Growing Up

Part 25.

Remus sat upright as he watched the reflection of the silver ring hit the ground in the morning sun. He couldn't stop staring at it. It was a beautiful silver with a hand carved moon and paw print. It was funny, he used to hate the moon and anything related to it, he used to cringe at the name Moony. Now it was impossible to get away from it, but he had such immense love for the name. He didn't care. He had a gorgeous ring, and his fiancé laying right next to him.

Sirius mumbled something and stretched, his feet nowhere close to the end of the bed as Remus' were. He was almost jealous at that.

"How long have you been up?" Sirius turned over groggily, the sun hitting his face just perfectly as it did his ring. He almost looked like porcelain.

"Just a few minutes,"

That was a lie. He had been up for half an hour. He was just consumed by everything. Sirius laying next to him, the ring on his left hand. Remus wanted to consider Harry his child, but he felt it was a disservice to James and Lily.

Speaking of, that's when Harry woke up.

"Moo-nee! Pa-foot!" Remus could hear him in the other room.

"Im going to get Harry." Said Remus, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Mhm" Sirius groaned.
"Bring him in here"

"Why? So you can go to back to sleep with company?" Remus laughed, turning back to him.

"Moony" Sirius whined as he stretched his arms behind him.

"Alright, alright."

***

"Good morning, Bambi. You're up early," He opened the door and smiled softly at the child in front of him who looked pale white.

"Bad dream." Harry mumbled, waiting at the corner of the crib.

Harry was relatively smart, he came by that naturally with Lily as his mother, but he was also smaller, which is why they kept the crib. And he came by that naturally, again, with James. He didn't grow until summer of 5th year. With Remus next to him, poor James looked like a child.

"You seem to have a lot of those lately." Remus picked him up and ran his fingers through his black hair to smooth it. He watched him sit comfortably in his arms and tuck himself into his chest.

"Man." Harry whispered.

"Man?" Remus repeated, confused. Glancing around the room at the posters, he wondered what dream Harry had, and where he might've gotten it from.

"Mama,"

Remus' face went cold as ice. His stomach about dropped his his feet as he tried to stay calm, rubbing Harry's back.

Holy merlin above, he remembers.

Remus opened his mouth but closed it again, he couldn't respond. Frozen in shock, he took a breath in shakily.

"What about Mama, Harry?" Remus asked, nervously staring at him.

But Harry never answered. He just fluttered his eyes and buried his head in Remus' chest.

He gasped shakily, biting his lip. He wanted to scream, he could feel it bubble up in his throat.

"Sirius!" It was almost a shriek. A painful awareness of what was going on, who was actually haunting him after all.

***

"I know."

Remus blinked at Sirius, who was now slouching in front of him in Harry's room

"You knew?!"

"Well, yeah. Kreacher told me"

"Oh, Kreacher told me!" Remus mocked him.  "You should've told me!! We're engaged."

"Well, they do say the first year of marriage is the hardest?" Sirius looked down.

Remus blinked, unamused.

"Okay, sorry."

Why didn't he say anything? He knew all along? These dreams are about the dark lord. People never speak of it, but when you're standing in front of him, there was just something about him that just pierced you. Took the wind out of your lungs and pierced your soul.

Remus got the chills thinking about it. James having to look up at Voldemort, shaking. His hands in the air at his shoulders as he dropped his wand, pleading for him and his family to live. This is how he imagined it from the unbearable scene he had walked into that night.

"Moony?"

He finally looked up, the ringing in his ears coming to a slow pause. He had picked a painful hangnail that he had been avoiding in the meantime.

"You alright?" Sirius asked, taking away his hand that had just snapped in his face. Remus hated this, but nonetheless it was effective.

Kreacher walked into the kitchen where him and Sirius were sitting, and it was like he was in two places at once. Suddenly, a memory came back.

"He's magical. he's magical, he's magical. he's magical."  Kreacher started to mutter repeatedly

Maybe that's what he meant.

"Moon-ee" Harry called.

Remus couldn't hear him.
"Padfoot. He's magical"

"Moon-ee!" Harry babbled from the floor of his room.

"Hold on a sec, Bambi" His glance didn't shift.

Sirius looked confused as he tilted his head. His mouth curled upward in confusion. Sirius knew he was magical, of course he was. His father was James, his mother Lily, there was no doubt the kid wouldn't have his wand glued to his back pocket as he aged.

Remus sighed in disbelief and began to imitate Kreacher, his voice becoming jagged and sour.

Sirius tilted his head back and smiled softly thinking of the memory.
"Oh yeah, That. Moony, I don't think that's what he meant-"

Before he could finish, the sound of glass shattering broke their conversation.

Both of their eyes widened at each other simultaneously before they frantically turned to see Harry. The door was open and he sat slightly out of view.

The child's laugh only a few moments later was the only moment it felt acceptable to breathe.

Meanwhile the glass lamp on the other side of the room sat in shards, the afternoon light gleaming onto it through the window.

"Bye bye" Harry whispered.

"You're on thin fucking ice, James" Sirius laughed.

Word count: 1068