Sirius sighed heavily as he walked backwards up his newly polished hardwood staircase. He was heaving Harry's large school trunk up to the second floor with great difficulty and let out an exasperated snort.

'Why am I doing this the muggle way?!' With a quick flick of his wand, Sirius levitated the large Hogwarts style trunk up onto the landing.

He ran a hand through his curls and levitated it into the room that stood at the other end of the landing beside the next flight of stairs.

Harry's room.

It was now August 3rd and had had been a week since Sirius and Remus had their worlds completely shook. A week since Sirius cried on Moony for almost an two hours while Harry napped away his frustration- a week since he felt his heart break harder than it ever had before. He hadn't been this distressed since James and Lily died; and even that, was a completely different sort of havoc. Sirius's emotions felt like they were on overdrive. He was constantly on high alert and yelling at Remus or crying when they were alone and had barely slept in days.

"I think Harry was looking forward to helping you with that."

Remus walked up the antique staircase to meet his partner who was standing in the doorframe of their old guest bedroom; holding the railing for support as he stepped. The warning signs of the full moon were becoming more evident in Remus's weathered frame and Sirius made note to thank Severus for his wolfsbane potion. He looked forward to cuddling with him in their animagus forms and not having to keep Remus constantly in line.

"I want his room semi-ready for him when he wakes." Sirius replied and walked farther into the bedroom; feeling a bit anxious being away from Harry as he napped in case he had a nightmare.

Him and Remus had worked countless hours redoing Number 12 Grimmauld Place after he was proven innocent, and the whole house now had lost it's gothic, depressing appeal and donned a warm and bright aesthetic. Sirius honestly wanted to just burn the whole place to the ground after he was deemed a free man, but Remus convinced him to take back a bad thing and make it good again. Or rather, for the first time.

Growing up within his family was a personal hell. Sirius hated them. Hated the whole lot. Except of course for his uncle Alphard, who had given him all his gold upon running away (then was later shunned by his family for doing so) and his cousin Andromeda, who is mother to his other cousin Nymphadora, (who was born shunned). When he was small, his parents would waste no time in beating, belting and screaming at him about how much of a disgrace he was. Then when he was sorted into Gryffindor, it got even worse. And by 16, he ended up in the loving arms of Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. He never looked back. That is, until Remus convinced him to play 'home decorator' with him the previous year.

"By 'semi-ready' do you mean you're going to do the entire thing?"

Remus walked close to Sirius from where he was standing in the middle of the room and put his arms around the other man's middle; resting his chin on his shoulder as he observed the room with him. Sirius sunk into his thick brown jumper willingly.

They had made painted the guest room a dark beige and added a king sized bed; putting random plants and pictures they had bought around it. It had two mahogany nightstands at the sides and a desk by the large window. A dresser sat by the door to complete the room. Sirius wanted to set a bit of Harry's stuff up to make him feel more at home before he woke up even though he had promised the teen he could help. He didn't want Harry to exert himself too much though, hence why he already carried his trunk up. Sirius knew Harry would be adamant on doing it himself. He didn't take well to them helping or spoiling him, apparently. Harry had been super excited when they asked him to come live with them a couple days before but didn't take too well on them suggesting new décor and cool things for his room that they could buy.

"He shouldn't have to make his own room up." Sirius responded flatly, head leaning against Remus's somewhat.

"It should have been made up thirteen years ago." He added in an emotional whisper as his eyes locked onto Harry's tattered trunk that was now sitting at the end of the bed.

Remus kissed a spot below his ear.

"The important thing is he's here now. He's alive and above all he's safe. That's all we need to focus on."

Sirius nodded somewhat. He was trying to let go of his unbearable rage for Harry's sake but it had not dwindled one bit. His heart wretched at the knowledge of what his godson- James's baby boy- had endured while he had been on the run and participating in Auror work. Unimaginable guilt had been eating at him for days and he wanted to literally murder Harry's aunt and uncle even if it got him locked up. He wanted justice- wanted to see them suffer just like Harry had. But much to Sirius's annoyance, Remus was making him let the Magical Muggle Courts handle things the 'proper' way.

Severus Snape had reported Vernon and Petunia Dursley to the courts before they arrived to The Burrow and apparently one of their old friends from Hogwarts had come to talk to Harry. Her name was Wendy Nightingale and she worked as a social worker for magical children (much to Sirius and Remus's surprise, as the woman was rather flighty and cross when they had known her).

Harry had apparently left out almost every aspect about the sexual abuse but the exams Severus did on him told the story for itself. The potions master had given Wendy all the reports (after Harry had screamed at her and almost knocked a vase into her head with accidental magic) and now, it was a dire waiting game. Remus had contacted her when they arrived to The Burrow and gave access to their personal floo so she could contact them when Vernon and Petunia were arrested, but Sirius did not like waiting. It was torture. He just wanted them locked up now so the trial could start and Harry could put the past behind him.

Sirius opened Harry's trunk and began pulling his clothes out. They bought him a complete new wardrobe on his birthday due to the fact his disgusting relatives had barely given him anything to dress himself with. He walked over to the wide wooden dresser and put them in their respective drawers. Harry had already folded each garmnet, which Sirius found rather cute. They had gotten him new blue jeans, many colored chino pants (which Harry seemed to really like) and a BUNCH of new shirts when they went to Hogsmeade. It seemed like an endless battle the whole time, though; Harry was very insistent he didn't need anything from them. It depressed Sirius every time he tried to hastily put something back they suggested or tell them it would 'be cool if they got it for themselves'. 'Harry deserved the world, why couldn't he see that?' Sirius constantly thought as he fought tears.

"Love, you need to wipe that frown off your face. You've been wearing it since we arrived yesterday." Remus said as he let go of Sirius and sat down on the bed in front of him.

Sirius huffed in annoyance, throwing his hand up slightly and letting it fall back down to his side.

"Sorry we can't all turn off our emotions with the flick of our wands!" He spat. He immediately regretted it upon looking at his boyfriend's hurt expression.

"I'm sorry." Sirius breathed out, running both his hands through his hair and sitting next to him. He adjusted the sleeve of his grey dress shirt distractedly. "I didn't mean that… it's just… your more collected about this than I am. And because of that he's bonding more with you than he is with me."

Remus put a hand around his waist, rubbing his thumb gently at his hip. Sirius gazed at him dejectedly. Remus had a way with words; had a way of not letting his emotions and fears get the better of him by revamping the mental equation in his head and putting it forward to make things better. Sirius, on the other hand, was an absolute wreck. Any time Harry looked sad or defeated, Sirius would immediately try to hug him or ask him what was bothering him and it didn't usually go well; Harry just recoiled more and more from him every time. Remus though, led Harry expertly away from his fears and misconceptions as if he had been doing it all his life. But with a heavy heart, Sirius realized he had. Or maybe he learned from Lily. Either was very plausible.

"You just have to take a breath when his behaviour becomes concerning- he's obviously very afraid of letting others in, love." He brushed a stray brown curl away from Sirius's eye. "Sounds like someone you know?" He added with a knowing look.

Sirius glared at his boyfriend.

"Doesn't let others in? Puts up walls even around his loved ones? Ne-"

"Okay I get it." Sirius quipped and stood up.

"You would understand better than anyone what he's going through, Sirius." Remus took one of his hands as Sirius went to walk away.

"And if I can remember correctly it took you years to let out even some of the memories." Sirius saw his boyfriend give him a gentle expression as he rubbed his thumbs over the back of his hand.

"But I was much less traumatized than Harry is. It can't take years for him to let it out, Moons, he needs to start healing now."

Remus stood up and kissed his boyfriend on the forehead.

"He already is. You just need to let him set the pace."

Sirius let out a long sigh and turned to look around the room. Remus was right. As usual.

"So, you wanna help me drag his gifts upstairs? It's probably going to take me a few trips."

Remus shook his head.

"You know how Harry will take it if he doesn't get to help us."

Sirius pursed his lips and nodded as he put a hand on the bedpost.

"Your probably right. How about we go cook lunch for hi-" Sirius stopped upon remembering Harry couldn't eat food yet.

His birthday had gone really well until dinner time when Sirius (much to Remus's disapproval) had encouraged Harry to eat the meal Mrs. Weasley had made. He figured he was well enough to indulge in food again and that Severus obviously didn't know what he was talking about. Boy, was Sirius mistaken. Harry had made it through not even half of the meal when suddenly, he began retching out everything he just ate onto the floor. Sirius felt so guilty he began crying while cleaning Harry up; which ended up making matters worse. He just wanted him to enjoy his birthday dinner around friends and feel loved on his special day.

Remus and him had a fight later that evening about it and Sirius promised he wouldn't try to feed Harry until he was physically ready. It was hard to do that though, as Sirius's immediate instinct was to make him a meal every time he saw his thin frame. Harry wasn't anorexic, but he was damn well close. His cheekbones protruded on his face through his now sickly skin and not an ounce of muscle or fat sat on his bones. Severus informed them (quite emotionally, actually) that their godson weighed only 72 pounds.

"How about we start going over Harry's meal plans? Severus told me he should be able to keep food down by the middle of the month, but that the first weeks of food needs to include lots of protein and fibre but not a lot of meat or sugars. Maybe we can brainstorm some ideas together downstairs?" Remus suggested, looking at his boyfriend expectantly with his beautiful ocean green eyes.

Sirius nodded in response and gave him a slight smile.

"Sure." He replied, and walked idly out of the room with him to the dining room downstairs.

During the house remodel, Sirius tried to make 12 Grimmauld place look as different as possible from what it was during his childhood. He painted the whole house with warm tones; the kitchen and dining room being no exception. The kitchen walls were now rustic wood and the dining room was a calm yellow coupled with semi modern and antique tables, chairs and cabinets. It was also made to be more open as Sirius always felt his home was too stuffy. Once they were finished, he felt completely elated that he could finally walk around without constantly bumping into someone.

"Did you talk to Dumbledore about getting our positions back?"

Remus nodded as they started walking downstairs.

"He says he's needing a DADA professor this year but is still trying to find a position for you. He's going to floo us this afternoon."

"What? I wasn't a good enough coach last year?" He scoffed.

Remus turned to his boyfriend in annoyance as they walked through the new triangular archway to the kitchen; his thick eyebrows pulled together.

"You let a bunch of first years play Quidditch on their first fly."

"So?! How the hell are they going to make the teams if they don't learn early?!"

"Yeah I don't think that will be a problem now. Hooch says almost every one of them refuse to tryout in fear they'll almost die again. They were muggle-borns, Sirius. Most of them had never seen a broomstick before."

"Bloody hell- she's being rather dramatic don't you think?"

Sirius sat down in the head chair at the pale wooden dining room table that sat at the other end of the kitchen. It was hard to believe for him that his father sat in the same position only fifteen years ago. Remus took a little notepad off the counter by the fridge and a black ballpoint pen from the drawer. He then sat beside Sirius and began writing a headline at the top of the note.

'Meal Plans for Harry' was jotted down in his impeccable scrawl and Sirius smiled sadly at the parchment.

Remus was taking this new role of full-time parent by storm but he was still stuck in his growing depression and anger about it all. Of course he wanted to be Harry's permanent guardian- it was all he ever wanted since James and Lily passed- but what led him to need one was what killed the distressed wizard. Sirius knew without Harry having to tell him that he had been raped profusely by the words he cried out into the night and also the exams he was shown by Severus. 'It's not fair…' Sirius would constantly think. 'None of this is fair…'

Severus had told them that Harry was on the brink of death when Arthur found him; dying in a urine soaked broom cupboard. 'Who treats children like that?!' Sirius screamed internally while lying awake at night. He had seen evil on many, many occasions but this was by far the worst thing he had ever seen in his thirty four years of life.

"Don't worry padfoot, I'm sure they'll find a position for you. Wait- What do you think your capable of teaching?" Remus paused his movements and looked up at him curiously.

Sirius smirked.

"Anything but arithmancy- Merlin, remember how bad I was in that class?" He let out a dry laugh.

Remus chuckled, going back to writing.

"Yeah… probably should avoid Magical Theory as well…"

"Hey, I wasn't that bad at Magical Theory!" Sirius gently nudged his leg with his foot from under the table.

"Mhm hmm…" Remus mused, smiling cheekily down at the parchment he was writing on.

Sirius was excited to start teaching again and hoped to Merlin Dumbledore could find him a position. He didn't know what he would do if he wasn't with Harry at Hogwarts after everything that's happened. His godson definitely needed them both there to guide him as these next few months- hell, maybe even years- would be hell on his mental state. Sirius had seen PTSD up close and personal after the war as a lot of pub frequenters reported their doctors telling them they had it- and Harry was already exhibiting signs of it as well. What with the panic attacks, random irritability and constant nightmares that he seemed to have twice a night, he was almost waist deep. Remus and him had been talking over putting Harry in therapy but they didn't know how well he would handle that idea seeing as he couldn't even tell them what had really happened. And they were also a little wary due to the fact Harry almost assaulted his social worker.

"Hi…"

The small, sleepy voice of Harry echoed into the kitchen and Sirius's heart leaped out of his chest. His godson padded his socked feet into the kitchen rubbing his eyes tiredly as he looked to the two of them. Sirius beamed at him in adoration as he drew closer. Every time the man laid eyes on Harry, all he felt was absolute love. And then remorse. He was trying to fix that last one.

"Hey sleepy head- how was your nap?" Remus turned and smiled at Harry when he reached the table.

"Good." He responded and sat down in a chair Sirius had just pulled out for him across from Remus and beside him.

Sirius sat back down in his own chair as Remus closed the notepad swiftly. Harry looked so adorable and sleepy- his black hair sitting up in tufts just like James's used to and his yellow Chudley Cannons shirt all crinkled.

"You wanna work on your room soon? Sirius already tried to go in there but I told him that you wanted to help." Remus leaned his arms on the table and clasped his hands together loosely.

Harry nodded and gave Remus a reserved smile.

"All your gifts are still in the living room- Do you two want help carrying them up?"

Sirius and Harry both shook their heads at the same time and Remus chuckled.

"We should be good, right Harry?"

Harry nodded at his godfather.

"How about we have a cuppa first? Get that sleepy look out of your eyes." Sirius stood and planted a quick kiss on Harry's head before going over to the baby blue kettle on the stove Remus insisted they buy.

"Green, right?" He asked with his head down and shifting through their tea tin that sat on the marble kitchen island.

He saw Harry nod at him again out of the corner of his eye.

Sirius went about making tea while his boyfriend and godson chatted idly. He leaned against the counter slowly once the water began boiling; his two hands placed on the smooth white marble at either side of him. Sirius tried to push the envy that was brewing in his chest as he watched Harry laugh carelessly at Remus's jokes; wishing so badly that his godson was that free with him. He felt a little bad that he was being so envious, though; knowing how easy it was to open up to Moony and be yourself around him. When they were young, James actually got quite jealous when he found out Sirius had told Remus about the abuse he endured before him. Sirius tried to reassure James that he loved and trusted him just as much as Remus, but it was just… different with Moony. He saw him in a way no one else did; made him feel like he wasn't just a walking punchline, but a smart and beautiful man that was worthy of love.

Once the kettle boiled and the three of them were all sitting with their tea; Sirius fully took in the sight and the laughs of his boys with absolute adoration. Remus's usual collected face was light and cheery as he told Harry a story about their time at Hogwarts while leaning into the table and Harry's bright green eyes shone not with trauma, but with excitement. Remus was right; all they had to focus on now was his happiness- not the anger that festered in both of their hearts.

Sirius felt his heart swell with love as Harry snorted into his tea and got it all over his face.

'Still the cutest bundle of joy in the world.' He thought admiringly as he quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped his godson's blushing cheeks.

Remus grabbed his hand from under the table when he sat back down. Sirius squeezed it, smiling at him lovingly as their hands sat embraced on his knee. This, Sirius realized, was the simple moments he had always dreamed of having. And he didn't want them to end. He hoped to Merlin Dumbledore could find him a teaching position so it didn't have to.