They walked from the sitting room into the kitchen, which was a rather short walk, but seemed to take Harry awhile. Sirius also noticed that Harry was placing more weight on his left leg than his right one.
Once Harry had taken his seat, Sirius stood in front of him, and realizing that he was still much taller than the child, he knelt down in front of him.
"Harry," he said, keeping his voice gentle, "is something wrong with your leg?"
Harry hesitated, then pulled his oversized pants up until they were above his knee. The area below his knee was rather red, which contrasted against the pale of his skin.
"That looks quite painful, puppy. Does it hurt?" Sirius asked, forcing himself to remain calm.
The child, while hardly terrified around him, showed more fear than he had expected. Or, maybe restraint, it not outright fear. More than a child should show around an adult who had been around him during the first year of his life nearly as much as his parents.
"A little," Harry murmured. Looking up at Sirius, he amended, "More than a little."
Sirius opened his arms and carefully pulled Harry into a hug. The child clung to him for nearly a full minute before letting go.
"It will heal on its own, but if you like, I can put a magical healing salve on it," Sirius offered.
Harry frowned a bit. "Will it hurt?"
"It will feel like cold water, but it won't hurt," Sirius promised. "I have used it on myself on occasion. Tend to burn my hand when I began cooking." He showed Harry the hand in question. It was flawless. "Do you want me to?"
Harry nodded, and Sirius smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Follow me...wait, no, I'll carry you," Sirius instructed. "Sound good?"
Harry nodded again, and laughed as Sirius scooped him up in his arms, carrying him like a baby. The child was clearly starved for affection, and Sirius planned to make up for it. Well, for as long as Harry would let him. At some point, the child would become a teenager, and some of them tended to be less physically affectionate.
Not James, though, so there was hope.
Sirius carried Harry into the family Potions lab, which would have been a long walk even for a four year old without an injury. He would have to ask Harry how he got it. Dudley, probably. He'd seen the brat hit his pup enough times, encouraged by his parents, of all people. He would have to check Harry for other bruises when he gave him a bath that night...
"Because this room has a lot of things that are dangerous, you're not to come in unless I am with you," Sirius told Harry, firmly but not cruelly, after setting him on the ground. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Harry answered in a small voice.
Great. He'd scared him.
"I didn't mean to say it so strongly," Sirius explained, managing a smile. "I only don't want you to get hurt."
Harry relaxed a little. "I understand."
"Good. Then, let's get that bruise taken care of. Sit down on that chair, and I will get the potion," Sirius instructed, keeping his voice gentle. "Oh, and roll up your pants leg again, because your clothes aren't hurt."
That got a giggle, and Sirius chuckled as well.
Harry's eyes widened when Sirius put the salve on the bruise, but when Sirius asked if it hurt, the boy shook his head.
"It's just cold," he explained. "But it doesn't hurt."
Sirius squeezed his shoulder with a free hand. After waiting a few minutes for the leg to turn back to the original color, he spoke again.
"Try walking to the wall, and see if it hurts. I'll add more of the potion if it does," Sirius instructed.
He didn't think it would be needed, but better to be sure.
Harry walked the paces at a regular pace and without any signs of discomfort. In fact, there was a small smile and look of amazement on his face, as though he couldn't believe it was already healed.
"All better?" Sirius asked, when Harry had returned to his chair.
Harry nodded, even grinned. "Thank you!"
Then, he hugged Sirius around the waist.
Sirius chuckled and knelt down so he could hug Harry back. "You're most welcome, puppy. Now, ready to eat?"
"Yes!" Harry answered, with enthusiasm.
After dinner, Harry's face darkened as Sirius announced that he would need a bath before bedtime.
"Do I have to?"
It wasn't whining, Sirius knew. It was a question, one that Harry really hoped the answer would be no. Sirius steadied himself.
"Don't you like baths?" he asked, instead. "Lots of warm water, plenty of toys, big bubbles?"
"That's only how Dudley gets a bath," Harry explained, but sounded resigned.
Sirius reached out his arms to Harry, and when the child came forward, he placed him in his lap. Harry reached up and touched a strand of Sirius' hair before immediately withdrawing his hand.
Sirius returned the piece of hair to Harry. "Go ahead, I don't mind. But, Harry, what was a bath like for you?"
Harry tentatively ran his fingers along the curl before speaking. "Aunt Petunia made me wait until Dudley was done and use his bath water. It was cold. She scrubbed my hair too hard. Sometimes, if I didn't hold my eyes shut tight enough, soap would get in. She also gave me his old towel, which was already wet."
Sirius sighed. His parents had been awful, but even they hadn't made him or his brother use the same bath water. Or the same towels.
"I promise that you can have new, clean water. Warm, as warm as you like. I won't scrub your hair too hard, and I certainly won't let soap get in your eyes. And you will certainly get a clean towel. A warm towel, too, because I will charm it to feel nice and toasty. And you can play in the bath, if you like. Will you give it a try?" Sirius asked, as Harry continued to stroke his hair.
"Okay," he answered, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
"Thank you. You're very brave, you know," Sirius praised, earning a tentative smile from Harry.
They walked into Sirius' bathroom, which had an extra large tub with lots of jets that could be turned on to add bubbles. Sirius enjoyed the feel of them against his feet and his back, but he thought he would take it slowly with Harry for now. He filled up the tub, letting Harry test out the water a few times before stepping in, and kept an eye out for any bruises. Fortunately, there were none.
Harry ignored the toys, preferring to remain completely still as Sirius applied the soap to his body. He was careful to be extra gentle, but the boy's body remained stiff and his eyes shut extra tight, even though there was none near his face or hair. Sirius rather dreaded his part, even though he had a hand towel ready for Harry to press against his face.
Poor kid.
"Okay, puppy, time for your hair," Sirius finally said. "Look, I have this wash cloth for you to use against your face, just in case. I promise to be extra careful, and I expect you will close your eyes, but this will protect you even more, all right?"
Harry nodded, relaxing a bit as he placed the blue wash cloth in front of his eyes, and then placed his fisted hands in front of them.
If Sirius didn't know how scared Harry was, he would have laughed. There was no chance of even the smallest amount of water getting near his face.
Sirius had purchased the same wizarding shampoo recommended for kids that nearly all witches and wizards from magical families used. The people who made it were a family who must have understood how scared kids like Harry could be, because it was actually charmed to stay away from the face. It also couldn't--literally--be applied with anything except gentleness on the part of the user, but gave a nice scalp massage to the recipient. Sirius expected Harry's fears to be completely gone by the time they were finished.
All the same, Sirius used extra care when applying the recommended amount to Harry's head, and added his own scalp massage even as the suds began to do their work. After working around Harry's head for the suggested two minutes, he carefully rinsed it out. He was relieved when the child's shoulders relaxed, and a few contented sighs escaped from his (covered) mouth. It didn't take nearly as long for the shampoo to rinse out as his own did, another positive feature of the shampoo, and after another minute, the shower spray showed only water pouring from Harry's head. He removed the spray with a, "hair's all done!" before Harry removed the wash cloth which was, of course, completely dry.
"Great job, puppy. We're almost done. If you stand up, I will give you a final rinse, and then I will give you your warm towel. Sounds good?" Sirius asked.
"Sounds good," Harry repeated.
After another minute or so, Harry was wrapped in a warm towel, and looked half asleep already.
Sirius chuckled as he carried the boy into his new bedroom.
"Let's get you into your pajamas, read a story, and then tuck you in," he suggested, softly.
"Okay!" Harry agreed, trying to hide his yawn.
Sirius couldn't hide his smile.