Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling be awesome.

WARNING: Yes, THAT talk. Don't worry, it's not detailed or anything.

His Family

Chapter Ten: The Talk

"No, it's most definitely one-hundred and forty-four." Hermione shook her head, pointing at Harry's twelve times twelve problem he had just scribbled down with thirty-six. Harry frowned, rubbing out the answer. "You forgot to add the zero on the second half.."

"Oh!" Harry nodded, understanding down and redoing the problem until he had the right answer. It was tough, long division, but he had plenty of help catching up to the rest of the class. Hermione had had him doing it during lunch time at school and he did it at home as well. Now, a week later, he had finally gotten caught up to the rest of the class that was doing twelves. However, despite Harry doing well with his multiplication tables, there were still some areas he wasn't doing so well in at school.

Ever since his very first day, kids had started making fun of him for being friends with Hermione. Not all of them, just a few, like Bianca and her friends, but it was enough to make the rest of the class hesitate on standing up socially with the new kid. There was plenty of interest in him of course, as there always was with a new child thrust into your class during the middle of the year. Plenty of them had seemed quite open and interested in being his friends on the first day Harry had come to school, but now they hung back more, lingering and waiting, not wanting to get on Bianca's bad side. When you were on Bianca's bad side, well, you ended up like Hermione. Friendless and eating lunch alone or having mulch kicked into your face and gum spat in your hair on the playground. That was something no one would have wanted.

Harry was not thrown off by this turn of events. He could still remember being little and having no one wanting to play with him out of fear of Dudley pushing them around and stealing their toys. This time was different though. He had Hermione and Bianca wasn't Dudley. He wouldn't get in trouble at home for standing up to her. So, after a week of being ostracized and partly wishing for some male friends, he'd had enough. He loved Hermione as a friend, but there were certain things girls just didn't like to do as much as boys did. It made him miss Ron and Bas a whole lot more with every passing day. He knew what had to be done and all he had to do was wait for Bianca to make the first move.

It came that next Friday.

"I'm sorry to say we'll all have to be staying indoors this recess as it's raining once again." Mrs. Goffy announced as the class of second years groaned, even though this had obviously been coming due to the sheets of water running down the windows. "I'm going to put on a short educational science film and those of you who would like to watch may, but those of you who would like to go to the library or move freely about the room to converse with your neighbors may do that as well."

"What do you say we do Harry?" Hermione asked curiously, torn between the two educational options that had been presented to them. She preferred reading to television, however, educational films were quite good too…

"Let's stay here and talk to the other kids in the back." Harry suggested. He saw the sudden anxiety form on Hermione's face. To her, that was not one of the available options. Oh no, rainy recess days meant the library or an educational video, never trying to be social with the other kids in her class, especially when Bianca was around. It wasn't that she didn't want to. It was just difficult to be picked on all the time for an eight year old. "Don't worry. I'll be right with you."

Hermione heaved a sigh and nodded, knowing he was right. Her mother was always saying she needed more social interaction with her peers and since Harry was pushing for it, she would do it, even if it meant facing down Bianca and her friends.

The two friends rose from their desks and made their way to the back of the classroom where some of the other kids had gone to be with their friends and color with markers, mostly convened around Bianca who was showing off her brand new 72-count box of crayons. No one else in the class had a box of crayons that big. Most of the kids only had the classic 8-count box in their desk or at home, though there were a few lucky ones with a 16-count or 24-count box at home. Harry had a 16-count at home, mostly because it was shared with Rozzie and she liked the pinks it came with. They didn't fight over it too much, but sometimes there was the occasional argument over who got to use the bright red one. That was the strange thing the pair had in common: They both loved the color red.

"And this one is called… What are you doing here?" Bianca and everyone around her looked up from admiring her crayons to Harry and Hermione.

"I thought we'd come see what you guys were up to." Harry shrugged, sitting down on one of the nearby desks. Bianca's face soured and she shook her head.

"You can't be over here if you're friends with her." She nodded towards Hermione.

"Why?" Harry asked, swinging his legs back and forth nonchalantly even though he was frowning. "There's nothing wrong with Hermione."

"Of course there is! She's… she's… her hair's always a mess and she reads too much and she's always got the answer to everything. She's a know-it-all!" Bianca back lashed, some of her friends nodding in agreement. She crossed her arms. "Go away."

"So you don't like her because she's smart? Well that's stupid." Harry laughed, his head falling back, as he gripped the sides of the desk with his hands, unable to help it. It was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. His parents had always told him that being smart was a good thing, but Bianca seemed to think it was a bad thing. How silly! "Hermione is smart but that's a good thing, not a bad thing. I think you're just jealous."

"Jealous? Me?" Bianca's face began turning redder and redder. She shook her head, her pony tail swooshing through the air. "Why would I be jealous of a buck-toothed geek?"

"She's not a geek. She's smart. I think every one of you is just too scared of Bianca to be nice to her. Hermione is really fun." Harry nodded, leaning forward. "She knows lots of cool games and is good at teaching how to do schoolwork."

"Well…" Elise, the little blonde girl who liked unicorns stepped forward, away from Bianca's desk. "I like Hermione too. She's never mean even when everyone picks on her."

"But, she's a geek." Bianca stated after a few seconds of pausing, not really sure what to say next. Harry smiled, knowing they had her cornered if she couldn't think of anything else to call Hermione. His plan was working!

"My Daddy says I'm smart." Elise crossed her arms and backed up, standing beside Hermione and placing a hand on her shoulder. "If being smart makes you a geek, then I'm proud to be a geek. Better that than a meanie-head!"

"Elise is right. Geeks are better than meanies." Another little boy Harry couldn't remember the name of stepped forward. "Bianca, you should be nicer,"

"Yeah Bianca." A boy with mousey hair stated in agreement. He stepped away from the others and to Harry's other side. "I like reading and doing well in school too but I'm not a geek. I think Harry's right. You're jealous because Hermione's so smart."

"It's okay to be jealous." Harry spoke up quickly. "But it's not okay to be mean. We should all be friends. Everyone at my old school was friends even when we got into fights sometimes about stuff, we always said sorry after."

"Well, I don't want to be friends with you! Or her! Or you two anymore!" Bianca spat at them. Her two best friends nodded from behind her and stuck out their tongues. Some of the other kids nodded as well, backing away from the group of four who was standing their ground while others moved away from both groups, not really wanting to get involved. Sometimes it was better for your own safety to stay neutral in situations like these, even if it wasn't always the right choice to make.

"Then I feel sorry for you." Hermione frowned, finally speaking up. She'd been watching this whole time, letting Harry do the talking as she wasn't as bold as he was. She would be someday, but it was hard when you were in a classroom full of kids who normally treated you poorly. "We're pretty fantastic."

And with that, she slid off the desk and Harry, the blond boy, and Elise followed after her, heading back up to the front of the classroom just as Mrs. Goffy lifted a bell from her desk, ringing it to indicate that recess was over.

Harry took his seat at his desk next to Hermione's, feeling slightly accomplished. Maybe less of the class would pick on Hermione now.

…...

Another week flew by, and another and another, the days flowing from January into February. Elise, and the mousey haired boy who's name turned out to be Bradley, were both quite good fun to play with. They had started joining Harry and Hermione for lunch and during recesses where they avoided Bianca and her friends who were prone to throwing mulch at them if they got too close. Harry didn't mind that though, he had found two new friends for him and Hermione to hang out with and they usually got along pretty well.

Elise, it turned out, didn't just like unicorns. She was quite possibly obsessed with them. Whenever they played a game of make believe she always wanted to have a unicorn or be a unicorn. In art class that was almost all she ever drew and her favorite books were always fairy tales involving magical creatures or fairies or princesses who rode, yep, unicorns. She said her mother said unicorns were only a phase, but she'd loved them since she was three, so she was pretty sure maybe she would always love them.

Bradley, on the other hand, liked to do just about anything. He was pretty good at drawing things and forming things out of clay during art class. His favorite thing to do, it turned out, was watch football on the television where he routed loudly for England with his two older brothers who both played on the older boys' school team with the secondary school age kids. Harry, however, wasn't quite sure what the appeal of football was. All you did was kick around a black and white ball and try to get it in the other side's goal. That wasn't nearly as interesting nor challenging as Quidditch.

Despite his new found friends and having Hermione around, Harry really did miss his old friends back in Ottery St. Catchpole a great deal. He hadn't been able to send any of the letters he'd written to Bas and Marny as it was still unsafe to do so. Hedwig was just about as pleased as Harry was with the lack of freedom she was allowed. She had free range of the house and the yard, but as soon as she got to the large wall that surrounded the entirety of the property, she was bounced back by one of Dumbledore's spells. The only way she could leave the property now was through the front gate that was always closed and locked. This was so Harry couldn't send letters without permission, but also to keep Hedwig safe. The most fun thing she got to do lately was fly back and forth between Harry and Rozzie with 'letters' that were mostly just pictures since Rozzie couldn't read yet.

It was one of those lazy spring weather days in late March, a day when the sun was out, the air was warm and fluffy clouds floated across the blue sky. It almost felt like summer but the ground was still pretty brown and the trees hadn't budded yet. Lexie and the kids had spent the morning planting in the little gardens they were beginning to build in the front of the house and along the main entrance walkway. The plan was the have lots of flowers and bushes around the whole house before summer really got here.

Harry sat at one end of the front porch and Rozzie sat on the other, her blanket on her head as per usual. Each of them had several of their favorite colors chosen from their large box of crayons (the red one snapped in half so they could both have some) and a pad of paper stolen from Remus's office on a secret expedition in which Sirius had been involved.

Hedwig sat perched upon the porch railing, watching as Harry drew a picture in response to the one Rozzie had just sent to him. When he finished, he tore it from the pad of paper and held it up. Hedwig swooped down and snatched it from his hand gently with one clawed foot and flew the short distance across the porch. She dropped the picture and landed on the floor beside Rozzie, hooting softly and nipping gently at the two year old's finger affectionately. This used to be the only way she could make her presence known to the little girl and it wasn't needed anymore, but Hedwig kept up her old habit. She was always a fairly sweet and loving owl as it was, always following after Harry when they were in the house and preferring to keep watch from the perch upon his bedside table while he was sleeping. She didn't used to, not until he'd started having lots of post-Christmas night mares. Now he slept easily knowing she was watching over him all night and had sharp talons that could gouge out Death Eater eyeballs.

"Harry! Rozzie! Can you come inside please?" Sirius called through one of the open living room windows. Rozzie got to her bare feet and patted across the wooden porch towards the front door. Harry raced her, reaching it first and grabbing hold of the knob much more easily than she could. She was still just a tad bit short for opening doors that didn't have handles, not that she didn't try. She could usually reach the doorknobs inside, mostly because her feet would hover the few inches she needed off the ground if she really wanted to get a door open and was feeling impatient.

The two children entered the house, closing the door behind them and headed over to the sitting area where Remus was pacing back and forth while Sirius and Lexie sat on the couch. Two wrapped boxes sat on the coffee table in front of them, one pink, one blue.

"Presents?" Harry asked curiously. It wasn't anyone's birthday, nor was it any holiday he could think of off the top of his head. He knew Easter wasn't until next weekend because he had a whole week off from school then and Easter had baskets, not regular looking presents.

"Yep." Lexie grinned and reached down, scooping Rozzie into her lap and snuggling her closely. "One for each of you. Harry first though."

Harry grinned and reached for the blue wrapped present, knowing it was his. It was easy to open, all he had to do was pull off the top of the box. He peeled back the tissue paper and pulled out the black shirt sitting in there. He held it up and grinned. A blue dragon sat in the bottom of one side, blowing fire to spell out the words Big Brother on the chest of the shirt. "Cool! This is way better than the one that one kid in my old class got. His was white with different colored letters. Look Rozzie!"

"Cool!" Rozzie giggled, reaching out and patting the dragon.

"Alright, Rozzie's turn."

Harry picked up the pink package and handed it to his sister. After she had placed the sticky part of the spiraly ribbon on the top of her head, she pulled off the top of the box and tugged out yet another black shirt.

"I bet it says Little Sister on it, huh Pad?" Harry laughed as he tugged at the shirt he was already wearing. He pulled it off and put on his new one, proud to wear it.

"Here Rozzie." Lexie helped Rozzie put her new shirt on, and Rozzie stood up, looking down at it, dancing back and forth.

"Pwitty! Pwitty! Witty! R-ead Hawwy! R-ead!"

Harry laughed and reached out, putting his hands on Rozzie's shoulder so he could see her shirt better. It was similar to his, but it had a sparkly pink owl soaring across it, the wind behind it spelling out 'Little Big Sister' in sparkling blue wind.

Harry stared for a moment, perplexed. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on here. Maybe there had been a mix up when the shirt had been picked out. Or maybe…

"Are you gonna have another baby!?" Harry burst out after a few moments of deliberation. Rozzie was his little sister, but if Muma had another kid, then she would be a big sister too… hence, a Little Big Sister.

"In August." Sirius nodded, grinning like a maniac as Harry took it in and then began jumping up and down, his eyes wide, fists in the air.

"Yes! Yes! I want a brother this time! Can it be a boy? Please please please!?"

"Brudd-ah?" Rozzie asked confusedly, reaching down and staring at her through she couldn't very well read yet at all. She had begun learning her letters and their sounds, but at two she still struggled comprehending putting them all together.

"Maybe. There's a fifty-fifty chance of having a brother or sister, but I hope you'll be happy and love them either way, alright?" Lexie asked, reaching out for a hug. Harry shot forward and hugged her tightly, excited.

"Okay, but try hard to make it a boy this time."

"Muma's going to have a baby in the summer time." Remus explained to Rozzie, lifting her up from the floor and giving her a tickle. "You'll be a big sister!"

"Big big big!" Rozzie laughed unable to form a proper sentence whilst being tickled. Remus stopped and she giggled. "Wozzie be big sister. Baby! Wozzie get baby! Where baby?"

"Baby is in Muma's tummy right now, growing big and strong just like you did before you were born." Sirius explained, reaching out to take his daughter from her godfather and giving her a snuggle.

"In hers tummy? Muma, whys chu eated baby!?" Rozzie asked, her eyes going wide and looking quite horrified.

"She didn't eat the baby, Rozzie. Babies come from special, super complicated magic." Harry explained brightly, remembering the day he'd first found out about Rozzie. It had been a long time ago and he had through her picture had been of outer space and Padfoot had fainted.

"Sirius, I think he might be big enough this time." Remus stated, looking from Sirius to Lexie pointedly. Harry blinked, looking from each of the adults and then back to Sirius.

"I'm big enough?"

"Remus, I dunno, maybe we should wait until…"

"Kids are already starting to talk about it, mate. Even ones from his class. I could do it if you want."

"Nah, I've got it. It's my responsibility." Sirius sighed, pushing up off of the couch and reaching out to lift Harry up as he stood. Harry wrapped his arms and legs around Sirius, staring at him curiously.

"I get to learn about the super complicated magic?"

"Yes. Remus, have we got a book or something?"

Remus reached out and pulled a book from the highest shelf in the living room and handed it over to Sirius. "Are you sure you want to go it alone?"

Sirius pondered this for a moment and then shook his head. "Actually, let's make this a total guy talk. You and me. You might do a better job of explaining the technicalities."

Remus opened his office door and Sirius carried Harry inside. Lexie watched them go and then lifted Rozzie up onto her hip as she stood up. "How about you and I go make some lovely lunch?"

"Yeah, lunch!"

…...

It took a full hour. Harry had questions. Lots and lots of questions that were difficult to answer in a manner that was age appropriate, but somehow, whether it be sheer dumb luck or the actual age appropriate book, they got through it only slightly scarred.

Lexie and Rozzie ate their lunch peacefully in the living room, going between peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and playing with Rozzie's blocks, listening as the occasional outburst sounded from behind the office door throughout the hour.

"It goes where!?'

"But those turn into frogs!"

"But how do they…?"

Lexie was stifling her laughter by the time the office door reopened and the three men marched out, two looking completely haggard, one perplexed and thin lipped. Lexie quickly covered her mouth and coughed a couple of time to block out her giggles. Harry passed by her and as he headed across the way for the kitchen, he paused. Without turning around, he stated very firmly. "I can't look at any of you for at least a week."

Then he strode into the kitchen to get his lunch.

"Well then. I take it it went as pre-assumed?" Lexie asked, looking up from where she was showing Rozzie how to spell her name using the blocks.

"When I die, I am going to kill James over and over again." Sirius flopped down on the couch, looking completely exhausted.

"I'll help." Remus groaned, burying his face in a pillow as he sat down in the comfy chair by the window. "I swear, I've never seen Harry ask so many questions before in his life, at least not since he was little."

"Rozzie and I had quite the discussion as well." Lexie explained, putting a Z block next to the O block. "Rozzie, where do babies come from?"

"'uma's tummies." Rozzie stated nonchalantly, reaching for the I block she had learned came next in her name so far. She was remembering by color mostly, but that was part of what learning words was about. Familiar patterns of different letters in very specific formations until you could work on sounding them out as well.

"How do the babies get there?"

"Daddy." Rozzie giggled, holding up the Y block. Lexie shook her head and handed her the L.

"See? She's completely satisfied with that answer. She'll ask more as she grows, but I'll answer her as they come and we won't have to have a big huge total talk with her when she's older because she'll have already gathered most of it through little talks."

"So an honesty is the best policy route? Interesting." Remus nodded. He and Sirius both knew that when it came to talking to Rozzie about these types of things… well… they'd leave it up to Lexie.

"Yep." Lexie grinned and handed Rozzie the Y and then watched as she figured out on her own that the two Ns came next.

"Lookit! Woz-i-lynn!" Rozzie beamed, pointing to her name in blocks.

"That's right! Well done, Rozilynn." Sirius laughed, reaching out and swooping his daughter up from the floor. He tossed her up high in the air and she shrieked with joy, hair and blanket flying out behind her as she came back down. Talking about babies and where they came from was quite difficult, but actually being with your babies, when they were as precious as this, was wonderful.

First, I would like to apologize for how appallingly long it took to get this one up. Secondly, I would also like to say I'm sorry for how short it is compared to the amount of time it took to get uploaded. I got stuck and wasn't sure what to do with it for a while, so I do hope you'll forgive me. With a story like this, where so many different things are possible, I love love love hearing any idea or suggestions you guys have for the plot line because they really do help and I have used some of them in the past because they're fantastic just like you! I'm realizing I probably have to do longer time skipping than I used to in His Boy with this story simply to avoid redundancy. Not HUGE ones where he ages dramatically, just smaller ones, like, months. Is that okay? What do you want to see happen next?

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I liked writing it, even if it's not as good as some of the other ones and super short. As always, I love hearing from you guys!

Love always,

S.Q.O.