A/N: By request. For my lovely anons and friends on tumblr.

September 1987

Harry was woken by the sound of distressed voices coming from downstairs. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table, the luminous hands shining in a light green color. It was past midnight. Regulus had sent him to bed hours ago. It had been hard to fall asleep, especially because Sirius hadn't been back yet. He didn't remember for how long Regulus had sat with him, rubbed his back. He only knew that he'd wanted Sirius and Sirius hadn't been there, he'd had to work late, Regulus had explained. But Harry had wanted his godfather! Sirius always said good night, as long as he could remember.

The sound of doors opening, footsteps on the stairs. Another door opening and closing not much later, like a thunderclap. Sounds so loud and heavy they caused Harry to wince.

Harry sat up, resting on his left elbow while rubbing his right hand over his eyes. He blinked a few times before his eyes got accustomed to the darkness, all the while listening carefully. Something was wrong. Sirius and Regulus always took great care to be quiet when Harry was sleeping, they never slammed doors or ran up and down the stairs this late at night. Harry reached for his glasses - they sat on the bedside table next to his clock, just where he always put them before going to sleep. He peeled his covers back and slipped out of his bed.

He expertly avoided the creaking floorboards as he approached his bedroom door, slowly pushed it open and stepped into the hall. He sneaked to the top of the staircase, leaned over the banister, glancing downstairs. There was light coming from the first floor. Once more, a door opened. A voice - Harry was confused at first before he recognized Remus. More voices, muffled ones, coming from inside the parlor. "A hemostatic potion, Remus! And a stronger pain reliever, this one is doing nothing…" Remus crossed the hall, entered the bathroom where Harry knew they kept their potions.

Harry knew he wasn't allowed out of bed. A few months prior, Sirius had already once had a serious talk with him about eavesdropping when he'd caught him listening in on an Order meeting. And he'd let his hand do some of the talking as well as he sent Harry back upstairs by applying a handful of stinging swats to the child's backside. Some things simply are not for your ears. You gotta respect that. Harry bit his lip at the memory. From then on, Sirius had always set a silencing charm whenever there were any discussions about Order-related matters.

"Remus, hurry up! We need you in here!" Regulus' voice.

Harry's stomach felt rock hard. That sounded completely unlike Regulus.

Slowly, Harry climbed down, his small sock-clad feet like feathers ghosting across the worn wooden steps.

When he reached the first floor, he pressed his back against the wall. His knees felt weak and shaky, tears welled up in his eyes at the sound of a pained moan coming from the parlor. The child tiptoed to the open door, risked a quick glance inside the room.

Sirius was lying on the sofa on his back, Regulus and Remus crouching down next to him. Regulus put ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. When Remus helped Sirius to sit up so he could place a pillow under his back, Harry saw that blood was running from Sirius' thigh.

No one seemed to notice him, so Harry opened the door a bit wider.

"All right," Regulus said. "This is gonna hurt."

Sirius closed his eyes, his face a mask of pain. "Make it quick."

With a careful movement of his wand, Regulus cut the left leg of Sirius' trousers off and rolled it down. Sirius hissed.

"Curses like this one spread like snake venom," Regulus explained. "I'm gonna put the antidote on now. It's gonna burn like a motherfucker but that also means it works. Okay?"

"Just get it over with," Sirius barked. "It fucking hurts!" Pearls of sweat stood on his forehead, glistening in the light coming from an old gas lamp next to him.

"Remus, can you hold him down?"

Both Remus and Sirius braced themselves. Harry held his breath, frozen to the spot, too terrified to move.

As soon as the potion came in contact with the gash on his thigh, Sirius' mouth fell open and he let out a stifled cry, his muscles flexing as he arched his back, reflexively fighting against Remus's tight hold. His upper body crumpled in on itself as he pressed a fist to his open lips.

"It's done," Regulus said. He waved his wand over Sirius' thigh, causing the large flaps of flesh to close up. He reached over to the coffee table where a few potions in different colors and vials were already waiting. Picking up a green potion that looked like it had algae floating around in it, he said: "Take this one. It'll help close the wounds from inside. The curse should stop spreading now and then slowly fade away as the antidote begins doing its job."

"How slowly?" Sirius was still in pain. He downed the potion in one, gagging a little on the taste.

"Uh… maybe half an hour?"

Sirius groaned, burying his face in his pillow. "Fuck them bloody Death Eaters! And they got away too!"

"Maybe Moody got them," Remus suggested.

"No he didn't," Sirius responded, his teeth sealed with pain. "Bloody cowards, the whole lot of them. If the tall one hadn't hit me with that curse, I'm telling you, I would've kicked his arse all the way to Azkaban…"

"Yeah, yeah," Regulus said. "Enough talk. Please lie still, don't move around too much. Focus."

Sirius huffed, turning his head to the side. "Focus on what? Am I gonna live, doctor?"

"Hmm. I guess so, yes."

Sirius gave a throaty chuckle, his voice raw. "How much would you bet on it?"

"Not a sickle. Not because I think you won't be fine but because it would be in really poor taste."

"Why so little enthusiasm, brother? You know you're not gonna get rid of me, ever."

Regulus rolled his eyes, a small smile stealing over his lips.

It was then when Sirius' gaze moved to the door. He gasped at the sight of the child cowering on the floor just behind it. "Harry?"

A small sob in response. Harry had sunk down to the floor, his fingers tightly gripping the edge of the door.

Both Remus and Regulus spun around. Regulus immediately got up, walked over to the child, opening the door to fully reveal the child cowering behind it. "Merlin, Harry. What are you doing out of bed?"

The child released the door and threw his arms around Regulus' legs. He was crying too hard over what he'd just witnessed, no words fitting past the avalanche of tears that rolled over him.

"Sirius is going to be okay, love," Regulus whispered as he squatted down, rubbing the child's back. "Do you want to see for yourself?"

Harry nodded. Regulus took his hand, intertwining their fingers as he led him to the sofa. Remus spread a light blanket over Sirius' lower half so Harry didn't have to see the wound up close. Sirius reached out his hand, gently running it over the boy's cheek. He swallowed hard before forcing a smile, saying, "I'm a tough nut to crack, little one. Don't worry about me. You heard Regulus - I'll be fine. I'm feeling a lot better already."

"He doesn't have to see this," Remus murmured to Regulus.

Harry wanted nothing more than to snuggle up to his godfather and bury his head in his shoulder but Regulus pulled him away again and lifted him up and into his arms.

"I'll get him to bed," Regulus said. Then, his mouth next to Harry's ear, speaking softly as though it was sharing a secret with him, "do you want a hot chocolate before bed, pup? Sirius will be up to say goodnight later. As soon as he can get up."

Harry tried to squirm out of Regulus' hold, his breath still hitching. "I w-wanna stay h-here!"

"Pup… Sirius needs to rest now," Regulus objected.

Sirius coughed as shifted a little bit to the side so there would be just enough space for the child to lay down next to him, then patted the sofa. "I can rest best when I got my Harry with me."

Regulus sighed. "You sure?" He set the child down, winced as Harry basically threw himself at Sirius.

Sirius tucked the boy's head under his chin. "Absolutely sure. I'll be okay, Reggie. He's like a hot-water bottle. My very own little teddy bear."

Harry looked up at him, eyes still teary from earlier. "You still have a teddy bear?"

Sirius grinned, squeezing the child gently. "Got it right here with me, pup."

In the following days, Harry barely left Sirius' side. Two nights in a row now, the sound of little feet on the stairs had announced Harry's appearance in the middle of the night. Sirius had sighed, lifted his covers and invited the tearful child into his bed.

One night, Harry had cried because he remembered Sirius' wound, gaping and bloody in his memory. Sirius had then rolled up the leg of his trousers and showed the child the scar.

"See, it's all healed."

Harry had ran his fingertips along the scar. The scar ran like a forked lightning bolt down Sirius' hairy thigh and reached all the way down to his knee. It was still deep red but had closed up well without raising a lot.

"Just like mine," Harry said, lifting his hand to his forehead, touching his scar to compare how they felt.

Sirius ruffled the child's hair. "They're marks of bravery."

"Does Reg have one too?"

"You gotta ask him that yourself," Sirius had responded. Reg had many scars, a lot of them invisible. "I don't think he's gone one that's quite as large though."

It was day four after the incident and Harry still wasn't sleeping properly. As a result, he was cranky and tired during the day, so much so that Sirius had even put him down for a nap yesterday despite the fact that Harry had stopped napping years ago.

It was also the first day that Sirius would have to work late. Moody had scheduled a house search for the evening in hope to find evidence against a wizard who they strongly suspected had housed some of the Death Eaters that had attacked them out of nowhere a few days ago. Originally, Sirius had planned to have dinner at home with Regulus and Harry but then he'd been called to a brawl just in front of the Wizarding Bank at Diagon Alley. Two drunk Scottish wizards had gotten into an argument over who was to pay for another man's drinks which had escalated in them throwing punches and jinxes at each other. And now, when he was just about to leave for the house search, Regulus called him over the floo.

"He's being absolutely impossible," Regulus complained. "He's been throwing a tantrum nonstop since dinner. He -" Regulus turned his head, spoke to someone behind him. "I said no, Harry James!"

"Reg, I gotta roll -"

"Just one minute, please. He won't listen to me. You have to - Harry James Potter! This is your last warning!"

Sirius glanced at his watch, tapping his foot. "All right. Let me speak to him."

Regulus disappeared. In his place emerged the face of a very sullen, tearful Harry.

"What is going on, Harry?" Sirius asked in a stern voice.

Harry sniffled, rubbing his nose. "Reg's being mean."

Sirius frowned. "If he tells you off because you're naughty, he's not being mean, Harry. He's doing exactly what I would've done too."

"I just wanted to fly," the boy whined.

Judging from the sound of Harry's voice, Sirius was pretty sure that the boy had acted up first and Regulus not allowing him to fly had happened as a reaction to that. "Flying is a privilege, not a right," Sirius said. "Reg has every right to say no if you're not behaving yourself."

"But I was gooood," Harry mewled.

"Listen, Harry, if Regulus says no that means no. I don't want to hear any more about you misbehaving while I'm gone, are we clear?" Recently, Harry had been acting up more and more, not so much with Sirius but this wasn't the first time he'd been rebelling against Regulus. Sirius had told his brother that he was too soft on Harry, that he had to assert himself with Harry, Harry couldn't always have his way. And Regulus, he just nodded it off.

Harry was crying now. "But I didn't do nothing!"

"Harry James Potter. You will stop whining this very moment. When I get home and Reg tells me that you've continued pestering him, you'll be a very sorry little boy, I can promise you that much."

"Noooo." Harry screwed his face up, big fat tears running over his cheeks. "I want you to come home nowww!"

Sirius was baffled by that. Despite the fact that he'd just threatened the boy, Harry wanted him home? "If I have to come home early because you're not doing as you're told you won't like what happens next," he enforced his threat even more. "Now be good and let me talk to Regulus again."

Harry's small head was replaced by Regulus'. "You're seeing what I'm talking about, right? I tried everything, Siri. It's not even about flying really."

"You know how I think about it. A few smacks to his bum won't harm him."

Regulus was silent for a moment. "I'll… thanks. But I'll, uh, manage. Somehow."

Sometimes Sirius cursed his brother's soft heart. "I'll be home around nine, or at least I hope so." Who knew how long this house search was going to take. It could be over in a handful of minutes or draw out far into the night. They never knew what horrors they might discover.

In the background, Sirius heard Harry bleating, his voice going up and down like a siren. The boy was probably stomping his foot too. "I want Siriiiii!"

Sirius' jaw hardened. "Do I have to come over? Say it now, I only got two more minutes before I gotta go."

"No, that's not necessary." Regulus sounded so tired that Sirius got almost mad for a second. Regulus almost never asked for help, even when he knew he was supposed to, his stubborn attempts to tackle an issue all by himself while actually helplessly pulling at loose ends often made it a lot harder to solve at all. And when he finally gave up and handed the now nightmarishly entangled ball of wool that he'd created over to Sirius, well. That sucked.

It was half-past nine when Sirius was finally able to call it a day and go home. Before that, they'd taken their suspect into custody, which hadn't gone as smoothly as it could have because the man had tried to escape after they'd found several Dark Arts objects at his house.

When he stepped through the fireplace and into the basement of their house, Regulus was already waiting for him, hands folded, sitting at the end of the dining table. Not a good sign.

Sirius shrugged off his robes, had them fly upstairs with a flick of his wand. "How was he?"

"Don't ask," Regulus said, his voice gravelly. He looked utterly exhausted.

"You know I'll have to." Sirius rested his elbows on the back of a chair. However, another look at his brother's face and Sirius decided that there was no reason why they couldn't talk about it later. "Got any anything left of dinner?"

"Kreacher will heat it up for you," Regulus said tonelessly.

"I can do that myself," Sirius said. He didn't trust Kreacher not to spit into his food.

A single, bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling cast a ghostly atmosphere around the kitchen. Sirius grabbed a clean plate from one of the shelves, shortly raising his brows at the stacks of old dishes piling up in the sink before he lifted the lid off the cooking pot that stood on the switched-off gas stove. The scent of chili con carne hit his nose. He licked his lips, scooping the leftovers onto his plate, then adding a spoonful of creme.

When he returned to the dining table, Regulus was leaning back on his chair, balancing precariously on the rear two legs.

"Merlin, how old are you, Reg? You'll fall and hit your head." Just when Sirius was about to take a seat and start eating, he caught a movement in the corner of his eyes. He stilled. "Harry?"

"I'm telling you, today was one of those days…" Regulus began. "Sometimes I just wanted to…" he raised his hand, closed it slowly, choking the air. "You know?"

Sirius set his plate down slowly, listening out for footsteps behind him. "Yes, I think I do. I think I know exactly what you mean." He turned around, his gaze moving to the staircase. He thought he saw a shadow at the very top. "I also suspect that a certain someone is likely supposed to be in his room, and certainly not allowed to sneak around the house, eavesdropping. Harry James. Come here."

A small figure emerged from the shadows on top of the stairs, slowly coming closer. Harry rubbed his pajama sleeve over his eyes, pushing his glasses up. "You didn't say goodnight," he whimpered, lingering around the bottom stair, hesitant to come closer.

Sirius' features softened. "I was going to in just a moment." He moved to the child, opened his arms and hugged Harry tightly. "I'd never not say goodnight, you know that. How am I supposed to go to sleep without it?"

Regulus cleared his throat. "Harry… You know you were told to wait upstairs."

Sirius pulled away from the child, giving him a serious look. "Is that true?"

The boy mewled, his fingers tightening on the fabric of Sirius' shirt. "But it took you forever to come home! I've been waiting alllll day!"

"Harry," Sirius said, loosening Harry's fingers from his shirt and taking the child's hands into his, "I told you to mind Reg." He shook his head, disappointment creeping into his voice.

"But I did," the child said, eyes glued to the ground.

"Doesn't sound like it to me," Sirius responded. He cast Regulus a questioning glance. Regulus grimaced, shook his head ever-so-slightly. Sirius knew that Reg hated ratting Harry out, no matter how many times Sirius had explained to him that, as Harry's parents, they had to act in concert. "I think I made it clear that you and I would have to have a serious talk if that was the case."

Harry shook his head quickly. "But I wasn't that bad." He blinked up at Sirius, his emerald eyes big and wide, then leaning forward and hugging him once more. "I just wanted you home."

"You should've known that by terrorizing Reg you weren't going to achieve that," Sirius said, loosely draping his left arm around the child's shoulders. "Reg's had a really hard day thanks to you."

Harry snuffled. He turned his head, cast a shy glance at Regulus, who was returning his gaze sadly. "I'm sorry, Reggie," Harry murmured, his cheek pressed against Sirius' stomach.

"Apology accepted," Regulus said softly.

Sirius gently squeezed Harry's neck. "I think it's time to go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute. Just let me finish dinner, alright? I'm starving."

Harry clung to him. "I wanna staaaaay."

"Harry." Sirius' voice dropped an octave. "Do as I have said."

Harry dropped his arms, hung his head. "But -"

Sirius gently took the boy by his arm and turned him around, sending him in the direction of the staircase with a firm tap to his bum. "Go on."

Giving him one last pleading look, the boy disappeared upstairs. Sirius turned to Regulus. His brother was absentmindedly drawing his finger over the wooden tabletop, trailing the wavy grain with his fingernail.

"Does he need his butt warmed? Yes or no?"

Regulus looked up. "There's something else bothering him, Siri."

Sirius sank down in his chair, stared at the now cold chili in front of him. He was too lazy to cast another heating spell. "I take that as a yes, then." Sirius picked up his spoon, began eating.

"I think his behavior is related to the other evening when you got hurt. He's not been himself since."

"Nah, this has been going on for longer than that. I won't have him disobey you while I'm gone. It's just that, due to you being home with him most of the time, you gotta step up too and enforce some consequences. Like, when he's about to throw a tantrum for example. He needs to know that that won't fly with you any more than it does with me."

Regulus slumped in his chair. He blankly stared at his hands, broody lines etched between his dark brows. "I hate this."

"Yeah, it bloody sucks. Trust me, I know." Sirius patted his mouth dry with a napkin. "When he was born, I always imagined how I would be like, the coolest godfather the Wizarding World had ever seen. His best friend."

"I know."

Sirius sighed, snapped his fingers, causing his dishes to disappear. "I wish it could've been true, Reggie."

Harry's arms tightened around his stuffed toy lion when he heard Sirius' footsteps on the stairs. A soft knock, then his bedroom door opened, revealing Sirius. Harry bounced a curled knuckle against his mouth.

Sirius crossed the room, sat down next to Harry on his bed. "Why are you sitting here all in the dark, little one?" He reached over to the lamp on the bedside table, turned the light on, then rested his elbows on his knees, turning his head and glancing at the child. Harry abandoned his stuffed toy and moved over to him, snuggling up against Sirius' side.

"Wanna tell me about today?"

The boy shook his head, buried his face against Sirius' arm.

"Why didn't you listen to Reg?"

Harry shrugged.

Sirius' lips thinned, a little annoyed of Harry's silence. "Harry. This is your chance to talk to me. I don't think you acted like that just for the sake of being naughty or am I wrong?"

"I wanted yooou."

"You wanted me to come home?"

The child nodded, snuffling.

Sirius sighed. He leaned back, reached an arm around the child and pulled him closer. "Why? Was something wrong?"

Harry's bottom lip began to tremble. "Nno… just… I wanted you."

Sirius hummed. He pulled the child into his lap. "You made Reg very sad today with the way you behaved," he said softly. "You know he loves you a lot, he just wants you to be happy. He hates having to be strict with you."

Harry looked up at him, eyes watering.

"What did you do to get in so much trouble with him?"

The boy hesitated, clearly not wanting to incriminate himself.

"You better think twice before lying to me and telling me that it was nothing." Sirius reached down and patted the boy's pajama-clad backside once.

Harry swallowed. "I threw food…"

"During dinner, mmh. What else?"

"Called Reg a bad name. And took my broom and…"

Sirius waited patiently for Harry to finish the sentence.

"I went outside."

"You left the house without permission?"

Harry's eyes started watering. He blinked rapidly. "I didn't even get to fly! I didn't go far!"

"Because…?"

"Reg saw me."

Sirius gently placed a finger under the child's chin, tipped his head up. "And that was before or after we talked over the floo?"

Harry bit his lip, averted his eyes. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"After," Harry finally confessed, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Then you know what's gonna happen next," Sirius said. "I think I promised that backside of yours some attention."

Harry snuffled. "Nnooo…"

"I must say I'm quite disappointed in how you behaved towards Reg. Calling him names - that's mean and you know it. And then disobeying him, taking your broom outside even though he said no. He must've been very worried when he realized that you had left the house."

"No, he saw me."

Sirius tapped the boy's backside firmly. "You knew you weren't allowed to fly. So why did you still try to?"

The boy shrugged, rubbing his right hand over his cheek. "Dunno."

Sirius set Harry onto his feet. Their conversation was getting nowhere. He'd try again later. "All right." He gently removed the child's glasses, placed them on the bedside table. Harry pulled away from the man's hold on his hand, took a small step back.

"Come here," Sirius crooked his finger at his child, pointed at a spot in front of him.

"But Siriiii," Harry whined.

Sirius reached out, caught the boy's wrist and tugged him towards himself before tipping him over his knee.

"Noooo," the child shrieked, kicking his legs, trying to squirm away.

Sirius hooked his fingers into Harry's pajama bottoms, tugging them down. He threw his right leg over Harry's kicking ones, trapping the small backside across his lap. He patted the child's back a few times to calm him down a little before resting his hand on the boy's Spiderman underwear. "Your behavior was absolutely unacceptable, Harry James."

He raised his hand, brought it down firmly on the small backside.

Harry yelped. "Owww!" He threw his hand back in an attempt to cover himself.

Sirius caught the child's hand, pinned it to the small of his back. He didn't plan on being all too hard on Harry. Despite the fact that Harry had been incredibly naughty, Sirius sensed that there was a deeper reason underlying Harry's behavior. Reg had said so too, and Reg was usually right about things like that, he could read Harry like an open book. So Sirius brought his hand down three more times before once more resting it on the small backside.

"I don't want to hear about you calling Regulus names ever again. And you are not to disobey him. Especially not while I'm at work. Is that clear?"

"Yesss," the child whined loudly. Tears were streaming down his face. "I'll be goooood!"

Sirius brought his hand down once more though he barely put any force behind it. He cupped his hands under Harry's armpits and lifted him onto his feet before drawing up his pajamas. "Regulus loves you very much," he said. "It hurts him when you're being like that with him. And it hurts me too."

Harry looked at him, his face red and tearstained. "I just wanted you to come h-home…"

Sirius drew the child close and carefully sat him on his lap. Maybe now, after doing so literally, they would get to the bottom of Harry's behavior, in the metaphorical sense. "Was that part of the reason why you were being so naughty? Because you wanted Regulus to call me?"

Harry hid his face in Sirius' chest, throwing his arms around his waist. His breath was still hitching when he said, "Reg wouldn't t-tell you to come home. He w-wouldn't say when you'd be b-back."

Sirius rubbed the child's back, resting his chin on his head. "When I gotta work late, unfortunately, there's no way to tell when exactly I'll be back."

"But… what if you get hurt?" Big, teary eyes looking up at him. Worry in those bright emerald eyes, eyes so much like Lily's - Sirius had never wanted his child to worry about things like that.

Sirius placed a kiss on top of Harry's head. "Then I'll be back regardless."

"But what if you won't?" Harry's voice, barely a whisper.

"I'll always be back. I'm never alone on a mission. There's always other Aurors with me, and other Order members, like Remus or Moody. We look out for each other. No one's ever left behind."

Harry sobbed softly. "But if they got my m-mum and d-dad they can hurt you too. Or come h-here."

Sirius' arms tightened around the child. A few months ago, Harry had listened in on an Order meeting and thus learned about how his parents had died. Sirius would've preferred to keep the truth hidden from him for a few more years but he'd had to come clean there and then. There had been too many questions he couldn't evade. So Harry knew about Voldemort and how he got his scar. He'd taken it better than Sirius had expected. Still, it had created another source of fear for the boy. "No, Harry. Listen, your mum and dad - they fought against that very evil wizard named Voldemort. The ones that I'm fighting, they're just a bunch of idiots that don't want to realize that their master is dead. Your mum defeated him, Harry."

Harry wiped his runny nose on Sirius' shirt. "But he k-killed her."

Sirius rocked the child gently, a giant lump in his throat. Yes, Lily and James had died. They'd protected their child with their lives. If they had to, Sirius and Regulus would do the same. "You're safe here, okay? Reg and I, we're doing everything humanly possible to keep you protected. You gotta trust me on that. Just like you gotta trust me when I say that I'll be back, always." He placed a finger under Harry's chin, caused the child to look up. "If I know I got your trust, that's like a superpower. I'll be invincible because what those Death Eater blockheads don't know is that trust, just like love, is about the most powerful magic on earth." He kissed the child's temple. "Remember Peter Pan? Faith, trust, and fairy dust?"

Harry nodded, then furrowing his eyebrows. "So you're like Tinker Bell?"

Sirius chuckled. "Uh… yeah, like Tinker Bell, just with the looks and muscles of Superman. But yeah, it's the same principle. So do I have your trust, pup?"

Harry looked up, his arms tightening around Sirius. "Yes," he said softly.