Sirius was pleased that Harry was taking to their daily morning lessons devoted to reading and writing so well. He'd expected a resistance-or, reluctance-similar to when Harry had found out that Hogwarts was a boarding school. However, Sirius' puppy and godson took to the lessons with the same level of happiness that he took to the magic jigsaw puzzles.
"I'm surprised it's going so well," Sirius confided in Remus that October, as the two nursed mugs of hot chocolate.
Harry was taking his daily nap on the couch, something that he'd never been allowed to do at the Dursleys. That is-sit on any of their couches, or rest during the day. Harry's naps had started on his first day at Grimmauld Place, and had continued organically over the weeks, then months, that followed. Not only did Harry need them for energy, they provided plenty of time for Sirius and Remus to chat and play wizarding games on their own.
Harry was a great kid, and Sirius loved him to pieces, but he had to admit he enjoyed the breaks the resting period provided.
Remus now raised his eyebrows. "What kid wouldn't want to learn to read and write?"
Sirius let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Reg wasn't too keen on it when he saw what my dear mum, dad, and Kreacher did when I made a mistake."
"The wand whip?" Remus asked, tone softening.
He'd heard about Sirius' parents abusive-even in the wizarding world, which was hardly against physical punishment-methods.
"Once on each hand for each mistake. Twice on each hand, then on my legs, for the second. I rarely made a third," Sirius added, clenching his fists. "Mind, my cousins experienced the same methods, so I reckoned it was normal until I came to school."
Remus put a hand on top of Sirius'. "It's a wonder you didn't hate learning."
"To be fair, the Hat didn't consider me for Ravenclaw for half a second," Sirius pointed out. "The marks disappeared by the end of the day, but the lesson didn't."
Remus swore. "Some lesson."
They sat in silence for a moment. "I'd never hit Harry, you know. Even if I hadn't promised James and Lily, I still wouldn't. I don't care if spanking or some such nonsense is considered acceptable by most wizarding parents. It isn't-and besides, the poor kid's been through enough."
Remus pulled his chair out so he was sitting next to his best friend, then wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "You're doing a really, really good job, Sirius. Bloody good, even."
Sirius chuckled. "He's an easy kid. Gets scared, sometimes, and he still has nightmares, but that just makes me want to swallow him up in hugs."
"And you do," Remus pointed out.
"So you do," Sirius reminded him. "He's your pup almost as much as mine."
"Pup?" Remus asked. "You're the dog, Sirius."
"Wolves have pups, Moony. I'm sure of it. Ergo," he added, in a fake and exaggerated professor voice, "you're his pup as well."
Remus let out a small laugh.
Lessons were not the only way Sirius and Harry passed their days. They hardly even filled the mornings. Most days, they went to the park, wearing their wizarding robes, but using a charm to make them appear like muggle shirts and trousers. The charm wasn't entirely perfect, though. A muggle would see the image, but the smell would be off, and if a kid tugged on one of their robes, the picture everyone saw wouldn't be the same as if they had been wearing muggle clothes. Fortunately, kids had vivid imaginations, and if they thought something was off, their parents attributed it to that.
Sirius quickly learned that there would be practical problems with Harry having muggle friends that went beyond clothing. Parents were always arranging "play dates," and one could hardly invite a muggle to Grimmauld Place. Not only was it Unplottable, no amount of explanation could account for the overtly magical house.
He was glad that they'd forced Kreacher to banish the portrait of his mother to one of the attics before sending him to work for the Malfoy family. Let them deal with the simpering house-elf who was determined to snog his dad mum's underthings.
Yet Sirius had enough decorum to realize that you couldn't accept invitations of play dates without reciprocating the offer. He made excuses, like renovations on faulty bathrooms, and offered they get together at another location instead. This seemed to work, at least in the beginning, but muggles could be fickle, and the invitations ceased.
No, Sirius knew that what Harry really needed was some friends of the wizarding world. Kids his own age-boys or girls, it didn't much matter-who were growing up with magical parents. Not that they needed to be pure-blood. Sirius had rejected those beliefs almost the moment he'd set foot in Gryffindor Tower.
Yet, while the magical quill knew which children from muggle families would end up at Hogwarts, Sirius was hardly prone to that information. Which meant that Harry's friends needed to have at least one magical relative.
Which meant, as he often complained to Remus during Harry's nap time, they would know a good deal more about him than he did.
"Every magical kid is going to know three things before they're five," Andromeda Tonks had told him, the day after she'd taken her daughter Nymphadora ("Dora, Mum!") to Hogwarts for her second year. "First, they're magical and so is at least one member of their family. Second, a dark wizard whose name is never uttered tried to destroy the wizarding world mere years ago. Third, a one-year-old boy by the name of Harry Potter somehow stopped him and defeated him in the process."
"Every magical child before they're five?" Sirius had echoed via the floo fireplace.
His favorite cousin was not known to exaggerate, but even this seemed like a stretch.
"Every magical child," Andromeda had insisted. She ticked off the names. "Draco Malfoy's parents told him just before his fifth birthday. Daphne Greenglass' as well. Blaise Zabini. Theodore Nott. Even the Crabbes and Goyle's children know. Harry's a legend in our world, Sirius, and parents tell their children about legends early on. In fact," she added, "The Weasleys gathered all of their children around as soon as the news was confirmed. Ronald may have been too young to understand, but the twins were playing 'Harry defeats Voldemort' a mere days later."
Sirius felt his eyebrows raise several inches. "Do I want to know the details of this game?"
His cousin laughed. "They're three. They waved sticks at each other and took turns saying some variation of, 'I will kill you' before the other stares at them, and then the first falls to the ground."
Remus barked out a laugh, only to stop when Sirius glared at him.
"I'm glad you think it's funny that Harry's unintentional defeat of Voldemort is the topic of games for children," he said, with uncharacteristic sharpness.
"Would you prefer it be the other way around, Padfoot?" Remus asked, gently. "We don't know how it happened, or why, but the effect meant peace for the wizarding world for the first time since we were children."
"I just wish it hadn't come with his parents' lives as the price tag," Sirius answered, feeling a lump in his throat. "Or that fool taking away three years of his childhood with those abominable muggles."
Andromeda, who knew the full story, looked mournful. "What have you told him so far?"
Sirius sighed. "A bad man killed his parents, and wouldn't be back. Something to that effect."
It was Andromeda's turn to sigh. "That might be enough for an average five-year-old, Sirius, but unless you plan to keep him in isolation until he goes to school, it won't be remotely enough."
No.
It wouldn't be.
They'd need to have another talk with Harry, and Sirius only hoped that he could do so without triggering too much trauma.
His pup didn't deserve that.
Author's note:
Sort of a transitory chapter, I know, but they can't all contain plot or birthdays. I figure that Sirius and Remus are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to introducing Harry to other kids because what would seem like a cool story to them is Harry's history. And how do you tell a five year old that not only were his parents murdered (which he already knew, to an extent), but he's the reason this bad guy is no longer around?
They have their work cut out for them!
Up next: I'm not sure. Stay tuned and find out!