Remus POV
Remus was humming along to the radio as he moved easily through the kitchen. He pulled the chicken from the oven, leaving it on the counter to cool, and began drizzling the sauce over it.
“That smells lovely,” Harry said, breezing in the kitchen with a bright tone. “What is it?”
“Absolutely not,” Sirius snapped from his seat at the table. “Harry, I swear to Merlin, go change.”
Remus glanced over his shoulder and bit his lip to hide his smile at Harry’s outfit. Harry had been toying with Sirius lately, pushing at her boundaries, trying to force Sirius to parent her.
And Sirius had resisted, until Harry wrecked his bike earlier this week.
They’d had a terrible row over it—
Sirius had panicked that Harry went joyriding on his motorcycle without knowing how to drive one.
Harry had argued that maybe Sirius should have taught her to drive it, but Remus had been sure she had only argued for the sake of arguing.
They were so ridiculously alike.
And now, as Harry twirled around the kitchen in a short pleated skirt and a tight blouse that showed quite a bit of her chest, Remus was sure she was poking at Sirius once more.
Harry confided in Remus that she had been trying to ‘let Sirius feel like a real parent’, but Remus was just as confident that Harry subconsciously wanted to feel like a normal child as well. Sirius needed to know he could yell at Harry without her hating him, and Harry needed to know that even if Sirius yelled at her, he would never strike her or degrade her.
And Remus was simply learning to appreciate the fact that, despite his furry problem, he had been a simple child and never played these games with his parents.
“It’s warm here, isn’t it?” Harry said as she moved four plates and four cups to the table.
Harry despised cooking, and, after the Dursleys, Remus and Sirius would never ask her to help cook, but she always set the table.
“It’s bloody raining,” Sirius growled at their goddaughter. “Go. Change.”
“I don’t think I will,” Harry hummed. “I’m rather comfortable.”
“You are this close,” Sirius held his index finger and thumb half an inch apart, “from being grounded.”
“Oh?” Harry paused and gave Sirius a curious look. “What would I be grounded from?”
Remus nearly lost his composure as the silence stretched on.
Harry used to be such an easy girl to raise. And then she killed Voldemort and truly grew to fill James’ mischievous shoes and Sirius really had no one to blame but himself.
‘I just want her to be happy, more like a teenager and less like a soldier,’ he’d said.
Remus didn’t think that Sirius truly appreciated what normal teenage girls were like until now.
“Mooooony!” Sirius cried. “Make her go put on more clothes!”
Remus gave Sirius a fond look of exasperation. “Harry looks fine,” he said, ignoring Harry’s smug smile. “She’s excited for us to meet her boyfriend and she’s irritating you to work out her nerves.”
“That is not true at all!” Harry protested hotly. “Jacob is not my boyfriend, yet, and I am not nervous.”
“You’re wearing eyeliner,” Remus said simply. He stepped away from the stove and eyed the dishes he made. Maple barbecue chicken, green beans, and roasted potatoes. “This isn’t too British, right? Your ‘not yet boyfriend’ will like it?”
“It smells wonderful,” Harry said enthusiastically. She wrapped her arms around Remus and pecked him on the cheek. “I’m sure Jacob will love it, thank you for cooking.”
“Jacob can piss off,” Sirius muttered, too quietly for Harry to hear.
Or so Remus thought.
“What was that, Sirius?” Harry asked sweetly. She pulled her wand from the waistband of her skirt and twirled it in her fingers.
“I said I miss Ginny,” Sirius lied badly. “Why couldn’t you invite her to dinner?”
“Padfoot, be serious,” Harry laughed. “We broke up two years ago, you can’t honestly still be pining after her.”
He was.
Sirius had been happier than anyone when Harry and Ginny started dating the summer before Harry’s sixth year. Apparently, Harry not bringing home a boy had been ‘the greatest thing to ever happen to Sirius’. And, consequently, nobody had been more crushed when the girls ended it a year later citing they were better off as friends.
“Ginny was better than some- some muscular muggle on a motorbike!” Sirius exclaimed.
“That sounds like just your type though,” Remus laughed at Sirius. “I’m excited to meet him,” Remus told Harry truthfully. “I’m sure Sirius is just being needlessly protective.”
“It could be much worse, I could be shacking up with a vampire,” Harry told Sirius with a condescending pat to his head.
Remus chuckled at Harry’s ridiculous story. She’d told Sirius that the night she wrecked his bike, she met a ‘lovely vampire chap’ named Edward who was dating a muggle girl in town. Her story went over about as well with Sirius as James’ story that ‘he didn’t sneak out to meet Lily, he went to hang out with his werewolf mate’ went over with his mum the summer after sixth year.
James had actually been telling the truth, but it still sounded as ridiculous as Harry’s story.
Remus levitated the platters to the table, the last bit of magic he’d be able to perform for a while, when he heard the unmistakable sound of a motorcycle approaching.
“I think Jacob’s about here,” Remus said.
Sirius groaned and Harry squealed-
A blessedly normal teenage girl noise from the least normal teenager Remus had ever, or would ever, know.
“Padfoot, Moony, I love you both so desperately much, but I am warning you now that I will fight you if you embarrass me,” Harry said, her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing.
Remus and Sirius exchanged a nostalgic smile, she looked and sounded so terribly much like Lily sometimes.
“First off all, you would lose,” Sirius grinned.
“Excuse me? I killed Voldemort!”
“You got a lucky shot with an expelliarmus,” Sirius said with a teasing scoff. “Secondly, we are not embarrassing. We are cool.”
Harry looked Remus over from top to bottom in a slow way that made him terribly self-conscious.
Were knitted cardigans embarrassing?
Remus glanced down and blushed faintly at the apron he still had on.
“You bought it,” he muttered as he took the apron off and tossed it in a cupboard.
“I didn’t know you’d wear it,” Harry sighed.
Which was ridiculous.
Of course Remus would wear it. It had been the first Christmas gift Harry got him after she moved in with them. Remus didn’t care that it was pink and ruffled and said ‘World’s Greatest Godmum’, he loved it.
“He’s here!” Harry hissed as the sound of the motorcycle abruptly shut off in their driveway. “Please, be normal!” she said, pouting her lip out and making her eyes go big. It was actually irresistibly adorable and Harry knew the two men were putty in her cunning little hands when she did it. “I quite like him.”
“Go put a jumper on and I’ll be normal,” Sirius said with a playful smile. He kicked his chair back on two legs and crossed his arms smugly as there was a hesitant knock on the front door.
Harry twitched her wand at Sirius, causing his chair to fall over with a startled yelp, before she put her wand up on the bookcase and ran to the door.
“You’re going to hate him too,” Sirius whispered harshly as soon as Harry left the room. He picked himself up from the floor and pointed accusingly towards the front door. “He stares at her like she’s the bloody moon!”
“Harry deserves someone to love her like that,” Remus whispered back. “Lord knows she’s earned it, hasn’t she? She’s an adult, Pads, we should be supportive.”
Sirius threw his hands up in the air and Remus shamelessly eavesdropped as Harry greeted Jacob. As much as she might have been a starry eyed girl nervous for the boy she liked to meet her family moments ago, she snapped into what Remus dubbed her ‘Sirius personality’ the instant she opened the door.
“Jack?” Harry said, faux-surprise lacing her tone.
As if she hadn’t been the one to extend the invite to Jacob to come over today.
“Uh... Jacob?” Jacob said uncertainly.
“Jacob! Of course! My mistake,” Harry laughed. “You’ve come to see Sirius, haven’t you? And you’ve brought him flowers! He’ll love them!”
Good Lord, poor Jacob.
“They’re... they’re for you?”
Remus didn’t have to see Jacob to picture the blush he must be sporting. Between Harry’s ‘too cool to not play hard to get’ routine and Sirius’ overprotective godfather act, Remus was going to have to be extra kind to this boy.
“Oh! They’re lovely, thank you, Jacob,” Harry said, her voice sweet as can be now. “Would you like to come sit? You can meet Remus, he’s cooked dinner, if you’re hungry?”
“Sure,” Jacob said, sounding a touch more relaxed now. “Lead the way, my lady.”
Oh Remus was going to love this boy, he just knew it.
Until Jacob Black stepped in the dining room with a beaming Harry on his arm.
Remus stiffened in his seat as he and Jacob stared at each other in absolute shock.
Not only was Jacob a man, not a boy, but he wasn’t even a muggle man at all.
Why the hell did Harry and Sirius not warn him that they were bringing a... a something to their house?
Whatever Jacob was, he clearly was able to sense Remus’ creature scent as well because he was frozen in the doorway, his nostrils flaring, and his empty hand clenching repeatedly in to a fist.
“Remus, this is Jacob,” Harry said, oblivious to Jacob and Remus’ stare off. “Jacob, this is my other godfather, Sirius’ husband, Remus.”
“Remus... Lupin, Sirius said?” Jacob repeated slowly. “As in ‘werewolf wolf’?”
It took Jacob less than a minute to know what Remus was. And he was at a distinct advantage as Remus had no bloody clue what he was, besides not a muggle.
“As in Remus Lupin and if you have a problem with his name you’re quite welcome to fight me over it,” Harry said, drawing herself up defensively.
Jacob’s dark brown eyes flew down to Harry’s for a moment, seeming to weigh her up for a moment.
“No problem at all,” Jacob said, adopting an easy smile that suited him quite well. He slowly stepped in the room and offered Remus his hand. “It’s good to meet you.”
“You too,” Remus said. He gripped Jacob’s hand much harder than was necessary, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all. In fact, Remus would wager that he hardly noticed.
“Sirius, good to see you again,” Jacob said with a polite smile. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“I didn’t,” Sirius said sullenly as he briefly grasped Jacob’s hand and quickly dropped it.
“Ignore Sirius, he’s being a prat today,” Harry told Jacob, narrowing her green eyes at Sirius. “It’s not even his time of the month, so he’s just choosing to be an arse.”
Jacob looked down at Harry and Remus saw what Sirius saw that made him crazy.
Harriette was the only star in Jacob’s sky.
It would be wonderful to see, if Jacob weren’t also something inhuman and hiding it.
“Why don’t we sit?” Remus said hastily, feeling Sirius tense up beside him. “Jacob, would you like a drink?”
“Oh, I’ll get him one,” Harry offered, she gestured to a chair for Jacob to take then went to the kitchen side of their kitchen/dining room. She pulled a vase from the cupboard above the stove and filled it with water to put her bouquet of roses in, chattering the whole time. “Jacob, you must try this drink! It’s a fizzy drink, and we never had those at my old school. They’re positively brilliant, aren’t they, Remus?”
“They’re sugary and sweet,” Remus chuckled. “I’m not a fan, but Harry loves them.”
“Me too,” Jacob told Harry quickly, his eyes watching her as she moved gracefully around the kitchen. “We just call it pop, though, not fizzy drinks.”
“Pop,” Harry mimicked him, a sparkle in her eyes as she surely noticed Jacob’s eyes glued to her lips. “Well, I love them, would you like one? Sirius has scotch hidden in the cabinet above the refrigerator, if you’d rather.”
“Pop’s fine,” Jacob said hastily, undoubtedly hearing Sirius’ quiet growl of protest. “Thanks,” he said with a sappy smile when Harry grabbed two of them and handed him one and took the chair beside him.
Remus was warring with himself.
On the one hand, he didn’t like knowing that Jacob was hiding something from Harry. Something that could be dangerous and hurt Remus’ goddaughter.
On the other hand, Remus had never felt as badly for someone as he did Jacob. Poor boy went and fell head over heels for Harry, and she knew it too. And Harry never made anything easy for anyone, ever.
That was the James genes and Sirius’ influence at work in her.
Remus tried to hold off on the interrogation, but they were only halfway through their meal when he couldn’t bear it anymore.
“So... Jacob.” Remus tried to smile politely, but it felt a bit strained. “You’re seventeen?”
Jacob nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Remus tried to remember what grade Harriette was going into. “So you’re a… senior?”
Jacob shifted uneasily, but held his polite smile. “Something like that,” he said evasively. He glanced over at Harry and his smile warmed. “You should consider going to La Push High, it’s a great school.”
“I can’t,” Harry said breezily. “I’ve already made friends here in Forks, they’d be disappointed if I changed schools.”
“Have you?” Sirius asked, as surprised as Remus. “With who?”
Harry put her fork down and sighed at Sirius heavily. “I told you, Bella, the girl I met the night I wrecked your bike.”
Jacob looked startled, though if it was because of Harry’s new friend or the fact she wrecked Sirius’ bike, Remus wasn’t sure.
“You told me that she was boring and not nearly as much fun as Hermione,” Sirius reminded Harry. “You didn’t say you were friends.”
“Just because she’s boring doesn’t mean we can’t be friends,” Harry grinned teasingly. “Hermione used to be quite boring before we became friends and now she’s a positively lovely fellow marauder.”
Remus hid a smile at that.
Harry was as bad of an influence on Hermione as Sirius had been on him.
“Plus, even boring people need friends, right, Jacob?”
“Uh… yeah,” Jacob agreed quickly. “I mean, Bella used to run around with me and the guys, so she’s not too boring.”
“Did she?” Harry asked with what Remus was certain was more fake surprise. “Are the two of you not friends anymore then?”
Definitely fake surprise.
Harry was a jealous thing- Remus wouldn’t doubt if she befriended Bella solely due to her crush on Jacob.
Jacob shrugged and ran a hand through his shoulder length black hair. “It’s complicated,” he said slowly. “Her boyfriend and I don’t get along much.”
“Because he’s a vampire,” Harry nodded sagely and her eyes were twinkling as she teased Jacob. “That’s quite unfair, Edward seems lovely.”
Remus and Sirius grinned at Harry’s joke, but Jacob’s reaction was unexpected.
“Who told you?” he asked, his eyes practically popping out of his head.
Wait…
Remus and Sirius exchanged a puzzled look.
“Okay.” Remus slammed his hands on the table, unintentionally causing the plates to rattle. “What the hell is going on here?” he asked bluntly. He pointed at Jacob, “What are you?”
“He’s a human being, Moony,” Harry scowled.
“Werewolf.”
“What?” Remus nearly smiled, that was absurd. “No you aren’t…?”
Jacob wasn’t looking at Remus though, he was staring at Harry with an apology in his eyes. “Harry, please, please trust me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Oh, I know,” Harry said. She gave Jacob a wide smile, “Because Remus, my werewolf godfather, and Sirius, my wizard godfather, would rip you to pieces before I caught them on fire.”
Good Lord.
It wasn’t that she was wrong, but did Harry forget about the Statute of Secrecy?! To say nothing of outting Remus as a werewolf.
It was a shame too, because Remus liked the sleepy little town they moved to.
“ENOUGH!” Sirius yelled, cutting off whatever Jacob had been about to say. “What the hell is going on?!” he demanded, repeating Remus’ exact words.
“Jacob isn’t human,” Remus said quickly.
“Neither are you,” Jacob countered with. “And,” he glanced at Harry, “neither is Edward Cullen or his family. Who told you?”
“I’d be a bloody terrible witch if I didn’t recognize a vampire, even with his peculiar eyes,” Harry said with a haughty sniff.
“Harriette Potter,” Sirius hissed, “shut up.”
“What?” Harry threw her hands in the air. “Jacob just said he’s a werewolf!”
“He’s not a werewolf,” Remus said.
Jacob’s shoulders tensed defensively. “I am too,” he said. “And I can prove it.”
“Can you?” Harry gave Jacob an amused half-smile. “With the full moon three weeks away?”
“I don’t need a full moon to transform,” Jacob said with a coy wink.
“Then you’re not a werewolf!” Sirius said. He got to his feet and pointed at the door. “You need to go.”
“No.” Remus got to his feet as well and grabbed Sirius’ wrist. “We need to figure out what’s going on first.”
Harry beamed up at them with the charming smile she loved to use when she was at her most mischievous. “I think we should properly introduce ourselves.” She turned to Jacob and offer him her hand, “Harriette Potter, extraordinarily famous witch.”
Jacob squinted at her for a moment before he sighed. “Jacob Black, extraordinarily boring werewolf,” he said. He took Harry’s hand and kissed her knuckles, causing a blossom of color to decorate Harry’s cheeks.
“You aren’t a werewolf,” Remus growled.
Jacob raised a brow at him while he still held Harry’s hand. “And she’s a witch?”
“Oi! I am so a witch!” Harry snatched her hand from Jacob and got up to stalk to the bookcase. She stood on tiptoes to grab her wand and had it brandished before Remus or Sirius could stop her. ”Avis!”
“Holy shit,” Jacob breathed. He watched the yellow birds fly out of the tip of Harry’s wand and circle the table before Harry swished her wand and dispelled them. “You’re…”
“A witch,” Harry said with a bright smile, pleased that Jacob knew her secret.
Probably just pleased that she was breaking the law.
Remus cursed Sirius’ influence on her.
“Now what are you?” Remus demanded of Jacob. “I know you’re not a werewolf.”
Jacob ran his hands through his hair again, though this time he tugged a little harshly on the locks. “I really am,” he said. He got to his feet and moved toward the back door, “If you’ll come outside, I can prove it.”
“Yes, please,” Harry said. She jumped to her feet and practically bounced over to Jacob.
Jacob grimaced a little and shook his head at Harry. “Uh… can I- can I just show Sirius or Remus?” He looked at Sirius and Remus saw that his tanned face as quite red. “It’s… uh… it’s weird.”
“Is it?” Harry hummed, her eyes somehow sparkling that much harder. “Then I do want to see this, Jacob.”
“I’ll go,” Sirius said gruffly. “You,” he pointed at Harry, “stay put.”
Harry hummed when Sirius and Jacob went out the back door, then the blasted girl summoned her invisibility cloak and winked at Remus before putting it on. “Sorry, Moony, but if it’s weird…”
Remus could practically hear the shrug right before the door opened and closed once more.
“This is Sirius’ fault,” he mumbled to himself as he cleared away the table. “‘Harry’s such a good girl, I’m not a bad influence. It’ll be fuuuun raising James’ daughter.’” Remus shook his head, “James, you bastard.”
In the few minutes that Remus cleared the dining table and went ahead and got himself a glass of scotch and ‘pop’, the backdoor opened again and Harry popped out from beneath her cloak with red cheeks, a wide smile, and a look in her eyes that Remus couldn’t begin to interpret.
“Tell Sirius I was with you the whole time or I’ll tell him that it’s you who uses the dog whistle when he’s running,” she said as she quickly stuffed her cloak in a random kitchen cabinet.
Remus sputtered a bit, “It is not! You bought it!“
Harry winked, “And I’ll deny everything, Moony. He’ll never believe you.”
Remus shook a disapproving finger at her that was belied by his amused smile. “You’re a Slytherin at heart, Harry.”
“I know,” she grinned.
Harry slid in the chair across from Remus as the backdoor opened back up and Jacob and Sirius walked in. Jacob looked smug, if a little embarrassed, but Sirius looked shocked.
“He’s a wolf,” Sirius said blankly. He snatched the bottle from Remus and didn’t even bother with a glass as he took a drink. “Shapeshifter, to be precise.”
“Are you?” Harry cried as she smiled at Jacob and kicked his chair out for him. “Wonderful! Then I haven’t even broken any laws today!”
“Shapeshifter…” Remus blinked at Jacob as he tried to recall everything he knew about shapeshifters. A small memory suddenly struck him as he saw the absolutely adoring and single-minded way that Jacob looked at Harry. “Nope. No. Not a chance!” Remus got up and grabbed Jacob by the shoulder, the two of them a rather even match with their own creature blood. He drug him to the front door and pushed him out of it, Harry’s bemused questions and Sirius’ smug chuckles falling on deaf ears. “Goodbye, Jacob Black,” he said firmly.
“But I—”
“Nope. Go.”
“Remus—”
“Bye.”
Harry was peeking over Remus’ shoulder and must have done something that made Jacob abruptly grin. “Yes, sir,” he said respectfully. He practically swaggered over to his bike before tossing a leg over and kicking it to life. “Thank you for dinner, I’ll see you soon.”
As soon as the motorcycle left their block, Remus spun around to see a very angry Harry with her hands on her hips.
“You are never allowed to lecture me on proper manners again,” she said hotly. “How could you, Remus? That was very embarrassing.”
“Because he…” Remus’ defense died at the sight of genuine tears glimmering in Harry’s eyes. “Hey, don’t cry, I’m sorry…”
“I’m not sad I am furious!” Harry cried. “I told you I quite liked him and you threw him out like trash!”
“Harry…”
“If I didn’t have his number then I would never speak to you again,” Harry sniffed. She turned on her heel and ran up the stairs before slamming her bedroom door shut.
Everyone wants their witch goddaughter who defeated an evil Dark Lord to be a normal teenager until you realize you don’t know what to do with a normal teenager.
Remus threw himself in the seat beside Sirius and accepted the glass Sirius gave him. All scotch, no ‘pop’.
“Imprinting then?” Sirius asked after downing his drink.
“Pretty sure,” Remus said quietly.
“This is bullshit,” Sirius sighed.
Remus just nodded.
Harry was young, only seventeen. And she had a whole life ahead of her, one that she worked damn hard to ensure.
Remus didn’t want her chained to some imprinted, shapeshifting, boy who would never leave his hometown. He wanted Harry to have everything, everything in the world, because that’s what she deserved.
“It’s not that Jacob isn’t nice, but… but really?” Remus whispered desperately. “What are the odds that we move somewhere with shapeshifters, vampires, and Harry’s damn soulmate all within a twenty mile radius?!”
“Pretty damn low.” Sirius barked out a bitter laugh. “I guess the magic in the Black line didn’t die, it just changed.”
“Well it’s bullshit.”
“But Moonyyyy, Harry deserves someone to be in love with her like that,” Sirius mocked him quietly. “It’s soooo sweet.”
“I was wrong, you were right,” Remus said irritably. “It’s not sweet at all. I hate him.”
“Well, I’ll drink to that,” Sirius chuckled.
Eventually, as she always did, Harry stormed back down the stairs and stepped in the dining room with a wicked smile on her face while she held up the cell phone she’d acquired the moment they moved to the states.
“Godfather, Mister Lupin,” she narrowed her eyes at Remus, causing him to feel even more shame for how he reacted, “I’m pleased to tell you that, despite your horrid manners, Jacob will be back next weekend for my birthday. AND,” Harry raised her voice as Sirius started to complain, “if anyone is less than perfectly nice to my Jacob, then I will run away and elope with him and you will never see me again.”
“Bit dramatic,” Sirius grumbled sullenly.
“Harry, I am sorry,” Remus said genuinely. “It’s just…” he really didn’t think he should be the one to tell her. “What do you know about shapeshifters?”
Harry squinted thoughtfully for a moment before smiling so sweetly, so angelically. “I know that shapeshifters look quite excellent before the shift,” she winked at Sirius, “and I know that Jacob may be unaware of this, but he has met his last girlfriend.”
With that absolutely corny line, Harry spun on her heel and called out that she was going to invite Bella and her boyfriend to her party before flouncing right out the door.
“Oh, Jacob knows she’s his last girlfriend all right,” Sirius sighed. He poured them each another drink. “Life would be easier if Harry was a boy, Rem. You know?”
“I know,” Remus agreed morosely. Though, really, he thought he’d be just as sad to see a boy Harry grow up as he was Harriette. “Love, what happened when Jacob shifted?”
Sirius scowled in to his drink. “He got naked first,” he said flatly. “That’s why he didn’t want Harry outside, he was trying to be a gentleman, apparently.”
A fine point to Remus’ future godson-in-law.
It was a shame that Harry was a little pervert who went and saw him expose himself to Sirius anyway.
“We should be nicer to Jacob,” Remus said softly as he had a sudden realization.
Sirius didn’t glare, there was too much defeat in his face, but he tried. “Why?” he asked gruffly.
Remus lifted Sirius’ face by the chin and smiled mischievously at his husband. “Because one day, Harry is going to be his problem.”