Chapter 5
Alastor sat at a corner table in his favorite pub, where he had a clear line of sight out the windows to the street, door, behind the bar, and through the window that showed the kitchen, awaiting his appointment.
It was the summer of 1989, and Harry had been with Alastor for three years now, despite how quickly the time seemed to go. The lad was growing nicely, strong although Alastor doubted he'd ever be very tall. He rarely had nightmares, asked a good many questions, which Alastor encouraged, and was taking advantage of the early wand use waver Bones had given him to get up to a moderate amount of mischief. All the appropriate kind, of course. The lad was no James Potter when it came to pranking, but could pull off a few surprises if given the chance. Of course, he'd never caught Alastor, but his skills in hiding the pranks, sneaking, and making backup plans were improving. The lad was also into second year spellwork material. Harry Potter was no Rowena Ravenclaw, but in terms of raw magical instincts and power, the boy was a prodigy. Alastor was just glad he'd gotten there before the damn muggles could beat it out of him.
But, as the lad's curiosity increased, so did his questions about his parents. Alastor had given Harry all the stories he could, and Bones had chipped in during her regular visits, but that didn't make up for the holes in the lad's life. More and more often after dance or karate, Harry would stare longingly at the other families for a few moments before blinking and acting like nothing happened. And if Alastor's eye saw the stuffed doll, tucked in a side pocket of the lad's gym bag, where it could be easily reached for in such moments… well, Alastor knew some things his magical eye saw were best left unspoken.
But still, the lad needed more. And when the lad needed something, Alastor did what he could to provide it. When the lad seemed to need a female role model and his old babysitter had moved away, Moody asked Bones to step in and lend a hand. And now that the lad needed to know more of his parents, Moody was going to the best source of information he had.
Lupin looked verifiably ill when he walked in, hair prematurely grey and eyes dull. His muggle clothes were patched and worn, and he could probably use a good meal or two. The werewolf gave a brief sniff so subtle nobody who wasn't looking would see it before zeroing in on the corner.
"Evening, Mad-eye." The werewolf muttered.
"Evening Lupin." He replied.
The men sat in silence as their drinks and meals were brought (Moody had already ordered for Lupin, and payed as well, so the werewolf couldn't refuse). Moody liked that about Lupin, as he'd found on many stakeouts back in the order days. The man was good at quiet, but knew how to observe.
But, no matter how good Lupin was, Moody was better. The younger man broke first.
"Alright Moody, what's this about?"
Moody smirked (which, it should be noted, looked like a scowl to anyone that wasn't Harry or Amelia. Convenient, that, made messing with trainees easier. Not that he'd had one in a while. Had to be a patrolling auror to do that. Maybe once the lad went to Hogwarts though…)
"What, no guesses? Never go into a meeting without intel Lupin. How many times I have to tell you constant vigilance."
"Constant vigilance," Lupin muttered along. A few nearby diners looked over, even though there was a privacy ward up. Lupin went red. Moody smirked again.
"You have a job right now?" he asked the young man, sipping from the ever-present flask.
Lupin scowled. "I don't need charity, Mad-eye."
"Didn't say you did. You heard the rumors about me?"
Lupin's palor lessened a shade, and a chuckle came out as he replied, "Mad-eye Moody's half-retired?"
Moody glared. It was a very good one, to judge by Lupin's reaction.
"Not that. I'm not an idiot. Know there are rumors about my kid."
Because of course there were. When his habit of working from home was acknowledged by Bones, all sorts of stories circulated. Then when that Skeeter bitch followed him around in the muggle world a year before, word that he was "frequenting locations where muggle children congregate" got around. (Of course, she conveniently ignored that this was always in the company of a particular young boy. Clearly she didn't get to close though, although Alastor had no idea how she did it. Otherwise, that article would have just talked about his secret grandson outright.) To avoid extra scrutiny on his behavior, he and Bones agreed to take the boy on a few public outings in the wizarding world (skin darkened through a combination of magical and muggle means, and hair covering the forehead for extra concealment). While it wasn't exactly common, he wasn't the first old wizard to have a magical grandchild pop out of the woodwork. Every once in a while, somebody got a lady of the night knocked up, and the magic would skip a few generations before the magical child showed back up. A month of whispers about his secret love affair and dead squib son made the rounds at the office before everyone moved on and forgot about it.
Every once in a while, Moody would take Harry into Diagon or Hogsmede, both to keep up appearances and get the lad adjusted to being vigilant amongst the sights, sounds and chaos of public wizarding spaces.
Remus, ignorant of the complicated history there, quirked an eyebrow. "Rumor has it he-or she- is dead."
Moody nodded. "My grandson's parents are gone, aye, as are both his grandmothers. So he got stuck with me. But, well. Things are stirring, and I'm needed back on the force. And the lad needs a tutor, plus someone to look after him in the times I can't be there."
"You want me, a-" the man looked around for listeners (as if Moody didn't have silencing spells up, ye of little faith) and lowered his voice "werewolf, as a babysitter?"
"No." Moody grunted. "How's your occlumency?"
Lupin was taken aback. "Occlumency? Why?"
Moody took a long drag from the cup in front of him, rather than the flask. Lupin, apparently realizing Alastor had eaten and drunk foods not prepared by himself directly, gaped. "Because, Lupin, I want you to meet the kid at least. But I aint gonna take you back to where he is without knowing you'll keep it secret from everyone."
Lupin took a swig of his own. "Don't you worry that might not be the best thing for a child? Growing up so…"
"Paranoid?" Moody asked. Lupin nodded. "Maybe. But… well, how good is that occlumency?"
Lupin, apparently frustrated, gave in. "I'm out of practice, but I can probably still hold of a moderate attack. I'd need to get back into the swing of it to hold of anyone like Dumbledore, but who can do that easily?"
Moody considered. Not the best, but Lupin was likely to be… highly motivated, once Alastor showed him.
"Alright then, up with you." and he started limping his way to the alley behind the pub.
"Wait, where…. Damn it." The sound of a scraping chair was followed by a stubbed toe as Lupin hurried after.
"Come along, boy. Got places to be."
Lupin rounded the corner at a light jog. "Where are you…"
He didn't have a chance to finish as Moody apparated them. Once. Twice. Six times.
He gave Lupin a minute when they got home to catch his breath. Unpleasant, Moody knew, but all that aparating should confuse any tails.
"We walk from here. It's not far."
And he moved before Lupin could react. Alastor flipped his eye to look out his the back of his skull and watched. Lupin was muttering the whole way, aye, but following. Something about crazy old curmudgins… well, the werewolf would learn soon enough.
They came to the cottage-the same one, Moody knew, where he'd been living for the past three years. The Moody of five years ago would be screaming at the current one for stupidity but, well. Three years in one place, nobody'd found them that Moody didn't let in. Maybe the moving every few months thing was overboard. Like having so many poisons disguised as tea. Or a couch that would bite someone in the ass if they sat on it wrong (granted, that one happened because of Harry's accidental magic during one of Bones's visits, but Moody kept it for a few months. Boy had some power, he did). Or a dozen pedestrian-munching garbage bins. One pedestrian-munching garbage bin, Moody had found, was sufficient these days, given all they ever caught was the occasional stray cat.
Alastor used his lead on Lupin to key him into the wards. He used the distraction the garden hose gave the werewolf to put up a few extra temporary wards, just in case. He used the distraction the plastic flamingoes and ceramic garden gnomes (the muggle kind) gave him to ensure they weren't followed. He spent the entire time Lupin dodged the Flamethrowing Tulips grown at just the right height to hit certain bits in particular to enjoy the show. It seemed Lupin's wand skills were not anywhere near as unpracticed as occlumency. Good, Moody thought, as Lupin wrestled with the enchanted welcome mat, after Mad-eye had opened the door and invited him in. He might need those skills to protect the lad some day.
"Gramps?" the lad asked, coming from the attic. Perfect timing. "What's going on?" Green eyes grew wide as they saw the doormat doing it's job. "Are we under attack!?" Wand out quickly, positioned behind the cover of the sofa, eyes checking all entrances and exits. Good lad.
"Nah, just letting Lupin here have some fun with the defenses. Need to check them every once in a while."
The boy nodded, Moody's way of testing visitors was old hat by now. "Okay. And he's here because…"
Moody smirked in approval, and the lad beamed back at the silent pride. "I told you we needed a tutor for ya. Besides, your old babysitter moved away months ago, and we don't want an incident like last week, do we?" Alastor growled. Potter blushed and rubbed his neck.
"I didn't mean to flood the house, honest! I'm nine, I don't need a babysitter."
"Good thing I'm not hiring a babysitter, I'm hiring a tutor."
"But… but doesn't that cost money?"
Moody shook his head. "Your parents left you an education fund, Bones got me access four months ago, in secret of course. Besides, Lupin here knows a few tricks even I don't."
Green eyes twinkled (and not the creepy way Albus's did, Harry Potter was the perfect picture of innocence, thank you very much. Made him harder to curse if he was cute, an advantage the boy was taught to use.)
"Oh really."
Moody smiled internally. The lad's 'sneak attack practice' (read pranks) had gotten much more sophisticated over the last year. Moody wondered what the two would be able to do together.
"Oh my..." A shocked voice said from the doorway. Lupin had apparently taken care of the doormat.
"Your butt is still on fire." It wasn't, but it took Lupin a minute of frantic slapping to realize that.
Harry just had to start acting like his father. Damn kid.
"I… Harry… How…" Lupin seemed to gather himself. "So… Petunia and Lily were secretly half-siblings?" the werewolf guessed.
Both of the house's residents laughed. Well, Harry laughed, the noise Alastor made sounded more like a hoarse, manly cackle.
"No blood relation. I took the lad after his aunt proved… unsuitable. But, he has some questions I can't answer. Thought you might be able to. And since you're out of a job, and I need to go back to mine, and the kid needs someone to keep him out of trouble while I'm out… well. Left a rather large education trust fund, the Potters did. And knowing James, I'd think he'd put paying for any tutor's medical needs in the contract."
Lupin's jaw dropped. "Wolfsbane… No, I can't accept this…"
"You can, actually. And should. The kid needs more adults than me, Bones and a couple o' muggles. He needs someone who can teach him all the fiddly second-year stuff I've forgotten and don't have the time for. You'd be making my job a lot easier, since I know you'd die before givin' him up to any Death Eaters." Lupin nodded at that point. "There ain't many people I trust like this Lupin. But you're loyal. And he needs that."
The werewolf took a deep breath. A second. Closed his eyes, put his hands on his hips. Sighed.
"Am I going to have to fight the doormat every day?" he asked grudgingly.
Alastor smirked-the kind normal folk actually saw as a smirk, not the natural one. "Well…"
Lupin groaned. "For Harry." He muttered just barely loud enough to hear. Then he turned to the lad. "How well you know to use that wand of yours?"