If You Could Turn Back Time: Ch 4
Had New Employee Orientation this week = I daydreamed the plotbunny to ch4 =D
Title: If You Could Turn Back Time
Author: gijane7702
Format & Word Count: Fic//1603
Rating & Warning: PG13// AU; cursing
Summary: Remus’ “insurance” spell before heading to the Battle of Hogwarts goes slightly wrong…
Author’s Notes: Short(er)…but very sweet!
Chapter Four: Comprehension
Harry came awake at the sound of a muffled giggle and a gentle shush. Raising his head off of Remus’ hospital bed, he adjusted his askew glasses, spotting Tonks still asleep in the empty bed as the world came into focus.
“Hi, Har-wee,” Teddy called to him, all bright-eyed and smiling.
“Hullo, Teddy,” he grunted back, removing his glasses and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Was that you giggling?” Harry rotated his neck to work the stiffness out of sleeping in a hospital chair as Teddy giggled again. Then, suddenly something dawned on him. “Teddy, what are you doing in your dad’s bed? You slept with your mum last night…”
“He crawled in this morning,” Remus, half propped up in bed with his son contently curled up in a ball next to him, told Harry in an amused voice. “And he made himself quite at home.”
“Remus!” Harry exclaimed loudly, putting his glasses back on. “You’re awake!”
“Ssshhh, Har-wee, Mama sleep,” Teddy hushed him, and then smiled at the dark look Harry shot at him.
“You know, he gets that smart-arsed smirk from you,” Harry told Remus, who immediately grinned the exact same way.
Remus and Teddy then exchanged knowing smiles and Harry scowled at them. But he couldn’t begrudge any sort of father-son bonding on their part, even at his expense…could he?
Tonks sighed suddenly and all three of them then turned to look at her. But she just rolled over onto her other side and slept on.
“Some Auror she is,” Remus stated and Harry slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent from laughing aloud. “Mummy’s really protecting us well, huh Ted?”
“That’s terrible, Remus!” Harry told him, biting back a grin. But not Teddy; he giggled. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got trampled on by a herd of Hippogriffs. What’d they do to me?”
“They kept you out for a day so you could heal. Which is a good thing since a slight concussion, one broken leg; two broken and three cracked ribs would make you feel like you were run over by a Hippogriff herd.” It was his turn to smirk when Remus scowled at him.
“That,” Remus pointed at him, “is your mother’s smirk.”
“Really? Mum’s…not Dad’s?”
“Entirely your mother’s. James just would have laughed aloud. Lily was much more subtle.”
“Snape was in love with my mother.” Harry blurted out suddenly. “Did you, or anyone else, know that?”
He had wanted to ask anyone that question for two years now. However, anyone who had known both Lily Potter and Severus Snape well enough to know the answer was, unfortunately, dead. Except one person now could possibly tell him…and that person suddenly looked uncomfortable at Harry’s loaded question.
“You did know, didn’t you?” Harry pressed.
“Er…” Remus stuttered, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he currently was.
He took Remus’ trail into silence for affirmation, and then asked, “Did Dad know?”
“No.”
“How’d you know?” Harry pushed, then laughed as Teddy swivelled his head back to await his father’s response.
“It’s like a Quidditch match, isn’t it son?” Remus said to Teddy, who giggled. To Harry he responded, “You mother confided in my one night during our Prefect rounds. Asked me to never tell James because she knew he’d go ballistic.” He paused, and then added, “And I never did.”
Harry paused as he took in the repercussion of Remus never telling James actually meant. It was like him never telling either Ron or Hermione. He then caught the soft smile playing across Remus’ face and his stomach sank.
Surely…
“Er…you weren’t in love with Mum too, were you?” Harry asked.
“Oh good God no!” Remus exclaimed vehemently. “Your mother and I were just friends…like you and Hermione. That’s it.”
“Okay…good,” Harry said, relieved. Remus laughed knowingly. And before either could say anymore, a young Healer bustled into the room.
“Oh!” she gasped when she saw Remus. “Oh my goodness…oh my goodness!” Harry managed to catch the tray she almost dropped with an upward flick of his wand. “It’s really you…Remus Lupin.”
“Er…yes, it’s really me,” Remus replied, looking at Harry completely perplexed.
Harry just grinned at him and mouthed “Romeo and Juliet” as he set down the tray on the bedside table. Remus’ stifled groan had Harry’s grin broadening.
“And it’s really her, Nymphadora…your wife,” the Healer whispered, spotting Tonks, who Harry noticed was now awake and sitting up in the extra bed.
“Wotcher,” Tonks yawned at her. “That’s me. Is that breakfast, Harry? I’m starving!”
“Oh my goodness…” the Healer continued to repeat. Harry handed Tonks a cup of tea then noted that even Teddy, still curled up next to his father, was beginning to look amused as well. “They told me you were alive…but I…”
“Didn’t believe them?” Tonks finished for her, and then blew on her tea to cool it. “Don’t blame you. And don’t call me Nymphadora...er, please.”
Harry smothered a laugh while Remus rolled his eyes. Teddy cocked his head to one side, regarded his mother for a moment, and then grinned.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mrs Lupin! It’s just that-”
“Tonks!” she cut in. “Call me Tonks, please. Mrs Lupin makes me want to look around for Remus’ mother.” Her husband let out a snort of laughter and she winked saucily at him.
“All right…Tonks,” the Healer stuttered out. “My name is Margaret.”
“Good morning, Margaret,” Tonks said. “I think you ought to wait to attend to Remus even though he’s wincing in pain from laughing so hard his ribs hurt again.”
“Why?” Margaret and Remus asked her at the same time.
“’Cause I owe him for his comments earlier,” she told them.
“You were awake.” It was a statement, not a question, from her husband.
“’Some Auror she is’ and ‘Mummy’s really protecting us well, huh Ted?’,” she quoted back to him serenely.
Harry smirked as Remus paled slightly, then realised Tonks really was going to give her husband a piece of her mind. He leaned over, grabbed Teddy, who was dead centre in the line of fire, and bolted for the door. On the way out, he grabbed Margaret’s lime-green sleeve and dragged her with him.
“Where are you going?” Remus called to him. And, as the door closed, Harry heard, “Thanks for nothing, Potter.”
“Oh my goodness,” Margaret said to him as he leaned up against the door.
“She’s just going to give him a piece of her mind, that’s all. She’ll be quick, so just wait here. Now, please let them know I’m going to take Teddy upstairs for some breakfast.”
“Absolutely I will tell them, Mr Potter,” Margaret told him.
“Call me Harry.” He nodded as the Healer blushed slightly.
“Dada more owie?” Teddy asked in a slightly worried tone.
“No, Teddy, Daddy no more owie,” Harry told him as he made his way down the corridor to the stairs. He’d have to watch what he said around Teddy more since he was growing up so fast and was starting to comprehend more. “Mummy’s just going to yell at him.”
“Oh-oh!”
“That’s what Daddy’s thinking right about now,” Harry laughed. “Look, Ted, breakfast!”
“Look Har-wee!” Teddy yelled, pointing at the tea shop. “Brek-fas! Nummy!”
Harry laughed. He was pleased that their relationship had seamlessly shifted, even if it was subconsciously, from a paternal one to more of a fraternal one with the return of Teddy’s parents. They enjoyed a very delicious, but very messy, breakfast, and then headed back downstairs to Remus’ room. Pausing outside the door, when he heard nothing coming from inside, Harry deemed it safe to enter.
It wasn’t.
Tonks was now curled up were Teddy had been and she and Remus were kissing very passionately. And Harry couldn’t locate either of Tonks’ hands nor one of Remus’.
“Oi!” he yelp, whipping around and covering both his and Teddy’s eyes. “Get a room!”
“We’re in a room, Harry,” Tonks pointed out. Harry could hear the amusement laced in her voice and scowled at the wall.
“Next time knock,” Remus said irritably. “I was enjoying that.”
“Sorry! But it’s like walking in on…” Harry paused, unsure whether to go on.
“Your parents,” Tonks finished for him. “Well, on your dad at any rate.”
“Oh…” Remus said in a surprised tone.
“Exactly,” Harry, his colour still high, said as he risked turning around.
Tonks smiled brightly at him but Remus looked surprised.
She then hopped off the bed and sauntered over to him. Taking Teddy from him, Tonks said quietly to Harry, “You two need to talk. We’re going for a walk.”
Harry realised that she had remembered Andromeda’s seemingly innocent line from two days ago of his realisation after they had ‘died’ of what she and Remus, especially Remus, had actually meant to him.
“Thanks,” he muttered to her.
Tonks nodded, stepped around him, and then left the room. On the way down the corridor, they could both hear her saying, “How about breakfast, Teddy boy? Mummy worked up quite an appetite.”
“Brek-fas!” Teddy said happily.
Harry and Remus exchanged looks and laughed.
“Andi swears he eats more than you ever did,” Harry told him.
“Impossible!”
They both laughed again, then, not knowing were to start, when Harry realised they were now alone, he stuttered, “Er…”
Remus smiled at him, and then motioned at the bedside chair that Harry had slept in. When he was settled in, Remus began with, “Do you know how difficult it was for me to act just as your professor that year and nothing else when I so very wanted to…”
Title: If You Could Turn Back Time
Author: gijane7702
Format & Word Count: Fic//1603
Rating & Warning: PG13// AU; cursing
Summary: Remus’ “insurance” spell before heading to the Battle of Hogwarts goes slightly wrong…
Author’s Notes: Short(er)…but very sweet!
Chapter Four: Comprehension
Harry came awake at the sound of a muffled giggle and a gentle shush. Raising his head off of Remus’ hospital bed, he adjusted his askew glasses, spotting Tonks still asleep in the empty bed as the world came into focus.
“Hi, Har-wee,” Teddy called to him, all bright-eyed and smiling.
“Hullo, Teddy,” he grunted back, removing his glasses and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Was that you giggling?” Harry rotated his neck to work the stiffness out of sleeping in a hospital chair as Teddy giggled again. Then, suddenly something dawned on him. “Teddy, what are you doing in your dad’s bed? You slept with your mum last night…”
“He crawled in this morning,” Remus, half propped up in bed with his son contently curled up in a ball next to him, told Harry in an amused voice. “And he made himself quite at home.”
“Remus!” Harry exclaimed loudly, putting his glasses back on. “You’re awake!”
“Ssshhh, Har-wee, Mama sleep,” Teddy hushed him, and then smiled at the dark look Harry shot at him.
“You know, he gets that smart-arsed smirk from you,” Harry told Remus, who immediately grinned the exact same way.
Remus and Teddy then exchanged knowing smiles and Harry scowled at them. But he couldn’t begrudge any sort of father-son bonding on their part, even at his expense…could he?
Tonks sighed suddenly and all three of them then turned to look at her. But she just rolled over onto her other side and slept on.
“Some Auror she is,” Remus stated and Harry slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent from laughing aloud. “Mummy’s really protecting us well, huh Ted?”
“That’s terrible, Remus!” Harry told him, biting back a grin. But not Teddy; he giggled. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got trampled on by a herd of Hippogriffs. What’d they do to me?”
“They kept you out for a day so you could heal. Which is a good thing since a slight concussion, one broken leg; two broken and three cracked ribs would make you feel like you were run over by a Hippogriff herd.” It was his turn to smirk when Remus scowled at him.
“That,” Remus pointed at him, “is your mother’s smirk.”
“Really? Mum’s…not Dad’s?”
“Entirely your mother’s. James just would have laughed aloud. Lily was much more subtle.”
“Snape was in love with my mother.” Harry blurted out suddenly. “Did you, or anyone else, know that?”
He had wanted to ask anyone that question for two years now. However, anyone who had known both Lily Potter and Severus Snape well enough to know the answer was, unfortunately, dead. Except one person now could possibly tell him…and that person suddenly looked uncomfortable at Harry’s loaded question.
“You did know, didn’t you?” Harry pressed.
“Er…” Remus stuttered, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he currently was.
He took Remus’ trail into silence for affirmation, and then asked, “Did Dad know?”
“No.”
“How’d you know?” Harry pushed, then laughed as Teddy swivelled his head back to await his father’s response.
“It’s like a Quidditch match, isn’t it son?” Remus said to Teddy, who giggled. To Harry he responded, “You mother confided in my one night during our Prefect rounds. Asked me to never tell James because she knew he’d go ballistic.” He paused, and then added, “And I never did.”
Harry paused as he took in the repercussion of Remus never telling James actually meant. It was like him never telling either Ron or Hermione. He then caught the soft smile playing across Remus’ face and his stomach sank.
Surely…
“Er…you weren’t in love with Mum too, were you?” Harry asked.
“Oh good God no!” Remus exclaimed vehemently. “Your mother and I were just friends…like you and Hermione. That’s it.”
“Okay…good,” Harry said, relieved. Remus laughed knowingly. And before either could say anymore, a young Healer bustled into the room.
“Oh!” she gasped when she saw Remus. “Oh my goodness…oh my goodness!” Harry managed to catch the tray she almost dropped with an upward flick of his wand. “It’s really you…Remus Lupin.”
“Er…yes, it’s really me,” Remus replied, looking at Harry completely perplexed.
Harry just grinned at him and mouthed “Romeo and Juliet” as he set down the tray on the bedside table. Remus’ stifled groan had Harry’s grin broadening.
“And it’s really her, Nymphadora…your wife,” the Healer whispered, spotting Tonks, who Harry noticed was now awake and sitting up in the extra bed.
“Wotcher,” Tonks yawned at her. “That’s me. Is that breakfast, Harry? I’m starving!”
“Oh my goodness…” the Healer continued to repeat. Harry handed Tonks a cup of tea then noted that even Teddy, still curled up next to his father, was beginning to look amused as well. “They told me you were alive…but I…”
“Didn’t believe them?” Tonks finished for her, and then blew on her tea to cool it. “Don’t blame you. And don’t call me Nymphadora...er, please.”
Harry smothered a laugh while Remus rolled his eyes. Teddy cocked his head to one side, regarded his mother for a moment, and then grinned.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mrs Lupin! It’s just that-”
“Tonks!” she cut in. “Call me Tonks, please. Mrs Lupin makes me want to look around for Remus’ mother.” Her husband let out a snort of laughter and she winked saucily at him.
“All right…Tonks,” the Healer stuttered out. “My name is Margaret.”
“Good morning, Margaret,” Tonks said. “I think you ought to wait to attend to Remus even though he’s wincing in pain from laughing so hard his ribs hurt again.”
“Why?” Margaret and Remus asked her at the same time.
“’Cause I owe him for his comments earlier,” she told them.
“You were awake.” It was a statement, not a question, from her husband.
“’Some Auror she is’ and ‘Mummy’s really protecting us well, huh Ted?’,” she quoted back to him serenely.
Harry smirked as Remus paled slightly, then realised Tonks really was going to give her husband a piece of her mind. He leaned over, grabbed Teddy, who was dead centre in the line of fire, and bolted for the door. On the way out, he grabbed Margaret’s lime-green sleeve and dragged her with him.
“Where are you going?” Remus called to him. And, as the door closed, Harry heard, “Thanks for nothing, Potter.”
“Oh my goodness,” Margaret said to him as he leaned up against the door.
“She’s just going to give him a piece of her mind, that’s all. She’ll be quick, so just wait here. Now, please let them know I’m going to take Teddy upstairs for some breakfast.”
“Absolutely I will tell them, Mr Potter,” Margaret told him.
“Call me Harry.” He nodded as the Healer blushed slightly.
“Dada more owie?” Teddy asked in a slightly worried tone.
“No, Teddy, Daddy no more owie,” Harry told him as he made his way down the corridor to the stairs. He’d have to watch what he said around Teddy more since he was growing up so fast and was starting to comprehend more. “Mummy’s just going to yell at him.”
“Oh-oh!”
“That’s what Daddy’s thinking right about now,” Harry laughed. “Look, Ted, breakfast!”
“Look Har-wee!” Teddy yelled, pointing at the tea shop. “Brek-fas! Nummy!”
Harry laughed. He was pleased that their relationship had seamlessly shifted, even if it was subconsciously, from a paternal one to more of a fraternal one with the return of Teddy’s parents. They enjoyed a very delicious, but very messy, breakfast, and then headed back downstairs to Remus’ room. Pausing outside the door, when he heard nothing coming from inside, Harry deemed it safe to enter.
It wasn’t.
Tonks was now curled up were Teddy had been and she and Remus were kissing very passionately. And Harry couldn’t locate either of Tonks’ hands nor one of Remus’.
“Oi!” he yelp, whipping around and covering both his and Teddy’s eyes. “Get a room!”
“We’re in a room, Harry,” Tonks pointed out. Harry could hear the amusement laced in her voice and scowled at the wall.
“Next time knock,” Remus said irritably. “I was enjoying that.”
“Sorry! But it’s like walking in on…” Harry paused, unsure whether to go on.
“Your parents,” Tonks finished for him. “Well, on your dad at any rate.”
“Oh…” Remus said in a surprised tone.
“Exactly,” Harry, his colour still high, said as he risked turning around.
Tonks smiled brightly at him but Remus looked surprised.
She then hopped off the bed and sauntered over to him. Taking Teddy from him, Tonks said quietly to Harry, “You two need to talk. We’re going for a walk.”
Harry realised that she had remembered Andromeda’s seemingly innocent line from two days ago of his realisation after they had ‘died’ of what she and Remus, especially Remus, had actually meant to him.
“Thanks,” he muttered to her.
Tonks nodded, stepped around him, and then left the room. On the way down the corridor, they could both hear her saying, “How about breakfast, Teddy boy? Mummy worked up quite an appetite.”
“Brek-fas!” Teddy said happily.
Harry and Remus exchanged looks and laughed.
“Andi swears he eats more than you ever did,” Harry told him.
“Impossible!”
They both laughed again, then, not knowing were to start, when Harry realised they were now alone, he stuttered, “Er…”
Remus smiled at him, and then motioned at the bedside chair that Harry had slept in. When he was settled in, Remus began with, “Do you know how difficult it was for me to act just as your professor that year and nothing else when I so very wanted to…”