The Trouble With Hand-Me-Downs

The Trouble With Hand-Me-Downs
Part: 3 / 3
Author: Bella Ireland
Feedback: bellaireland@sbcglobal.net
Part 3
Harry arrived home a bit early; his and Severus\' play not lasting as long as they thought. They had decided to hold back their urges to ravage one another until the following evening when Harry would have a reason for being at Hogwarts. He was to help Hagrid with a new herd of Pegasus, and then he could stay in the dungeons with his lover. He promised to send along a little gift to Severus to help ease the pressure.

In a sickeningly good mood, he entered the kitchen and poured himself a cup of tea. He wondered where Sirius and Remus were, but quickly blushed at the thought of what they were probably doing.

“Lucky bastards,” he thought to himself. Sitting down at the table, he noticed a familiar looking piece of parchment, one he had long forgotten about.

\"Son of a bitch,\" he said aloud once he realized the letter was folded the wrong way. He knew someone had read it. He couldn\'t believe either one of them would invade his privacy like that. Worse yet, he couldn\'t believe that Remus knew he once had feelings for him. A crush, be it as it may, but still he had ght ght of him in that sense, and had hoped no one ever found out.

For a few minutes, he sat there contemplating how to get his way out of this, but the anger of being betrayed by someone he loved deeply, outweighed any emotions he might have been feeling. He threw the glass and it shattered along the wall, tea running all over the floor. He felt flushed, and knew his face was red. He didn\'t care what they were doing, they were about to hear from him. And not pleasantries either. He was as furious as he had ever been with Sirius, and hurt that Remus would betray him.

He heard their footsteps on the stairs, and realized he now had his chance. They stopped dead in their tracks, both deducting that Harry was infuriated with them. Sirius started to explain, but Harry cut him short. \"Harry, there\'s a perfectly good explanation…\"

\"Shut your fucking mouth and listen to *me* for a change! How dare you invade my privacy! How dare you read something that wasn\'t addressed to you! Something you had no business reading.\"
Sirius fully entered the kitchen and made his way to Harry. \"Listen here Harry. It was in a pair of jeans *you* gave to *me*. If you didn\'t want it read, I suggest you should have taken it out of them before giving them to me. It wasn\'t my fault.\"

Remus corrected his lover. \"That\'s not entirely true Sirius. You shouldn\'t have read it. WE shouldn\'t have read it.\" Harry grew angrier as Remus confirmed that he too had read the letter.

\"Bloody fantastic; I bet you all had a good laugh. Look here… Harry fancied his teacher… Harry wanted to sleep with his teacher. Little Harry jacked off while dreaming of his teacher\'s silky voice… It must have made for quite an entertaining evening.\" He stormed out of the kitchen and up to his room. They thought that was the end of it and went into the living room.

Not even five minutes later, an incensed Harry stomped down the stairs, and threw a box at Remus. He nearly didn\'t catch it. The lid flew off and letters and postcards spilled all over the room.

\"Here you go more cheap entertainment for you. Have a good laugh at my expense. It seems you enjoy it *so* much.\" Harry began pacing the room and when neither Sirius nor Remus attempted to read a letter, he grabbed one and flung it at Remus.

\"Go on then. Read it. See how I felt about you. This one was written just after I arrived one minute too late to save a raped and beaten muggle girl. You feel like reading, go on then. See how funny this one is.\" They still didn\'t try to read the letter so Harry grabbed it out of Remus\' hands and started reading.

As he continued, Sirius and Remus both felt a nauseating feeling overcome them. Harry wrote in graphic detail everything about that night. They both felt like a couple of arses after making him recall that horrible evening. When he finished, he grabbed another and tore into the envelope.

\"Ah well… they get even better… This one was written after Severus and I found Draco Malfoy with his heart cut right from his chest. I can put it in a Pensieve for you if you\'d like. Make the images more graphic.\"

He read this letter, and the tears of anger that had built up inside of him fell like the rain plunging down outside. \"Had enough? I have plenty more. There’s one where we found Seamus hanging by his throat, or your old buddy, Mundungus Fletcher beheaded by Lucius Malfoy. I\'ve got one that I know you\'d just love to read since you\'re both so *fond* of Severus.\"

Harry dug through the letters and found one in orange parchment. \"This one I wrote when I discovered I no longer harbored feelings for Remus. When I realized it was a crush and needed to be kept deep within me along with every other childish thing I had done or felt. Never did you even ask me how I felt about the war. You always seemed happy knowing I was alright, and that was all that mattered to you.\"

Harry went to the liquor cabinet and downed a shot of Firewhiskey. \"That letter also contains the description of when Severus was nearly tortured to death, by both magical and muggle methods.
They discovered him as a traitor and I never felt so lost in my entire life when he was missing. He saved my life and I returned the debt. The only way I could deal with it was to write to someone; to write to you. Remus wouldn\'t judge me no matter what I saw, did, nor wrote about. You were always straight forward and truthful with me. Sirius, I\'m sorry but you\'re just too damn judgmental and you don\'t find out all the facts before passing judgment.\" Sirius moved towards him, but Harry pulled away.

\"Harry, I\'m sorry. I truly am. I had no idea you felt this way about me, nor about Remus. I had no idea the war affected you that much. Please forgive me. I promise to give you your space and to let you live your life like *you* choose.\"

\"Oh and I guess all the little knocks on the door to see if I am asleep will quit? The checking up on me to see where I am and the checkin my my alibis will end? Bullshit! You and I both know you\'ll still keep on smothering me. Why does it matter so damn much where I am at, where I\'ve been, or whom I may be shagging?\"

He grabbed up the bottle and headed towards the stairs. \"Now, you can quit your charade, I know your seeing each other. I\'d have to be a fucking idiot not to notice. And second, I\'m heading up to take a bath. I\'ll leave the door open if you want to watch. I assure you… I\'ll scrub every part of my body. Making sure there\'s no spot left untouched. Oh, and if Autoclys arrives, let him in. I promised Sev I\'d give him my boxers to tide him over until I shag him senseless tomorrow.\"

Harry watched as two chins fell nearly to the floor, and then stomped up to his bathroom. He couldn\'t help smirking at the look on their faces. He felt betrayed more than he ever had before. He had completely forgotten about that particular letter. He completely forgot that he didn\'t take it out of his jeans. Hell, he pulled them off and threw them in the trunk and never seen them again until that morning. He knew they both had to be shocked as hell to learn that Harry was seeing Severus. He continued grinning thinking how furious Sirius must be.

\"Hope he\'s as angry as I am. It serves the nosy arsehole right. Going and invading my privacy. How dare him.\" He slumped into the tub, and used a bit of wandless magic to shut the door. He didn\'t want to see either of them and he knew Sirius would be up there in a short while. He couldn\'t stand not having the last word, especially when he and Harry were arguing.

Three shots and five minutes later, Harry heard a faint knock at the door. \"GO AWAY! I\'ve said all I care to say this evening.\" He thought it had worked, but he heard Remus\' gentle voice trying to make amends.

\"Harry, we\'re both so sorry. Please let me in. I want to talk to you. There are some things I need to
say to you.\"

\"I don\'t care Remus. Please listen to my wishes and go away.\"

\"Harry, you know I can open this door at any moment. I\'d rather you let me in than have to break it down.\"

Harry thought about what Remus said and covered himself with a washcloth. \"Alright. Five minutes. Not a second more.\"

Harry opened the door and Remus slowly came in. He wasn\'t sure where to begin, so he started with gratitude. \"I\'m very flattered Harry.\"

\"Well, it was just a stupid crush. That\'s all. I guess deep down I knew it could never be anything more, but I still had to deal with the feelings while they were there.\" He drank another swig, and slowly started to feel the numbing effect of being intoxicated.

\"I really would like to read those letters. I may be able to help you deal with some of the after effects from them. I know you went through hell, and I\'d like to be there for you if you will let me.”
Remus had a pleading look in his eyes. “Please?”

“Perhaps.” They sat in silence for a moment and then Remus was the one to shock Harry.

“It only seems natural that you would fall for Severus.\"

\"Why does that seem natural?\"

\"Well, he was by your side night and day for nearly three years. He taught you more than I could, and he saved your life more than anyone else did. You\'ve got a lot in common and I think you are good for each other, despite what *others* may think.\" He flung his head to the side, and Harry knew he meant Sirius.

\"You know, it really was a positive outlet for my pain and suffering. Writing to you…I felt liberated every time I sealed that envelope. No matter how sick and tired I was of the fighting, after I\'d written to you…I felt refreshed and ready for more. Once, I even went looking for them, disobeying Severus\' commands.\"

\"Well, I am glad I was good therapy for you; even though I wasn\'t aware of it.\" Remus grabbed the bottle from him and took his own swig. \"I hoped you would accept our relationship. Despite being overbearing, short-tempered and an arse most of the time, I love him with all my being. And it will be great not having to hide it anymore. We hated checking on you all the , bu, but we wanted to make sure we weren’t caught. Sorry if it seemed like we were intruding on you. You don\'t know how many times you nearly caught us.\" Remus laughed and so did Harry. He did know but he didn\'t want to embarrass Remus any further.

\"Just do me a favor and be supportive of me. Don\'t hold anything against me because of a crush I had when I was eighteen. All I want is for you two to accept our relationship just as I have accepted yours. I hope that you are as happy as we and that someday, although I know it won\'t be anytime soon, we can all sit down and enjoy each other\'s company.\" Harry thought he heard a snort from the other side of the bathroom door.

\"I\'m sure your right. I know it won\'t be anytime soon, but I promise to act accordingly, where Severus is concerned and to treat you like the adult you\'ve become. It\'s been hard on him you know. Watching you grow away from him. He\'s afraid you\'re going to leave and forget all about him.\"

\"Well he needs to be the one to tell me that. Not send you in to speak for him. I\'ll never forget him. I just have to do things the way I see fit. Sirius has to accept that and the sooner the better.\"

\"Very true Harry. Just try to be easy on him. He\'s not getting any younger and I know his heart couldn\'t take many more shocks.\" Remus placed his finger to his lips; he knew Sirius was listening from outside the door.

\"Hey! You\'re older than I am.\" Sirius\' voice was muffled by the door and Remus knew he was right in thinking he was eaves dropping on him.

\"Might as well let him in, he\'s heard everything I\'ve said.\" Harry pulled the bottle from Remus and finished it off. Remus opened the door and a very apologetic looking Sirius entered.

\"Well Siri, what are your thoughts on the matter?\" Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus\' shoulders forming a circle around his neck. Remus placed his hands over Sirius\' for comfort.

\"Well, I must say you\'ve shocked the hell out of me more times tonight than I care to admit. First, I discover you once had feelings for my lover, you fly into a rage on me, and then you inform me you\'re shagging Snape. I am at a loss for words really.\"

\"Well, that\'s a first isn\'t it?\" Harry raised his eyebrow at Sirius and he just shook his head.

\"Harry, I\'m not that pleased with your choice, but it\'s exactly that… *your* choice. I think I should let you make more of them.\"

\"Well I\'m agreeing with you for the first time tonight.\" Harry was feeling better about the situation. In a way, he was glad that they had found the letter. It helped Sirius and him overcome a few obstacles they had in their relationship.

\"I can\'t say I\'ll be pleasant with him, but I\'ll try to watch my tongue.\" Sirius held out his hand for Harry to shake.

\"And I\'ll try not to throw it in your face so much.\" Harry shook his hand.

\"Deal.\" Even though they ended their apologies there, they both knew the other was truly sorry, and they came to a new understanding. There was a peck on the window, and Sirius let in Autoclys.

\"Remus, you care to grab those boxers off the floor and put them in his claw for me?\"

\"Must I?\" Harry looked at him and pouted. \"Oh, very well then.\" Remus touched them with the tips of his fingers and placed them in its claw. The owl clucked a bit and then flew off to its owner.

Harry shooed them out of the bathroom while he dressed. He emerged from the bathroom feeling very refreshed. They all shared one more drink before heading up to bed. Halfway up the stairs, Sirius patted Harry on the back.

\"Harry, remind me never to accept any more hand-me-downs from you. It\'s hard telling what I might find in them.\" They all chuckled.

\"Ah, if you\'d check the ones I wore last night, I\'m sure you\'d find somethingthe the pocket you two could put to good use.\"

Remus had a very mischievous look in his eyes. \"Hmm… Where exactly is the aforementioned pair of pants?\"

~~FIN~~


I will write an epilogue to go with this that contains what happens when Harry goes to Hogwarts the following night and tells Severus about the evening at home with Remus and Sirius. He’ll tell Severus about the crush and the letters. And of course, it will contain a wonderful bit of shagging… Perhaps even a bit of naked Quidditch… I also am writing the story about Harry and Severus’ time during the war. It will contain the letters to Remus. It’s novel length, and will take a while to come out… But keep your eyes open for it.

Thanks for reviewing and reading my little ficlet.

Bella Ireland