Black Truth [READ DESCRIPTION]

chapter thirty-nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Preparations

The teapot whistled, breaking Remus Lupin out of his train of thought. Without setting down the newspaper clipping he was reading, he stood and walked the short length of the kitchen to the stove, took the kettle off the small flame and set it on the counter absently.

His eyes turned back to the headline of the article and the stated author below. Hermione Granger. Returning to the table with a cup of tea, Lupin set the article next to two others. Hermione's article had appeared the day before in the Prophet. An article by Ronald Weasley had appeared in the Quibbler. And one, sent to him by Mrs. Weasley, authored by Ginny Weasley had appeared in Witch Weekly. All three articles were on the same topic: Harry Potter's engagement to Draco Malfoy. Lupin had to smile lightly at the skill behind the three writers. They had obviously collaborated and split all the facts evenly between the three articles so that each one would present new details.

But it was the topic that was puzzling Lupin. The last he knew, Draco Malfoy and Harry were not on the best of terms to put things lightly. And he doubted that Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were writing falsities about Harry. Of course, one had to wonder why the three were writing about Harry at all. But then he remembered Albus had mentioned some rather strange articles had appeared about Harry in the Prophet a while ago. Maybe this was to make sure that if things had to be printed they weren't detrimental to Harry.

There was a scratching at the window which caused Lupin to look up from the articles. Two owls were seated there, waiting to be let inside. One he recognized as Hedwig, the other he did not know. It was a proud-looking eagle owl, whose feathers were so dark they were almost black. Lupin crossed to the window and opened it, letting the two owls fly in.

The eagle owl dropped its letter on the table and left, but Hedwig remained on the table, watching Lupin.

Lupin took Harry's letter from her, opened it, and began to read.

Dear Professor Lupin,

As you've probably already seen what Hermione, Ron, or Ginny have written about me, I won't bother to repeat what they've said because it's true. I'm engaged to Draco Malfoy and the wedding is set for a few weeks after school. But in the tradition of wizarding weddings, since there's no way that Draco would agree to a muggle one, I have to be accompanied by my closest male guardian. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind being my familial guardian now that Sirius is dead, but as Draco has already sent his own letter to you I'm a little late in asking but I figured I should ask anyway. Please send your reply back with Hedwig.

Harry

Lupin reached across the table to where his own quills and parchment sat and scrawled:

Dear Harry,

I would be honored to be your familial guardian.

Remus Lupin

As Hedwig soared off towards Hogwarts, Lupin reached for the letter that was, as Harry stated, bearing the Malfoy crest.

Dear Professor Lupin,

In following with tradition, I have instructed Gringotts to place the amount listed below in your vault in honor of the upcoming marriage between myself and Harry Potter. I look forward to seeing you at the wedding.

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Lupin looked at the number listed after the scripted name and blinked. That was a lot of Galleons.

As the weeks passed, more teachers started to begin their lectures with "because exams are coming up in a few weeks" or "in order to prepare you for your exams". The amount of homework that Harry received was almost doubled as "review" assignments were added to the regular homework. And Harry still had to deal with the comments about the wedding coming from different classmates.