Sirius continued to run a hand through Harry's hair as they waited for Remus to return. When he did, he held a new bottle of potion and a glass. "C'mon," he beckoned. "Let's get you up to bed before you take this."

Sirius hauled Harry from his corner of the couch, Harry's back protesting something fierce. Silently they made their way down the hall, past the portrait in the entryway, and up the stairs. Harry went to turn on the landing where his and Ron's room was, only to be nudged back to the stairs by Sirius who guided him up another few landings towards another room. "You can stay in our room tonight, just to make sure you get some uninterrupted rest."

"I don't want to intrude," Harry protested, only to be shushed.

"It's not intruding if I invited you. Besides, Moony and I will rest easier with you in sight, especially after this evening."

Remus hummed in agreement while shouldering the door open for them. After entering, Harry hovered close to the doorway. He watched on as Sirius and Remus bustled around the space, adding blankets and pillows to the enormous bed, gathering sleep clothes from the wardrobe, measuring out the potion on the bedside table. Harry's hands worked their way back into the hem of his oversized shirt as he pushed his back against the wall.

Remus gently pressed some clothes into Harry's hands. "Here," he mumbled, "you can borrow some of my clothes for the evening. Loo is just through there. Towels under the sink, and I can do a teeth cleaning spell once you are done." He turned back to where Sirius was studying the dosage instructions for the potion, engaging him in quiet conversation.

Harry watched for another few seconds before padding across the room and softly closing the door to the loo behind him. He paused, resting his head against the door for a moment before turning to the mirror. Clothes lay forgotten on the sink as Harry examined his reflection.

Now, Harry thought Sirius had merely been gently chiding with his comment earlier, but it had been some time since Harry could stomach really looking in the mirror for more than a cursory glance. He was almost surprised at the face staring back at him, gaunter and paler than it ever was coming back from a summer on Privet Drive. The dark circles under his eyes, now tinged with red from his crying, gave his face a sunken look. His castoffs from Dudley always made Harry look

smaller than he was, though even Harry could tell he had lost weight. He had always been fairly scrawny and he was definitely still one of the shortest boys in his year, but quidditch and full meals over the first part of term usually filled him out. The past few months at Hogwarts seemed to have done the opposite.

And really, Harry huffed at himself, he shouldn't be surprised. He knew he wasn't eating enough as he had taken to skipping meals to avoid his peers. And when he did eat he often felt horrible after, the food unsettling his stomach and leaving him in the loos heaving on his knees between classes. It seemed these new habits had begun to take their toll.

Harry turned away from his reflection, rinsing off in the shower as quickly as possible. He pulled on the clean clothes Remus had gave him, folding the sleep pants at the waist multiple times to keep from tripping. The sweater he pulled over his damp hair was a faded yellow, yarn worn thin and soft with sleeves the fell over Harry's hands. He tucked his nose into the collar and took in a scent that seemed to be a mix of smoke, chocolate, and something book-ish that he always associated with Hermione. It was remarkably soothing and Harry found himself breathing it in deeply.

Startled by a gentle knock on the door, Harry moved quickly to gather his discarded clothes. Without another glance at the mirror he slid open the door to trade places with Sirius who darted into the loo.

It was clear that they weren't in Sirius' childhood bedroom. This room was bigger and more... adult. No bikini clad woman or pictures of motorcycles covered the walls. Instead there were picture frames on bedside tables and blankets thrown over almost every item of furniture. Remus himself was tucked into one side of the bed, book open in his lap.

Harry felt incredibly out of place, not sure where he would be sleeping or where to place his clothes. So, he remained in his spot by the wall until Remus looked away from his book with a questioning glance.

"Did you need something else before bed, Harry?" he asked. Harry shook his head slowly, grip tight on his clothes.

"Well," Remus began, "you can just put your clothes on the chair over there. I suspect Sirius would rather like to get you some new ones anyway, so don't worry about them too much."

"I don't need new clothes," Harry responded while folding his clothes and placing them in a neat pile on the chair to his left.

He heard Remus let out a breath of laughter behind him. "Yes, I tell him the same thing. But Sirius likes to spend money on people he cares about. And he also loves to spend the Black money on people his family would have hated. It's just our burden to bear I guess. Best to just let him do it from time to time if you want my advice."

"Says the man who throws a fit if I buy him more than one book at a time," Sirius huffed while making his way back into the room, this time in a matching pajama set and long hair in a loose braid down his neck. He gave Harry an appraising glance. "You can just borrow some of mine and Rem's clothes for now, we can order some new clothes via owl order. I'm sure Molly can get your measurements so we can have them before you head back to school."

"You don't have to," Harry muttered.

"No, I don't," Sirius agreed, turning down the blankets on the other side of the bed from Remus. "But I want to. And you do deserve to have clothes of your own." He stepped away from the bed, gesturing to Harry, "Do you want the middle or the edge?"

"Oh, I can just take the floor." Harry winced at the incredulous looks being shot his way by both men. "Or, not, I guess." He ran a hand through his hair, "I don't want to be in the way. And, aren't I a little old to share a bed?"

"If you aren't comfortable sharing with us that's okay, Harry. We probably should've asked. But it isn't a bother to either of us. As we said, we'd rather have you close by, and this is a thing families do. Not uncommon for kids —"

"Even super, grown-up, mature kids like you," Sirius interrupted with a joking smile, just to get Remus' bookmark thrown at him.

"— to share a bed with their guardians now and then." Remus finished as if Sirius hadn't interrupted. "Up to you, but in none of the options are you sleeping on the floor."

Harry shifted in his spot, eyes darting to the floor as he managed to mumble a quick "I've never shared a bed before."

"Moony talks in his sleep and he says that I snore, but I'm fairly certain that's a lie." "It's not," Remus responded dryly.

Harry took a step towards the bed. "I mean, if you're sure..."

Sirius gave him an encouraging smile. "Completely, Haz. Middle or edge?"

"I usually like to sleep away from the door?"

"Edge it is then!" And Sirius slipped into the bed close to Remus, patting the open space next to him.

Harry gingerly lowered himself onto the bed, keeping as close to the edge as possible as he slid under the smooth covers. He startled briefly when Sirius gently tugged on his sweater sleeve, pulling him further on to the mattress with a muttered comment about not wanting him to fall off the bed. Once situated to his liking, Sirius leaned over Remus to grab a small cup of potion.

"Okay, there should be enough in here to help you fall asleep and hopefully keep the worst of the dreams away" Sirius said, passing the glass to Harry. "But if, for some reason, you do have a nightmare, or wake up, just shake one of us and we can help, okay?"

Harry nodded though he knew he would never do such a thing. They were being so kind, and he was so exhausted, that he figured playing along was easier at this point. Shifting to lean back against the headboard, Harry took the small cup and held it gingerly with his fingertips. Before he could second guess himself, he swallowed the mouthful of potion, setting the cup on the bedside table. While not as instantaneous as the last time he had the potion in the Hospital Wing, Harry quickly felt lethargy pulling on his limbs causing him to slide back down on to the pillows beneath him. He heard a soft chuckle and turned slow eyes up to look at his godfather next to him.

Sirius smiled as he gently pulled Harry's glasses off, setting them in Remus' waiting hands. Slowly he began to card his fingers through Harry's unruly hair.

Harry felt his eyes drift close, a small hum leaving his lips before he could stop himself.

"I used to do this when you were just a lad," Sirius spoke softly, hand never stopping its movement. "Only sure proof method of calming you down. Glad to see that I've still got a knack for it. You doing okay?"

But Sirius received no response as Harry was already on his way to a deep sleep, the first one after many weeks of restless nights.

--

Sirius kept brushing his hand through his godson's hair well after the boy had fallen asleep. He tracked his breathing as it evened out, watched as his muscles relaxed, saw peace settle on his face smoothing out the stress lines around the boy's eyes. He listened to Remus shuffle next to him until he settled along Sirius' back, chin resting on his shoulder. And all Sirius could think about was how much he wished they could stay like this, bottled up in this room. Safe.

"I know saying this will make me sound rather dated, but he looks so young like this, doesn't he?"

Sirius hummed.

"He's only 15, Padfoot. He's just a kid."

Sirius hummed again, leaning his weight back but keeping his gaze on Harry. "I know, Rem, I know."

"He," Remus voice was barely more than a whisper at this point, "he doesn't trust us. He doesn't understand how much we love him, does he."

It wasn't a question, Sirius knew. Remus was much too smart to be unsure after the events of that evening. He could hear the hurt pulling at each syllable out of Remus' mouth and Sirius wanted to provide reassurance to erase those thoughts from his head. But, as much as he wished otherwise, Azkaban had affected him more than just physically. Sirius didn't have the bandwidth to discuss any more about the multitude of devastating news Harry had shared with them, intentionally and accidentally. He knew they needed to, knew they had to sort out a plan before they unintentionally hurt Harry further. And Sirius was smart enough to know neither he nor Remus were emotionally prepared enough to do that yet.

Sirius pressed a kiss to Remus cheek. "I think we need to take Andromeda up on her offer of finding a mind healer."

"For Harry? I agree. He definitely should have support from someone trained in how to handle trauma. I think it'll be a hard sell to both him and Dumbledore to be frank. Though, I suppose –"

Cutting him off with another kiss, this time on the lips, Sirius responded, "Yes, for Harry. But also, for me. And, maybe, you?"

Remus' surprise was palpable. "You?" he replied. "Going to a mind healer? Willingly?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Actually, Andy suggested a squib mind healer she knows who has her own practice. Or maybe it was a therapist? You know, with the whole escaped prisoner thing, that

might be easier. And I think Harry would prefer it too. I just," and he turned back to Harry who had curled into ball on the edge of the bed, "I want to help him and I can't give him my best right now."

"Okay. I guess I should have played the Harry card sooner then."

"You need to do this too, Remus." Sirius rolled to loom over his partner. "I mean it. You heard him. This come and go shit has to stop. You're hurting him too."

Sirius absolutely hated saying those words. They felt like bitterroot on his tongue and the pain in Remus' eyes caused his own to sting. But nothing hurt as much as watching Harry turn away in resignation when Remus had stormed out of the room earlier. He may have been a shit godfather so far, but he could protect Harry from this.

"I love you, Remus Lupin. But someone has to put Harry first. He's my godson. And maybe I can't stop the war or the Toad or Dumbledore, but I can make sure that we aren't the ones hurting him anymore. Okay?"

A hand landed softly on Sirius cheek, and he leaned into it, eyes locked on Remus. "Okay," Remus replied, thumb grazing cheekbone. "I don't want to hurt him. I've never wanted to hurt him, Siri."

"I know." Sirius pressed a kiss into his palm before settling back down on to the bed in between the two. "Let's just do our best to not fuck it up this time, yeah?" Remus huffed a laugh before dousing the lights and tucking himself along Sirius' side. Sirius listened to him fall asleep, keeping his eyes on his resting godson until he too fell into the pull of a sleepy abyss.