Trouble

Part II

Startled: December 27, 2007

Dedicated To: Paxwolf! Because you always have such wonderful things to say about my writing and urge me to write more! Still, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

Harry Potter was in trouble. No, not just the, ‘Oh that’s right, you can’t put aluminum foil in the microwave’ kind of trouble. Or the, ‘Did I really just set my house on fire with an ‘incendio’ spell?’ trouble. It was horrendously worse than, ‘Harry, I think I’m pregnant . . . and you’re the father’ situation.

Nope, it was much worse than the three catastrophic above mentioned episodes, causing even more trouble in his life than if a meteorite crashed into Earth and released a deadly virus that turned every human being into a ten foot zombie would cause (and as you can see, that is an enormous amount of trouble {you can probably also tell that Harry has an overactive imagination}). For poor, unfortunate Harry Potter had fallen in love.

With one Remus Lupin.

. . .

Ok, I can see you there looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a ‘so what?’ look on your face, but why don’t we take into account the facts that go along with Harry falling in love with Remus?

Fact One: He was in love with Remus Lupin.

Fact Two: Remus Lupin was the best of friend of his father, James Potter, and a good friend to his mother Lily. This had been a major anxiety issue for Harry when he had first discovered his feelings for the man. Would his parents have approved and allowed them to be together?

Fact Three: Remus Lupin was the other best friend of his dearly missed godfather, Sirius Black. Would Sirius have approved? Harry could almost picture the conversation, “Harry . . . now, I understand and completely accept the fact that you like men, but . . . Remus? I mean, he’s not unattractive, but he’s so . . . Remus! You know, cardigans and books and tea and chocolate. That Remus?”

Fact Four: Remus was forty-two, twenty years older than Harry’s measly twenty-two years of age. (But DAMN did that man have a nice butt . . .)

Fact Five: Remus used to be his professor. (Mmm . . .kinky teacher/student fantasies . . . No! Must not think dirty thoughts! Bad Harry!)

Fact Six: He, Harry, was the boy-who-lived. This delightful little tidbit of information opened up a whole new can (or cans) of worms.

Sub point a) Although there were some people out there who were slavering for the latest mishap of the boy-who-lived, after he had defeated Voldemort, a lot of the world had decided that they loved him even more. But they still despised Remus for what he was. even after all the help he had given in the second war.

Sub point b) Since the public thought it was their duty to protect him from anything that could possibly harm and/or maim and/or bother him (except when it came to Voldemort; he was on his own with that one), he knew that if they found out that he liked Remus they would lock him up in Azkaban on the idea that the man was using a love potion.

Sub point c) For some reason, if Harry ever pulled up that fabled Gryffindor courage to tell Remus what he felt (and said man ignored his martyr tendencies and decided to be selfish for once and let them be together), he would still be taken away from him for “conspiracy to turn the boy-who-lived evil with his dark, corrupt touch” . . . or some other such nonsense reason.

Fact Seven: Remus didn’t know that aforementioned boy-who-lived was gay. In fact, for a long time, Harry himself hadn’t known that he was gay, as crazy as that sounds. But truthfully, there really wasn’t much time to explore his sexuality in his school days, so he just went with what was normal for a man; dating women. Until . . . “Oh Harry, you have such beautiful eyes.” “Erm, thanks.” “They are just so clear and green.” “Uh huh.” “Harry, I have an important question to ask you.” “Okay.” “Does this shade of lipstick match my shoes alright?” “. . .excuse me, I have to go now.” “Oh . . . well, owl me!” “Uh huh . . .” (Yeah, Remus still laughs about that date. . .)

Fact Eight: Although he had his suspicions, Harry didn’t know for sure if Remus was gay and even if he was, there was no way he’d be interested in Harry. Alright, sure, maybe Harry should be a little more on the optimistic side, but no matter what Hermione thought (of course he’s gay, Harry! Haven’t you paid any attention to him at all; the way that he completely brushes Tonks off when she tries to flirt with him? Remus is a very intelligent man which means that he isn’t oblivious to her advances like you were with Ginny.), there was no concrete proof that Remus preferred men. And even if there was, he probably would be more into someone like Kingsley Shacklebolt (yeah, someone strapping and gorgeous, not a knobby-kneed, glasses wearing kid).

Fact Nine: Remus is a werewolf. Yes, the biggest and most complicated fact of them all. This fact poses a wide variety of new problems.

Sub point a) Pre-moon attitude: Harry had seen the way that Remus acted a few days before the full moon rose. He was sharp, his eyes almost feral with a golden glow as he stalked around the house, restless. It almost sent a pleasurable shiver up his spine to think about the difference between the pre-moon disposition and Remus’s usual calm, collected, sweet demeanor.

Sub point b) Transformation: When Moony ripped to the surface of Remus’s mind, contorting his body and, without the Wolfsbane potion, taking over his mind and turning him into an instinct-driven animal, Harry could not even imagine the intense wrenching pain that he went through. Bones shattered and reformed, fur sprouted as his jaw grew and changed shape . . . (I shudder just thinking of it.)

Sub point c) Post-moon attitude: After turning back into the beautiful man Harry knows him as, Remus can barely stand and only wants to sleep. Each month the moon gets worse and it takes longer for Remus to reemerge from his bedroom; the obvious look of pain that twists those lovely features makes Harry’s heart wrench in his chest because he knows that there is nothing he can do to make it better.

Sub point d) Death: Now, Harry isn’t stupid. When he realized how he felt about Remus he did some research about werewolves and, although unsure about how accurate the books were, found out that the way the curse ravages the body; shredding it apart and stitching it back together; takes a huge toll on the body and makes it so that werewolves don’t live as long as they should. Knowing this, could Harry really be with Remus with the knowledge of a premature death that would leave Harry alone looming on the horizon?

So . . . now do you see why falling in love with Remus Lupin is such a problem? Yeah, thought so.

Completed: December 27, 2007