Remus Lupin III
Remus startled awake, his eyes wide open and searching for danger only to realise that it was Harry who had awoken. He looked down and saw the boy looking at Remus with wide eyes, his own little hand still encased by Remus own. The werewolf let go of the boy’s hand and gave him a soft smile.
“Hello Harry”
The boy blinked a bit extra at the sound of his name. Remus wondered how much he could remember; he was still so young. But it did seem that his name sparked something in the boy.
“I’m Remus, Moony, I was a friend of your parents” he said, feeling just a tiny bit silly for trying to have a conversation like this with a toddler. Remus opened his mouth to say something more when there was knock on the door before Healer Greengrass stepped into the room. The healer smiled at now awake boy.
“I see that my littlest patient is finally awake”
The healer took some wary steps toward Harry, carrying the basket with potions. Remus could see how they seemed to be in baby bottles. The healer pulled forward the biggest on, it shimmered in a milky white colour.
“Here Harry, this is for you”
Harry stared at the bottle before slowly reaching for it. He almost immediately started to gulping it’s contents down. The healer must have noticed Remus surprise.
“They must have fed him irregularly so he has learned to accept whatever given to him”
The explanation made Remus close his eyes to gather himself. Of course.
The healer waved his wand, Remus could see that it painted some runes in the air.
“He seems to be healing nicely, he is lucky for having such a strong core. I believe that his magic has been doing its best to heal any damages done while protecting the most vital organs from malnutrition. It’s a good thing you found him when you did, a couple of months more of this would have stunted his physical and magical growth forever. Any damages would have been irreversible by that point” Healer Greengrass smiled sadly at Harrys as he drank feverishly from the bottle.
“So, he’ll make a full recovery?” Remus asked hopefully. The healer nodded.
“But he will need to be seen by a curse breaker as soon that he his stable. There seems to be some lingering malign form of residue beneath his scar”
Remus looked at the boy’s forehead that was currently shielded by a mop of hair. He had forgotten about the scar rumoured to decorate his before unblemished skin. Remus hoped that the reminder of his parent’s death could be dealt with the same way his wounds from his accursed relatives.
Remus watched Harry suckle at the bottle with a smile. He didn’t know for how long he simply watched the toddler eat, he would stop sometimes and cast warily glances at Healer Greengrass and Remus. The healer had conjured a chair and a table and was engrossed with writing something.
There was knock on the door before the two aurors from earlier stepped inside with a woman in tow. Remus recognised her as Amelia Bones, the new head of DMLE.
“Good day Mr. Lupin, I’ve been informed of everything by my aurors. I wanted to meet you and Mr. Potter myself, new information has resurfaced these couple of hours”
“Thank you, Madame Bones”
She nodded at him before turning to healer Greengrass. “How is young Mr. Potter?”
The healer repeated what he had said earlier, and Remus saw the head of DMLE frown when the scar was mentioned. Remus watched Harry as the two spoke and noticed how the boy had stopped eating. He looked horrified and was watching the new people warily. Remus wished that Lily was here, she could always sooth Harry. She had been an exceptional mother from day one, Remus himself knew of only one thing that had always soother his cub and if he was unsure if he would be allowed to use his wand in this kind of setting.
“Madame Bones, would it be alright if I pulled my wand. I believe that Harry is frightened and would like to test something” Remus knew that it was quite rude of him to interrupt her conversation with the healer but could frankly not care less. Harry was distraught. The woman looked at the toddler and he could see her face soften at sight. “Go ahead” she said with a nod.
Remus took a hold of his wand and made a familiar motion.
“Expecto patronum”
A silver wolf took shape and Remus enjoyed the warmth it brought. He watched as Harry stared at the patronus wide eyed. And he could see the delight in his eyes, the first sign of happiness since their reunion. The toddler reached out his hand towards the wolf which walked to the child. It was in a solid form. Lily herself had helped Remus master it. He could still remember how he had given up on casting the spell after he first saw its form, he didn’t want to be reminded by the shame of what he was. Lily had learned of this when Harry was two months old, she liked to cast her own patronus in his nursery. She had explained that its presence soothed Harry’s core somewhat, the little green-eyed boy had been prone to magical outbursts since he was born. Her solid patronus was a stag, a perfect replica of Prongs. She managed to convince Remus to cast it and he could still remember the thrill of happiness when she smiled at him. She convinced him to cast it every time he was over after that and it got more powerful each time, taking a solid form on day.
Remus smiled at the memory of James and Sirius sour faces as he and Lily cast their patroni together at Harry’s last birthday. They themselves were unable to. Sirius core was too dark to successfully power a light spell for too long and James simply didn’t put in the effort. He had a very dark grey core thanks to the fact that Dorea Potter was born a Black. He could cast it, but it needed to be powered by raw force.
Remus got misty-eyed as Harry giggled at the wolf, petting its snout.
“Mooey” The child’s voice was light, and Remus almost fainted at the word. He remembered? Lily had always asked little Harry if he wanted to Moony and Prongs which he used to answer with laughter, being too young to speak.
“Yes cub, it’s Moony” Remus smiled at toddler who looked at Remus with big eyes.
“Pwongs? Mama?”
Remus whimpered at the words and his smile turned sad. “Mama’s not here Harry” The toddler looked confused at his words. But he thankfully got distracted by the patronus again, eyes lightening up. They looked to be even greener that Lily’s own.
“That’s quite impressive Mr. Lupin, may I ask how you knew that it would work as it did?”
Madame bones was watching the patronus intently.
“Harry always loved it when Lily cast her patronus” he said with a sad smile. Madame Bones nodded before clearing her throat.
“I have sent aurors to fetch one Sirius Black from Azkaban”
Remus eyes widened at her words, blinking owlishly. “What?!”
“My predecessor seems to have forgone a trial; it is in my purgatory to see it done”
The werewolf blinked even more. “I cannot deny that even Black has the right to a trial. But I fail to understand what this has to do with Harry or why you would tell me?”
The woman sighed and he could see the wariness in her eyes. “Mr. Black would have the strongest claim to the boy and it’s important that we explore every possibility”
Remus snarled at her words, seeing red. “You mean to tell me that you’re going to hand my cub over to the one responsible for his parents’ death. Over my dead body”
The aurors took a step forward, ready to strike the werewolf down.
“Minister Bagnold, Crouch and Dumbledore signed the document ordering Sirius Orion Black to be taken to Azkaban. One of those is per your words responsible for young Mr. Potters placement. I will be frank with you Mr. Lupin. I have no intention of letting a death eater gain custody of this child and if Mr. Black is guilty then he shall be tried and sentenced like everyone else. But there is enough evidence at hand to suggest foul play concerning Mr. Potter and I will not ignore it”
Remus frowned at the woman.
” Foul play?” His voice was weak now, the earlier fire extinguished.
The head of DMLE didn’t bother to answer him, instead she turned to the healer again.
“These two aurors will be on duty henceforth. As the full moon passed only a week ago - Mr. Lupin will be allowed to stay if he so wishes”
The rest of the day went by swiftly, the aurors waited outside and left Remus alone with Harry. Healer Greengrass would come in sporadically to check on his vitals or to give him more bottles, Remus could smell that they were potions of different kinds. Harry was uncomplicated, he had gotten more at ease with the werewolf’s presence. He slept, ate, and enjoyed the company of the wolf patronus. The makeshift bed had been cleaned and pushed aside only for a crib to take its place. Harry was currently sitting and enjoy some new plushies that a nurse at brought him. The sight made Remus smile. He had only been forced to leave Harry once, the healer had commanded him to take a shower and change. His clothes were classified as unhygienic as they were covered with grime and blood from when he had carried his cub.
It was because of this that Remus Lupin sat in the chair with only a hospital gown covering him. They had taken his clothes away and he wondered if he’d every see them again. He knew that James Potter would laugh his arse off if he could see him now, sitting in a dress in the company of toddler dressed in a dress.
They were matching.