It Meant Family

2nd of September 1991

"Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place." - Brooklyn 99, Raymond Holt

Hogwarts, Scotland - 2:00 am

Harry sat quietly in the Gryffindor common room, he looked around taking in every detail his eyes could assimilate and holding an old stuffed wolf in his arms. He couldn't remember when he'd gotten it, but it had been a pair - a dog and a wolf - and at the age of 6 he threw a tantrum and the dog accidentally caught on fire, the damage had been irreparable.

His brain drifted between his concerns about Remus and his attempts at painting a scene of his parents, a few too many years before, sitting exactly where he was sitting then. As he tried to imagine their laugh, Harry realised that he didn't know what his parents' voices sounded like and the knowledge felt like a hex, pushing down his insides.

He didn't know how long he had been lost in his own thoughts when the sound of footsteps started to echo in the room. He turned his head to see a girl walking toward him, she sat on the floor in silence.

"Homesick?" He looked at the dark brown skin and the black curly hair that framed her face like a mane and didn't feel odd with his own untamed curls.

"No," she answered, they had met on train hours earlier, her name was Hermione, he recalled, she had an intelligence and arrogance that hit him as quite familiar, if someone had told him the she was raised by Remus and Sirius he would have believed it "just overwhelmed, you?"

Harry didn't know what to say, so he shrugged. They both allowed the room to fall back in silence. He felt at ease, like he could trust her, even if he didn't know why, so he did.

"I miss my muggle friends," Harry knew she was muggleborn and had probably gone to a muggle school too "it hurts knowing I'll never see them again."

"Why not?" He'd thought that was something she could relate to and was rather surprised when Hermione seemed confused, then he figured she most likely thought to write to her friends and spend some time together over Christmas and summer.

"I just don't want to have to lie to them, so I'd rather just say goodbye."

"Oh..." She smiled kindly, though Harry was able to catch a glimpse of sadness in her eyes, a realisation that he might be right "Maybe talking about them will help."

"Sure!" he thought for a second before continuing, trying to figure out what to tell her "So, there was Noah and Ollie, who were twins. I met Ollie when I was four and Noah a few years later. Robin was the oldest of all of us, he was the funniest too, but my closest friend was Theo." Harry smiled at the name without thinking and hoped Hermione hadn't noticed. "He knew me the best." He began to ramble. "We used to sit in his bedroom for hours playing video games or reading..." Harry tried not to sound to hurt "well I was reading, he was playing around with his football, which I'm not a big fan of. I prefer Quidditch..." He went on about Theo for a little too long and when he was finished, she spoke.

"Harry, right?!" he nodded "Did you..." Hermione hesitated, an awkward sympathetic smile painted on her face, he noticed where the conversation was going and his heart skipped a beat "Did you fancy him?"

He took a deep breath, meaning to speak, but changed his mind, so he just smiled and they both watched the fire for a while. She already knew, even if he didn't say anything, but maybe that was the point, she already knew, so he might as well say it. Still Harry felt unsure, so he got up slowly, fixing his pyjamas and putting his hands into his pockets. He'd decided to go to bed, once he was standing he yawned quietly, took out his glasses to wipe the water that ran down his eyes and put them on again.

"Good night, Hermione" he made a point to say her name, so she would know he remembered her too.

"Good night" her eyes still fixed on the fire.

"I'm bisexual" he was already on the first step of the staircase when he stopped to tell her, he didn't even know why he did it, his mind had decided to without informing him.

"Okay." She looked at him and nodded with an appreciative smile.

xXx

Grimmauld Place 12, London, England - 8 am

"I can't believe it's been ten years" Sirius laid in bed staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, Remus' fingers running softly over the tattoos on his chest "It feels like only few weeks ago Prongs and Lily were asking us to be his godfathers and now-" they were quiet for a while, caressing each other lovingly.

"Pads?"

"Yes"

"It'll be 16 years soon" he looked at his boyfriend's eyes with an enamoured smile "we've been together for more then half of our lives."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way!" he smiled back, moving Remus' hair away from his face and tracing one of his scars with his thumb "I mean, Merlin, I never thought it was possible to love someone as much as I love you, Moony!"

"I love you too, Padfoot."

Remus' reached for his partner's lips and kissed them, at first it was delicate and soft, but as they both grew hotter, the kiss became more passionate and urgent. Their hands and lips navigated the so familiar territory and their bodies clicked, as if they were made to hold each other. That morning they danced tirelessly without music, because they could never get enough of their burning, long lasting passion.

12 Grimmauld Place, England - 3 pm

"Do you reckon Snape knew Harry was starting Hogwarts this year?" Sirius combed Remus' hair with his fingers as the younger man flipped vigorously through the pages of a book, Padfoot sat on the floor, his back against the couch and Moony's head on his lap.

"What prompted that question?" He closed his book with his fingers in between the pages he was reading, Sirius shrugged "I would imagine he knew... I only hope Harry is better than me at Potions"

"That's not hard!"

"Oy!" Remus sat up quickly and hit Sirius arm with the book.

"Ouch" he moved away jokingly.

"How do you figure his first class with Snivellus will be like?" he was still laughing as he asked.

"I'm not sure, but I hope he writes us about it. I think I'd rather have classes with Sluggy... Do you reckon they'll ever replace Bins?"

"Great Godric, is this what we've become, the parents who live vicariously through their children's experiences?" As the conversation flowed he'd started to play with the rings in Sirius' fingers.

"Isn't that what you do in your books though? Live vicariously through the characters?"

"That is entirely different! We need to get a hobby... or a job."

"I am not getting a job and I have a hobby" it was true, he had spent the past decade or so trying to fix their home, remove curses, evil paintings and burnt tapestry, repainting and refurnishing, Remus did enjoy the changes, but he preferred to do something else with his time.

When the day got to an end, they had realised how much of their time was taken up by Harry and how little they had to do now that the boy would be gone for several months, after all, it had been 10 years.