Khaat Lupin's Country Home

"Exactly," Khaat said, "but, trust me, this Superman was intense and serious. He lived his life as Clark Kent, and only did the Superman thing on rare occassion, when someone he loved was in life threatening danger. And when he was serious, even the dark arts followers trembled. It could be very, very scary when he got that way. And, actually, he probably actually took fewer chances than I do. I so loved him that when he died I decided, at first, that it was my fault that he died. That if I had been there, I could have protected him.

"It took me years to realize he would have just had his mind on sheltering me and would not have been protecting himself and would only have been killed a lot sooner. Now, I think I spend my time trying to protect the ones I love, and probably to keep from losing anybody else from my life or from my heart. I'm not sure he'd approve of all that, but since he's not here to correct me, I guess I'm on my own with that."

Gar smiled and held Khaat tight.
"Don't worry, you'll never lose me," he told her firmly. "I'll always be around, no matter what. Just like everyone in this house."

She hugged him, more glad he was there than he possibly knew. "Thank you," she said softly, "You have no idea how much that means. I would not love you more if I had given birth to you myself. You will always, always, have a family here. And my parents will always feel like they are your grandparents. I want you to be as at home here in this house as you are in our house in Hogsmeade." She kissed his forehead. "I am always, always going to see you as my son. Always. Do you want to read Remus's journals sometime with me? Then you can hear how his mind works, hear his thoughts and his feelings. I still spend a lot of time reading those books. I have almost all of Remus's things, I think. He would have really loved you, you know. A lot."

Garulia shook his head and smiled.
"I don't wanna be inside someone else's mind. Mine is giving me enough trouble. And thanks. You're really, truly like my mother. More than my real mother."

"And I am honored to be that for you," Khaat said softly. She loved this young man with all her heart. "I want you to consider that room you're in as yours--just like your room at home. You will always have a permanent home with me, for as long as you want it. And you're welcome to come in here in my rooms, just like my room at home. This is probably the one place you can count on my coming to whenever the world seems to be too big or too ugly. I like to apparate back here to be close to Remus. I bet that sounds weird, doesn't it?"

Garulia shook his head. "Not weird in the least. I would do the exact same thing if I were you."
He let go of her and knelt on one knee in front of the portrait, his hands clasped up to his forehead and his eyes closed.
Gar prayed that Remus Lupin's spirit was happy in the afterlife, and that he and Khaat would someday be reunited after death.

She waited respectfully while he prayed. When he got up, she said softly, "Thank you. You do realize, don't you, that associating yourself with a Lupin has its drawbacks, though. People will expect you to be a staunch follower of white magic, and standing firm against the dark arts. You will be marked as someone to not be trifled with by virtue of, basically, being my son. It may have death eaters looking at you twice before deciding to try something with you. You do need to know that."

Garulia shrugged.
"Death Eaters already hate me. You know that battle of Hogwarts thing? Well, let's just say I got kidnapped for a few months for that," he said smiling slightly. "Besides, the dark arts never really appealed to me. Most people think it's power, but I think it's cowardice to use something others won't use."

"Well, I need to make sure you and Miseria, and Emily--all you guys--know that Majere and I are enemies. I am a staunch fighter against the dark arts, and a staunch fighter against the ministry and its corruption right now. That limits our friends to the Order of the Phoenix and Potters Army. I don't ever want you guys to not be prepared. I want you to be well trained in how to duel and I want you to not ever have to worry that you'll hesitate or stall. As my pregnancy grows more and more, I won't be as available to protect any of you, and the day may well come that if Rob isn't here, one or all of you could find yourselves protecting me or the new baby. I want to make sure I talk to all of you and make sure you're up for a possible scrap or two. You--I'm not quite as worried about you. You already proved yourself to me as quite a capable fighter. That's a very good thing. Although I will want to make sure that everyone stays in practice. The more I think about this baby, the more I think about things I need to do to make sure you all are taken care of too. I will not lose you, Gar. You understand that? I refuse to lose you."

Garulia blushed. This compliment meant a lot to him.
"I'll protect you and the baby to my last breath," he promised her and sat cross-legged on the ground where he was standing, looking up at her smiling.