The next week past quicker than Harry felt he could keep up. His meeting with Professor McGonagall had been and gone; although he was absolutely positive his ears would never recover from the woman's scolding.
Lupin had stood outside the meeting, to be there to walk him to his first lesson that morning. Harry had prepared himself for another telling off from the man, even though he had been assured multiple times already that weekend that it was okay.
Remus, of course did no such thing; instead asking the teen how his day had been and offered plenty of sympathy looks as the child cheeks struggled to regain their usual pale colour. It brought back far too many memories for Remus to endure, sitting in McGonagall's office, waiting for the, then younger, witch to come in and make them feel roughly five years old.
His sympathy looks would go no further than that however as it was, after all, Harry's own fault that he had ended up in that mess. Hopefully it would serve as some kind of lesson to his child.
The grand Halloween feast had also been and gone, with Harry heartedly enjoying the meal. Remus was pleased to note that someone had continued the Marauders annual tradition of pulling a Halloween prank as the Weasley twins had set dung bombs to explode as the food was set to appear, delaying Professor Dumbledore's speech and the beginning of the feast.
Lupin had looked over to McGonagall to see if the woman would react, knowing full well it was two of her lions who pulled such a prank, but, as she had always done with the Marauders in their day, the Professor bore a smirk on her face but did not react.
Remus was just highly thankful Harry was not involved.
Harry had left the hall with Ron and Hermione, as well as Seamus and Dean, feeling well past full. Remus had caught him on his way out, wishing him luck for the first Quidditch match of the year, the following morning.
Harry very nearly asked the man to let him sleep down in their quarters that night but stopped himself when he remembered he was in the company of his Gryffindor peers and certainly did not want them to hear him ask.
Remus did not comment on his child's hesitation as he watched teen walk away with his group, before the man followed. Despite his calming tone, his nerves were fraught. Quidditch was a brutal sport, and certainly unforgiving. He had watched Harry fly around the Quidditch pitch before but he had never seen the child play a full match.
He decided in that moment, that he would send the child a good luck note in the morning and then he would catch him before the match in the tent.
Some would see that as overprotective parenting but Remus could not find it in him to care and he was sure he knew Harry well enough to know that the teen would not care all that much either.
The man finished the long walk to the teachers wing, entering the living room and taking a seat in his armchair. The silence of the small quarters felt foreign to him. Harry's constant questions and incoherent chatter could be as annoying as a niffler but it was certainly something the man missed when he was not there.
However, he would never, unless as a consequence for misbehaviour, force the child to miss out on living in the tower with his friends. The tower was where some of his own fondest memories were made during Hogwarts, ones that he would treasure forever.
He forced himself to take a large deep breath as his mind drifted back to the quidditch match tomorrow. He could now understand why so many of the students' parents insisted on coming to watch the matches.
Harry's eyes had shot open at 5 o'clock in the morning, on the dot. The sound of the torrential rain, hammered on the window, followed by a clap of thunder and flash of lightning.
He had been playing quidditch now for two years but the pre-match nerves never seemed to get any easier. His stomach always clenched in a tight knot and his mind raced slightly with anxiety.
The teen debated whether he should get up and walk down to the teachers wing. The thought left his mind as quickly as it entered however when he rationalised that if Remus didn't kill him for leaving the tower alone, he would likely be grounded until he was of age. There was a chance Remus would sympathise with him, but he was not willing to risk it, so soon after getting himself into colossal trouble with the man and with the school.
He checked the small alarm clock, stationed on his bedside table, noting that only ten minutes had passed since he had woken. Breakfast didn't start for another 2 hours, it wasn't worth fighting his eyes to stay awake.
He allowed himself to get comfy again, and let his heavy eyelids take over, just as a note appeared on his bedside table. He was too far asleep however to hear the small pop it made.
Remus was sure he had had the worst nights sleep known to man, bar during full moon's. He had just written his good luck note to the child, he only hoped Harry wasn't feeling too nervous that morning. Lupin had actually never made it to Hogwarts to watch his child play, hence the nerves. Lupin's nerves only amplified as he noted the atrocious conditions outside, the rain lapping on the window pain.
The sun was still yet to rise as the depths of winter approached rapidly, the cold chill had been evident in the outside corridors for the past few weeks; Remus was positive it was set to snow soon, not uncommon for Scotland.
The man had dressed quickly and then, for the first time in a while, poured himself a morning coffee. The bitter taste lay on his tongue, hoping that the caffeine might perk up his energy levels. If all else failed, he was sure he could grab a potion from Poppy the Mediwitch, just as he did often after full moons. The potions could become rather addictive however so Remus tried to avoid them as much as possible.
Noting that it was almost time from breakfast, Lupin poured the remaining coffee down the sink, small specks of the coffee beans that hadn't dissolved properly, laid in the bottom of the cup but the man couldn't find the effort to rinse it round.
Grabbing a coat, he exited his quarters, locking the door behind him with a flick of his wand. Before heading down the corridors towards the Great Hall, sticking to the inside walls to avoid the rain as the wind swept it through the archways.
In all honesty, the man hoped the match was called off, considering the poor conditions. He knew his child was no stranger to playing in the rain, hearing of the stories during Harry's first and second years, countless times in the evenings they'd spent together. Catching the snitch in his mouth and losing the bones in his arms to name a few incidents that had made the man's stomach twist over at the thought of watching.
Approaching the main hall from the left, Remus noticed a small group of students approaching from the right, where the staircases were. The round glasses of his child stood out before anything else.
Harry looked pale, far paler than Remus had seen before. As his friends drew closer, Lupin took the decision to pull Harry aside. He did not care if the young teen found it embarrassing.
"Harry," Remus called as the boy's eyes shot up, "a word please"
Remus motioned for him to walk over as Harry eyed the man carefully. Was he in trouble?
"I'll meet you in there," Harry spoke to his friends before walking around a corner, where they were not in danger of being interrupted by students, only the teacher's wing came from that corridor.
"Are you alright." Remus blurted out as soon as they halted.
"Uh huh." Harry nodded, ignoring the painful twist in his stomach, as well as the small snitch buzzing around.
This was the most nervous he had felt for a quidditch match since his first game in his first year. He couldn't work out whether it was because it was against Slytherin, the weather or if it was something else.
The not knowing seemed worse.
"You look pale cub; really pale" Lupin spoke, eyes full of worry.
"You don't look too much better yourself," Harry replied as he watched the man grin.
"I suppose you are right; I didn't sleep very well last night."
"Neither." Harry responded. "I feel really nervous. I don't know why though because I've played quidditch matches before, there's nothing that different with this one."
"I can think of a few reasons," Remus moved so that his back was to the corridor, the child's to the wall. "All this with Sirius Black is bound to make you nervous, playing your biggest house rival, or even the dementors?"
Bingo.
It was the dementors. Harry almost kicked himself for not realising it before. He was nervous that they were going to attack him again, even a fool would be nervous.
Remus noticed too that he seemed to have hit the nail on the head. "The dementors' cub? Is that why you are nervous?"
Harry nodded, "I think so." He began fiddling with his fingers.
"Professor Dumbledore has placed wards all around the pitch, you will be safe. If all else fails, you've also got your Patronus charm you could try?" Remus reassured as he placed a reassuring arm on his child's shoulder. "I also have a spell that will keep the rain off of those glasses of yours…"
The man lifted his wand towards the child's glasses, "Impervius", he muttered. "It should repel the rain from your glasses so you'll be able to see properly."
"Thanks," Harry smiled at the man. He was starting to feel a fair bit better than he did this morning. The tiny snitch that had been buzzing around in this stomach had died down and he was starting to feel like he could stomach something for breakfast; albeit something small.
"Go and grab a bite to eat, I'll see you on the pitch."
Harry nodded and offered up a tiny smile.
Smiling back, the man walked behind his child before they split ways, Harry heading to meet his friends at the Gryffindor table, Remus heading for the teachers table.
The man was also starting to feel better, now that he had spoken to the teen, yet it was clear that worrying was something clearly both of them did well...
If looks could kill, Oliver Wood would have murdered Professor Snape right on the spot.
The Gryffindor team had found it rather peculiar that they hadn't seen the Slytherin team in the changing rooms that morning; it wasn't until they got to the doors right before the pitch that the potions Professor had informed them that they would now be playing Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin for whatever reason, making all of the tactics they had been practising in training futile.
The captain had asked for a ten-minute halt on starting to pull his team together and discuss a change of tactics, not that it particularly concerned Harry. All he had to do was catch the snitch.
The rain had subsided slightly by the time they were finally able to start the match. It was clear Hufflepuff did not have advanced warning of the switch as they ran to the doors in a fluster, their captain shouting tactics, notably forgetting the Gryffindor team could hear him.
The match got off to a poor start.
Hufflepuff, somehow, managed to score in the first couple of minutes placing Gryffindor behind on points from the beginning.
Harry was frantically trying to search for the snitch but the torrential rain was making it exceedingly difficult. The tiny snitch was difficult to spot on a good day, let only when it was difficult to see two brooms in front of you.
Harry heard a roar from the stands, unfortunately not from his house's side of the stands as he heard Lee Jordan, the commentator announce that Hufflepuff had scored again.
Harry knew he needed to find the snitch and end the game before it went on too long and they were all drenched through to their cores.
The Hufflepuff seeker seemed to have a plan as wherever Harry flew, so did the fourth-year witch.
The teen quickly caught on that he could use that to his advantage. His broom was one of the quickest and nimble brooms on the market, apart from the new fire bolt that he had seen in his weekly Quidditch magazines that came in the post every weekend for him.
He suddenly began to nose dive on his broom, stealing a glance back to notice that the young witch was, as expected, following suit. Just before he crashed into the ground, he brought the tip of his broom up as the Hufflepuff seeker crashed into the floor below.
Harry felt a tinge of guilt for causing the witch to crash but at such a low height, he was certain she wouldn't have been injured from such.
Wanting to make use of the valuable minutes he had alone, while the Hufflepuff seeker sorted herself out and perhaps switched brooms, Harry frantically searched the sky for the golden ball.
He spotted his Guardian in the stands as he did so, the man cheering the Gryffindors on, along with Professor McGonagall to the man's left. Harry almost laughed at the sight before forcing himself to focus on the task at hand.
Thankfully the rain had subsided dramatically, making it far easier to see the balls on the pitch. Turning around to check the other side of the pitch, dodging a quaffle in the process, Harry blinked twice to check if he was seeing things.
He had spotted the tiny ball right at the tip of the flag pole on the Slytherin stand. He shot off to chase it down, just as he heard Lee announce that the Hufflepuff seeker was mounting her broom once more.
The snitch seemed to fly higher and higher, out of the ground. Harry knew if it flew too high, he would be forced to fly back to the stand and wait for the snitch to come back to a reasonable level.
All of a sudden, the snitch changed direction, so instead of climbing upwards, it began to fly back to the stand, much to Harry's relief.
Just as he was entering the stands again, a black cloak flew just behind his peripheral vision. Taking one hand off from his broom, Harry withdrew his wand, all thoughts of the snitch had been abandoned. He was about to be attacked by dementors yet again.
The hooded figure flew behind him once again, as Harry raced to get back into the stands, hoping to enter the protective wards which the dementors could not perish. Flicking his wand behind him, he shouted "Expecto Patronum".
He successfully managed to produce a silver shield to give him a few seconds of extra time. It was not quite the full Patronus he had been hoping for but he was finally successful in casting the spell nevertheless.
Not giving his actions a second thought, the teen raced back into the thick of the game, to observe the match and hopefully the snitch from below rather than hovering above.
Just as he got to a reasonable height, he realised McGonagall and his guardian of all people had entered the pitch and were waving their arms frantically at Madame Hooch; a whistle was blown to signify a break in play.
All the players from both sides were ushered to land. Harry followed the rest of his team landing in front of Professor Hooch.
Just as his feet touched the floor, his head of house, Professor McGonagall, stalked over to three black hooded figures that had landed a few metres away.
The transfiguration teacher began to lecture the figures as their hoods were lowered; revealing Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, all looking a little worse for fear. Harry smirked as the trio looked awkward, being shouted at in front of such a large audience. He heard the woman assigned them weekend detentions, sending them to her office as the three lowered their heads and practically ran out of the arena.
Remus managed to catch Harry's eye as he called the child over to him. Harry looked back at his team who were all talking amongst themselves before walking over to the man, avoiding the small pools of water that filled the water-logged pitch, despite there being a welcomed break from the torrential rain.
"Are you alright?" The man's face was full of concern, wanting nothing more than to bring the child in for a hug but refraining due to the large audience.
"Yeah - yeah I'm okay." Harry replied honestly.
"That was some Patronus you cast there Cub!" Remus encouraged. "It is a shame however that it was not at real dementors."
Harry slowly pieces the information together as he quickly realised it wasn't dementors chasing him, but rather the Slytherin Trio dressed as dementors. He resisted the urge to knock himself on the head to check if his brain was still in working order; how could he have not realised. "So stupid -"
"Yes, it was, very foolish. Don't you go getting any ideas…" Remus warned very lightly.
"Not that - I was saying I was being dolt for not realising." Harry replied, "and I would never do that."
"Flying at the speed you were, anyone could easily get it mixed up Harry. You are far from stupid for doing so."
Harry hummed back in reply, not feeling fully convinced.
The chatter from the two houses had died down quite suddenly, catching Harry's attention. Professor Hooch was talking to the captains, supposedly about the match as it had not been finished.
"I've got to go." Harry spoke, turning to his guardian briefly before making a run to the rest of his team.
"I'll be in the stands waiting." Remus replied with a wink, joining Professor McGonagall who was also making her way back to their seats, listening as she began ranting about the three slytherins and how she intended to deal with their behaviour.
The teen watched out of the corner of his eye as Remus exited the pitch. They were informed that the game was going to start again where it had left off, and this time, Harry was absolutely positive he would catch the snitch.
"I knew you could do it Harry!" Remus encouraged as he opened the door to their quarters, Harry entering in underneath his arm.
The child had been grinning from ear to ear after he had caught the snitch only fifteen minutes after the match had begun again.
The better weather conditions had contributed to his successful catching of the snitch meaning that he could at least see further than two broomsticks in front of himself!
"Did you see me dive for it? And then when I had to stand on my broom to reach it!" Harry asked enthusiastically.
"Yes, I did" the man chuckled," although you definitely gave me a heart attack; I would much rather you kept away from performing skills on that broom of yours."
"I know what I'm doing Remus," Harry answered with a small hint of a whine. "I'm not scared of doing tricks."
"It is the fact that it scares me and you could end up hurting yourself quite badly cub."
"Hmm. - I'll try and remember I suppose."
"In my books, as long as you try; that's good enough for me." Remus encouraged, ruffling the boys hair from behind the sofa, before walking around and taking a seat in the armchair.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the common room and celebrate the win?"
"Positive. I wanna spend some time with you - I mean, only if that's okay?"
"Of course Harry. You are always welcome down here." The man paused, picking up a stack of essays that sat on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "I have a few essays to grade, ready for tomorrow but I will be free to do something after that. Do you have anything that could occupy your time?"
"I could help you mark them?"
"A lovely offer however these are fifth year essays on a topic that you have not covered yet cub, so I think I will have to give your offer a miss." The man dipped his quill in the ink pot.
"If I remember correctly, you do have that potions essay that you were moaning about a couple days ago, still to do? Perhaps that might be nice to get out of the way?"
"I'd rather do anything but that…" Harry grumbled, slouching down on the sofa.
"Well, it has got to be done at some point, mister. May as well get it out of the way now. - Go and grab the books you need and work on it out here."
Harry let out a small noise of frustration, which Remus raised his eyebrows at but did not comment on, but did stand and walk to get the books he needed.
When he returned Remus spoke first. "Get that finished and perhaps we could look through the storage boxes here for something that belonged to Lily?"
Harry's disgruntled face instantly lit up at the mention of his mother. "Okay,"
Remus suppressed a chuckle at the sudden change of demeanour. Teenagers moods were fickle and unpredictable, the man found himself constantly being reminded.
The hour or so passed by without hiccup; Harry worked quietly on his essay, still not all that happy about it but managed to suppress his frustration. He had occasionally asked the man questions about it and looked over to see what Remus was doing, finding the man's work far more interesting than his own.
Deciding to call it a day on grading his fifth years essays, Lupin closed the book he had open for reference and set down his quill. Harry shut his book not even a moment later; clearly he was hardly engrossed in what he was doing.
"Finished?" Remus questioned, knowing full well the answer.
"Nearly," Harry lied. In actuality he had written the first two paragraphs and decided to focus on the clock or his Guardians work. No matter how hard he tried, his work was far more boring than anything else in the room. Besides, Hermione, whether the witch knew it or not, would end up giving the boys her essay to read anyway. Usually the day before it was due to be handed in, knowing that they would end up in detention otherwise.
"I'll look forward to reading through it later then?" Remus smirked at the child, knowing that Harry was lying through his teeth.
"Hmm," Harry mumbled back, looking at his feet. "Can we go now?"
"Yes, I suppose we can; go and grab a jacket and your shoes."
"A jacket - why?" Harry questioned, slipping off the sofa.
"Have you felt the temperature drop in the castle? It's surely below freezing and I won't have you catching a cold because of it. Go on," Remus gave the child a light push in the right direction.
"When I'm boiling hot, I'll blame you." Harry joked as he turned around, heading to his room to grab his jacket.
"I'd expect nothing less." Remus laughed at the child's antics, slipping his shoes on himself.
Harry returned, jacket in hand, placing it on the floor as he pulled out his own trainers, doing them up.
"You know, you have to wear that jacket in order to keep warm. You just put one arm in like this and then the -"
Harry tugged the jacket out of the man's hands, giving him a sarcastic smile, "I knowww…" The whine in his tone was noticeable; it made Harry cringe slightly at the tone of it.
Remus raised his eyebrows, the second time he had heard that whine that day, "How old are we, young sir? Far too old to whine I would say?"
Harry did not comment on the man's words, slipping on his jacket all the same. Shoving his hands in the warm pockets.
"We just have to visit Professor Dumbledore first and ask him where their things are stored, and then we can have a search through." Remus opened the wooden door, watching as Harry stood a few steps away, seemingly zoned out.
"Ready?" Lupin asked to snap the boy's attention.
Harry's eyes flicked up as he nodded, ducking under the man's arm that held the door open.
They had already searched through the first three or so boxes; finding mainly generic pictures and kitchen cutlery, plates and bowels that Remus had decided to claim for their own kitchen; the condition of them was nothing short of perfect, seeing as the Potters were newlyweds and new homeowners when they passed.
Getting over the trauma of losing his best friends, all in one night, some in other ways than others was far more tough than even the full moon at times. It was likely one of the hardest things Remus had ever done; especially when he had a young child to also look after. The pain of such was something he hoped his Harry never had to experience.
Trauma comes in many ways. People will experience it differently; but for Remus, getting over the first few weeks was by far the toughest.
The death eaters from Hogwarts were no stranger to knowing the Marauders and their friends were all extremely talented in defence against the dark arts; having any one of them on their side was a huge bonus. Remus just never in a million years though it would be Sirius of all people that they were able to recruit.
He had gone over the scenario far more times than he cared to recall; Sirius had said so many times that he would have died rather than betray any of his friends. The only plausible conclusion Remus could find himself coming to was that Sirius was either given Veritasium or under the Imperius curse; neither would be out of the ordinary for the followers of Voldemort and either conclusion would place the blame of what happened on anyone but Sirius.
After all the man had gone through, through childhood, ending up in Azkaban was the absolute worst outcome that could have occurred.
The man had thought to check with Harry if he was alright with taking some of their parents things back to the Teachers Wing; Harry had been more than overjoyed with the idea, adding that it would add more of a homely feel to the small flat.
After finishing the first few boxes, they moved onto boxes that had labels on them for the bedroom and living room; Remus hoped they would find a few more things of more sentimental value in them.
Harry used his wand to cut open the sellotape that was holding the box shut before pulling back the flaps to reveal the contents; at first there was only a lamp shade that had gone musty, like many of the items in the boxes, then an old pillow. Digging deeper Harry found a fairly large box with his name neatly ingrained on the top.
"Remus -" the man's head lifted up from a box he was searching through. "What do you think this is?"
"Ah," Remus smirked, brushing off the dust on his legs before leaning on his left knee to stand. The man walked over the box Harry had open, kneeling next to the child. "This was a gift from your father on your first birthday; it caused quite the argument that night but it was by far your favourite present."
"Why was there an argument?"
"Open it and you'll see," Remus smirked, reminiscing of the memories in his own head.
Harry unhooked the lock on the front and opened the wooden box. Inside there was a smaller than usual, sized broom stick, and a quidditch set, complete with the snitch, quaffed and bludgers, again, smaller than the standard size.
"James thought it was best to start you out in quidditch young." Remus started, smiling at the child in front of him who seemed in awe. "Lily was most unimpressed that a one-year-old, as accident prone as you were, now had a broomstick to fly around the house on. - It didn't go any higher than all of two feet but it was the fact that you could fly that worried her the most."
"I love it," Harry replied, pulling out the small broomstick to get a closer look.
"I think you'll find that you are much too big to be flying on it now though so don't go and get any ideas," Remus warned as light as can be, pointing his finger at the child with a smirk.
Harry smiled back, placing the broom back in its case. "I guess we will leave that here for now then?"
"Yes, I think so. Maybe try the next box across, if you were still looking for something from Lily?"
Harry got up, in a similar fashion to that of his guardian and walked over to the next box. Opening it again with his wand, he rummaged around, quickly realising that it was in fact full of his Mother's makeup, perfumes and hair items. Hitting the bottom of the box rather quickly, Harry was drawn to a small comb, no bigger than his hand. It was gold with some red engravements of a lion.
No doubt custom made as it was clearly that of Gryffindor colours.
"That -" the man lightly took hold of the comb for himself, "was a gift James gave to Lily on their last Valentine's Day; some may say he was a total romantic."
"It's really nice," Harry spoke quietly, watching as the man assessed it for himself.
"You could take this back with you if you wanted? Your hair does usually look like you've just gotten out of bed; perhaps this will tame it?"
"I should be insulted," Harry joked, taking the comb back for himself.
"Your fathers hair was just the same; never would lie flat. Once his father, also called Harry, gave him a haircut so short that wore a hat for the rest of that evening; when he woke up the next morning, it had all grown back, just as untameable."
"As if by magic." Harry mused.
"As if by magic," Remus agreed, ruffling the teens hair. "I don't know about you but my tummy is starting to rumble. We could finish this another day? Perhaps next week?"
"Sure." Harry replied. He was thankful Remus had said that as he was starting to get a little cold. Not that we would ever admit such to the man; not after the short disagreement they had had over bringing a jacket in the first place. Being down in the dungeons after all was enough to make anyone feel cold, let alone as winter was approaching.
Remus flicked his wand to reseal the boxes and place them back to their original spaces; the lanterns that they had lit also blew out as he closed the door behind them, feeling rather accomplished of the day they had had together.
The next few days flew by as winter entered in full swing with the icy breeze whipping around the castle and it's grounds. The frost would last well into the late morning and icicles had formed in the outside corridors; proving handy for the Weasley twins who had taken to exploding them on students' heads as they walked underneath.
Their prank was very short lived one Tuesday afternoon as the unsuspecting prankee just so happened to be Professor Snape who was on his way down to the dungeons to teach his third year class.
Harry had fought hard to suppress the chuckle when Fred lazily flicked his wand to bring down the icicle without thinking to check who the recipient was.
George was the first to notice as he attempted to scurry off, pulling his twin brothers arm as he ran but, a now very wet and cold, Professor Snape new exactly who the culprits were and, after drying himself, furiously wrote a note on a piece of parchment that Harry could only assume was sent to either McGonagall or Dumbledore.
Snape's cloak bellowed behind him as he turned to the line that had formed outside his door ready for the lesson.
"What do you think you're staring at Potter?" Snape sneered, making eye contact with him.
Harry glanced down the line and saw that every single other student was also staring at the confrontation but as usual, him simply being in the same proximity as Snape was enough reason for him to be singled out.
"Nothing - Sir" Harry replied; also locking in eye contact.
"10 points from Gryffindor for sheer nosiness." Snape replied as he strode past the child and swung open his door. The students filed in behind and took their seats.
"Today we will be brewing the shrinking solution. Some of you will be able to brew a barely adequate concoction for my stores. Others -" Snape paused to look at Harry and Neville who were coincidently were sat next to each other, "will fail to end this lesson with their original cauldron."
Neville visibly gulped at being singled out in front of the entire class.
"So, to avoid the inevitable failure and the imminent blowing up of my classroom, Mr Longbottom's potion will be fed to his pet toad to see its effectiveness. You have an hour."
"But that's not -" Harry went to stand up before being cut off by Hermione,
"Harry leave it," the young witch hissed. "Swap places with me." She nodded her head in his direction, a signal for Harry to move.
Harry raised his eyebrows in suspicion but, as he usually did, chose not to comment further on Hermione's ideas, stepping out of her way and standing next to Ron.
The two boys gathered their ingredients needed and began working on their potions. It became clear to both boys, pretty quickly, that Hermione was helping Neville brew his potion correctly, whispering instructions every time the Potions Professor's back was turned.
Both Harry and Ron ended up with a dismal attempt at the potion but did manage to avoid blowing up the cauldron. Their potions were the complete wrong colour and were lumpy, despite the book stating that the finish product was a smooth and glossy finish. Snape took one look at their efforts before, like usual, banishing them away and scribbling a grade down in his book. Harry was unable to see this time what the grade was but it didn't take a genius to figure out that it would be less than positive.
Snape then stopped in front of Neville's potion, after rather reluctantly placing Hermione's potion in a few vials from his store. The poor child gulped in anticipation as Snape instructed the child to produce his toad that he so often carried around in his pocket.
"I - I don't have him sir…" Neville stuttered,
"Don't. Lie. To me." Professor Snape spoke in a voice so slow that Harry's spine tingled.
Neville's hand reached into his pocket, producing the deep green coloured toad, as the boy placed him on the desk. Snape placed a potion of the finished potion into a vial and fed it to the toad.
To Harry's surprise, not to mention the rest of the class, the toad did shrink, just as it was supposed to. Snape then produced the antidote from the inside of his pocket and fed it to the toad, returning the animal to its usual size.
"Your efforts would be considered much improved Mr Longbottom, had you not had Miss-know-it-all here feeding you instructions every time my back was turned." Snape whipped his head over to Hermione. "Yes Miss Granger, I can hear your insufferable whispering; 20 points from Gryffindor - each for blatant cheating."
Harry couldn't even contemplate containing himself anymore.
"But that's not fair; Malfoy's been helping Crabbe and Goyle cheat every lesson for years and you've never taken points away from them!" He was standing out of his seat now.
"Sit. Down." Snape stalked over to Harry's desk, placing his hands on the front, leaning close to the child's face. "Unless you plan on spending the next three weekends cleaning out cauldrons and organising my office, I would suggest you take yourself out of my classroom where you can stand outside for the remainder of my lesson."
Harry narrowed his eyes at the man.
"And 10 points from Gryffindor for your childish outburst Potter."
Harry grabbed his bag and shoved his books inside, walking out of the classroom, not giving anyone else a second look. He didn't wait outside the classroom either.
It was lunchtime. He was going to see to it that he got an early lunch and an extended break time after the morning he had had. The teen only hoped he didn't bump into anyone in the corridor. More specifically his guardian; Harry was almost positive the man had a free period.
Remus closed his defence book that rested on his lap, before placing it on the coffee table in front of him. Eyeing the time, he noted it was a quarter of an hour away from lunch time. Remus decided that he would eat it in the Great Hall for once; he hoped he would catch a glimpse of his ward and attempt to determine how his day was going.
Waving the door open with his hand, he picked up his satchel for afternoon classes and headed out; stepping into the corridor where there was an ice cold draft whipping around his legs.
Shivering slightly, he wished he'd take a jacket; something he was always reminding Harry to do. The irony wasn't lost on him as he smirked to himself.
Reaching a crossroad in the corridors he looked slightly to his left and then his right. A small black figure at the end of the corridor made him double take.
He could tell by the child's walk it was his Harry; bag on his shoulder walking with his back to the man.
Remus racked his brain as to what the teens last class was; perhaps he was running an errand? He made a mental note to ask the child later; perhaps he would call Harry for tea tonight to catch up.
Harry entered the Great Hall, naturally, before his friends who were still down in the dungeons. The bell had just gone and students were filling in behind him.
Stealing a glance up to the teachers table, Harry noticed his guardian's eyes narrowing in on him, not looking angry exactly, but as though he was trying to see him better. The child lowered his head and concentrated on his food; in the hopes that Lupin wouldn't take his staring any further than that.
It took around five minutes before his friends joined him; Hermione entered with a worried look on her face, Ron was smirking.
"Snape was furious when he saw you weren't waiting outside Harry!" Hermione whispered as she sat down opposite. "I think he's going to tell McGonagall.
Harry simply shrugged.
"I wouldn't worry about it mate; just say the bell had gone or something and you'll be fine."
Hermione rolled her eyes at the pair, taking a sandwich from the plate in front of her. "Snape was in a worse mood than normal today wasn't he."
"I don't think your helping Neville exactly helped, Hermione." Ron replied back smirking at Harry.
"Well if I hadn't helped Neville his toad would have likely been poisoned, if not dead, and I wasn't about to let that happen. Besides, I didn't see you trying to help Neville did I?"
"Yeah Ron," Harry replied with a wink, taking a bite out of his lunch, as Ron did the same.
"Honestly you two." Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.
The trio continued to eat their lunch when Harry noticed Snape had come storming through the large wooden doors to the hall. The child half expected the Potions Professor to walk straight over to him, but when the man walked towards the teachers table, Harry's heart sank a little. Snape was going to tell Remus.
Harry nudged Ron as his head pointed towards the table; Hermione had already been watching.
Remus was looking too, not at Snape, but at his ward who was sporting a worried expression. There was certainly something up with his teen.
Harry watched closely as Snape passed his guardian and walked straight to McGonagall.
"Brilliant," Harry muttered. Looking at Hermione, across the table, rolling his eyes.
Clearly Snape was upping the seriousness of the offence this time as the professor had told his head of house, who was usually reserved for serious infractions.
"It'll only be a detention or something" Hermione replied sympathetically.
"Yeah, at least he didn't tell Professor Lupin." Ron shrugged in reply.
"I'm not sure which I would rather." Harry replied.
While McGongall could scold and leave the recipients ears ringing for days, not to mention her boring detentions, writing lines all evening; Harry was sure he hated disappointing Remus more.
Although, Remus had said that he wouldn't get annoyed over a few detentions so perhaps everything would be okay?
Harry placed his elbow on the wooden table, resting his head on his hand, his face now pointing away from the teacher's table. He pushed his food round with his fork. None of it seemed very appetising now.
The clock continued to tick by, Harry daren't look at the table anymore in case he was met by his guardian's face of disappointment.
"Uh, Harry; she's writing a note." Ron nudged, scrunching his nose up. "She doesn't look very happy."
Harry shrugged in reply, expecting the note to land in front of him at any moment; and it did.
A gold envelope appeared next to his plate. Harry couldn't help but look up at the woman whose face looked far from impressed.
Ripping open the flap, Harry pulled out the parchment that read;
Please report to my classroom for your detention at 6pm.
Bring a quill.
M McGonagall.
"Looks promising." Harry spoke sarcastically, tucking the note into his robe and scrunching up the envelope into a ball. "We'd better get going otherwise we'll be late for Magical Creatures."
Harry stood, as did Ron and Hermione, who both offered him sympathetic looks.
Harry could see Hagrid looked nervous. The gentle giant was stumbling on his words but the trio kept giving him encouraging looks.
Hagrid had struggled in his new role in teaching. His first few lessons had been eye-wateringly boring, which many of Harry's classmates had expressed. After some discussions with the trio, Hagrid had promised that his next lesson would be far more exciting. Something that worried Harry immensely.
Hagrid usually had a different meaning of exciting that most others.
Hagrid took his class into a small clearing, right at the front of the forbidden Forest where he introduced his Hippogriff, Buckbeak.
"Protective creatures are Hippogriffs." Hagrid started, "but not my Buckbeak - no, she's gentle."
Hermione gave Harry and Ron a smile; they were all visibly happy that the lesson was going well.
"Who wants ter be the first ter touch her?" Hagrid asked, smiling at the class.
Harry felt the rest of the class take a step back, it seemed he was a second too late as Hagrid invited him forward.
"Go'warn Harry, you can do it!" Hagrid encouragingly tapped Harry on the back, much harder than a normal sized Human would as it pushed the small framed boy forward, by accident.
"Firs' you gotta bow - yeah, like that." Hagrid started, "then hold out ya' hand an' let her sniff."
Harry did so, eager not to make too much eye contact with the beast.
"Brilliant. Now yer get on her back." Hagrid picked Harry up, placing him on Buckbeak's back ignoring the child's protests.
"Hagrid - I don't think this is a good -"
Harry didn't get a chance to finish his protest as Hagrid slapped the lower back of Buckbeak and she took off.
Harry felt himself jolt forward as he took off from the ground and headed to fly over the lake, around the castle.
Whilst unnerving at first, Harry slowly got used to flying on something other than a broomstick as she turned and headed for the Great Lake.
For the first time in a while, Harry felt very at peace. Despite struggling to stay on the horse like back, Harry took his hands off her neck and held him out as they flew over the lake; a smile plastered all over his face.
Buckbeak took a sharp turn to her left and began heading back to the clearing. When the class came back into view, Harry gave Hagrid a wave, as Hagrid returned the gesture, jumping up and down.
"Brilliant Harry! Just brilliant!" The man bellowed.
Buckbeak's hoofs made contact with the ground again, galloping back to the group as Harry slid off once they came to a halt.
"Well done my boy!" Hagrid encouraged, giving him another slap to the back. Harry joined Ron and Hermione again; Hermione was anxious to check if Harry was okay.
"Get out of my way."
Harry looked up to Draco pushing his way through the crowd.
"I can't believe Potter made it look so hard. You aren't protective are you." Draco went storming up to the creature, forgoing the bow and holding out his hand.
Buckbeak began to back up and make noise as Hagrid frantically shouted, "Get back Draco!"
But it was too late, Buckbeak bucked up to her hind legs and kicked the child on his arm, making a rather, over dramatic, Draco fall to the ground.
"It's killed me, it's killed me!"
"Someone call Madame Pomfrey!" Hagrid shouted as he picked up the child who still lay limp on the floor, despite nothing being wrong with his legs.
"Wait till my father hears about this." Draco shouted as he was whisked away by Hagrid, up the hill. "You and your bloody chicken."
"Class dismissed," Hagrid called as he walked up the hill.
After the Magical Creatures class, the trio ended up back in the common room; Draco's injury seemed to be the hottest topic of conversation but Harry wasn't particularly interested. He had already had to send a couple of first years away for hassling him about how it felt to ride a hippogriff.
Ron sat in the armchair next to him in front of the window, Hermione was slumped over the table, taking a 'short break', as she told the boys, before attempting to work on the mountain of homework she had in front of her.
"I'm sure she's not getting anymore than four hours of sleep a night." Ron whispered to Harry, quiet enough that Hermione wouldn't hear, if she was awake. "It's not healthy for her. - Plus, she's got double the homework we get!"
Harry had to agree with Ron. It was rare the pair ever got to spend any time with her when she wasn't working on homework, essays or worrying about getting to classes. The other day she almost had a meltdown because she'd forgotten to turn her time turner back after muggle studies so that she could attend divination.
"Perhaps she should just drop a couple of her electives. She doesn't need them all." Harry replied, keeping an eye on the clock to make sure he wasn't late for his detention with McGonagall at 6pm; he only had fifteen minutes left.
"Yeah, maybe we should suggest it to her?"
Harry didn't get a chance to reply, before Hermione sat up with a yawn, "you're right, I'm giving the time turner back and dropping muggle studies and ancient ruins. It's all too much for me to handle."
Harry gave Ron a surprised look; it was rare Hermione ever admitted defeat but this time it was certainly for the better.
The young witch stood up and gathered her books and parchment, stuffing them into her bag. "I'll go and tell Professor McGonagall now, before it gets too late."
"I might as well come too." Harry replied glumly, realising that Ron and Hermione now had the rest of the evening free to relax as the homework Hermione was working on was for muggle studies and ancient ruins; both of which she was now dropping.
"See ya Harry, Ron called out of the portrait hole."
Remus was unable to keep the frown that formed off his face as he opened the two notes that had just arrived on his coffee table from Minerva.
The first one detailed that had come to the Gryffindor head of houses' attention that Harry had been allowed to ride on the back of a hippogriff today, despite there being no reins or anything to hold on to.
The second and much more disappointing letter detailed how Harry had walked out of potions despite being instructed to stand outside and was now serving detention that evening. A similar situation to what had happened a few weeks previous when Harry had earned himself being sent to his room and having to sleep in their quarters that evening for his behaviour; both in and out of the classroom.
Remus had planned a nice evening catch up with his child, which clearly was not going to happen now. He wrote back, asking the time Harry's detention would finish, and instructed that he would meet the child outside, and take him down to the teachers wing for the evening.
Remus wondered for a moment if he should put Harry on some kind of punishment from him like he had before, but quickly dismissed the idea. He had told the child that he wouldn't get upset over a few detentions and, moreover, the only reason he has stepped in last time was his atrocious attitude after he left the classroom. This time, so far, no such attitude was present the last time he saw Harry at Lunch.
Remus also knew, the only reason Mineva had notified him, was because she knew Remus would ask Harry down to the teachers wing for the evening from time to time.
He decided he could be disappointed in the child, without handing down consequences of his own.
As for riding Buckbeak; Remus knew that was out of the child's control. It would be an issue he would raise privately with Hagrid. Although he did plan on having a small conversation with Harry about riding magical creatures without protective gear and reins.
Sitting down on the couch, Lupin took a sip of his hot chocolate and picked up his stack of first year tests that needed marking; a quick job that would take little concentration.
McGonagall had written back, informing the man that she would end Harry's detention at seven, a short detention at that, Remus thought to himself. He remembered spending two hours or more in her classroom, night after night for pranks that had gone wrong or skipping classes, to mention a few. It was usually Peter's fault for getting them caught.
Flexing his fingers, for what felt like the hundredth time, Harry looked up at the woman with the saddest face he could muster.
The words 'I will follow Professor's instructions' was ingrained in his head, as he had filled well over three feet worth of parchment by now. The blotting and crossing out of words making it clear he was tired and not to mention bored senseless. He didn't intend to be back here in a hurry.
Minerva watched the large clock above her door frame tick by as the hands neared towards the seven o'clock mark. She noticed her lion flexing his hand, just as many of those who sat in this room completing the same task had done so before him.
To her, lines seemed like the perfect detention as it ensured whichever pupil subjected to it, would not want to be back in a hurry, and the lesson they needed to learn was playing over and over in their heads.
"You can put your quill down now Potter." McGonagall tried to hold back a smile as she saw Harry's sheer look of relief. "Your guardian will arrive to collect you in a moment."
Harry felt the moment of relief diminish quickly as he wondered what kind of Remus he would be faced with. He only hoped the man was understanding; after all, Remus had said previously that he found himself in the same position multiple times in his youth.
"Good evening Professor," The man's head poked around the door.
"Good evening," Minerva smiled warmly. "Harry is free to go,"
The woman turned to her lion, "I trust you won't be back here anytime soon?"
Harry shook his head firmly at the witch who's lips her pursed, tighter than he'd seen in a while.
"And I do not want to hear any more of your misbehaviour for Professor Snape; this is the second time this term you have found yourself in trouble for the same thing and it ends here; is that understood?"
"Yes Professor," Harry replied, unable to keep the heat off his cheeks at the scolding, all too aware that his Guardian was standing a foot away. The teen only hoped Remus didn't join in too; as he placed his bag on his shoulder.
"Then I will see you in class tomorrow." The Professor nodded, before turning and walking to her desk.
"Let's go Harry." Remus called, gesturing to the door.
Harry followed his guardian out of the door, into the corridor, that had yet to lose the winter chill. Harry was thankful for his cloak.
The pair walked up and down the countless corridors and staircases, almost deserted as it neared curfew. His guardian hadn't uttered so much as a word since they had left the classroom.
It was making Harry nervous.
"Remus?"
"Mm?" The man mused.
"I'm sorry," Harry offered. He hadn't yet been able to work out the man's expression, with his back turned, in the dark corridor, it was exceedingly difficult. The lack of conversation was the only thing Harry had to go by.
Remus stopped and turned to the child, "what for?"
"Getting detention; making you angry." Harry replied with a frown as he began picking at his thumb.
"Who said I was angry?" Remus replied, confused. "Do I look angry to you?"
Harry paused before shaking his head. "I don't know - disappointed then?"
It was Remus' turn to pause, thinking of the correct words to say to his child. "I can't say I am exactly pleased you ended up in detention again so soon after the last time, nor am I okay with you not following instructions given to you, yet again, by Professor Snape, so yes, I suppose I am slightly disappointed, but I am certainly far from angry with you."
"I just thought, you know, 'cause you came to get me…" Harry trailed off as Remus held his hand up.
"You've had your consequences from the school so we will not mention it again; I just hope next time you hold your temper in class and follow instructions. I don't think that would be too much to ask, would it?" Remus replied calmly.
"No Sir." Harry answered as they entered the door to their wing.
"Besides, I'm sure Minnie did enough scolding to last you a life time," Remus smiled at the boy as Harry blushed again, staring down at his feet, "get your cloak off and change into something comfier; there's something I wanted to discuss quickly."
Harry frowned at his Guardian.
"You aren't in trouble" Remus reassured, pushing the child's shoulder lighting towards his room when he didn't move, "go on."
Harry changed quickly before coming back out into the living room, racking his brain to try and think if there was anything he'd done that Remus might've found out about.
Nothing came to mind.
Remus took a seat on the worn but rather homely sofa, patting the cushion for Harry to do the same.
"I heard today you rode a Hippogriff in Hagrids lesson?" He asked softly to his child.
"Yeah, Hagrid put me on it though, I didn't actually want to." Harry insisted, to make it clear to Remus that it wasn't his fault; sitting straighter in his chair.
"Ah, you aren't in trouble for it; I know it wasn't your fault Harry."
The teen felt his back relax more at his guardian's words, sitting back in the chair.
"Oh, good."
"I just thought it was worth mentioning for the future, how dangerous it is to ride a creature with no helmet or reins." Harry opened his mouth to insist again "- I know, today was out of your control, this is just a reminder."
"Okay - I can't say I intend to ride a Hippogriff again anyway"
"That's good to hear because I nearly had a heart attack when I read that note!" Remus chuckled. "I'll have a head of grey hair by the time I'm 40 just from the stress you cause me alone."
Most children might take offence to the man's words but Harry found them funny. It was true, when he thought about it, just how much he managed to get in trouble or cause trouble in his short few years he'd had at Hogwarts.
"I still can't believe you drove that car here." Remus spoke with a smirk. While this certainly was not funny at the time, Remus was glad he was able to smile about it now.
"Nor could McGonagall," Harry smirked.
"You are going to do it this time Harry. I can feel it. Think of your happiest memory, let it fill you up."
They had moved to the defence classroom and despite it getting late, Harry wanted to work on his Patronus charm. After managing to produce a shield at the last quidditch match, Harry had felt a new found confidence that he could muster a full Patronus.
All the previous happy memories he could think of, he'd already tried. There was only one happy memory left that he could think of; he thought it was at least worth a shot.
He nodded at Remus who was stood on the other side of the room, hands on the chest that contained the boggart they were using.
"Ready?" Remus asked.
"Ready." Harry replied with confidence, gripping his wand tighter.
Remus opened the chest and out came the dementor. Flying towards him, Harry shouted the charm, "Expecto Patronum!"
A shield flew out of his wand - almost there.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
To both of their surprise, a stag burst out of his wand, galloping around the room to create a protective barrier around him before forcing the dementor back into the chest.
The silver wisp was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. It was mystical yet bold; it was mesmerising to the eye.
Harry continued to point his wand at the dementor until, finally, the stag forced it back into the chest; Remus snapped it closed with a loud thud.
"Brilliant Harry!" Remus ran up to the boy, giving him a tight hug. "That was incredible!"
Harry smiled so widely that it made him laugh, his face pressed into the man's chest as he returned the embrace.
"Your patronus is the same as your dads," Remus mused, speaking softly, just above the child's head.
Harry let go, staring up at the man, very slight tears brimming his eyes, "it is?"
Remus nodded, letting the child out of his grip and sitting in the stairs in front of them; Harry sitting down next to him.
"What memory did you think of, out of interest?"
"Of you," Harry smiled, a single tear running down his cheek, unsure of exactly why he was crying. "the day you formally adopted me when I was eight"
"Oh Cub," Remus couldn't help but hug the child again from the side, Harry nestled his head into the man's neck. "I'm so glad I've got you. You make me proud to be your Guardian every day."
"Even when I get detention?" Harry grinned, raising his head up; he knew he was likely pushing his luck with the cheek.
Remus looked down at his ward, raising his eyebrows, "even when you get detention."
The cuckoo clock in his classroom sprung out, signaling it was ten o'clock.
"Anyway, let's get you back; you've got my class first thing and I won't have you falling asleep in it." Remus winked.
"Hmm, like I'd do that, I will if it's boring though." Harry replied smirking.
Remus gave the boy a playful slap to the bum as he walked past. "Someone's feeling cheeky tonight huh?"
It was Harry's turn to wink and smirk, "hey, that hurt you know,"
"I'm sure it did Harry; sure it did."