Disclaimer: I do not own any characters created by J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Fifteen

~ October ~

Turning four was a big deal for Harry.

He was now tall enough to not need a booster seat at the table and only needed a small step ladder to reach over the bathroom sink to brush his teeth properly. He was allowed to stay up a whole fifteen minutes later! Who knew there was such a time beyond 7pm!

It was also October which, according to Daddy and Remmy, would mean that he got to dress up and go trick-or-treating! He didn't really understand it, but he was promised sweets and he liked sweets. Remmy said it would ruin his teeth but he'd argued that he had more than ten more teeth so losing one wasn't really a big problem. It wasn't until the very last day of the month, anyway, which meant there was plenty of time to prepare!

.

The world outside was getting cooler, the nights longer, and despite all the magic the two men -and the house itself -possessed, Draco still felt his skin bubble with goosepimples whenever he left any room. The hallways were always the gloomiest parts of the house, anyway, he just hadn't realised how cold it'd get. He had considered asking Sirius to light a fire in his room, the one right by his bed, however he didn't want to seem so inept. Muggles knew how to light fires, right? He hadn't dreamed that? Well then surely he could figure something out as well.

He was lucky to find Remus in the lounge, cradling a gurgling Teddy against his chest, whilst Potter played with a train set on the plush carpet.

He knocked gently on the door, not wanting to disturb Teddy.

"Oh, hello Draco," Remus smiled wanly, his tone hushed as he rocked his son. "What can I do for you?"

Closing the door behind him, he sat on the opposite end of the sofa as Remus continued to rock. Potter made small 'choo-choo' noises as he raced the train through the carpet. "Um ..." he tried to keep his mind focused, "I was wondering if there were any books about muggle ways?" Merlin, he felt like a traitor to magic just uttering those words!

"Well what exactly do you want to know?" Remus asked.

"I don't even know how to light a fire," Draco felt himself flush with embarrassment. "It's getting colder now and I can't exactly call on you or Sirius whenever I need a heating charm cast."

Remus chuckled, "I can show you some things. If you like we can pop to the local supermarket and grab a few things."

Draco scrunched up his nose. "Why?"

"You want some things to help. We should be able to get it all in the same place. Why don't you write down a list of things you want to learn or need help with and I'll get these two ready." Potter glanced up as Remus stood. His green eyes landed on Draco and he smiled shyly, ducking his head to focus on his trains. "Come on, Harry, we need to get our warm jumpers on."

"Why?"

"Because we're going outside. Draco needs to buy some things and we're going to help him."

This answer seemed to satisfy Potter. He abandoned his train set and hurried to catch up with Remus. Draco watched them go, trying not to clench his jaw when Potter turned and smiled with a wave. Glancing down at the train set, he sighed, imagining Sirius didn't want to stumble out of the floo at the end of the day, with a caboose lodged in his foot. It still irked him that he had to do such mundane things, like packing a train set away by hand. Usually, it'd be a simple flick of the wand and then he could write an actual list and still have time to spare before Remus returned with the two brats in tow.

Within ten minutes, the sound of hurried footsteps clambered down the stairs.

"Draco! Are you ready! Remus says we have to go NOW!"

Draco almost smirked at Potter's antics. Now that he was officially a child and not just a bumbling lump, he didn't seem keen to leave Draco alone for long. Said kid was already in a jumper, jacket and trainers. Sirius had come up with a rather genius idea of simply resizing Potter's shoes and jeans. It didn't stop the man from going out at least once a week in his spare time, to pick up a book or a piece of clothing he thought Potter would like.

Draco sighed, "Alright, let me grab my coat."

Stepping into the hallway and snatching his jacket off the hat stand, Remus came down the steps with Teddy strapped to his chest. At Draco's quizzical look, he merely shrugged. "It's easier than dragging a bulky pram all over the place. I never have the patience for those things."

"A ... pram?"

"A muggle device that mother's use to wheel their children around in. It also doubles as a shopping trolley apparently."

Draco was even more confused. He didn't press the issue though. If it had to do with children, it didn't have anything to do with him, so he need not concern himself with it.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Me too!" Potter chimed.

Walking out of the wards of Grimmauld place always made Draco's insides convulse. It would always feel that way until he regained access to his magic. He trailed a few steps behind Remus, hands in his pockets. They came to a stop at the main road, waiting for the 'Green Man' to appear. Draco had come to understand it was a light, not an actual person. He'd been a little disappointed that a man dressed all in green didn't help muggles safely from one side of the road to the other.

"Draco!" He glanced down at Potter's stage whisper. "You have to hold my hand."

His stomach lurched. "What?"

"To cross the road. Daddy says it isn't safe to cross the road unless we hold hands."

Ah, yes. Draco had remembered that conversation. It was right after Potter had chased after a dog he wanted to pet. Said dog and owners were crossing the road. Luckily, Sirius had got to him just in time. The scolding was impressive, and Draco had quite the experience with angry fathers. Potter had sniveled and cried and had been sent to bed without a bedtime story. Draco had heard his sniffling down the hall. He'd almost gotten the temptation to go into the brat's room and read him a bloody story just so he could get some sleep.

A myriad of emotions had stopped him.

"Draco, we have to go now!" Without waiting for an answer, Potter grabbed Draco's hand and dragged him towards the edge of the pavement. Sure enough the green man was flashing, so Draco hurried to catch up with Remus, making sure to keep his strides just long enough so that he wasn't forcing Potter to eat tarmac.

Once safely on the other side, Draco bent down and glowered at the child, "Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me? You do not run out in front of those things!"

Potter's bottom lip wobbled, his large green eyes almost making Draco's anger subside.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, coming back to place a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Potter dragged me into the road without waiting."

Remus twisted his mouth into a frown, "That is very dangerous, Harry. You or Draco might have been hurt. You don't want to get hurt do you?"

Silently, the kid shook his head.

"You have to wait for the green man."

"I did!" Potter protested. "It was green! I saw it!"

"It doesn't matter," Remus said calmly. "Draco is the adult, so you have to let him go first. If you get into trouble, he can help protect you from the cars, okay?" Potter nodded, his chin drooping downwards. "Good. Now I want you to hold onto Draco's hand for the rest of the afternoon, okay? I don't want you running off again."

As they walked along down the street, bypassing numerous shop-fronts that boasted amazing sales and cheesy halloween decorations, Draco allowed himself to feel smug. Potter had gotten reprimanded for actually doing something wrong. Now, as punishment, he needed to be treated like the kid he was. It made him feel minutely uncomfortable that he was the one who had to keep Potter from running off on his own again, however he told himself that's what winning felt like; being in control of the situation and getting to feel good about it.

.

Draco didn't know what a 'Sainsbury's was and he didn't know why they needed to go into one. It was garishly orange on the outside and seemed over-crowded inside; it was the building equivalent of a Weasley. The thought made him shudder as Remus lifted Potter up and slotted him into the seat of the large metal trolley. Potter still looked like he was sulking, however his eyes did start to wonder over the numerous, brightly coloured packages lining the aisles.

Remus guided them along towards the homeware department, his amber eyes on the look-out for whatever muggle appliance Draco required.

"These should make you feel more at home if you like," he said, taking a wrapped pack of candles in one hand. "However, you do have a muggle lamp on your side table. All you need is some new bulbs."

Draco nodded mutely, his eyes reading words that he didn't fully understand.

"Which do you think you'd prefer to light the candles; a box of matches or a lighter?" Draco shrugged. "I suppose matches are better since you can also use it to light your fire. I'll get you the long ones, though, just in case."

Into the trolley they went.

"I'm going to grab you some batteries and a torch as well, it'll help you practice to change them when they stop working," Remus trailed off, biting his lip in thought as he scanned the shelves above his head. "Oh here we are!"

He reached up and snagged a small box off the shelf before holding it out for Draco to inspect. It read 'hand-held whisk' on the front, with a picture of what Draco assumed was said whisk. He wrinkled his nose, "Why do I need a whisk? I already have hands, I don't need a machine to do it for me."

"True, but this machine does all the beating ten times as fast as you or I could do. Even with magic, it takes a certain skill to get to this speed. It comes in handy."

Draco wasn't entirely convinced, but dropped the box into the trolley anyway. It's not like he was wasting his money, so who cared?

"Now, it is coming up to Halloween, why don't we see if they have any costumes, hm?"

"Costumes?" Potter chimed, his head whipped around to try and find them.

Remus chuckled and continued to pass down the aisles. Draco glanced at a few items on the shelves but nothing really jumped out at him until ...

"Hey Remus, what's this?" he held out a strange, square-ish fuzzy seal with large blue eyes. There was something stiff and wobbly inside.

"Let's see," Remus took the fluffy seal and felt around the fur. "Oh, it's a hot water bottle."

"Why does it look like that?"

"Muggles like cute covers for things like water bottles," Remus shrugged. "The real challenge for you, though, would be filling it with hot water from the kettle." Draco nodded mutely, gingerly placing the hot water bottle back on the shelf. He didn't need anything like that just yet. He needed to get used to lighting the fire first.

Remus moved the trolley around a few more hours, stopping to gloss over the books in the media section, before heading on down towards the clothing aisle, where tons of black and orange costumes were sealed in packets hanging alongside weird, plastic pumpkins. They seemed to grin down at him menacingly. Eyeing one of the crude costumes, Draco wrinkled his nose.

"Why exactly do muggles bother dressing up?" he asked. "They can't get much enjoyment out of it."

"The kids usually do," Remus chuckled. "The parents take them door-to-door trick-or-treating. That's when they knock on the door and get free sweets," he added at Draco's puzzled expression. "I went a few times, before I got bitten. After that no one wanted to go with me in case it was a full moon on Halloween and it'd be like a horror movie."

Feeling the overwhelming urge to hug the man, Draco fingered a fake, hollow skeleton. "Was it ... lonely?"

"Yes, terribly so." He sighed, "My first year at Hogwarts, James and Sirius insisted that we dress-up for halloween. No one else did and thought we were all barking mad, but it made me feel so happy." He gave a wistful smile, "It really is the little things."

"Hmmm. Were you planning on doing anything thing year?"

"For Halloween?"

Draco nodded.

"I'm not really sure. With the war finally over, and ... everything ... I wasn't sure that anyone would be up for it." The large amber eyes appeared especially shiny. "Tonks used to love any excuse to morph into something else. I'm sure she wished every day was halloween just so she could dress as a duck."

Draco felt his mouth twitch into an almost-smile. "Did Potter ever do anything like trickle treating?"

"Trick or treating."

"Whatever."

"Not that I recall," Remus frowned. "He was barely allowed to celebrate his birthday, so I doubt halloween was on the cards for him either."

Draco frowned at that. His eyes kept straying back to the costumes. "I never did this sort of thing either. My parents would host a Hallows Eve ball at the manor. We didn't really dress up in costumes, just our best dress robes with maybe a fancy mask on top."

"Sounds fun," Remus remarked dryly. "I can almost guarantee you hid under the tables until you had a growth spurt."

Draco's shoulders hunched around his ears, his cheeks hot and pink. "That obvious am I?"

"No," Remus chuckled, "I'd have done the same." Glancing down at the trolley, Remus sighed and raked a hand through his already shaggy hair. "Let's buy this lot and then get some practice in before Sirius gets home. We're going to use the oven tonight."

Draco blanched. "Do we have to?"

"You won't learn if you don't try it out," Remus said, wheeling the trolley towards the cashiers. "Besides, the oven does most of the work, you just need to keep an eye on the time. A little like potions!"

"Please don't compare cooking to potions," Draco groused quietly. "If that were true, Potter should excel in both, not just one."

"Who says Harry's a good cook?"

Draco shrugged. He wasn't about to admit to any of the rumours he'd heard. That sort of talk had gotten him into a fair bit of trouble. They lapsed into silence as Remus loaded everything onto the conveyor belt. Draco waited patiently at the other end as Remus paid with a plastic card and packed everything into bags. With a bag each, and Teddy fussing in his harness, the foursome trekked back along to Grimmauld place.

.

It took another five days before Draco was bold enough to ask for help in lighting matches. He'd tried, the logic behind it was so simple, but somehow the matches would spark but not catch alight. Remus was teaching that week and that left Sirius in charge of the kids. Draco had been reading a new potions textbook in the lounge, keeping one eye on Potter as he doodled and coloured on numerous sheets of paper. He was a quiet kid, easily pleased and happy to be by himself. There were moment where Draco was tempted to indulge the brat and play games or watch movies, but the idea that any of this would stick in Potter's head when he got older was gnawing at him.

Making sure that Potter was okay on his own for a little while, Draco stood up, cracked his back, and made his way towards the garden. Sirius had said he'd be working out in the shed, and Draco hadn't thought to question what his cousin would be up to.

The sky was overcast, a cool wind clawing at Draco's jumper as he crossed the garden towards the shed that led out onto the back road. The door was ajar, the sound of metal-on-metal coming from inside. Something clanged loudly, making him jump, and a string of curse words came out. Reaching for the door, he knocked and waited. Sirius' head popped out a moment later; he was dressed in a threadbare top and muggle jeans, holes, and black smudges stained the fabric and his forearms. He cocked an eyebrow at Draco as he wiped his hands on a filthy rag, "You okay?" he asked.

"I was going to ask you a favour," Draco hedged. "Muggle stuff. But I don't want to disturb you."

Sirius glanced over his shoulder and grunted, "I could use a break. Let's get some tea. If I have to look at that thing for another minute, I'll hex it." He tossed the rag over his shoulder into the shed, and starting striding to the back door.

Draco glanced into the shed and frowned; a large, black and silver monstrosity sat inside. It had large rubber wheels and it was like those strange vehicles that went speeding through muggle London, only this one looked older, somehow. More classic. There was a rusting pale blue vehicle nestled alongside it, with only two wheels and a small visor at the front. With so many questions buzzing in his head, Draco ran back into the house to find Sirius in the kitchen.

"What were you doing in the shed?" he asked as he took one of the steaming mugs from Sirius.

"Trying to fix my bike; it's older than you and it needs adjustments every so often. Although, I think I may need to take it into a garage, there's no way I can replace all those gears myself. Not whilst teaching anyway."

Draco couldn't deny his surprise. "You ride that thing?"

"Sure do. It flies too."

"Wow ..." Even he couldn't deny how fucking cool that was. "Shit! It's older than me?"

"Yup. Had that thing since before I could legally drive it. Took years to modify it to be able to fly. Lily used to be so scared that I'd crash it, but I JUST LOVED proving that girl wrong."

"Did it worry Remus, too?"

"Everything worries Remus," Sirius chuckled. "The man's had grey hair ever since I've known him."

"Did he ever get on the back of that bike?"

Sirius smirked, "A few times. He hates the thing. Drives him mad when I go out for a ride to blow off some steam." Draco smiled a little. "Harry's been on that bike a few times too."

"Oh?"

"Once when he was a baby. The second time in the summer of your ... seventh year? Trying to escape some Death Eaters."

Draco blanched, his insides suddenly wanted to reject the tea he'd drank. "Why was he on it when he was a baby?"

Sirius' eyes looked misty for a moment. He swallowed, the temperature in the room seeming to drop. "It was the night they died. I wasn't able to get to them in time. I was ... I was devastated. Their house was destroyed. The wall had fallen in and the stink of dark magic hung in the air. The door was open and I was so scared at what I'd find."

A shiver passed through both men. Draco clenched his mug tighter.

"I had to pick my way through rubble. James, my best friend, was strewn on the stairs like a ragdoll. I froze, I wasn't thinking. Then I heard Harry crying. Draco," he looked up into his cousin's eyes. "In that moment, those screechy wails were the most precious sound I'd ever heard in my life."

Draco's throat felt thick. He felt cold all over but he was eager to hear more.

"I almost tripped over Lily when I ran into the nursery. The whole front wall had been blown away and it was cold. I wanted to hug her, try and wake her up. I couldn't believe two of my best friends were dead," he raked a quaking hand through his hair. "Those screams cut through me. Harry was screaming his lungs out, crying and making himself sick. His head was cut open, I thought some tiles or shrapnel had cut him. I didn't realise it was the scar then. He was looking right at her! I had to take him away."

Images flashed in Draco's mind; he could picture it all so clearly, from the tales and rumours that had been thrown around. It made him feel sickly though, that if Sirius hadn't been there, what would have happened to Potter? Would Voldemort's followers have come to finish him off? Realising that Sirius was lost in his memories, Draco reached out and placed a tentative hand on his forearm. "You got Potter out of there. You got him safe."

Sirius twitched a smile, "I did what I could. Wrapped him up in a blanket, hid his face and hurried him outside. I was just settling onto my motorbike when Hagrid came."

"Hagrid?!" Draco exploded. "What the hell was he doing there?"

"Dumbledore had sent him. For Harry." There was a bitter edge to Sirius' voice. "He said that due to the blood magic of Lily's sister, Harry was safer living in the muggle world."

Draco snorted. "Even I know that's a load of bullshit."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Hagrid and I argued for ages, which sucked because he's a good bloke. I didn't want to let Harry go. In the end I gave Hagrid the only thing I could, in the hope that it would one day belong to Harry. I let him have my bike so he could take Harry as far away from everything as possible."

They lapsed into silence. The tea was almost cold now, but Draco downed it anyway.

"Is that when you went after Pettigrew?"

Sirius nodded. "Almost immediately. The bastard was PLEASED! It made my insides sick; all that control I thought I'd mastered snapped inside me. I went for him, tried to strangle him to death with my bare hands. The bastard was insane. Laughed at me. Managed to grab his wand and murdered the muggles on the street around us. They'd been trying to stop us from fighting and that's all it took. Instead of killing me and ending it, he decided to make me suffer. For twelve years in that icy Hell. He literally got away with murder. Twice."

"He eventually got what was coming to him," Draco placated. "And it wasn't like he was treated that well in the inner circle either."

Sirius stated at Draco with a strange expression. "Good," was all he said.

Draco rinsed his mug out and set it to one side, noting how dim the light was getting outside.

"Oh Merlin, I haven't thought about that night in a long time," Sirius sighed, rubbing his hands roughly down his face. "October is just the worst month for everything."

"They were killed on Halloween weren't they?"

Sirius nodded.

Draco frowned, thinking about the usual traditions at Hogwarts with the feasts and the decorations and the awful halloween songs from the school choir. "Potter won't remember until he's a little older, will he?"

"No, probably not."

Fiddling with the cuff of his shirt, Draco looked over at his cousin, "What about if we did something for Potter on halloween? Like, the trickie treating the kids do? Remus said it's a muggle tradition?"

"Trick or treating," Sirius corrected a small smile tweaking his lips. "I'm surprised you're even suggesting it. Are you sure this isn't an excuse for you to get your own costume?" he teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Draco scoffed, "Don't be absurd. I don't give a toss one way or the other. However, if Potter wanted to dress up and go around begging for sweets, who are we to stop him?"

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, "Sure, Draco, whatever you say."

"DADDY! DRACO! Look what I drew!"

Potter's shrill little voice broke the atmosphere between them as he hobbled down the steps into the kitchen, waving a thick sheaf of papers in his hands.

"What do you have there, pup?" Sirius asked, scooping the child up and propping him on the table, his little legs swinging to and fro over the edge. Sirius took the papers eagerly thrust at him, beaming happily. "Oh wow! These are amazing! Draco look at these!"

Draco glanced down at the pictures and tried his hardest not to be a snob; while the strange man with tons of facial hair and a comical moustache was clearly Sirius and the round circle with blue hair and a big mouth was baby Teddy, Draco really didn't think his hair looked sunshine yellow. If anything it was white-blonde, not the colour of the tub of butter. Then there was the Remus drawing. It was just a misshapen scribble with big pointy teeth.

"Why did you draw Remus like this?" he asked, showing Potter the scribble.

"Because Daddy says that Remmy is a big wolf sometimes, but it's okay because he won't eat me."

"That's right, Remus won't eat you. He doesn't eat little kids for breakfast!" Sirius grinned, tickling Potter as he hugged him close. He shifted to another picture. "Oh, what's this one?"

Draco glanced at the picture. It was of the Potter blob asleep and the Draco stick figure reading a square he assumed was meant to be a book. "It's almost like the real thing," he drawled before he could stop himself.

Sirius smirked. "I'd like to see your drawings, kid."

Draco pulled a face. Sirius continued shuffling through the pictures ooh-ing and ahh-ing in all the right places. It was only when he fell silent, that Draco turned back to look with a raised eyebrow. His stomach dropped at Sirius' expression as he stared down at the last two images in the stack. Catching Draco's eye, he turned the pictures so that the teen could see. He wished he hadn't; one showed the Potter blob crying large blue tears with a fat man with a big blonde moustache and a red face raising his hand. There was a red hand print drawn onto the Potter blob's face.

The second one was of a building with a larger than life Potter blob sitting on top, a sad expression drawn on. A fat blonde boy with angry eyes and a big grin was 'looking up' at him from the ground and laughing. The word 'SCHOL' was scribbled on the front of the brown building.

Turning so that he was more eye-level with Potter, Sirius held up the pictures. "Harry, love, why did you draw these?"

Potter shrugged, his legs stilling. He looked as though he couldn't decide if he was in trouble or not. "I thought this happened so I drew it."

Glancing at Draco, Sirius pointed to the fat man. "Is that your uncle?"

Potter said nothing.

"You're not in trouble," Sirius assured him. "Did he do bad things to you?"

Potter said nothing but slowly nodded his head, his hands twisting and knotting themselves together. Draco felt bile burn at the back of his throat.

"Harry, love ... Did they hit you?"

"I don't remember. It was in my head, so I drew it."

"Did they call you names in your head?" Sirius pressed gently.

Potter looked away, sticking out his bottom lip. He was going to cry. Draco could sense it with the way his green eyes shone and his bottom lip wobbled.

"Don't you want to tell Sirius what's wrong, P -um -Harry?" Draco cringed.

Potter glanced at him with those eyes. "I don't want them to find out they call me a -"

"A what, Harry?" Sirius asked. "What bad things do they say?"

"That I'm bad."

"Oh, Harry!" The heartbreak was evident in Sirius' voice. He so desperately wanted to pull the kid to his chest and just hold him until all the hurt in the world bled out of him. "Sweetheart, you're not bad. You're a very good boy."

"If I'm not bad, then -then -then why do they say I'm a freak?"

A/N: Happy February lovelies! I hope you enjoy the twisty twist :D x