Disclaimer: We're on the twelth chapter, I think you've gotten the point by now that JK Rowling is to be thanked for her characters.

His Boy

Chapter Twelve: The Car

"Who's ready for a vacation?" Sirius called down the hallway. He was greeted by the yelling and squealing of his Harry, Ronnie, and Hermione. After a very successful sleepover over the weekend, Sirius and Remus had decided that maybe a nice little summer trip to the sea shore would be another fun thing to do with Harry. Harry had asked very nicely if he could have a friend come along as well (he was all about his friends now), so Remus had given the other parents a call. Luna and Neville weren't going to be able to make it and Ginny was stuck home with the chicken pox, though Mrs. Weasley had sounded thrilled at the idea of having one less under her feet while tending her youngest. The Grangers were at a dental convention, Hermione having wormed her way out of going by suggesting they allow her to go on the trip with Harry instead, which they were wary about, but had given into her in the end. Sirius had promised to make sure they called at least before or after meals. It had worked out quite well actually… as the backseat of Remus's car could fit three people without being enlarged.

The trip would also give Remus a chance to make sure the garden shed was going to hold his wolf form as well as Dumbledore said it should. The full moon was tomorrow and he would have to apparate home for it, but it would be worth it. To know that Harry was safely miles away should he break free of the garden shed made him feel better. Hagrid would be spending the night with him, prepared with a whole leg of dragon should Remus get loose.

Sirius and Remus had both agreed that it would be better to travel the Muggle way as they would be in the Muggle world for the next few days. If they needed to get somewhere quickly, they would be able to instead of having to walk and there was no underground where they were going. And since Remus did fairly well with Muggle things, he would be driving. It was his car after all, shabby and brown and rusted, but it still ran, mostly on magic.

Three little back packs and two large ones were in the boot, all packed to bursting and ready to go, nestled up against a bag of beach toys. Three booster seats had been strategically strapped into the back seat with the help of Jean Granger who had dropped Hermione off that morning. Sirius had duplicated a third for Ronnie and then transfigured it orange upon request. Harry would be sitting in the middle, Ronnie to his right, Hermione to his left to help cut back on the squabbling that Ronnie and Hermione seemed adept to getting into. Sirius didn't know why, but the two seemed to rub one another wrong at least once every hour or so, and then they would argue back and forth until they ran out of things to say, which with four year olds, wasn't very quick. They had spent two hours the morning after the sleepover going back and forth with 'Can too.' and 'Cannot.', the fight only ending when Mrs. Weasley had picked up Ronnie and Ginny.

"Up we get then, Prongslet." Sirius smiled, lifting Harry into the car and placing him in his red booster seat. Harry laughed and settled back, wriggling curiously in the seat. He'd never really been in a booster before, but he quite liked it. He could see out all of the windows. Dudley had had a seat, but the Dursleys seemed to have felt that Harry didn't need one. So he'd been left without when they were forced to take him along places, which was maybe once or twice a year.

Harry watched as Sirius buckled him in and then handed him his lion. Harry hugged it, watching as Sirius lifted Ronnie into the car now, Hermione climbing in the other side and into her pink booster seat with ease. Padfoot buckled Ronnie in, and then helped Hermione get her straps straight. She was smart and could do them herself, but she still had trouble sometimes. Afterward, Ronnie was given his old worn out teddy bear, and Hermione, her pale purple plush otter that looked as though it had seen better days as well.

"Have either of you ever been to the beach before?" Hermione asked curiously, leaning forward to look at both of them better, wrapping one hand around her otter's tail and bringing it up to her cheek before slipping her thumb into her mouth with the other. She was a big girl, but she did still have some insecurities. And her parents had told her that so long as she stopped before her teeth started falling out, they wouldn't get mad. Normally she wouldn't have sucked her thumb unless at home, but she knew Harry and Ronnie wouldn't care. They were her friends after all, even if she and Ronnie didn't get along sometimes.

"No." Harry shook his head, but grinned excitedly, kicking his sandaled feet. He was wearing his favorite red dragon shirt and blue elastic shorts today as well, and of course, his favorite conductor's hat. He'd made sure Padfoot had packed his wooden train. Beside him, Ronnie was in his typical worn out hand-me-downs, though this time he wore cut off denim shorts and a plain green shirt. No patches today, though his sneakers looked as though they were barely holding together. Hermione on the other hand, had been placed in a white and blue sailor dress with matching white patent leather Mary Janes and perfectly laced trimmed socks. A big woven white hat sat upon her head, a huge blue ribbon about it and tied into a large bow in the back. Her hair hung in a long braid down her back, tied with yet another blue ribbon.

"Mhm." Ronnie nodded at her and swung his bear around by the arm, watching it amusedly. "We builded sandy castles."

"Oh! I love sand castles!" Hermione squealed happily, clapping her feet together as her hands were busy. "My daddy and I make them in our sand box all the time. Real big ones."

"Neat." Ronnie concluded appreciatively. If there was one thing a four year old understood, it was the grandeur of a sand castle, big or small, though preferably big. That way it was even better for demolishing in a fit of absolute happiness.

"Has everybody gone to the potty?" Remus asked as he climbed into the driver's seat and pulled on his seat belt. There was a chiming of yeses from the back seat. Remus turned to look at Sirius who was climbing into the passenger seat. "Padfoot, did you remember to go to the bathroom before we…"

Sirius climbed back out of the car and ran into the house, causing a peel of laughter to erupt from the trio in the back. It was quite silly to them, an adult having not gone potty when they had all been told to do so before leaving the house.

Once Padfoot had returned to the car, they were on their way. Remus backed out of the driveway and onto the little dirt lane that would take them into the world beyond this one… one Harry had yet to see. They made it onto the motor way and about fifteen minutes south before the trials of traveling with a bunch of pre-schoolers began.

"I hassa potty." Ronnie stated quite loudly.

"Can you hold it a bit?" Sirius asked, turning around to look at the little red head. Ronnie shook his head, squirming in his seat as though he were about the burst from the sheer idea of having to hold it. "Alright, alright… Moony, can you pull over?"

"There's a rest stop coming up in a few kilometers. Just try not to think about it, Ronnie."

"Otay." Ronnie's face screwed up, his little ankles crossing as he grabbed at his shorts, trying to literally, hold it in.

"You can do it!" Harry cheered him on and Hermione nodded her encouragement as well. Ronnie's whole body scrunched up and Remus pulled off on the exit to the rest stop. He parked and Sirius bolted out of the car, pulling open the back door and undoing Ronnie's car seat straps. The little red head climbed down and out of the car, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Hurry now…" Sirius took him by the hand and led him inside the building. Moony tugged open the other door and smiled.

"I think we should all go have a wee before we continue on, don't you?"

"I suppose that would be best." Hermione nodded, unbuckling herself with ease. Harry nodded and waited for Moony to undo his straps. They then all followed Padfoot and Ronnie inside.

"Mr. Lupin, I'm not really allowed to go into the men's room." Hermione stated as they made for the door. "I am a girl."

"It's alright this time, Hermione."

"But my mummy says there's stuff in there I'm not allowed to see."

" Here…" Moony pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and folded it up before placing it around Hermione's head like a blind fold. "Is that better?"

"Yes. Thank you." Hermione nodded and they all went into the men's room.

When they had all relieved themselves (Harry had to go worse than he had thought), they left the men's room and made their way back out to the parking lot and got loaded back into the car properly. Harry picked his lion up off of the floor and climbed into his seat. He rather enjoyed riding in the car so far.

An hour later Harry did NOT enjoy riding in the car. He was getting hot and sweaty in the back seat… Moony's air conditioner was broken, and even with the windows open it was still too hot. He frowned, kicking his bare legs restlessly. "Padfoot, it's hot."

"I know, Prongslet. Here…" Padfoot tugged out his wand and waved it, sending a jet of cool air back at Harry and the other two. They gave sighs of relief. Hermione stopped fanning herself with the hem of her dress. With another wave of his wand, Sirius rolled up the windows, letting the cool air fill the car until it was nice and decent again.

"Ooooh, that's much better, Mr. Black." Hermione sank deeper into her car seat, her eyes closing as she relished the cold air. Her thumb reentered her mouth and her otter's tail found its way back up against her cheek. She seemed quite content to just sit and enjoy the coolness of the air for a while as did the two little boys. Harry and Ron had gone from being red faced and sweating to looks of absolute unadulterated bliss.

Harry gave a giggle, reaching out his hands to place them in front of the tip of Sirius's wand. Sirius stopped blowing cool air, but instead, the end of his wand began to erupt with a thousand different colored soap bubbles that floated about the back of the car to the delight of the three four year olds.

"Oh!" Ronnie's eyes widened and he laughed, reaching his hands out to try and catch one of the bubbles. Harry was so pleased that he squealed and kicked his legs, clapping his hands for more.

"Yay, Padfoot!" He cheered, nearly doubling over with his own laughter. After a moment, bubbles began to burst from his ears making him laugh even harder. "Look what I can do! Padfoot! Look at me!"

"Wow, Harry!" Sirius laughed and prodded Remus who took a glance in the rear view mirror. He chuckled.

"Good job, mate!"

"Ooooooooooooo…." Hermione watched Harry make bubbles come out of his ears and then screwed up her face. After a few moments, bubbles shaped like flowers began to flow from her ears. She laughed happily at having been able to achieve this and then she and Harry both turned to look at Ronnie.

"Me too!" The red head stated and squirmed about for a moment before bubbles came from his ears as well, only his were teddy bears than danced for them before they popped. Fresh laughter burst throughout the car and Sirius rolled the windows back down before they were covered with too many bubbles that just didn't seem to pop fast enough. They floated out the windows and into the sky, making the car look quite the odd sight to the others around it.

"Sirius, the Statute of Secrecy!" Remus stated irritably. He always got a little extra huffy around his time of the month. James used to call it PFSing, pre-fluffy-syndrome which was then followed by post-fluffy-syndrome in which Remus was grouchy and tired and sore, going to bed early and sleeping through breakfast.

"Oops…" Sirius rolled the windows back up. "Sorry guys, we can't let the Muggles get suspicious, otherwise the Ministry will be mad that we let them see magic."

"Why can't Muggles see magic?" Harry asked curiously, tilting his head to one side. "Is it 'cause they hate it like the Dursleys?"

"Oh, no, not necessarily. See, if Muggles knew about magic, they'd be wanting magical solutions to every single one of their problems and that wouldn't be good."

"Why? Isn't helping people good?"

"Yes, helping is a very good thing, Harry. But if the Muggles grew to rely on magic to solve everything, they would never want to solve anything on their own. And magic is good, but it can't solve every little thing. Sometimes we have to figure out things without magic."

"Oh." Harry nodded, trying to seem like he understood, but he didn't really. He was only four after all.

"Like going potty." Ronnie stated out of nowhere. "Can't use magic to have a wee."

"Exactly."

"Ooooh!" Harry nodded brightly now, glad that Ronnie had a perspective he could understand.

"Who's ready for some lunch?" Remus asked after the kids were all bubbled out.

"Me me me!" Ronnie bounced up and down in his seat excitedly, eyes bright at the mention of food. Harry laughed and started bouncing as well, mimicking Ronnie.

"Me too!"

"Oh goody!" Hermione clapped her hands together. "Will there be a restroom? I think I have to wee."

"Yes." Sirius laughed watching as Hermione's face scrunched up slightly. Apparently she had to go worse than she was letting on.

"Oh good."

They pulled off of the motorway five minutes later, rolling off the exit ramp and then along a not-too-busy road until they reached what looked like a promising place for some food. It was a small building with picnic tables outside and umbrellas, and plenty of families with children.

Remus parked the car and he and Sirius helped the kids hop down and out. Harry took Padfoot's hand and then Ronnie's. Remus lifted Hermione up into his arms, carrying her on his hip as they entered the little restaurant and letting his eyes search for the bathroom. Upon spotting it, he signaled to Sirius the direction and they made for it, the four pre-schoolers traipsing along on their smaller legs.

Once they'd gotten potty time out of the way for the second time that day, Remus figured out what everyone wanted to eat and Sirius carted the kids back outside into the sunshine to find a picnic table. He took a seat and watched as the kids began to let some of their extra energy from sitting in the car for so long out. He let them run back and forth across a bit of grass near the tables.

"I'mma ebil dwagon! RAWWWWR!" Ronnie roared, chasing after Harry. Harry bolted, laughing and grabbing up a stick from the ground for a sword.

"I'mma knight! I'm gonna get chu dragon!" He swung the stick at Ronnie in a slightly menacing way, but didn't actually hit him with it. He knew from his preschool and experience with Dudley that hitting would probably make Ronnie mad at him. Hermione tried to join them for a bit but she came back over to Sirius after a while, sitting down, and heaving a sigh.

"Why aren't you playing?"

"They said I should be the princess who needs rescuing."

"Don't you like princesses?"

"Yes, but regular princesses are vastly overrated. I'd rather be a princess who can look after herself." Sirius blinked. Had a four year old just seriously used the words 'vastly overrated' properly and perfectly pronounced?

"Er… well, why don't you be that then? A knight princess."

"Ooo… Alright then!" Hermione nodded and bolted back up from the seat, running after the boys and tackling Ronnie down to the ground.

"Well, you look flabbergasted." Remus laughed as he set down one large tray of food.

"Hermione just said that regular princesses are vastly overrated. Those exact words." Sirius stated without looking up. He was still watching the kids playing. Harry was on top of the other two now who seemed to be laughing over something incredibly hilarious.

"It's all that reading. Jean said she found her sitting in the adult fiction section of the library the other day, positively immersed in Moby Dick and a dictionary. She likes knowledge."

"Well, that'll be good for when Harry starts schooling, someone to keep on his tail about his homework. You remember what James was like… and Lily was no angel either."

"That's why you guys had me." Remus laughed and sat down beside him, slinging an arm around Sirius's shoulder and giving him a noogie. "Lunchtime, guys!"

The kids looked up from their play and then came barreling over to the table, taking their seats and waiting for the two men to dole out the food. All three of them had agreed on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with sliced apples on the side (though a little persuading had taken part on the adult's part).

"Mmm…. S'good!" Ronnie said through a mouthful of sandwich, causing Hermione to make a face.

"You're supposed to chew and then chat, Ronnie." She said slightly superiorly. Ronnie stuck his tongue out at her, obviously not about to heed her advice.

"Cher not my mummy." Ronnie purposely took a big bite of his sandwich, chewed, and then held his mouth open for Hermione to see. Harry laughed, amused quite a bit by the antics of his best mates.

"Ronnie…" Remus stated warningly and Ronnie shut his mouth.

"Ohmygoodness. Are they all yours?" A pretty woman asked from the table beside theirs as she lifted a spoon to her baby's mouth. "They are right? She looks like you…" She pointed from Hermione to Remus and then from Harry to Sirius. "And he looks like you and then… he must look like the biological mother, right?"

"What?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"No." Remus shook his head, looking as though he were trying not to laugh. He bent over and whispered something in Sirius's ear. The dog's face reddened and he looked shockedly back and forth between Remus and the woman.

"We're not… we're just best mates… That one's my godson… and these are his friends… we're just watching them…"

"Oh… oh!" The woman's face went scarlet and she nearly dropped the spoon. "I am soooo sorry… I just… assumed… I mean… they do look like you… Well… I'm the idiot of the century."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Sirius grinned at her. "We love em like they're ours."

"Oooh, that's so sweet." The woman smiled and got up from her place, lifting the baby from the table where it was sitting and moving to sit on the small bench at the end of their table instead. "I'm Natalie. And this is my nephew, Jackson."

"It's nice to meet you Natalie. I'm Sirius, and this is Remus, and Harry, Ronnie, and Hermione."

"Nice to meet you." Remus smiled at her, patting a choking Hermione on the back. She coughed up her bit of apple, chewed it and then swallowed. She grinned up at the woman, all sunshine and daisies.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Natalie."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, princess."

"Princesses are vastly overrated." Hermione stated again, simple as could be. Harry and Ronnie nodded their agreement.

"Vastly."

"Oberated."

Natalie looked slightly taken aback by this but she smiled anyway. "So, I haven't seen you guys around town before…"

"We're on our way to the beach. Just stopped for lunch."

"And t'go t'the 'otty." Ronnie informed her brightly, half chewed apple in his mouth.

The baby began to cry and Natalie bounced him up and down. "We've got to be going… it's past nap time. Again, it was nice meeting you. Have fun at the beach."

"Bye bye!"

"Have a nice day!"

"Farewell Miss Natalie. Good bye Jackson."

"See you." As soon as Natalie had bustled out of sight, staring at them with curious eyes as though she thought them strange, Sirius burst out laughing.

"She was so freaked out."

"I know." Remus chuckled and patted Hermione on the head. "You're quite precocious."

"I know." Hermione beamed up at him and then finished her sandwich, even eating the crust.

After lunch was finished and everyone made absolute positive that they did not have to go to the potty again, the gang climbed back into the car and was on their way once more.

"Are we there yet?" Harry asked as they pulled back out onto the motor way, his lion clutched tightly in his arms. He was getting bored with all of this riding in the car. He liked the getting out bits and the bits where they had had bubbles, but his bum was starting to feel woozy from all of this booster seat sitting.

"Not yet. We've got about another hour and a half before we'll be there. Why don't you lot take a nap?" Remus suggested, looking back at them in the rear view mirror.

"Nooooo naps!" Ronnie stated in protest, waving his teddy over his head. "No no no no no!"

"I'm not the least bit sleepy." Hermione stated crossly, pressing her otter's tail firmly to her cheek and mouthing her thumb.

Harry looked between his two friends and then up front at the adults. He always tried to do what Padfoot and Moony wanted him to do, and that usually involved an afternoon nap once lunch was finished. But could he really sleep in the car? And he wasn't that tired… yeah, he felt a bit woozy, but not exactly tired tired. Not like he needed a nap really. But then, if he refused to nap, like his friends were, wouldn't he get in trouble? He didn't particularly like the idea of getting in trouble, but then again, it didn't look like Ronnie or Hermione was getting in trouble for not wanting to nap, so maybe he wouldn't either? After quite a bit of internal struggle, he burst out. "Me neither."

Sirius blinked. It was the first time Harry had outrightly refused to do something suggested of him. So far, he'd played just about every game, and did every little thing Sirius or Moony told him to do, or rather, suggested he do when it came to games. He could barely hide his smile… the Healer had said when Harry started misbehaving, then he would truly trust them. But then, was this misbehaving? Or was he just doing it because neither of his friends wanted to nap? Either way, it was a step in the right direction. It was kind of weird, wanting the kid to misbehave, but also hoping he never would, but then, Sirius knew if he never misbehaved, then how could he be sure he really, truly trusted him at all?

"Alright…" He said after a minute's deliberation. "Tell you what, since today is sort of a special day, with us all being in the car, we can skip nap time."

There was a great cheering from the backseat.

"But… we will be having naps tomorrow and the next day, got it?"

"Yep." Harry nodded and Ron and Hermione made faces, but neither said a word on the matter.

"How about we have a sing along instead?"

"Yeah!" Ronnie exclaimed brightly.

"Alright, let's see…" Sirius paused for a moment, trying to think up a song. "Ah… I know!... The itsy bitsy Snitchy flew through the air. Evading all the players without a single care. When the Seeker caught up, the Snitch did stop. A hundred and fifty points put the team on top."

"Mr. Black… that's not how the song goes."

"Yes it is!" Ronnie burst out.

"Noooo! It's the itsy bitsy spider, not a Snitchy, or whatever it was…"

"I like it." Harry informed her, wondering why she wasn't having it. He quite enjoyed the spider song and the Snitch song. What was wrong with them?

"Spiders are bad!" Ronnie shook his head and Hermione leaned forward to glare at him.

"It's a nice itsy spider!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yesssss!"

"Noooooo!"

"That's enough!" Remus stated loudly over the noise, causing everyone to look at him in slight shock. Harry's eyes watered making Remus feel bad. "Oh… no, Harry, it's alright. I'm sorry. Ronnie, Hermione, you guys really shouldn't fight. It's just a song, it can be sung the wizard way and the Muggle way."

"I apologise, Mr. Lupin."

"Sowwy."

"You're loud, Moony." Harry whispered and hugged his lion closer.

"Yeah, sorry about that buddy."

"Sometimes it's hard not to be loud when other people are being loud." Sirius explained gently, reaching back to stroke Harry's hair. "It doesn't mean we're mad. It just means we're trying to be heard over all of the noise, ok?"

"Ok." Harry nodded, rubbing his nose on his sleeve and feeling better now. His Moony hadn't yelled in anger. He had yelled to be heard, and even he knew that was different. He settled back in his seat as Sirius began singing the Muggle version of the song, making him quite sleepy after all. He looked over at Hermione and saw she had slumped in her seat, her eyes closed, breathing softly. Ronnie seemed to be struggling between the two worlds of awake and sleep and succumbing to the latter. Harry yawned, hugged his lion closer, and pondered for a moment. Maybe a nap wasn't such a bad idea after all…

Yes, yes, I know, I skipped the sleepover morning. Heh, I really couldn't think of much to put for that, so I skipped. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you thought! I particularly love Hermione in this one if you couldn't tell.

Later loves,

S.Q.O.