Discl-... you know the drill by now. Characters belong to JK Rowling.

His Boy

Chapter Six: A Home

"I liked dat lady." Harry stated thoughtfully when he and Sirius were back on the train, heading for Grimmauld Place. Harry was looking at his book again, though Hermione wasn't on this train. He'd been hoping she would be. "Padfoot, can we call 'mione when we get home?"

"Well, probably not right away. But maybe later at the new house we can. The house we've been in doesn't have a phone." Sirius explained, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders and hugging him to his side. He pointed to a page in the book. "That's a stegosaurus." Harry handed him up the book and held onto his lion as Sirius read to him until they reached their stop. They got off the train and made their way for home, Sirius carrying Harry on his shoulders.

When they arrived back at number twelve, Sirius sent Harry upstairs to play while he made lunch. Harry obliged, keeping quiet in the hallway until he reached the stairs and started up them. He was glad they were going to be moving. He didn't want to live in this house anymore… though it was where his Padfoot was, it was quite scary aside from the room he slept in and the kitchen. He bolted for the bedroom as soon as he got to the second landing and shut the door, wanting to keep out all of the creepiness of the hallway.

Harry sat down on the floor and dug his train out of the bag of toys Sirius had gotten for him yesterday. He quite liked his train, with its spinning wooden wheels and colorful cars. He made it go along one of the floorboards that acted as the 'track' before he got the idea to get his blocks as well. He built and built, stacking his blocks up until he'd made a tunnel that his train could go though. "Chugga-chugga chugga-chugga chooooo-chooo!" Harry laughed, giving his train a hard push, sending it crashing into the block tunnel. "Oh no! Alert alert, train crashed!" He grabbed up his plush dragon from the tall bed and made it swoop and soar down over the 'crash site'. "We're going to help chu!" The dragon landed on the train and Harry propped it upwards, repositioning it on the track. "Yay! Thank chu, Dragon! Now we can bring da rest of da people to da station." Harry picked up a couple of the blocks that were acting as people and replaced them in the train cars.

Harry built up a city of block towers for the train to drop people off at and had it chug its way along the floor into the city before he grabbed up his lion. "Uh oh! Here comes da big lion! He's gonna stomp on us! Aaaah! Oh no! Look outs! Raaaaawr!" Harry stood up with lion in hand. He stomped through the 'city' demolishing the buildings with his boots. "Rawr rawr rawrrrrrrr! Oh can anybody save us? Rawrrrrr!"

Laughter filled the room and Harry turned to find Padfoot standing in the doorway. He dropped his lion to the floor and raised his hands, sticking out only two fingers on each hand and, holding his arms close to his body, stomped towards his godfather. "Raaawr raaawr! I'm a T-Rex and I'm gonna eat chu up! Rawr!"

Sirius laughed but then coughed and feigned being scare. "Oh no! A t-rex, what will I do?"

"Rawr rawr!" Harry grabbed him around the leg and hugged him before mock biting him. "Rawr rawr, I eatin' chu leg, Padfoot. Rawr!"

"Oh, please don't eat me, Mister T-Rex!" Sirius pleaded, grabbing Harry up as he stumbled backwards, landing on the floor. Harry climbed on his chest, still growling. "If you're hungry I have some macaroni and cheese downstairs waiting for you for lunch. Just please don't eat me!"

"Rawr rawr! T-Rexes like macaroni and cheese, rawr!" Harry roared, climbing off of Sirius and laughing as he helped his godfather to his feet. Sirius laughed as well, grabbing Harry about the waist and tickling him into submission. The boy was near tears as he laughed, his face bright, cheeks red from mirth. Sirius scooped him up, hugging him tightly and ruffling his hair gently. Harry's conductor's hat lay on the floor where he'd been taken down.

"You ready for lunch now, Harry?"

"I'm not Harry. I'm T-rex. Rawr!" Harry corrected him, raising his little clawed hands again. Sirius laughed and bounced him a little.

"Right. Sorry. Are you ready for lunch, T-rex?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. Sirius carried him down to the kitchen and set him in his usual chair before a child sized bowl of mac'n'cheese. Harry grabbed up his spoon right away and dug in, hungry after the exciting morning he had had. So far, living with Padfoot was a lot of fun. He stirred his mac'n'cheese while he chewed and then looked up at Sirius who was sitting next to him. He frowned, wondering if… if it'd be ok to ask him questions about his mummy and daddy. He knew Padfoot had known them, had been best friends with them, but would he get mad like his aunt had when he'd asked? That was one of the stricter rules that followed the one about not asking questions at the Dursleys. He was especially never ever supposed to ask questions about his mummy and daddy. Maybe he had better test him by asking something else first. "Padfoot… Do chu know more magic?"

"Do I… Oh Harry, of course I know more magic." Sirius grinned at him and clinked his spoon into his now empty bowl. "The idea of magic doesn't scare you does it?"

"No. I like it. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia hate it…" Harry frowned and ate another bite of macaroni, biding his time. He chewed fully before he swallowed. "Can chu show me more?"

"'course I can!" Sirius smiled, and dug his wand out of his pocket. He would be a bit rusty, because of his time away from it, but he was sure he could do enough to satisfy the curious four year old. He lifted his wand and gave it a wave, making Harry's bowl float. The little boy gasped, watching wide eyes as his lunch floated for the ceiling. Sirius dropped his wand, and caught the bowl as it fell, placing it back in front of his delighted godson. Harry clapped.

"More puh-ease?" Harry begged a little bit, his eyes still wide and beaming. Sirius waved his wand again, shooting water out of it and into an empty glass sitting on the table. Harry laughed and continued to eat away at his breakfast as Sirius made the things around them do silly things with magic. He made the kettle on the stove hop about the room and turned Harry's milk purple. Cupboards opened and shut, dishes danced, chairs stacked themselves… all to entertain the little boy who hadn't seen magic since he was just over a year old. Sirius, remembering Harry's very favorite old trick, started producing puffs of colored smoke from his wand, letting them twirl around Harry who laughed and reached out his hands, trying to catch the smoke he knew he wouldn't be able to.

"Alright, I think that's enough for now." Sirius said after a while, picking up his empty bowl and glass. "You finish up your lunch, Harry."

Harry nodded, knowing maybe if he asked, he'd get to see more magic later. He ate away at the macaroni and cheese until his little bowl was empty and then downed the milk remaining in his glass. Padfoot had told him he needed to drink lots of milk if he wanted to grow up to be big and strong. He was quite pleased to do so, and was just about to help Padfoot by clearing up his dishes when he felt an old familiar warmth seeping into his shorts. He blinked, unable to believe that he had not even noticed having to go potty… he'd been having so much fun… it'd just snuck up on him! He bit his lip and sank a bit lower in his chair.

If there was one rule in the Dursley house that Harry knew he could not break under any circumstances whatsoever, it was the rule that he was not to wet his pants. Even when he'd been locked in his cupboard all day for getting in trouble, he'd been expected to hold it. When he'd first been learning to use the potty, he hadn't gotten in as much trouble because he'd still have a nappie during the night time. But once he'd been switched to full time big boy undies, if he had an accident Uncle Vernon would get his belt. He was going to get it now, he just knew it. Padfoot was going to be very angry…

"Alright, Harry." Sirius picked up his bowl and cup, setting them into the sink to be washed later. "I think you should probably have a nap now, or at least a lie down so that you don't get sleepy later when we're working on moving into the new house, alright?"

"I… I'm not sweepy, Padfoot." Harry said, trying to shoot for the lesser of the two evils. It was one thing to say he didn't want a nap, but completely another to have wet his pants. Maybe if he was careful, they would dry before he had to get up from the chair and then Padfoot would never have to know what he'd done.

"Then why are your eyes all droopy, huh, Prongslet?" Sirius asked teasingly, reaching down to give Harry a tickle, but the little boy flinched away, gripping the hem of his t-shirt tightly. Sirius frowned, knowing something was up now. Harry hadn't flinched away from him since that glass had broken the night before. "What's the matter, Harry? Is it your tummy, did you eat too much?" He asked, wondering if maybe he had given his godson a little bit too much food.

"N-no." Harry shook his head, quite sure that he hadn't eaten too much. His tummy was tying all up in knots though, but he knew those were from being scared. He was used to those. He wriggled away as Sirius reached for him, but it was no use. The older man picked him up and Harry winced, bracing himself for the yelling to begin.

"Harry, why are you all wet?"

"I'm s-s-soooooorrrrrry, Paaaaadfooooot!" Harry cried, bursting into tears and squirming in his arms. Sirius looked at him in shock… and then held him away from himself as he realized why Harry was wet. He could smell it. He watched as his godson cried. The kid look positively terrified and yet again, Sirius wanted to crack some heads open. Those rotten Dursleys…

"Woah woah woah, Harry. It isn't a big deal."

Harry sniffled, rubbing a hand under his nose and looking at Sirius with wet eyes. "It isn't?"

"Nah. It could have happened to anybody, but just be more careful alright?" Sirius said, setting Harry down on the floor and patting his head gently. "How about we try and remember for you to go to the bathroom before your bath and before lunch, alright? That way we don't have any more accidents."

"O-ok." Harry nodded, sniffling harder and rubbing at his eyes now. He was glad Padfoot wasn't mad at him like his aunt would have been. She would have yelled something fierce at him for adding to the laundry.

"That's a boy. Why don't we go upstairs and get you cleaned up." Sirius reached down and took the little hand in his, not caring that it was sticky and kind of snotty. He and Harry wandered up the stairs to the bathroom to get him cleaned up a bit before they went into the bedroom. Sirius dug out a clean pair of underwear and another pair of shorts for the little boy to wear, making a mental note to take extra clothes with them if they ever went on a day trip that lasted past nap time. "There now. That's all better, isn't it?"

Harry nodded, no longer teary eyed or sniffley. He felt much better now that he had nice clean shorts on and hadn't been yelled at for his accident. He yawned and picked his lion up off of the toy covered floor, hugging him tightly. He reached for his dragon as well, holding it by the tail. Sirius hoisted him and his toys off of the floor and plopped them down on the bed.

"And now, it is nap time, because all t-rexes need to take naps, otherwise they'll get cranky at dinner time." Sirius pulled the covers up over Harry who snuggled his head down against the pillow. Sirius reached out and wound up the little music box Dumbledore had given the little boy. He opened it, letting the little light shine out of it and the music play. Harry yawned again, his eyes glued to the music box as it lulled him off to sleep. Sirius removed his glasses and set them beside the music box. He looked down at the floor, noting that almost all the toys were out now as well as the clothes. He slipped down off of the bed and began to pack them back up into their bags.

Knowing that the would be moving into the house in Ottery St. Catchpole later that afternoon, Sirius decided he'd best make sure he had all of Harry's things in one spot. He would also have to gather what he wanted from his old bedroom, clothes and such, to bring along. He'd already taken care of the furniture the day before, magic being grand that way. He'd just looked through the catalogs given to him by the realtor after he'd told her that no, they would not be taking the furniture from the other house along with them. He didn't want any essence of number twelve in the new house, which was bright and airy and wonderful. He had circled each room setting he preferred for each specific room and that was that. The realtor took care of everything else for them and he paid her well for it. But it was all worth it, because it was for Harry. And he knew his own mother would be turning over in her grave if she knew what her family's old money was being used on. He also enjoyed that particular fact. He wasn't going to dip into Harry's inheritance until the boy started Hogwarts and only if they needed to. And then there was Sirius's old vault as well, with the money he had earned as an Auror before things had gone downhill.

…..

Harry yawned, waking from his nap after about an hour and a half. He stretched and looked around, noting that all of his things had been placed away in the shopping bags they had brought them home with. He figured it was because they were moving house today that they had been packed up, so he decided not to touch them. He didn't want to get in trouble, though he did kind of really want to play with his toys again… He frowned, torn between the two decisions before climbing out of bed with his two plush animals. He set the dragon on top of one of the bags and wandered out of the room with his lion, searching for Padfoot. He wandered down the stairs and all the way into the kitchen, but Padfoot wasn't here. If he wasn't in the bedroom and he wasn't in the kitchen, then where else would he be?

Harry stood in thought for a moment. The bathroom! Of course, that was where his godfather must be. He climbed back up all the stairs to the second landing and peeked in the open door. There was no Padfoot in here either. He frowned and looked at the stairs leading upwards. Could Padfoot be somewhere else in the house that Harry had not been yet? He didn't particularly want to wander around in the creepy house all by himself… but then, that just meant he had more reason to find Padfoot.

Taking a deep breath and gripping his lion tighter to his chest, Harry started up the stairs that would take him to the next floor of the house, trying to ignore the way the shadows seemed to be following him. He gulped, the stairs seeming to take forever, but he made it up them. There were two doors here… one with a sign and letters he couldn't read, and another that was open. He peeked into the open one and gave a sigh of relief, entering the fairly dusty bedroom. Padfoot was standing in front of the wardrobe, packing things into a big trunk. He looked up as Harry came in.

"Hey, Prongslet, did you have a nice nap?" Harry nodded, climbing up onto the bed to sit and watch as Sirius pulled a couple tattered looking pieces of clothing from the wardrobe, made a face, and threw them off to the side.

"What're chu doin'?"

"Packing clothes. We're going to be moving into the new house in just a little bit. It should be all set for us by five, the realtor said. Are you excited?"

"Yes. Is this your room?"

"Yeah it is. D'you like it?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded, looking around the room. This bedroom wasn't as bad as the rest of the house. There were a lot of friendly things on the walls: red and golden colored banners with lions on them, pictures of motorcycles, and of girls in bathing suits. "Do chu like to swim, Padfoot?"

"Huh? Yes, I do. Why d'you ask?" Sirius questioned him curiously, not quite sure where Harry would have gotten the idea. Maybe he wanted him to take him swimming sometime, which would be perfectly fine with him. He did enjoy swimming.

"There're lots of girls in bathing suits on your walls." Harry said, pointing to the closest picture. Sirius burst out laughing, though Harry wasn't sure as to why he was laughing. What was so funny about swimming? He shook it off, standing up on the bed and looking around some more. He blinked, spotting a picture that was different from the others and moved to get a closer look at it.

The picture depicted four men, all of them laughing happily… and they were moving. This had to be more magic! He looked the picture over more curiously now and blinked. That was Padfoot! Only he was younger and his hair was a bit shorter. And that man there… he looked just like… he looked just like Harry! "Padfoot?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Who are they?" Harry asked pointing to the picture, his eyes wide. Padfoot wandered over and looked at the picture, a smile on his face. He reached out and made to remove it from the wall, but it didn't budge. He'd forgotten about his permanent sticking charms… perhaps he would have to make an attempt at getting it off. Maybe if he cut the wall?

"That's me. And that's Moony. And that's your dad."

"My daddy!" Harry just about squealed with absolute delight as Sirius pointed to the man who resembled Harry. The little boy didn't even to bother asking about the fourth man in the photo, much to taken by looking at his father. Oh, his father. It was such a splendid picture, he thought. He couldn't believe that that was really his daddy. He reached out a hand and tried to take the picture off the wall as well, but it was stuck. He frowned. "Padfoot, I dun wanna move."

"Why not?" Sirius asked, worried now as he looked down at his unhappy godson. He'd been all for it not five minutes ago, hadn't he?

"'cause Daddy's stuck." Sirius laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Harry. Moony and I have plenty of other photographs of your parents for you to look at. I bet you we can look at them later tonight at the new house too, if you want."

"Oh, yes puh-ease!" Harry laughed, bouncing on the bed in his excitement. He couldn't wait! He was going to get to see pictures of his mummy and daddy. Until yesterday, he hadn't even known vaguely what they looked like until Padfoot and Moony had told him. But to see pictures of them would be even better than having to try and imagine them. "Can we move now, Padfoot? Can we?" He begged, wanting to get to the new house so that he could see the pictures.

"We're not nearly ready yet, Harry." Sirius smiled, patting his head and trying to get him to calm down. "I still need to sort through some of my things." He wandered over to the dresser and began going though more of his clothes, tossing the useful ones into his trunk. Once he'd finished with that, he began to go through his books, knowing that Moony might like some of them. As he did so, a tiny slip of paper fell from one of them, and he blinked, crouching down to pick it up. Flipping it over, he blinked and felt his eyes prick slightly with tears.

Lily Potter sat on the floor, bent over laughing as a small boy with black hair shot back and forth behind her on his toy broom, disappearing on each of the edges of the picture. A pair of legs chased after the baby, and every time they passed her, Lily seemed to go into a fit of uncontrollable giggles that she just couldn't stop.

Sirius looked over at the bed where Harry was playing with his lion and glancing at the photo of his father. "Look what I found, Harry. Another photograph." He wandered over to the bed and sat down, offering the slip of paper to the young boy who took it with wide eyes.

Harry stared, his eyes glued to the woman in the picture, so full of life and happiness. She was so pretty and so… so… wonderful. He looked up at Padfoot questioningly and Sirius smiled down at him. "That's your mum. And that's you, when you were just one year old. And those legs belong to your dad."

Harry hugged the photo to his chest, his little eyes watering a bit as Sirius hugged him to his side with one arm. He looked down at the picture again and smiled, looking up at Padfoot. First his daddy, and now his mummy. He knew what both of them looked like for certain now, he didn't have to ever imagine their faces again, because he had them right here. Padfoot gave him a tight hug before getting up off of the bed and resuming his packing. He knew that picture had come with a letter, but he couldn't seem to find it. He had wanted to give it to Harry as well.

An hour later, Sirius was fully packed and Harry had been contently switching between watching him, playing with his lion, and looking at the two pictures of his parents. He hadn't said a word since Sirius had given him that picture of Lily. Sirius supposed he was quietly contemplating it. "Alright Harry, that's everything."

Harry looked up from his picture, apparently broken out of a revere that he had been lost in for a while now. He grinned, hopping down off of the bed and carefully, so very carefully he might have been someone much older than four, he slipped the picture of his mummy into his pocket. "We getta go to the new house now?"

"Yep. C'mon." Sirius levitated his trunk and led Harry back down to the second landing. He let the trunk fall and went into the room to gather the two bags of Harry's things and set them into trunk. He checked and rechecked, making sure they had everything, though they could always come back if need be. He levitated it all now, making it float down the stairs to the hallway, and then down into the basement kitchen, Harry at his heels the entire time. "We're going to go a very special way this time Harry."

Sirius reached up a took a glass jar full of powder off of the mantle of the large kitchen fireplace. Harry watched curiously as Padfoot undid the lid on the jar and offer it to him. "Take a handful." Harry did as he was told and took a handful of the powder, holding onto it. "Here, I'll hold onto your lion so he doesn't get lost." Sirius took the lion from Harry and set it down on the pile of things. He picked up the little boy and then took a handful of the powder himself. Harry gasped as Padfoot stepped right into the fireplace, but they didn't get burned. "Close your eyes if you get dizzy and drop your powder on three, alright? One… two…. three…" Harry dropped his powder as Padfoot did the same. "Canterbury Cottage!"

Harry would have screamed if he hadn't been so astounded. They shot right up the chimney and spun in circles, faster and faster, grates and other fireplaces flying past their eyes as they went. Harry felt his stomach twist and shut his eyes, not liking the feeling he was getting. It was much too dizzy making, this was. He assumed it must be more magic though, and he had wanted to see more. They landed and Harry felt Padfoot fall forward slightly before catching himself. He opened his eyes and grinned brightly, taking in the room around him like it was the best place in the world.

A pale blue plush carpet and white furniture met his eyes. There was a couch and a pair of chairs, as well as a glass coffee table sitting in front of the fireplace they had just come out of. A large window stood out from the right side of the room, creating half of a hexagon and a cushioned window seat. Out of the window, Harry could see green… lots and lots of grass and trees and flowers. He rushed to it and peered out into the front garden, his nose nearly against the glass. A fence surrounded the whole of the front yard, a gate in the center where there was a stone path leading up from it to… was that the front door? Harry couldn't tell from this angle but he was so excited he didn't care. He turned his head to look at Padfoot. "Is this our house?"

"You bet it is. And I also bet that if you go look around, you'll find some places that you'll like even more than the living room. Moony is around here somewhere, so if you need anything, just holler for him. I've got to go back and get the trunk." Harry nodded and watched as Padfoot climbed back into the fire and disappeared once more. He climbed down from the window seat and wandered through a doorway opposite it.

This was the kitchen, all decorated in bright, wonderful yellows and whites, a wooden table off to one side. Harry quite liked it, remembering the kitchen back at number four with its sparkling white surfaces. This was much better. There was a screen door here that must go to the back yard, but he ignored it for now. Padfoot had said to look around the house, but he hadn't said anything about the yard. So maybe he wasn't allowed to go out in the yard? He certainly hoped that that wouldn't be so. He wanted to play in all that greenery.

Heading through a door to the right of the screen door, Harry found the dining room. A big, long shiny table stood in the middle of this room with three chairs on each side, plus one on each end. There would be plenty of space for company to come and visit, that was for sure. The floor in here was wooden, but there was a rug under the table in varying shades of green that matched the walls. A large chandelier crystal hung above the center of the table, already all lit up and glittering. Harry wasted no time admiring it though, he had more important things at hand.

He pushed through the next door, feeling like he was going kind of in a circle and came out into a hallway. He could see the doorway to the living room from here and the doorway to another room across from it. Harry peeked into that room and found it piled high with book shelves full of books and a desk, the carpet on the floor a nice deep red. For some reason, it reminded him greatly of Moony. Turning, Harry noticed a door beside the library's and opened it. It was a bathroom, with just a toilet and sink in it. No place to have a bath there. Turning around, Harry started his way up the stairs that were in the hallway, wanting to see if he could find his room.

There was one first landing and it had four doors on it. Harry checked the first one, but it was another bathroom, this time with a tub and shower. It was a pretty cool bathroom, he had to admit. There were rubber duckies and bubbles all over the white walls. He liked it.

Moving on, Harry opened the next door and gasped, entering the room with the biggest eyes anyone had ever seen on a child his age. The room was painted all in primary colors with an incredibly squishy foam flooring that reminded Harry of puzzles. A train chugged along a track that was set about one third of the way up the wall, at just the right height for Harry to watch it. It circled the entire room, stopping when it reached the open door, unable to go any further. Harry checked the back of the door and found more track on it. He closed it and the train continued on it's journey. He watched it for a few moments before wandering deeper into the room. A toy chest sat in one corner, it's top open and revealing dinosaurs and a fire truck. There was a huge ball and a tiny broom (Harry didn't exactly understand that one) and a ride on plastic train that had its own car and everything.

Unable to resist, Harry climbed onto the train and placed his feet on the pedals, making it go. He laughed happily, circling the room and trying to keep up with the scarlet steam engine that was going along the track on the wall.

"I see you've found the playroom." Padfoot laughed as he opened the door, having heard Harry's laughter. He set the bag of toys down on the floor and Harry climbed off of the train, running at him. He hugged him round the waist tightly.

"I love this room, Padfoot!"

"I thought you'd like it." Sirius laughed and scooped him up. He reached down and pulled Harry's lion out of the bag, handing it to him. "But, you've still got to see your bedroom, haven't you?"

"Oh… yeah!" Harry nodded, having forgotten that he was to have a bedroom of his very own. Honestly, he really couldn't believe all of this. Just two days ago he'd been at the Dursley's, miserable and unwanted, and now here he was, in the most magnificent house he'd ever been in with his Padfoot. And he even had a play room and a bedroom, just like Dudley did. He felt satisfaction well up in his little four year old being. He may not have as many toys as Dudley, but he didn't care about that. He had something much better that Dudley would never have. He had his Padfoot.

"Here we are." Padfoot opened the door next to the playroom and Harry's eyes bugged out again. The room was just about the most perfect place he had ever seen. Sirius had gone for a train theme for the playroom, but he'd decided on lions for Harry's bedroom, hoping that he was holding a future Gryffindor.

Harry's bedroom was scattered with red and gold, paw prints on the carpet and along the top of the wall. There was a small shelf with a few plushies on it and a red night stand next to his red bed with the red blanket with a big golden lion in the middle of it. Harry squirmed and Sirius let him down to explore. Instead of there being toys in this room, there were books in a small bookcase off the one corner, and a little table with crayons and paper on it. He even had his own chest of drawers, something he also hadn't had at the Dursleys. He turned his head to look up at Sirius, his grin melting his godfather's heart.

"Best room ever." Sirius laughed and picked him back up, spinning him around brightly. Remus poked his head into the room to see what the racket was and Sirius smiled at him as well, lifting Harry up into the air, the little boy laughing. They were home.

Yeeee! I hope you like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Heh, Harry is just so gosh darn cute. Lemme know what you think, I'd love to hear from you!

Love always,

S.Q.O.