"Welcome home, Harry."
Remus's soft voice came from the door to the living room, far from the group's boisterous antics.
"Uncle Moony!" Harry greeted him with a hug, smiling so hard it was threatening to split his cheekbones.
Sirius came to rest a friendly arm on Remus's shoulders "Ready for another summer with this lot?" he asked, winking at Harry.
"Sure, Padfoot!" he said confidently, casually looking back at Rhea's and Leo's smiling faces.
"That's enough chit-chat, folks!" Leo declared loudly. He snatched Harry's rucksack, swinging it on his own shoulder "Gotta give the guy a bit of space!"
Rhea glared at him, arms crossed. Subtlety wasn't Leo's strongest suit for sure. For Merlin's sake, she had to do everything herself.
"Uh, what's up with him?" Harry was looking quizzically at the stairs where Leo had just disappeared with his backpack. Rhea had to think about something to save the day, and quickly.
She suddenly seized Harry's blue hood dragging him to the stairs, "Come on, Harry! I'll race you to your room, the last one is a horned slug!" That wasn't much better either, she thought as Sirius and Remus still looked very unimpressed.
"Hey! That's not fair. You had a head start!" Harry complained as he was left behind. Rhea felt Harry climbing the stairs three steps at a time, engaging in the childish challenge she had set and hopefully forgetting about Leo's weirdness just a moment before.
Remus and Sirius exchanged an amused look as the kids disappeared upstairs. Remus guessed they probably thought they were being smooth.
He smiled, thinking about the old days when Sirius's lack of subtlety almost got them caught countless times. Like father like son was a pretty accurate saying in Remus's opinion.
"So, what do you reckon they are planning to do to poor Harry?" Sirius asked, grinning, arm still resting on Remus's shoulders.
"Looks like they're planning to kidnap him. Let's hope it won't scar him for life," he answered jokingly.
They both shrugged, leaving the kids to their games, although it was far from it. Remus and Sirius still seemed to consider their children as the little kids they used to be, needing protection from certain matters. Which was how they handled 'difficult conversations'.
Despite Sirius and Remus's best efforts, the children were already heading into adulthood, and the last three years at Hogwarts hadn't actually been menace-free for Harry and consequently for Rhea and Leo.
Remus hated thinking about the fact that in three short years, his baby would not be a baby anymore. He couldn't bear it, really. He had taken care of his precious daughter alone almost from the moment she was born, and in three years, she would be graduating and moving on to live her life, away from him.
Even if he didn't want to admit it, she was slipping away the moment she left for Hogwarts. Fighting battles she shouldn't be concerned with alongside Harry and Leo.
He selfishly wished some sort of stop-growing potion actually existed, so he could freeze both of them at this moment, that way she would stay his baby girl forever.
A small nostalgic smile formed on Remus's lips. Ah, what a ridiculous thought, he was finally becoming a sentimental old man.
"Oh, mate, you should stop thinking about Rhea growing up," Sirius stopped his train of thoughts abruptly, "You always get mushy afterwards," he added, grimacing.
Remus glared at him, surprised for a second that Sirius could read him so well. For a moment, he had forgotten that they had known each other for more than half their lives.
"Don't give me that look. I can read you like an open book, Moony."
"Since when do you pay such close attention to what I think, Pads?" He tried to force a smile to get rid of the nonsensical wishes that were going through his mind a moment ago.
"Oh, I always do, old friend," Sirius casually spoke while descending into the kitchen, Remus in tow. Sirius probably could see his smile was strained but didn't comment on that. "You're just too worried about sheltering your daughter to notice it," his words held a teasing tone.
Remus felt the jab get under his skin. Sirius really didn't have a brain to mouth filter most of the time.
"Are you saying I'm overbearing?" Remus spat, suddenly irked.
Sirius sat forcefully at one of the high chairs at the table kitchen. "I never said that, Rem," he spoke, drumming his fingers on the wooden table, struggling to get the words out.
Remus was waiting with his arms crossed, ready to launch into a long tirade if he as much as thought the wrong word.
"What I'm saying is, you can be a bit too much sometimes. You're always there every step of the way-"
"Well," Remus interrupted him brusquely, "maybe it escaped your notice, but that's a parent's job. In case, you're having temporary amnesia, you are a parent yourself, Sirius." He finished his sarcastic remark as he sat at the other end of the table, back straight and stiff as a wooden board.
Sirius sighed a second time, eyes darting left and right. Remus could almost see him probing his brain for the smart thing to say.
"I know that very well, Moony, but the only occasion you have ever left Rhea out of your sight was to go to Hogwarts, and even then, you almost didn't! You wanted to homeschool her yourself!" Remus refused to acknowledge that Sirius did have a point.
Remus had never let Rhea do anything unless he was present. If she was playing in the garden with Leo, he was there. If she was reading in the library, he was there. If they were in Diagon Alley, he would trail after her in every single shop. Remus even used to sleep in the rocking chair by her bed before they had moved into Grimmauld.
He had to admit, he was scared to death at the thought of losing her. There weren't many people in the world he could consider family or friends - actually, the only family and friends he had, lived with him with the exception of Harry.
"You know very well the reason why I didn't want to send her to Hogwarts!" he whisper-yelled as if he was afraid someone would eavesdrop on their conversation. "She may not be a werewolf herself, but you've seen it with your own eyes, some-" he paused, "symptoms have persisted," he knew he sounded exasperated like that had been the hundredth time they had this argument - they had!
"Dumbledore never cared, he let you attend-"
"And It was a stupid choice!" startled by his own voice, Remus looked at the kitchen's door with panic in his eyes, afraid one of the kids would pop in. Sirius understood what he was referring to, just from Remus's stern words and gaze. Sirius looked at his clasped hands, jaw tight with the effort of suppressing undesired memories of the mistake of a night of full moon back in their fifth year.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself, Remus continued at a normal voice level. "It took me everything I had to let her go. I didn't want to make her feel any different, and Merlin knows we have worked hard enough to make me look normal…" He trailed off and sat up straighter as he waved a hand as if to dismiss what he'd just said.
"You are normal." Sirius looked up from his hands and fixed his fierce gaze into Remus's pale blue eyes. "This wasn't something you wanted. Rhea didn't ask for this either. We've talked about it thousands of times now, and we could go on arguing for another ten years, but you still don't get it. I thought you'd have gotten over that shite at this point"
Remus just looked pointedly into his friend's grey eyes.
"What. The kids aren't around. I can say shite if I want to."
The corners of Remus's mouth slowly lifted in an amused smile. He had always been his number one supporter, and his only companion during the last ten years of full moons. Honestly one of the few people in his life that had stuck through thick and thin.
—-
Upstairs, Harry and Rhea were sprinting in the hallway to Harry's room, laughing and breathing heavily.
Rhea stopped mid-run upon entering the room. Leo was sitting cross-legged on the bed, his face bearing an expectant expression. Harry could barely stop himself from crashing into her.
"Hey! Why did you stop ?" Harry blurted out.
"Way to go, next time why don't you just tell them directly," Rhea crossed her arms, clearly annoyed at something.
Leo's face changed to a frown and he answered perkily "It's not like you had something better, did you?"
They glared at each other, while Harry looked between them back and forth like he was following a tennis match. Harry didn't want to ruin the start of his holidays with an epic fight between his two friends. Did they have to act so weirdly precisely on the day he arrived at Grimmauld? There was an entire month for them to argue and make up, after all. Harry loved both of them as his brother and sister, but he was quickly getting annoyed at their bickering.
Harry stepped in between the line of fire, still huffing from the run, "What's going on? Do you really have to start arguing the day I get here?"
They held each other's gazes in silence for at least five whole seconds, it was honestly a bit weird how they could just communicate like that in Harry's opinion.
They could get loud and annoying when they had one of their disputes, but when they agreed on something, that's when they could become a menace. Which was most of the time, anyway. This time, Harry had the weird feeling he was the object of whatever they were arguing about. A small voice in his head — must have been his instinct — told him to run and hide.
"Uh, you guys are scary." Harry tried to shake off the feeling, running a hand through his messy black hair.
They both ignored his statement. Rhea stalked towards him, arms still crossed. She had the eyes of a predator finally cornering her prey, a mixture of determination and curiosity obvious in her piercing, dark gaze.
Harry was forced to sit on the worn armchair in the corner of the room. He was literally being cornered. Leo got up and stood beside Rhea, looking between Harry and Rhea.
"Er, I think you're scaring him half to death, Rhea," Leo said softly, darting his eyes from Harry's bewildered expression to Rhea's determined one.
She finally tore her eyes away from Harry's, who almost let out a sigh of relief and he sank deeper into the armchair.
"Well, he pretty much ignored us for the first half of last term. We have to be pretty firm if we want to get anything out of him," Rhea half-whispered to Leo.
"Yeah, I get that, but you don't need to hunt him down like a deer!"
They continued to whisper in hushed tones, ignoring the object of their investigation, who was listening intently with fast-growing irritation.
"Right," he said pointedly to draw their attention, "for once, I absolutely have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said in a peeved tone.
"Ehm," Leo cleared his voice, "yes, well, mhm, " he was obviously having a hard time finding his words, especially with Rhea's eyes on him.
"Yes?"
"Ehm, I was wondering — we were — what actually happened at Christmas?" He finished, scrutinising Harry's face for a reaction. The only thing he found was Harry's confused green eyes staring back.
"This again? I'm pretty sure Uncle Moony enlightened you lot of the reason" Harry said sarcastically. It wasn't a lie, really.
Both his friends looked unconvinced; unfortunately for Harry they had known him since he was four. He couldn't lie as well as he could to Ron, Hermione and his other friends.
He didn't see why they had to know in great detail how much the Durselys actually loathe him. They already knew the essential bit; he didn't like his relatives and they didn't like him back. No lost love there. No big deal. Really.
So what if Sirius and Remus sometimes— actually on every single occasion — had to use a few threats to make the Dursleys give him Dudley's second room when he was four or decent clothes or decent food and to get him out of Number 4 every holiday? Anyway, the point was, whatever his relatives did or said to him wasn't really important enough to recount in detail to Rhea and Leo. Nothing the Dursleys ever did was worth wasting his breath.
"We're just worried, Harry," said Leo dejectedly.
"Worried about what?" he spat crossly, realising he was getting worked up without a real reason.
"Why did you avoid us for months until we dropped the subject if what my Dad said at Christmas was true, then?" rebutted Rhea with conviction.
She didn't know when to back off, did she? Harry nervously eyed the half-closed door and thought he could make a quick escape if only he wasn't as good as pinned to the armchair.
"Look, guys, we've known each other since forever, but some things are better off," Harry trailed off, frantically rubbing his neck, "unsaid," he finished, sighing.
Rhea had the decency to look ashamed — she became a little too pushy, when she wanted something, Harry thought.
"I thought we were your family, Harry." Leo was frowning at him now.
"Hey…" Rhea said while putting a hand on Leo's arm.
"No, Rhea," he shook her hand off gently, "we don't do secrets. This is how we stick together, this is about our family."
That was the only subject that could turn him real serious. Even when he argued with him or Rhea he was never mad for more than thirty minutes, he didn't like going to bed angry with any family member.
Harry was taken aback, he bowed his head looking at his worn-out jeans and he gave thought to Leo's words very seriously.
"Are we not, Harry?" Leo pressed on, his voice low and solemn.
"We are!" he quickly said, "you know I consider you my only family!" he emphasised, looking directly into Leo's grey eyes. His heart was thumping faster in his chest until Leo nodded.
Harry was starting to get frustrated—both with them and with himself. They were his one and only family; the only one he ever knew and deep down he knew that he should be able to talk about anything with them. But, then again, he didn't see the benefit of sharing that part of his life. There was really no use talking about the Dursleys, it's not like they could do anything. Nobody, not even Sirius or Remus, could make him leave Privet Drive, not permanently. Sirius and Remus mostly kept his relatives in check anyway.
But… Ugh, he felt the beginning of a headache forming at the forefront of his head.
"Right, I don't really feel like talking about it now. If you don't mind." Harry rubbed at his forehead wearily.
Rhea and Leo seemed to accept his answer and simply nodded.
"We could probably talk about it later," Rhea mumbled, "If you're up for it, of course," she added as an afterthought.
"We don't want to force you or anything, mate. We just want to know if everything is alright. Dad always looks awfully upset every time he has to talk to your relatives, you know." Leo was looking at the carpeted floor, trying to explain the best way he could why they had come down so strong onto him.
"It's fine, mate." Harry grinned at them both to hide the surprise. Rhea and Leo left him alone with his thoughts, they said, exchanging the last few smiles before getting out of his room.
He knew Sirius - he was the one that dealt the most with them - hated the Dursley's guts but he didn't know just how much. Harry wondered why they never told Leo and Rhea the whole story; the reason why he wasn't at Grimmauld for Christmas like every year. What else had Padfoot and Moony kept to themselves?
"We don't do secrets," Harry whispered to himself.
It was how Sirius and Remus raised them, to make sure they'd never accidentally share Remus's status. To protect them. Harry didn't know exactly from what. Uncle Sirius could get paranoid.
Harry sighed.
But, why not Harry's secret? Harry thought back on how awfully open they had been about Moony's 'furry problem' since they were very young.
That thought reminded Harry about the image Sirius's fantastic tales had painted about a very hairy superhero that came out only on full moons.
Harry particularly cherished the memories of the first summer he had spent here. The first time he met Sirius and Remus, he thought they were his heroes without capes.
When he was four, Harry had started to imagine countless times some distant relative would come to save him from his cupboard. Miraculously, or maybe magically, that was exactly what had happened. He couldn't have been luckier, because they were better than any faceless relative little Harry's imagination could conjure.
They were wizards. And Harry was one too.
The best part was that they had made the Dursley's regret ever treating him like a little annoying bug.
Obviously, not everything could be resolved with a spell. For starters, he wasn't swept away to live with Sirius and Remus as he had imagined. Honestly, that fact still made him mad; Grimmauld was one of the safest houses in Great Britain, he could have lived there and no one would know. But, of course, there were the blood wards, his mother had allegedly placed on him before she had died, to maintain.
Dumbledore said that, but Harry was pretty sceptical of the whole matter.
From that moment on, Sirius and Remus's presence had made things better for him, and worse for the Dursleys.
At first, he couldn't believe he would be given Dudley's second room, which would become his own bedroom. Sirius had been so enraged that his own godson was being treated like a house-elf — Harry had to ask what it was — that he transfigured his relatives into small cockroaches and kept them in a glass jar for the rest of that day.
"See if they like to be treated like annoying bugs." Harry remembered Sirius saying.
Remus had remarked that Padfoot was just being petty and that he would immediately turn them back, only to find that Harry didn't mind at all. He had actually given them the brightest smile and asked if they could remain in that state forever.
If little Harry had looked up at that moment, he would have seen Remus and Sirius exchanging a concerned glance. But he didn't and remained blissfully unaware.
That had to be the best day in his life, for sure. Seeing his relatives turned into cockroaches had been the highlight of his life. Maybe closely followed by the day he was brought to Grimmauld for the first time, a few months after their first meeting.
During the first week of August, he had been picked up from Privet Drive by Remus, as promised. It had taken a bit of, let's say, convincing from Remus's part but in the end, he had stuffed some clothes into his backpack and left.
Harry remembered being surprised, in a pleasant way, when Remus hoisted him in his arms and told him to hold onto him tightly.
When little Harry expressed his surprise at being held for the first time ever, Uncle Moony's eyes went so dark with fury, Harry almost apologised in fear he had said something to offend him.
Of course those furious eyes were not directed at Harry in the slightest.
Grimmauld Place was the most magnificent house four-year-old Harry had ever seen. In Harry's eyes, it looked like a castle in a children's story.
Harry said so to Sirius, which elicited a very astounded look from Sirius's grey eyes.
In his opinion, it looked more like the abandoned den of some super villain from Remus's muggle comics, but he couldn't really argue with his godson's adorable imagination.
Harry didn't clearly remember the first time he met Rhea and Leo, having only been four years old. The only thing he could recall was that they had gotten along pretty well from the get-go. Leo was a boisterous child — when you only had Sirius as your adult role model, that was only natural — and Rhea had been a bashful little girl at first, but thanks to Leo's best efforts, she had rapidly warmed up to the company of other children. As had Harry who never had friends before.
If someone would have asked Harry to describe one of his happiest childhood memories, they would have been confused at his choice; it was so unexceptional and simple.
Just the first game of hide-and-seek he had ever played in the neglected and barren backyard of Grimmauld Place, Harry would have replied. With Padfoot and Moony watching over them, stretched out on faded red-striped deck chairs. Harry grinned; the image of his those two in shorts with shades on was a hilarious picture.
Even more hilarious was the memory of drinking a sugary muggle lemonade Sirius had attempted — and failed — to prepare. The consequences of three small children high on sugar had left Sirius and Remus breathless for the rest of the evening and traumatised for the rest of the week.
Thanks to Remus's Sonorus charm, Harry was pulled out of his reverie, the shockingly loud announcement that lunch was ready was heard in all rooms of the house.
He got up from the armchair he had been sitting on for the past hour or so, stretching his legs. As he exited in the corridor, he found Leo there, his arm came to rest on his shoulders. As they passed Rhea's room she got out too, smiling at them and she positioned herself on Harry's other side. He flashed them both a brilliant smile as they steered towards the kitchen where Sirius and Remus waited for them.