THE DEVIL'S WHITE KNIGHT→h.p

chapter 6

Harry Apparated just outside the front door of his parents' place, and grabbed the handle. It was unlocked, and he let himself in. It was Friday evening, and he was meant to be picking up Teddy from Remus and Sirius for the weekend. There would be lunch on Sunday, when Tonks and Fleur would be back to pick up the toddler, and Harry was looking forward to seeing them—even if they were a very different couple than he'd last known them.

Stepping into the lounge, he heard voices coming from the kitchen, and headed over. Before he could make his presence known, he heard his name and froze.

"...and Harry's doing much better. I understand your hesitation, Pads but..."

"It's not..." Sirius' voice sounded tense and tired. "It's not that I don't want to trust him. You know that's not it. I mean, for all we've seen, he really is an entirely different person and well...that's great. But part of me can't help but worry this is some elaborate prank meant to hurt you. He'll take Teddy, get pissed, let something awful happen to him, and the next thing we know the Ministry is swooping in saying, you see! We told you a werewolf for a parent would make bad decisions."

Harry felt his gut clench violently, and he put his hand on the wall, bracing himself.

"You and James have both put him through every test you know. For all the magic in the world has been able to tell, he's telling you the truth."

"Yes well, James has always had a bit of a blind spot where Harry's concerned," Sirius said, sounding a bit bitter. "And you and I both know magic is fallible."

"If you don't want to do this..." Remus said softly.

"I do," Sirius said. "I do, because if he's telling the truth and he really had gone through all that..." Sirius trailed off. "Remus, how horrible is it that I'd rather my godson suffered endless tragedy so he'd be a better person?"

There was silence, and Harry decided it was time to make himself known. Shoving one hand into his pocket, he strolled in like he hadn't heard a word. "Hey Moony. Padfoot," he said, giving them as easy a smile as he could manage.

Teddy was in his chair at the table, and grinned upon seeing Harry, throwing his arms up. Harry walked over, and after a short nod from Remus, he swung the boy up, in a circle to his utter delight, then dropped him onto his hip. "And you Mr. How are you?"

"Want nana!" Teddy poked Harry on the nose, then pointed back at the table where he'd been eating a cut-up banana.

"Oh. Is that your sweet? Is it very delicious?"

"Want!"

Harry swooped Teddy down to grab a handful, then smiled up at the two men. "Are we still alright for the weekend?"

Remus looked over at Sirius, then smiled at Harry. "Absolutely. Got him all packed up, and you'll have the mirror if anything comes up, of course. And you can check in by floo any time."

"Same goes for you both. It'll be on so if you want to just pop over for tea, see how he's doing, I won't mind." He directed this at Sirius whose shoulders sank just a little, and he offered Harry a slightly weak smile. "But we're going to have fun, right sproglet?"

"No!" Teddy cried, and wriggled out of Harry's arms.

Harry lowered the toddler to the floor, and he scrambled to Remus' leg, sitting on his shoe and grinning up at his dad. Remus laughed a little, and wriggled his foot, but didn't pick the toddler up.

"Anything I ought to know? I mean, I know my Teddy but..."

"I think it should all be the same," Remus said with a shrug. "No allergies, no sugar after tea, please. Reasonable bedtime."