the story

a boy and a boy

"Are we almost there?" Harry asked from his small car seat in the back of his aunt's car, his little legs kicking excitedly as he noticed the familiar houses down the familiar street.

Lucy looked up at him through the rearview mirror with a small smile, nodding gently at his question. "Almost, bub. Uncle Moony said he was really excited to see you when I talked to him on the phone this morning," she told him, which only caused the little boy's face to light up with glee.

After a few more moments, Lucy pulled her car into the driveway of a slightly run down cottage, where a tall, skinny man stood on the porch, wrapped in a worn blue cardigan and holding a mug of steaming tea. Lucy got out of the car and got her nephew out of his car seat before setting him on the pavement, grinning widely as she watched him run as fast as he could up to the porch to see his favorite uncle.

"Uncle Moony!" he yelled out, wrapping his arms around his legs since he was too short to reach his waist. Remus smiled and chuckled a little bit, setting his mug down carefully on the banister surrounding his porch before leaning down and picking up the small boy.

"Hello, Harry!" he smiled, resting the boy on his hip as Harry wrapped his arms around his uncle's neck in an attempt to hug the tall man.

Lucy made her way up to the porch and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans, smiling a little bit as she watched the two of them lovingly.

"Guess what?" Harry asked him as he pulled back after a few seconds, grinning up at Remus, flashing his hardly grown-in teeth as he waited for his uncle to guess.

"What?" Remus asked with just as much enthusiasm, picking up his mug and taking a careful sip of his tea while Lucy opened the door for Remus and Harry to finally head inside.

"Today's my birthday!" Harry exclaimed with a smile, relishing in the fact that he seemed to know something his oh-so intelligent uncle didn't.

"Is that so?" Remus asked, setting Harry down once they were inside and closing the door behind the three of them. "Well, I suppose it's good luck that I had a present lying around here for a special eight year old, isn't it?" he smiled, grabbing a large box off the coffee table that had been wrapped perfectly with creased corners and a large bow on top of it,

Harry smiled and clapped a little bit, which his aunt simply laughed softly at, before sitting down on the couch. "Can I open it?" he asked happily.

"Of course you can," he smiled, setting the box between Harry and his aunt.

Harry didn't hesitate to tear into the silver wrapping paper once he was given the go-ahead, throwing the paper behind him and handing the bow to his aunt ("Because girls always like bows, Aunt Lucy!"). Once he saw the gift waiting for him beneath the wrapping paper, he practically squealed with joy.

"It's a toy broom!" he exclaimed, showing it to his aunt to make sure she could see it as well.

"Wow, Harry! That looks just like the one that the Gryffindor Chasers use," she told him excitedly, smiling up at Remus who looked relieved that his nephew enjoyed his present. "What do you have to say to Uncle Moony?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Harry exclaimed, wrapping his arm around his leg yet again to hug him.

Remus chuckled softly and hugged him back as best as he could, sitting down next to him on the couch. "You're so very welcome, Harry. How about you and I try to open this and see how it works?" he offered.

Harry, of course, loved the idea.

So Remus carefully opened up the box and helped Harry assemble the broom while his aunt made a cup of tea for herself, leaning against the door frame that led from the kitchen to the living room when she heard the small whirring of the broom from the next room. She smiled brightly as she noticed Harry beginning to zoom around the room as quickly as the small broom would allow him, while Remus watched from the couch with a proud grin.