Chapter Five
“I just don’t understand why they would just leave like that.” Harry said as he sat across from his Papa at the picnic table outside near the willow tree where he and James sat last week.
“Well you mentioned they were together at a table so maybe they had to talk about it privately first. Adding a third person, one that is younger like you are compared to them no doubt, is going to be hard.” His Papa said
“They could have at least acknowledged me.” Harry pouted me digging his spoon into his ice cream, “I mean how hard is it to just meet someone’s eye these days just as a silent acknowledgement.”
“They probably thought you were underage which you are.” Henry said giving Harry a look, Harry just rolled his eyes shoving his ice cream into his mouth.
“My school records say differently.” Harry said.
"Do you remember anything specific about them?"
"One had long hair, curly, like a dark brown or black. I don't know, I was distracted."
"Alright well…he's going to need you close by after this full moon whether he realizes it or not.”
“Let’s hope he realizes it before his wolf takes over and brings him here to find me.”
“It’ll all work out you’ll see. Now tell me about your birth family.” Harry let his Papa change the subject and told him all about his birth father, his twin brother, and little sister.
******
Typically a half breed of a magical creature would be considered ‘weaker’ or in some cases ‘less dangerous’. However, this is not the case for Lycans. Lycans are considered to be more dangerous than a regular Werewolf due to them being able to change at will and not change on a Full Moon. In fact, according to the Ministry, it is estimated that the common person has interacted with at least one Lycan on a Full Moon night every year. Of course these are the same people who have classified Unicorns as ‘XXXX’ creatures so take that as you will.
The last sentence was circled neatly with a comment to the side reading,
‘‘Harry we’ve talked about this, you can not discredit the Ministry in your reports…+5 points.’’
James chuckled, shaking his head as he rolled up the parchment. There were many comments like that from the professor on Harry’s essay, mostly whenever Harry decided to write something snarky. He had just closed his desk drawer where the essay stayed when he wasn’t reading it when the door to his classroom office opened. Looking up he saw Lily walking towards him with a stack of papers and a smile he hadn’t seen in a very long time.
“I am sorry about the way I’ve been acting lately with the whole Harry situation, but I have good news. I’ve spoken with the family lawyer and he says we can challenge the adoption since it was done illegally. We can have Harry in our custody and at Hogwarts within a month or two. He’ll have to redo his seventh year next year here, but it shouldn’t be too hard for him and he’ll have all of us to help him adjust to the different curriculum. You just need to sign the papers on the lines below my signatures.” Lily said, handing James the stack of papers.
“Wait..What?” James asked looking down at the papers and sure enough they were from the family Lawyers office in regards to Harry.
“We can get Harry back. Mr. Giovana says it’s practically a done deal. The courts are going to want Harry with his birth family which is us and-”
“Lily I don’t want to sue anyone and besides Harry is going to be an adult in a few months and he’s graduating soon. We don’t need to fight for custody or visitation and we don’t need to sue someone for adopting a child who was in an orphanage home. Harry’s adopted parent, from what I know of him, seems to be great and he really cares for Harry. Harry seems to be really happy.”
“Excuse me.” Lily folded her arms across her chest, her eyebrows pulling together.
“It’s not worth it Lily. Harry is an adult in five months, he is graduating in three or four months. He’s happy and we can talk to his Papa about the holidays and weekends if we have to, but honestly Harry is going to be an adult by that time. He can stay wherever he wants.”
James didn’t mention that with Remus and Sirius being his mates Harry was naturally going to be around them more often than not. Add that to the list of ‘Pros’.
“You don’t want to fight for wrongful adoption? You don’t want to do anything?”
“You want to sue the man who gave our son a home?” James asked, “You want to sue the man who gave our son the love we couldn’t give to him while he grew up? The man who was there for nightmares and bedtime stories? The man who told our son that everything was going to be okay on his first day of school? Really? Harry’s Papa is not the man we should be going after Lily, Peter is and anyone else who had a part in Harry’s disappearance and arrival at the Orphanage home.”
“I want Harry here with us. Here with his family. To have the Hogwarts experience with his twin brother and his sister. Something you apparently don’t care about.”
“You’re right I don’t care about it.” James said walking around his desk so he stood closer to her, “I don’t care where he goes to school, I don’t care where he studies to be a Healer or a Duelist or an Auror. I don’t care who he considers his classmates and if he has a Hogwarts house to identify with or not. I don’t care if he considers the Manor home or if he considers someplace else home. I only care that he is loved and happy and has a great future ahead of him, all of those things have been checked off. Everything else? I don’t care about.”
“So you’re completely okay with us just seeing him a weekend a month or whatever it will be?
“If that’s what we have to do while he is at school then yes I am. It’s a lot more than what we would have gotten with Charlie and Ariel if we didn’t come to teach. Why are you doing things like this? Talking to the family lawyer without talking to me first? Planning things I have no say in?”
“I thought we shared the same opinion on this.”
“Why would you think that when we haven’t even talked about it?”
“I don’t know James maybe because I thought you missed our son as much as I have.” Lily snapped, grabbing the papers off James’ desk.
“I’m not doing this with you Lily. I’m not going to stand here and argue about missing him. We are not suing anyone right now, especially not Harry’s Papa and I’m going to firecall Mr. Giovana and make sure he knows that.” James told her turning away from her and leaving his office. He was tired of arguing with her everyday. Ever since Christmas it seemed like they couldn’t go more than a few days without arguing about something related to Harry or the kids.
He was just about to turn down the hall that would lead him directly to the family suite when he heard Dumbledore calling to him. Turning he saw the Headmaster walking with a man he thought looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. The man had long red hair, half of it was up with small braids in it and he had a full beard that was combed and neatly trimmed.
“This is Mister Potter.” James heard Dumbledore tell the man
“What can I help you with?” James asked, looking between the two men.
“Thank you Headmaster.” The man said
“Of course.” Dumbledore stared at them for a moment before he turned and left nodding to James briefly. James turned to the man curiously.
“Are you a student’s father?” James asked
“Yes, though he doesn’t come here. I’m Henry Black, Harry’s Papa. I thought we should meet even if it was briefly between classes. If you’re busy however, we can reschedule.” Henry said, extending his hand out for James.
“Oh no I’m not busy at all. I’m James. I was just about to head to the family suite, but if you have time I wouldn’t say no to dinner in Hogsmeade.”
“I have time.”
“Perfect. So does Harry know you’re over here?” James asked, falling in step beside Henry.
“I told him I was going to stop by at Hogwarts, but didn’t tell him why though he’s smart so he probably knows. Harry told me you two have been bowling back and forth. So I thought now was the time for us to meet.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” James said, “Harry hasn’t said much about you, he’s mentioned a few things here and there, but nothing real informative.”
“Want to know the man who raised your son? Can’t say I blame you if the roles were reversed I’d want a complete background check on you. Hell, I'd probably have done it without talking to you first. Well what do you want to know?”
“Did you go to Kreasiara Institute?” James asked
“No, actually I came here to Hogwarts. I was a Hufflepuff. Graduated in 74. I travel a lot for my job and Hogwarts didn’t accept Harry at an early age despite the Healers note. Kreasiara Institute was the best fit at the end of the day.”
“Why did he have to go to school a year early?”
“His magical core was unstable. It had been unstable before I had even adopted him according to his health scan. The healer tried a lot of things and for a while a stabilizing gem necklace worked. We had to upsize the gem every year, but for the most part it was working then at eight it stopped. We tried other things, but eventually the Healer recommended Harry get a wand and start his education immediately to help him learn how to control it.”
“That’s so weird, his core was never unstable as a baby. He was able to do a lot of things a baby shouldn’t have been able to do, but it wasn’t out of control. He used to change an item's color or make blocks float. One time Charlie tossed his blanket out of the crib and Harry somehow got it back into the crib. He was exhausted afterwards, slept for almost twelve hours that night.”
“When Harry was three he duplicated his birthday cake and told me it was his bubby’s cake. My husband and I thought he was trying to tell us he wanted a little brother.”
When they were finally sitting at a table in The Three Broomsticks the topic of conversation had moved on from Harry back to Henry.
“So you mentioned you travel a lot for your job? What is it?” James asked after they ordered their food and drinks.
“Well technically it’s two jobs, though one of them I do for free. I’m a Healer for Werewolves and I’m a Magizoologist. The Healer part I do for free and the Magizoologist because that’s what I always wanted to do. Harry grew up around werewolves and magical creatures of all kinds, his magical Creature classes are practically review for him.”
“Harry mentioned growing up around Werewolves.”
“Werewolves and other things. He has a Hippogriff that we found abandoned in a destroyed nest when Harry was six. Not even a week old. Wanna know what he named it?”
“Tell me.” James said grinning.
“Gryffinclaw.”
“That’s adorable.”
“He named every creature that even stumbled upon our property.”’
“So your husband? What’s he like?” James wanted to know everyone that had a part of raising his son.
“Ex-husband now actually. We divorced a few years ago. Harry will pretend he didn’t care, but I know it did. Matteo left and never saw Harry again. Harry didn’t understand, he was thirteen when it happened. One school break Matteo was home and the next school break Matteo was gone. They weren’t as close as Harry and I, but he was still his other parent for a long time.”
“He never owled Harry or anything?”
“No not to my knowledge, but Harry would have told me if he did. Harry will tell you it doesn’t matter, that he doesn’t care, but it was hard for him. He was going through a lot that year then suddenly his other father is gone and doesn’t even send a christmas card. I guess that’s another reason why I came, to ask if you being in his life is a permanent thing or just until his project is done.”
“Oh no it’s permanent. You’re not getting rid of us. Like a stain on white furniture, we’re never going away.” James told him, making him laugh.
“I had to buy a new couch because Harry spilled grape juice all over. I mean everywhere. It was horrible. No amount of spells could hide it.”
“Didn’t you know white furniture and toddlers don’t mix well?”
“It was three months ago! Harry was sixteen!” Henry said in fake outrage making James laugh, “He is so clumsy. I usually always have stain resistant spells on the furniture when he is around, but I didn't that one time and he ruined it completely.”
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be sure to protect everything whenever he comes over.”
“You’re welcome. I better get a gift basket as thanks when your sofa remains stain free.”
“I’ll send you gift cards to really nice restaurants.”
“That’s the way to do it.” Henry said laughing.
*******
With the Full Moon getting closer they noticed a slight change in Remus’ behavior. He had slowly gotten more agitated and short tempered. He also became more possessive of Sirius to a point of scenting him every time they saw each other. Normally Remus was easy to anger, but it wasn’t normally as bad as it was that week. It got so bad James had to take over by Thursday afternoon.
“I’m going to check some of the books we bought over the years to find out if this has anything to do with Harry.” James said as he and Sirius walked towards the family suite.
“I don’t know why it would. Werewolves aren’t affected by their mates until they are seventeen. Harry is still only sixteen. His scent isn’t mature enough.” Sirius said
“Well…it wouldn’t hurt to find out either way. Besides I want to look more into Lycans anyway so maybe I’ll go get new books Saturday morning.” Sirius grabbed James’ arm stopping him. James turned to Sirius confused, “What?”
“Why are you looking more into Lycans?” Sirius asked, “They are worse than werewolves you realize. They are what gave Werewolves their bad reputation in the first place.”
“Well either way I want to look more into them. Harry did a report on The Similarities and Differences of Lycans and Werewolves. It’s actually really good, he got a perfect score and he cited every book he used though I think that’s required for their school. I made a list of the ones I want to get.” James said, turning to continue down to the suite.
“Sometimes the Ministry Guidelines on Education is a good thing if they have a sixteen year old looking into Lycans.”
“Oh didn’t I tell you? Harry is graduating this year. He started school a year early. So technically he’s an adult at his school.”
“Really? Well that’s a little better, but still it’s dangerous. Why’d he start early?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe they thought he was a year older than he was when they adopted him.”
“Maybe. What do you know about his adoptive parents anyway?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I had lunch with his Papa Monday. He’s a great guy actually. A Magizoologist and a healer for Werewolves and the best part is he really loves Harry. Gave Harry a great childhood and stopped any prejudiced thoughts from entering his head by having him around all types of creatures.”
“Really like what?”
“Harry has a pet Hippogriff from almost an egg to an adult named Gryffinclaw.”
“Okay that’s cute.”
“Right. Henry, Harry’s Papa is actually a Hufflepuff. Well, he was a Hufflepuff.”
“Hufflepuff must be the Magizoologist house.”
“Yeah, it must be.” James said, chuckling as they entered the family suite, “Anyway I’ll bring the books with me to the Manor Saturday and we can read them together.”
“Sounds good.”
“What sounds good?” Remus asked
“I’m going to get some books about Werewolves and see if we can get any information about why you’re acting a little off this moon.” James told Remus
“I’m fine we don’t need any more books.”
“Too bad I’m getting them.” Remus rolled his eyes, but otherwise said nothing as he sat back against the couch with Sirius sitting beside him,
Saturday morning James went to Flourish and Blotts with his list of books from Harry’s citations in his essay. He also got more books about Lycans and Werewolves he thought looked truthful rather than ‘Ministry Approved’. Anything with the ‘M.A.’ stamp on the inside cover James put back. He had actually picked up a book when someone spoke.
“You put that book back right this instant James Potter.” James turned and was surprised to find Henry coming up to him with a grin.
“What if I don’t want to put the book back. What if I like…Why Werewolves Should Be Avada’d On Sight. Oh wow.” James said reading the title, “Nevermind.”
“See, I know what I’m talking about.” Henry said, “That is quite the collection of Werewolf books for a man who has a werewolf as a best friend. I figured you had already done your research.”
“I have, but you never know what more you could learn. He’s not been acting like his usual self this moon so I thought I’d get some more books to see if we could find anything.”
“Ah. Well there are a few common reasons that one would act differently around the Full Moon. Is he more aggressive? More closed off? More-”
“Aggressive and if you know Remus then you’d know he is not aggressive at all. Honestly he wears oversized sweaters most of the time and sits by the fire reading romance books. He is not what one would consider to be a normal Alpha werewolf.”
“Normal Shnormal. Alphas are big softies and everyone who has seen them around the people they consider family knows that. Frankie is the biggest muscular guy you’d ever see but get him around Harry and he is a teddy bear. An abnormally aggressive behavior around the Full Moon is most commonly caused by smelling their Omega’s scent for the first time. Does he have a mate?”
“He has a human mate and recently they found their Omega mate.”
“Okay so that explains it he just needs to be around his Omega mate. Does he know the mate?”
“It's a bit more complicated than that.” James said hesitantly
“How so?”
“Well…the mate in question is sort of…someone underage.”
“Well I’m not saying they have to have sex with the person just be around them. Get to know one another.”
“They haven’t exactly met yet. Officially.” James said
“Wait so they found their mate then they ran off without saying anything to the omega and- wait…how recently did they find the omega mate?” James pressed his lips together and looked away from Henry as he looked at another book title, “James. How recently-”
“Papa I found- Oh hi James.” Harry suddenly appeared beside them making Henry stop talking and James looked at his son wide eyed.
“Hey Harry. I didn’t know you were here with your- Henry.” James said
“Oh dear merlin please tell me I didn’t interrupt any type of flirting thing going on here.” Harry said looking between them
“Of course not.” Henry said, “Can I talk to a man without you thinking I’m flirting with him?”
“I don’t know, can you?” Harry challenged.
“Go get in line.” Henry said, pushing Harry away gently.
“RIght because that’s not suspicious.” Harry mumbled before he turned and walked away then Henry turned to James.
“Him?”
“Look I’m not happy about it either, but at least I know them and trust them. Besides technically I don’t know anything, Harry hasn’t told me anything and I want him to tell me when he is ready. Not be forced to due to circumstance.”
“Harry isn’t ashamed of being a Lycan. Or an Omega. He probably hasn’t told you because it’s not really something you say over lunch. It probably hasn't been brought up.”
“What part of I don’t want to know did you not understand?”
“Sorry.” Henry said amused, “Fucking christ. You know Harry has been worrying about it all week. Omegas can interpret that as a rejection.”
“What? No…they just..panicked. They weren’t even supposed to be there in the first place. They were there to spy on me. Honestly I think they stopped worrying about finding their Omega mate a while ago. It’s a weird situation to be honest, for all of us. These two have been my best friends, my brothers since we were 11. Now they’re going to be mated to my first born son.”
“Harry needs to know, needs to be told. Today. I think it should come from you.”
“What? Why? No.”
“Because they’re his mates. Everyday that passes that his mates don’t reach out is another day he’ll think it was a rejection.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
“Fine.”
“Good because I’ve been here the entire time. You two should really have a privacy ward up or something. It prevents eavesdropping in case your Hogwarts education failed to teach you that.” James and Henry looked at Harry as he stood there against the end of the bookshelf, “What?”
“I thought I told you to get in line.” Henry said
“You did, I just decided not to do that and instead stay right here to eavesdrop.”
“Surprise?” James said not knowing what else to say. Harry rolled his eyes chuffing lightly as he stepped closer to them.
“So…do you want to come to my graduation robe fitting? It’s in…twenty minutes. We were going to grab lunch afterwards.”
“You’re getting graduation robes fitted today?” James asked
“Yes. I would have invited you earlier but you said you spend full moons with the werewolf so I figured you’d be busy today.”
“I’m never too busy for you. I would love to join if it won’t get in the way of you and Henry having a day together?”
“I’ve had fourteen years with Harry. Believe me you’re more than welcome.” Henry said
“Great. Let’s check out then.” Harry said, spinning and walking away.
“What-”
“Harry is avoiding what he knows is going to be a very awkward conversation for when he has food in front of him. Just go with it and think of any answers he may need for his many questions for lunch later.” Henry whispered to him, falling into step beside him.
“Gotcha.” James whispered back.
Eighteen minutes later they were entering one of the more upscale clothing shops on a small side street off of Diagon Alley. It was run by a thin woman who went by ‘Madam Moulin’.
“Notice how quiet he is? He’s thinking of questions to ask you.” Henry whispered to him as they stood watching the woman adjust the robes.
“That’s frightening. I can only answer so many questions.” James said
“Harry likes to know things. He wants to know everything as fast as he can. He’s smart and sometimes that’s not a good thing.”
“How smart are we talking about exactly? Like I’ve read his essay on Werewolves and Lycans, though considering his childhood and everything else it’s no wonder he got a perfect score.”
“That’s where that essay went. Anyway let’s put it this way Harry is currently taking twenty classes and had all O’s on his OWLs.”
“Twenty classes?”
“Yes.”
“What is he even learning with twenty classes? I could barely focus on the seven mandatory classes and that was before electives came in and OWLs.”
“Well he has eight mandatory classes, nine electives in class, and three Owl Education classes.”
“That’s crazy. How does it fit?”
“Kreasiara Institute is 9 and 12 hour days, 5 and 7 days a week, for three straight months at a time. It fits and he still has enough free time so he doesn’t feel overwhelmed or rundown.”
“Twelve hour days. That’s insane.”
“Seven to four and seven to seven.”
“That’s even more insane.”
“I know it’s why I was so hesitant to put him in the school at first, but Harry was insistent he could do it and he did. That first year it was like he wanted to prove himself not just to me, but to everyone. Then the second and third year he relaxed once he had proven himself then Matteo left his fourth year and he went right back to proving himself. I tried to talk to him about it but he doesn’t want to talk about it. There’s only so much you can push him before he just shuts down. Gotta know when to pick your battles. He’ll talk when he’s ready even if it’s ten years from now.”
“Charlie doesn’t talk about anything. If he doesn’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist. That’s his mindset.”
“Not Harry. He wants to talk about it, he just isn’t ready or doesn’t know where to start. I made sure we had open communication about everything from sex to his changing body to why the sky is blue or why clouds form different shapes. Whatever it was, he knew he could ask and we would talk about it. He has to be the one to start the conversation though.”
“You know I can hear you two right?” Harry said, suddenly turning to look at them much to Moulin’s displeasure, “Will you two stop talking about me. I mean seriously I know I’m great and all, but there has to be something else you two have in common to talk about.”
“But you’re our favorite subject.” James teased
“Oh let your dads talk about how much you’re growing up. This is a big step towards a big day you know.” Moulin said
“Oh we’re not- well I mean we are, but we’re not-”
“No need to be embarrassed honey my third cousin is gay.”
“Yeah Honey. No need to be embarrassed.” Harry said laughing
“Don’t bother, she's going to believe whatever she wants to believe.” Henry told him.
James playfully rolled his eyes then looked at the reflection in the mirror of Harry standing there in graduation robes and that’s when it really sunk in. His oldest son was graduating, somehow he was able to be in son’s life when he graduated.
“Don’t you dare start crying James.” Henry said, suddenly making James laugh as he wiped at his teary eyes.
“I can’t help it.” James said, “I think I still always pictured my 18 month old in my head when I thought about Harry, not a toddler or a teenager, but my baby. Seeing him like this I think it finally hit me that he’s graduating.”
“Do you need to step out for a moment?”
“Fuck you.” James said though he did make his way to the door much to Henry’s amusement. When James stepped outside Harry met his Papa’s eyes in the mirror’s reflections.
“What?” His Papa asked
“Madam, can you give us a moment please?” Harry asked
“Sure dear but not too long okay?” Harry nodded then waited for her to leave the room before he turned to his Papa.
“You do know he is married right?”
“I am not flirting with him, Harry.”
“I’m just saying he’s married to a woman so whether or not you are, just keep that in mind. I mean I haven’t met her and she’s supposedly my mother, so maybe it’s not a happy marriage, but I’m pretty sure he is straight.”
“Harry.”
“Yes?”
“Mind your business. I can befriend your birth father without you thinking I’m flirting with him.”
“You have never been this talkative before.”
“Turn around and get your robes finished.” Harry turned around and called for Moulin to come back in. A few moments later James came back.
“What did I miss?”
“Your son is a pain in my ass, that's what you missed.”
“He gets it naturally.” James told him though he did have a feeling something happened while he was gone. He figured he’d learn about it over lunch though or maybe Harry looking at him and Henry was just in his head.