Growing Up

Part 21.

Remus grabbed the bag full of party decorations they had gotten a few days ago and poured it onto the table, smiling with a big grin. He ignored the pain in his joints, never complaining about it. It made him feel old, although he had struggled with it since he was fourteen.

It was a couple streamers, party hats, garlands, and a cake that was sitting in the refrigerator.

They set up for the "party", Sirius fooling with the streamers with Harry and Remus actually putting up the decorations.

After a few minutes they sat down for breakfast. Remus had some toast with marmalade and Sirius had some of Harry's cereal. Remus couldn't stand the cereal Harry loved. As much as he used to like sweets, he couldn't eat them anymore. That does exclude chocolate, of course.

Sirius crept up to Harry's door to check if he was asleep, Remus behind him. They quietly giggled as they opened the door, expecting a sleeping child sprawled in his crib.

The door cracked open revealing Harry, out of his crib and on the ground, playing with a toy train.

"What the-"

Harry looked up at the two, toy train in his hand. He smiled wide and crawled on his hands and feet towards them.

"Buddy, what are you doing?" Sirius walked into the room and knelt down.

Harry rocked with excitement, slamming the the train on the floor.

"What's today, bud? Do you know?" Remus stood over Sirius with his hands on his shoulders.

"Wha?" Harry asked, a grin plastered on his face.

"It's your birthday, dude! How old are you now?"
Sirius held up three fingers, and Harry quickly did the same.

"Let's go, mischief!" Remus picked up Harry and walked him out to the parlor, where his decorations hung messily on the walls. It wasn't perfect, but he was only three.

Harry started to laugh. In fact, he laughed so hard the light above began to flicker, and stopped as Harry stopped.

Sirius paused and blinked at Remus, stunned. His eyes shifted from Remus to the light, then back.

"You see that too?"

"I did!" Remus shouted excitedly. "He's magical!"

Remus pressed his finger gently into Harry's chest. "You're magical!" and kissed his forehead.

"Moonee! Moonee!" Harry squealed.

"What, bambi?"

"Bir-day!" Harry couldn't pronounce his "th" sounds quite yet, so the absence of it altogether had to work.

"Birthday!" Sirius scooped Harry up out of Remus' arms and set him in his highchair in the kitchen. Sirius grabbed the cake out of the fridge and set it on the table, Harry reaching for it with his tiny hands.

"Absolutely not!" Remus shouted across the room, fooling with the uneven garland.

Both of their smiles faded as they watched.

"You will not have cake for breakfast,"

Sirius laughed at Harry mockingly and opened the container, his fork advancing towards the icing.

"You too, Padfoot." He hissed.

His laugh faded into an "Aw, damn" as the cake slipped back into the fridge.

"Breakfast, then cake. especially for Bambi"

"Bambi." Sirius smiled "I like it. It's cute."

"Well, we don't have another nickname, do we?" Remus sat on the chair next to Harry while picking up leftover cereal with the spoon and bringing it to his mouth.

"Evidence that James finally banged Lily,"

Remus choked with laughter. That was a very Sirius thing to say.

"Yes, but we don't go around calling him that."

"Then Bambi will have to work." His gaze leaving Sirius' to Harry's smiling at him.

"Guess it will," Sirius walked over with two mugs in his hand. His full of tea, and Remus' with warm black coffee.

"Thank you, love"

"Yep, you'd mess it up anyway."

The corners of his lips turned downwards at Sirius.

"Probably true." He shrugged.

"Moon-ee!" Harry from his chair reached.

"Wanna sip?" He asked. "What do you say?"

"Please?" Harry whispered.

"Good job, bud." Remus stuck the mug in front of him, and when he tried it, his face went sour.

"No?

Once Harry swallowed the small sip in his mouth, he mumbled, and then went back to his breakfast.

***

The day had passed, and it was late afternoon. Sirius started to feel bad that he had no friends at his "party".

"Pads, the kid's only three"

"I had friends when I was three!"

"You had Regulus."

"But still!"

The two went back and forth for a while, until Remus remembered something. Another reason to push in his face.

"Well, you know how he could make friends?"

Sirius turned, attentive.

"If we took that job that Minerva gave us!"

Sirius sighed and looked back at Harry.

"I'm so scared for him. Something is going to happen."

"Nothing will happen." Remus assured him.

They watched in silence as Harry waddled around outside, playing with the toys he had opened.

"He's playing with trains, He's doing normal kid things!"

Sirius gave a wicked grin, his eyes glimmering with troublesome anticipation.

"Speaking of normal kid things-" Sirius paused, getting up from the chair he was previously slouching in. "Harry! Wanna play with the cake?!"

"Sometimes I feel I have two children." Remus muttered, following the two of them inside.

***

"Goodnight Bambi," Sirius whispered closing the door with a squeak. He frowned at the noise and pulled out his wand, muttering an incantation. The glimmering spell shot out of his wand to the hinge and soaked into the metal.

"What a day," Remus grabbed a can out of the fridge, opening the tab slowly as to not let it bubble over.

"Want one?"

"Muggle beer?" Sirius sat on the couch, spreading out and laying his head back.

"Muggle beer." Remus mocked him under his breath.

He tossed a can to Sirius and sat down on the couch next to him.

"Hey," Sirius started, grabbing a book off the table and putting it into Remus' hands.

"Read to me." 

"Sirius, you know I hate reading out loud-"

"Yeah, but your voice is just so hot, Moony." 

Remus sighed and patted his lap as to summon a small child.

Before he knew it, Padfoot moved into his lap, laying his snout on Remus' chest. Remus ran his fingers through his fur, alas, reading out loud as Sirius suggested.

Word count: 1043