Rating:
PG
House:
Astronomy Tower
Characters:
Harry Potter Remus Lupin
Genres:
General Humor
Era:
Multiple Eras
Stats:
Published: 11/18/2004
Updated: 11/18/2004
Words: 1,202
Chapters: 1
Hits: 589

Time for a Change

The Dork Lord

Story Summary:
Harry is looking after his young grandson when an old friend arrives with an interesting proposition. Set several months after 'A Tale of Two Twins'. Short, fluffy.

Posted:
11/18/2004
Hits:
589
Author's Note:
I realised something, this is my 25th fic! It's a silver fic!


Harry sat at his desk at his home, staring in disbelief at the amount of paperwork that towered over him. Things were beginning to calm down at the Ministry now that the last of Voldemort's supporters had been rounded up. This meant that Harry had to fill out extensive reports of all the Death Eaters that he had personally caught. Harry had begun to wish that he had left the Ministry when Neville did, but Harry had assured himself that he could cope with the stress.

Harry's eight month old grandson Arthur crawled over to him and tugged on his trouser leg.

"Agaba!" he said. Arthur was Lily's son, who was still in Hogwarts in her seventh year. She had gotten pregnant last year by some boy in Ravenclaw. Harry had been absolutely furious with her when he found out. She had kept her pregnancy hidden from everyone very well, until the Illusion charm she had been using on herself wore off by accident and her rounded stomach was revealed to all. Harry didn't like to remember the fight they had, it was too painful, and they still hadn't made up. When Arthur was born a few weeks before the summer ended, Harry and Ginny agreed to look after him until Lily finished her N.E.W.T.s. The school had decided to allow Lily to use Floo Powder to visit her parents' house on the weekends. It took some persuasion to get Snape to agree to it. Harry sighed as he put down his quill and looked down at his diminutive grandson.

"You're not going to let me finish my work, are you?" He picked Arthur up and sat him on his lap. "Little scamp. Grandma's gone out so there's no one to entertain you. No one except grumpy old Granddad." As Harry stood up, Arthur rested his head on his grandfather's shoulder. The little baby had his mother's fiery red hair, but Harry didn't recognise the eyes. They must belong to the father, whoever that was. Lily refused to tell anyone who Arthur's father was. Especially as she knew Harry would probably levitate him by his testicles until his screams were heard in France.

Harry still found it hard to believe that he was a grandfather at the age of forty-five. There was a lot of tension between Lily and him, but all things aside, he loved his grandson. He carried Arthur over to his little pile of toys and picked up Arthur's teddy.

"Hello, Arthur!" he said in a squeaky voice. The tiny tot clapped his hands and giggled. He pulled the bear closer to him, began chewing on its ear and making humming noises. Harry was reminded of the time he had spent playing with Sirius and Lily when they were younger. He missed the days when he was Lily's hero. He had made her feel better when she was sad, made her laugh and treated her like an angel. Nowadays he was just a grouchy old man that never let her do anything and found fault with everything she did. Harry knew this wasn't true, he was proud of his daughter.

Harry's recollections and Arthur's playtime was interrupted when the fireplace turned green and the face of Remus Lupin appeared. Arthur laughed even more at this comical sight.

"Hello, Harry, are you busy?"

"No, of course not, come on in." Remus stepped onto the carpet and shook Harry's hand.

"Good to see you again, Harry," Remus smiled at Arthur. "Hello, young man. How's Miss Potter's little boy?" Harry passed Arthur to Remus, and the little tot patted the professor's face playfully. "Your mummy misses you very much."

"I expect she's got Arthur's mystery father to keep her company," said Harry, a little more bitterly than he had intended. Remus turned to Harry and gave him the look he used to give him when Harry over reacted to something.

"You really shouldn't be so harsh on Lily. She's made a few mistakes, but then again we all have. She's carrying on with her studies and doing remarkably well, I might add."

"I know, I know. However, I get the feeling that you didn't come here to talk about Lily."

"No, I didn't. How about a cup of tea? You and I have something to discuss." Harry made two cups of tea and returned to the living room. Arthur was crawling around his play mat, entertaining himself with his toys. Harry handed Remus a cup and sat in an armchair opposite his old teacher.

"Now, Harry, how would you like my job?"

"I beg your pardon?" asked Harry. He thought that Remus must be joking, but he couldn't be more serious. There was a moment of silence, broken only by Arthur's baby talk that sounded as if he was attempting to sing.

"Perhaps I should bring you up to speed with what's been going on at Hogwarts." Remus took a sip from his cup. "First of all, you'll be glad to hear that Professor Snape is retiring. It seems that he couldn't cope with the stress of being Headmaster and Potions teacher. The school governors aren't exactly happy with some of the things he's been doing. The incident with Sirius was just the beginning."

"Yes, we all remember that."

"The cruel irony is, now that Professor Snape has retired, we've managed to find someone to teach Potions." Harry couldn't help laughing. It was hard to feel sorry for Snape after all the stuff he had put Harry through as a student.

"So old Snape has finally cracked, but what's this got to do with me?"

"Well the governors have appointed me Headmaster, starting after the summer. There are however two conditions. The first is that this new Potions teacher brews the Wolfsbane potion for me every month, which he is very happy to do."

"Congratulations! That's great news!" said Harry. He was glad to see that Remus was finally getting the recognition he deserved.

"Thank you very much. The other condition is that I find a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to replace me. The governors support my choice, and I believe there's only one person for the job, so how about it, Mr. Potter?"

Harry put his cup down and thought for a moment. "It's tempting I'll admit. The workload at the Ministry has been heavy recently. It would be nice to go back to Hogwarts, but I'll need to give the Ministry a few weeks notice." Remus gave a small laugh.

"It's not as if I'm asking you to drop everything and leave the Ministry this very minute."

"I wish you were," muttered Harry, inclining his head towards the mountain of work on his desk. Both men laughed heartily. "I'll have to talk it over with Ginny, but yeah, I think I'd like a change of career. I'd love to teach at Hogwarts."

Suddenly the look on Remus' face changed. He wrinkled his nose and raised his eyebrows.

"Do you smell something?" They both turned to look down at Arthur. He was sitting on his play mat looking very uncomfortable. Harry lifted himself from his seat and picked up Arthur.

"Come on then young man, time for a change."


Author notes: Now I know this didn't have much depth to it but it's kind of a homage to my earlier, fluffier fics. For those of you who prefer something a bit more serious, my very first slash fic is on the way! Look out for 'The Seriousness of Sirius Potter' (twelve chapters!)