His Boy

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Creating

With the first of April, spring swept in almost all at once. The past week had been nothing but rain, making one little boy very grumpy at being stuck inside all the time. And even when the rain let up enough for Harry to go out, it was usually only for a little while before it started pouring again. When Harry awoke, it was to the sun shining brightly in through his window. He let out a happy giggle as he pulled back the curtains, looking down at the grass that was brownish yesterday and was now a fair shade of green. This made him so happy he was unable to contain his joy. He let out a whooping holler and bounding from his bedroom and down the stairs to where he found Sirius in the kitchen, humming a happy tune as he fried up some eggs.

"Paddy! Paddy! There's no more rain!"

"You're right, Prongslet. No rain, no clouds, just good old blue skies and bright sunshine." Sirius laughed and scooped Harry up to give him a proper good morning. He hugged him tightly and held him on one hip as he flipped the eggs onto a plate. "No school either."

"Huh?" Harry blinked in confusion. "But Paddy, it's Monday."

"I know, but all of that rain we had flooded up the river and made the road disappear beneath it. It's not safe for anyone to go through right now. Miss Nancy called and said the school is closed."

"Can't you make the water go down with magic?" Harry frowned, not liking that the road was under water. He had really wanted to go to school today. They were suppose to be starting growing their own flowers in pots today.

"I would, but it's right near the start of town, sort of towards the library, so if I did that all of the Muggles who live around there would see and then I'd be in trouble with the Ministry. Besides, even if I did, there wouldn't be anyone at school when we got there."

"Oh." Harry sighed and slid down from Sirius's hip. He had really been looking forward to making a flower grow today.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Lexie asked as she came into the room. She lifted Harry up and spun him around before setting him down in his usual kitchen chair. Harry heaved a sigh.

"School is closed cause there's water on the road. I do not like it. We was gonna grow flowers today."

"Well, tell you what, Harry. I want to start a garden over on the side of the house this spring, and today is a good a day as any. The ground should be soft enough. Would you like to help me?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, eyes brightening as Sirius set his plate down in front of him. "Paddy, me'n'Lexie are gonna make a garden!"

"So I heard. That'll be lots of fun. What are you going to plant?"

"I think we'll start with some vegetables. Beans, carrots, beets, corn, cabbage. Oh and definitely some zucchini and cucumbers."

"And flowers?" Harry asked hopefully.

"And flowers. Lots and lots of beautiful flowers for Harry to help make grow." Lexie nodded, tickling his tummy. Harry laughed, sputtering his eggs slightly.

"Morning." Remus yawned, entering the kitchen and grabbing of a slice of toast. He bit into it and chewed, still buttoning his shirt. "M'going to go…" He swallowed. "To the daycare today and work on it a bit."

"You'll have to Apparate there. The road's flooded. No school." Sirius explaining, pointing to the little boy still in his pajamas even though it was already bordering on eight o'clock.

"I can wait on it then. I wouldn't want Harry to get hurt with everything flying about." Remus sat down.

"Well I'm off work today, so you go and I'll look after Harry. We're going to plant a garden, right Harry?" Lexie smiled and Harry nodded. Remus smiled.

"Alright then, thanks." Remus smiled and finished his toast. Sirius left the room to tug on his shoes and jacket before turning.

"I'll see you lot later." He smiled and gave Harry and good hug and kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, Paddy." Harry smiled up at him and Sirius ruffled his hair before giving Lexie a kiss on the cheek and then turning to leave.

"Hey!"

"Yes Harry?"

"You forgot Moony!" Harry stated quite crossly, shaking a finger at Sirius. Sirius laughed and moved to give Remus a hug. He spun him around and Remus chuckled as he was dipped, Sirius holding onto him.

"My dear sweet love, parting is so sorrowful!" Sirius chided mournfully, one hand over his heart, the other supporting Remus.

"And yet, we shall meet again someday my darling." Remus ran the hand that wasn't holding onto Sirius across his forehead as though swooning. Lexie snorted and Harry looked on with a slightly confused expression, having never seen his Padfoot and Moony behave so.

"They're just being silly, Harry." Lexie explained with a laugh.

"My dear sweet beautiful Moony, how shall I ever leave you!?"

"I do not know, for I cannot bear the thought of it!"

"I will return for you, my love, tonight!"

"Oh so long a wait it shall be! Oh Sirius!"

"Oh Remus!" Sirius swept Remus upwards and laughing, planted a brotherly kiss on his forehead before clapping him on his back. He looked at Harry who grinned. "Better?"

"Better." Harry laughed and Sirius gave him kisses on both his cheeks. "Be a good boy for Lexie, Prongslet."

"I will." Harry nodded and Sirius disapparated off to work.

"Well, I best be off as well." Remus smiled and gave Harry good kisses and bestowed one upon the top of Lexie's head as he didn't want to get scolded as well. "Love you, see you later!"

"Love you Moony!" Harry laughed as Remus, too, disapparated and it was just him and Lexie left at the table. They finished eating breakfast and then got dressed, Lexie helping Harry make a good choice of shirt. He wanted to wear one of his short sleeved shirts, but since it was still a bit chilly outside, he was better off wearing one of his long sleeved flannel ones over it. The it was into his jacket and boots, hat, and mittens.

"Alright, let's go get this garden made up!" Lexie beamed and they went out the front door, heading around to the left side (if you were looking it straight on) of the house. Harry watched excitedly as Lexie used her wand to rid the ground of grass here, pulling it up so that they had a three feet of dirt on either side of them, a stretch of grass in the center big enough for two people to walk down without any trouble. "This is going to be the vegetable garden because there's a lot of space here for things to grow. We'll put the corn and beans and tomatoes on this side, by the fence, so that we can use it to help support them when they grow really tall. And herbs and some plants that we can use in potions too. Lots and lots and lots of plants. And then we'll plant some flowers down by the front gate and along the rest of the fence as well."

"Yay!" Harry beamed, excited about this, but not really sure how things were planted. He knew about seeds of course, but that was the gist of it. He always liked when the yard was covered in pretty colored flowers.

"Here Harry, watch. We make holes in the ground, like this." Lexie dug her hand straight into the ground, scooping up a whole handful of dirt. "It has to be deep enough to cover the seeds but shallow enough not to bury them too far under where the sun won't warm up the ground. That's what my mum always said anyway, and she always grew nice plants, with a little bit of help of course. Here, let's make a whole row of holes and then put seeds in."

"Okay." Harry beamed, digging the little trowel she handed him into the dirt and trying to make a hole like hers. It took a little practice to get it right, but he managed it and soon they had a whole row of holes.

"Alright, hold out you hand there, love."

Harry did as he was told and Lexie removed his mittens before pouring some seeds into one of his hands. Harry looked down at the tiny bits of life-force and smiled. "Food comes from these?"

"Yep. One whole big plant from one of them. But we'll put a few in each hole in case one of them doesn't grow."

"Okay!" Harry beamed and he helped Lexie put seeds into the holes, not knowing which plant was which. He put them in the holes Lexie told him to though, and a lot of the seeds looked different depending on the hole they were going in. He liked seeing all of the different shapes, but didn't bother asking which was which.

When they had finished putting seeds in holes, Lexie pulled Harry's mittens back out of her pocket and handed them to him. He put them on, his hands a little chilly but not too bad in the April sun. Once they had finished making, planting, and watering the vegetable garden they spent the rest of the morning planting in the flower beds and along the fence. Lexie smiled watching Harry enjoy himself over something so simple that seemed like absolute magic to a four year old.

"Come on sweetheart, I think that's probably good." Lexie laughed as Harry danced around with watering can, spraying his way down the rows of seeds along the fence. Harry grinned up at her brightly and set the watering can down and reached for her hand. She took it and they went into the warmth of the house. "How about some grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch?"

"Yeah, sounds good and warm." Harry nodded in agreement, taking off his outdoor clothes and putting them where they went before trailing after Lexie into the kitchen. He helped her put cheese on bread and pour the tomato soup out of a jar into a pot to heat up.

When lunch was ready, they sat at the table, eating mostly in silence as Harry relished the warmth of his food, dipping the grilled cheese into his soup the way Sirius had shown him to do ages ago. Finally, when he was halfway through with it he looked up at Lexie again.

"Lexie, am I gonna have a brother or a sister?"

"Well, I went to the baby Healer the other day and I can tell you, but, you'd have to keep it a big big secret. Because Padfoot doesn't want to know, so we can't tell him." Lexie smiled, ruffling his hair. Harry smiled, glad it wouldn't be too long before he knew.

"Why?"

"He wants to be surprised." Lexie laughed. "So if I tell you, you have to keep it a very secret secret from Padfoot so he doesn't know. Could you do that?"

"I can!" Harry nodded, eyes full of pure excitement, wriggling in his chair now. He wanted to know so badly, hoping he'd get a brother like Ronnie had all of those brothers. Oh wouldn't it be wonderful to have a brother!

"Alright, if you think you can keep the secret, then I'll tell you after lunch." Lexie nodded in agreement. Harry wolfed down the rest of his lunch quickly, not wanting to have to wait too long. When he finished, he even brought his dishes over to the sink and dropped them in and then raced back over to Lexie and stared up at her expectantly.

"Lunch is over."

"So it is. C'mon then." Lexie nodded and took Harry's hand, leading him out of the kitchen and upstairs to the second floor. She headed over to a door here that Harry knew was a closet. At least… it had been a closet last time he'd looked in it.

Lexie opened the door and Harry gasped. The closet was gone and in it's place was a baby's room. Harry knew instantly whether he was getting a brother or sister.

The room was painted a pale pink with a border of dancing Golden Snitches along the top. A while crib sat against the corner across from the door next to the half hexagon window that had a rocking chair in it. A little dresser with pink flowers on the drawers and a soft looking mat on top with a mirror over it was in the corner diagonal from the crib which had a mobile of Quidditch balls and brooms floating above it. A series of shelves sat next to the door, covered in plushies and baskets of toys, cloth diapers, pacifiers, and bottles. There were a couple of other shelves in the room, but those had books and blocks on them. The floor was wooden with a giant snitch rug in the middle, taking up most of the floor.

Harry stared, his eyes wide as he walked into the room and looked around. He liked the looks of some of those plushies and toys, but most of them were pinkish or babyish. When he was finished looking he turned around to look at Lexie, slightly disappointed. "I wanted a brother."

Lexie sighed, kneeling down and taking his little face in her hands. "I know you did, love. But you know, sisters are nice too. And there's something very special about little sisters."

"What's that?"

"Little sisters can play just as well as little brothers, but because you're her big brother, it'll be part of your responsibility to always protect her. You can teach her all sorts of lovely games when she's old enough and look out for her and make sure she's not getting hurt or in trouble. Do you think you can manage that? It's a very important job."

"I can do that! I'll be a good big brother." Harry nodded proudly, his little chest puffing out. He was sure he could look after a little sister just as well as he could a little brother. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all, Ronnie had a little sister too. And he had a pretty good time with Ginny too, just not as much as he did with Ronnie.

"I'm so glad!" Lexie hugged him tightly and Harry smiled, glad he had made her happy. "But remember, no telling anyone else. This is a secret secret for you and me. A very very special super top secret secret."

"Right! I promise." Harry nodded, knowing he could keep hushed if he tried his very hardest and no one asked him about it.

"That's a good boy. Now then, what say you we go and set a trap for the guys?"

"A trap?"

"Oh Harry, I have yet to explain the beauty of April Fools Day to you." Lexie grinned brightly and they headed downstairs, making sure to close the door to the nursery tightly.

"See Harry, today is the first day of April." Lexie explained a little bit later as she levitated a bucket of water on top of the slightly ajar kitchen door. "We call it April Fools Day and we play jokes on each other. It's a lot of fun. We'll have to be careful to walk in here through the dining room for the rest of the day so it doesn't get us and when someone walks under it, we'll throw flour on them."

"Oooh!" Harry grinned brightly, excited about this. "Can I make jokes too?"

"Sure you can. What would you like to do?"

"I wanna get Paddy and Moony good."

"Okay, let's think of a joke that we could get them with." Lexie smiled, trying to think of something simple. "Aha! Let's go up to Padfoot's room. We'll find some stuff there, I'm sure."

They wandered upstairs and into Sirius's room where they dug through his things until they found several whoopee cushions. These they placed under the cushions on the kitchen chairs that Sirius and Remus always sat on. In the living room, with help from Lexie's wand, they turned all of Harry's drawings upside-down, which Harry thought was an excellent kind of joke. They did the same with all of the photos in the house and put gooey Vaseline on the door knobs and plastic wrap over all of the toilets except for Harry's.

When Sirius apparated into the living room around six, Harry was all giggles with Lexie in the kitchen. They were cooking a dinner of meat and potatoes.

"I hear my little boy." Sirius grinned, pushing in through the kitchen door and the bucket of water landed all over him, covered him from head to toe in wet while the bucket clanged on the floor. Harry burst out laughing and raced to the table where the flour was sitting. He grabbed up two handfuls and threw it at Padfoot while Lexie grabbed up the whole bag and dumped it over Sirius's head.

Sirius coughed and then burst out laughing, wiping the flour off of his face and grinning. He swooped in to pick up Harry, spinning him around and getting him all floury as well before purposely shaking his flour covered hair in Lexie's direction.

"Paddy, I know the super duper secret secret." Harry grinned up at Sirius, his smile wide with glee. Sirius smiled back at him and smudged his cheek with flour.

"Oh yeah? Well you'd best not tell me or I'll be sad that I don't get to be surprised!" Sirius tickled at his tummy and Harry giggled, unable to help it. He was so excited about knowing something his Padfoot didn't that he was having trouble holding it in but he knew he had to. He didn't want to make Padfoot sad by telling him.

"I won't, won't, won't!" Harry nodded seriously. "I can't tell the secret cause I promised Lexie I wouldn't and she would be sad if I told and you would be sad if I told and then I would be sad too."

"That's a good idea, Harry. Thank you for not telling me and keeping it a secret." Sirius beamed, kissing Harry's little cheeks and setting him down on the floor. "So, what's for dinner my loves?"

...

"Hey Hermione, guess what!" Harry exclaimed excitedly the next Thursday as he spoke to his friend on the telephone. He hadn't talked to Hermione in a couple of weeks now and it had made him kind of sad. He liked talking to her even though he didn't get to see her very much any more because he usually had school and on weekends she had piano lessons now. "I know what my baby is gonna be but I can't tell cause that would make Lexie and Paddy sad. But I can tell you, just not Paddy cause he wants to wait til she come and be surprised."

"Oooooh! Are you getting a brother or a sister?"

"A sister!" Harry chimed brightly and Hermione squealed on the other line.

"A sister! I'd like a sister, you're so lucky! Mummy! Mummy! Harry's getting a sister! But we can't tell Mister Black because he's waiting til she's born... Oh.. Okay mummy. Harry, my mummy says I have to go to my ballet class now." Hermione sighed sadly. "I don't like ballet class much, but mummy says I need to at least try it for this spring so I can be what she calls well rounded."

"Okay." Harry pouted, not wanting to have to say goodbye yet. They'd only been on the phone for a few minutes which wasn't very long at all when you were four and had a lot to talk about. "Bye Hermione."

"Bye Harry." Harry heard the click of the phone being hung up and he put his back down on the receiver as well. Remus eyed him curiously from where he was just finishing fixing Harry's afternoon snack.

"Done so soon? He asked, having noted that the phone calls between Harry and Hermione seemed to have been getting shorter and less frequent.

"'mione hassa go to ballet." Harry pouted up at Remus, not pleased with this at all. He wanted to talk to Hermione more but she was always busy lately.

"Well, that's alright, Harry. Hermione just has a lot of after school activities she's doing. Tell you what. How about after your homework is finished you and I can head over to the day care and you can help me finish making a sign for outside?"

"Okay!" Harry brightened up. He loved helping Moony work on the day care. He had been a big help when it came to picking out colors and toys and ideas for snacks. "How much longer til it's done and we can play there?"

"Well, we should be completely finished by this weekend and there's already a five kids signed up to come, so on Monday it'll be open."

"Oh wow! Monday!" Harry bounced from his chair and then shot off to grab his backpack and get going on his homework.

Once Harry's homework had been finished, he and Remus Flooed their way over to the day care center which had undergone quite the transformation inside and out. They landed in Remus's office which was on the second floor across from the two large bedrooms that would serve their purpose during children's naptime. One room had several cribs against the walls and a couple of rocking chairs for the babies. The next room had a puzzle piece foam floor, much like Harry's playroom, and there was a bookshelf full of nap mats and another full of pillows and soft animals. A radio sat atop one of the bookshelves, ready to play restful music for those who were having trouble settling down. The bathroom on the second floor contained an adult sized toilet, a child's training potty, a sink, and a tub.

The stairs led down to the hallway where the wall between it and the foyer had been taken out. Two closets sat across from one another, no long closets but rather, cubbies set into the wall. Each one had a square on the bottom for boots, a longer rectangle above that with a hook for a coat, and then another square above that with a colorful cloth bin set into it to hold the child's things, whether it be diapers, toys, or extra clothes. Ten short cubbies in one closet, five in the next, and then five other cubbies, these ones taller and meant for the adults who would be working in the daycare. Where the top of the short cubbies ended, shelving began. Shelves full of paper, extra diapers, and art supplies.

A door sat next to the stairs, leading to a bathroom with small toilets and short sinks as well as a changing table. At the foot of the stairs was the doorway leading into the playroom, a brightly lit room with yet more foam puzzle pieces for flooring. Here were short shelves full of toys and a corner entirely dedicated to books covered in pillows. Another corner offered a play kitchen and small table along with a bursting chest full of dress up clothes. A large play mat with roads sat near the toy cars. A table near to the puzzles. A rocking chair and two baby swings close to the book area. And there was plenty of room to move. Further into the room and around the corner you'd find yourself in what used to be the dining room. The floor had been covered in tile making this the perfect area for eating and art projects. The wall between here and the kitchen had been taken out, though a wooden gate had been placed between the wall and counter to keep little ones out of trouble (another gate sat in the doorway between the kitchen and hallway). There were two short tables in the eating/art area as well as three high chairs for younger children and a bookshelf against the back of the kitchen counter full of craft supplies.

Harry liked the main play area the best as it contained so many toys and he could play with any thing he wanted to here. But he and Remus went right past it and into the tiled area to sit at one of the little tables.

"Alright Harry. You and I are going to come up with a good sign to hang out in front of the house so that people will know what this place is when they go by it. It has to be something that matches the name though."

"What's the name?" Harry asked curiously, reaching for the crayon bucket Remus had placed on the table along with some paper.

""Sprouting Saplings Daycare." Remus smiled. "So we need to draw something that has to do with kids and trees."

"Oh I'm good at trees!" Harry beamed brightly and grabbed up a green crayon and began making a cloud shape on the paper. Remus watched as he drew his tree, coloring in the green part and then adding a brown trunk.

"That looks great Harry! Here, let me add something." Remus smiled and Harry handed over the paper, watching as Remus began drawing little stick figures standing in front of the tree holding hands, each figure getting smaller than the last until he had a baby at the end sitting on the ground with a pacifier in it's mouth. Harry laughed, liking that. Remus let him color in the dresses and add a sun to the corner. Lastly, Remus drew the daycare name in curving letters around the top and bottom of the picture so that it read Sprouting and then Saplings. "What d'you think?"

"I like it!" Harry beamed brightly and Remus smiled, glad. He cut the picture out in a circle and then added two holes on either side of the top of it before pulling out his wand. He tapped it and it began to transform, growing and hardening until it was no longer just a piece of paper, but a wooden sign with his and Harry's drawing carved and colored onto it on either side.

"Wow!" Harry laughed, touching the sign with bright eyes. He'd never had one of his drawings made into wood before!

"There, it's perfect. Now, let's go hang it up outside and head on home to make dinner, shall we?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded excitedly and they wandered out to the front of the daycare where flowers had been planted and a whole play ground area had been constructed.

It had been difficult making the playground as they'd had to do it at night, but Remus and Sirius had built a swing set, a couple of bouncy ducks, a small see-saw, a slide, a sandbox, and a merry-go-round on one half of the front yard. The other half had a picnic table on it for during the warmer months.

A sign posts with chains already dangling from it sat in the grass between the road and sidewalk. Harry helped hold the sign while Remus brought the chains through the holes in it and attached them. Then they let go and let it fall, hanging cheerfully.

"Well, that's the last finishing touch that needed to be done. Thanks for helping, Harry."

Harry's chest puffed out proudly. Everyone was going to see the sign he had helped make.

Whew, sorry it's been a while again guys! There just hasn't been the time to write as much as I would like to lately, but it should be easier now! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it's pretty much crap. Sorry bout that. Please let me know what you thought if you'd like to, I always love hearing from you. Thanks bunches!

Love always,

S.Q.O.