Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Curious Nature	By : CondemnedForLife Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > Slash - Male/Male Views: 28002 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world or its characters, or the Twilight world and its characters, and I make absolutely no profit from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Summary: For the Black-Lupin family, Forks is a second chance at life and at love for a group of war-damaged teenagers and their parents. Post-War. Harry/Jacob

Pairings: Jacob/Harry, Remus/Sirius, Seth/Draco, Embry/Theo, Hermione/Blaise, Ron/Neville.

Category: Harry Potter/Twilight

Genre: Romance/Family

Rating: M/NC-17

Warnings: Mature themes, slash, gay (male/male) relationships, some angst, drama, gay sex, crossover, canon for books one to four and AU after that.

Author's note: So a little bit of information out their to all my reader (which by the way is a lot according to the favourites, alerts and review I've been getting) this story is roughly set during the New Moon timeline. Bella had come to Forks but she never went out with Edward nor is she going to (have some plans there). The Cullens did however kill James because of some territory disputes and Victoria is seeking vengeance. I think that�s about it for the moment, so read and enjoy!! :D

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

�I can do this. I will do this.� Sirius was pacing. �I can be a muggle. It�s not that hard.� Pause. �Ok, maybe it is a bit hard, but what�s the big deal. I mean really? So it�s hard work and my back will ache and I�ll probably get splinters.� Starts pacing again. �Splinters. You can deal with that Sirius, you dealt with Azkaban for twelve years for the love of Merlin.� Random kick at a box. �Why do muggles like boxes so much anyway? Merlin, everything is in a box. Food and beds and people.� Sirius was now ranting. �Doing stuff the muggle way is seriously over-rated!!� Sirius had lost his mind.

These were Remus� observations from where he was standing unnoticed by the living room door, watching his lover pacing and ranting. It looked like Sirius had finally cracked and the reason for the loss of sanity that had been kept even when he was in Azkaban? A room full of boxes that held their furniture.

They had been at the Old Willow for three days now. Yesterday, a large truck had delivered their sofas, armchairs and the tables and chairs for the kitchen along with a number of large paintings that Remus couldn�t even remember seeing in the store let alone buying. Sirius had been delighted about the arrival and was determined to fix up everything they way he had pictured it. While his mate was busy Remus had decided to paint their bedroom(the muggle way) and Chris and Tom got started on the hall and stairs. By the end of the day everyone was exhausted, but satisfied.

Today had gone much the same. Remus had �persuaded� Sirius to help him paint the kitchen a pale blue, shutting him up with kisses every time he started to complain so that Sirius only remembered what he had been saying about twenty minutes later. At which point Remus would simply kiss him again. Tom and Chris had arrived early in the morning and were finished the rest of the stairs and the master bedroom by the afternoon. The wizards had thanked both men, tipped them generously and waved them goodbye.

It was shortly after this that the �incident� occurred. Another truck, which they had been anticipating all day, arrived. Sirius had been busy complaining about the paint on his clothes, so the werewolf had left him in the bathroom and went to let the delivery men in. They had carried in over a dozen boxes of different shapes and sizes, containing the beds they had bought as well as the bookcases, the chest of drawers and some of the smaller tables Sirius had chosen.

Remus had followed the men back outside to sign a form stating that they had received their furniture. He had returned to find a clean Sirius, who had clearly expected the rest of the furniture to come fully put together just like the rest of it had been, throwing a temper tantrum worthy of his mother.

Bracing himself the wizard stepped gingerly into the room and approached his, normally quite sound, mate as he would a sleeping dragon. Sirius whirled around to face him and gestured frantically behind him, his hair swaying wildly with the motion.

�Look,� he moaned. �Boxes! Muggles are so lazy. We bought beds. Not wood and nails and pieces of paper with instructions that nearly always never work. Arthur told me so.�

�And how do you suppose they were going to transport eight beds and mattresses in a truck?� Remus pointed out reasonably.

Sirius gaped at his mate, then glanced behind him miserably. �I suppose we better get started then.�

Together they levitated the boxes with the uncompleted beds up the stairs, leaving the mattresses behind for the time being. A well placed severing charm took care of the thick cellophane holding the boxes closed. Remus attempted to hide his own trepidation as he took in the task he had set himself up for in making the bed. And there was seven more to go after this.

With the pieces set out and the various screws and bolts needed beside them, the sandy-haired man turned his attention to the instruction in front of him, before blinking in confusion.

�That�s French,� Sirius pointed out helpfully from behind him.

Remus flipped over the page. �German.� There was a definite grin in his voice now and the werewolf growled and turned the page again. �That�s-�

�It�s Italian! I know! Finally, English.� Remus ignored his snickering mate as he quickly scanned the instructions.

�Alright. It says that part A has to be connected to part B, which is the middle board between part D and part e.�

�Where does part C come in?�

�Never mind. Let�s just work on the letters we have.�

Ten minutes later, Remus let out a frustrated snarl and kicked the two long planks of wood which were certainly not suppose to be connected, though the instructions said otherwise.

�Stupid-broken-piece-of-shit-� Every word was punctuated with a fierce kick to the offending boards.

�Feel better?� Sirius wondered from over by the window where he was making a fort with the wood Remus had not been using. He had given up on helping about two minutes in.

�I say we use it as fire wood.�

Sirius hummed non-committedly, carefully laying the last board on top of the others. He grinned happily at his success before frowning and looking around. �I need a moat.� He began to stroke his wand thoughtfully.

Remus shook his head at his mate and turned away from the animagus mutterings, aiming a final kick at his failed attempt at making a bed. �Useless, broken- ow!�

Remus cried out at the blinding pain in his head and fell heavily to the ground. A sharp, piecing pain ran from his left ear to his forehead. Carefully, he touched the injury and winced at the warm, wetness that came off on his fingers. Blood.

�Merlin, Remus. Are you ok? I�m so sorry!�

�Sirius?� His words were slurred and he vaguely heard a muttered curse before a hot, fuzzy sensation in his head distracted him. It felt familiar. .

A minute later he was blinking away white spots as the pain receded and the nausea that had slowly begun to build in his stomach disappeared. He staggered to his feet with Sirius arm around his waist, confusion taking the place of pain. What had happened? It felt like he had been his over the head by a plank of. . .

�Sirius!�

The wizard in question blanched. �I�m sorry, Remus. I didn�t mean to, well I mean I did mean to cast the spell, but I didn�t mean for you to get hurt I-I. . .�

Remus anger disappeared at the tears he heard in his mate�s voice and he whirled around to see what exactly it was Sirius had done. He gawked in astonishment at the huge four poster bed standing in the middle of the room. It seemed even more magnificent in their room, against the dark red background, than it had in the store.

�What did you do?�

Sirius relaxed at the shock and delight in his partner�s voice, though the guilt from having hit him over the head was still making his hands shake and his vision blur slightly. He was amazed he had managed to perform a healing charm effectively on the werewolf�s head.

�Well, I just heard you say the word broken, so I um- cast Reparo. I didn�t think anything with actually happen and I definitely didn�t think that the wooden board beside you would come soaring airborne towards you. I am sorry. Effective though,� he added with a self-satisfied grin, gesturing towards their bed.

Remus rolled his eyes at the smugness lacing those tones. �So you cast a spell on muggle supplies, having no idea what might happen?�

Sirius deflated slightly. �Well. . . Yeah. But look!� He seemed intent on indulging in his triumph. �Now we don�t have to spend ages looking at those funny looking diagrams only to discard them and attempt to try to figure it out ourselves.�

Remus raised an eyebrow and Sirius shrugged. �Arthur says its something that muggle men seem to do a lot, like a hobby or something. I dunno.�

�But don�t you think it would be more worthwhile if we actually put them together ourselves. You know, get a sense of accomplishment when they�re done and we know that did it without any help from magic.�

Sirius gave him a look he felt that statement deserved. �No, I think I�ll get a huge sense of accomplishment when I finish this in about an hour instead of a day and get to go home to my children.�

It was clear from the furrow above his eyebrows that Sirius always got when he was determined that Remus would not be able to persuade him otherwise. Besides the idea had merit. The werewolf was also missing his adopted children.

Remus left his mate happily waving his wand in their room, while he opened the boxes in the other rooms. As reluctant as he was to admit it, Remus knew that without Sirius� accidental discovery he would never have been able to put together these beds. He grinned as he heard Sirius singing a Weird Sisters� song extremely off tune. It had been a long time since he had heard his mate so joyful and he could only hope that the move would prove helpful to their children as well.

-------------------------------

�Draco, have you seen my jeans?�

�Which ones?�

�The black ones.�

�Which black ones?�

�The ones with the pattern on the pockets.�

�You mean the sequins?�

�They are not sequins! They�re diamond thingies.�

�Yeah, sure. I think I saw them in Theo�s room.�

�What the hell are they doing in there?� Harry muttered to himself, ending his shouted conversation with Draco, who was in another room. He stuffed the Weasley jumper he was holding in his hand into his trunk, then left the room he shared with Ron.

Theo and Blaise�s room was only slightly less chaotic than his own. There were clothes strewn on the floor and the beds and there also appeared to be a sock hanging from the chandelier. Theo himself was crouched on the ground with one arm and his head under the bed, muttering furiously to himself.

Harry lay down on the other side of the bed and peered across the dark, dusty floor to where Theo was patting the ground with his hand. Harry placed his head on his crossed arms for a moment, then tilted his head slightly when Theo swore.

�Uh. . . What are you doing?�

�I�m looking for my eagle quill.�

A slight paused ensued.

�Under the bed?�

�Yes, under the bed,� was the snarled response.

�Oookkaayy.�

Another paused ensued, followed by a sigh.

�Harry, what do you want?�

�Have you seen my black jeans? The ones Sirius bought me for my birthday?�

�The one with the sequins?�

�No! The one with the pattern on the back pockets.�

�That�s what I said and no I haven�t seen them. I�ll tell you if I do though.�

Harry took one last glance at the fervently searching hand before hoisting himself up and leaving the room, stepping carefully over what looked like a squashed piece of Cockroach Cluster. He stood in the hall for a minute, trying to remember where in the hell he had put those jeans. The last time he had worn them was three days ago, the day after Sirius and Remus had left but he hadn�t seen them since then. Shrugging and deciding against going back into his room, where the likelihood of tripping over clothes or stepping on dropped food seemed rather high at the moment, Harry decided to continue down the hall.

�Shit, shit, shit, shit. . .�

The mantra was coming from Neville and Draco�s room and Harry pushed open the door to see both of them leaping and jumping around a fire in the middle of the room, while waving their arms up and down. The black-haired wizard stood uncertainly in the doorway, torn between the urge to run for help or laugh at how ridiculous they looked.

�Uh. . . Have you two decided to join some kind of Wiccan cult that practices dancing around the fire rituals or should I call for help?�

Both head shot up when he spoke.

�Harry,� Neville called, relief clear in his voice. �Can you put this out please?�

Harry nodded and waved his hand over the fire, quickly extinguishing it. Before they had left Sirius and Remus had forbade them from using magic except for emergencies and had warded the house to prevent. While Remus had done it to help them prepare for moving to the muggle world, Harry suspected that Sirius merely found it amusing. The wards however, didn�t work against wandless magic which only Harry and Blaise could do.

Harry grinned at his panting friends, it was always amusing to see the impeccable Draco Malfoy looking so dishevelled.

�What were you doing?�

Draco sniffed haughtily. �I wasn�t doing anything.� He stomped over to the mirror and began to brush the ash marks from his clothes.

Neville smiled sheepishly. �I kinda decided to burn my potion�s books.�

Harry blinked, then burst out laughing. He gasped as he sank back onto Neville�s bed. He could hear Draco chuckling with him.

�It was pretty funny at the start,� Draco agreed. �I even encouraged him a bit. But that book was meant to burn. It just went up in flames and we didn�t really think about all the clothes we had left around, so it started to spread. Thanks for putting it out.�

�No problem,� Harry grinned. �I wish I had thought of burning my Divination books. It would have been much more satisfying than throwing them in the bin.�

Neville mumbled his agreement as he sat on the bed beside Harry. Draco looked at them curiously.

�You know I never took Divination. Between Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy I never had time. I was never interested in the subject, I mean why would I want to know what�s going to happen in the future? I�d much rather concentrate on the present.�

Harry gave Draco a soft smile. Very few people could see past Draco�s artificial outer shell and see the wonderful person he was beneath. The Gryffindor himself had been one of them for a long time, but it was times like these that Draco really reminded him of how insightful he could be.

�What was it like? Trelawney�s class?� Draco inquired while he deftly folded his clothes and carefully put them in his trunk. Something Harry would never have had the patience to do.

Neville snorted. �Ridiculous. She put incense everywhere, so it was really hard to concentrate. Mind you that�s probably why some of us saw anything at all. We were probably hallucinating. She usually shouted at us to broaden our minds and to use our inner eye. She seemed to delight in telling Harry-� Neville cut himself of abruptly and looked embarrassed. Draco glanced at Harry whose was sitting very stiff on the bed and whose cheery demeanour had disappeared.

�She delighted in telling me when I was going to die and how. Guess she was wrong huh?� Harry laughed a harsh, bitter laugh that made the other two wince. �I didn�t die. I just caused everyone around me to.�

�Harry, that is not true,� Draco crossed the room in three strides and knelt before the other wizard. �No one�s death was your fault. Your parents� death occurred when you were a baby. Cedric died because a man you let live betrayed you. The deaths of the people in the war happened because they were trying to protect their world and their families against an insane murderer.�

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat as his friend defended him fiercely. Draco�s hands cradled his own, and Neville�s arm wrapped around his back.

�You sacrificed everything for this world. You gave up your chance at a childhood to fight for people you had never even met. I watched you take curse after curse and hex after hex and you never gave up. And I was honoured to fight beside you.�

Harry gave a small gasp and felt a single tear slip down his cheek, he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the blond boy�s neck, burying his face into a shoulder.

Draco�s hand rubbed soothing circles on the small of his back and Harry fought the burning behind his eyes, revelling in the comfort he had been deprived of in his early years. He had quickly become accustom to the friendly hugs or touches from his adopted family in the last year and had even begun to initiate them himself.

Harry pulled back slowly and sat back on the bed beside Neville, who had remained a quiet but comforting presence during their embrace.

�Sorry,� Harry mumbled, rubbing his face quickly.

�No-�

�-apologising,� Harry finished Draco�s sentence for him, used to everybody�s correction of his and Theo�s habit of apologising for no reason.

�You don�t have to apologise to us for showing emotion. You�ve often comforted us when we�ve needed it. Why shouldn�t we do the same?�

Harry didn�t answer what he knew was a rhetorical question and a comfortable silence fell when the blond began to fold and pack his clothes again.

�My jeans wasn�t it Theo�s room,� Harry informed him.

�It wasn�t? Then I haven�t a clue where it is.�

�Which jeans?� Neville inquired as he poked his foot at the remains of his still smoking potions book.

�The black ones. With the pattern on the back.�

�Oh, the one with the sequins?�

�What? No! They�re not sequins!�

�Yes, they are,� the two chorused.

Harry growled and bolted off the bed and into the hall slamming the door as he went, which cut off their chuckles.

�They are not sequins!� Harry mumbled to himself. �Sequins are girly! These are manly patterns. Crystals. Rocks. The total opposite of girly.�

Harry was glad for something to distract him from what had happened in the bedroom. Breakdowns like that were quite common when living in a house full of teenaged, war veterans, but the ex-saviour still hated when they happened to him. When it was someone else he could do something about it. He could offer comfort or sympathetic words, but when it was him the feeling was overwhelming.

During the day it was easier to cope with the feelings, to suppress the memories, especially when you were surrounded by comfort and love. But at night when it was dark and cold, and there was no distractions, the memories always came back. The sound of screaming, sobbing and yelling. The smell of blood, dirt and tears. The feeling of pain, hatred, and always fear. Overwhelming, constant, gut-wrenching fear. It was crushing and frightening. To witness the deaths of loved ones, of strangers, of enemies over and over again. To wake up screaming, throat hoarse and eyes sore because you had been crying in your sleep.

The only reason Harry went to sleep at all at night was because when he woke up he knew there would be somebody there. It didn�t matter who, but there was always someone, sometimes several someones. Often they all merely crowded into the same room, finding space where they could simply because it would save time rather than walking from one room to another. On the rare occasions that he did sleep peacefully he was woken by somebody else�s cries. Sometimes it was Hermione�s cries for her parents, or Theo�s sobs about that bastard Greyback, or even Sirius� screams about Azkaban.

Harry yelped when he suddenly found himself crashing to the floor and coughed at the dust that drifted into his mouth. He lifted himself onto his knees and glared at the reason for his fall. Crookshanks. The flat-face cat was sitting in the middle of the hallway looking rather displeased that Harry had tripped over it. It sent him a menacing glare that almost had Harry shivering before it returned it�s attention to the prey it had captured between it�s paws.

Harry looked closer and immediately released that it wasn�t a mouse or a rat. Actually, it looked kind of like a feather. An eagle feather. . . Oh, shit. Theo was not going to be happy about that. The dark-haired wizard glanced from Crookshanks sharp claws to the rather bedraggled looking quill and decided against a rescue attempt. From what he could see it was already damaged beyond repair. Ah well, if Theo found out he would plead ignorance.

Content, to leave the cat to it�s. . .treat, Harry got to his feet and walked off. Dodging Kreacher on the second floor the black-haired entered the sitting room a few minutes later where he could hear Ron and Blaise shouting. He hurried in, worried that they might be fighting again. Ron and Blaise seemed to have a love/hate relationship in Harry�s opinion. They spent days where they were joined at the hip laughing, pranking the rest of them and wrestling each other. The other days were spent at each other�s throats arguing about the smallest thing, to whether the Chudley�s Cannons or the Wisbourne Wasps were the better Qudditch team to who looked better in blue.

Harry often found their relationship confusing and hard to follow so he merely left them to it most of the time, wary of getting involved in their alpha male contest. He thought part of it might because Blaise had a crush on Hermione, but Ron had quickly denied this when he asked him about it. He admitted that he no longer fancied Hermione and wasn�t sure if he ever had and Blaise and he merely enjoyed annoying each other too much to be friendly all the time.

Today however, appeared to be a love day because Harry found the two wizards playing wizard�s darts. Wizard�s darts was something that Blaise and Draco had introduced them to and that Harry had quickly found a lot more enjoyable than wizarding chess. His love for the game was somewhat tampered by that fact that Ron still bet him. The game was almost exactly like muggle darts apart from the fact that the numbers on the circular board were replaced by images of well-known people�s heads. A panel beside the dart board counted up the scores of each player.

�Yeah,� Ron shouted raising his arms in the air in triumph when one of his darts landed on Kingsley Shacklebolt�s(the new Minister of Magic) face who was set near the middle.

�Shut up and throw the other one.� Blaise�s handsome face was shaped into a scowl and a quick glance at the scoreboard showed Harry why. Ron was winning by a large margin.

�Hey Harry.� Blaise scowled left and he grinned at the other boy. It returned rapidly at Ron�s victory dance, which involved a great deal of waving arms and swivelling hips.

�You haven�t won yet, asshole,� Blaise muttered, shoving Ron as he aimed his own dart.

Ron threw an arm around Harry who wrinkled his nose at the smell of sweat permitting from his adopted brother.

�Damn Ron. You smell like you�ve run a mile or something.� Harry quickly darted out from under his arm and took refuge in the clean-smelling air about a foot away.

�Darts is hard work,� Ron defended.

�It�s hardly Quidditch,� Harry pointed out wryly.

�Hey! Darts takes a lot of concentration. A lot of upper arm work. Its all in the shoulder you know. Not as easy as it looks.�

�Uh-huh.�

Ron frowned at his disbelieving down, then grinned at Harry�s smile and reached out a hand to ruffled his messy chin-length hair. Grumbling, Harry fought against the hand making his hair even more messy than it already was.

�Yessss!� Blaise yell had the other two turning their heads.

�What?� Ron asked warily.

Harry decided to leave them to their sweaty, upper arm building game and opened his mouth to speak.

�How the hell did you get Dumbledore? You cheated! And while my back was turned too. How could you?�

�I did not.�

�Did too.�

�Did not.�

�Did too.�

�Did not.�

�Did too.�

�Hey�!

Both turned simultaneously towards the source of shouting. Harry.

�Before you two continue your. . .argument, I was wondering have either of you seen my black jeans? You know the ones Sirius bought me for my birthday.�

They turned to face each other and raised an eyebrow, before shrugging at the same time. Harry wanted to complain about their silent communication, but knew that they got just as frustrated when he did the same thing with Theo. After a minute they faced him again and spoke in unison.

�You mean the sparkly ones?�

�The girly ones?�

Harry closed his eyes and when he opened them he spoke through gritted teeth. �They are not sparkly and they are not girly. They are diamonds and they happen to be very manly.

Blaise snorted and Ron chuckled good-naturedly before returning to their disagreement.

�Did not.�

�Did too.�

�Did not.�

�Did too.�

�Did not!�

�Did too!�

Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head at the arguing boys whose voices faded slightly when he entered into the kitchen. At first Harry thought it was empty, the lack of lights apart from a flickering bulb in the ceiling made it difficult for him to see the entire room. But a small noise at the table made him squint until he made out Hermione�s form. She was sitting cross-legged at the table with a book in one hand and pencil in the other.

The dark-haired wizard knew better to interrupt his studious friend when she was reading a book so he settled himself on one of the chairs and began to softly hum a muggle song. It was a habit he had developed during the war after Hermione introduced him to the wonders of rock�n�roll. For some reason he found it very soothing and had taken to doing it when he had an anxiety attacks.

�Harry,� Hermione�s annoyed voice called. �Stop humming Nirvana�s Teen Spirit and tell me what you want.�

Harry opened his eyes and feigned a wounded look. �Well, that�s nice. If you don�t want me, your best friend here, then I�m sure I can find somewhere else to go. . .�

Hermione laughed at his teasing, but Harry could see the circles under her eyes and not for the first time in the past few day he worried about the strain this move was putting her under. The dark-haired wizard knew that the move to the Unites States would truly be the best for all of them and they had all been thrilled when Remus and Sirius had tentatively suggested it.

To get away from the Wizarding World would be a blessing in disguise. Here they were constantly reminded of the war through visits by the Order, or letters of thanks or otherwise from survivors. Or the newspapers and journalists who were constantly hounding them and who had gone so far as to send Theo a picture of Fenrir Greyback during breakfast in the Great Hall in hopes of getting a reaction out of him. They had succeeded in that case and Theo had been confided to bed for almost three days after that. Harry could only imagine what seeing the face of your tormentor from the age of seven could do. The journalist the photograph had been traced back to was certainly remorseful afterwards, if only because of the fact that he couldn�t move once Remus, Blaise and Draco were done with him.

However, as much as Harry knew that this move would be beneficial to all of them, he worried about what it would do to Hermione. All of them apart from Hermione and Harry had grown up in the magical world, and had no connection with the world of muggles. Harry himself had no love for that world, having grown up with the worst sort of muggles possible.

Hermione on the other hand had been raised in a caring family, with parents who had loved her dearly and who had fully accepted their daughter�s magical world despite the fact that many in it did not accept them in return. While staying in the Wizarding world Hermione had been able to distant herself from losing her parents. Once she returned to muggle world though, that would be much harder to do and it appeared that she had realised this.

�Are you alright Harry?�

His friend�s concerned voice snapped him out of his musing and he smiled sheepishly at her, receiving an exasperated sigh in return. The young witch had long since learned to deal with Harry and Ron�s habit for daydreaming and her tolerance had only increased when she was further surrounded by male friends. Luna didn�t count as she wasn�t really one for staying lucid at anytime of the day.

�What did you want?� Hermione asked again, beginning to sound rather impatient.

�Huh? Oh, I was wondering if you had seen my black jeans anywhere. I wanted to pack them with everything else.�

Hermione�s face, which had slowly begun to sink back behind her book while he spoke, popped back up when his jeans were mentioned. Was it just him or did she look guilty?

�Harry, I-uh, see the thing is-um. . .�

Harry felt even more wary now. �What? What did you do?�

�Harry, I swear it wasn�t my fault! I didn�t notice your jeans on Theo�s bed when I went in there. It was an accident!�

Harry growled. �What happened?�

The bushy-haired witch gulped and brown eyes darted to the kitchen door. �Well, I had a piece of toast in one hand and . . . a book in the other. . .�

Her silence spoke for itself. It was widely known among their group that Hermione was never to be given food while reading a book. As capable as she was of multi-tasking, Hermione could not keep hold of her food while engrossed in a book. Years of spilled pumpkin juice, soaked clothes, butter covered hair and sticky shoes left much to be desired from the habit and Harry could safely say that he knew exactly where this was going.

�Tell me you didn�t. . .�

�It was an accident! But the jam and butter got all over the back pockets and those crystal patterns-�

Harry�s anger at his friend diminished quite considerably when she failed to refer to them as �sparkly� or �sequins�.

�-and Remus and Sirius forbid us from using magic, which might I add is highly irresponsible of them considering who they left in charge of us, so I tried to use a wandless cleaning spell.�

�You did what?!�

�Yes, I know it was foolish and arrogant, but really the chance of something going wrong are very rare. The Guide to Wandless Magic clearly states that once you have all the-�

Harry cleared his throat loudly in hope of cutting off what looked like one of Hermione�s educational lectures before it even got started. She looked annoyed at him for the interruption.

�Harry, that was really very rude, but anyway the spell didn�t exactly go according to plan. Of all the malfunctions that could have possibly happened that was not one of them.�

�Why? What the bloody hell happened?�

Hermione fidgeted for a moment, twirling her bushy hair around her forefinger in a characteristic sign of nervousness before reaching into the pocket of her jean shorts and pulling out a tiny pair of jeans. Harry attempted to hold onto his anger for a moment or two before failing. He began to chuckle which soon turned into full blown laughter. His friend soon joined him, but Harry could here the slightly high-pitched tone in her giggles.

Still chuckling, the young wizard reached up to wipe tears of laughter away and leaned closer for a better look at his new miniature jeans.

�Well, I suppose we could always shrink me,� he suggested.

Hermione gave him a dirty look and shook her head, sending wisps of hair flying around her head.

�I really don�t understand how a Cleaning Charm became misinterpreted for a Shrinking Spell. It simply doesn�t make any sense. The logics of magic suggest that the four key elements in any spell is a fundamental-�

��Mione much as I love you, I have absolutely no idea what your talking about and quite honestly I couldn�t care less either.�

The witch huffed at what she saw as a blatant lack of respect for the education but didn�t reprimand him this time. Harry and Ron had learned that the only way to prevent her from reverting to shouting mode was to cut her off before she built up steam And to be very, very blunt.

�So, you�re not mad?�

�Nah. I want a new pair of jeans though. The only thing they�ll fit will be Ken or Barbie.�

They both burst into renewed giggles at the thought and didn�t see Ron when he burst into the room.

�Harry!� The shout succeeded in making them both look up.

Ron stopped in front of them and for a moment it looked like he was going to asked them what was so funny, instead he merely shook his head at his two oldest friends and yanked Harry out of his chair.

The smaller wizard stumbled as he was dragged along by the taller one. He could hear Ron rambling ahead of him about some such nonsense, though a single word caught his attention. Dumbledore.

�Dumbledore? He�s back? Where is he?�

A finger pointed in the direction of the living room soon had their roles changed, Ron was now being dragged behind Harry. To anyone watching it would have being an impressive, albeit amusing sight. A five foot five wizard hauling along a considerably larger wizard of about six foot three.

Harry burst into the room with vigour and made a swift movement towards the old wizard standing by the fireplace. The previous Headmaster of Hogwarts was dressed in a dashing set of fuchsia robes with larger green butterfly�s on them. His wrinkled, smiling countenance gave Harry a burst of warmth just as it always did towards the man he considered a grandfather.

While training during the war, Harry had spent many hours cooped up with Dumbledore and despite his many faults(most of which he would admit himself), the young wizard couldn�t help feeling the affection towards Dumbledore that he did. His eccentricity and humour made Harry seek his company many times after and during the war if only because the older wizard seemed to have some kind of resource of cheerfulness that never ran out. Something that Harry found refreshing when surrounded by death and destruction.

There was also the fact that Dumbledore was the only one who truly understood what Harry had face during the war. No one else had had to go into battle knowing that they had to kill the Dark Lord. No one except Dumbledore and strangely enough it was something that they shared a bond over.

Dumbledore�s fashion had also made a rather big impact on Harry as well, much to Draco�s horror. While he usually dressed in muggle clothing, which was more comfortable and suitable for everyday wear, on the occasions that he did wear robes they were now as bright and highly decorated as his former headmaster�s were. For his birthday the older wizard has bought him a pair of neon green robes which flashed pink in the dark.

Due to his resignation from his post at Hogwart�s following the end of the war, Dumbledore had spent much of his time with Harry and his friends, and the so called Chosen One immensely enjoyed his visits. Therefore he had been overjoyed when he had learned that Albus would be left in charge of them when Sirius and Remus made their trip to America.

�Albus,� Harry cried, leaping into the other man�s arms. Dumbledore had left earlier that morning to run a number of errands and had left Hermione and Blaise in charge.

�Guess what I have Harry?� asked Dumbledore, smiled serenely as he reached into his pockets.

Harry pulled back warily and eyed the man�s pocket in which one hand was buried. �I dunno Albus and I�m not sure that I want to. I admit that most of your ideas are fantastic ones, but I agree with Hermione. I think that maybe we went a bit too far sticking all the furniture to the ceiling.�

�Why thank you my dear boy for the compliment. I have to admit that some of your ideas have a great deal of merit as well. As for the second, I don�t believe there is any such thing as too far, and if there is we haven�t reached there yet. Isn�t that right Mr. Weasley?�

Harry rolled his eyes when Ron nodded his head vigorously. �Sure Professor. I think Hermione overreacted, Harry. That spell was absolutely genius.�

�Its Albus and thank you, my boy,� Dumbledore beamed at the red-headed boy. �See Harry?�

Harry decided not to mention that Ron had nearly had a heart attack when he walked into his room and went to jump on his bed only to land in a heap on thefloor. Besides Dumbledore producing a number of green balloons from his pocket was far more interesting than embarrassing his friend.

�Water balloons?� Ron sounded disappointed.

�Yes, indeed. Water balloons. I thought we might have a bit of fun throwing them at people from the roof.�

Harry knew Dumbledore almost as well as he knew himself and knew that a genius like him would never stoop so low as to throw mere water balloons at passer-bys.

�Alright Albus, what�s in the balloons, apart from water? And no lies.�

�Very well, my boy, you have me. I may have included something a little extra in these water bombs.�

Harry raised an eyebrow in impatience. �Well? What is it?�

�Frogs.�

A grin slowly spread across Harry�s face at the familiar mischievous twinkle in his mentor�s eye. Oh, that could only mean that they were about to get into a lot of trouble. . .and he couldn�t wait. He exchanged a quick glance with Ron who looked just as excited as he did and they both lunged for the green balloons that were croaking faintly. A minute later and they were racing each other up the stairs in an attempt to get the best throwing position.

Dumbledore followed them at a sedate pace, whistling merrily as he did, content to take his time climbing the steep stairs in consideration to his old bones. Ah, to be seventeen again. . .

- - - - - - - -

A doorbell ringing a few hours later was followed by a sound reminiscent to a stampede as a pile of young people and one old wizard gathered in front of the door in the dark, gloomy hallway to welcome back Sirius and Remus. Dumbledore moved forward first to shake both men�s hands.

�I�ve been taking very god care of your adopted children while you away,� the wizened wizard said solemnly, though his lips twitched slightly at the snorts he heard from behind him.

�Yes, I�m sure you have Albus,� Remus replied wryly as he shrugged off his coat and scarf and then helped his mate out of his own. �You wouldn�t happen to know anything about the pools of water in the road or the frogs on the street by any chance?�

Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders and looked appropriately innocent. �I have to say I know nothing about them. Frogs you say? Muggles are so very strange.�

Remus hummed noncommitedly and his sharp eyes quickly found a squirming Ron standing beside Harry who had adopted the same facial expression as his former mentor.

Sirius and Remus swiftly moved forward, eager to greet their children after having been away from them for nearly four days now. Hugs were shared amongst them all and a tenseness that nobody had noticed developing since the two Marauders had left quickly evaporated.

�Well, I don�t know about the rest of you but I�m starving,� Sirius declared loudly, an arm wrapped around both Draco and Theo.

A murmur of agreement was received from the constantly hungry teenaged boys.

�Harry and I made dinner,� Hermione piped up. �We didn�t want you to have anything to do when you got home.�

A grateful Remus and Sirius ushered the rest of them into the kitchen with promises to tell them all about their new house during dinner. They remained in the hallway to talk with Albus while they could hear the kids setting the table.

�How were they while we were gone?� Sirius was blunt. He felt there was no point dancing around issues concerning his children.

The former Headmaster sighed and rubbed his crooked nose while contemplating what he had to say. �They were well enough for teenaged war survivors, but that�s the most positive thing I can say. Blaise and Ron seem to be coping the best and from what I can see it�s not just a front they�re putting on. Harry is not doing quite as well. He distracts himself with the problems of the rest, but once he is faced with his own pain it takes him quire some time to recover again. Neville and Draco seem to be very dependant on one another and are helping each other through the harder times.

�Theo too seems to depend to those around him for comfort and I believe that out of all of them, he missed your presence the most. Hermione is putting a happy front and hiding herself behind her books, but I think that being faced with returning to the muggle world is bringing up rather bad memories. The move will be hardest on her.�

�You sure don�t hold anything back, Albus,� Sirius replied weakly, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand.

�Would you appreciate it if I did?�

�No, of course not,� Remus reassured him quickly. �Their happiness and welfare is the most important thing to us.� Sirius nodded in agreement.

�I have confidence in you my boys,� Albus declared cheerfully. He clapped both men on the shoulders. �While I will miss you all dreadfully, Harry most of all, I truly believe that this move is the best choice you could have made. I�ll look forward to seeing your new home when I visit.�

�Won�t you stay for dinner?� Remus offered when the older wizard made for the door.

�I think not. You two and your family have been apart for long enough and I do believe that you should spend your time together before you leave. I shall visit again before you all depart though. And Sirius I do believe that you have frogspawn in your hair. Goodnight!�

With a cheery wave Dumbledore departed leaving two rather bemused wizards behind him, one who was grumbling irately while he murmured a Cleaning Charm for his hair. They soon retreated from the cold breeze blowing through the open door and after closing it headed towards the room at the end of the hall where warmth from the lit fireplace and the smell of food wafted out towards them.

Most of the teenagers were already seated at the table, Draco and Ron were the only ones standing because they were bringing the platters of delicious looking roast beef, potatoes and an assortment of vegetables to the table.

Remus took an empty seat between Hermione and Theo placing one hand gently on Theo�s shoulder and the other on his only daughter�s knee. It had taken a much longer amount of time for Theo to trust Remus than it did for him to trust Sirius and the reason for this as quite clear. Remus was a werewolf. Not only that but he had also been bitten by the very man who had spent years abusing the boy.

The Slytherin�s initial aversion of him, while slightly hurtful, was also completely understandable. How could you trust something from which you had only known cruelty and malice? However, as with everyone he came across, Remus� gentle disposition and kind nature showed Theo that he clearly had nothing to fear from his former professor.

In fact Theo had opened up to Remus about the abuse he had suffered during his childhood more so than he had to anyone else including Draco and Blaise. Perhaps it was because he felt that Remus was the only one who could explain the actions of the sadistic monster that was Fenrir Greyback. But the sandy-haired man had had no such explanations for him. His account of being bitten at the age of four by a vengeful Greyback ignited a special bond between the two that has the younger often seeking the elder�s company, sometimes merely to talk. Remus was happy to be of some comfort to his ward, knowing that he could get Theo to speak where others sometimes failed.

�This looks absolutely delicious,� Sirius beamed at Hermione and Harry. Hermione accepted the praise with a smile and a slight blush, Harry on the other hand ducked his head and flushed crimson.

Harry had never been able to get used to the sudden praise heaped upon him by his adopted family. It wasn�t like the glory and fawning admiration he received from the public which all seemed so fake and excessive. This was praise was smaller, more worthwhile things, like one of them mentioning how good his chocolate cake was or Draco stating how good he looked in his new jumper or even Hermione�s thanks when he helped her with a part of Defence Against the Dark Arts that she just couldn�t understand. It seemed natural to them to commend him without being aware of it. Neville seemed to flush just as darkly as he did it, but he smiled happily at the comments all the same. Theo often appeared confused when someone thanked him for something, nevertheless he shrugged it off as nothing.

Harry however, had never been on the receiving side of approval. He had watched adoration been piled upon Dudley from a very young age so he certainly knew what it was and he could always boost Ron�s low self-esteem when it was needed. Which was frequently. To have it directed at him was a new experience though and admittedly one he rather enjoyed if he was honest. Sirius beaming smiles and Remus constant assurances seemed to be taking away the some of the hurt Harry hadn�t even known remained from his childhood with the Dursleys.

Dinner was a comfortable affair. Talk and sometimes teasing banter was passed back and forth over the table while Remus and Sirius caught up on the happenings while they had been absent.

�And then Draco caught the Snitch just as Harry reached out-� Ron was interrupted in his narration of a game of catching the snitch that they had played inside the house buy Hermione telling him to wait until he was finished chewing to take so the rest of them wouldn�t have to see the rather disturbing contents of his mouth.

A general murmur of agreement went around the table as they each felt pity for Hermione who was sitting opposite the red-headed boy. Everyone of them had been witness at one time or another to Ron�s habit for talking and eating at the same time.

Draco elbowed Harry who turned away from his dinner to see a smug grin on the blonde�s face.

�Don�t look so full of yourself,� Harry whispered grinning. �I was this close to catching that bloody ball. I just tripped over one of my shoelaces.�

�Yes, of course you did Harry.�

Harry eyes narrowed at the condescending tome being directed at him and opened his mouth to retaliate when instead he decided to kick Draco under the table where he would not be seen. He just managed to hold a grin when Draco�s eyes widened in surprise. Nearly a year spent with Harry and Ron had gotten him used to the boys� more physical means of settling an argument and he swiftly returned the kick with one of his own. The silent but ferocious fight escalated until the point that they had begun to sword fight with their forks beneath the table, while simultaneously kicking and poking each other in the most painful placed possible.

A loud clearing of the throat had both heads snapping up and turning towards a highly amused looking Sirius. A quick glance around showed Harry that everyone else had finished their dinner and their not-so-secret fight beneath the table had gained them an amused audience.

�If you two are quite done,� Sirius began, smirking when the two young wizards flushed. �Remus and I are ready to answer whatever questions you might have about our new house.�

�So you found one that you like then?� Draco inquired.

Remus nodded. �Yes, we have. We�ve found one that we believe you will all like on the outskirts of a small American town called Forks. It�s located more in the Native American reservation of La Push than in Forks itself though.�

�Really?� Hermione�s face had lit up this. �Native American? I�ve always been completely fascinated by their culture. Did you know that the-�

Sirius cut off Hermione not unkindly with a soft smile. �Hermione, we have absolutely no idea about anything got to do with their culture but I promise you when we arrive that I�ll buy you all the books you want on the subject. Okay?�

Hermione nodded eagerly. Harry could already see her eyes glazing at the thought of new books filled with information she didn�t yet know.

�What�s the house like?� Neville asked shyly from where he was sitting beside Ron.

�The estate is called Old Willow. It�s large. Of course it would be to have to hold you lot. It�s a wooden house and situated quite deeply in the forests of them mountains above La Push. We felt that an isolated area would be better for us all to. . .� Remus paused for a moment to search for the right word, �. . . heal in peace together. While we will no doubt integrate with the muggle population after a while I feel safe in saying that most of you will probably want to get use to your new home first.�

Sirius eagerly picked up where his mate had left off. �Another reason we chose this house is the amount of land that come with it. There is a huge front garden, which I�m sure Neville will appreciate for growing his plants.� The boy in question was smiling broadly.

�There is also a large back garden that leads off into the forest which the real estate agent assured us is part of our lands. I have no doubt that many of you will disappear in there from time to time. Albus told be some of you are quite happy to escape into a forest whenever possible. Especially when it�s forbidden. Can�t say much seeing as Remus and me were just as bad.�

�A forest? Really?� Harry asked, nearly vibrating on his seat in excitement. �Wicked.�

�Exactly. It will also be helpful for Remus�. . .time of the month. And when you all get the urge to let out your wild side.�

They all laughed at that, knowing exactly what he was taking about. Everyone of them could successfully turn into animagus, having been trained deeply in the subject by Sirius during the war in case they would ever need it.

Remus smiled, glad to see them so happy. �We�ve painted and carpeted most of the rooms inside apart from your bedrooms, having no idea what you�d like. You can decide yourselves when we get there. There are six bedrooms in all. A master bedroom, an ensuite and four other bedrooms. We felt that Hermione, as the only girl should have the ensuite which means that the rest of your are going to share.�

A quick glance around the table revealed that nobody seemed bothered by that fact and Hermione was looking practically blissful at the idea of having her own bathroom.

�We could always magically add on some rooms,� Sirius suggested. �But that often causes structural damage in the house.�

�I think I speak for everyone when I say that we�d rather share a room with someone,� Blaise spoke up. �It�s just comforting to know there�s someone there after everything that�s happened. Hermione can come into us whenever she needs to as well. We wouldn�t mind at all.�

The rest of the boys nodded firmly and the only witch in their midst looked grateful. Remus and Sirius looked proud of their adopted sons.

�Great,� exclaimed Sirius. �Now you just have to decide whose going to stay with who.�

The boys and girl then began something that many adults had marvelled at many times during the war. They began what appeared to be a series of conversations over who would room with who. Without speaking one word. The older men could only presume that they were signalling each other somehow, something they must have developed during the war to keep certain discussions private.

A movement on Ron�s part had Hermione hitting him over the head and Draco shaking his head while the other�s looked either amused or puzzled. After a series of sighs and nod of heads, they all looked satisfied and Blaise announced their decisions.

�We�ll keep sharing a room with the same person we�re sharing with here. I�ll stay with Theo, Ron and Harry will have their room and Draco and Blaise will share another room.�

�That leaves one room left,� Sirius said thoughtfully. �You think we should keep it as a guest room?�

�Probably. I have no doubt that Albus will be visiting us frequently with those strange potions and fireworks and frogs of his,� Remus pointed out dryly.

The werewolf raised an inquisitive eyebrow when his lover turned to look at him with incredulity on his face.

�What?�

�I will never understand how you managed to survive as a Marauder for seven years of school.� Sirius voice was full of wonder and amusement and had the rest of the table chuckling at their scowling parent.

�To bed with the lot of you now,� Remus announced when their laughter faded away. �I presume you all have your stuff packed?�

His expectant look received many guilty glances and he sighed. �Finish what you can tonight. We�ll be transporting most of the stuff by the Floo which we�ve connected to the Old Willow to save us having to apparate back and forth all the time.�

Harry and Theo turned rather green at the mention of the Floo, but they both knew it was a better alternative than a Portkey or apparition. Everyone except Remus and Sirius stood from the table and made their way over to give them a hug or kiss goodnight.

Harry wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius when everyone was gone and breathed in the scent of coffee, paint and wet dog. He hadn�t realised how much he had missed his godfather and Remus until they had returned.

�You alright pup?� Sirius chest rumbled under his ear and Harry straightened up slowly.

�Yeah I�m fine. I�m just glad your both back safely.�

Remus stood up looking concerned and grasped Harry�s face between his hands. �Back safely? Harry, why wouldn�t we return safely?�

The young wizard merely shrugged his shoulders, not meeting either of their eyes.

�Harry we�re safe now. The war is over-�

�So what if the war is over?� Harry burst out furiously. �They are still Death Eaters out there that they never caught!�

�Harry, Remus and I can defend ourselves-�

�Not all the time. When you�re in the muggle world you�re not going to be expecting to be attacked at any moment are you? Your defences will be down and all it will take is one second and then you�re gone! You�ll be gone and they�ll separate us because we�re not brother or sister and I�ll be on my own all over again.� Sobs shook his body as he finished.

�Oh, Harry,� Sirius murmured, drawing the reluctant young man into his arms. Harry resisted for a moment before collapsing into the man�s chest.

His body shook with the force of the tears and he couldn�t help think of how pathetic it was to be breaking down for the second time in a few hours. Sirius continued to run soothing circles on his back while the other hand carded through his messy locks. His sobs eventually faded away into hiccups and he could feel Remus nearby, remaining a comforting but unobtrusive presence.

�Harry, I want you to listen to me. Are you listening?� Sirius hands cupped his face gently, wiping away the tears that lingered. �Remus and I lived through the war just as you did and no matter how lax we may become, it will never be enough for anyone to harm us in anyway. Do you understand?�

Harry nodded reluctantly, still sniffling.

�We are not going to leave you alone, pup. I promise you that.�

Remus wanted to reprimand Sirius for making a promise that he might not be able to keep, nevertheless he held his tongue as his mate calmed down their son until all the tears were gone and Harry was looking embarrassed instead of upset. The sandy-haired man hugged Harry once Sirius let him go and he too whispered reassurances into his ear.

�Thanks guys,� Harry muttered sheepishly glancing up at them from under his long bangs. �And I�m glad your back.�

Before he had taken two steps towards the door and a shriek sounded from upstairs. The tree of them turned startled gazes towards the ceiling when another yell followed by a loud thump was heard.

�What the hell?�

�Crookshanks! That quill cost me twenty galleons. I�m going to kill you!�

Harry bit his lip to suppress his giggles as he recognised Theo�s voice, then a long series of enraged human shouts and feline shrieks followed. He plastered on an innocent face when Sirius and Remus rushed past him towards the noise. After all, ignorance was the best policy.

-------------------------------------

Hello everybody whose reading this and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Thanks to EarlyDawn, Rainbow12004, lksnarry, Anon, SilverLion, mithrilandtj, shortyjh87, worriorbookwyrm, Uchicha Mizuki, Prix, Seren and Kari for reviewing. You�re all awesome!!! And to worriorbookwyrm; Yes, The Cullens are going be in the story and to be honest Old Willow doesn�t really have a story beyond the fact that the willow symbolises hope for the family and people were happy to see it sold because it had been empty for ages. Brilliant question about the house though!
- 2
- 3
- 4
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Curious Nature