Legacy

Chapter Two

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light, and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can't relate
And you're still here

Everything - Alanis Morisette

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Remus and Harry walked out into the fading sunlight. Harry could see the team coming in from practice. For one second, he thought he was looking into the past. A tall, lanky red head, his broom casually flung over his right shoulder, was walking next to a smaller, dark haired boy in jeans. The red head boy punched the smaller boy, who dropped his broom and tackled the red head onto the ground, pretending to pound him in the stomach. The rest of the team, who seemed to be accustomed to this behaviour, walked around them, ignoring the pleas from the injured party lying on the ground.

The boys got up, picked up their brooms, and had caught up with the rest of the team by the time they met up with their teachers, watching from the edge of the gardens, on the lawn.

"Hello all," said Remus.

"Professor Lupin," the students replied, respectfully. Harry could see that they were looking up intently at him. His eyes, however, were focused on one student.

"I was just getting taking Professor Potter here on a trip down memory lane."

"Professor? Uncle Harry, are you going to be teaching here?" asked Jack.

Ron's oldest son was the spitting image of him at the same age. It made Harry feel old to look at him.

"Yes, Jack, I'll be taking Professor Lupin's classes while he is off for the remainder of the year."

"Great! I mean, sorry to see you go, Professor, but it'll be nice having Uncle Harry, I mean, Professor Potter here, too!" stumbled Jack. The other students nodded in agreement, and started making their way inside.

Harry was watching Renato closely during this exchange. Now that he was closer, it was easy to see the differences - the boy was taller than Harry had been, with a darker complexion and short hair - nothing to get in his eyes and mess it up. Also, Renato did not wear glasses, so his expression was open, friendly in a way that Harry's had never been as a child. He was heavier, too, with an athletic gait, someone who spent his childhood outside in the sun, not under a cupboard under the stairs.

"Uncle Harry, this is Renato, my best mate. He's Seeker on the team, and ..."

But Harry didn't get any further. At this introduction, Renato looked up at him and held out his hand, and Harry looked into his eyes - his own sparkling green eyes, bright and shining and full of wonder at meeting the famous Harry Potter.

Harry Potter's eyes. Lily Evans' eyes.

Harry needed to further proof.

Harry took the hand, and shook it, his own hands shaking.

"Renato Leolin Prospero de Cassini, signore," he said with a short courtly bow. Harry stared. Remus chuckled. Jack rolled his eyes.

"You are the only one who thinks that's cool, Ren, you poof. Sorry, Professors..."

"You're so jealous, Weasley, of my superior good manners - oh, sorry, Professors..."

Harry and Remus looked at each other and began laughing.

"Since Professor Potter is taking my classes, he'll also be Head of Gryffindor House this year. We'll be by later to introduce him and reacquaint him with the tower, so be sure everything is in order, right?" Remus said knowingly to the boys as they walked inside together.

"Ah- thanks for the heads up, Professor. We'll see you later," Renato said, turning to hurry up the hall.

"Good to see you, Uncle Harry," added Jack, as he turned and left, following Ren.

Remus and Harry walked in silence for a moment, then Remus turned to Harry.

"What do you think?"

Harry had no words. The men walked in silence back to the suite where Harry was situated, and walked inside to sit down and talk.

******************************

Harry sat down on the sofa, while Remus reheated the teapot. He poured two cups, and added a generous shot of Firewhisky into each one. He handed one to Harry, who had not said anything yet, but was looking less apprehensive. It was Harry who spoke first.

"You never asked me about my relationship with his mother."

"Well, that was really none of my concern, was it?"

"I just don't want you thinking of me as some cad..."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Cad?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. And for the record, that never entered my mind."

"It was brief, very brief... our... relationship. My relationship with Aurelia." Harry paused and took a drink from his teacup. "She was a good friend to me at a pretty dark time in my life. She got me through Divination," he chuckled, "and she got me through some low points, right before the battle."

"That's when it all happened," he said, turning to face Lupin, the words tumbling out. "We were together that spring, sort of, then the battle, and then I was hurt."

Harry and Remus both knew Harry was more that 'hurt', but they both let the word pass.

"When I got back to school, things with Ginny were... I mean, I didn't mean to just drop her, but so much changed that spring. I couldn't have survived without Ginny, she saved me and I fell in love with her, so much it hurt to think of all the time I wasted, and all the time she waited for me to stop being such a prat."

Harry got quiet again, lost in a memory. "Anyway, when I got back to school, everything was different, and I ended it with Aurelia, and we just lost touch after that. I never thought... I mean, she didn't say... damn..." Harry looked up at Remus, his face clouded, "I don't know what to say, Remus... what should I do?"

"Talk to her, Harry. Find out what you want to know. Ask her, but gently. Remember, she must have had a good reason for not wanting to tell you."

"I will."

"Harry?"

"Yes, Remus?"

"What did you think of him?"

Harry broke into a wide grin. "I love him. I don't even know him, but I love him. Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense," Remus put his arm around Harry. "I left the same way, years ago, when I saw this little boy sitting on a train, fighting off a dementor attack. He looked so small, fragile, but so brave. He was my best friend's son, and I loved him, before I ever said a word to him." Harry looked up at him. "Children are magical, in their own way. They draw you in. Loving them is the easiest thing in the world."

Remus finished his tea, then stood up, and walked to the door, opening it to leave. "Now teaching them, that's another story, Professor..."

Harry stood, walked over to the door to see Remus out, and said, "Thank you for telling me all this today. It couldn't have been easy for you."

"That's what Uncle Moony is for, my boy...now, don't forget dinner, McGonagall wants to introduce you tonight to the students." Harry nodded.

"I'll see you a little later," Remus said, looking at Harry carefully, before walking away back to his rooms, leaving Harry with his thoughts.

*********************************

Later that night, he was in his room, trying to read, but his mind was still occupied by the day's events. After being introduced at dinner to an enthusiastic round of applause - even the Slytherin table seemed excited - Harry had tried to eat some dinner, but found his eyes wandered to the Gryffindor table, and he watched Renato and his friends talk over dinner.

He spoke with the rest of the staff, introduced himself to those he had never met, and reacquainted himself with a few others. Even Snape shook his hand and congratulated him on the position. It was strange, being at the Staff table.

Later, Remus had taken him to the Gryffindor common room, gave him the current password, "Excelsior." After a few minutes making small talk with the Fat Lady, they made their way through the portrait hole, which was smaller than Harry remembered, and into the common room.

With the entire Gryffindor House gathered, he spoke for a few minutes, telling them that he had spent seven happy years here, and was proud to be back with the Red and Gold. They were obviously thrilled to see him, and after answering a few questions, he wished them well, and left for the evening.

Now, back in his room, he was lost in his thoughts.

And his thoughts were focused on the past.

He remembered the first time he had met Aurelia, smiling to himself. She was different.

Harry and Ron had been sitting next to each other at a table in the Ravenclaw common room, with four people at the table - Lisa Turpin, Padma Patil, Michael Corner, and Luna. Although she wasn't currently taking N.E.W.T level Divination, she knew a great deal about the subject and was describing different cloud properties when they heard a loud bang.

The door crashed open.

A girl stormed in, tall, with long dark hair, and an unnerving scowl on her face. She made her way past the table and was on her way up the stairs.

"Whatcha doing, Lia?" Luna asked curiously.

"Going to fetch my wand. I left it here before dinner," she answered angrily, as she made her way up the stairs.

She was on her way down less than a minute later.

"Why do you need it?" Luna said lightly, her blue eyes narrowing.

"I'm going to kill Snape," she said calmly, heading for the door.

Ron and Harry laughed.

Luna looked troubled

The others looked frightened.

Ron and Harry stopped laughing.

Luna kicked Harry under the table, and indicated with her head that he, sitting closest to the door, should try and stop her. He shook his head at her, then after seeing the growing concern on her face, which was unusual because Luna was almost never concerned about anything, he got up, and walked over to block the door.

He made it there a couple of seconds before she did, her face not scowling anymore, but pleased, as if filled with a sense of purpose.

"You, eh, probably shouldn't go out there right now," he said to her, grinning.

She looked up at him, and before he could see if she was responding to his attempt to alleviate the situation, she had her wand out, pointing it at him.

He looked stunned.

"Move," she said, firmly.

"No," he said quietly, still feeling taken aback, "and please put that away."

She looked at him, up and down, as if evaluating her chances. She growled, and put the wand back in her robes.

He was looking at her more closely now. She was pretty. No, she was more than pretty.

She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, dark, almost black, but liquid, like pools of ink. Eyes you could get lost in. She was staring back at him, coolly.

"Lia, please don't hex him," Luna was calling out in her usual dreamy voice, now that the danger seemed to have passed.

She was still standing by the door, looking up at Harry. "I should hex him," she said, still looking at him, then she smirked, almost cruelly, "but see, his pretty face is already all mucked up. Doesn't seem right I should injure him some more."

Everyone stared to see what Harry's reaction to this would be.

"What..." he stammered, unable to think clearly. He was looking at her skin now, golden. His brain was torn between listening to her insult him, and wondering if she was golden all over.

"Come over here," said Padma, "and tell us what happened. What did he do now?"

Seeing that Harry was still staring at her, the girl took him back to the table and sat him down. "That's a good lad," she said, condescendingly, and pulled up a chair next to him.

Ron, sitting on the other side of Harry, was suppressing his urge to laugh, as Harry was clearly still confused by what had just happened.

Harry was aware that she was talking now, to the others. "... and then they took him up the Hospital wing, and now Madame Pomfrey is looking at him, but he was so scared, really. He's just a little boy, and those thugs were twice his size, and two of them at that. So 'Severus'," she said snidely, "pulls them aside, and tells them next time they want to get even, to do it somewhere they won't get caught. Can you believe that? Just because they lost that game. A Quidditch game. They could have really hurt him. He'll be up there overnight, at least..." she growled.

The Slytherins were devastated by their loss to Ravenclaw the previous weekend, as they were now completely out of House Cup contention.

"But without Draco Malfoy on the team," Padma said, quietly... Ever since his mysterious return to Hogwarts during the holidays, Draco Malfoy had been a changed person. Something unspeakable had happened to him at home, and he had returned, badly injured and without much of his former spark. Whatever Harry had publicly said about Draco's ability to play Quidditch, without him on the team, they hadn't stood a chance, even against a relatively young Ravenclaw team.

Ron shook his head, "They're nutters, all of 'em," he said, looking over at Harry. He knew that Harry knew some more about that situation, but was sworn not to talk about it. Right now it was the last thing on Harry's mind, as he continued to watch as the girl went on and on.

"...and so I asked Snape if physical retaliation was now an acceptable method of dealing with anger control issues, because I had some unresolved resentment regarding his evaluation of my last potion essay, and that's when he took 20 points from me. 20 points!" She was bristling at the thought of it. "I ask you, is that logical? Does that make any sense? That son of a bitch, I'm going to murder him one of these days, just you wait."

Ron busted out laughing at this. Harry remained unable to speak. He was still watching her, when she turned to him, "Is there something the matter?"

"No," he grinned.

She gave him another look up and down. "Mr. Potter," she said, in a very soft, very Snape-like voice, "I apologise for almost hexing you. That would have been... unfortunate..." she continued in her slimy tones.

"No harm done." Harry was enjoying this.

"Harry, you've met Aurelia, haven't you? Defender of lost causes, shepherd of lost lambs," said Padma, affectionately.

He nodded his head. He knew who she was, but he's never been this close to her. Why had he never been this close to her, he wondered to himself.

"So... if no one is going to let me kill tonight, what are we doing?" she asked, sarcastically sweet, giving Harry a sideways glance, as if he had ruined her plans for the evening.

"Divination. The boys are having trouble with the cloud thing," Luna answered.

"Boys," Aurelia muttered to herself, looking over at Luna, like there was some private joke.

They began to discuss the finer points of Aeromancy, starting with the cloud formations. Ron was taking notes, as he desperately needed to do better in this class, but Harry found himself mesmerized by Aurelia.

She was still watching him, too, but she wasn't looking at him with either the "boy king" hero worship or "half blood freak" disgust that the rest of the school used to define him. She was just looking at him, like a girl would look at a boy.

She didn't look at him as if she were worried about his scar hurting, or if he'd had a nightmare the night before. He was used to people looking at him with concern. Everyone looked at him to see if he was all right.

She looked at him as if he were a yummy treat she might want to try later.

He was instantly attracted to her.

"Harry?"

He heard his name, and was immediately brought back to the present.

It was Remus, his head poking out of the fire.

"Yeah?" he said, sleepily.

"Harry, I just wanted to let you know that there was a change of plans, and I will be leaving first thing in the morning. Was there anything else you needed before I go?"

"No, Moony, I think I've got it all."

"Harry, about Renato - are you okay?"

"Yeah, just have a lot to think about. It's been... it's been a busy day."

"I know. I just want you to know, if you need anything, someone to talk to, some help with, well, with whatever, please do not hesitate to owl me."

"Thanks, Remus. I appreciate everything."

"Give Ginny my best," and he was off.

Harry has spoken to Ginny after dinner, through the fire. She was excited to hear about the warm reception he had gotten from the students, and seemed eager to finish her work so she could join him. Dobby was going to pop over from Grimmauld Place to keep an eye on their cottage in their absence.

He missed Ginny, wished she were here to be with him, her presence was comforting, but part of him was glad for the time to stop and think of his next step. He had to contact Renato's mother. Why hadn't she told him she was pregnant? Why hadn't she... he felt slightly guilty; he assumed she had made use of some sort of contraceptive charm, but he hadn't asked.

Why hadn't she told him? Shame? Anger? Did she hate him? Did she teach her son to hate him? None of those theories fit with the memories he had of her - she had not been malicious in nature, and had always looked for the good in people. Harry paced the room, running his hands through his hair.

Maybe it was something different. Maybe she had been protecting him. Protecting both of them.

1998 had been an extraordinary year, both good and bad. Not counting the months that the Death Eaters spent consolidating their power, the long awaited war had lasted less than a week. He had lost people he loved, but it had been the end of his personal struggle with Voldemort. Sure, latent Death Eaters still looked for him, there were always rumours of plots to kill him, but by and large, the fight ended with Voldemort's death. He felt safe enough.

But he could see how back in 1998, or even the year after, it might have seemed that Harry Potter's son would make an excellent target. He settled on this as the most plausible explanation, and moved on to other thoughts.

How was he going to tell Ginny? What was he going to tell Ginny? He knew he would need to, before she got here. She was a thousand times more perceptive that he was, she would spot Renato in a crowd and ...

It was so unfair. Ginny had wanted a family so badly, but could not have one. They weren't sure whether it was the injuries she received during the battle, dark curses that no one had ever seen before, or the miraculous way she helped to heal Harry after he came to the Burrow. They were the only two people who knew how much of her own personal magic she transferred to Harry while he was sick. He had never seen anything like it, or since. She saved his life.

She was the most naturally gifted Healer he had ever seen; her abilities were legendary at St. Mungo's. She gave so much of herself to those she cared for, yet she could not heal herself, her infertility.

Harry knew that the remorse she carried was unbearable. They both had wanted a family, and when the fifth fertility expert told them the same sad news, they went home and cried together. In time, Harry had, for the most part, put it past him. But Ginny still grieved. He tried for years to convince her that he was happy, she was his family, with the Weasleys, and they could adopt, if she really wanted kids. They could go get a houseful if that is what she wanted.

Finally, after ten years together, she had agreed to look into adoption.

But nothing more had come of it, and the subject was dropped. Harry understood that she was dealing with it privately, and decided to wait until she was ready.

This was going to be complicated.

Harry had come to terms with the fact that he would not have any children of his own.

Being practically adopted by the Weasley family, he understood that parental love need not be limited to your own children. Molly Weasley was his mother, as good as, Harry felt implicitly, and had since he was fourteen. Ron and his brothers were his brothers, to the end. The avuncular love he had always felt from Sirius, Remus, and Hagrid had taught him that family was not always a blood link, but an emotional attachment that you gave of yourself.

The part of him that was hungry for a child of his own had been rammed into a small corner of his heart. He understood that it was not going to happen, and was prepared to go on, continue looking for other ways to enrich his life.

This new development had brought that hunger out from where it had been locked away.

Instantly, his perspective had shifted. His future included a son. He had a son.

A son. A spectacular son, at that.

Instinctively, maybe even selfishly, Harry wanted to tell Renato that he was his father.

Renato... what a name.

He knew so little about his son - there was no doubt in his mind that the boy was his child. There were a thousand questions, so many things he needed to know.

He felt a stab of pain, thinking of Sirius, and how intensely protective he had always been with Harry after their reunion, how he always seemed to want every second of Harry's time when they were together. He understood now, how hard it must have been for him, to meet him at age thirteen, having missed so much of Harry's life, wanting to make up for it. Harry wished that he were here, to talk with.

Harry thought about his father. James Potter had a grandson. He wished his father could see him, see his wife's sparkling green eyes passed down to another generation.

This was going to be very complicated.

Walking over to his desk, Harry sat down, found for a scrap of parchment and picked up his quill. He wrote down a name.

Ginny

Then he wrote down another name.

Aurelia.

He paused for a second, and then wrote down a third name.

Hermione

Yes, she was the one. His sounding board, his confidant, his 'keeper of secrets' that even Ginny didn't know. She had never failed to give him excellent, if sometimes painful, advice. He would talk to her, and then settle on a plan for the other two.

He looked at the clock on his desk. It was past midnight, and he had class tomorrow. His first day of teaching, and he was going to be exhausted. Drained, he made his way to the bedroom, wishing again his wife were waiting for him there.