Podfic reading of thewholeofthemoon's Harry Potter and the Two-Way Mirror
Author's Summary
A re-telling of GOF in the Hope's Cottage AU where it was not the Full Moon that night in POA so Peter Pettigrew was brought to justice and Sirius was exonerated. Harry Potter moved in with Sirius Black and his former professor, Remus Lupin, the summer after POA and is now entering his fourth year of Hogwarts.
Chapter One
HARRY – DAD GOT THE TICKETS!!! Ireland vs. Bulgaria!!! YOU HAVE TO COME! Is Sirius getting you tickets??? Owl me as soon as you know if you’re coming!!!!
Ron
RON - SIRIUS GOT TICKETS!!! Sirius, Remus, and I are coming to the Burrow the night before the Cup to see you all and travel there together!!! See you so soon!!!
Harry
“Alright, I’m ready, let’s have it out,” Sirius Black, godfather of Harry Potter and true love of Remus Lupin, said while sitting cross-legged at the end of he and Remus’ bed, facing the other man who was leaning against the headboard, his own long lithe legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle.
“I wouldn’t call it having it out,” Remus corrected dryly, “I would call it taking proper precautions and planning for contingencies.”
“Ooh I love when you talk dirty.”
“I’ve something really dirty in mind if we get this planning session done in under ten minutes.”
“Ah, bribery! I’m in.”
“I thought so,” Remus smiled, “Alright, so first: the gift basket is prepped and ready for the Weasley’s?”
“Sorted,” Sirius said, pointing to the wicker basket sitting atop his trunk with various offerings: wine for Molly and Arthur, boxes of shamrock-shaped and red and black colored assorted biscuits and popcorn for snacks representing the two teams, and spare spectator glasses for anyone who needed them to watch the Cup.
“And what was our agreement for Harry during the Cup?”
Sirius rolled his eyes but responded, “He can wonder around the campgrounds before the match with his friends as long as he carries the two-way mirror. But no letting him out of our sight after the game, with all the rowdiness and what-not.”
Remus smiled, “Just so. And if anyone gives him, or you, trouble?”
Here, Remus Lupin was referring to Harry Potter and Sirius Black’s respective fame. Harry’s fame of course, had to do with his being the only person alive to ever survive being hit directly with the Killing Curse, which also happened to be cast by the most notorious and vile Dark Wizard of the present age. Sirius’ fame, of course, had to do with first of all being the Heir to the House of Black, the most Ancient Pureblood family in Britain, then being sorted into Gryffindor, denouncing his family and joining in the Wizarding War against said Dark Wizard, and second of all, being thought by the whole of the British Wizarding World to have betrayed his best friends and godson to said Dark Wizard, being sentenced to Azkaban, only to escape twelve years later, go on the run with a nation-wide manhunt, and then be exonerated when Peter Pettigrew was found alive and to have been the traitor. Sirius’ model good-looks and ‘rebel’ persona were also a significant factor.
“I’ll distract them, you’ll take Harry, and then I’ll shake them off,” Sirius answered Remus, and there was a slight burning to his eyes that conveyed his own very sincere passion on this point.
“And last but not least, if anyone gives me trouble?” Remus asked.
Here, Remus Lupin was referring to the fact that the current staff and student body (and most likely their families) of Hogwarts had all come to be aware of his being a werewolf, and the Wizarding World, on the whole, had a substantially prejudicial view of werewolves, who were considered Dark Creatures and unfit for intermingling with Wizard society.
Sirius’ eyes burned a little deeper, “We don’t engage,” he said, but his voice was barely above a growl.
Now, this was a representation of one very noticeable difference between Sirius and Remus. Sirius was all head-strong and daring confrontation, while Remus was more for using a mild dry tongue and presenting a benign front. But he held with the saying of ‘rising above’ only when he felt that a confrontation was not worth it, and in this case, he did not find any encounter of prejudice toward himself being a werewolf to being worth a scene or worse, with Sirius, a brawl. It would only bring further un-wanted attention, and would do nothing to change any Witch or Wizard’s mind about werewolves.
Remus smiled warmly at Sirius, “Full marks.”
Sirius growled and crawled forward on the blanket and Remus’ pulse fluttered as lightness and warmth flooded his body. Sirius straddled his knees on either side of Remus’ hips and used one hand to lift a few strands of Remus’ brown hair, streaked with grey, off his forehead. Sirius’ own curly black hair framed his beautiful face, setting off his alabaster skin. “Now, what was it you had in mind, Moony?” Sirius’ voice rumbled in his chest. Remus leaned his head forward so his lips ran along Sirius’ temple—the bone beneath so sharp, the skin so smooth…Sirius shivered.
“Well, I thought…if you were ready…we could—”
“I’m ready,” Sirius said, cutting him off by locking his lips on Remus’ and moving his hands to Remus’ shoulders to pull him away from the headboard.
Remus smiled into Sirius’ lips, moving now with Sirius as they kissed, to lay them onto their sides as they kicked off their pajama bottoms. Sirius took Remus into his hand and Remus felt himself fully harden, his body becoming a live-wire, and he was swimming in Sirius’ scent.
Without breaking their lips and without looking, Remus reached a long arm to his nightstand and grabbed his wand, casting the spell wordlessly. Sirius felt his body loosen deliciously, and the ache grew with his readiness. Remus’ strong arms flipped Sirius onto his other side, moving his long limber body behind him, and Sirius gasped at his slight entry and then pleaded for more.
Remus pushed in deeper, and Sirius was gasping, the ache of pleasure and want consuming him, and Remus was panting in his ear, “Alright? Tell me if it’s too much.”
“Yes, yes,” Sirius was saying breathlessly, and he felt like he would die from the pleasure and the desire, “I want you; I need you.”
And Remus filled him completely and Sirius’ eyes rolled back in his head and Remus was holding him so tightly—so close, they were as close and connected as their two bodies could be, and Sirius had dreamed of it for so long.
They came into a bliss that slowly retreated into a warmth like a fire’s embers, and Remus cast a cleaning charm before returning to his tight hold on Sirius. Sirius felt the strength of Remus’ hold, Remus’ heartbeat against his own, and was reminded of what he already knew, what he always knew with Remus; he was loved, and he was safe. Remus held Sirius to him, taking Sirius’ fingers into his own and interlacing their fingers.
“Alright?” Remus asked him again.
“I feel on top of the world, Moony,” Sirius told him, “I love you,” he said, moving his head to find Remus’ lips and giving him a sleepy and tender kiss.
“I love you, Pads,” Remus replied as Sirius lay his head back onto the pillows, and the two men did not move from their position against one another until Remus’ alarm clock woke them the following morning.
Remus locked the front door to Hope’s Cottage and waved his wand to cast one more ward before turning to where Sirius and Harry waited in the front garden. Harry had his trunk, his Firebolt and Hedwig in her cage; after the World Cup they would be staying briefly at the Burrow again before Harry boarded the Hogwart’s Express. Sirius had his trunk and the gift basket for the Weasley’s. Remus picked up his own trunk and walked towards them.
Remus and Sirius would not be returning to the cottage until the next summer; they had already informed Harry a few days prior that they would be moving to Hogsmeade for Harry’s fourth year to be closer to Hogwarts, but there was still the business of sorting out where Sirius and Remus would exactly be living in the only entirely Wizarding village left in Britain. That, Remus and Sirius decided, was an After Harry Was on the Hogwarts Express Problem.
“Ready for your first side-along Apparition?” Sirius asked his godson with a wicked grin. Harry smiled a little sheepishly back at him and shifted on his feet. “It’s just like taking a somersault on your Firebolt,” Sirius told him smartly, “If you feel a little nauseous afterward, that’s normal, but it’ll pass just as quick.”
Harry nodded, “Okay.”
Remus gave his mother’s cottage one last parting glance as they walked to the edge of the boundary. His mother had loved him entirely, but the bite when he was a young boy changed the way she looked at him and the cottage had seemed to have absorbed guilt into its foundations. His father, Lyall, had been older than Hope by ten years, and Remus’ condition aged him further, and he never seemed to shake his own role in Remus’ attack. He left the family cowardly when Remus was in his second year of Hogwarts, and while it did seem easier to breathe in the house, and for Remus and his mother to share smiles and laughter, she had lost the last of her spark. She passed away a few months after James and Lily’s wedding, and the cottage fell to Remus. But at that time, Remus and Sirius were sharing a flat in Muggle London, and fighting in the Wizarding War, and it wasn’t until after October 31, 1981 that Remus moved back into his boyhood home. Guilt now laced with pain, and the house seemed to haunt Remus, but he was already haunted, and he had nowhere else to go.
But moving back into Hope’s Cottage with Sirius returned to him and Harry in tow, Remus had never for a moment felt the weight of the past within its walls—all that remained of the darkness was the cellar. But besides that, that summer the house felt like it had finally been freed of its burdens, of its past.
That toast that first night should have included Hope’s Cottage itself, Remus thought, Free at last to be what it was always meant to be.
Harry held Sirius’ hand and they Disapparated with a pop. Remus followed a second after.
They landed on the over-grown grassy front lawn of the Burrow, in Ottery St. Catchpole, to the loud sound of the door swinging open and a tumult of “Harry’s here!” and “Blimey, Sirius Black, on our front lawn!”
The Weasley’s ran out to greet them, and Sirius presented Arthur the gift basket while Molly took Harry’s trunk from him with a fuss, and then Sirius and Remus shook hands all around again.
“Hi Professor Lupin,” Hermione blushed up at Remus as he stepped towards the Burrow, near the back of the crowd.
Remus smiled down at her, “Hi, Hermione. And please, call me Remus. Or Lupin, if you prefer.” He wondered how many times he would have to remind her before she finally relented.
They clambered into the Burrow and Molly told Harry he’d be rooming with Ron, and Ron led Harry up the stairs toward his room below the attic, taking Harry’s trunk gallantly from his mother, and though Harry offered to take it back, the freckly red-haired teenage boy graciously refused.
“And Sirius and Remus, would you mind sharing terribly? Fred and George had to move into Charlie’s old room because—” and here Molly shot a glare at the twins—“something exploded; how it did without underage magic, I’m sure I don’t know. But you can use Bill’s old room and we’ve a spare cot set up in there. Will that be alright?”
Remus felt a little guilty at Molly’s unsure and slightly nervous expression, but also overwhelming grateful at the twins for their escapades. Since Sirius’ return to him, they’d never spent a night separated—except for that Full Moon Remus spent in the cellar, but he had not been in his mind of course for most of that time—and Remus had been dreading the idea of a wall between him and Sirius. He knew Sirius had too, although there was nothing to be done if Molly had offered them two rooms; Remus had just been outed as a werewolf and Sirius was still being re-introduced to Wizarding society, adding their relationship on top of that was something they didn't think they were ready for. So, it was a relief for the excuse to share a room.
“Of course, Molly,” Remus assured her, “It’s not a problem at all.”
Sirius, busy talking with the twins trailing behind him, followed Remus and Molly up the stairs and into Bill’s room. Sirius and Remus deposited their trunks and went back down the stairs quickly. Remus went into the kitchen with Molly, helping her prepare dinner, while Sirius went out into the back garden to help Arthur set up the outdoor dining table.
In short time, as the cloudless sky was turning deep-blue, Molly called down the kids from up the Burrow’s stairs with an enchanting carrying-holler spell, and the stampede of footsteps made Remus smile. This time, Percy Weasley appeared from his bedroom to join the guests, as Molly had told Remus he’d been working busily on a report for his boss, Barty Crouch Senior.
“Padfoot,” George said, pulling back Sirius’ chair for him as Sirius prepared to take his seat with the three other adults at the end of the table. Sirius gave a great bow as he sat.
“Moony,” Fred said, doing the exact same to Remus, who was taking the last seat at the adults’ end of the table, beside Sirius and across from Molly, with Arthur across from Sirius. Remus winked at Fred and bowed his head at him before taking his seat.
Molly was watching the twins as the two men sat, and sitting across from Remus, she gave Remus and Sirius a look that clearly said—don’t give them anymore ideas! Remus gave her a sage look that clearly said—Come now, Molly, I’m a grown man now and Harry’s guardian, and once more, I was their professor last year and gave them numerous detentions; they will have to be of age until I give them anymore ideas. Sirius gave Molly a cheeky smile and a wink that said—No promises!
They all tucked into a wonderful dinner of roast chicken and ham, potatoes, and salad, and the adults opened one of the wine bottles brought by Sirius. Remus and Sirius both kept glancing side-long at Harry every few minutes, watching him talk animatedly with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the twins. Percy, at the far end of the table, was taking bites of his meal between scribbling on a piece of parchment, but Molly was too busy chatting to Remus and Sirius about the upcoming school year to notice.
“And have you found a place in Hogsmeade, Sirius?” Molly asked, as Remus’ letter a few days prior had informed her of Sirius’ plans to move there during the school terms to be close to Harry; his letter had used the phrase, ‘Sirius’ll be looking for a place in Hogsmeade…' which carefully omitted himself without directly saying that Sirius would be moving alone. Remus had liked to say the news of his accompanying Sirius in-person to smooth it over for her perception, but he wasn’t ready yet for that conversation.
“Not yet,” Sirius answered, distracted by something George was showing him under the table that Remus pretended not to notice was some kind of glowing candy wrapper. He had an idea, suddenly, of how and what may have exploded in the twins’ room.
“He’s been a bit occupied with reading up on the Irish and Bulgarian players,” Remus said with a wry smile, changing the topic smoothly.
“What’d ya think of Krum?” Ron, seated on the other side of George, couldn’t seem to help but to ask Sirius.
“Mighty good Seeker, he’ll be giving the Irish the run for their money,” Sirius asserted.
“You won’t be rooting for Bulgaria, will you?” Fred asked him.
Sirius’ eyes twinkled with jest, “I’ve hedged a few bets,” he said, looking mischievously at Remus, who just smiled mildly back at him and took a bite of salad.
“Oh, you’ve a betting pool?” George said, massive grin spreading on his face, “Alright, what’s the in-price?”
Molly’s eyes had narrowed but Remus quickly assuaged her worried by answering her son, “No price,” Remus said, “Strictly betting on chores and pride.”
This, Remus and Sirius knew, was not exactly true and it was why Sirius pinched his thigh lightly under the table—'chores', per say, was not exactly the word Sirius would have used to describe what they were betting on, but it was the quickest and easiest white lie Remus could think of that would make sense.
“I’ll bet on pride,” Fred said eagerly.
“Shame that,” George said with a tsk of his tongue, “Seeing as you’ve got so little to begin with.”
Dinner ended with nightfall and the kids stamped up the stairs to their various rooms, with Fred and George last to go, after drawing up their own bets after Sirius and Remus shared theirs with them (carefully avoiding mentioning any of the ‘chores’ they were betting on).
The adults finished the dregs of the wine bottle by the fireplace and Arthur explained to Remus and Sirius how’d they’d be meeting Amos Diggory and his son Cedric, the current Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, at Stoatshead Hill the next morning to Portkey to the World Cup. Then Molly insisted the men get their proper rest before the big day tomorrow— “You’ll all have to enjoy yourselves and keep an eye out for trouble, you need your rest”—she told them.
Remus and Sirius climbed the stairs and went into their room, and Sirius transfigured Bill’s bed to be slightly larger to fit their two bodies, and Remus’ long legs.
Remus slid into bed, arms wrapped around Sirius, and thought that what he was most excited for the next day was not watching the game or experiencing the bustling merriment of the campgrounds, or even receiving his rewards if he won any of his bets with Sirius about the match. What he was most excited for would be seeing the looks on Sirius’ and Harry’s faces as they watched the 1994 Quidditch World Cup.