To Hope for Happiness

To Hope for Happiness

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Live With It

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3 Days

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"Morning, Dad," Harry yawned when he walked in the kitchen. Remus sat there, sipping his tea -- mint tea with honey, like always. "Where's Father?"

His father looked up from his Daily Prophet and smiled. "At the moment he's still in the bedroom," he told his son. "But since he's already got up from the bed and is going to the wardrobe, we should see him pretty soon."

Harry laughed. "Even when I know how you do that, it's still creepy," he grinned, pouring another cup of tea for himself and sitting down opposite to the werewolf.

Remus shrugged and smiled. "One of the best things in being bonded," he admitted. "It can be very useful at times - as well as knowing what he's feeling. Right now he seems to be very distracted, but considering the time of the day, that's not a miracle. Sirius has never been a morning person."

Harry laughed. He knew very well how bad Sirius could be before his first cup of coffee in the morning. Even when he wasn't really awake, he managed to be very rude if not open-eyed. After he had got enough coffee, he was one of the nicest people in the world - but before that... Harry honestly doubted if even Lord Voldemort himself would have dared to face the morning-mooded Sirius Black.

Dumbledore wouldn't, that he knew for sure. The old, kind Headmaster had once visited them in the morning, and after hearing that Sirius hadn't got his coffee yet, he had quickly fled to the next room and only returned after Sirius had got his morning dose of caffeine.

Before long, Sirius walked in. He was in his usual clothes, a T-shirt and blue jeans. Harry greeted him happily, gaining a furious glance and some muttering about "people who can't simply mind their own business" and "bloody prat", accompanied by "Muggle-kissing slimeball" and "Slytherin flobberworm".

"You do realize, Sirius," Remus said, watching amusedly as his spouse drank his first coffee cup and began pouring another, "that your two last comments make each other impossible, don't you?"

"Eh?" Sirius asked and blinked. He drank his second cup, quickly approaching the world of sensible people. "What do you mean?"

"That 'Muggle-kissing' and 'Slytherin'. You know very well they can't be used describing the same person." The werewolf grinned when Sirius drank his third cup, slowly beginning to realize what he meant.

"Oh, did I say that?" he asked, still blinking. "I must have been out of my mind somehow. That doesn't make any sense at all!"

Harry quickly lifted up his tea cup to hide his smile. He glanced at Remus over the table, meeting his amber gaze. His father's eyes were twinkling in amusement, and he was smiling as well behind his own cup.

"You are making fun of me, aren't you?" Sirius asked angrily, glaring at his little family.

"Oh, no, Sirius darling," Remus replied calmly, fluttering his eyelashes. "We would never ever make fun of you. We love you abso-fucking-lutely too much."

Harry laughed aloud when Sirius crumbled his eyebrows, surprised by his mate's use of a swearword. He clearly didn't recall using the exactly same phrase -- although without the loving part -- himself just a minute ago.

"What's wrong with him?" Sirius asked, glancing curiously towards Harry. "And what's wrong with you, Remie? You two are both behaving a bit oddly."

At this point, both Harry and Remus cracked up.

(|¨*..¤..*¨|)

"Do you still remember that Ron and Hermione are coming tomorrow?" Harry asked for the thousandth time.

"Sure," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, Harry. I wouldn't have even had time to forget when you keep asking it every moment."

"That's the reason why he keeps asking, honey," Remus chuckled. "He already knows your infamous memory - or, rather, the lack thereof. It wasn't me or James who forgot the rings when we were bonded."

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, acting insulted. "You don't have to draw old stuff in this! I think Harry's confused enough even without your useless details!"

"Sure," Remus giggled. "And that's the only reason why he doesn't want me to tell more, right, Harry?" He glanced at his son, who nodded and grinned.

"What other reasons he could have?" Harry asked innocently. "It's not like there were any embarrassing things he'd rather forget than let his son know."

"Exactly," Remus laughed.

"Okay," Sirius snorted. "You're right. And therefore I forbid telling anything improper about my younghood to my son. He'd get bad influence."

"And because I'm not technically his son, you can tell me," Harry said and grinned at his Dad. Remus chuckled again and shook his head.

"Sorry, Son, but not now. Some other time, maybe - when Sirius is not there going to rip my head off from my body if I even whispered about that story including him, Fang and..." He noticed Sirius's glare, laughed and stopped the story.

Harry grinned yet again. And these people called themselves adults? Well, to his Dad it would maybe count, but Sirius... It seemed that he'd never grow up.

Not that it was a bad thing.

~*~*~

4 Days

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"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione as she saw her friend. In an instant the bespectacled boy was closed in a warm hug.

"Nice to see you, too, Hermione," Harry said, grinning. He shivered inwardly, forcing himself to stay calm in his friend's embrace. Hermione would never hurt him. He didn't need to be afraid.

"Woah, this new life has done a hell of good to you, mate," Ron observed as he got nearer. "You aren't half as skinny as before!"

"I sure am not," laughed Harry, straightening his glasses as Hermione finally released him. "Dad has been stuffing me full of food on every occasion." It was true, anyway. Remus seemed to be determined to make him weigh twice as much as when they'd fetched him from the Dursleys, and this far he'd been doing a fairly good job with it.

Now, his both friends looked very surprised. "'Dad?'" echoed Hermione, looking half wondering, half amused.

"Didn't I tell you?" Harry asked, realizing with a start that no, he hadn't told his friends yet. "Well, prepare for the shock of your life, then."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, confused. "You're calling Sirius Dad? How's that a shock?"

"That's not everything there is," Harry said. "Come on, I'll show you to the guest rooms, and I'll tell you the story on the way."

Both the redhead and the bookworm nodded, curiosity shining from their eyes. As Harry started to lead their way inside the house, he said, "You both know what soulmates are, right?"

Ron nodded, and Hermione said, "Of course. I've done even some research on it, it's such a fascinating subject."

"Good. Now, here's the shock for you." Grinning a bit, he continued, "Well, the point is, I'm not Harry James Potter. I'm Harold Ian Malcolm Lupin-Potter-Black."

Now both the blue and brown eyes flew wide. "You said what?" Ron exclaimed. "You mean, you have three fathers? What about your mother?"

"She was not really my mother," Harry replied. "Like you both probably know, just like some souls are divided in three people, some people have their soul all to themselves. Lily was one of these complete ones -- they are often Muggleborns, anyway. So, when my fathers tried to avoid attracting attention, she and James set up a fake marriage -- it didn't amount to anything, as my fathers were already married. And when they then used a potion to have a baby -- that's me -- they just pretended that it was Lily being pregnant and not Remus."

"Wow," Hermione said, smiling a bit. "So, do you really have three fathers or just two? And which one of them is Dad? When did you find out? And --"

"Hey, slow down a bit," Harry laughed. "I have three fathers, but just Remus and James are biological. Remus is Dad, and Sirius is Father. I found out just two weeks ago, and before you can ask, no, I did not react well. In fact, I upset them both pretty badly," he added quietly. Cheering then up a bit, he added, "But now everything's well again. Anyway, here's your room, Hermione!" He flung open a door to a forest-green room with a shelf full of books and an armchair that looked perfect for reading.

"Oh, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Hermione. "It's really perfect!"

"That's what I said," said Harry with a grin. "The books are loans from Dad's library -- you wouldn't believe the amount of books he has. I think yours is also good for you, Ron." They continued their way after Hermione had left her trunk to the room. A moment later, Harry opened another door.

"Woah!" exclaimed Ron. "It's all orange -- just like my own room in the Burrow! And also has a poster of the Cannons! Wicked!"

"No, it isn't," Harry said. "Wicked is what is my room. But you'll see it later -- my dear parents told me to take you to eat something as soon as I've shown you your rooms." With this, he spun around and started to hurry to another direction.

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances behind his back, both smiling. Harry looked better than for ages. He was now happier than they'd seen him for a long time, and despite the fact that he was still thin, he looked healthier than ever. There was a sparkle in his green eyes that they'd thought to be lost already, and from his voice they heard hidden laughter even when he was being serious. Even his steps seemed to be lighter and happier than ever. Yes, all this had definitely done much good to Harry.

"Hi, Son," Sirius greeted as they entered the kitchen -- the house did have a dining room, but it was rarely used. "Hi, Ron, Hermione. It's good to see you two."

"Hi, Sirius," Hermione greeted happily. "Hi, um..."

Remus laughed. "Call me just Remus," he said happily. "Can't be that different from my husband, eh?"

"Fine. Hi, Remus," said the book-loving witch, smiling. Ron, too, greeted their hosts. "It's a wonderful house you have here," Hermione said then just as a house-elf brought them all some sandwiches. Seeing this, she frowned a bit.

"Don't look so disapproving, Hermione," Remus said, raising his eyebrow. "We never treat our house-elves badly. All of them have been offered payment, and they all have refused."

"Is that true?" she asked from the house-elf, who nodded eagerly.

"It is being true, Miss," the little creature said. "Masters never treat we badly. They are being very kind. They are being good Masters."

"Fine," she said then, although she did not look very sure about this. "If you say so."

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. "For an extremely intelligent witch who's interested in Wizarding traditions you sometimes make me wonder, Hermione," the Animagus said calmly. "House-elves have been created to serve. Dobby is a rare exception of the rule. Most of them are happy and content serving wizards."

"He's right, Hermione," Ron said. "House-elves live to serve. They don't know any other way."

"But -- but it just seems so wrong," protested the young witch, still not approving.

"Do you know what is wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked. "It is wrong that werewolves cannot get proper jobs. It is wrong that they are branded and listed and humiliated in every possible way, treated like some wild and dangerous animals, basically. In a hospital they're usually not even allowed to the same sections as us so-called 'proper' humans. That is wrong, treating some humans differently from the others, not treating house-elves like they want to be treated."

"Harry, let it be," Remus said, sounding a bit tired. "It doesn't matter, really."

"No, Dad, I won't let it be," Harry said heatedly. "And it does matter. You're a human, so you should have human rights. You maybe act like it didn't affect you, but it does, I've seen it. You're trying to act brave and strong, but it still hurts you."

"This is not the right time nor place for this discussion," said Sirius then firmly. "You're soon going to be returning to school. Until then, we'll all be happy. Okay?" he asked then, attempting a playful tone.

"Okay," they all agreed. But they all were still thinking.