CW: mentions of abuse, mentions of prison, grief
:TWENTY-FOUR:
"Papa Lupin!" Harry cried, toeing off his shoes and shedding his coat quickly. "We went to the park and I got you something!"
He ran over, only noticing Sirius when he got within arms-length. He stopped and stood comically still for a moment, looking Sirius up and down carefully.
"Papa Lupin," Harry mock-whispered. "Is this Sirius?"
"Yes, Harry." Remus told him, looking amused as he took in Harry's playful expression and Sirius' nervous one.
Upon confirmation, Harry threw his arms open wide and practically tackled Sirius. He caught him, though his eyes were blown wide with shock at the boy's easy acceptance.
"Hullo," Harry cried, looking Sirius in the face. "Look at what I brought home from the park."
He pulled out a few rocks he'd collected from their trip to the park, showing Sirius them as if they were diamonds. And Sirius, who was immediately drawn into the boy's charm, paid close attention to everything Harry had to say. This left Remus watching them both, feeling incredibly emotional as he saw the two most important people in the world to him interacting.
"See, Papa Lupin?" Harry twisted in Sirius' arms to show him the rocks. "I brought home enough for each room in the house! This way you can do the glowy-spell so Sirius won't have to be in the dark."
Remus smiled at him, ruffling his hair. "That's very thoughtful, Harry. Why don't you set them on the table and go wash up for supper?"
"Okay!" Harry cheered. He hopped back off of Sirius, running to put his rocks down and then off to the bathroom.
Sirius grinned at his retreating form, then at Remus. "He's amazing."
"Yeah." Remus smiled, then pushed himself up off the floor. "But now we have to think up something to eat."
"Great!" Sirius got up much faster than Remus, already starting to show some of his old energy. "I'll help!"
Remus scoffed. "Yeah, by sitting and watching me cook. I haven't forgotten about that last cooking disaster."
Sirius smirked cheekily, but sat down at the kitchen table without complaint. As Remus began cutting up vegetables and meat for soup, Sirius asked.
"Where are Harry's aunt and cousin?"
"Oh," Remus had forgotten to explain. "They live in the flat beneath us and we don't always eat together. They might be by tomorrow, but I don't suspect they'll come tonight. Petunia will want to meet you before she brings Dudley over."
Sirius nodded, partially understanding. It was hard not to take it personally, but after everything Remus had just told him about Petunia and all the recent changes in her life, it made sense for her to be cautious. So he dropped the matter for now, instead watching Remus work and looking around at his new surroundings.
Remus had been right - Sirius did like the flat. It was so open and bright, which was widely different from his cell in Azkaban. Even though there was a window there as well, the world just seemed so much darker out there. But here, here the darkness all seemed to have disappeared. Even the shadows seemed softer.
"What's the glowy spell?" Sirius asked, rolling one of Harry's rocks around with his finger.
Remus laughed, his back to Sirius as he brought a pot of water to a boil and began adding ingredients.
"It's a spell I used to give Harry essentially a night light." He explained, putting a lid on the pot and coming over to sit. "He carried it around with him everywhere for the first month."
Sirius was about to reply, but a very excited Harry cut him off as he practically flew into the room.
"What did we say about running in the flat?" Remus said exasperatedly.
But Harry didn't look abashed at all. "I had to hurry! Sirius hasn't seen all our drawings yet!"
And he promptly dumped all of his and Remus' drawings onto the table, scrambling up onto a chair so he could explain them all to Sirius. Sighing, Remus decided to drop the matter in favor of listening to Harry and watching Sirius react to each drawing. Sirius looked out of his element, but seemed pleased that Harry was so open with him already.
Harry only stopped when dinner was ready, when he had to move all his precious artwork so there wouldn't be any soup spilling accidents.
"Maybe after we're done eating," Harry said as he spooned some soup into his mouth. "We can all color together?"
"Alright, Harry." Remus smiled, handing him a napkin.
Even though Sirius was exhausted by this point, he joined them both for coloring in the living room as the sun slowly set. At first, he didn't take the project very seriously, but eventually Sirius found himself lost in the process of coloring and drawing the things around himself. It was very soothing, and Sirius suddenly understood why Harry loved it so much.
"What're you drawing?" Remus eventually asked quietly.
He had moved to the couch, where Harry had curled up on his lap. Harry had abandoned his glasses on the coffee table, and next to it sat Remus' empty cup of tea.
"I'm drawing my family." Sirius replied, showing him the finished piece. "I know it's not very good…"
"It's a masterpiece." Remus cut him off. "Harry will love it."
Sirius beamed, but then a shadow fell over his happy expression.
"I wish James and Lily could see him." He murmured. "He looks just like them both."
Remus nodded slowly. He was afraid of this, afraid that Sirius would become depressed after seeing how much Harry looked like the people he had lost.
"Why did he accept me so quickly?" Sirius asked, looking back up at Remus. "Is that normal for a kid his age?"
"I'm not sure," Remus shrugged. "The only kids I really interact with are Harry and Dudley. And occasionally Natalie."
"Natalie?"
"Harry's friend from school - Dudley's first crush too actually."
"Oh." Sirius gazed at little Harry while he slept on Remus' lap. "Should we try putting him in his room?"
"Yeah." Remus sighed, then very gently shifted so he could pick Harry up.
He carried Harry, while Sirius opened the bedroom door and moved the blankets so Remus could put Harry in his bed. He tucked the deer stuffed animal in Harry's arms, while Sirius wrapped the blanket around him.
"A deer?" Sirius smirked, looking at the toy as Harry curled it closer to himself.
"I know." Remus smiled, feeling bittersweet. "He decided that was his favorite."
They left the room together, leaving the door open a crack in case Harry woke up. Sirius tentatively reached out for Remus' hand, which he immediately held.
"I'm not going anywhere, Sirius." Remus murmured quietly, guiding him over to their bedroom.
They crawled into bed together, Remus lighting up the rocks Harry had brought home so they glowed on all of the flat surfaces in the room. Sirius curled himself into Remus, looking all around the room and letting Remus hold him gently. It was warm and safe, which was wildly different from how Sirius had felt just this morning.
"Sirius?" Remus asked, carding his hand through Sirius's curls.
Sirius hummed, leaning into the scratches contentedly.
"How are you so...well, sane?" Remus asked hesitantly. "I'm really glad, of course, but I expected you to be much worse."
Sirius thought for a moment, then spoke to the room. "I think it's because of a couple things, actually."
He explained the simplicity of his emotions as a dog, and how the dementors couldn't affect him as much when he was an animagus. Sirius also explained how his innocence helped him stay alert and in the present. Because it was logical, not necessarily tied to any emotion.
"And then," He murmured. "I read your letters before they took me from Azkaban. Before then, I'd been living one day at a time, but when I read that you were both waiting for me... I felt like I could do just about anything."
Remus kissed Sirius on the forehead. "I'm so glad you're here."
Sirius laughed quietly. "Me too."
Notes:
Well, I hope that explains the cover picture - it's Sirius' first drawing! Harry's easy acceptance of Sirius is because he knows exactly how it feels to be isolated and unwanted. And we're luckily going to avoid a lot of Sirius' projecting James onto Harry because of how young Harry is, along with help from Remus.
Happy Reading!