Celandine's Chronicle (celandineb) wrote in cels_fic_haven, @ 2012-01-17 16:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | hp fic remus/severus |
HP fic: House of Healing [Remus/Severus, adult]
Title: House of Healing
Author: celandineb
Fandom: HP
Pairing: Remus/Severus
Rating: adult
Length: 9481 words
Summary: Remus never expected to hold a position of any authority, but running the Sirius Black Memorial House is easier than he thought it might be, until the night someone unexpected turns up at the door...
Note: Written for ellid for the 2011 Snupin Santa exchange at lupin_snape; the entire halfway house concept was part of her prompt, so I cannot claim credit for that wonderful idea, only for trying to embody it!
"Thanks for coming, Remus. There's tea in the other room."
"That sounds wonderful," Remus accepted, as he followed Harry along the hallway. "I see Mrs Black's portrait is still here."
"Yes, unfortunately, although we have managed to get a variation of Silencio to work on it. Hermione's promised to do some research to see if there's any way to counteract the Permanent Sticking Charm. It's not just Mrs Black's portrait, either; the house-elf heads and rather a lot of posters in Sirius's old room seem to have been attached with the same charm, and I'd like to be able to remove all of them."
"Oh, are you planning to sell, or are you going to live here?" Remus stirred milk into his tea and took a sandwich.
"No. That is, Ginny still has another year at school anyhow, and I'm planning to sit my N.E.W.T.s and then see if the Aurors will accept me for training, so we wouldn't be moving in together for a while anyhow, but she says she absolutely will not live in such a gloomy place, ever. But before I go on about that, tell me, how are things with you?" Harry bit into a cream slice.
Remus grimaced. "Only fair, I'm afraid. It's been more than a little awkward living with Andromeda. We were never close, and now that she's lost her husband and daughter, all she has left of her family is Teddy. I feel like an interloper even though he's my son. Plus, the simple fact that I survived when Dora didn't underscores the fact that I'm a werewolf, and understandably that's not something she's ever been terribly comfortable with."
"I thought that might be the case," said Harry, nodding. "I'm sorry to hear it, but I wanted to talk with you about an idea I have that might put you in a better situation."
"What?" asked Remus.
Harry gestured at the room. "There's this huge house here, sitting empty. I've counted something like a dozen bedrooms."
"That sounds about right," Remus agreed.
"Plus, the old Fidelius charm is gone, or nearly so. Muggles still can't see the place, but anyone magical can now, and get to the door.
"I've been thinking. There are still a lot of wizarding families displaced by the war; all of the Muggle-borns and half-bloods that Umbridge and her gang were persecuting. Some of them have managed to reclaim their homes and lives, but not all of them. There were a lot of records destroyed, jobs given to others, and so forth. I was thinking that Grimmauld Place could be turned into a kind of halfway house to help at least some of those people while they're trying to put their lives back together.
"Some of the larger bedrooms could be used as dormitories, perhaps holding six or eight kids each, boys and girls separately. Then the other bedrooms could be used for couples, up to the number that would fit. Very young children might go in with their parents, and unmarried older witches and wizards could have rooms to themselves or shared, depending. I've talked with Kingsley and he says Ministry engineers could add on more rooms as needed with wizarding space enchantments.
"The drawing room and library could be used for liaisons from the Ministry to meet with clients and work out how to restore their normal lives: re-creating records when necessary, finding new employment, and so forth. I'd want to see a room set aside for an office for a healer from St Mungo's, too, to help with any magical or other traumas they might have suffered."
"It sounds like a splendid idea, Harry. You've clearly thought about this a good deal."
"Thanks." Harry flushed. "I had help; Hermione especially helped me come up with the idea in the first place, and Kingsley's given some suggestions too."
"Well, I wish you success." Remus lifted his tea cup in a toast.
"I haven't gotten to the important part yet," Harry said. "I want you to be in charge of the whole thing. I can't possibly do it myself if I'm going to be training as an Auror, and you have a lot of personal experience with the same kind of Ministry prejudice that hurt the Muggle-borns and half-bloods. I think you'd be the perfect person to do this."
"But I'm a werewolf," Remus protested. "Very few witches and wizards are comfortable around my kind; do you think that it would be fair to these people you want to help to force them to interact with someone they're almost certain to see as terrifying?"
"It's no different from the prejudices they themselves face," said Harry firmly. "The only time you're any kind of threat is at the full moon, and Kingsley promised to find someone sufficiently skilled at potions to prepare the Wolfsbane Potion for you each month. I'm sure Professor Slughorn has the ability, for instance. Even if you stay on the premises, you'd be safe to be around, and we'd get someone else in those nights to handle any emergencies."
"Give me a few days to think about it," said Remus.
"Of course, no trouble." Harry looked relieved. "I know it would be a big change for you, a big responsibility, but you really are the person I would trust the most to do a good job."
Over the next few days Remus considered the proposal carefully. He was flattered by Harry's – and Kingsley's – confidence in him. Moreover it was tempting to take on a position of responsibility, proving to the wizarding world that someone of his sort could be trusted with authority. Remus's own experiences gave him a good deal of understanding of the difficulties the displaced had suffered. The only real negative would be not being able to live with Teddy... but Andromeda did an excellent job of mothering him, and it might even be better for the boy if Remus were not around, thus reducing the tension in the household. He supposed he would have some time off, and could visit Teddy regularly.
On the fourth day after Harry had offered him the position, Remus owled to accept it.