Chapter 15 – Lions

I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion's roar – Winston Churchill

Sirius wasn't sure whose grin was biggest – Remus or Harry. They both looked completely and utterly happy. Sirius almost felt like he was intruding on their moment. He couldn't help the slight pang of jealousy that shot through him as he looked at them, but a feeling of foolishness almost immediately smothered it. They both deserved this happiness.

"Harry, I bought something for you"

"Sir?" Harry looked confused, as if he didn't understand what Remus had just said. Remus smiled and handed Harry a large cardboard box. His eyes widened and he lifted the lid off the box with shaking hands. The box contained the beginning of a magical zoo; miniature lions and tigers were prowling around the box. Harry's eyes widened as he stared at them. "T-Thank you sir"

"You are most welcome Harry. Though Sirius and I bought them together"

Harry turned to face Sirius, a grin on his face. Sirius grinned back, watching Harry turn around and let the lions and tigers stalk out of the box. Harry gasped as they roared at him, bringing, if possible, a wider grin to Sirius' face. The grin slid from his face pretty quickly when Remus pulled him aside and spoke.

"Sirius, I want to go and see the Weasleys. I think we should all go-"

"As they were the ones responsible for keeping a fugitive from justice"

Remus ploughed on, completely ignoring Sirius' words. "As they were played by Peter almost as badly as we were. And I want to apologise to them, it can't have been easy for them to have their pet rat turn into a wizard that's meant to have been dead for three years"

"Fair point Moony. Though how well Molly will take my appearance is another matter entirely. The last time I saw her was to tell her that Gideon and Fabian were dead"

Remus shook his head slightly. "We can go after lunch Remus. Harry, do you want to help me make lunch?" Harry looked up and nodded, before very carefully picking the animals up and placing them in the box. He followed Sirius into the kitchen and climbed onto the chair that Sirius had pulled toward the counter. "We've got ham, cheese, jam or tuna. Which one would you like?"

"Jam please" Harry answered quietly, obviously starting to get used to being given a choice.

Sirius handed him the freshly cut slices of bread, letting Harry spread as much jam as he wanted. He still thought the boy needed freedom and to be allowed to make his own choices. Harry arranged Sirius and Remus' sandwiches as well, glancing up at Sirius to make sure that he was doing it right. Sirius smiled and handed him an apple to go with his sandwich.

"Do I smell lunch?" Remus asked warmly, smiling as Harry turned to him. He really was good with Harry. Sirius winked at him as he carried the sandwiches over to the table.

"Harry's the one you should thank, I merely gave him the tools, he created the masterpiece" Sirius announced proudly. Harry blushed and smiled at Sirius as he climbed onto his chair and picked his sandwich up. "Harry, there's some people that we're going to go and see after lunch, that alright?"

Harry looked up at him shyly, "Okay sir…Sirius"

"I'm pretty sure there's someone there who's your age Harry. you can go and play with him while we talk to Mrs Weasley. How's that sound?"

"O-Okay Sirius" Harry answered. Sirius sighed quietly. Lunch passed quickly after that, mainly because Remus managed to coax Harry into a conversation about lions. After lunch, Harry quieted again.

Sirius picked Harry up and carried him outside, making sure to pick one of Harry's lions up and put it in the boy's pocket. Harry was very quiet, even quieter than normal; he was obviously nervous about meeting the Weasleys. To be honest, Sirius was probably just as nervous. The last time he'd seen Molly he'd informed her that her brothers had been killed. He wasn't looking forward to it. He pulled Harry closer and disapparated.

Remus led the way to the tall, slightly wonky looking house awkwardly. He looked as if he were having doubts about the wisdom of saying the Weasleys. It was a bit late for that now, as they were already facing the front door. Remus took a deep breath and knocked smartly on the door. It opened almost immediately, revealing a kind faced, red haired woman.

"Remus! To what do we owe the…pleasure?" She spotted Sirius and Harry stood behind him and her mouth dropped open.

"Afternoon Molly, long time no see" Sirius said, vaguely attempting to sound charming. Molly stepped back to let the three of them into the house. Sirius walked in, very aware of the lack of children.

"Is that Harry Potter? Why have you…?"

"He's my godson. It's my duty to keep him safe" Sirius answered curtly, well aware of the doubt in Molly's eyes.

"Stop it Sirius. Arguing will get us nowhere. I wanted to apologise for my behaviour the other day. I'm sure it must have worried you" Remus interrupted calmly.

Molly smiled reassuringly at him. "Please Remus, don't worry about it. When the truth came out," Her voice suddenly turned cold, "I was sickened. Your behaviour seemed perfectly reasonable. I can't really believe that he actually did it. I do have one question though, why us?"

"Because of your kids, and your brothers. He needed to be somewhere near the Order, but not too close. Not to mention that there aren't many of us left" Remus replied, cutting off Sirius' angry reply. He guessed that it must have been pretty obvious that he was about to swear.

"Near the Order? That was why he chose us?" Molly's voice was rising ominously, like she was building towards shouting at them.

"Molly, where are your boys? I think one of them was a similar age to Harry?" Sirius said quickly, trying to head off Molly's arguments. He also thought that it would be good for Harry to spend time with some children near his age. Harry looked up at him, confused by the use of his name. "Harry, do you want to go and play with some kids your age?"

Harry nodded shyly at Sirius, his hand reaching into his pocket to grasp the lion that Sirius had placed there. Sirius smiled at the action. "You should show the boys your lion"

"They're upstairs, I can call them down? I think Ron is his age"

"Just call Ron, Harry is painfully shy. We don't want to scare him" Sirius whispered to Molly, careful to avoid Harry hearing him. Molly nodded and called said small boy. Someone small thudded down the stairs and then a small, red haired boy walked sheepishly into the room.

"I didn' do it" Ron said as soon as he entered the room. Molly's eyes narrowed and Remus and Sirius both stifled a laugh. That was a rookie mistake. Peter had got them all in trouble more than once by saying that.

"Do what Ronald Weasley?" Molly had her hands on her hips as she stared down her youngest son.

"Er… Who's that?" Ron asked, pointing at Harry. He was obviously trying to distract his mother from her questioning.

"Harry. Don't change the subject Ron, what did you not do?"

"Fred and George took the Bertie Botts from the kitchen" Ron reported, squirming awkwardly as he went against what they had apparently told him. He looked down and moved over to where Harry was sat on Sirius' lap. "Hi, I'm Ron"

"I'm Harry" Harry answered quietly, glancing up at Sirius for reassurance. He smiled and nodded.

"Do you want to go and play with Ron? You could show him your lion?" Sirius asked, glancing at Remus to reassure himself that he was doing this right. Remus smiled amusedly and nodded reassuringly at him. Harry slid off Sirius' lap, tentatively showing his lion to Ron. The red head looked impressed by the lion and dragged Harry off to his room. Harry glanced back confusedly and both Remus and Sirius smiled at him. Harry followed Ron out of the lounge and Molly turned to the two men still in the room.

"How are you finding parenthood?"

"Difficult, but great. I don't think I could love Harry more if he were my son" Sirius answered truthfully.

"What are you planning on doing for education?" Molly asked curiously. That was Sirius' main debate at the moment. At least one of them would need to work, and Sirius had a suspicion that it would have to be him. He'd have to redo his auror training first, and that would mean leaving Harry. Though, he wouldn't exactly be alone – Remus would be there.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll have to go back to the auror department, so-"

"I can teach him" Remus finished. "That is if we can take certain precautions" He looked at Sirius pointedly.

"Precautions? For what?" Molly asked.

"Remus is in poor health. He has to go to St Mungo's often" Sirius lied smoothly. Remus shot him a grateful look before turning back to smile sadly at Molly.

"I could teach him? On the days that Remus can't? I do teach my boys, and Ginny when she's old enough" Sirius and Remus both stared at Molly in shock. Sirius hadn't expected that. He smiled at Molly.

"Thank you Molly. That would be great" Remus answered, almost seeming to have read Sirius' mind.

"Tell me about Harry. He's so quiet and so small"

How to answer that? He couldn't exactly tell Molly that Harry was neglected and emotionally abused by the Dursleys. He couldn't tell her that Harry was forced to do things that they wouldn't dream of making a child do. His silence obviously seemed to answer the question, because Molly's eyes filled with tears and she gasped. "That's why we took him Molly. To save him from those damn Dursleys, and give him the family he deserves"

AN: I really hope you enjoy this chapter, I found it quite hard to write. Oh, the next update might be on Friday or Sunday instead, it's my birthday and I'm going out. But it most definitely will be updated. Please leave a review? They motivate me to write faster!