Chapter Seven
Once everything had settled down, they ended up on a soft couch with Harry between them. Remus looked at the table by the chair that Harry had abandoned.
"Is this your lunch?" he asked.
"Yep," said Harry.
"Who made it?" asked Sirius.
"I did," replied Harry proudly.
"You?!" they both exclaimed at once.
"Yes…" Harry said cautiously hunching in on himself a bit.
Remus reached for him, but stopped when Harry flinched back, "don't worry cub. It's not anything you did."
"It's not?" asked Harry, a bit less cautiously.
"No pup," said Sirius, reaching out to ruffle Harry's hair. Harry relaxed and let him.
"We were just surprised cub," said Remus, "you're a little too young to be cooking."
"Why?" asked Harry curiously, "I do it all the time for the Dursleys."
"You do?" asked Remus, "why?"
"Uncle Vernon says ungrateful little freaks like me need to do chores to earn my keep," said Harry, matter-of-factly.
"WHAT?!" bellowed Sirius loudly, causing Harry to flinch back again.
"Calm down, Padfoot," said Remus, then he whispered, "you're scaring Harry."
Sirius winced and turned to see Harry hunched in on himself looking at him with wide, scared eyes, "sorry, pup. You know that's not true what he said, right?"
"But….Uncle Vernon always said….." he trailed off and scooted back at the angry expression on Sirius' face.
"Harry," Remus said gently, reaching to pull him into a gentle hug. Harry let him, though he still kept a wary eye on Sirius. "Your Uncle lied to you. Kids your age aren't usually allowed to touch the stove, or anything sharp, either."
"Really?" asked Harry curiously, "why?"
"Because their families are afraid they'll hurt themselves," answered Sirius, "burn themselves on the stove, or get a bad cut from a sharp knife."
"I had cuts before," said Harry, shuffling forward on the couch a little, "burns, too."
Sirius clenched his fists and turned away so Harry wouldn't be afraid of his furious expression, "and what did your uncle say when that happened? Or your aunt?"
Harry shrugged, "Uncle Vernon says that's what freaks get when they don't pay attention."
Sirius nearly leapt from his seat at that, the only things that kept him there were Remus' hand gripping his arm, hard, and Harry's half-curious, half-fearful face.
"And your aunt?" asked Remus softly, still keeping a tight hold on Sirius, almost afraid of the answer.
"One time I cut myself and she told me not to get any of my freak blood on her clean carpet." said Harry, as if talking about the weather.
"THAT'S IT!" hollered Sirius, throwing off Remus' restraining hand and jumping off the couch, "I'M GONNA KILL THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS! WHERE ARE THEY? I SWEAR I'M GONNA FUCKING-"
"Silencio!" said Remus
Sirius gave him a sharp, dirty look.
"Do NOT give me that look, Padfoot," said Remus sternly, "you scared Harry." He waved his hand at the small boy staring at them from his hunched position behind the chair. He'd moved so fast, Sirius hadn't noticed.
Sirius went over and knelt by him, a look to Remus ended the silencing charm, "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't think about what I was saying. I was surprised and angry that your relatives would treat you that way. Can you forgive me, pup?"
Harry was surprised, no one had ever apologized to him before, and he didn't know quite what to do. "O-ok," he said tentatively.
"I just got mad because nobody deserves to be treated like that." said Sirius.
"And," added Remus, "we love you very much. So it's worse when you hear about someone you love being treated that way." Sirius nodded.
Harry was shocked, "y-you love me?"
Remus and Sirius looked at each other, then at Harry, "of course!"
"More than anything, pup," said Sirius, with Remus nodding behind him.
Harry hugged him and Remus as once again he rejoined them on the couch.
"Now," said Remus, "how about I cook us something more filling than an omelet, hmm? Then we can tell you how we got here, and you can tell us how you found this trunk."
Harry nodded, "OK. What do you want to cook?"
"What food do you have here?" asked Remus, taking his hand as Harry led him to the kitchen.
Sirius just smiled as he followed along. For now, at least, they were all going to be OK. He and Remus were together, and they were with Harry. And for now, that was all that mattered to him. They would deal with the Dursleys later. Sirius smirked and almost laughed as plans began forming in his mind.
Somehow, he had the feeling that the Dursleys would not be pleased.
