered Harry smiling at Leon, his smile getting wider when Leon beamed at him
"And that's it! The end of the chapter" Sirius grinned, putting the book back down
"should we read another chapter?" Arthur asked, looking at the men from the future, only to find Remmy asleep on Teddy's shoulder
"I don't know, we can read another one if you want, or we can go to sleep" Teddy said
"How long is the next chapter?" Lily asked, taking the book
"It's not that long, maybe we can finish this chapter and then go to sleep?" James said, taking the book from his wife
"Alright, start the chapter then, I'll just get Remmy to bed and then I'll be back" Teddy said, waking Remmy and guiding him to their shared room, Harry smiled slighty at the scene until he caught sight of shocking red hair that had been revealed when he stood up, before Teddy quickly put his hood farther down, Harry looked around but no one else seemed to have noticed the slip, so he decided to let it go.
"Okey-dokey then, the next chapter is called "The Golden Quartet" James started
There you go, hopefully it was worth the wait! I'm already halfway through the next chapter, I just have to beta-it, so hopefully that one will be up by next week.
PAIRING TIME!
Harry/Bill - 1
Harry/Percy - 4
Harry/Luna - 2
Harry/Tonks - 3
Harry/Draco - 2
Vote for your favorite and tell me what you think so far, and once again I am really sorry for the long wait!