It Meant Family

23rd - 24th of December 1993

"There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it's now okay to express ourselves publicly. We make that day by doing things publicly until it's simply the way things are." - Tammy Baldwin)

Hogwarts, Scotland

The Gryffindor Common Room was filled by the soothing warmth of the fireplace, the crackle of the flames echoed in the nearly empty space, accompanied by the sound of a quill dancing fervently on paper, pages flipping softly and chess pieces gliding on a stone board. Even with the light of the waxing moon, the snow falling outside blocked any view of the school grounds it had painted white.

Hermione, who had gotten her homework back that morning, eagerly continued her studies occupying both the floor and the coffee table. Ron laid on the ground across from her, between the table and the fireplace, playing chess by himself.

Harry sat by the windowsill with a book in hand, the cover had a yellow and blue design, the title in red occupied the top half The Gilda Stories and below it, in black and white, a photo of the author next to her name Jowelle Gomez. His eyes ran over the same line repeatedly ("It makes as much sense for Eleanor to choose thrill-seeking or Samuel to choose murder as it does for you and me to choose love and family."), but he couldn't understand it as his mind was being pulled into a growing tornado of thoughts, so even though he knew the meaning of each word, he failed to interpret them. Tired of the pointless effort, he put a plastic candy wrapper on the top of the page and closed the book, having made a decision.

"I've got to tell you something." He announced. "It's important." Ron and Hermione stopped what they were doing and looked up as he made his way near the rug. "It's about my family."

"Does it have to do with Pettigrew?" Asked Ron disappointed.

"No, it's got nothing to do with him." He explained sitting down on the floor between his friends. "It's about Sirius." He swallowed and picked at the wool on the rug. "Most people think that he raised me by himself-" he cleared his throat, "but he didn't." Hermione looked at his hands, nervous, he hid them in the sleeves of his jumper. "There's someone else that lives with us and who's part of our family." Curiosity dared him to glance at them, Hermione's eyes lingered at the fireplace and Ron watched him puzzled. "Actually, you know him." He went silent, he wished they'd already understood and told him it was fine, so he wouldn't have to continue, his stomach twisted into a million knots and every breath felt like an eternity, it felt like coming out. "It's Remus." He said at last.

"You grew up with Professor Lupin?" Ron's loud shocked tone slammed against the heavy atmosphere of the conversation and both Harry and Hermione whipped their heads to look at him. He nodded.

"You, Sirius and Professor Lupin?" Asked Hermione and the soft way she pronounced each of their names told him she'd understood.

"Yeah." He smiled.

"I don't get it." Said Ron, still confused. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Ron," Hermione raised both her eyebrows and looked him in the eyes, "Sirius and Professor Lupin." Harry let the names hang in the silence for a while, waiting for his friend to catch on, but he didn't.

"They're dating." He explained. "And they think it's safest if people don't know."

"Professor Lupin's gay?" He shouted.

"Well, he's bisexual," Harry laughed, "but..." He shrugged, he could see the cogs turning in Ron's head, he opened his mouth several times as if he was going to ask a question or make a comment, but eventually his face relaxed, he looked up at him and nodded.

"Okay." He said. Harry looked at Hermione searching for reassurance.

"It actually makes sense." She told him. "But it's also kind of cheating isn't it. I mean, of course you're going to be great at Defence Against the Dark Arts if you've had Lupin to help you all these years."