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

A/N: I hope everyone is keeping safe during these difficult times. I will try my very best to update regularly to keep you from being bored!

Also, some months may only be in a single chapter, life is like that, and sometimes not a whole lot happens.

Chapter Eighteen

~November~

.

Five seemed to be the prominent number of November.

Potter turned five years old.

Sirius wigged-out exactly five times about Potter's eyesight.

And, for some reason, muggles liked to light huge fires on the fifth of November to celebrate some guy dying.

Muggles were weird.

.

"Just ... explain it to me again," Draco rubbed his temples, his quill poised over his parchment. He was penning a letter to his mother and had just started telling her about that weekends plans, when it clicked in his brain how little sense it all made. "Why do they light big fires and set off fireworks?"

Sirius chuckled as he stirred his tea. "Guy Fawkes was trying to blow-up the king of England."

"Which one?"

"James the first."

"I see ..." He quickly scribbled the name down. "And what happened? Did he succeed?"

A bark of laughter. "Of course not! He was found out along with all the gunpowder he hid under the palace. He was arrested and was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. Sadly, he fell off the scaffolding and broke his neck, a much quicker death. To celebrate, years on, we burn his effigy in commemoration."

Draco's face was screwed up into one of confusion. "How does that make any sense?! Where do you even GET these effigy's from?"

"We make them?"

"You MAKE them?"

"Yeah, sometimes we make them into political parties we hate. I was thinking this year we could do Voldie."

Draco dropped his head into his hands, "This is hopeless! I'll never begin to understand muggles and their weird traditions!"

Sirius laughed, "The same as muggles don't understand a lot of ours, Draco."

The blonde groaned.

"What did you do to him now, Padfoot?" Remus asked in an exasperated manner as he cradled Teddy to his chest and poured himself a cup of coffee with the other. He seemed to be getting quite adept to multi-tasking these days. "Leave the poor boy, be."

Sirius, like always, ignored his friend and smirked across the table as Draco leaned back in his chair. "This is my daily entertainment," he stated over his shoulder.

Remus rolled his eyes and took a slurp of his coffee. "What time are we leaving this afternoon?"

"His appointment is at 2pm, and I thought we could take him for some ice cream afterwards."

"Appointment?" Draco asked curiously. "For what?"

"We're taking Harry to a specialist at St. Mungo's to have his eyes checked," Sirius said. "Healer's have to swear an oath. It's only a matter of time before the Prophet catches wind that Harry isn't in Romania helping Ron's brother at the dragon sanctuary."

"THAT'S the lie you told the reporters?!" Draco's jaw dropped. "And they believed you?"

"Oh Merlin no, they don't believe anything anyone says ever," Sirius shrugged. "It was Hermione's idea."

Draco nodded mutely.

"Do you want to come with us or stay here?"

"I thought I might stay here and try my hand at some simple potions," Draco admitted, his fingers itching to get back into the familiar habit of slicing and measuring ingredients. "If that's alright?"

"Of course," Sirius grinned. "We'll be back by 4pm the latest."

Draco gave his cousin a grateful smile, flushing with warmth when Sirius winked.

.

St. Mungo's was never a cheerful place to find oneself in. Sirius would much rather never set foot in the sodding building for the remainder of his life. Sitting in the hard-backed chairs in the waiting area, he kept a weather-eye on Harry as he played in the corner with a small children's quidditch set. Whenever they went out, they often cast a disillusion charm on the child, altering his appearance just enough so that people didn't immediately connect him to the sudden disappearance of Harry Potter.

When his name was finally called, he took Harry's hand in his own and followed a Healer to a private office on the third floor. As soon as they were inside, the Healer locked the door, cast a silencing charm around them. Sirius cast 'Finite Incantatum' and the disillusion charm fell away from Harry as he settled on a comfy beanbag chair.

"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Healer Rodrik," Sirius greeted, sitting on one of the two vacant chairs across the desk.

"It's not an issue at all," the Healer smiled broadly. "Now I take it young Mr. Potter's eyesight has been fine up until now, is that correct?"

"Yes, he's losing focus and his depth perception is off."

"He mentioned mild headaches as well," Remus added.

"That will be the strain on the eyes," Rodrik nodded. "Even if it doesn't feel as though you're straining, the eyes are, and so it causes headache and sometimes dizziness." He made some notes in a journal. "So, what are you looking to get out of this examination?"

"We were hoping you could assess Harry's eyesight and advise on proper glasses for him."

"Were his original ones unsatisfactory?"

Sirius took a moment to calm his erratic, angry thoughts. "From what we've been told ... His muggle relatives just got him cheap glasses from muggle stores. I don't know that he was ever actually seen by ... What are the muggle eye specialists called?" He cast a sideways glance at Remus, his brows knitted.

"Opticians?"

"Yeah, those."

Rodrik made some more notes, his quill scratching loudly through the stifling atmosphere. "Since this is occurring at such an early age, there's a small chance Mr. Potter may not need glasses when he ages. Let me run my tests and I'll be able to tell you more after a diagnosis."

"Would you like us to wait outside?" Remus asked.

"No, not at all."

"Harry?" Sirius turned and beckoned his godson over. "I'd like you to meet Healer Rodrik."

Harry toddled over, his large, green eyes flicking between the men before him. His shoulder caught the edge of the desk and he winced. Sirius scooped him up onto his lap, taking care to firmly rub the pain away from his shoulder.

"Now, Harry, Healer Rodrik is going to test your eyes, okay?"

"What for?"

"He wants to see what's making you have headaches."

"Then what?"

Sirius frowned at the way Harry was hunched over, his small hands twisting in his lap. Placing one of his large hands over Harry's and squeezing gently, he pressed a kiss to the kid's temple. "We're going to see if you need to wear glasses for a little while."

A frown. "Do I have to?"

Sirius glanced at Remus, the stunned look in his eyes was hard to miss.

"Harry, don't you want to wear glasses?"

"People will make fun of me."

"No, love, no one's going to make fun of you."

"Dudley will."

Sirius scowled. "Dudley isn't coming around, Harry. He won't make fun of you."

"Harry?" The rumbling voice of the Healer drew Harry's attention to him across the large desk. "You see, I wear glasses," he tapped his wand to the wire frames. "I'm a very important Healer, and I couldn't do any of it without wearing my glasses."

"Really?"

"Oh yes! If I can't see where I'm going, I fall over people. Then we both end up hurt."

Harry twisted his lips, his brain whirring. He was sure people were going to make fun of him for wearing glasses. But Sirius and Remus promised that no one would, and they wouldn't lie to him, would they? "Can I choose my own glasses?" he eventually asked.

Rodrik smiled, "Of course you can. Now, why don't you hope onto this chair over here, and we'll get started."

.

.

Draco started awake, nearly falling off the sofa as the floo roared into life and spat out Sirius clutching Potter to his chest. He just about managed to get out of the way before Remus was stepping through. They vanished the soot from themselves, closed the floo network for the evening and slumped down on the sofa opposite. Potter immediately burrowed against the large sofa cushions, his eyelids drooping. Over an hour at St. Mungo's and then a large strawberry ice cream had definitely exhausted the poor kid.

"So how was it?" Draco asked hesitantly, not knowing how Potter had felt at all about wearing glasses in the first place. He didn't want the brat to start having a temper tantrum.

"It went fine," Sirius hummed thoughtfully. "Harry was very well behaved throughout the tests and Healer Rodrik said that we could get the new glasses within the week."

"That's a bit long, isn't it?"

"I thought that too," Remus raked a hand through his hair. "It's more to give Harry time to adjust to the idea, plus we have a little booklet with all the different types of glasses he can choose from. Maybe you can help him choose?"

Draco wanted to snap something back, but no words came. In truth, he had found it odd seeing Potter, even so small, without his glasses. There was no barrier between the butterfly-inducing green eyes and the rest of the world. He didn't know if he was happy or please at the latest developments. Obviously there was a reason Potter had needed glasses to begin with, the last week had been a testament to that.

"So what have you been up to today?" Sirius asked.

"I was working on some Pepper-Up potions. They're simmering at the moment, but I should have a small batch finished by 10pm."

"Brilliant," Remus beamed.

"And any plans for the weekend?"

"Sirius, it's freezing outside!" Draco glowered at his cousin. "I'm not going out there, no matter how many jumper or warming charms you throw at me."

"You will when we get to lighting that bonfire, you mark my words."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Other than burning us all to cinders, what're your plans?"

"Making sure the house doesn't burn down," Remus intoned.

"Probably take my bike for an MOT and one last ride around London before the weather gets too bad."

"What is it with you and muggle things?" Draco groused, picking at a loose thread on the sofa cushion he was leaning on. "Some of the kitchen things, I can understand to a degree. But that -that -"

"Motorbike."

"Yes, that. I don't see the appeal."

"Well it's like flying, except I have the added adventure of weaving around other cars and feel free to do as I please."

"Didn't you make that thing able to fly?" the blonde frowned.

"Of course I made it fly!"

Remus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I never understood why you don't just use a broom."

"Because a broom, dear Moony, squishes me in very cumbersome ways and I rather not have my nuts back inside my body, thank you very much."

"Sure, that's the reason."

"Can I go on it?"

The words were out of his mouth before he'd been able to fully understand what he was asking. He was agreeing to go on a muggle death-machine, among thousands of other death-machines, in the name of a little freedom? Was he truly that bored being stuck inside all the time?

The two men exchanged a glance. "Sure, you're more than welcome to come along with me when I take it to the garage. We can apparate back."

"You'll need to ask permission from Kingsley," Remus interrupted apologetically. "Remember, you are meant to be on house arrest. Even muggles don't get to take their bike to the shop."

Draco felt his heart sink a little.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. We went on that weekend away, remember? I'll write to him in the morning and see if he'll allow it."

"I ... appreciate it."

"I know you do, Draco," Sirius smiled at him across the room. It made Draco feel a little lighter. "Right, I'm going to put Harry down for a little nap in his room. You two can decide what to do for dinner."

"I was thinking we might have a take-away," Remus hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not due to pick up Teddy until tomorrow morning, so we can have a nice, chilled evening."

"Sounds good," Sirius grinned as he bent to scoop Potter up into his arms. Draco watched as the boy drooped awkwardly against Sirius' shoulder. "I think I have some muggle money in the jar in the kitchen."

.

7pm that evening found Draco hunched over in a warm coat borrowed, and shrunken, from Sirius' cupboard. He didn't have anything decent from the manor and the last thing he wanted was to get a cold. Remus led him down through the muggle streets, the orange lamplight's painting everything black and orange like a halloween party. A few muggles walking their dogs along the street passed them by, and Draco couldn't help but stare after them for a few meters, before hurrying to catch-up with Remus.

There had been a debate among the three men about which take-away they would be going to. Sirius fancied a Chinese, but apparently he had it a lot, so Remus was opting for a 'Chippy' whatever that was. They'd left it for Draco to be the tie-breaker. They'd had Chinese a couple of times, so they were going to the 'chippy' which Draco came to learn, as they entered under a bright blue sign, was a place that served cheap fish, nuggets -whatever they were -pies, sausages and other assorted things.

The smell alone made Draco's insides growl loudly.

They had to wait for a little while to be served, but Draco didn't mind. He was fascinated by the muggle newspapers littered across the small, shiny tables. It unnerved him that their pictures didn't move, but he'd known about that sort of thing since he was a child. Once they'd paid for everything, Remus carried the muggle money, they hurried back to Grimmauld place with their hot, greasy, salty bounty tucked under both their arms.

Potter was awake and eagerly pestering Sirius for his dinner when the two arrived home. It didn't take long to dish everything out over the kitchen table.

"So can you tell me why you two love celebrating this bonfire night so much?" Draco asked, munching his way through his chips. They were perfect; hot, greasy, and crispy, everything he could ever want in his mouth. He licked salt from his fingers, seeing as none of them had bothered with cutlery.

"I can't really say, it was just always fun when these guys came home with me for the half-term holiday," Remus grinned. "They loved running around with the sparklers and watching the fireworks."

"No, the thing I loved most about it were the S'MORES!" Sirius cackled.

"What's a s'more?" Draco frowned.

"It's where you hold a marshmallow over the fire until it goes gooey, then you slap it between two crackers or whatever. It's GRAND!"

"Thank you, that cleared everything up," the blonde drawled.

"Can I have a s'more?" Harry asked, picking up another piece of his sliced sausage.

Sirius ruffled the kids hair and adjusted his position on his lap. "Of course you can, pup, when we have the bonfire tomorrow night."

"Did you invite anyone else?" Draco asked.

"Just Andromeda, Hermione and Ron and us will be enough," Sirius cast a look at Remus, "We'll have to make sure Teddy isn't bothered by the fireworks, too."

The lycan gave him a grateful smile. "I imagine everything will be finished by 10pm."

"Sounds good," Sirius grinned. "Then someone can get his beauty sleep," he winked at Draco.

The blonde rolled his eyes and threw a chip at his cousin.

"Now, now, Paddy, don't go showing Harry it's alright to throw his food."

"Draco started it!"

"Well I'm ending it."

Draco snickered, noting the small smile on Remus' lips as he swatted Sirius on the shoulder. Maybe it had been a good thing, being sent to live here? Maybe, just maybe, things would get better for him.

.

.

Bonfire night brought a small cluster of people to Grimmauld place, crowding into the kitchen for some mulled wine or hot chocolate and then out to the back garden where the heap of broken tree branches and other wooden things waiting to burn, sat at the end of the garden. They were trying to do everything as muggle as possible, even though Draco had spied the Weasley Wizard Wheezes boxes in a small pile in the corner of the back room.

'Those must be the fireworks,' he'd mused on his way out. At least that was something to look forward to.

Zipping up his navy blue peacoat -a necessity Remus had insisted he needed -he made his way out into the garden to join everyone else. Weasley and Hermione were stood off to one side, arms wrapped around themselves, their breath rising in small plumes of vapour. Hermione was in a plum coat, a little cream hat nestled on her curls. Weasley looked much like a muggle lumberjack in those catalogues, a jacket with a thick fur collar and heavy-soled boots.

Once everyone was assembled and had a drink in had, Remus and Sirius fumbled around for a few minutes before the heap of wood caught alight and their lopsided stuffed dummy on top burst into flames. Everyone cheered as the flames rose higher. Draco watched the fire, his heartrate speeding up as he felt the rush of heat on his skin.

He was in the room again ...

He and Blaise clinging to a broken table ...

The heat rising up, singing the hem of his trousers ...

Something clutched his legs tightly, jolting him out of his nightmares and almost flat on his arse. Regaining his footing, he looked down to see a mop of black hair at his knees. "H-hey," he choked out. "What's um ... what's wrong, Potter?"

Potter shook his head.

Wriggling out of the toddlers grip, he knelt down and looked Potter in the eye. "What's up?"

Pouting, Potter mumbled, "Big fire. Don't like it."

Glancing over the kid's head, Draco had to sigh and agree. He didn't like the big fire either. "That's okay. Neither do I." Potter's head jerked up, his eyes wide and surprised. "Why don't we wait for Sir -I mean -Paddy to come and make some of those s'more things?"

Potter sniffed, "Okay."

It was a small victory, but it was something.

They watched the fire burn for a while, slowly sinking to the ground to make a more manageable flame. Sirius emerged from the house with long thin sticks and a bag of marshmallows. "Who wants s'mores?!" he called out.

There was a cheer, and then the crunch of frosted grass as people made their way over to the fire. Draco tugged Potter's sleeve and together they joined the rest of the group at the fire's edge.

"Hey there you two," Sirius grinned as he handed out sticks. "Do you want a s'more?"

"I ... uh ... don't know how to make it," Draco hedged.

"It's okay, just watch me." He speared a marshmallow on a stick and held it out to Potter. The kid took it nervously, his bottom lip sticking out. "Now you hold it over the fire until it goes brown." He extended Potter's arm toward the flame, making sure to form a barrier with his body. Draco watched as the puffy sweet started to melt. Sirius saw too, and pulled the stick away. "Now you can either eat like this, or ..." he accio'd two crackers from Remus, and squished the sweet inbetween, pulling the stick away, "Like this."

Potter hesitantly took the strange offering and took a bite. His eyes went wide. "WOW! That's the best thing ever!"

Sirius laughed, ruffling Potter's hair. He glanced up at Draco and quirked an eyebrow, "Do you want one, Draco?"

He didn't want to admit it, but his expression must have given him away.

"We can make another one altogether, how about that?" Sirius asked. He handed Draco a marshmallow on a stick, and then did the same as before with Potter, forming a small barrier between the kid and the flames, making sure his grey knitted scarf didn't catch alight.

Draco crouched down on Potter's other side and tried to ignore the cold sweat that rushed down his back. Holding his marshmallow over the flame, he mirrored Sirius' movements until he was eating his first ever s'more and dear Merlin it may just be the best thing he'd ever eaten!

.

An hour later, Draco was too agitated from being around the fire, and whilst the fireworks had been amazing -as per all the Weasleys products -he just wasn't in the mood to be near people anymore. He left Potter with Weasley and Hermione and, whilst hesitant as first, had been left writing as many letters as he could remember with a sparkler with the other two. It was a sight to behold, see the three of them laughing and having fun. It left Draco feeling very much alone, hence why he was retreating to his room.

Merlin, even the way Weasley was grinning and helping Potter write his full name made his jealous!

He felt pathetic!

He refused to admit, even in his own head, that he was jealous of the Weasel!

Groaning, he went to his room and laid down on his bed, kicking his shoes off and listening as they fell to the floor. He'd never have dared to do that at the Manor.

He must have dozed off for a little while because it felt a little too soon when he heard the roar of the floo activating as people left for home. That meant everyone would seen be heading to bed. His gut grumbled and he grimaced before sitting upright. Hopefully there was still some food left downstairs.

As he expected, downstairs was deserted, the doors and windows locked and Sirius was in the kitchen with Potter perched at the table. The clock on above the fireplace read 9:45pm.

"Is there any food left?" he asked, stepping down into the kitchen.

Sirius grinned, "Sure, you can help yourselves. Harry was wondering if you'd like to watch a movie with him?"

"A little late isn't it?"

Sirius shrugged, "It's a on-off treat. Besides, he'll fall asleep before the end of it."

Draco sighed, "I suppose I can keep the rugrat company." He absolutely did NOT care that Potter beamed up at him. "Where's Remus?"

"He went to check on Teddy. Probably gone to sleep, he looked fairly worn out by the end." Draco nodded in understand. "Right, grab a plate, grab some food and head into the lounge. I set-up a little surprise for you two," he grinned wolfishly before clapping Draco on the shoulder on his way out of the kitchen.

Draco shook his head in bemusement. Turning his attention to Potter he went to grab an empty plate and started piling as much as he could fit onto it. "Alright, brat, let's see what Paddy set up for you." He cringed at the nickname, it didn't roll off his tongue well but he couldn't well crap all over Potter's obsession that Sirius was his 'daddy'.

In the lounge his jaw dropped at what he saw; propped up and facing the TV was what looked like some type of tent made entirely out of blankets!

"Yey a blanket fort!" Potter squealed, darting down inside and poking his head out, "Come inside, Draco! We have to watch a movie!"

Frowning, Draco gingerly crouched down, balancing the plate in his hands, and wriggled down into the tent alongside Potter. Inside was littered with bed pillows and cushions. At least it was comfortable. Setting the plate down, Draco did his best to slide a DVD into the player and only had one little hiccough before the movie loaded onto the screen. They sat on the cushions, eyes glued to the screen and munching on the snacks and didn't even register Sirius coming into the room until his mass of curls dropped down into view, making them both jump.

He grinned, "You two okay down here?"

"Yes!" Potter chimed. "Can we sleep down here?"

"You can, if that's alright with Draco," Sirius raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"I suppose ... one night couldn't hurt?"

"Okay, just don't stay up too late."

"We won't! Love you, Daddy!"

"Love you too, pup." Sirius smiled. "Goodnight Draco."

"Night."

.

Rubbing his eyes, Sirius walked into his bedroom ready to shed his clothes and the day from his person, when he stopped short in the doorway. Remus was asleep in his bed, rumpled already, his hair a little messed up. His heart ached in his chest; he really was smitten. He changed into a pair of pyjamas, the weather having definitely cooled the house down, and just as he was about to climb into bed, Teddy began to stir.

Stifling a yawn, he goes over to the cot and tenderly lifts the baby up against his chest. He strokes Teddy's hair, pressed a kiss to his forehead and slowly rocks him back and forth as he paces.

"Shh, shh, it's okay Teddy," he whispered soothingly. "Let's not cry and wake up your Daddy, hm? It's alright, I'm here."

As he calmed Teddy down enough to settle him back in his cot, Sirius was too tired to notice a pair of golden eyes open and watching him from the bed. He didn't realise that Remus was watching him, feeling emotional and as though he wanted to kick the covers aside and hug Sirius from behind.

However, he was glad that -as soon as he climbed under the covers -Remus seemed to turn in his sleep and wriggle a little closer.

He did get a mug of the good coffee the next morning, and he was grateful for it.

.

Back in the blanket fort, the movie was quiet on the TV but both boys had forgotten about it. The lights were dim, and the pillows and blanket they were tucked into were warm and soft. It was so cosy even Draco was resigning himself to the idea of sleeping on the floor. His eyelids were growing heavy and he was just lying down fully when a small voice made him more alert.

"Draco, can you keep a secret?"

A sense of dread flooded his stomach.

"Uh ... I suppose so."

The kid wriggled a little so that he was lying with his head cocked to the side, facing Draco. "I have bad dreams."

"What about?"

"This fat boy called Dudley hits me with a stick," Potter mumbled.

Draco's insides completely knotted. Licking his lips he hesitantly asked, "A-and what else?"

"He ... calls me a freak." Two large, shiny green eyes looked up at him and it made the blonde's breath hitch. "I'm not a freak ... am I?"

Once upon a time, he would have been the bastard to call Potter a freak for being different than himself.

He would have teased and taunted him and made him miserable for refusing his hand.

At the very least, he could just not say anything at all. He didn't want to break the kid's heart, nor did he want to over-inflate his ego. Yet somehow, despite himself, he shook his head. "No. You're not a freak. You know what you are?" he asked, turning so that he was lying on his side, his face mere inches from Potter's. "You're perfectly normal; you're kind, caring and you're very, very brave."

"I'm not brave!" Potter shook his head, almost smacking his head into Draco's nose. "Only prince's and superheroes are brave!"

"Well, maybe one day you can be a superhero too?" Draco says with a small smile. "Maybe that's why I like you so much, because I know one day you'll be a superhero. Then you can go around saving people from dragons, and trolls and goblins."

"Even ..." Potter dropped his gaze, his little hands fumbling with one of the blankets he was lying on. "Even if ... I have to wear glasses?"

"Of course," Draco assured him. "You know, I always knew you with glasses. This is very strange for me to see you without them."

"Don't you like me without glasses?"

"I do."

"Oh," this seemed to take him by surprise. "But you always call me 'Potter'."

"Do I?" Draco said, even though he was aware of it.

"When I get glasses, you have to start calling me Harry. Deal?"

"Uh ... deal?"

Potter held out his small hand. It disappeared as Draco took it in his own, and shook. The kid had the nerve to beam at him before he opened his mouth in a yawn. "Draco?"

"Hm?"

"Can I have a cuddle? Daddy always gives me a cuddle to help me sleep?"

Draco felt himself tense up. He'd barely formed a reply in his brain before a warm weight settled on his chest; he looked down to see that Potter had already curled into his side. His small hand rested on Draco's chest and it made his insides tight with nerves. A part of him really wanted to call out for help from Sirius, but another part of him was almost too tired to care. It wasn't as though anyone else were around to see, and it wasn't as though Potter was likely to remember this one night, an isolated incident.

Was he?

It was late, he decided as his eyes finally grew too heavy to fight off sleep.

To say that he was equal parts glad and annoyed when, two days later, a newly framed photo found itself on the kitchen wall of a very cosy looking Draco curled up in a blanket fort with Potter on his chest.

"Oh mother," he hummed out loud as he stared up at the frame, "What would you think, if you could see me now?"

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this update! Apologies for any spelling errors. Please read and review, it keeps me sane in these dull, long times of Lockdown. Hope you are all keeping safe and well.

Belle x