Strange Bedfellows

Remus slid into the bed, the warm sheets cocooning him with a sense of safety and softness, clouding his mind with fog and dreams. This was nice. Something else was in bed with him and he tensed for a confused moment before realizing that the sheets would not harbor an enemy. He took the something else by the waist and pulled it - him - closer to his tired body.

~~

Harry twisted his body in the sheets, his head pounding and coherent thought just beyond his reach. Thump. His hand hit something. A warm something. Hmmmm. That was nice. He rolled over to get closer to the warm something and the warm something, in turn, pulled closer to him. He fell back asleep.

~~

"AAAAIIIIEEEE!"

Both figures in the bed launched themselves into a sitting position, staring at the shrieking woman.

"What's wrong?" they asked at the same time.

Then they realized that they had not been alone in the bed. And that they were both severely lacking in clothing. And that they had absolutely no business being naked and in bed together. No business at all.

"Molly?" Remus asked timidly. "Would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?"

Molly, still looking shocked, as she had every right to be, nodded silently and backed out of the room. "We'll be downstairs."

When the bedroom door clicked shut, Remus noticed that Harry had stolen most of the sheets to create a makeshift toga, leaving his former professor very little with which to protect his modesty. So they sat there for a moment, staring at each other while Remus tugged on the sheets in a vain attempt to secure enough cloth to wrap around his waist. In the end, he realized it was futile and he crossed his legs, putting a pillow in his lap.

Harry bit his lower lip. "Why?"

Remus looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Why am I naked in your bed? Is this some kind of joke, professor?"

He flinched slightly at the title. "Call me Remus," he said, automatically.

Harry slid further down the bed, taking his sheet-toga with him. "Is this some kind of bizarre fetish of yours, taking students to bed with you?"

"What?" Remus was shocked. "Why - why would you think that?"

"I wake up naked in your bed, professor," Harry explained, a note of panic in his voice. "What the Hell am I supposed to think? I don't remember getting into your bed. I don't remember taking my clothes off. Yet, when I wake up in the morning, your body is wrapped around mine. I think I have every right to be jumping to conclusions."

"You think I know what's going on?" Remus asked incredulously, anger evident in his tone. "You think that, somehow, I planned this? You think that I seduced you? I don't have any more of an idea about what happened than you do! I don't even remember getting into bed last night, never mind undressing myself or you!"

"I can't say I believe you."

"What!" Remus was as outraged as Molly had been shocked. "I do NOT try to seduce young boys into my bed and then tell them to scamper off on their merry way because they don't remember what happened. Merlin's beard, Harry, I don't know what happened! The last thing I remember is Flooing to Hogwarts yesterday to discuss the possibility of becoming the Defense teacher next year! That's hardly conducive to jumping into bed with you!"

Harry frowned. "Last I remember, Fred and George challenged Ron and me to a pick-up game of Quidditch."

Remus adjusted his pillow. "Then... how did this happen?"

"I don't know."

Sighing, Remus buried his face in his hands.

"Where are our clothes?"

"What?" Remus asked.

"Where are our clothes?"

"I don't know. I told you I don't remember anything after stepping into the fireplace."

"May I borrow some of your clothes, then?" Harry asked timidly.

"Normally, yes. But this isn't my room, so I'm as clothes-free as you are."

"Oh." Harry looked around. "I thought this was your room."

"It was last summer," Remus explained. "But after... after what happened in the spring, I needed a change of pace. My new room is down the hall, the one with the padlock on the door."

Harry did not ask. It was bad enough that he had awoken naked and in bed with his former teacher, he did not want to know why the man padlocked his bedroom door. He paused for a moment. "Why don't you stay in here? I'll go find my clothing and, when I'm dressed, I'll bring you a robe."

Remus knew he could not very well wander the halls wearing only his pillow, especially with Ginny and Hermione in the house, so he agreed. And he felt desperately vulnerable when he realized that his wand was probably keeping company with his robes in his new bedroom.

~~

After Remus deemed himself presentable, with his hair washed and combed, a ratty but clean robe wrapped around his body, and a slight recovery from that morning's shock, he walked downstairs. He slipped silently past the sleeping portrait of Mrs. Black, through the hallway, and into the kitchen. The only people who remained there were senior Order members and they were buried in the pieces of parchment and quills covering the table. Harry was probably off with the Weasley brothers somewhere and he knew that Hermione had recently discovered the Black library. Merlin only knew where Ginny disappeared to these days.

No one noticed Remus' presence until he went to pour his morning cup of coffee, a bad habit left over from his days in the Muggle world.

"How could you?"

Remus stared at Tonks, holding his coffee in his left hand. "What?"

"I mean, taking advantage of Harry like that," Tonks continued. "It's disgusting."

"I didn't take advantage of anyone," Remus protested.

Moody openly scowled at him, his electric blue eye spinning in its socket. "I suppose that's why he bolted out of here without eating his breakfast. I haven't seen the boy so terrified in his life."

"You were his teacher, Remus," Molly cried. "How could you do that to him? He looks up to you, like a father. And then you do this! I thought better of you!"

The only person at the table who did not insult Remus' honor was, surprisingly enough, Snape, who ignored the entire scene. He carved his worn-out quill over a piece of parchment, marking it up and down with blood-red chicken scratch.

"I didn't do anything!"

Moody snorted. "If you two didn't do anything, then I suppose you have a reasonable explanation for why you were in bed together? It's abnormal, is what it is. And the boy obviously wanted no part in it. So how do you explain the situation?"

Remus opened his mouth and then quickly closed it, realizing that he had no excuse. He could not remember anything.

"In any case," Molly said briskly, "I don't think you should stay here tonight."

"What?" Remus gasped.

"We certainly do not want a repeat of last night," Molly explained, none too gently. "Poor Harry has it hard enough as it is, without you doing... that to him."

"Molly, I didn't do anything!"

"Why don't you stay at Hogwarts then?" Snape suggested suddenly. "You'll be safer there."

"Wonderful idea, Sev," Tonks agreed.

As Moody and Molly nodded their heads, it seemed that Remus was the only one to notice the strange sentence structure. Snape said that Remus would be safer if he were at Hogwarts, not that Harry would be.

~~

Before lunch, Remus and Snape managed to move Remus' few personal belongings to a room in Hogwarts. He was given a small room, one near Snape's dungeon, and it looked as though it had not been used in years. It was shabby and every piece of furniture seemed to be chintz, irking Remus to no end. His old cottage in Wales was nicer than this, but he needed to stay close to the Order. He and Snape returned to Grimmauld Place for their midday meal.

Remus was shocked and hurt when the others made a point of keeping Harry and the Weasley boys away from him. No matter his protests, they assumed he had seduced Harry against the boy's will. The fearful looks Harry kept giving him over the vegetable soup did not help his case any. The only person who did not seem to care was Snape and Remus assumed that was due to the animosity between the man and the parties involved. He probably would not care if the roof caved in on Remus and Harry's heads.

After lunch, once the teenagers were safely sequestered upstairs, Molly took him aside, into the parlor, to talk to him.

"Remus, I don't want you spending more time around the boys than is absolutely necessary. I talked this over with the others, and they agree."

"Molly, I didn't do anything!" Remus cried, exasperated.

"Then why were you in bed with him?" she replied sharply. "Why won't he look at you after what happened this morning?"

"I'm sure he's quite embarrassed to have woken up with me like that."

"But why did he wake with you? What happened to your clothing?"

"I don't know! I don't remember!"

"Then we think it would be best if you stayed at Hogwarts, unless Dumbledore calls a meeting."

Remus just stared at her. He had thought of her - and Tonks and Moody and Shacklebolt and Arabella and Arthur - as friends, the closest he had had to a family since the seventies. And then they jerked the rug out from under him - accusing him of nothing short of rape! And the rape of James' son no less.

~~

He scowled as he paced his circular, flower-patterned room. How could they believe that of him? Remus was tempted to lose his temper, but he knew from past experiences that showing his angry werewolf side would only hinder his argument. And he did not have much of an argument to begin. All he knew was that he awoke, in the nude, next to a former student.

But Harry was not just any former student. The boy, no, the man had always been told that he looked just like James, even Remus had said that, but as Harry matured, Remus could see more and more of Lily in him. He had Lily's eyes, but also her cheek bones and lips. Even if Harry bore his father's unruly mass of hair, he carried his mother's ivory skin and its accompanying tendency to burn. Normally, this would not worry Remus, but the werewolf had been finding the younger wizard more and more attractive. And he just had to wake up next to Harry, in the nude and without memory of how he got there. That incident undoubtedly killed any chance he ever had for having a relationship with Harry.

No! He would never have a romantic relationship with Harry. Harry was young and lost and needed some one his own age, with whom he could relate. He was an old grouchy werewolf thinking perverted lecherous thoughts. He did not even know if Harry was gay. For all Remus knew, Harry could be in bed with most of the girls in the school. He doubted that Harry would be so irresponsible and careless with others' feelings, but it was a possibility.

Remus was just beginning to enjoy his brooding when Snape knocked on the door. Snape being Snape, of course, did not bother to wait for an answer, but walked right into the chintz-covered room. Remus wondered if he could change the password.

Snape did not say anything, just stared at the werewolf, nodding and mumbling slightly to himself.

"Severus," Remus asked cautiously. "Are you alright?"

Snape walked up to him, grabbed Remus' chin firmly in his right hand, and looked him in the eye.

Remus tried to twist out of the Potions Master's grasp, but to no avail. "What are you doing?"

"Potter might come by later tonight. I would advise that you avoid him." Snape released Remus' face.

"What?" Remus gently rubbed his affronted chin. "He's the one avoiding me."

Not answering Remus' question at all, Snape continued. "When you awoke this morning, did your mouth taste of anything unusual?"

"Severus!"

Snape scowled at him. "Not like that. Did you have any after taste, perhaps of vanilla?"

Remus shook his head.

"Interesting."

"What are you going on about?" Remus asked, exasperated.

"Your pupils are dilated and you seem to be clammy. Have you been having these symptoms all day?"

"What the Hell are you trying to say?"

"Avoid Potter, unless you want another similar morning." Snape turned on his heel and swept out of the room, black robes billowing behind him.

Remus stared blankly at the back of the portrait for some time, until he heard another knock on the wall. For being secretly sequestered in Hogwarts, he thought he was receiving an unusual number of unplanned visitors. "Come in," he called, hoping it was Snape and that the man would explain his cryptic comments.

Needless to say, he was shocked when a bashful Harry entered the room.

Remus frowned. "Does Molly know you're here?"

Harry shook his head, but did not say a word.

Motioning for Harry to sit on an armchair by the fire, Remus pulled out an old stool. "Why are you here? You seemed to be upset today, but I didn't get a chance to ask you about it."

Harry stared at the flames eating away at the wood for a moment. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"What?" Remus realized that he had not been able to follow most conversations today. Perhaps he had been drugged. "What are you sorry for?"

He scuffed his shoe along the hearthrug. Harry refused to look into Remus' eyes. The older man prayed that he had not acted untoward the previous night. "I'm sorry about this morning."

"Nothing happened this morning," Remus replied, clearly confused.

"I flipped out and I really shouldn't have."

"Harry, anyone in your situation would have reacted in the same way."

"But Mrs. Weasley kicked you out of the house. Because of me." Harry's voice wavered slightly.

Remus wondered why this mattered so much to the young man. He had seen Harry fight in battles and plan even more, but never had he seen the wizard look this upset, not since Sirius died. "Yes." Remus knew better than to lie to Harry, especially after the fuss he made after his fifth year. If they could treat him as a soldier and a general, Remus had decided last year, the least they could give him in return was the truth. "But I'll fix that."

Harry rose and placed a hand on Remus' shoulder. "But I feel bad. You live...here," he explained with disgust, "while the rest of the Order enjoys company and good food in your home. Your only company here is Snape and the house elves are afraid of you."

"I'll be fine." Remus rested his hand over Harry's, in an unspoken attempt to comfort him. He wondered how Harry knew the house elves feared him. "This isn't so bad."

Harry bit his lower lip. Remus tried not to think about how attractive that made the boy. "It's my fault."

Ah, so that's what is wrong, Remus thought. "Harry, I'm the adult here. For whatever reason we ended up in bed together, I shouldn't have done that. I should have had the forethought not to do it."

"We don't remember!" Harry cried. "Right?"

Remus nodded. "Neither of us remember, but that doesn't remove our responsibility. You know that."

Before Remus could react, Harry launched himself at his former teacher and pressed their lips together. Remus, who had been telling himself that Harry was off limits for months, froze as Harry pushed his tongue into Remus' mouth. Somehow, the werewolf's arms reached around and pulled the young man closer to him. Harry's ivory hands ran through his graying hair and he made small moaning sounds.

The werewolf realized, in a belated epiphany, that Harry returned his feelings. Harry returned his feelings! He was amazed, shocked, and dismayed all at once. What could this nubile young man possibly see in him? He was a grouchy old werewolf and Harry was - well, Harry was Harry! And how could he tell himself to keep his hands off the young man now?

While these thoughts were running through Remus' head, two entirely unexpected things happened. First, Harry pulled him off his stool and onto the floor, positioning the older man on top of him. Second, Tonks and Snape chose this moment to walk into the room. Either occurrence would have interesting outcomes, if experienced separately. When they happened at the same time, though, it was rather explosive.

The last thing Remus heard was "You bastard! Stupefy!"

~~

Remus winced as something cold and wet brushed against his aching forehead. "Uhhh?"

"He's waking up! He's waking up!"

He opened his eyes, only to shut them immediately, blinded by the bright lights in the room. Remus sniffed. At least he was not in the Infirmary. It smelled rather like Grimmauld Place, but Molly had kicked him out, after finding him with Harry. So he could not be at home.

"Remus?" a voice asked timidly. "Would you open your eyes?"

He really did not want to, but the voice sounded frightened, so he lifted his eyelids. Standing above him were a worried Harry and a shamefaced, blue-haired Tonks. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Remus remembered that Tonks stupefied him when she caught him at Hogwarts.

"Ugh." Remus wondered if he was speaking Troll or Mermish. "What?"

"Auror Tonks," Snape intoned, somewhere out of Remus' field of vision, "seemed to have put too much force into her spell. Is your brain permanently addled, or will you survive?"

Remus wet his lips with his tongue. "What happened?"

Harry turned several shades of red when Snape answered. "We found you in a rather compromising position and the Auror reacted without thinking."

"What was I supposed to do?" Tonks protested.

"I told you what was happening. I can only assume that you think you know these two men better than I do."

It was Tonks' turn to change color, from a bashful white to an indignant melon. "All I knew was that he left Headquarters after taking advantage of Harry and then I see him pinning his student to the floor. Stupefy was the least I could have done."

Snape scowled. "I told you that Harry was the aggressor, but obviously your skull is too thick to comprehend basic English."

"The aggressor?" Remus asked, feeling as though he were under a Confundus charm.

"Why don't we leave you two alone?" Tonks suggested, turning her spiky blue hair into chestnut waves. "Ole Snapey and I have some catching up to do. I want to know just how he knows what was going on between you two."

Snape looked like he would rather be burned at the stake, but the Metamorphmagus dragged him out of the room quite quickly.

Harry sat on the edge of Remus' bed and looked at the floor. "Sorry."

Still utterly confused, Remus repeated his question. "What?" Maybe if he asked it enough times in a twenty-four hour period, his question would be answered.

"I'm really messing up your life. I mean, you've been accused of raping me twice in less than twelve hours. I must be setting some kind of new record."

The warmth Remus was feeling at his memories of Harry's tongue in his mouth, settled into a cold lead ball in his stomach. "You mean... you weren't willing?"

Harry's head jerked up. "No! Of course, I was willing! I just didn't realize you could get into so much trouble..."

Remus smiled. Harry did love him. "This isn't the sort of thing you can get into casually, Harry. Seeing as it's you and me, I can probably get Dumbledore to give us a blind eye, but I'm not sure you want to do this."

"You aren't attracted to me?" Harry asked, worriedly.

"No, no. I would be a fool not to be. But I'm a grumpy old werewolf. I'm old enough to be your father. I swore to Sirius that I would look after you. I'm a werewolf! You are my student! You're still in school, still young. You have your whole life ahead of you."

Harry gripped Remus' hand in his. "No! Don't say that about yourself. I... I think I love you. You're always there for me, always looking out for me. I know, I know. Sirius did the same. But my feelings are different. They're hardly familial. And I've known I'm gay for a year, so you aren't pushing me into anything. As for the age difference, I can't relate to kids my age. Remus," Harry stumbled a bit, using his professor's first name, "I've done things, seen things, most adults never need to see or do. You can relate to me on that level. We've been partners in battle; we comforted each other after Sirius..." Harry's eyes reflected pain when he mentioned the loss of his beloved godfather. "I think we can make this work."

"It seems that you've put a lot of thought into this."

"I have." The green-eyed wizard nodded fervently.

Remus propped himself up on his elbow and kissed Harry lightly, brushing his tongue against Harry's lips, eliciting a delighted moan. "Then I only have one question."

Harry scooted himself closer to Remus. "What?"

"Why did we wake up naked and in bed together this morning?"

~~

"Luciussssss."

"Yes, Master."

"Did you administer the potionsss?"

"Yes, Master."

"My spiesss say there has been no disturbance in the resistance. Severusss claimsss the werewolf sstill teachesss."

"No, Master, that is not possible! The boy and his mentor should have been separated! At the least, the werewolf should not be allowed in contact with him!"

"You have failed me. Crucio."

~~

El Fin