Chapter 13 – Magic

We do not need magic to change the world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better – JK Rowling

"This is our house Harry" Sirius announced to Harry. Harry's eyes widened as he stared up at the house. Remus tried not to laugh at the expression on Harry's face. It was almost comical how far the little boy's eyes popped out of his head. They'd apparated home after coming out of the furniture shop, and much to Remus' annoyance Sirius had handed him a load of bags so that he could pick Harry up. Remus felt like his arms were going to fall off with the sheer number of bags that he was holding. Sirius had gone mad in the clothes and furniture shop, buying enough stuff for about 3 children…and he'd made Remus carry most of it.

"Are we actually going to go in Sirius? Or are we going to stand out here for a bit longer?" Remus asked sarcastically, sparing a grin for Harry when he turned around worriedly, obviously thinking that he'd done something wrong.

"That's a good idea Moony, do you want to go inside Harry? To see your bedroom and everything?" Sirius asked cheerfully, obviously ignoring the poorly veiled annoyance in Remus' tone. Harry nodded excitedly and Sirius carried him into the house, Remus following behind. Sirius showed Harry around the house but Remus went straight to Harry's bedroom and dumped the bags on his bed. He whipped his wand out and began to direct the clothes into their proper place.

He stashed his wand as soon as he'd managed to put the duvet cover on. He didn't particularly fancy explaining magic to Harry just yet. He didn't want to confuse the little boy any more than he surely would be. Harry and Sirius appeared in the doorway, Sirius smiling and Harry stood with his mouth open as he took in the room.

"This is your bedroom Harry" Harry's eyes widened as he took in the light blue walls and the large bed in the middle of the room. He apparently didn't know what to say as instead of speaking he threw himself at Sirius' legs. Remus couldn't help the pang of hurt that went through him then. He'd known that Harry would choose Sirius over him, but it still hurt. It hurt to even look at the joy on Harry's face, to know that he could have stopped it. If they'd made him secret keeper he could have stopped it happening. If he had tried harder, maybe he could have taken Harry. Given him a proper childhood.

His depressing thoughts were interrupted by something hitting his legs. He looked down; Harry's arms were wrapped around his legs. He smiled broadly and picked Harry up, swinging him onto his hip. Remus looked up and saw Sirius watching him with a knowing look in his eyes. Remus rolled his eyes and pulled Harry closer, hugging him back. "Thank you" Harry whispered into Remus' ear. Remus couldn't help the grin that spread over his face at those two simple words. He kissed Harry's forehead and sat down with him on the bed.

"Harry, would you like to see some photos of your mum and dad?" Remus asked, already climbing to his feet to retrieve them.

"You have photos of them?" Harry asked curiously.

"Of course we do. We both went to school with them," Sirius answered as Remus walked out of the room to retrieve the photo album. It was sat in the middle of the bed, almost waiting to be picked up again. Remus had shown it to Sirius last night, as they had contemplated finally bringing Harry home. He brushed a hand over the front of the book and carried it back to the bedroom.

"We need to explain something first" He passed the photo album to Harry and noticed Sirius shooting him a cautious look. Remus understood what he meant but he could see no way other than explaining magic to Harry. The pictures were all going to move, and sure as anything that would startle Harry. "Harry, the photos in this album are going to move, okay? It just means that the people who took them were wizards"

"Wizards? You mean with magic?" Harry asked, confusion plain in his voice.

"That's the one Harry" Sirius confirmed, a smile gracing his gaunt features.

"Magic isn't real, Uncle Vernon says so" Harry said firmly. He pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his arms. He looked just like James did when Sirius had told him that the Wimbourne Wasps were crap, except for the glint in his eyes that was so like Lily.

"It's very real Harry. Both your mum and dad were magical"

"My mummy and daddy were both wizards?" Harry asked, a disbelieving edge to his voice.

"Girl wizards are called witches Harry. We can show you some magic if you like?"

Harry looked like he didn't know what to do. From the look in his eye, it was obvious that he was curious, but his arms were still crossed and a frown was still on his face. Remus smiled and made the lion begin to roar and walk out of the bag that it was still in. Harry's eyes nearly fell out of his head as he stared at the moving lion.

"But then…" Harry trailed off, obviously still too stunned to say anything that made sense. Remus smiled, Harry's young age would mean that he would accept it a lot quicker than most muggleborn students. And he was so curious, just like Lily. That thought brought a lump to his throat. He'd known Lily better than Sirius had; they'd done prefect duty together for two years. The thought that Harry, who looked so like James, had some part of Lily was strangely comforting. Almost like part of her was still here.

Remus smiled as Harry's face changed from stubborn disbelief to one of amazement. He was obviously beginning to accept what Remus and Sirius had said about magic. He shared a glance with Sirius, who was grinning back at him. Sirius opened the photo album, directing Harry's attention carefully to the grinning and waving photos of James and Lily.

Harry gasped and stared hungrily of the photos. Photos of Hogwarts, the wedding and of them with Harry flicked past Remus' eyes as they looked through the album. Remus forced away the tears in his eyes, "Would you like to keep some of the photos? To put up in your room?"

Harry stared at him, apparently stunned by what Remus had offered. "P-please" he whispered. Sirius and Harry picked out some of the photos, and Remus found the photo frame that they'd bought specially for this purpose. Remus glanced at his watch and stood up suddenly. Harry started and looked up at Remus worriedly.

"Harry what would you like for dinner?" Remus asked warmly, thinking that he already knew what the little boy would say.

"Sir? What do you mean?" Harry asked, a worried edge to his voice.

"What's your favourite thing to eat for dinner Harry? I can go and make it for you"

Harry glanced between Remus and Sirius, obviously still confused. That would be those damn Dursleys. Damn them to hell! "I'm happy with whatever you want to make Sir"

Remus closed his eyes and dropped onto one knee in front of Harry, making sure to make and keep eye contact. "I can make you anything you want Harry. What do you like to eat the most?"

"Er…Spaghetti Bolognese?" Harry asked timidly before rushing on, "Only if it's not too much trouble, that is…"

"Harry relax, Spaghetti Bolognese is easy. I'll go and start it now" Remus said, trying to calm Harry before walking out of the room and into the kitchen. He could distinctly remember Sirius telling him about an incident with Harry and Lily when Harry had thrown his bowl of spaghetti at Lily. Sirius had been nearly crying with laughter when he'd told him. Smiling slightly, Remus reached for the ingredients that he would need.

OoOoOo

"Harry, would you like a bedtime story?" Remus asked, already rummaging in his mind for a story. Sirius had taken Harry for a bath and got him ready for bed, leaving Remus to dwell on his memories of James and Lily to try and think of a story to tell Harry.

"A bedtime story? I never get…" Harry trailed off, unsure whether he should continue.

"Harry you're not with the Dursleys anymore. We want to tell you a story," Sirius said, deliberately avoiding making eye contact with Remus. What he really meant was that Remus would tell him a story. Sirius' memories were still cold and painful from Azkaban, so Remus had volunteered.

"Can you tell me about my mummy and daddy, please?" Harry asked quietly, apparently afraid of offending them. Remus smiled and nodded.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman and a handsome man. The man promised to his friends that one day he would marry the woman. But no matter what the man said or did, the beautiful woman wouldn't even talk to him. One day a monster cornered the woman and she couldn't get away, no matter what she tried. The man found out that she was in trouble and raced to help her. He saved her and eventually they fell in love. They got married not long after school finished and then they had a beautiful little boy named Harry. They loved him so very much"

Remus ended the story and glanced at Harry. He was smiling sadly at Remus and was desperately trying not to yawn. Remus smiled broadly and leaned forward to kiss Harry on the forehead, "Good Night Harry, sweet dreams". Remus stood up and walked out of the room, making it to the door before Harry's sleepy voice interrupted him.

"Good Night Remus"

"Night Harry" Remus walked out of the room and down to the lounge, leaving Sirius to say good night to Harry. He knew it was probably a bad idea to have kept it, but Remus reached for the firewhiskey and poured two glasses of the amber liquid. He took a seat in the lounge, waiting for Sirius to emerge from Harry's bedroom. Remus stared into the glass, swirling the liquid as he let himself think about the story he'd told Harry.

"Interesting story Remus" Sirius said, reaching for the proffered glass of firewhiskey.

"I couldn't think of any other stories of both James and Lily that didn't involve Lily shouting, James being a prat or the war"

"That one still involved the war though"

"I know. But I thought I did a decent enough job of not making it too scary" Remus explained.

"Fair point. I wouldn't advise telling him that the day that James and I 'saved' Lily was the day that death eaters killed her parents" Sirius added, a miserable edge to his voice. Remus didn't know what to say to comfort him. They sat in comfortable silence, each of them dwelling on their own thoughts.

"Remus, what are we doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"With Harry. Neither of us are going to be any good at this parenting thing," Sirius sounded wretched, almost as bad as he had when he was in Azkaban. Remus didn't know what to say to that. He didn't think he even had an answer to that. He seemed to recall Lily and James both having similar breakdowns just before Harry was born.

"I think you're meant to think that Sirius. We can give him more than the Dursleys could, and that's all that matters Sirius. We can raise him how James and Lily would have wanted"

AN: I don't really have much to say about this, but I really hope you all enjoy it. Please leave a review x