It took almost another two weeks for Sirius to be let out of the St Mungo's. Arthur hadn't been able to bring Harry again, but had stopped by himself. Both Sirius and Remus were given an open invitation to the Burrow, the red haired man stopped by to key them into the fresh wards Rosie had helped him weave.
"My wife Molly has set about making a feast, I thought I should warn you." Arthur smiled slightly at the thought of his wife. "She tends to go all out with things like this."
When the day finally came, Remus brought them to the Burrow.
Even with Arthur's warning Sirius hadn't been prepared.
Even before making it to the front door the laughter of children could be heard echoing around the property. Sirius watched as several small reds chased each other around the house, two boys and a little girl.
One of them noticed the arrival of the men, stopping so suddenly the other boy crashed into him taking them both to the ground. The little girl raced to catch them, but didn't fall on top of them.
"Tag!" She shouted as she tapped one of them on the head.
"Oui! Not fair!" The tagged child cried, childish rage making his voice shake. He quickly stood up, stomping indignantly.
"Is too!" The girl yelled back. "Tell him Harry!"
Harry, still lay on the ground staring at the two men who had just arrived. He ignored the squabble of the other children, but quickly brushed himself off.
"Moony?" He questioned aloud... "Padfoot?"
Sirius couldn't help but smile seeing the stunned boy's face.
"Hey kiddo!" Sirius hollered, waving his hand in the air.
Harry's face lit up. He didn't move towards them, so Sirius decided to come to him. The man noticed Harry's hesitation, realizing he wouldn't reach out. This prompted the man to pick Harry up himself. He snuggled the kid close for a moment before he threw him lightly into the air.
The boy let out a string of giggles, smiling down at his godfather. Once back in his arms the boy hugged him tightly around the neck.
Sirius made fake choking noises at the boy's grip.
"Ah! Harry,"
The boy suddenly stopped, staring up at his uncle in worry.
"Since when are you so strong?"
The boy clearly hadn't anticipated such a reaction, it took him a moment to process it.
"I'm not strong..." The boy answered, pausing to think for a moment. "Maybe you're just weak."
Sirius did not have to fake the absolute shocked look he wore. That was something James' would have said.
He could hear Remus masking a laugh behind him.
"I think you're right Harry." Remus spoke in between chuckles. "He's still recovering, so we need to be careful with him."
Harry took Remus' words very seriously, frowning slightly at his godfather. He patted the man's head gently.
"That's okay, we'll take care of you."
Sirius' heart simultaneously melted and broke at the same time. He swallowed dryly, pulling his godson in for a hug.
"Thanks Prongslet..."
The two held each other for a moment more before the other children came up.
"Harry?" The little boy questioned, still standing protectively in front of his sister. "Who's this?
Harry quickly turned to look at his friends, wiggling out of Sirius arms.
"These are my uncles! Uncle Paddy and Uncle Moony!" The boy practically jumped up and down as he introduced his uncles.
The two other children stared up at the men, prompting each of them to take a knee.
"Hello there." Remus began, giving the two children a reassuring smile.
"Heya kiddo's" Sirius greeted a little more exuberantly.
Harry simply waited to see how his friends would react.
"I'm Ron." The young boy puffed out his chest, as if gathering his bravery. He took a step forward holding his hand out to the men. Sirius found it sort of endearing, watching the little hand shake slightly as the boy held it out.
He gently took the little man's hand, shaking it once. The action made the boy smile, giving him courage to do the same to Remus.
The werewolf did the same, shaking the boys hand properly.
The young girl tilted her head to the side, avidly watching Remus.
"You're like Harry..." She spoke, pulling the attention of all the boys.
Sirius raised a single eyebrow wondering what the little girl could be talking about.
"You've got scars..." She stated, a small frown pulling at her lips.
Remus went stiff beside him, Sirius took a deep breath in not sure how to handle this conversation.
"I do." Remus stated simply, though Sirius could tell he was also at a loss for what to do.
"You must have been very brave..." The little girl continued, startling both men.
"Of course they are!" Harry chimed in, looking up at his uncles hesitantly for a moment. "They're my uncles!"
"Yeah Ginny, of course they're brave!" Ron turned on his sister in an almost scolding manner.
The girl glared at her brother, crossing her arms in a huff.
"Why would my scars make me brave?" Remus eventually found his words, gently speaking to the young girl.
The little thing turned to him, almost in shock that he was asking her a question. She bit her lip, as if debating what to say. Remus sent her a small reassuring smile, which seemed to do the trick.
"Because you can still smile even though you've been hurt." The girl paused, looking down at the dirt in embarrassment. "Just like Harry..."
Sirius saw the impact these words had on his friend. The man stilled, letting out a slow breath as he thought over the girl's words.
"But I'm not brave..." Harry cut in, looking a little sad. His bottom lip wobbled a little.
"Yes you are!" The two siblings said at the same time, quickly coming to crowd around Harry.
"Rosie said so!" Ron continued on, "And Rosie is always right!"
The little girl nodded in agreement. Harry blushed slightly under their unyielding eyes, but he couldn't help the small smile that pulled at his face.
"Yeah, Rosie is always right..." He spoke, linking hands with the two other children.
Sirius and Remus watched the exchange. That woman must have done something to earn these children's hearts, though he understood in a way.
"What makes you say that?" The recently freed man asked, hoping to learn a little bit more about the strange woman.
The three children turned to stare at him, Harry with confusion, Ron with shock, and lastly Ginny who stared at him like he was stupid.
"Because she is." Ginny claimed.
"She took me away." Harry stated, holding a little tighter to his friends. "And promised to make me happy..."
"And she stopped Scabbers." Ron chimed in, "though she did ruin my dessert..."
The two adults listened intently.
"Why would she ruin your dessert?" Sirius quirked a small smile, sensing that perhaps this boy had a soft spot for food.
"Well... She didn't try too..." The little boy paused, kicking up a little dirt. "It was when she fell on the table."
"She fell on the table?" Remus sounded properly surprised.
"Yeah..." Ron began, "we were having dinner and Poof she was there."
Ginny nodded in agreement, quickly opening her own mouth.
"She was hurt from landing so hard... Mum and Dad had to help her, they talked all night long."
The two Marauders looked down at the children in shock.
"How would you know if they talked all night?" Ron cut off their thoughts.
The girl rolled her eyes at her brother, fluffing her hair.
"Because I needed to use the loo, and they were still talking."
Sirius' mind was spinning at this information. It only made him more curious, he wanted to know what was going on.
Unfortunately one of the older Weasley children chose this exact moment to call for the children to come inside.
The little kids quickly rushed forward, leading the way to the house. Harry had dropped the hands of his friends as they had run off. Eventually Ron stopped, turning back to stare at them.
"You coming?"
Harry looked at his uncles, waiting to see what they would say.
"Someones excited for dinner..." Sirius laughed, standing back up.
"I guess we better hurry." Remus chimed in.
They both looked down at the little boy, holding out a hand to him each. Harry simply stared at their hands for a good long moment. Eventually Sirius started to wiggle his fingers, which brought a small smile to the boy's face. He reached out, clinging tightly to their hands.
Sirius set aside the thoughts he had of the mysterious Rose Weasley, instead opting to enjoy the time he had with his Godson. He and Remus swung the young boy between them all the way leading into the house, something Harry hadn't been expecting. He laughed freely while both Ron and Ginny asked if they could try doing that later.
I've decided children are too difficult to write.
Teenagers, sure. Young adults, fine. Old people, easy enough.
But children... too much, i don't feel confident it it.