Moony & Bambi

Remus didn’t know what he was expecting on that fateful day. Definitely not finding out that Sirius had betrayed all of them, or that James and Lily had died while their infant son had survived.

Harry.

He’d just apparated back to the little flat that he shared with Sirius after a full moon with the pack. He was exhausted, and desperately needed sleep. So he entered, not really caring that Sirius wasn’t there. After all, he normally went to visit James and Lily.

And so Remus fell onto his bed, still fully clothed, and fell asleep.

He was woken by someone knocking on his door. Groaning, he got up. He recognised the person by smell before he even opened the door.

“Is something wrong?” He asked when he opened the door. McGonagall’s sadness and worry was evident before he looked at her, or before she spoke.

“I believe that it is best for us to sit down to talk, Mr Lupin,” she said. Remus nodded, his throat tight as he invited her in. He made tea for the both of them and sat down on the couch.

“So, what’s happened?” Remus tried again. This time she explained everything to him. His world crumbled around him as he listened. He wanted to scream, to shout, to tear his hair out of his head, but all he could was cry his heart out. McGonagall cried with him. James, Lily and Peter, all dead, because of Sirius. And Harry.

Harry.

He was living with his Muggle relatives. 

“I don’t like this, but there’s nothing either of us can do,” McGonagall said. Remus’s mind was whirring, trying to figure out a plan. Something clicked.

“What if I moved to their neighborhood?” He asked. McGonagall looked at him, the gears in her mind working.

“You will need someone there to help you, seeing as you won’t always be able to be there for Harry with your condition,” she eventually said.

“Maybe Mary can move in with me?” Remus thought.

“It is a good idea. If anything, I am willing to move in with you,” McGonagall said. Remus nodded.

“Thank you, Minerva,” he said. He was being honest.

“Anytime, Lupin. Now, I must get going. Get some rest, will you?” 

“Of course.” Remus said goodbye to McGonagall. Once she was gone, Remus went to shower and change. After all, he had somewhere to go.

“Remus!” He was at Mary’s house. She was puffy-eyed from crying, but she was more than happy to see him. She pulled him into a hug, which he accepted. “Oh, it’s horrible, isn’t it? James and Lily… and Peter too. And Harry. Poor Harry…” 

“That’s why I’m here,” Remus explained. Mary looked up at him, a confused look on her face. And so he explained his plan to her. 

“I’m in,” she said once he had finished. “Harry needs us, Remus. I’m not letting him grow up without a trace of his parents in his life.” 

“We’ll meet up with Minerva to get a house when we’re all able to,” Remus said.

They weren’t able to do it until the following summer. They moved into number seven, which was right across from the Dursleys house. Remus desperately wanted to go and take Harry out of there, to hold the boy close to him and sob. 

But he didn’t. He focused on setting up his room and helping McGonagall to unpack. Mary danced around the house armed with dusters and mops and everything else needed to clean, while Remus put things away into their new places. 

They made sure that the Dursleys could see them doing things the Muggle way in hopes that they would come over to meet them.

And they did just that. Vernon Dursley, Lily’s sister Petunia, and their son Dudley came over. Petunia had a plate of baked goods, and was holding onto her blond, pig like son. Harry was holding onto Dudley’s hand.

“Hello,” Remus greeted them.

“Hello. I’m Vernon Dursley. This is my wife, Petunia, and our son, Dudley. Oh, and our nephew, Harry Potter,” Vernon said, adding Harry as an afterthought. “We saw that you have just moved in, and so we thought we’d introduce ourselves.”

“I’m Remus Lupin. Come in,” Remus said, forcing a smile onto his face.

The family entered, and Remus led them through the house. McGonagall was in the living room, reading the Muggle newspaper. She looked up when the Dursleys entered. Her eyes flicked to Harry, then to Dudley. She too, forced a smile.

“Hello, I’m Petunia.”

“I’m Minerva McGonagall. Remus here is my niece's son,” McGonagall said. “Go make some tea, Remus.” Remus nodded and moved into the kitchen. He made tea the Muggle way.

He couldn’t believe how much Harry looked like his father already. And clearly the boy was confused about why he had to meet the neighbors, and Remus couldn’t blame him. He was two after all. 

Remus finished with the tea and poured some juice for Harry and Dudley and took the tray out to the living room. Vernon and Petunia were having quite a lovely chat with McGonagall about something.

“Thank you Remus,” McGonagall said when he placed the tray onto the table. The two year old boys looked at the cups of juice. Smiling, Remus handed one to each boy.

“Thank you,” they chorused. 

“You’re welcome boys,” he replied. Remus took his own tea and sat down, joining in on the conversation. Dudley added in his two-cents worth when he understood the conversation, while Harry slowly sipped at his apple juice, silent and quiet. 

The boys both finished their juice, and Remus offered to take them to the garden to play. Dudley agreed, and Harry was reluctant, but agreed as well. 

Remus led them out to the garden. Dudley was energetic, bouncing around, but Remus mostly paid attention to the child of two of his best friends. Harry slowly warmed up to him, but he had to leave soon. Remus was reluctant to let him go. The wolf had recognised the boy as a part of the pack, and wanted him to stay. But Petunia and Vernon were his legal guardians, so they took him back to their house.

Remus laid on his bed and stared up at the ceiling after that.

“Minnie told me that you were sulking in here,” Mary said. Remus glared at her.

“Shut the bloody hell up,” he retorted.

“How’s Harry?” Mary asked, pointedly ignoring the snark. Remus looked back up at the ceiling.

“He’s doing alright I guess. I want to get him to live here, but I can’t, so I’m going to make do with what I can do,” he said. Mary sat next to him.

“I’m glad, though Lily’s relatives seem to be a bit too insistent that magic doesn’t exist to be good caregivers for Harry,” she mused. Remus smiled.

“Too true,” he agreed. They went silent for a bit. “He looks so much like him already, and he’s two,” Remus said. He felt a pang of sadness.

“I won’t be surprised if he takes after his father,” Mary said. Remus chuckled.

“Or his mother, with her sense of justice and her cheek,” he said. They grew quiet with nostalgia.

“I can’t believe that Sirius actually did that,” Mary said in a small voice. Remus turned to face the wall. “I guess I’ll leave you be.” And she did just that, getting up and leaving to change out of her nicest clothes. She’d been going around to job interviews so that she could work.

Remus was left alone with his thoughts. He tried to stay away from the memories of Sirius and how they had been so in love. But his mind had other ideas, pulling Sirius forward to remember the fun times.

If Remus could go back in time and relive those memories, then he would. He would relive his youth with the Marauders if he could.

But he couldn’t. James, Lily and Peter were all dead, and Sirius was in Azkaban for his crimes. Harry was an orphan, and he needed Remus.

So he was going to be there for the child. Harry was going to know him as Uncle Moony, no matter what.

The first time Harry stayed over was when Dudley was having a playdate with some of his friends. The Dursleys handed Harry over to McGonagall, saying that he wasn’t good in social situations as a playdate. Remus, who was cleaning the dishes, heard this. He knew that Harry would probably rather play with those of his own age, but he didn’t say anything. This meant that he could spend more time with Harry.

Remus finished with the dishes and went to greet Harry, drying his hands before he did.

“Hello, Harry,” he greeted the toddler. Harry smiled up at him.

“Hello,” the child replied. McGonagall set a glass of apple juice in front of Harry. “Thank you.”

He’s so polite, Remus noted. 

“Is there anything you would like to do?” Remus asked, sitting down next to Harry. The child thought for a bit.

“Can we go to the park?” He asked excitedly. Remus smiled.

“Of course we can,” he replied. Harry drank the last of his juice, which might have been a mistake. He bounced around Remus and McGonagall as they got ready to go to the park, a large grin on his face. In that instant Remus could see what James might have been like as a child. Boisterous and excitable. 

Harry clung onto Remus the entire walk to the park, babbling away about something he’d seen on the Telly. Remus listened to him, smiling as he did so. 

Harry ran around at the park, Remus chasing after him. The boy laughed eagerly, and when he went to the swings he asked Remus to push him. Remus complied, smiling broadly for the first time in a while while Harry enjoyed himself.

They eventually returned home, where Harry drank some more juice and ate biscuits. When Vernon came to collect him, Harry went reluctantly. He waved goodbye to Remus and McGonagall and followed his uncle across the road and into number four.

“He seems like what James was like when he was that age,” Remus said. McGonagall smiled.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was like his father,” she said. 

“Bambi’s here!” Mary declared, carrying Harry in her arms. A bag was slung over her shoulder, probably belonging to Harry.

“Bambi?” Harry asked. Mary smiled.

“We knew your parents,” she simply said. The child in her arms looked around at Remus, Mary and McGonagall with wide eyes.

“Really?” He asked. 

“Yes, really. In fact, I knew your father the best,” Remus confirmed. Harry grinned. 

“Cool!” He said. Clearly he’d forgotten that Mary had called him Bambi.

“Call Remus Uncle Moony, eh?” Mary said. She set Harry down on the ground. 

“Is it okay if I call you that?” He asked. Remus smiled.

“I’m more than happy for you to call me that,” he told the boy. Harry ran at Remus and hugged him. Remus returned it, the wolf inside of him wagging its tail happily. It seemed to be saying pack.

Harry continued to come over. He never told the Dursleys that he wanted to go over. He said that it was so that they would continue to let him go to their house. Remus told Harry that it was a great idea, and told the child stories of his parents. Not once did Remus or Mary say that they were magical, or that Remus was a werewolf. 

Whenever Harry was around after a full moon, he’d let Remus get his sleep, coming in at around midday with a plate of food. He’d talk and eat with Remus, talking about the latest comeback he’d come up with to flick at his cousin. 

Harry only called Remus by his proper name when the Dursleys were around. Whenever they weren’t, he’d call Remus ‘Uncle Moony’, just as Mary said he should. Speaking of which, Mary was called ‘Auntie Mary’ and McGonagall was ‘Auntie Minnie’. They all allowed for this. After all, he was a child who had found a group of people who had truly known his parents.

Remus was more than happy to have Harry in his life, and watched with pride as he turned out to look like his father but be like his mother.

Remus swore to protect the boy as much as he possibly could, and that was what he was doing.

And Harry was still called Bambi.