Chapter 12

Harry tumbled out of the veil and onto the floor. The very first thing he did was vomit, the second thing was clean the mess. He felt his body and sure enough, his wand was at his side, his hair was short, there was a scar on his forehead, and he was wearing glasses. He was himself again.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly realized that he remembered! He could remember being Sirius! This meant that the guard was the liar, the guard was trying to make him forget, but who in Merlin's name could the guard have been? He stopped, closed his eyes, cast a spell, and shifted into his animagus.

He tripped over himself. This was not the same animagus that he'd had as Sirius, its limbs were longer and its fur shorter; straighter. He didn't have the time to figure out what he was; right now he needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. He ran to the door and realized that he was something he never could have guessed. He was, just as his father had been, a stag. He backed up and tapped the ground with his front right hoof. He lowered his head and charged the door, breaking it down and running through the Ministry as though his life depended on it. Thank Merlin he'd left for the past at night and he didn't have to worry and bursting through a crowd.

Alarms rang in his ears, witches and wizards who were on the security staff and thus on the building's list started apparating in, and Harry ran. He had to throw a few people out of the way, and his antlers weren't a thing that he was used to. Three times he got caught on doors and each time another bit of his antlers chipped away. By the time he'd gotten outside his antlers were cracked, chipped, and even broken in some places. He looked less like a majestic stag and more like a deer that had gotten into a bad fight and lost.

He ran to the woods trying to get away. In one swoop he shifted back into a human and apparated off to Grimmuald Place. Harry Potter stood panting in the middle of a meeting having just appeared there and startling everyone. It was a meeting that he hadn't been invited to. He glanced up in the dead silence and walked up to Dumbledore, holding his wand to the man angrily. "You erased Remus' memory." He accused.

Remus frowned and looked towards the boy. "I believe I can remember everything, Harry."

"Shut up Remus!" Harry shouted, not taking his eyes from Albus. "You erased his memory of everything that had happened."

Albus eyed the boy warily. "And what makes you so sure of this? What memories could you possibly be talking about?"

Harry pushed his wand into Albus' throat and soon had the wands of nearly half of the Order pointed at him. It didn't take him long to figure it out. "You… you were guard. You earned my trust, listened to my ramblings, and then you tried to make me forget!" He yelled.

Hermione tried reasoning with him. "Harry what are you talking about? This is Dumbledore!"

"Hermione, thank you, but NOT NOW!" Harry called. He lifted his head and sneered at the old man. "Look at the root words of the spell that you gave me, extermina meant erase! YOU MADE ME TRY TO ERASE MY OWN MEMORY!"

Hermione clutched her wand tightly and shook a bit. "Harry yo-"

"SHUT UP HERMOINE this is between Albus and I!" Harry cried. "Why would you do that?!"

Albus almost looked pained. "I simply don't know what you're talking about, Harry, what's wrong? Nobody's touched Remus or-"

"Don't give me that wishy washy crap, tell me the truth old man, or I'll put all those spells you made me learn to use on you!" Harry threatened. "I remember everything. Now I want you to give Remus his memories back, explain to me why you wanted me to forget, and I'll let you go. Otherwise I'm going down in a blaze of glory and-"

"He wasn't the guard!" A voice called from the back of the room. "I was… I tried to make you forget, I erased Remus' memories… If you want to hurt someone, hurt me. Dumbledore's telling the truth."

Harry watched with wide eyes as Bill Weasley stepped out from the others. "Bill?" He asked, his face contorted in betrayal yet again. "Why?"

"Because you're too strong, Potter." The man replied, holding his own wand up as Harry dropped his hand. "You've got the memories of an entire lifetime under your belt before you're even 20; if you decide to go dark side there is almost nothing that anyone could do to stop you. Nobody can be trusted with that kind of power."

Albus raised his own wand and pointed it towards the young man. "Mr. Weasley you have disappointed me. I assigned you a task believing that I could trust you and you've done little more than try to ruin our plans! Do you want Voldemort to succeed?" He bellowed, sending a petrifying curse to him. He used legilimency to invade his mind seeking answers. "You had best be glad that the boy did not accept your bait, otherwise you'd be lying dead right now. Severus, take him to a holding cell." He demanded, returning to his podium.

Remus cleared his throat. "Um, what about me? Missing memories and all?"

Albus looked to him with sad eyes. "I fear all is lost on that front, my boy. When I scanned Mr. Weasley's mind I found that he had destroyed them. I apologize." He turned to Harry and sighed. "I am sorry that you had doubted me, but perhaps this will strengthen our bond."

Soon Harry was all but ordered from the room so that their meeting could continue. He wandered around the house trying to figure out who he could trust when Snape cornered him. "What do you want?" He demanded, frowning up towards the man.

Severus held up a key, dangling it in front of him. "Before I put him in the cell I looked through his memories. The ones you seek for Remus are intact in a vault that I own and Albus uses on a frequent basis."

Harry looked confused. "But he said-"

Snape crossed his arms and looked the boy square in the eyes. "I'm going to give you some life lessons, Potter. Lesson one, never trust Albus Dumbledore. Everything he has ever done has been interwoven with lies and deceit; he will use anyone he can. Bill was nothing more than a scapegoat. Albus had planned these things to happen; for him to try and cause you to forget and for Lupin's memories to be removed. They'd planned this multiple years in advance. Lesson two, never devote yourself to someone entirely. It does little more than land you in hot water. My allegiances are neither with Voldemort nor Dumbledore; they are with me and what I consider to be right. Lesson three, you should really stop swearing. It's not becoming of you. Lesson four, get to work! The meeting will be over soon, wait outside of the door and I will take both you and Remus to restore his memories."

Harry looked up at the man with wide eyes. He felt as though he could cry. After all of the horrible things he'd put Snape through… the man was still trying to save him. He hugged Severus. "Thank you."

Severus patted his arm awkwardly before prying him away. "Get off me, boy."

Remus sat on the floor of the vault rubbing at his temples. He could remember everything, and although the timeline was a bit jumbled in his mind, it was all there. Everything from the revelation that Sirius was Harry, to the wild hormones that he'd experienced at their first kiss. He chuckled for a moment. "You've grown up to be quite a powerful young man… well, I suppose 'man' is better fitting; you are older than me."

Harry nodded. "Thank you… you know, I always did have a bit of a crush on you in school…"

Remus looked seriously towards him. "We can't do this, Harry. It's strange. You're my best friend's son."

Harry nodded again, shifting his hands into his lap. "I know…" He whispered.

"You need someone your own age, or your own generation I should say… your original generation. You need someone who doesn't know about all of this. I hear the smallest Weasley has a thing for you."

"Yeah, she always has…" Harry muttered before looking up to him. "Do you think I could… just one last time that I could get a… a kiss? For old time's sake?"

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose but nodded with a chuckle. He reached out a hand and held Harry's chin, pulling him close for a kiss. It was brief, but it was just long enough to get the point across. He dropped his hand and stood, helping Harry up. "What will you do now?"

Harry sighed, cracking his neck. "I don't know." He looked up to Remus quickly stole another kiss.

Remus blinked and raised an eyebrow. "We can't, Harry."

"Why not?"

"I told you, it's bizarre." Remus stated with certainty.

"Is it really?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around Remus' neck. "Is it that weird? Does this feel unnatural?" He kissed him again, longer this time. His heartbeat sped up as he felt hands go around his waist.

"No…" Remus mumbled against his lips. "No, it doesn't feel wrong…" He pulled away and stared at Harry. "Merlin's sake, you're my godson!"

"I'm nearly 15 years your senior." Harry replied.

"Oh for… fuck it." Remus leaned in and kissed him again. No, it didn't feel weird, it felt taboo in an odd sense and it felt like he was rewriting history, but most importantly… it felt right.

Severus walked in to see the two swapping saliva and immediately cleared his throat. "If you two wouldn't mind waiting until you've found a room that isn't my vault that would be lovely. Now if you don't mind… I believe we have a final battle to prepare for. Potter, I want you and Lupin in my quarters every Friday evening come start of term. We will take down Voldemort, and if need be, anyone else who gets in the way. This includes Albus." He opened the door to his vault and led the two out, pocketing the key. "First lesson; advanced occluding."