Hey everyone,
So unlike Preventing Trouble, I'm kind of just skipping over the entire celebratory party that takes place after the Third Task.
Not because I want to, but because I have other subjects I want to cover before we get on with the reading of the first book.
Let's continue,

Venquine1990

Chapter 20
The End Of The Day

24th of June, 1995
Great Hall, Hogwarts
James' POV

While I was talking with the Weasleys, my son proves his empathetical genius yet again, even if he had, subtly, done it through another.

A few minutes after I was done talking with Molly and recovering from the shock the twins gave me with their unexpected decision, Cedric approached me and said:

"Your son is a humble genius and I am so happy that I am one of his two soul-mates."

All four of us had been intrigued with his words and the twins had asked him to explain himself. Cedric had shrugged and told us.

Apparently Harry had taken him aside while I was talking with Hagrid and had suggested that he should gather together everyone from 5th to 7th Year and who Cedric knew or believed were real history fans.

Already I felt I had an inkling of what my son might have been up to. Then the twins had shared a look and a joke that, because they're not really into History, Cedric was right to just skip them in this whole endeavor.

Cedric had shrugged and continued. And the rest of his explanation had both proven my inkling right and made me beam in pride.
Cedric had taken the gathered group to Lord Hades and offered their help with his paperwork. They would do all of the non-violent death documents and work on these in between the readings.

Hades had been deeply shocked by this, yet Cedric had felt as if a Fifth year had ruined everything when he asked if they would be compensated for their help.

Lord Hades had given the kid a disbelieving stare and Cedric had instantly started trying to convince him that Cedric had no idea that he would ask this of the God.

Lord Hades had reassured him that he didn't think that the Goblet of Fire would have chosen someone who would want to be rewarded for helping others.

And then the Lord of the Death had proven why House Potter had always been proud to be his Patron House. He had told the group that, because they were willing to help him while his brother had just been bothering him, he would gladly reward them.

And the fact that they would get a history lesson of the people actually covered in their OWLs, NEWTs and Sixth Year exams, regardless of the exams finishing earlier today had instantly made everyone in the group even more ready to help.

Though as the group broke up and the students went back to their friends, most of them had either whispered – or outright stated – that they would have gladly done this for free.

Needless to say the Fifth year lad had felt pretty humiliated by his own actions and had left with his head down.

And the fact that my son had given his new boyfriend the chance to take credit for this brilliant idea of – what I'm sure he would consider – thanking Lord Hades for bringing us back makes me almost burst with utter pride.

Yet what humbles me is the fact that I, stupidly enough, needed an hour to realize that my son, even with his chance to rest and recover from Bill healing him, is exhausted.

Suddenly spotting Harry suppress a yawn for the third time finally makes me realize this and I instantly take action.

I head for McGonagall and while the woman is obviously still somewhat reeling from her two confrontations with Lily and I, she thankfully tells me that she had already arranged rooms for everyone who had shown up today.

I ask her quietly about the location and the woman needs a moment to understand my need for privacy. She takes a subtle step closer and whispers it to me.

I thank her and then, as I head for the Great Hall exit, I thank my lovely wife mentally as she seems to have gathered the group from the other worlds as well as Amos, Nella and Cedric.

All of them, together with Sirius, Remus and Harry, are waiting for me just outside of the Great Hall.

Yet the sight of Remus makes me wonder if, perhaps, while I was busy the man finally came clean to my son and answered his question from the first chapter.

The way that Sirius frowns at the werewolf answers my question. I suppress a sigh and decide to confront him with this once we're in our rooms.

About 10 minutes later we reach the fourth floor.

"Well fellas, those are our rooms over there." Mickey tells us, motioning for a whole row of paintings that are a few meters to the right of our group.

It really doesn't escape my notice that most of them depict unicorns, centaurs, pixies and other kinds of magical creatures.

Most of his friends are looking at the paintings as I smile at him and tell him that our rooms are on the fifth, right above his and the others.

Mickey smiles back and then Amos turns from Lea to the king and asks: "Your majesty, could I interest you in meeting with my Heir, House Potter, young Lea and I tomorrow? I believe it would be best if we take Cedric up on that suggestion he made during the reading and I think it would go a long way with many people if it was discovered that you, a king, represented Lea in this."

Instantly I want to look at my son as I remember his reaction during the reading and feel that Amos might be casting the spell too soon here. But Lily, who stands besides me, whispers: "Cedric, Amos, Harry and I discussed this while you were talking with Bill."

I sigh in relief.

"I'd be happy to, Lord Diggory. That's why the Minister wanted to meet with me back at the Quidditch Pitch. He had the same idea, but had come across a potential hurdle that he wanted to discuss with me. We did and found a solution."

I'm sure that, like me, the others are also curious about all this. But then, from the corner of my eye, I notice Harry trying to cover up another yawn with his hand and think: "Curiosity is for tomorrow. Remus and bed come now."

Amos, Mickey, Lea and I agree to meet at my family's rooms tomorrow at around eight, just before breakfast, and we part from the otherworldly group.

On the fifth floor the portrait that guards the rooms of the Diggories is actually a bronze trophy with a badger cub peeking over the top of the trophy and our own is a golden cup with a lion cub prowling around the thin part near the bottom.

Harry and Cedric share a look and a grin at the sight of these two portraits, while I personally wonder if this isn't just another attempt of Dumbledore to denounce Harry's statements of him not wanting to be a Champion or a winner.

I decide to leave it for later.

Harry and Cedric actually share a hug as they wish each other a goodnight. Amos and I smile at the sight of this and then we grip each other at the elbow as we follow their example.

The three members of the Diggory family head for their portrait, whisper the new portrait to the badger cup and enter their rooms.

And once they're gone, I head over to the lion cup. The little being tilts his head and I smirk as I whisper: "Death Is Our Savior."

The lion's eyes widen and I wonder whether I scared him so much that he will instantly report my password to Dumbledore or if I shocked him just enough that he'll be too startled to leave.

Yet as we enter the common room of our chambers, my sense of accomplishment is instantly replaced with a sense of annoyance.

Almost every wall, bar the one in the back, where there are three doors and a staircase leading up to a higher floor, is covered in portraits with people, all of them wearing Gryffindor robes.

I look from one of them to another and try to suppress growl at how some try – and fail – to subtle move over to where a couple of chairs, couches and lounge chairs are set around a coffee table made off wood with a glass top.

Then suddenly Harry shouts for Dobby the House Elf. And somehow the little elf already seems to know what my son wants as, with the sound of a loud POP that makes my ears pop, all of the portraits are switched for landscape paintings.

Harry and I smile at each other and, together with Lily and Sirius, we chorus a thank you to the wonderful little helpful being.

Then, as I share a grin with my son, I suddenly notice that Sirius' hand is tightly gripping Remus' elbow.

I raise an eyebrow at the werewolf, who grimaces and mutters his belief that my family deserves to spend time together.

Part of me feels sincerely grateful for this. Yet thanks to everything that has been revealed today, I keep my tone tight and say:

"That's real kind of you, Moony. And I definitely don't expect any different from you. But let's face it; you still owe my son an explanation."

Remus flinches and agrees. We head for the circle of chairs and couches, while I send an appreciative glance at the long rectangular painting of a river with a forest in the background that covers most of the front wall of the room.

A chuckle-like breath comes through my nose as I spot a small family of deer and a stag prancing between a few of the trees and disappearing into the foliage.

"That was intentional, Dobby. I know you did that on purpose and I love you for it." I think to myself as I sit down.

Sirius and Harry sit in the middle of the group, with their backs to the back wall and on a single, fluffy chair each.

Lils joins me on a large two-seater couch with a nice, laidback backrest and a lot of thick fabric on the inside.

Remus sits opposite us and instantly clasps his hands together, folds them in front of his face and takes a deep breath before he starts, his eyes closed.

"I just want to start by saying this; for the first eleven years I tried everything I could to find you, Harry, and to make sure that, regardless of my problem, I could take care of you.

And when it comes to the last year, the same counts. As for why I didn't visit this last year. Your parents and Sirius can all vouch that I absolutely suck at trying to keep a surprise to myself."

I feel slightly hesitant to believe Remus about his conviction to find and raise Harry. Yet the reminder of how, when we were still students, Remus always blew his cover when he was trying to buy our birthday or Christmas presents in secret, piques my interest.

Remus asks Harry if he would rather Remus explain the first portion first or the last year. Harry thinks about this for a minute and then says:

"Just explain where you've been for the past year. I can wait with the rest till morning and we have the better part of tomorrow for that as well, if necessary."

Remus nods, a grateful and proud smile on his face.

"After I left, I started looking for a proper Mind Healer. The fact that I had saved up most of my income from the last year helped a lot and I definitely needed one.

Not just because, as Moony, I had almost attacked you guys, but for other reasons as well. I hadn't realized it that night, but Sirius and I had almost shown our war-sides to two fourteen year olds and a thirteen year old.

Not to mention that, after years of Sirius being the one person my age who was always the most vocal in his support of me, regardless of his own reputation, I let two nights and their events affect how I thought about 11 years of friendship – I needed help to process that."

All of us nod in understanding to these statements.

"I managed to find one, one who was willing to keep all I told her secret, even the knowledge that Sirius was actually innocent and that I was in contact with him.

I didn't want her to keep that secret at first, but then I realized that, if she reported she got this from a known werewolf, it would just do Sirius' case more harm than good. So I included it in her Record and Oath of Confidentiality."

Harry whispers that he should have thought of such an oath with some of his friends. Yet while Lily and Siri smile at him, Remus shakes his head and just continues.

"Either way, my sessions to move on from all this lasted until a few days after the Quidditch World Cup.

What definitely didn't help was that, halfway through my sessions, I was starting to despair over the fact that my condition would forever hinder me in helping Sirius retain his freedom.

It became another thing my Healer needed to help me with and thus made the sessions take at least another two weeks.

Then, as the sessions ended and she started believing that I would make a full recovery – sorry if this sounds a bit dramatic."

We shake our heads.

"Right, well, she suggested that I should look for help abroad as Fudge would absolutely block my every attempt to get help from within his Ministry.

I asked her if she knew some people and discovered that she actually has a client who might be able to help me.

She met with him, talked a bit and arranged a meeting between us. Amazingly enough he was a bodyguard for a member of the ICW.

I talked with him and discovered that, while the ICW never believed Sirius to be a traitor, they did think he had killed Pettigrew out of emotional madness and deserved to be punished for it. Thus they never spoke up to Dumbledore.

I told him the full truth and about what happened at the Shack.

Instantly the man wanted to help, but he needed help as well.

Apparently a hit squad from the South-European Underworld had started targeting his boss, the ICW member.

And while he and his small team had been able to fend off most smaller attacks, his boss had had 2 near-death experiences from this team already.

The guy was – I'll explain how I can tell all this later – seeing the Mind Healer, because he felt guilty about his failures those two times.

He told me that he was thinking of hiring people with special skills. I told him of my status and he instantly vowed that, if I helped him, he would come through for me.

He made me a deal there and then that I couldn't refuse:

He would convince his boss to give Sirius a trial.

The compensation would be Sirius adopting Harry.

And there would be a house made ready for the both of them on the continent."

And as soon as Remus finishes his explanation, everything clicks. I can't help but smile as I say: "And because you suck at keeping such wonderful things secret, you visited Minerva as she always helped you keep your cool, but avoided Harry.

You wanted to surprise him and you wanted to be sure you wouldn't get his hopes up before you had gotten your job done. Now it all makes sense, Moony."

The others all also smile and nod in agreement with me as Harry asks if getting that underworld hit squad really took the team the rest of the year.

Remus winces, worrying me, and he mutters:

"Yes and no.

See, I wasn't the only one with special skills that my boss hired. But because I only really worked together with him, I didn't recognize that there was another werewolf on the squad or that the other guy – was feral.

Apparently this bastard was a werewolf of Fenrir Greyback's pack that had been hired by the big boss of the underworld group. And – well, I'll just leave the explanation as to why the big boss let us capture almost his whole group to another time.

Either way, once we were down to, what we thought, was just the big boss and his right-hand man, the other werewolf struck.

The problem?

My boss was the only one who knew he was a werewolf.

The other problem?

His wife isn't as accepting of people like me as her late partner.

We managed to get our job done to the point I just mentioned halfway through May. Then, just when we were planning to go after the other guy, the wolf struck my boss down in his own bed back at the office.

The wife saw it happen, only saw the feral gleam of the other wolf's eyes and nothing more, didn't know that her husband had hired two wolves – and tried to pin the murder on me.

I've been fighting with everything I have, not just to keep this all from reaching Dumbledore as I was afraid he might tell you, but to clear my name as well.

I finally convinced the wife a week ago to let me testify under Veritaserum – I had to agree to death by silver if I spoke one lie about her husband – and confessed to everything, including the deal.

Yet while the wife got proven that I was innocent, in her grief she still blamed me for not spotting this feral beast. So she made me another deal, and again it was one I couldn't refuse.

Either I accepted that she would never live up to her husband's promise, even if I brought her the real killer, Greyback and the last two members of the Hit Gang – or she would report her accusations against me to Dolores Umbridge."

And just that name makes me think:

"That name. Enough said."

Remus stares at both Sirius and Harry, one first then the other, over and over again as he says: "You have to believe me. I didn't want to accept that deal.

But then she reminded me that Harry was a Tri-Wizard Champion and I knew what she meant even without saying it. If I was arrested by Umbridge, Skeeter would publicize it and Harry would rush for the Ministry to vouch for me and defend me.

And leaving Hogwarts during the Tournament days would mean him losing his magic.

The only reason, I swear the –."

But while utter fury and disgust course through me against this viler than vile woman, I join my wife, my new partner and my son as we all rush to embrace and reassure Remus, who has tears of utter regret streaming down his face.

For several minutes, while I debate with myself if I should report this to either King Mickey, Amos or even Lord Hades, we comfort and reassure Remus.

We tell him that we don't blame him.

That we are relieved that he took the deal.

That we are proud of what he tried to accomplish.

That we love him for his loyalty to his cub and friends.

And then, when I notice Lily sending me the shortest of gazes by peeking at me through her lidded eyes, I understand her silent message and agree with her.

She gently pulls herself, Sirius and Harry off of Remus and I turn his face my way as I say: "We know, Moony. We feel it. We always have.

It was just the same as with Sirius. We felt it would be best if we arranged a safe secure home first before we spoke up. And we felt that, if we could offer that to Sirius, who had lived with his mother of all people, we could offer it to you.

So, like you, until we felt confident that we could provide for Sirius what he needed, the security that we felt he desperately needed in his life, we didn't want to tell you either.

But you know, Moony.

Deep down, you know."

The man's eyes grow wider and wider as I speak, as I convey him my message and my explanation without actually mentioning the core of my story.

Yet Remus proves why he was always considered the genius of our group. As a second after I finish talking, I'm on the floor.

Remus is on top of me, his whole form covering every inch of me and his hands gripping me at the shoulders, right where my upper arms begin.

And I can only moan in delightful enjoyment as his mouth ravishes mine, his lips pressing and moving against mine in a feverish need to claim and love me with all his being.

After almost 20 years the werewolf is finally going to be able to claim the mates of his pack, one at a time.

And I feel honored beyond words that, even though Remus now probably understands that Lily and Sirius also return his feelings, he still decides to ravish me first.

Thanks to my time at Hogwarts and in Elysium, I've had plenty of time and chances to study werewolves and how they claim their mates.

The first mate, if a werewolf has more than one, will be considered the omega of the pack and will be the pack's second in command, second only to the alpha wolf.

And because I have always been the semi-official leader of the Marauders, because I know that Sirius is in absolutely no state to retake his own old and similar position, and because I know that Harry desperately needs a caring guide in his life,

I gladly accept the role.

Good on you, James.
So what's Remus' story for the time between Halloween '81 and September '93? And what will the Betrothal Contracts be like? Also, what roles will Sirius and Lily play in the pack? And what about Harry?
Questions, questions, questions,

Venquine1990
PS. Who caught the Hamilton reference