An: Sorry for the lack of updates, but life happened ^^'''

Still don't own Potter

Chapter 7

Remus awoke to the wonderful smell of cooked bacon and fresh coffee after the best sleep he'd had in years. Even Moony felt relaxed, and unusual feeling. It was as if they were both perfectly at peace, besides their growling stomach. He pulled on a clean t-shirt over his pyjama pants, scooted over to the ladder and climbed down from the alcove.

Petunia stood in front of the stove, cup of coffee in hand. She turned around when she heard Remus come down and nearly choked on her drink. It wasn't fair how good he looked! Loose flannel pyjama pants hung low on his hips and he wore a tight white t-shirt. She turned back to her frying pan, hoping he hadn't seen her stare. She'd known the man for under a day, it wouldn't do to ogle him like that!

Little did she know that he had noticed her checking him out, in fact, Remus had enjoyed the knowledge very much. And even if he hadn't caught her, his nose still would have tipped him off. The faint trace of arousal was hard not to act on, luckily his hunger was stronger than his lust. Moony basked in her scent as they approached her, and they brushed past her, grabbing the pot of coffee and poured himself a cup.

Petunia's breath hitched as he brushed past her, barely touching. It was innocent and accidental and nearly drove her mad. She glanced at him as he leaned against the counter, cup of coffee in hand, and smiled at him.

Remus was the first to speak, as she finished making their breakfast. "So, the kids are still sleeping?" Petunia replied with a laugh. "Yes, I think all the excitement got them knocked out. I'm sure they'll be up soon. But I must admit, it's been nice having a quiet morning for once, usually they're up with the sun!"

They sat down at the small kitchen table together, and ate mostly in silence. Remus couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this good. He was full, clean and well rested. "Petunia, I really must thank you for letting me stay the night, I hate to be a burden." She just waved it away "Don't mention it, I'm just sorry we didn't have a proper room for you to stay in. I know the alcove can be a bit cramped for an adult. I slept there myself when we painted the bedrooms."

"Believe me, that alcove is heaven compared to the shack I would've stayed in if you hadn't let me stay" He almost shivered at the thought of spending another night in the shrieking shack. He'd spent enough nights there in his youth, before James, Sirius and Peter had joined him during the full moons.

"A shack?!" Petunia was shocked, "Remus, if you don't have anywhere to stay, then I insist that you stay with us until you find a more permanent solution. We may not have known each other for long, but I will not have a friend of my family sleep in a shack when I have room under my roof!" She hissed the word, as if it offended her.

A tension he didn't know he'd felt left his body, and Remus relaxed. To not have to worry about a roof over his head every night would be a welcome change. He gave her a grateful smile, "Thank you, Petunia, I'd love to stay."

Petunia felt her stomach fill with butterflies, he wasn't hard to look at, and when he smiled... Well, she was glad she was sitting down or her knees would surely buckle under her. "So, what are your plans for the day?"

"Oh, I thought I'd head over to Diagon Alley, I need to stop by Gringotts." Remus almost started explaining that it was the wizarding bank as he wasn't sure how much she'd picked up through Lily. He'd gladly answer any questions she had, but he didn't want to insult her by assuming she didn't know things.

"Oh, I went there once with Lily just before her 6th year!"

"Oh, what did you do there? I know Lily usually did her school shopping alone or with… Snape." He bitterly thought back. The summer before 6th year, that would have been right after he'd called Lily a Mudblood. Her look also soured at the mention of Snape.

"Ugh, that git? He hated me for being so close to Lily. He thought they were meant to be just because they were both magical. We ended up faking a falling out just to get him off her case." She took another sip of her coffee, then grimaced at the taste of the now cold drink.

"Anyway. our parents had passed away that year. I was her legal guardian and had to accompany her to Gringotts to help her open an account." Petunia smiled "We did a magical lineage test while we were there. Apparently our family on our mother's side was descended from a squib from a magical family called the Parkinsons. They even said I was a squib, even though Dumbledore told me I was a muggle. Shows what the old fool knows!"

"Parkinson?! Petunia, that's one of the sacred twenty-eight! You'd be pretty much wizarding royalty if that's true!" She scoffed at his response. "Please, if they're the kind that throws someone out for not having enough magic to do the fancy wand-waving, then I don't want anything to do with them. I'm well aware of the prejudice of the wizarding world. I may not be a witch, but believe me, Lily told me everything."

He nodded in agreement. The Parkinsons may not have openly supported Voldemort, but it was well known that they were just as prejudiced as the Malfoys were, if not more.

Remus skulked away from the bank, the last of his savings in his pouch. He'd have to start his jobsearch sooner that he'd hoped. At least he'd found Harry, so he didn't have to burn his remaining funds on the search. Maybe Petunia would let him use her address on his job applications. It would be hard enough to find a job as a werewolf, homelessness wouldn't improve his chances. And she had been kind enough to let him stay indefinitely.

He passed Arthur Weasley on the way to the Leaky Cauldron, and they spoke briefly. Apparently one of the younger boys, Percy, had acquired a pet rat over the holidays, and he was headed out to find a cage for the creature. The young boy refused to be parted from the creature and Arthur wasn't one to separate a child from his familiar, no matter what Molly said.

He was glad he'd managed to keep from speaking about Harry. He didn't know how much Arthur knew, but the man had always been one of Dumbledore's most faithful followers. Now that he thought of it, their unwavering faith in Dumbledore was bordering on fanatic. Remus was glad Dumbledore never chose to mark the members of the order, or the similarities between Voldemort and Dumbledore would be just too much to handle.

And to imagine that he would have been just as happy, if not more, to lick the man's boots just a day prior.

He apperated home, 'to the cabin' he mentally corrected himself. While it certainly felt like home, it didn't belong to him, he was just a guest and he'd have to remember that.

The boys were playing in their room, some kind of pretend game with their toys. He coughed to get their attention, "Hello boys, where's your mother?" the boys just blinked at him, then pointed to the back of the cabin. "Greenhouse, we're not 'llowed in, 's dangerous" Harry replied, before resuming his story.

Remus shook his head, he must have been more out of it yesterday than he thought. He hadn't even noticed a greenhouse then! He pulled his boots back on and went outside, walking around the house. Oh yes, there certainly was a greenhouse there! It wasn't big, the windows were foiled but he could see movement inside. He opened the door and stepped inside, quickly closing the door so he wouldn't disturb the plants too much.

Petunia was dancing between her plants to the music from the small cassette player. She hadn't heard the door open, so caught up in her daily routine in the greenhouse. Flowers were watered, weeds plucked and leaves tended.

Remus was in awe, the greenhouse was small, but he hadn't seen a variety in plants this great since his Herbology classes at Hogwarts. Petunia was dancing between the plants, in the light she reminded him of a faerie. It was impressive how she's managed a variety of flowers like this without any magical means. Some of the plants in the small garden was certainly good enough to be used in potions. In fact, most of the plants were common in some potions.

She even had some monkshood growing in a pot in a corner, the main ingredient of the wolfsbane potion that he hadn't had access to for years. When they were still alive, Lily would brew him the complex potion.

He coughed to catch her attention and she jumped out of her elegant movements, turning around and looking at him with wide eyes and a bright red face. "Oh! I didn't hear you come in!" Petunia pulled her gloves off and lay them on a small free space on a counter between several plants.

"I noticed. Didn't know you were a dancer" He hadn't expected her to be able to blush more, but it appeared that he'd have to get used to surprises around the woman. Her face was beet red, it looked like she'd taken a pepper-up potion. He wouldn't be surprised if steam started coming out of her ears with how red her face was. "I..Used to dance ballet when I was younger, enjoyed it quite a bit, although I wasn't good enough to do it professionally."

"I find that hard to believe, I'll admit that I don't know much about ballet, or any other dancing for that sake. All I have for experience is some abysmal ballroom classes before the yule ball at Hogwarts. But you looked like a fairy the way you moved." Remus moved up to her and put one hand carefully on her hip, and holding his other up for her to take. "But even with my abysmal dance lessons, may I have this dance?" He smiled hopefully at her, and was thrilled when she put her hand in his and her other on his shoulder.

"Only if you promise not to step on my feet." She laughed teasingly and stepped closer to him. "I'll try not to, I'd never do anything to hurt you." He promised sincerely.

Their dance was slow, and more just turning slowly to the music than an actual dance due to the lack of free space in the greenhouse but Petunia thought it was the nicest dance she'd ever had. And as promised, Remus didn't step on her toes even once.

I've always liked the theory that Muggleborn witches and wizards have magical/squib ancestry. I thought it'd be funny if Lily and Petunia were descendants of a Pureblood family who sent their squibs away.

Then I got to thinking about Pureblood naming traditions, for example how the Black family have constellation names. And there is one pureblood witch with a flower name…

Imagine how canon-Harry would react if he'd found out that he was related to Pansy Parkinson! x'D

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, will try to have the next one up sooner!

I'm having a minor surgical procedure on Tuesday, so I'll have a few sickdays to spend writing! ^3^