𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
“HOOT, hoot,” the sound of an owl outside of your window woke you up. You lazily got up from the bed with much protest from the two people sleeping on each side of you and went to open the window. The snowy-white owl, which you’d known was Hedwig, flew into the empty owl cage you’d gotten just in case. Hedwig then looks at you with her yellow eyes and shakes out her feathers. You then walk over to the cage and take the letter from her beak. The letter was addressed to you and Remus by Harry. Harry had kindly asked you if he could stay over the week until he went over to the Weasleys for the Quidditch World Cup. You would obviously accept his offer but first, you would have to ask the two men who were currently sleeping soundly in bed.
“Wake up,” you whisper, trying to wake up Remus and Sirius but they don’t budge. “Hey,” you say a little louder this time but they still remain asleep. “Wake Up before I pour water on your face!” you yell, which causes the both of them to wake up with much protest.
“Is it morning already?” Sirius asks as he rubs his balled-up fists over his eyes.
“No, Sirius it’s,” Remus looks at the watch he had on the bedside table, “three o’clock in the morning.”
Sirius smirks, “The witching hour.”
“What did you wake us up for?” Remus stretched his arms above his head.
You sat at the edge of the bed and crossed your legs, “Harry wants to know if he could stay with us for a week before he goes over to the Weasleys.”
“You woke us up for that?” Remus grumbled. Remus was always a bit grumpy and needy in the mornings. You and Sirius knew not to rile him up before he had his morning tea. The both of you knew his tea order by heart, earl grey with a splash of milk and two sugars.
“This couldn’t wait until the morning?” Sirius plopped his head onto his pillow and covered his eyes. Sirius was a bit of a baby in the morning. He was always the first to go to sleep and the last to wake up.
“Harry needs a response asap. Look he even wrote it in the letter,” you hold up the piece of parchment and point at the spot where Harry wrote p.s. I need a response asap.
“Yes, yes, he can stay. Now can we go back to bed?” Remus mumbles into his pillow. You felt a bit bad for Remus. The full moon is in two weeks and he needs to get all the rest he can get. At least now he has someone to accompany him when he transforms.
“Fine, but I have to tell Harry he can stay,” you got off of the bed and ran downstairs past the kitchen and into the library room where you kept your stationery. You began to write to Harry, your hand moving swiftly while you wrote out every letter. Your handwriting wasn’t as neat as it usually was due to your handwriting getting a bit sloppy when you were tired. You finished the letter and went back upstairs and back into the room.
Remus and Sirius were both sound asleep. Remus was sleeping on his back with his left arm spread across. He was snoring. He hated it when you said he snored when he sleeps but you love teasing him about it. Sirius on the other hand slept face down on his chest. His face would be smushed into the pillow while his arms were held by his side. You often worried that he would somehow manage to suffocate himself in his sleep.
You gave Hedwig the letter and a bit more owl treats and sent her off. You crawled into bed between your two lovers and slept on your side, like a normal person.
●・○・●・○・●
That’s how you found yourself standing in front of the tiny family home in Surrey. 4 Privet Drive looked nice. The stone wall complemented the black door and the pretty garden that was probably kept up by your older sister, Petunia Evans - or shall you say - Dursley. It was the white picket fence dream man traditional women had. That’s how you would describe your sister: traditional.
You swallowed the lump you had in your throat and knocked on the door three times. Remus could sense you were tense and placed his hand on your shoulder. Your hand met his and squeezed it. You were thankful he was there. Sirius couldn’t come with you two because he was still a wanted man.
You heard footsteps walk up to the door. The sound of the door unlocking and the thump of your heartbeat was all you could hear as the door opened. You hadn’t seen your sister in just over a decade and you weren’t ready to see her now. You’re here for Harry not her you reminded yourself as you took in a deep breath.
Petunia Dursley nearly got the wind knocked out of her when she’d seen the person who haunted her memories in person, standing at her front door. Petunia felt a mix of emotions: shock, grief, happiness, and despair. She was glad that you were okay and doing well, she was your older sister after all but she also didn’t want to expose her family to the dangers of magic. “What are you doing here,” she gritted through her teeth.
Petunia looked exactly like you remembered except her blonde hair had been dyed black. No way in a million years did you think that Petunia would dye her naturally blonde hair black. Merlin, Lily would love to see this. “You dyed your hair!” was the first thing you said to your older sister in twelve years.
“If you don’t tell me why you’re here in the next ten seconds I’ll call the police!” she shouted which caught the attention of her husband and son, Vernon and Dudley Dursley. Your other nephew was a plump little thing that resembled his father. You felt a bit bad for him to be quite honest. He was struck by the worse curse any person could endure, looking like Vernon Dursely.
“What are you two doing here!?” Vernon shouted, repeating the same question his wife asked a few moments earlier.
“Mum, Dad, who’s that?” Dudley spat as he pointed at you and Remus.
“Remus Lupin, It’s nice to meet you all,” Remus offered his hand out for them to shake but they all just stared at his hand with their eyes bulging out of their sockets.
“Didn’t your parents ever teach you it’s rude to point,” you crossed your arms and looked at the boy.
All of this commotion caused Harry to peek his head out. When he’d seen his aunt, uncle, and cousin at the bottom of the stairs talking - no shouting, at you and Remus, he smiled. He could finally escape this hell hole for the summer. Harry grabbed his trunk and began to drag it down the stairs which switched the attention from you and Remus to him.
“And where do you think you're going?” Vernon crossed his arms and looked over at Harry who just pushed up his glasses that were slipping down.
“He’s coming with us for a bit before he goes back to school. That’s why we're here,” you told your sister. You held out your hand, “Come on Harry.” Harry began to walk towards you but Vernon pushed him back. You felt your blood boil at the sight of your nephew being pushed around.
“He’s not going anywhere unless I say so,” Vernon crossed his arms and puffed out his chest.
Remus stayed quiet during most of the exchange between you and your sister's family but the moment Vernon put his hands on Harry, he felt like yelling a string of curse words at him. It took everything in Remus not to curse at Vernon right then and there.
Your eye twitched and you slowly turned your head towards your older sister, “Petunia, if your husband doesn’t let go Harry in the next twenty seconds I’ll show your husband exactly why you’re afraid of magic.” Petunia visibly paled at that and ushered her son and her husband behind her. “Go Harry,” Petunia with a trembling voice.
As soon as Harry was outside with you, Petunia slammed the door and locked it. Harry smiled up at you and Remus. “Thanks for that. You didn’t have to,” he smiled.
“Are you kidding? If your mother knew the way they treat you she would do much worse than curse them. Besides, Vernon can be a pain. I feel bad for my sister she has to sleep with that troll every night,”
“Trust me, they do more than sleep. The walls aren’t that thick,” Harry shudders at the memories of him trying to block the sound coming from Petunia and Vernon's room.
“Harry,” Remus lightly chuckles at the boy's comment while you laugh. Your nephew didn’t just look like his father, he also had his humor.
“Do you know somewhere where we can apparate? I don’t think the muggles would take too kindly to seeing people just disappear into thin air,” you asked Harry who was still holding onto his trunk.
“Yea I do. Follow me,” he began to walk towards an empty lot. It kind of reminded you of the time when you first met Severus. You and Lily each took turns showing Severus the cool trick you could do. He then explained to the two of you that it wasn’t just a ‘cool trick’ but that the two of you could do magic. After that, the three of you became best buds until the dreaded ‘mudblood incident.’
“You sure no one can see us here,” Remus looked around making sure that the three of you were alone.
“Yea I'm sure,” Harry nodded.
“Wait, before we go we need to tell you something,” you took Harry's hand into yours.
“We do?” Remus looked at you with his eyebrow raised.
“Someone very special is staying with us,” and with that, you apparated away to the cottage in the woods with Harry in your hand.
Within seconds you, Harry, and Remus were standing in front of the door to the cottage. You slowly turn the knob to the door, trying to build suspense and it was working, for Harry at least. Remus was just trying to get inside and finish the book he had been reading before going over to the Dursleys.
“Just open the bloody door will you?” Remus whined while you bit your bottom lip while trying not to laugh. You twisted the knob all the way and pushed the door open. Standing there in all his glory was Sirius Black.
“Sirius!” Harry pushed through you and Remus to get to his godfather. The pair embraced while Remus went into the library room and you slowly closed the door.
“It’s good to see you, my boy,” Sirius whispered.
“What are you doing here?” Harry asked with wide eyes. Harry was suspicious of the three of you. Why was Sirius here when he was supposed to be completely awol? Not that he was mad or anything. He was just suspicious.
“I decided that I should pay my old friends a visit,” he smirked. Friends was a PG way of explaining what you, Remus, and Sirius were. Now, there is nothing wrong with polyamory. It just wasn’t as common as monogamy which is why most people don’t understand it and chose not to.
“Harry, I can take your trunk for you and put it in your room for you,” you said as you took off your coat and put it on the coat rack next to the door.
“Please,” Harry handed you his trunk and you made your way upstairs. You hoped the guest room was up to standards for Harry. You wanted him to feel comfortable in your home. Merlin knew he didn’t at the Dursleys. You placed Harry's trunk onto the bed and made your way back out of the room.
You looked over the banister to see Sirius and Harry on the couch. They were engaged in what looked like a nice conversation. Harry already looked like he belonged in this household.
You made your way down the stairs, heading for the kitchen to get started on dinner but the sound of a small thud met your ears. It came from the library room which meant that it was made by none other than Remus Lupin. You slowly opened the door and walked into the room. Sitting there with his head on the desk was Remus. A book was on the floor and his glasses had been slightly off of his face. In any other instance, you would have thought that he was dead but you knew he was just tired. The full moon was approaching and it was taking a huge toll on him.
“Remus, love,” you bent down and kiss his cheek, “you need to wake up. The desk isn’t nearly as comfortable as our bed.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he began to snore. You shook your head with a smile on your face and slowly slid his glasses off of his face and placed them next to the book you’d picked up off of the floor. You walked out of the room and made your way into the kitchen to start dinner.
Soon enough, dinner was ready and everyone was sat at the table. You sat next to a sleepy Remus while Sirius sat next to a very hungry Harry. Harry shoveled food into his mouth as if he were in an eating contest.
“Harry, slow down before you choke,” you laughed as you took a sip of your water.
“Calm down, love,” Sirius gave Harry's back a pat, “he’s a growing boy.”
Harry wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Sorry,” he said, “I usually get my dinner privileges revoked.”
All of the adults in the room sat up straighter in their chairs. “What do you mean ‘revoked?’ Do they not feed you at the Dursleys?”
“Vernon likes to starve me when I do something wrong. Which is a lot of the time actually,” Harry chuckled as he ate another piece of the chicken you’d made. Harry didn’t mean to cause any distress. “You’re a great cook, auntie,” Harry smiled at you. His smile was genuine and it did reach his glasses covered eyes.
“Harry, that’s abuse. They’re abusing you and Dumbledore’s allowing it!” you shout.
“You can’t stay there anymore,” Sirius shook his head. Sirius smiled at you and you smiled back. You were sure that he would be rubbing his hands up and down your thigh right now if you two were close enough but right now, the two of you found comfort in each other's smiles.
“Then where will I go?” Harry tilted his head.
“Here. You’ll stay here with us,” Remus took your hand under the table and squeezed it.
“But will Dumbledore allow it?” Harry asked. You weren’t sure if he would but you were Harry's family and you almost have the same blood that ran through Lily’s veins.
“You’re aunt is a very charming and persuasive person. She could charm a troll out of its pants if she wanted to,” Sirius said as he winked at you and took a sip of the wine you’d picked up in a muggle market. Contrary to popular belief, Sirius Black was in fact a wine kind of man while Remus preferred dark liquor. But once in a while the both of them bonded over their mutual respect for a good muggle beer.
Your eyes widened while Remus laughed out loud. You reached over the table and pulled Sirius’s ear. “Don’t say that in front of my nephew you idiot!”
“It’s true though,” Remus laughed into his cup of tea.
“Oh no, not you too,” you hid your head in your hands.
“It’s okay, auntie. I once fought a troll in my first year.”
“You what!” you, Remus, and Sirius shouted at the same time.
“Yup, Ron and I each earned Gryiffindor five house points.”
“Merlin, you really are your father's son,” Sirius ruffled Harry's head while the boy began to eat his food once again.
As the four of you ate, Harry couldn’t help but notice the way that you, Remus, and Sirius interacted. Harry knew that you and Remus were together but there was something off about the way you and Sirius interacted with each other. The smiles you would give each other, the loving glances, the witty banter. You two were more than you lead on. You weren’t…cheating on Remus. Were you? No that’s crazy. My aunt is a lot of things but a cheater isn’t one of them Harry thought.
As dinner came to an end Harry offered to help you do the dishes but you refused, telling him that he was a guest and guests don’t need to do housework. Also because you could knock out the dishes in a few seconds with a very handy spell. Still, it was nice of him to offer.
Remus showed Harry to his room. The guest room was two times bigger than his room at 4 Privet Drive. The bed was softer, the carpet was softer, and the air was less tense. It felt like home. Harry changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. He took off his glasses and placed them on the side table and tried to go to sleep. It was harder to fall asleep at the cottage in the woods because it was so quiet. He usually would fall asleep to the sound of the television playing a stupid soap opera his aunt Petunia would watch. His favorite happened to be one called Le Vie en Rose. It was one where the son of a millionaire fell in love with a poor woman but he was engaged to a princess. Those soap operas were stupid but very entertaining.
Harry sat up in the bed and cracked his back then he swallowed the spit in his throat. He was a bit thirsty so he decided to go downstairs to get some water. Maybe the water could satisfy his dry throat and his insomnia. He once again put on his glasses and got off the bed.
Harry slowly opened the door to the guest room and silently tip-toed down the stairs. He made his way through the hallway leading up to the kitchen and stopped. He heard two very familiar voices in it.
“Sirius stop, if Remus finds out what we're doing then he’ll kill us,” the sound of your voice whispered. No, it can’t be. His aunt was cheating on her boyfriend with his godfather. Harry could have gone back up the stairs but he decided to stay put and listen to the rest of the conversation.
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Sirius said. Harry hurried back into the guest room and flopped onto his bed. Harry was burdened with the knowledge that the aunt that he’d come to love was cheating on her boyfriend.
●・○・●・○・●
Harry spent the next two days hiding out in his room. He brought some books with him so he spent the majority of his time reading them. During meal times he would give minimal answers while he looked at his plate of food. You noticed that something was wrong with him, and you all did. You tried to talk to him a few times but he would just say that he was fine. You’d sent Sirius to check on Harry but Harry would once again say that he was ‘fine.’
“If he’s not talking to me or Sirius then he has to talk to you,” you told said to Remus as he was reading a book in the library. He sat in the chair while you sat on the desk, facing him.
“Just let me finish this chapter and I’ll talk to him,” Remus said as his eyes followed the words on the paper. You kissed Remus’s cheek and said, “Thank you. You’re an angel.”
Remus made his way up the stairs and knocked on Harry's door. Harry was surprised to see Remus at his door. Harry gulped and looked up at the taller man.
“May I come in?” Remus asked.
Harry nodded his head and allowed Remus to walk into the guest room. Harry sat on the bed while Remus continued to stand. Harry was intimidated yet intrigued by his former professor’s presence.
“Your aunt and godfather are very worried about you,” Remus said as he looked down at Harry whose Adam's apple bobbed with nervousness. “You need to talk to them sooner or later,” Remus sat down next to Harry.
“Professor, can I ask you something?” Harry looked down at his hands.
“You don’t need to call me Professor, Harry. I don’t teach at Hogwarts anymore. Call me Remus or Uncle Remus if you feel familiar,” Remus lightly chuckled.
“I’m sorry. It’s just I think my aunt and Sirius are - uhm - they are - how do I say this,” Harry stuttered through his words.
“You think your aunt and Sirius are what?” Remus tried to help Harry through his words.
“I think my aunt and Sirius are together. I think my aunt is cheating on you,” Harry's heart felt like it had stopped. Harry was expecting Remus to be upset, to punch a hole in the wall, or to curse something in the room. His girlfriend was cheating on him with one of his best friends after all. Harry was expecting Remus to do something, something violent but what he did was anything but.
Remus laughed which caused him to look at the older man with knitted brows. Why was he laughing? This was not a laughing matter.
Remus got up from the bed and called you and Sirius into the room. You and Sirius appeared in the room in a matter of seconds.
“You will never believe why he’s not talking to you,” Remus said as he hiccuped, “He thinks that you’re cheating on me.” That caused Sirius to burst into laughter as well. You however softened your eyes. Your nephew was just confused.
“Oh, stop laughing you two himbos,” you smacked Remus and Sirius’s chests. “Harry, Remus, and I aren’t together,” you said as you sat down next to Harry on the bed. Harry felt like his head was going to explode.
“Remus, Sirius, and I are all together. It’s complicated I know but the three of us have been together for eighteen years. It’s called polyamory and we all love each other very much,” you got off of the bed and stood in between Remus and Sirius. You took their hands into yours and they both kissed your cheek at the same time. Remus and Sirius would have kissed each other but they didn’t want to overload the young boy with polyamory and bisexuality at the same time. Again, nothing wrong with it but society was just too judgemental to anyone who wasn’t a straight, white, cis person.
“Woah,” was all Harry said. You hadn’t seen Harry blink at all this entire time.
“Harry, you okay there bud?” Sirius asked as he waved his hand in front of Harry’s face. It was a lot to take in. First, he thinks his aunt is cheating. Then, her boyfriend laughs at him for telling on his aunt. Now, he finds out his aunt, his former professor, and his godfather are all dating. Harry felt like he could faint.
“Yea,” he swallowed, “I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”
“We hope you can understand and support our relationship. Your approval means so much to us,” Remus nodded his head at the boy. The other two adults in the room nodded along with him.
“To be completely honest, I don’t care if there are twelve million people in your relationship. As long as your happy,” Harry smiled but then it dropped as he look between Sirius and Remus, “but if anyone of you hurt my aunt, you have to answer to me.” Remus and Sirius nodded at Harry who innocently smiled back at them.
●・○・●・○・●
“Hedwig! I’ve forgotten Hedwig. How could I be so stupid,” Harry hit his head with his hand.
Harry was going to be going back to the Dursleys today because the Weasleys were going to pick him up from there. You would have owled Arthur but you didn’t have an owl and neither did Harry who had forgotten his at the Dursleys.
“Don’t beat yourself up, kid. Your aunt once lost a shoe and had to walk around school with only one,” Sirius said as he tried to console a distressed Harry Potter.
“Why do you keep telling him stories about me? Why don’t you tell him about something embarrassing you did,” you whined.
“Now why would I do that?” Sirius smirked. You squished his cheeks and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Harry groaned at the sight of his aunt kissing his godfather.
“You two stop before you scar the poor child,” Remus said as he came out of the library room. “You’ve got everything packed?” Remus asked Harry who had calmed down a bit.
“Yes, everything but my owl!”
“It’s okay Harry, your aunt once lost a shoe-” Remus started.
“Ugh, I hate you both!”
Harry smiled at the three of you. It was evident that you loved each other very much. He hoped that one day he could find someone to love him the way that you three loved each other.
“You two better get going before the Weasleys get there. Merlin knows what Vernon would do to the poor Weasley” Remus said as he looked at his wristwatch. It was 11:55 am and the Weasleys said that they would arrive promptly at 12 pm.
Harry grabbed his trunk and you grabbed Harry’s hand. You apparated into the abandoned field that Harry had shown you and Remus. You two walked back to 4 Privet Drive which now had a big ugly security camera in the front yard.
You stopped Harry in the front yard and turned him to look at you. You looked into his eyes and said, “You have a nice time at the Quidditch World Cup, Okay? And if Vernon lays a pinky on you, you better owl me and I’ll deal with him myself. Now, give your auntie a hug,” you opened your arms and Harry hugged you.
“Thank you, auntie. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I love you,” and with that Harry knocked on the door of the Dursely residence and went inside, leaving you to stand in the front yard gazing at the black door that separated Harry from the dangers of the outside world.