What They Never Knew

Back To School

The summer holidays always came and went too quickly for Tim.

When he was younger it meant, his mother would have to go as his 'father' wanted her back at work and she would reluctantly leave her son alone.

After Janet and Jack had passed away Tim Drake was adopted by Bruce Wayne, and while it was a bit of an inconvenience it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, he did like the perks of being a Wayne in public, though it did have its drawbacks as well, it meant that he had to be someone else whenever he was in Gotham from who he normally was, which really didn't help Tim and his struggling relationship with his sleep schedule.

This year though? Completely different. His friends and family from the Wizarding World had finally had enough and decided to go to Gotham, which was a stupid idea, and demand to see their friend and son, flattering really, but also really dumb.

He was able to spend his summer with his friends who actually knew everything about him, it was actually really nice, having a nice big meal every day, chatting about mindless topics, and just enjoying each other's company. Of course, though, there was also Stephanie and Cass who were there as well, which sounded weird in his own thoughts but mainly because he didn't think his two worlds would collide, but they did, and they did so amazingly.

It was a big relief to see his friends accept the two girls with open arms, although he could have gone without all the teasing. And the pranks. And the embarrassing stories. Okay, he could have gone without a lot of it, but he was glad that they all got along, even at his expense.

A few days before he had to go back to Hogwarts, he and his friends went into Diagon Alley to get their required books and for Tim, new robes as he had hit his growth spurt, finally, new dress trousers that he preferred to be skinny around his lower legs, so what if it was uncommon, he stuck out anyway due to his surname, his friendship with Harry Potter, and his metamorphmagus abilities. He also went to a muggle high street and purchased multiple pairs of yellow converse trainers instead of the traditional black dress shoes as they reminded him too much of the needless and tedious charity gala's Bruce made him attend.

He was also reminded by Harry to get a new broom, a comet two-ninety, it was fast and reliable, as he would be the new Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and would now be the most experienced chaser and the most experienced player on the team, which was something, not that he had terribly high hopes for the team this year as many of the first team Hufflepuff's had either graduated or decided not to play this year as they studied for their N.E.W.T's, but weirder things have happened to Tim, so he wasn't exactly confident but he wasn't writing himself or Hufflepuff off either.

On the night before Tim, Harry, Hermione, and Ron along with Ginny would be returning to Hogwarts there was a sort of going away meal that everyone attended, it was nice if a bit weird.

As agreed, Cass and Stephanie would be apparated back to Gotham by Cedric the night before so that there wouldn't be any teary goodbyes when they were in a rush to get to the train to take them to Hogwarts. As for why Cedric was chosen for this task? Well, Sirius would probably go on the hunt to hex a Bat, a full moon was approaching soon so that left Remus out, Tonks stuck by him so that was her out, and Cedric was most likely to keep his head if he were to interact with any nocturnal creatures if he ran into any.

"Bye little brother." Cass whispered as she hugged, well more like crushed, him tightly as if to infuse his cells with her love.

"I'll miss you Cass. I'll... well, I'll see you when I see you" He replied sadly, knowing going back to Gotham would be practically a death wish.

"I'll come see you." She replied strongly.

"I only come back for Christmas and Easter." Tim offered.

"We can write each other. Every week." Cass replied pulling back from the hug but giving him an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, we can do that. I'll write to you, Alfred, and Steph back in Gotham, and I'll keep writing to his family in England.

"You better." Cass threatened teasingly moving away so she could get her stuff before leaving with Cedric.

Tim wasn't hug free for long as Stephanie practically barrelled into him with a tight embrace that Tim readily returned.

"I'm going to miss you so much Timbo." Steph's voice came out mumbled from where her face was aggressively smooshed into Tim's neck.

"I'm going to miss you too Stephie." Tim whispered into her ear.

As Steph pulled back, she had a playful pout on her face, "And you're going to write to me? Every week?"

"Of course." Tim speedily replied along with a quick kiss on the lips, to which he heard a few wolf whistles and laughs.

"Not to break this up, but if you two want to get back on the agreed time, we've got to go now." Cedric interrupted awkwardly, not really wanting to break the couple apart, but time really was of the essence.

"Oh, okay then. Love you, Tim." Steph said walking towards Cedric and a smirking Cass.

"Love you too, Steph." Tim dreamily replied, and if he looked behind Fred and George had enchanted some love hearts to appear behind Tim's head who was completely oblivious to said boy.

As the two lovebirds said there goodbye's Cedric quickly asked if the girls were ready and they nodded there assent and he grasped their hands and apparated to Gotham safely before he would return to Grimmauld Place soon after.

"Well, pup off to bed, got to be up early tomorrow morning after all you've got a train to catch." Sirius enthusiastically exclaimed from behind Tim.

"But daaaaaad!" Tim whined.

"Nope. Off to bed." Sirius instructed.

"Fine." Tim grumbled under his breath reluctantly trudging off to bed along with his friends.

Remus watched his old friend sigh and question him, "Am I a good father?"

"Honestly? Yes. From what we heard and were told by Harry and the others, in the past two years where you have been able to parent Tim, you have shown to be better than his two previous examples. You do make mistakes, but what parent doesn't? Also, you missed 12 years of his life and 12 years of parenthood, you are allowed to take your time getting used to being a parent again, so don't be too hard on yourself Padfoot. Okay?" Remus explained thoroughly.

"Yeah Moony, it's just... hard y'know? I look at him and I see my baby boy, and then I blink and he's this incredible young man, one I think I don't know sometimes."

"Sirius, that boy adores you, do you know why?" Remus questioned his old friend.

"Why?"

"Because you openly adore him. You give him attention and affection that he lacked from a father figure, he knows why you weren't able to see him grow up, hell he petitioned for your acquittal he reminded me of Janet when she debated a topic, she was passionate about, but you are showing him what a father is meant to be, and that is the greatest thing you can do for him." Remus explained to his old friend.

"See, this is why I chose you to be Godfather over James." Sirius chuckled trying to hide the emotion on his face.

Remus snorted, "Plus, I was the natural choice."

Sirius laughed, "How humble of you."

"Coming from you Sirius? I didn't know you knew the word humble." Remus replied dryly.

"Very funny. Well, I'm off to bed, got to see my boy off tomorrow, so early morning." Sirius clapped his hands and went off to bed with a spring in his step. "And thank you Remus."

"You are welcome, my old friend." Remus lifted his drink, before going to join Nymphadora in their shared bedroom.

As daft as Sirius was, he needed to be reminded that he was a good parent.

James and Lily would've been proud to see their friend grow from an immature man child to an affectionate father, and Janet would be happy that her son finally had a father to look up to.

Yes, they would be proud.