After Sirius finished reading Harry the last book, he smiled at him, and Harry returned the smile. It had only been a day, but he liked living with Sirius. His new guardian hadn't yelled at him, had hugged and cuddled with him, and even said it was okay to ask questions. He was nothing like Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon. Harry hoped that Sirius wouldn't change his mind about wanting Harry to stay with him. Now that he saw how nice some adults could be, he thought it would be even worse to go back to living with his aunt and uncle.
"Harry?" Sirius asked, as he faced him.
"Yes, Sirius?" Harry asked, still feeling warm and cozy on Sirius' lap.
"As you know, I will be your guardian," the older man began. At Harry's nod, he considered, "There's another person who will live with us. He was also a very, very good friend of your mummy and daddy, even though they chose me as your godfather."
"Will he be, um, like a parent to me, too?" Harry asked, fumbling for the right word.
Sirius nodded, seeming to understand. He smiled at the small boy, who returned his smile. "Well, Harry, I am like your parent, in a way, because your mummy and daddy wanted me to raise you if anything happened to them. That makes me like a second daddy to you. Remus, on the other hand, while a very, very good friend of your parents..." Sirius fumbled. Finally, he explained, "He'll be your uncle."
Harry lowered his gaze. "Like Uncle Vernon?"
Sirius held him closer, which Harry liked. "No, puppy, not at all like Uncle Vernon, I promise. Just because someone is an uncle doesn't mean they are nasty. Same with aunts. Remus-that's his name-is very gentle, very, very kind. He's very much the opposite of what your uncle was like."
That didn't sound so bad. "Do I call him Uncle Remus?"
"If you like. We both want you to call us whatever feels natural to you. If, one day, you would rather call me Daddy, you can. Or, you can stick with Sirius. Or something else," Sirius concluded. "I just want you to know that I love you very much."
Tears filled Harry's eyes. Aunt Petunia told Dudley this every day, and sometimes Uncle Vernon, but never Harry. They had made it clear for as long as he could remember that they did not love him, that he was a burden.
"No one ever told me that," he mumbled.
Sirius pressed a kiss on the top of his head. "You're going to hear it a lot from now on, puppy. From both of us."
Harry smiled. "I love you, too."
He meant it.
Remus arrived by the fireplace, which alarmed Harry, but when the man emerged, he was not on fire and did not seem to be in pain. His robes (that's what Sirius had called the odd dresses he and Harry were wearing) were dirty, but he pointed his wand at them, and the soot disappeared. Harry stared, awestruck.
Sirius chuckled at his reaction. "That's travel by floo-powder, puppy. Slower than Apparition, but faster than broomsticks."
Before Harry could ask if witches and wizards really used broomsticks, Remus had stepped forward, and Sirius hugged him. The other man hugged him back, and then they parted. Harry, a bit worried that this man might try to hug him, as well, stepped a bit closer to Sirius. His godfather must have understood, because he picked him up and held him so that he was almost at eye level with Remus.
"Hello, Harry," Remus said, softly.
"Hello, sir," Harry answered, shyly.
Remus didn't look much like Sirius, but he also didn't look a bit like Uncle Vernon. His hair was brown, with a couple of grey strands, and his eyes seemed warm. Much like Sirius' eyes, except those often seemed to laugh. Harry managed a smile at the strange man.
"Well, now, you've certainly grown since I last saw you," Remus observed, as they headed to the sitting room. "Of course, you were just a year old back then."
They sat down, and to Harry's relief, Sirius placed him in his lap. Harry easily relaxed in his guardian's arms. Sirius gave his hair a playful tousle before, very gently putting his arms around Harry.
"Sirius says you knew my my parents," Harry spoke up, still feeling shy.
Remus smiled from his seat next to them. "I did. We were all very good friends."
"What were they like?" Harry asked, turning a bit to see Sirius as well as Remus.
The two men laughed.
"Your dad was a very good friend, very loyal. Intelligent, too. Extremely brave. Also, had a knack for causing trouble," Remus added, with a bit of a laugh.
Sirius chuckled as he held Harry close to him. "That's putting it mildly. He was always in trouble. We both were!"
"With your mummy and daddy?"
"No, mostly at school," Sirius amended. "We played a lot of pranks on people, caused a lot of trouble."
"You did?"
Sirius didn't seem like the type to...but Harry had hardly known him for a day.
Sirius ran a hand through Harry's hair. It felt so nice that he closed his eyes for a few seconds.
"Oh, yes. Of course, don't let Remus fool you. He landed himself in plenty of detentions," Sirius added, still playing with Harry's hair.
"What's that? Detention?" he asked.
"That's when, after you do something really bad in school, the teachers make you complete a chore or something during your free time," Sirius explained. "It's usually really boring."
Harry nodded, then thought about it. "But you kept getting them."
Sirius chuckled, and tousled Harry's hair. "We all did. Liked causing mischief too much back then."
"You and James were very bad influences," Remus said with a smile.
"Guilty as charged. Now, who's ready for lunch?" Sirius asked. "How about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"
"I do!" Harry chirped. Then, a bit more quietly, he added, "I can help."
"Why don't you keep Remus company while I fix them?" Sirius offered, giving Harry a squeeze.
"Okay," he agreed, and crawled out of Sirius' lap.
Sirius gave his hair another tousle, which made the boy laugh, and then left the sitting room.
He studied Remus, then realized he was staring, and abruptly looked away. But this, too, might be rude, so Harry settled for looking at his bare feet. Well, he had socks on, and new ones at that, but no shoes. Sirius had said there wasn't much point in putting them on, since they were inside. If they decided to go out, they could put shoes on later.
"Do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Harry?" Remus asked, softly.
"Yes," Harry answered, looking up. "I like how the sweetness of the bread mixes with the peanut butter."
Remus nodded. "They are quite tasty."
Harry wasn't sure what to say, so he risked asking a question. "Did either of you know my mummy very well, or just my daddy?"
Remus considered, crossing and uncrossing his legs. "I knew your mother fairly well beginning in our fifth year at Hogwarts. We were both prefects that year. Do you know what a prefect is?"
Harry shook his head.
"It's a bit of a mix between someone who enforces the school rules and acts as an older sibling for the younger students. Especially the first and second year students," Remus explained. "Having never been away from home before, they may become homesick, or simply overwhelmed by the experience."
Harry paled. "The school you went to keeps you overnight?"
Remus looked perplexed, and at that moment, Sirius returned with a tray of sandwiches.
Harry, though, rather thought that he had lost his appetite.
Next up: Sirius makes a promise to Harry.