Chapter Text
They had apparated back to Privet Drive and as soon as Uncle Vernon had opened the door Remus had petrified him. He did the same thing to Aunt Petunia. Dudley looked terrified, rightfully so and ran to his room. Remus couldn’t take out much of his anger on these people but he sure as hell could be petty.
He locked Dudley in his room with magic and motioned for Harry before following him to his room. Harry happily greeted Hedwig and told her they were going to the country where she wouldn’t have to go in her cage again until August. Harry packed up all of his stuff and paused at the letters under his bed. He didn’t know how he felt about Ron and Hermione, but he would need to judge them fairly once his head was completely clear.
So he kept all of the letters in their books and carefully packed them away. He grabbed his calendar off the wall and pulled out his secret stash of Muggle money. Remus was busy switching around which direction gave hot and cold water in the Dursleys showers and cursing their dryer to have a harder time catching lint.
Harry hadn’t forgotten his Uncle was a marauder and it's time everyone else needed to remember it too. They were a group born of and for chaos.
“All packed Harry?” Remus asked. Harry nodded and Remus grabbed his trunk. Taking his arm they once again were pulled through the tight twisting space of apparition. Harry was pleasantly surprised to land without stumbling and the nausea was far less than the previous two times.
Hedwig was already flying to Remus’ house and Harry grinned madly as he saw the place. It wasn’t nice by any means. The paint was a fading beige color and the grass was mostly dead, but it was his new home and he knew he would love it.
“Alright, your room is here.” Remus said once they were inside leading him to a decently sized room with a twin sized bed and a desk below a large window looking towards the nearby woods. “It’s not much but-”
“I love it!” Harry declared throwing himself onto the bed letting out an ‘oof’ as he hit the mattress.
Remus chuckled, he did need to go back and unpetrify the Dursleys.. “I’ll let you unpack, I’m low on groceries so I’ll pick something up. Are you allergic to anything?”
“Not from the muggle world.” Harry told him.
“Alright then, oh and the bathroom is just down the hall if you need it. I should be back in half an hour.” Remus nodded.
Harry knew he would have another breakdown later, and another whenever someone questioned him or tried to remove him from Remus’ care. But he would fight to stay and so would his Uncle. His real Uncle, unlike Vernon Dursley who was never his family.
For now he put all his books on the room's little bookshelf. He had given Ginny some of his books from last year so she had some newer copies. He had to rethink how he felt about her too, but it wasn’t like he could blame her, she was just as controlled as he was.
He left most of his letters out of sight but he pulled a few from Sirius out and set them on his desk, alongside the copy of the papers making Remus his official guardian. His clothes went into the closet and his trunk was unpacked and put under his bed. His new firebolt from Sirius he leaned against a corner where he could look at it. It felt amazing to keep all of his stuff out in the open, not worrying about Dudley damaging it or the Dursleys yelling at him. They couldn’t yell at him ever again.
Finally Harry sat down on his bed and decided to look around the rest of the house. He found the bathroom and put his toiletries inside. Remus’ room was upstairs, and that was pretty much all that was up there. The kitchenette had a small refrigerator and stove, the sitting room had an old worn leather couch and a cozy looking armchair. He fell onto the couch and sighed happily.
He laid there for a while looking at the few pictures on the wall. Several featured his parents, Sirius’ face cropped up in a few, and someone's face had been burnt off several. No doubt done after Pettigrew's betrayal was revealed. There was one of Harry that seemed to have been cut from the newspaper, it made him grin that his Uncle had already worked to get photos of him.
He hoped more would join them soon.
There was a crack and Remus reappeared with a pizza in hand.
“Already claimed your spot huh?” he said seeing Harry sprawled across the couch.
Harry just grinned in response.
“Let's watch something.” Remus suggested flicking on the TV and handing him the remote. Harry hadn’t watched much television but he stopped briefly on a crime show that Dudley had watched once that he had sneak watched from around the corner until Vernon had caught him.
He had gotten a large knot on his head and locked in his cupboard for that.
“Remus?’’ He asked, looking up from his slice.
“Yes Harry?” He looked up.
“Do you mind if I call you my Uncle?” He wanted to make sure.
Remus promptly started crying.
+x+
7 days and many tears later Harry woke up, had his brief moment of wondering where he was, before beaming and hopping up. He rushed to get his clothes and went to take a shower. He didn’t have to rush in getting ready and could enjoy an extra minute in the shower. He didn’t want to rack up Remus’ water bill though so he kept them under 5 minutes but didn’t try and get out in less than 2 anymore.
He pulled on his new clothes and put his glasses on before running a hand over the mirror to clear the steam. He jolted when he saw his reflection. His hair had changed from its usual black to a dark copper color. Not the flaming red of his mother or the Weasleys but a mix of both his parents. It also was sitting flatter than he’s ever seen it, he had a feeling it would stay straight even as it dried.
He smiled at the change, and felt a brief flicker of rage that Dumbledore had kept this from him, having more from his mother than eyes. He brushed his fingers through the copper color and decided he wanted to try styling it later.
“Uncle Remus, look!” he cheered as he ran into the kitchen-sitting room area.
“Well what do you know?” Remus smiled and ruffled his hair, “Should have known, your mom was furious with your father when your hair was so dark as a baby. She would have stubborned you into being a redhead too.”
“Was mom stubborn?” he asked, sitting on one of the counters and grabbing an apple. Remus was trying to build his stomach up to hold more food again but it was a slow go. For now he stuck to small meals and snacks during the day.
“It depended.” Remus waved his hand in a so-so motion. “Your father was stubborn as a mule, that's why he was so set on befriending me even after he found out I was a werewolf. Your mother took longer to convince of things, but she was an unmovable force once she decided. You’d have an easier time moving a mountain without magic than you would her.”
“Will you tell me how they met again?” He begged.
Remus sighed good naturedly, it was nice knowing that it was fond and not because he was annoyed. “Your father and Sirius had become fast friends on the train to Hogwarts our first year. They had just picked up me and Peter when he quite literally ran into another boy on the train. Lily was with him and nearly bit your dads head off for knocking her friend over. James was so distracted by your mothers terrifying beauty that he forgot to apologize. She was even more upset with him after that.”
Remus paused. “Come to think of it, I believe the boy he ran over was Snape.”
“As in Professor Snape?” Harry sat up in surprise.
“Oh yes, I remembered they were friends for a long time but I forgot that was when we met him too. She was rather protective of Severus back then.” Remus rubbed his face in thought.
“Why though?” Harry said, confused. “He’s all-” He made a gross facial expression that only a teenager could pull off.
“They were friends before school… I think Snape was just as protective over her. Lily said once that his father was- not great.” Remus trailed off, “I think she was trying to protect him from other people who would treat him poorly and that interaction probably swayed him against us much more than we realized.”
Harry hummed. He knew Snape was in many ways an ass, he abused his power at school a lot. But this made him separate the person from the teacher for a moment, and take into account his magic imposed original distaste for the man. He didn’t think the Potions Professor was a good person by any means, but he understood him a bit better at least.
“Alright, finish up your breakfast. Then we're headed to get your money and decorations for your room.”
As much as Remus was determined to start affording to pay for Harry’s things himself he didn’t have a job still. And Harry had begged him to let him get money from his vault to buy decorations now as opposed to waiting. And how was he supposed to refuse?
So he was instead focusing on being able to buy birthday presents and a nice cake for Harry’s birthday in two weeks.
Harry was practically bouncing in excitement as they arrived in The Leaky Cauldron. He greeted Tom behind the bar who blinked at the boy's new hair color but Remus just ignored his questioning look.
Harry proudly tapped the brick with his wand and dragged Remus along beside him. The werewolf just chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. While Harry’s call to adventure hadn’t faded with the removal of the blood spells, his eagerness to learn anything and everything just grew. He was more like his mother every day, asking Remus to explain anything and everything about both magic and the muggle world.
The Goblins greeted Harry and after verifying that he was the one and only Harry Potter they handed him a brand new key to his vault. He still only had access to the school funds vault but Lily and James had left more than enough for him in there. Meanwhile any previous keys for either this or the full Potter vault were no longer usable.
Harry enjoyed the minecart ride to the vault, comparing it to riding a roller coaster but with more realistic settings. The goblin escorting them seemed to be unsure about the over eager teen but Remus couldn’t stop beaming at his nephew's enthusiasm.
Finally Harry piled coins into his money bag, and they returned to the surface to transfer some of it to muggle money. Harry now had over two hundred pounds in muggle money and a bag still mostly full of wizarding gold.
They took a cursory look around the shops in Diagon Alley and Harry dragged him into Flourish and Blotts. He began looking at books on random subjects pulling a few down and reading the backs, sometimes flipping though the first few pages. Remus took a minute at the new releases section before looking for something he actually needed. Pulling down a book on wizarding law he went through a few before finding one with information about handling mistrials.
Sirius’ lack of trial was an injustice that Remus was hellbent on fixing and next week was the time to do it. He just had to keep it quiet for Harry’s sake, he didn’t want the boy worrying over him challenging the entire Ministry over this.
Harry meanwhile waited till his Uncle was distracted before slipping into the back and locating a book on blood magic. He copied anything he felt he should research more into onto a scrap piece of paper then moved to another book on werewolves, copying down the wolfsbane potion information. He’d need to find instructions on how to make it, he was determined to help his Uncle. Finally recalling the research they had done to try and save Buckbeak he knew what books had court cases regarding werewolves and noted the cases.
Then he grabbed a book on divination that seemed actually informative to cover up why he was back there.
“I Found what you wanted?’” Remus asked, eyeing Harry’s armful of books. “I thought you hated divination?”
Harry lowered his voice, “after the prophecy at the end of last term I’m willing to give it another chance.”
Remus’ eyes widened in understanding and he nodded. Harry smiled, it was a half truth, he did want to understand what prophecies were. Especially since Remus had let slip that he was involved with another one when they were at Gringotts.
Remus smiled when he saw a book on magical creatures, a topic Harry had loved researching since his class last term. A book on popular wizarding myths and stories, and finally a book on old Wizarding families.
“Want to know about the Potter side of my family history.” He said in explanation.
“And good on you.” The person ringing them up said, “good family you've got. Nice hair by the way.”
Harry was on cloud nine as they left Diagon Alley, books shrunken to fit in Harry’s pockets. Most of the decorations he wanted could be found at any muggle store so they just took a cab to the nearest shopping mall. He dropped things into the cart Remus was pushing, some of it just simple things he’d been denied and could now afford like candies or nicer ballpoint pens. Quill’s were a pain in the ass sometimes.
He grabbed movies or books that looked interesting and a new bedspread. T-shirts and jeans that actually fit him, and a map of the earth. He briefly paused at the toy aisle before walking over and grabbed a large bear plush. As he passed he also saw a color cube and grabbed that as well.
Finally the duo paid, splitting the bags between each other to make them easier to carry. The two just walked towards the nearest alley to disapparate in.
“Are you going to name your bear?” Remus asked.
“You don’t think it’s weird?” Harry looked at him, he was already a little self conscious about buying the thing.
“When I was little my mum gave me a plush rabbit that I still have, took him to Hogwarts and everything, named Bent. Nothing wrong with it.” Remus encouraged.
“I’ll have to think of a good name.” Harry decided.
“Alright, we're clear, let's go home.” Remus held out his hand and Harry took it. WIth a crack and a less and less nauseating experience they landed outside Remus’ house.
There were only a few days until the full moon but Remus was pleasantly surprised that he hadn’t felt too much of the pre-transformation sickness this month. He’d prepaid for a room at the leaky Cauldron for Harry that day, safe far away from him.
Remus’ senses immediately went on edge as he took in the small problems with his house. The doorknob wasn’t fully turned back, it would jam unless you turned it back. The grass was crushed in some places.
Someone was in his house.
“Harry.” He held out his hand and the teen stopped dead in his tracks. “Someone inside, you wait out here, have your wand ready. Remember what I told you to do?”
“Hex anything that moves and run towards the town you told me about.” Harry said quietly.
“If i’m not back out in 3 minutes you bolt.” Remus nodded.
Harry nodded.
Remus held his wand in a vice grip and took a careful step towards the door. Carefully opening the door making no sound, he stepped where he knew the least noise was. His ears were a lot sharper than most and he heard that the intruder was in his kitchen.
Spinning around the corner, he cast a full body lock hex and watched the intruder fall to the ground frozen, they hit the floor with a thud. Remus ran over and rolled them over. He blinked as the person's pink hair turned yellow and their eyes widened at him.
“For Merlin’s sake Tonks.” He growled and cast the counter curse. “Harry, it's a friend. You're safe to come in.!”
“Shoot first, ask questions later, Lupin?” Tonks stood, rubbing her shoulder where she had landed on them while Harry walked in carrying the bags.
“The war made it a habit, especially when someone breaks into my house without warning.” He said as Harry ran to drop his things in his new room, all while eyeing Tonks wearily.
“That can’t be Harry can it?” Tonks mumbled.
“Just because his hair is different doesn’t mean he’s a different person.” Remus huffed.
“I like my hair.” Harry said, returning to the kitchen. “Who are you?”
“Harry, this is Tonks. Tonks, you already know that's Harry.” Remus gestured half heartedly.
“Pleasure to meet you.” She held out her hand happily, Harry shook it all while openly glaring.
“Mind informing us of why you broke in?” Remus was eager to get her out of the house, friend or not.
“Albus asked me to check on you. Said Harry ‘d gone missing and that Aunt and Uncle of his described you.” She waved her hand.
“First they aren’t my Aunt and Uncle, never were. Second I didn’t disappear, Lupin had full custody over me, we got it all sorted at Gringotts two weeks ago. Thirdly, the fact it took him two weeks to notice I was gone is worrying.” Harry listed off on his fingers.
“I’m sure it was an honest mistake. What made you run away?” Tonks shook her head.
“Did you not listen to a thing I just said?” Harry gaped at her.
“Harry didn’t run, I took legal guardianship over him and He now lives with me.” Remus explained again.
“But how is that possible?” She blinked at the pair.
“Gringotts contacted us.” Harry told her, sitting on the counter and kicking his legs. “Learned a lot of things.”
“Tonks while I’d love to catch up, Harry and I were about to start on dinner.” Remus ushered her towards the door while Harry looked smug at her benign shoved out.
Tonks was surprised at his reaction, “Wait, Remus what are you going to do for-”
“We already have a plan for the moon, thank you for your concern and breaking into my house but it’s time to go.”
+x+
Remus dropped Harry off at the Leaky Cauldron the night before the full moon, without his potions he wasn’t safe to be around. Harry didn’t wait downstairs, instead taking his bag upstairs into his room. He read through his books and ordered dinner up to his room, it was reminiscent of last year when he was unknowingly being hidden from Sirius. Finally his watch beeped and Harry rose.
Three doors down he knocked twice. The door opened and he smiled at the man inside.
“Hi Minister, I’m glad you got my letter.”