Chapter 22 – Remus' Visit

Thanks a lot to my beta-readers, Orodruin and AmyLouise, for correcting my mistakes.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.

Chapter 22 – Remus' Visit

Harry was eagerly waiting for Remus to arrive. He had gotten up at nine to eat breakfast and wasn't finished yet. Severus sat grumpily at the opposite end of the table and read the Daily Prophet. From time to time, he coughed and then took a sip from his tea. He relaxed visibly after it.

Harry grinned. "Good stuff, eh?"

Severus glared at Harry. "You are way too cheeky this morning. How come?"

"I'm not cheeky. I was just trying to make conversation. You look better today." Harry blushed a little, remembering the fuss he had made yesterday over Severus.

"Yes, I would do anything not to panic my new son again," Severus said mockingly and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Harry.

Harry looked alarmed. "You haven't taken a potion again, have you?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "No, I haven't. And even if I had, it would be none of your concern, Harry. I am just waiting for James to arrive. He should be here any minute. Has Ivy already spoken with you about the shopping?"

"She said that we'll go to Diagon Alley this afternoon." Harry looked skeptically at Severus. "Are you sure you're healthy enough for it? We could wait a few more days."

"We are wizards, Harry. Another potion from James and some healing magic, and I'm as good as new. So don't worry, we will leave at three this afternoon," Severus said.

"Ivy said Remus will come over at ten," Harry said cautiously; he knew about the problems between Remus and Severus.

Severus' face darkened. "I know," he growled.

Harry looked sadly down at his cereal. "If James would let me out, I could meet Remus somewhere else."

"You can have whomever you want as your guest here, but don't expect me to like them all. And now, stop this, and eat your cereal before the werewo... before Lupin comes."

Harry grabbed his spoon again, but only poked half-heartedly at his cereal.

"Do what you want, but don't whine at me when James comes to force-feed you. He will be here any minute, and if Lupin comes, he will have to wait until you have eaten up," Severus said sternly.

"I'm eating," Harry said and shoved a spoonful into his mouth.

The fireplace flared, and James came over to the table. "Ah, my two favorite patients."

Harry hastily shoved the rest of his cereal into his mouth while he looked shyly at Severus.

Severus grinned at Harry's attempt to avoid James' scolding about his eating habits. His grin vanished when James reached him and laid a hand on his forehead.

"How are you feeling, Severus?" James asked, eying him closely.

"Fine," Severus said, and immediately was shaken by a coughing fit.

"I see," James said disapprovingly. "I think I will take a closer look at you in your bedroom, but first I want to check on Harry." On his way over to Harry, he took a quick glance at the empty cup in front of Harry. "How was the juice-potion cocktail? Better than the tea?"

"Yes, much better. Thank you," Harry answered.

James smiled at Harry and asked, "May I take a quick scan?"

Harry nodded and leaned against the back of his chair to give James access to his chest and his forehead for the scanning. Soon he was lulled half into sleep by the scanning and the healing magic James let flow into him. When the flow decreased, Harry could hear James speaking to him again. "How have you been sleeping?"

Harry bit his bottom lip, and when he felt not only James' but also Severus' eyes on him, he lowered his head.

James let go of Harry, pulled a chair near him, and sat down. He laid a hand on Harry's leg and said calmly, "Harry, I can't help you if you aren't honest with me. Please tell me the truth."

"I had a nightmare, and then I couldn't sleep again," Harry said miserably.

James sighed. "We have to keep an eye on this, Harry. If the nightmares and sleeping problems last, we will have to do something about it. I want you to tell me when you have problems, okay?"

"Yes," Harry said, still gnawing on his bottom lip.

"And stop biting your lips or you will never catch Miss Granger's eye," Severus said mockingly.

"Hermione isn't interested in me," Harry said, looking sullenly at Severus and James, who were both grinning.

A high voice interrupted the glaring duel between the three. "Mr. Remus Lupin asks to be let in."

Severus groaned and stood up. He pinched the bridge of his nose to suppress the oncoming headache.

"Sometimes I really wonder if it is worth having this awful voice on the door just to annoy Minerva. It was real fun to see her dumbfounded face when she first saw Trelawney's sister's face on the door and she wasn't able to get rid of it, but her voice is really getting on my nerves," he mumbled to Harry and James as he passed them. He quickly climbed up the stairs, and when he almost was on the top of the stairs, he shouted. "Let him in, Charlee!" With that, he vanished on the upper floor and, as the sound of a shutting door indicated, into his bedroom.

The door swung open, and Remus came into the room. He looked around the room to orient himself and found Harry sitting at the table. "Ah, there you are, Harry." With long steps, he came over to the table. "James," he greeted the Healer and then turned to Harry. "It's so good to see you, Harry." Affectionately, he ruffled Harry's hair.

"I will go and look after Severus," James said, heading in the direction of the stairs.

"Let's go into my room, Remus," Harry said, leading Remus to his room.

Remus looked curiously around the room. "Nice," he said, and grinned at the proud expression on Harry's face.

"Ivy helped me decorate it." Harry jumped on the bed and gestured for Remus to sit down on a chair. "Have a seat."

"It's really nice, but still a little bare, don't you think?" Remus said, rummaging in his pocket.

Harry looked around, confused. "I like it. Look, I even have a poster." Harry pointed at the Quidditch poster.

"Yes, it's nice, but I thought maybe you would like to have these to decorate a little more." Remus gave Harry a thick envelope. Harry looked questioningly at Remus, but he only said, "Open it!"

Harry tore the envelope open and looked at the stack of pictures in awe. "Wow, thank you, Remus." Harry threw himself at the man.

"It's my pleasure. Come on, let's have a look at them." Remus pushed the chair aside and gently guided Harry over to the bed to sit down.

"Look, there are your parents," Remus said and pointed at a photo where James and Lily Potter stood smiling, arm in arm. "Lily and James were great people, but I've told you about them so much. Let's look at this one here. It's Sirius, your godfather."

A black-haired, good-looking man was grinning at Harry from the photograph. He pulled grimaces and even stuck out his tongue from time to time.

Harry had to grin about this behavior. "Yes, you've told me about him. That's the one Severus had the most problems with, right?" The grin vanished and was replaced by a sad and worried expression. Severus will not be happy to see these photos. I have to find a good place to hide them.

"Yes, they had problems, but that was a long time ago, and Sirius has been dead for twelve years now," Remus said and sighed.

"You told me that he was killed by the explosion while fighting with Pettigrew, but that doesn't change that Severus hates him. He almost ran from the room when the door announced your arrival. I'm glad that he can tolerate me here, even though I look like my father."

"Harry, listen!" Remus said and put an arm around Harry. "Severus isn't just tolerating you here. He took you in willingly because he wants to help you. He doesn't see a copy of James in you any longer. He stopped that even before the final battle. You know that."

Harry just sighed and looked at the floor.

"Severus tolerates me here, but he wants you to be here!" Remus said, determined. Looking at the photo again, he added, "Your godfather would have done anything for you. It wouldn't be fair to see him in a bad light just because we made bad decisions while we were teenagers, Harry. Sirius was a warmhearted and loyal friend to your family."

"I know, Remus; I didn't want to upset you." Harry looked guiltily at him.

Remus laughed, but it was a sad laugh. "Always worried about others, right? But what about you? How are you, Harry?"

"I'm fine; Poppy and James have helped me a lot," Harry said, but felt uncomfortable speaking about it. "I would prefer not to speak about what happened."

"It's okay, Harry. If you ever change your mind, you know where I am," Remus said, and pulled Harry closer.

"'Kay," Harry said shyly.

Remus changed the topic. "So, do you want to glue them on the wall, Harry? I still have fifteen minutes."

"Yes, maybe over here." Harry pointed at the wall at the head of his bed.

They spent the next ten minutes arranging the photos like Harry wanted them. In the middle was the photo of his parents smiling, arm in arm, and around it Harry arranged the photos of himself with his parents. Then followed the photos of his grandparents, and the photos in which Lily was alone or with her friends, and finally the group photos with friends of Harry's parents.

Remus didn't comment when Harry put the photos of Sirius and James back in the envelope and placed it under his pillow. He couldn't suppress the stinging pain it caused in his chest, but he understood that for Harry it was more important not to anger Severus. "Okay, Harry, I have to leave. I hope you will visit me soon; or we will see each other in classes."

"Thanks a lot for the photos, Remus. I really like them, including the ones of Sirius and James, but..."

Remus interrupted him and said, "I totally understand, Harry. You don't have to explain anything. Next time I come to visit you, I want to see photos of your new family, okay?"

Harry smiled at this. "That's a cool idea. Maybe I can find a camera in Diagon Alley."

"Oh. Right, you're going shopping today. Ivy told me." He stood up. "So, have fun, Harry." He ruffled Harry's hair.

Harry patted Remus' hand playfully away. "Stop that, Remus. My hair is tousled enough."

Remus laughed and let Harry lead him to the door.

_____________________

When Severus knocked at Harry's room to call him for lunch, Harry was lying on his stomach on his bed, looking longingly at the photos. "Come in," Harry shouted and had to struggle with himself to avert his eyes from the photos.

Severus entered the room and immediately saw the photos on the wall.

Harry held his breath and waited for the outburst.

Severus came over and sat on the bed. "So, he brought you some photos? It seems your room has become more cozy, right?"

"Yeah," Harry said cautiously. He was still worried that Severus wouldn't like some of the photos.

Severus eyed the photos closely. His expression was soft, and he almost smiled while looking at Lily. "I have a few of your mother when she was young. If you like, you can look at them and take some for your collection."

"Really? That would be great." Harry was excited. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this, and it was surely not what followed.

Severus' expression changed to a scowl. "Didn't he give you photos of your father and godfather?" He looked sternly at Harry, who started to bite his lip again.

Harry sighed and pulled out the envelope from under his pillow. "I'm sorry. I knew you wouldn't want them in the quarters, but I hoped I could hide them in the envelope."

"Why would I want you to hide something from me? What did I tell you about lying? Hiding something from me is almost like lying, don't you think?"

Harry face dropped. Oh, no, I have already broken one of the family rules.

Seeing Harry pale, Severus said, "You showed me the photos of your own free will, and so you didn't break a rule, Harry." Harry relaxed, and Severus went on. "And now let's attach these photos to your collection on the wall."