Growing Up

Part 9.

As Harry's 2nd birthday approached quickly, Remus and Sirius were short on ideas for a party.

They didnt feel any better because of Lily, who would've loved to be there, and to James, who would've come up with the killer ideas.

They couldn't hire anyone because the paparazzi that slowly but surely surrounded the house would've eaten them alive with questions about "The boy who lived"

The press was a little bit better about coming around, mainly because of the "Crazy dog" they "owned". Sirius got a kick out of that.

He knew that they would stop coming around at some point after realizing they they would answer no questions about Harry.

Meanwhile, while Remus paced the room trying to think of ideas, Sirius tried to teach Harry new words.

"Book, Harry. You can do it!" said Sirius, enthusiastically.

Harry gave Sirius a sassy glare while shoving more cereal in his mouth.

"Come on Harry, you got this!"

"buh" Harry said lazily.

"Boo-k. with a K, mate" Sirius laughed.

"No pah-foo" Harry looked away.

Sirius sighed and got up from the kitchen counter and walked towards Remus, losing interest with the toddler.

Remus continued to pace the living room, his hand resting on his chin.

"Anything yet?" Sirius mumble with a full mouth from the handful of dry cereal that he grabbed from Harry's bowl.

"Well, we could have him bake a cake?" Said Remus, looking up from the ground, and staring at the very much pre-occupied Sirius.

Sirius stared at Remus with a blank expression. "He's two, Moony."

"Well if you've got any better ideas, i'd love to hear them." He growled.

Then, Sirius jumped over the coffee table, turned into his animagus in mid air, and trotted over to Harry.

"Doggy!" Harry clapped his hands together.

Remus grabbed Harry out of the high chair and put him on the ground as Sirius gently nudged the laughing Harry with his snout. he then laid next to him, belly up.

"That easy, huh." He scoffed. "He might not even remember his second birthday. We might not have to do one."

Padfoot huffed despairingly.

Remus crossed his arms "I know. We can still do something, but what? We can barely go outside anymore without the:
'The prophecy child!'
'is it hard knowing he's going to get killed?'
'are you willing to put your life in danger?'
'what school will he go to'
and so on"

Harry sat next to Sirius as he pat the dogs head.

"I have an idea," spoke Remus, walking towards the dog.

Sirius tilted his head.

"What if we take Harry to the muggle part of the city, away from everyone else, and just go shopping? More than we did before."

Sirius rubbed the top of his head with his paw.

"The scar, shit."

Harry's scar was a dead giveaway. Other than his course black hair and his piercing green eyes, anyone could see that and know who he is. "A bandaid?" Remus pondered. He walked over to Sirius and and watched him turned back.

Harry on the other hand, look astonished. He stared at Sirius with glossy eyes and was so startled, he started to cry.

"Aw, i'm sorry, Harry!" Remus giggled. "Padfoot didn't mean to make you cry."

Sirius tried to hold in his laughter as Remus walked to the bathroom to find a bandaid.

As he scrambled through the drawer for bandages, he hit a pack of tightly bundled letters.

The letters were all addressed to Sirius.

He untied the rubber band that held them together and put one behind the other.
"From: Lily   To: Sirius."
"From: Prongs   To: Snuffles"
"From: Moony   To: My love."

Remus grabbed the letters and rushed out of the quiet room, then turning to snag the box and shoving it into his pocket.

"Sirius!" said Remus frantically.

"Moony, what's up?" He whipped around to face him.

Remus held up the letters.

He made a weird face at Sirius. "You didn't tell me you had these?" he said quietly.

He was a little upset that Sirius had hidden these from him for so long. This was about all they had left of his best friends.

"Oh," He smiled. "i forgot about those"
Sirius put down Harry and walked towards him.

Remus opened the first letter from Lily. There had to be at least 40 letters in the stack.
He took the letter and read it aloud:

Dear Sirius,
Harry awoke from a horrid nightmare last night, and the only way I could calm him down was to sing David Bowie.
I blame you, spending too much time with Harry, playing him that music. I love that you two are so close.
sending all my love,
Lily.

Remus traced his finger around the small heart on the bottom of the page. Her perfect handwriting was painted beautifully on the parchment, the age wearing it down.

"i always loved that one." Sirius smiled.

Remus opened the next one.

padfoot, it is so boring here. lily and i have been sending letters to eachother, because now the OOtP has forbidden us to see eachother more then 3 times a week. god, i miss her bad, padfoot. hopefully this lets up soon. i'm seeing her tomorrow, and i'm excited to see harry as well.
and you and moony, of course! see you then!
-james.

James' letter barely had any proper grammar, aside from Lily's, which was perfect.

"That was-"

"The day before they died." Sirius muttered.

"Did they send you letters?" asked Sirius.

"Of course they did, but the ministry took them away. Said it was for 'evidence'. I cant believe you kept yours." Remus picked up Harry and held him close.

"I won't let them take them." Sirius whispered. "They've taken enough."

"Oh, hey," Remus grabbed the crumpled bandaid out of his pocket. "let's see if this works"

Remus put Harry on the couch and carefully put the bandaid over the lightning shaped scar.

"There," Remus smiled. "Perfect."

Word count: 1001