Today was a very nerve-wracking but exciting day for Remus, the sun had barely risen as he began his preparations. Not even the Full Moon nearing next week could falter him in his steps. No, it was a good day indeed. Special, even. So special that he had woken himself up early to make chocolate chip pancakes, allowing himself an allotted time slot in case any got burned.

By the time Cyra had woken, the table was decked out with food, and Remus was nearly bursting from the seams when he noticed her entering. He allowed her a moment to wipe the sleep from her eyes before he spoke, "Happy Birthday, Cyra." The wizard was pleased at the tired smile that formed on the child's face, before he quickly guided her over to the table.

She hadn't even woken up fully, her eyes only half open as she began munching on the bacon that was set on her plate. Remus reached over the table and carefully cut up her pancakes for her, "I hope you slept well. We have a busy day ahead of us."

He received a muffled sound of affirmation, much to his amusement. Nudging the syrup closer to her, he watched as the bottle was uncapped and globs of sugary liquid was poured onto her food. He didn't stop her, choosing to go ahead and begin eating his own.

After breakfast was finished, and the little pup was finally awake, they began going over the plans for the day. "Molly has offered to host your party at the Burrow, so we'll need to be there at around 3pm." Remus began, whisking out his wand and giving it a flick to send the dirty dishes to the sink, "You and I will be heading into London to not only get your cake, but anything you might want, as you are the birthday girl."

Cyra's head perked up at that, her eyes wide with astonishment, "Anything I want?" Remus shot her a smile before clarifying, "Within reason, of course." She quickly shoved out her hands, waving them at him, "Nails! Like Tonks!" He definitely wasn't expecting that, and now the wizard had to rack his brain to remember what was so special about the 13 year old's nails. He knew Cyra took an instant liking to the young witch from their times at the Burrow.

Nymphadora was very much like her cousin, who he shalt not name, very into the more punk fashion. Often using her metamorphmagus talent to change her hair into spiky pink locks, or to change her natural nails to always look like she had nail polish on, typically sporting black. That was it! Proud of his accomplishment, he looked back at his charge, "You wish to have black nails like Nymphadora?"

Cyra nearly bounced out of her chair, waving her hands again in excitement. Who was he to refuse such a cute display? Giving her a nod in response, he stood up, cracking his back, "Alright, time to get dressed then. Let's get a move on, pup." Before he could finish stretching, she was already bolting out, her bedroom door slamming open with a thud. Chuckling to himself, he went off to his own room, though with much calmer stride.

The weather couldn't have been described with anything more than beautiful, the pair walking around Surrey so they blended in with the muggles. Remus didn't even need to ask what flavor of cake Cyra wanted hers to be, he knew the answer instantly. Chocolate. As much chocolate as that poor baker in the shop could manage.

He didn't wish to rush though, wanting to allow Cyra to enjoy her outing with him. She didn't often leave the cabin unless they were running an errand, or she was off to the Burrow. He had to remind her about Muggles however, wanting to make sure she knew not to speak of magic in front of them. She seemed to understand, though he would never underestimate his pup.

She was very intelligent for her age, already capable of reading even difficult sentences in books. Molly had spoken to him about having to advance Cyra's lessons to a year above where the twins were, though they would never tell the children, since it could cause some disconnection among the trio.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt her pace suddenly stop, quickly glancing down to be sure she was okay. Cyra paid no mind to him however, her attention drawn to the playground full of children. He could see the yearning in her expression as she watched some kids push each other on the swing sets.

Clearing his throat, he crouched down to her level, causing her to shift her attention back to him. Before she could speak up, he shot her a smile, "How about you play with them for a bit? I can rest on a bench; my feet were getting tired anyway." They weren't, but he wanted her to feel free to go off and have some fun. The lie was worth it too, when all he was given was a quick nod before she was eagerly running towards the playground.

Standing back up, he strode over to an empty park bench that had some shade. Relaxing against the wood, he let out a content sigh as he watched his pup approach a group of girls her age.

"You're new here, aren't you?" One of the girls had asked, playing with the braids that hung from her head. Cyra instantly felt intimidated as all of their eyes set on her, taking a step back for a moment before she placed out her hand, "I'm Cyra, I'm si- seven!" Today was her birthday, she seemed to have to remind herself.

The one who had spoken took her hand, shaking it, "I'm Peggy Clivesdale. I'm seven." The chorus of girls introducing themselves soon followed, names that Cyra couldn't possibly remember them all. Peggy stepped away, motioning out to a little sandcastle they were building in the box, "We were just playing pretend! I'm a pretty princess." She flicked a braid behind her at that statement, "Maggie is playing a witch, and Kayla is going to be my knight." The smaller girl piped in, "A-Actually, I wanted to be a Werewolf."

Cyra felt her stomach drop at that statement, looking at Kayla with wide eyes. Peggy stomped her foot with a huff, turning to Kayla, "No! I told you that you're going to be a Knight! Werewolves are too scary! And we already have the Witch to be our monster!" Those words caused Cyra to take another step back, hanging her head as she listened to the girl's argue. Maggie seemed to have something to say, piping in with her posh accent, "My mum let me and brother watch The Howling, it wasn't that scary."

No argument seemed to sway Peggy, as she continued in her tirade that Werewolves were ugly monsters, and they would not be playing any. No one seemed to notice as Cyra excused herself, her feet taking her far away from whatever that was. Muggles were very rude, she reasoned. Sure, she knew that Wizards weren't very nice to Werewolves, but to even call a witch a monster? Ridiculous.

As she hurried off, she didn't realize what direction she was actually heading in. It wasn't until she came upon a small boy that she realized she had reached the forest part of the park. He seemed to be alone, playing with the twigs in the dirt. She glanced around for some adult that must have been watching him, but found none.

Without a word, she sat herself down next to him on the grass, causing him to jump at her sudden appearance. Giving him a polite smile, she reached out her hand, "Hello, I'm Cyra, I'm seven." He seemed to hesitate before he took it with his dirt covered palm, "I-I'm Harry and I'm five." She didn't seem to mind her hand being dirtied, giving him a firm shake before releasing him. Then, there was silence.

She didn't know if she preferred this, but she knew it was better than the girls from before. Harry pushed around the dirt with the stick he had, refusing to make eye contact with her. Cyra decided to snatch up a stick of her own, beginning to draw in the dirt next to him. Finally, he spoke up, "Do you live here?" She glanced over to him to see he was still hiding his face, before she responded, "No, Moony and I are visiting. It's my birthday today."

"Oh. Happy Birthday."

She felt a little smile form at his words, "Thank you."

"Is Moony your Mummy?"

Cyra paused at the question, deciding to play around in the dirt for a bit, "No.." She gave another pause, "Moony is a boy. He takes care of me."

"So is he your daddy?"

"No, well, I mean I guess so? My mummy and daddy are gone now." Cyra honestly didn't know how to answer that question. Was Moony her new daddy? He never asked her to call him it, and he didn't seem to care that she didn't. But he did do everything her parents used to.

"Mine too. I live with my aunt and uncle." Harry finally had looked up at her, his green eyes peering into her soul, "You miss them?"

Cyra felt the words leave her before she could even think, "Yes." She quickly looked back down, "Do you miss yours?"

He seemed to shrug it off, picking up some leaves on his side, "I dunno, I never met them. I wish I had a mummy and daddy though."

Cyra didn't know what to say at that, she didn't want Harry to be sad, so she instead reached over and gave him a hug. She felt him stiffen in her arms, it took a bit but he eventually relaxed again. Pulling away, she quickly wiped her hands on the grass before she took off her backpack, "I know what will cheer you up!"

The boy watched as she dug through the backpack, before his eyes widened at the sight of a fluffy unicorn appearing. Cyra held him out like her pride and joy, "This is Bingles! He's super soft and makes me feel better when I'm sad!" She then plopped the unicorn in his lap, "Give him a hug! You'll see!" Harry stared at the doll in wonder before he gathered it up in his arms and hugged it closely. He suddenly felt all warm inside, like Bingles was giving him a hug back.

Seeing the smile from the boy, Cyra felt oddly proud of herself. Without another thought, she said, "You can have him if you want." His head swiveled quickly to her, his eyes wide, "R-Really? But he's your toy!" She didn't seem upset, but he knew better than to touch other's toys, Dudley's especially. Cyra just smiled at him, "Yeah! You seem to need him more. You can have him if you promise to be my friend!"

She then held out her pinky to him, waiting, and it didn't take long before he sealed the promise with his own. They then went back to playing, though both were chatting amicably now. Remus soon stumbled upon them, oddly confused as to why some boy had the unicorn she treasured.

"Cyra?" The calling of her name quickly caught her attention, pushing herself off of the ground as she saw who it was. Cyra brushed off her pants, smiling brightly at Remus, "Hello Moony! I was playing with my new friend!" He gave a nod, "I see, and who is your fr-" Everything stopped once the little boy turned to look at him, the ghosts of his friends lingering so vividly in his features. It couldn't have been though. He didn't know where Dumbledore had taken him, but surely it wasn't so close?

Cyra feeling uncomfortable with the silence piped up, "This is Harry! He's five, but he's kinda shy." Remus felt his heart break as Harry managed to muster out, "H-Hi." This shouldn't be happening. Where was his guardians? Why was he out in the open where anyone could snatch him up, or hurt him? Realizing that he probably seemed strange, he forced himself to give Harry a smile, "Hello Harry, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Remus Lupin."

The boy was staring, as if he could recognize him. That was silly though, he was only a year old the last time he had seen him. Cyra grasped onto his coat and tugged it, stealing his attention, "Can I come back and play with Harry again? Please Moony?" They shouldn't. Dumbledore hid him for a reason. What would he say if he found out?

"Yes, of course." The words tumbled out, as if he was imperioed to say them. It was what he had wanted though. Glancing back over to the small child on the grass, he knew he couldn't say no. Knew he couldn't pass up a chance to see James and Lily's child. Cyra seemed happy, going back over to hug Harry again before she whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was, it made Harry's eyes fill with wonder.

Remus took her hand, nodding his head to Harry, "Be safe getting home, young man." Harry hugged the unicorn close to his chest with a bright smile, "Yes sir!" With that, they were off. Cyra without a doll, and Remus with so many questions.

The party was a smashing success, if you considered not being set completely on fire a success. The Twins seemed to have decided that her birthday needed to be bigger than their mother had planned. This being the twins, however, bigger obviously meant fireworks. Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks to be exact. How they managed to get hold of these, Remus preferred not to know.

But Cyra seemed to enjoy herself, joyful giggles coming from her place behind the couch as the adults tried to avoid the many explosions. Molly however, was not pleased. And she definitely showed it once she got her hands on the troublesome two.

By the time for cake and presents, Cyra was having the time of her life, her face covered in chocolate. No matter how many times he tried to wipe it. She had spent the first hour of her party showing off her black nails to whoever was willing to see. Remus was now very skilled in painting nails, the bottle of polish now sitting in his satchel.

She had received quite a lot of presents as well, though her obvious favorites were the whole stack of candy that Nymphadora sent her, the very warm sweater that Molly had knitted her, and the fluffy black dog plush that Dumbledore had sent her. It gave him a bit of panic to think that perhaps the elder wizard knew that she had given her favorite plush to Harry. But he hadn't said a word to him about it during the party, and nothing seemed to be up. Cyra adored it though, hugging it to her chest and announcing loudly that, "His name will be Snuffles!"

These naming conventions, do they ever get better, he wondered. Apparently Snuffles had a secret too, charmed to not give off warmth when hugged, but also to release a relaxing scent as well. It was brilliant. For any other child, it would be assumed that this would assist in calming them down. But for a child like Cyra, it would be a huge help of providing her a sense of comfort when she gets stressed out.

McGonagall had given her many dresses, all charmed to fit her when she places them on. Surprisingly, though he did not attend, Snape had even sent a present to her. A whole box of macaroons, as well as a potion to assist her if she got a stomach ache.

In the note, it truly read as if the man himself was speaking, 'Do not eat them all at once. Considering you are a child however; those words will have no meaning to you. I have prepared a solution to save Lupin's flooring in the case that you decide to not heed my warning. Drink it.'

As he predicted, Cyra tossed the note and proceeded to shove two macaroons into her mouth. He did have to take away the box, however. His floorboards being ruined was one thing, the Weasley's who had so graciously hosted this party was another.

The present he did not like, not one bit, was the twins. No, not the fireworks. That was apparently just the show. The real present was both of them getting down on one knee and promising to marry her. Everyone was so amused, Remus was not. They even had managed to get a candy ring, for merlin's sake! And before he could speak his disapproval, Cyra had accepted it, allowing them to slip the ring onto her hand as her guardian lost his mind in the background.

"Well then, I look forward to a triad marriage in the future, Remus." Dumbledore jested, seeming to find great amusement in his suffering. He even decided to poke the bear one more time, "Cyra really does not do things simply. Most people take one groom, she's taken two! Very impressive." Remus really did not like those twins, not one bit.