Disclaimer: Yeah, not my characters.


His Boy

Chapter Forty-Six: Camp-Out

Harry, Ronnie, and Mrs. Weasley arrive back at the Burrow just in time to see Mr. Weasley placing large sheets across the clothes line in the garden. Harry and Ron stopped to watch while Mrs. Weasley went inside to start dinner. Mr. Weasley pinned one sheet to the line and then pulled outwards and to the ground, the sheet enlarged by magic so it would work on the high up line. When he had gotten the bottom of the sheet to the ground, Mr. Weasley pinned the corners and the center of the edge down with large rocks before going around the line and doing the same with the other side.

"A tent!" Harry laughed, understanding now what Mr. Weasley was doing with all of those sheets.

"Exactly." Mr. Weasley smiled down at the two boys as he threw another sheet over the top of the line and pinned it there. "We haven't got a real tent, but we can make do perfectly find with these sheet tents. It's not supposed to rain tonight anyway."

"And even if it does, you can make the rain not hit it, right Dad?" Fred and George came running across the grass. Both of their bare knees were covers in grass stains, their cheeks smudge with dirt, and their red hair tousled by the wind. They each had a broomstick over one shoulder, very old looking ones. Charlie and Bill weren't too far behind them carrying their own brooms.

"Of course I can." Mrs. Weasley nodded as he pinned down the next sheet and got started on another.

"You can fly?" Harry asked, eyeing the brooms Fred and George had. He knew they were the real adult kind of broomsticks he wasn't allowed to have yet, much bigger than his own little toy broomstick that didn't go very far off the ground or nearly as fast as a real broomstick.

"Yeah. Not nearly as good as Bill or Charlie's though. Mum says we can only use Dad's and our uncle's old brooms until we're older."

"They go higher and faster than our old toy broom, but not by much."

"But now we don't have to ride double."

"Cool!" Said Harry, looking quite excited. Maybe when he was seven he'd be allowed an older real broom as well.

Once the tents were all set up in a long row, the children were ushered inside by Mrs. Weasley to come put on their swimming things and be slathered from head to toe in sunscreen. Harry giggled as the cool sunscreen was squished onto his cheeks and Mrs. Weasley smiled.

The whole red headed family and Harry trooped out of the house and down a path of trodden grass through the garden to the little pond that sat about a quarter mile from the house. It was a nice little pond with fish and a bit of sand for playing in. Mr. Weasley had magicked up a floating wooden platform in the center of the pond but only the three oldest boys were allowed to go on it by themselves since they were excellent swimmers and the water was deep enough to dive into in the middle of the pond.

Harry, Ronnie, and Ginny were all water winged and allowed to go out as far as their toes could still touch but beyond that they had to have an adult with them. However, when you had two friends to play with, it wasn't hard to stay where the water wasn't over your head.

"I'm gonna get you!" Harry shouted, chasing after Ginny through the ankle deep bit of water. The little red head squealed delightedly, her bare feet splashing through the water as she ran, sending up bits of water that hit her waist and got her mother wet as well, not at Mrs. Weasley minded too much. It was hot out after all and they were supposed to be getting wet. She laughed, tilting the brim of her large sunhat up to watch them easier. It was such a joy, seeing children so happy, their laughter pealing high and full of delight as they ran about splashing one another.

"Watch this! Watch this!" Ronnie shouted from where he stood on the dock. He waved and Harry and Ginny turned to look over at him curiously. Ronnie took off running along the dock and jumped from the end, splashing into the four feet of water there with his knee4s tucked up against his chest. His toes skimmed the bottom for a moment before his red hair broke the surface of the water again. Harry and Ginny cheered as Ronnie doggy paddled back towards them and the safety of the sand.

"That was so cool, Ronnie!" Harry beamed, quite impressed with his best friend for having the guts to jump into the 'deep' bit of water all the way at the end of the dock. Ronnie puffed his chest out as proudly as any other five year old who had just been showing off. "Can I try that too, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Well…" Mrs. Weasley pondered it for a moment. She knew Harry wasn't yet as good a swimmer as Ronnie was but the water wasn't too deep at the end of the dock. "Well, I suppose. But let me get in so that I can help you quickly if you need it."

"Yay!" Harry whooped and ran towards the dock, Ronnie and Ginny hot on his heels.

Mrs. Weasley rose from her chair and entered the water, wading in until she had reached close enough to the end of the dock that she could grab Harry if he needed help but far enough that he wouldn't hit her with his jumping. "Alright, you can go now."

"Woohoo!" Harry imitated Ronnie, running down the dock. He flung himself off of the end like he'd hit a spring board, his small bare feet sending him up into the air, higher and higher. Mrs. Weasley watched intently, her stomach flipping with fear for a moment when Harry was ten feet up. But then he was coming down, slower than he would have if he'd been falling naturally, but he wasn't. There was underage magic involved here. He was going to hit the water at just the right speed.

Harry's bottom broke through first quickly followed by the rest of him as he was plunged beneath the surface of the water. His water wings caught him up just as his butt hit the sandy bottom and began towing him upwards to the surface. He gasped as his head met dry air, his cheeks pink with the rush of adrenaline. He coughed a little bit and then, beaming, raised his arms in the air in victory. "I did it! I did it!"

"Woohoo, Harry!"

"Well done, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley beamed too, so glad he had achieved something so big for a four year old. It took a lot of nerve to be so small and jump into water that was over your head.

"Me too, Mummy! Me too!" Ginny squealed, her voice echoing through the brilliant blue summer sky.

"Ginny! No, you're too..." Mrs. Weasley watched as her daughter raced across the rock, red hair flying out like a flag behind her. Ginny leaped from the end of the dock and Mrs. Weasley moved forward, ready to snatch her up out of the water. She needn't be so worried though. Ginny came bobbing to the surface a moment later, full of fire and glee. She continued to float upwards, giggling until she was hovering just above the water. She leaned herself forward, using her body weight to move through the air and catch her arms safely around her mother's neck just as her hovering stopped and her lower body crashed back down into the pond.

"I did its too, Mummy! I did its too!"

"Yes you did. You also nearly gave me a heart attack."

Ginny laughed, burying her little cheek tightly against her mother's.

…...

"…and he took out his knife, shoved it into her chest, and took out her heart!"

Ginny screamed, curled up in her father's lap, as Fred and George took turns telling the scariest story they knew about this guy who had locked his heart in a box til it turned hairy and beastly and no longer human.

""Then he opened his own chest and tried to shove the lady's heart into his own empty one…"

"Okay, okay, I think that's enough of that one boys." Mr. Weasley said as he rocked the shuddering Ginny gently in his lap. The Warlock's Hairy Heart was too much for a three year old.

Harry's eyes were wide in the firelight as they sat in a circle around the campfire Mr. Weasley had conjured. It was all sorts of different colors, a rainbow of flames that flickered brilliantly in the darkening garden.

"Who wants a marshmallow?"

"Oh! Me me!" Ronnie jumped up and took one of the sticks Mrs. Weasley was handing out. Each stick had a marshmallow at the end. Confused for a second, Harry watched as Ronnie held the marshmallowed stick out over the fire. He did the same with his.

The end of Harry's marshmallow suddenly became engulfed in flames and he let out a yelp, dropping his stick in shock.

"Oh no!" Ronnie cried out, looking down at the part of the fire where Harry's marshmallow had just fallen. "Mum! Mum!"

"It's alright dear. Here we are." Mrs. Weasley tossed Harry's stick into the fire since the end was now all covered in goop and ash. She grabbed a new one and impaled a marshmallow upon it, handing it to Harry. "Hold it out of the flames… yes, just like that."

Harry smiled, glad she hadn't been mad that he'd dropped his stick and marshmallow. He really hadn't been expecting it to catch on fire like that!

This time, Harry paid even better attention to his marshmallow than anyone else did. He held it above the flames, but not in them or too close that it would catch on fire. When Ronnie checked his, Harry did the same, both boys beaming and holding out their sticks to show their lovely browned marshmallows with absolute pride. It took quite a lot of effort to be patient enough to cook a good marshmallow and not burn it.

"Here we are then." Mr. Weasley smiled having taken over the marshmallow duties while Mrs. Weasley had taken over helping Ginny with her own marshmallow. The little girl didn't yet have the ability to wait for her marshmallow to cook properly and kept burning them. Bill was eating the burnt ones, assuring her that he loved them that way.

Harry watched as Mr. Weasley took his stick and gently slid his marshmallow down onto a square of graham cracker and chocolate. Mr. Weasley placed another graham cracker down upon the marshmallow, squishing it until it was the most wonderful looking concoction Harry had ever witnessed being created after treacle tarts and root beer floats.

"What is it?"

"A s'more." Ronnie laughed as Mr. Weasley helped him make his next. "Cause once you have a s'more, you always want s'more, s'more, s'more!"

Harry laughed and bit into his treat, the sides of his mouth getting sticky with marshmallow and slightly melted chocolate. Oh, but how good it was! Ronnie was right. Once you have one s'more, you wanted more!

After about three s'mores and two burnt marshmallows that Harry had decided he liked after all, it was getting to be pretty late for the younger members of the clan. Ginny was nodding off in her father's lap. Mrs. Weasley had gone inside to get some wash clothes to clean little faces. Bill and Charlie was talking about some game called Gobstones while Fred and George argued over who had redder hair.

"Alright, it's about time for everyone to be getting to bed." Mrs. Weasley stated as she came back out toting along a pitcher of warm water, some soap, and several towels. The older boys washed off their own faces and hands, but the three younger kids got extra help. Harry and Ronnie could have washed their own hands, but more than likely they would have still been quite sticky when they finished anyway.

Once everyone was cleaned up, sleeping bags were laid out, potty runs had been made, and pajamas put on, Harry and Ronnie climbed into their sleeping bags right next to one another towards the center of the long sheet tent. Fred, George and Mr. Weasley lay to their left while Ginny, Bill, and Charlie lay to their right. Mrs. Weasley and Percy had gone inside for the night, Mrs. Weasley wanting to take a nice, long bath, and Percy stating he didn't quite think sleeping outdoors when he had a perfectly good bed inside sounded like the best idea.

Harry smiled, liking being sandwiched between Ronnie and Ginny. He was kind of sad that Hermione and Luna and Neville weren't here as well. He was sure they would have had a good time camping out. Well, so long as they had fairies in jars so that Neville didn't feel scared. He was glad, too, that Mr. Weasley and Charlie were sleeping at either end of the tent, that way if any beasties came to get them, they would be ready for them.

Feeling safe and happy with the smells of two of his favorite friends, the grass beneath him, and the night air flowing peacefully through along through the ends of the tent that had been propped open, Harry fell asleep.

…...

When Harry got home the next afternoon, he was quite surprised to find that the house was quiet. Remus was at the daycare like usual and Sirius and Lexie were both in the kitchen nursing mugs of coffee that had long since gone cold.

"Harry!" Sirius smiled, reaching out for the little boy. "How was your camp out?"

"Oh Paddy!" Harry laughed, hugging him around one leg. "It was so cool! We went swimming and told scary stories and made s'mores, and I dropped my first marshmallow in the fire, but that was ok cause it was already on fire and then we went to sleep and it was so much fun cause sleeping outside is so cool!"

"Wow Harry, that sounds like such a fun time. Thanks for bringing him home, Bill. And tell your parents we really appreciate them having Harry over last night."

"No problem." Bill smiled, bid Harry good bye and headed back out.

"Well, Harry, since you enjoyed sleeping outside so much, I'm thinking maybe we should do it more often. Would you like that?"

"Oh yes!" Harry nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Maybe we could even sleep in my tree house!"

"Maybe!" Sirius laughed and kissed his little boy's head. He had missed having him around last night, but he and Lexie had definitely needed the time to deal with Rozzie and try and help her cry a bit less.

"Is Rozzie sleeping?" Harry asked after a minute. He had noticed that his baby was not in the room and normally when she wasn't around, that meant she was sleeping somewhere nearby.

"Yep. We found the magic way to calm her down too. I'll show you it later, but for now, how about we start on an early dinner?"

"Okay." Harry nodded. He loved spending time at the Burrow, but boy did he love being home with his family.

…...

It turned out that the absolute best way to calm a crying baby who didn't need anything but couldn't stop crying was to give her a bath in warm water containing lavender baby oil, swaddle her tightly in a blanket washed in lemon infused water, and rock her while her brother sang.

It had taken a lot of guessing to get it right. Lexie had decided to bathe her with the oil instead of just rubbing it on her cheeks so that the smell was also associated with the warmth of the water. The smell of lavender would mean bath time to the baby who couldn't see what was coming. After looking through a book of herbs for more calming remedies, Sirius had come across both lavender and lemon for soothing anxiety and instilling a sense of ease. So they washed Rozzie's favorite soft blanket with lemon water and had it dry by the time her bath was done.

However, it was Harry who had randomly discovered the last bit of the magic trick to getting his baby sister to calm down.

"Here, rub very gently now, just like that." Sirius smiled, watching as Harry ran his hand along the top of Rozzie's head, rubbing in both the water and oil. It smelt good and felt good on his hand. Rozzie seemed to like it too because she wasn't crying. In fact, she was being completely still, letting her little body feel the water and smell the lavender around her while she listened to her father and brother's voices.

"Alright. I think she's done." Sirius said after a little more massaging of Rozzie's tiny body. He lifted her gently out of the baby tub and laid her down on a towel which he wrapped about her to her dried off. Then he would replace her diaper and pajamas.

Lexie came out of the laundry room holding the lemon blanket. It was a white and pink patchwork quilt dotted with tiny roses, very light blue curling stems, and trimmed with cotton lace. The inside was made of the soft pale yellow fabric woven out of the leftovers of puffskein haircuts. It was quite commonly used for babies in the wizarding world since it was gentle and hypoallergenic, not to mention softer than milkweed fluff.

Once Rozzie was swaddled up tightly in the blanket, Sirius carried her into the living room and sat down in the rocking chair, rocking her back and forth gently while Harry sat down on the rocking stool in front of him. After watching for a few minutes, Rozzie began to fuss.

"A B C D…." Harry began to sing song like he had when she had first come home. The fussing stopped and Rozzie went still, her head shifting as she listened intently.

And so became the bedtime routine. Every night after dinner, when Rozzie began to cry even though they'd already tried everything else under the moon, she would be given a bath, wrapped in her blanket, and then rocked while Harry sang to her until she fell asleep. She would then be tucked safely into her bassinet in Sirius and Lexie's room.

Once Rozzie was asleep, it was Harry's turn for a bath, a story, and bed. Sirius even put a special spell around his and Lexie's room so that Rozzie's cries wouldn't bother Harry while he slept.

Though sometimes it was in the tree house.