Of Hope And Love

Of Hope and Love

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Chapter 6:

A Sweet Moment

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Nobody could see anything special about the portrait on the wall. It looked exactly like any other portrait in the corridors, watching any by-passer closely. However, when a certain person came to sight, the witch in the portrait stood from her comfortable chair. "Password?" she asked with a strict voice.

"Catnip," replied Harry, thanking any divine power he could think of about the fact that Minerva hadn't wanted to visit Remus since they'd changed the password to its current form. Whenever the hormones weren't affecting Remus too badly, his husband had a hell of a sense of humour.

His husband. Even the mere thought of that word felt wonderful, especially when it was true. Only a week earlier they'd got married in a small, private ceremony. Right now, Remus Potter was two months pregnant, and just about to be visited by the father of his future child.

"Good evening, love," Harry said softly as he stepped into the quarters Remus had for himself in the castle. He was very well protected there -- not only was the portrait instructed to only open for certain people and only if they gave a password, but the portrait and the whole tiny apartment were both under the Fidelius Charm, Harry himself as the Secret Keeper. No harm would come to his tiny family, he would make sure about that.

Remus raised his eyes from the book in his lap. "Good evening to you, too," he replied with a slight smile. "How was your day?"

"Awful," whined Harry, sitting down on the couch next to the werewolf. "Snape was on an even nastier mood than usually, and he kept picking on me all the time. I wish I just understood why he hates me so much. I mean, I hardly am my father even though I look like him, now am I?"

"No, I don't think you are," replied Remus, putting his book now wholly aside in favour of concentrating completely on his much younger husband. "But you must try to understand Severus. He's been through a lot, and that has taught him to keep any positive emotions hidden. I don't think he expresses those to anybody but his lover."

"Snape has a lover?" echoed Harry disbelievingly. "Has the world finally reached its end?"

"No, I don't think so," Remus replied, smiling slightly. "Severus indeed is in a consensual romantical relationship -- although he would of course deny it, should you ask him. But there's not much that a werewolf misses."

"And how have you been faring, my dear?" asked Harry then, smiling as he took his husband's hand in his own. "Has the brat been giving you problems?"

"Not too much," replied Remus, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Well, the morning sickness is just awful, but other than that, I'm doing very well."

"That's pleasant to hear." As Remus placed his free hand on his still perfectly flat abdomen, Harry put his own hand on top of it in a gentle, yet clearly possessive gesture. "I'm just sorry that I can't be there to make your mornings more bearable."

"Believe me, it's good for you that you aren't," replied Remus with a tired chuckle. "Most probably I would kill you on a bout of hormonal rage, and what would the Wizarding World do then?"

"You wouldn't do that," said Harry, smiling slightly. "I know you couldn't hurt me."

"How would you know that?" asked the werewolf teasingly. "Never underestimate the power of hormones, love. Especially when those usually female hormones should have no business at all in my body." Then, with a slight chuckle, he leant against Harry's shoulder. "I love you," he murmured.

"I love you, too," replied Harry softly, releasing the werewolf's hand to wipe a stray lock of golden hair away from his eyes. Then he smiled again. "Has Hermione been visiting you?" he asked.

"You bet," replied his husband, smiling back. "She's so enthusiastic you would think that she's becoming a mother herself. And of course she has read everything the library has on the subject. I swear, soon she knows more about pregnancy than I do, if not already!"

"Well, she hardly has the same experience as you do," Harry remarked, chuckling slightly. Then he grinned. "Although I wouldn't put it past Hermione to get pregnant only in order to get to know what it is like."

"Merlin save us from that," huffed Remus. Then he, too, grinned. "As long as it's not you who gets her pregnant, I don't much care," he said jokingly. Then, however, he merely sighed and rolled his eyes, quickly gaining his serious self back. "We can only hope that this child doesn't get too much Marauder genes," he murmured. "Otherwise, even the Weasley twins will have to watch their backs."

"Let's truly hope that," said Harry, also serious. "I don't want my child to be a school bully."

At that comment, Remus's expression darkened. "I hope we hadn't been, either," he said quietly.

"I didn't mean you, Remus, love!" Harry hastened to say immediately. "You never bullied anyone, I know that."

"But I didn't do much to stop the others from bullying, now did I," murmured the werewolf. "I'm just as much to blame as James or Sirius, Harry. I should have stopped them, and I didn't. I was too afraid of losing my friends." Then he added with a sigh, "And now they are all gone anyway, and Severus hates me, too, because I never dared to stand up to my friends and stop their so-called fun."

"Stop thinking about that, dear," Harry said quietly, closing him into a warm embrace. "Sad thoughts are not good for the baby."

"You're right," admitted Remus. "And I shall not harm my baby." After this, he hugged Harry back. Tightly.