As It Should Have Been

The Weasleys

Remus had dragged himself into bed around 3:00 am, bone tired from spell work, but he had finally figured it out. Sleep overcame him seconds after his head hitting the pillow.

Only three hours later, he awoke from the rustling of bedsheets. He groaned then opened his eyes, only to be met by the smiling face of Harry Potter.

Accepting that this was now his fate, Remus got up with a long groan. He went through his and Harrys new routine of getting Harry out of his night diaper and into the new clothes Mary had got form him. Then, still in pajamas, he carried Harry down the stairs and whilst the boy started with his first playing session of the day whilst he prepared their breakfast.

It was after the boy was fed that Remus brought his attention to the papers they had painted together the day before. Harry looked at them, happy faced.

"Look, I have a surprise for you!" Remus said, sitting down on the couch. He lifted his wand and pointed it at the papers. The fairies started to move, fluttering around the pages.

Harry was delighted. He squealed and looked in awe at the pictures, the moving faeries. Remus' heart filled with love. The hours spending time to research the spell used for magical paintings was definitely worth it.

The faeries interacted with Harry, winking at him and showing of their scribble colour wings, fluttering and flying in loops around the page.

The two of them spend the rest of their day making drawing after drawing until Harry had an entire gallery wall of moving creatures on his bedroom wall. Remus chose some for himself to hang next to the mantel piece.

After Harry had been put to bed, Remus looked around his living room with glee. Nothing of the old rotten cottage was visible anymore. The was organized chaos, colour and life.

For the the first time, Remus felt like he could do this.

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Later that week, the first full moon of their arrangement approached. It was to Remus' horror, that the moon fell onto Halloween. Remus had done his best to keep his grief to himself when looking at James' face with Lily's eyes.

But even the day before, the usual uncomfortable feeling was weighed down by the knowledge of the time that had passed.

It had been two years since Remus had lost everything. He was at war with himself about what to do with Harry. Should he tell him what Halloween meant for their small family?

Harry had been getting better at asking questions about his family. Remus had felt a jolt every time, but done his best to answer. He had copied more photos for Harry, all of them now gathered on the boys nightstand.

But he had yet to talk about the way his parents died. Harry was only three, Remus told himself. He just came out of a horrible environment, he didn't need that darkness in his life. In the back of his mind, Remus knew that there was also selfishness involved. Remus didn't think he could talk about their death without breaking down yet.

So on the morning of Halloween, Remus woke Harry up, trying desperately to ignore his aching bones. He packed a bag for Harry, then sat the boy down over breakfast.

"Harry, how do you feel about meeting other wizards today? There's a boy your age who wants to play with you." Remus said.

Remus had decided with Dumbledore not to tell Harry at this point about his condition. Not only might it be frightening to the boy, but he also wouldn't know not to talk to visitors about this issue. He could blab it out with his child innocence.