October 31 1985
Harry Potter came running into Sirius's bedroom, his face painted green and a smile on his small face. "I get to be a dragon today Padfoot!" Harry said excitedly as he ran around the small house. Remus walked out of Harry's bedroom with a laugh.
"He insisted on being a dragon for fancy dress day." Remus explained to a bemused looking Sirius who still didn't speak so Remus continued, "For Halloween, it's a muggle tradition to dress up."
Both Sirius and Remus exchanged sad glances, it was the 4th anniversary of the death of Lily and James, they would be attending a memorial service later that night but they wanted Harry to have a normal day, if possible. That had always been their goal, give Harry the most normal life possible, which is why he was attending a muggle primary school and played football on Saturday mornings with a muggle team.
This wasn't to say that he didn't also do magic related actives, Sirius took him flying often and Remus liked to let Harry help him with simple household potions. The past four years had been anything but easy for the little family, Sirius had begun training as a Auror in 1982 and was now in his last year of training, Remus still struggled to hold down a job but it worked out in their favor as they had a baby at home.
Their world had been completely turned upside down just four years ago, it was strange to think that it had only been four years as it felt like 100 but it also felt like just yesterday. Sometimes Sirius would wake in a cold sweat, the vision of James's blank eyes looking through him. It was in those moments that Remus would pull him close and stroke his hair until he fell back asleep.
Remus had different nightmares. His were of the funeral, both caskets opened for the public. people came out in droves but he had never felt more alone. He shrank into the shadows and often wondered leaving then would have given Harry a better life. He would awake to visions of an adult Harry, looking so like James but with Lily's bright green eyes, telling him that he was a terrible monster. In those moments it was Sirius's turn to hold Remus close and kiss his shoulder and neck and head, stroking his arm until he fell back asleep.
They made quite a pair, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. "You have today off, right?" Remus asked as he shooed Harry from the bedroom. Sirius nodded and Remus spoke again, "I'll come back after dropping Harry off at school and we can do the usual."
The usual on this day was visiting their friends graves. They would pack a picnic and sit there, pretending that James and Lily were still there, wishing that they could turn back time and make Peter stronger - make him the man that James thought he was. Sirius heard the door close and rolled over looking at the clock on the bedside table. It was 8:03 which meant that Remus and Harry were running a few minutes behind today.
He heaved himself out of bed, it was earlier then he liked to be up because he didn't get home from the office until nearly half twelve these days, but it had been worth it to see the look on joy on Harry's face, so excited to be a dragon. Sirius half laughed, who'd have thought that he would be the parent-type five years ago, but here is was, just 25 years old and raising a 5 year old, well with the help of Remus anyways.
Sirius climbed into the hot shower and let his walls come down. He felt tears mixing with the waters as his eyes burned. He remembered the day that James and Lily had told everyone that they were having a baby, before everything had gotten all messed up.
James looked solemnly at his best mates, "There's been an accident, Lily's-" He stopped speaking and put his head into his hands. Sirius and Remus both shot up from the couch and put their arms around James, Peter looked shocked.
Suddenly Lily burst into the room smiling, "I'm pregnant!" She yelled with a laugh, "Had you bastards going though didn't we?" Remus threw a pillow at Lily who caught it and threw it back saying, "Gentle Moony, I'm with child."
"And we're getting married," James added "Probably soon, very soon."
Sirius, who had finally found his voice again said, "Are we at the wedding now or do we have a couple days to throw together a stag."
Remus hit Sirius with the pillow and the room erupted with laughter and yells of congratulations. They were all so young, only 19 at the time. James had joked that it had been an accident but Sirius knew better, he knew that James and Lily had wanted a family and they were both scared that if they didn't do it now they would never get the chance. It was scary how right they had been.
Sirius heard the door open and Remus said, "Oi Sirius where are you?" before the bathroom door opened and he poked his head into the shower, "Harry looked delighted when he saw there were no other dragons."
Remus was stripping off his shirt now, his chest and torso faintly scarred, "Enough about Harry," Sirius said gruffly as he pulled Remus into the shower and kissed him slowly and deliberately. Harry starting kindergarden was the first time that they had any alone time since the end of the war. The last 2 months had been a period of rediscovery for the two because for so long they had to steal moments and now they had entire days to themselves while Harry was at school.
They exited the shower and started their morning routine, Remus making them coffee and cheese on toast while Sirius got dressed and straighten up the living room, putting Harry's toys into the toy chest and moving Remus's books to the coffee table. He then flipped on the wireless and heard the commentator say, "Today marks the fourth anniversary of the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, we would like to take a moment to remember all of the brave witches and wizards who lost their lives fighting to end the terror as well as the countless muggles who were murdered by him and his followers."
Remus and Sirius exchanged mournful looks. Today was always the hardest day for them. "When are we meeting with Molly and Arthur?" Remus asked Sirius as they sat in the at the small, round kitchen table eating their modest breakfast in silence. This was not unusual, both of them often retreated into their own thoughts on this day.
"I told Arthur that we would meet them round their place around 4:30, he offered to let us floo in but since we don't have a floo connection I told him we'd be driving." Sirius chuckled, "He was bloody fascinated when I told him I have a motorbike."
Remus also laughed, they had befriended the Weasley's at the First Anniversary memorial, Harry had run off and when they found him he was chatting animatedly to a boy around his age with shockingly orange hair and a face full of freckles. Remus had apologized profusely to the short, red haired woman with a small girl on her hip but she had just smiled and told him it was no bother.
As it turned out Remus and Sirius had worked on several missions with Molly Weasley's brother's Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Molly and Arthur knew exactly who Sirius and Remus were but didn't act star struck as most people did, instead they took them under their wing and helped them with the raising of a small child, the Weasley's were masters it with seven children.
"We'll have to go almost right after we get Harry from school then," Remus said and then he suddenly remembered, "Harry told me that he got teased again for having two dads."
This was something that they had been dreading and the first time Harry had asked, just after he started school. He had asked Remus and Sirius why he didn't have a mom and dad. They had thought that Harry meant where were his real parents so they explained as gently as possible that Harry's parents had passed away when he was very little and they had taken him in as their own little one.
But that wasn't what Harry had meant, he was a very perceptive child after all and he asked a different question, "Why don't I have a lady helping too?"
Remus had panicked at this question but as usual Sirius took it in stride, "You see little fella, there are all kinds of people in the world. You know how Remus, you and I are all wizards and you go to a muggle school, well like that there are boys who like girls and boys who like girls and girls who like girls. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that we're a little different."
Harry had looked at them for a moments before nodding his head in understanding, "I wouldn't want a lady anyways," Harry had finally said, "I'm lucky because I have two dads and the best aunts in the world." He was talking about Molly Weasley and Andromeda Tonks who were really wonderful to Harry.
Both Sirius and Remus dreaded the day that they tell Harry what had happened the night that his parents died, he already knew that it was when he had gotten his scar but he didn't know the details leading up to the actual event. They had agreed to tell him when he was 10-years-old, that way he would have time to comprehend it before he went off to Hogwarts.
They spent their morning walking around Diagon Alley arm in arm. It was much easier to be together in Wizard London because there wasn't anything odd about it, wizards cared much more about blood status then they did about race, gender or sexual orientation. Remus was just very glad that his furry little problem wasn't well known in the wizarding community, because then he, Sirius and Harry would be outcasts for sure.
They stopped into Flourish and Blots where Remus spent nearly an hour looking through the shelves of books about dark creatures. Sirius had to practically drag him away from a book on bogarts. "Honestly Remus you've faced them before, what more do you need to know?"
Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and said, "You should care more about dark creatures then you do Sirius, you're going to be a full fledged Auror in a few months." Sirius only rolled his eyes at him before they left the store.
They ran into Dedalus Diggle in the Leaky Cauldron who shook both of their hands vigorously. Hagrid the games keeper at Hogwarts came up to them and practically knocked them both off their feet when he patted them on the back, asking how young Harry was doing. It was a rather exhausting trip for the two of them and when they made it back to their small house they flopped down on the couch and switched on the telly.
Over the past four years Remus had become a bit of a muggle soap opera junkie, something that Sirius teased him about but really found quite endearing. Remus was laying with his head on Sirius's lap, his brown hair was already flecked with grey and his grey-green eyes were half shut. Sirius had his arm draped around Remus's shoulders, his long black hair tied back into a bun, something that he had started doing when Harry had begun pulling it and had never really stopped. Sirius's grey eyes were fixed on Remus's face, the face that he had memorized so many years before.
They both went to pick up Harry from school. He ran right up the Sirius, excited that he was picking him up from school because usually when Sirius got him he got a treat. The little makeshift family headed home where Sirius gave Harry a bath, washing off the green paint from his dragon form and putting him into a small set of dress robes. "Want to go for a ride Harry?" Sirius asked him with a small smile.
Harry's face broke into a wide grin, his messy black hair falling over his small lighting bolt shaped scar. Sirius and Remus both liked that about his hair because it hid it from time to time. They had upgraded the sidecar to involve a safety seat for Harry and they strapped him in before Remus and Sirius climbed onto the bike and headed toward the Burrow, that's what Molly and Arthur called their home.
"Are you excited to see Ron?" Remus asked Harry as they drove. He saw Harry nod his head as he watched the cars drive by. The ride wasn't too long, it would have been shorter if they had been able to fly, which Sirius pointed out more then twice but he knew they couldn't in broad daylight.
They arrived at the Burrow and Molly came out to greet them, Ron at her feet. "Harry!" Ron yelled running toward the bike as it came to a stop. The two boys ran into the house past the adults as they did. Remus could hear Ron telling Harry all about his big brother Bill who was a 4th year at Hogwarts. "He writes sometimes and mum reads me the letters!" and about Charlie who was in his 2nd year. "Charlie wants to play quidditch but he isn't on the team yet."
Molly pulled Remus into a hug and then Sirius after. She said, "We need to do this on happy occasions as well as sad." They all agreed and Molly ushered them inside for dinner. Once dinner was done they gathered all the kids around the portkey to take them to Godric's Hollow.
The memorial was usually a short affair, they gather in the cemetery and Dumbledore spoke shortly on how brave everyone is who lost their lives and then they mingled with their old friends. Sirius held Harry's hand through the entire process and had his arm around Remus's shoulder. As the evening wore on Sirius saw a camera flash and he had a sinking feeling that he, Remus and Harry would be gracing the cover of the mornings prophet.
"What time is the portkey back?" Remus asked Molly quietly. He was holding Harry now who had fallen asleep in Sirius's arms nearly thirty minutes before. Molly was holding Ginny, her youngest child and only daughter, who was still awake and watching everyone around her. Arthur was holding Ron who had also fallen asleep.
She checked her watch and said, "It's in about five minutes, we should head that way." They said goodbye to the people they had been chatting with, Sirius hugged Susan Bones and promised that they would get together soon.
The portkey dropped them back near the Burrow and they all headed toward the house, "Thanks for the hospitality Molly and Arthur," Remus said with a smile and a hug. "Let's try to get together around Christmas, I know that Harry would love to see Ron more often."
They all agreed and they strapped Harry into the sidecar and headed home. "Thank Merlin we can fly home, it'll cut the trip in half." Sirius said as they took off. Remus rested his head on Sirius's back, closing his eyes against the wind and relaxing for the first time in hours.
When they got home they tucked Harry into bed and Sirius flopped onto the bed fully clothed. "That's always an ordeal, I think we'll be front of the Prophet tomorrow too," he said to Remus as Remus frowned.
"Just what Harry needs, more media attention. I think I saw that damn Rita Skeeter outside Harry's school last week too." Remus said as he pulled off his robes and dropped into the bed next to Sirius. "Thank Merlin tomorrow is Saturday, I need some sleep. This moon is going to be bad, I can already feel it."
Sirius rubbed Remus's back, his face lined with worry for his partner. "We've still got three days, this must be a bad one." He ran his hand through Remus's hair and said, "I've got it all sorted with Mad-Eye, I've got off the day before through the day after." He felt Remus heave a sigh of relief. "You know I'll always be here for you Moony, just like you are for me. It's the three of us against the world."
Remus smiled as he drifted off to sleep. Sirius lay awake for a little longer. He was thinking about how even though he and Remus were handed a terrible situation they managed to make the most of it, Harry was a happy kid with two parental figured who loved him. He shuddered to think what would have happened if Dumbledore would have won the battle to give Harry to the Dursley's. This might not be the best situation, the best situation would be Lily and James still alive, but it was the best they could give him.
As he finally drifted off Sirius dreamed of James but it was a pleasant dream. James told him that he and Lily saw how much he and Remus has scarified for them and for their son and that they were glad that they he could grow up with the next best thing to his parents. Sirius smiled in his sleep and pulled Remus closer. No this wasn't what they had expected in life, but at this point he couldn't imagine it any other way.