As It Should Have Been

The Ups and Downs

The next weeks got better and better. Every few days Harry would play with Ron and the other Weasleys, always falling into bed bone tired after.

With Remus' and Molly's cooking, the boy started to gain weight, no longer overly skinny looking. Whilst remaining relatively quiet and reserved, usually happy with painting or reading a picture book, he became more and more happy.

Laughter and giggles no longer a rare occurrence.

The nightmares lessened to the point where Harry slept in his own bed most nights, only occasionally joining Remus. (Remus felt bittersweet about that)

In December, Christmas was a wild affair. Remus let Harry decorate the tree with self drawn ornaments that danced across the tree. Snow bunnies, reindeer to dragons with Christmas hats fluttered and jumped across the tree. The tree itself, Remus had gotten from the nearby forest with Harry wrapped in a thick coat, sitting on his shoulders. Harry had wanted a very specific tree that had already lost some needles and stood alone on a meadow. "It looks lonely!" So of course, Remus obliged.

In the morning, he woke up the boy with a mug of hot chocolate and Harry unpacked his gifts with toys upon toys with a smiling face.

Later, they had joined the Weasley for their Christmas. Harry and Remus were equally delighted by the woolen jumpers knitted by Molly. The day was spent playing in the snow and getting more snow in your shoes than Remus ever wanted.

He let his mischievous side show by teaching the oldest two Weasley boys how they would be able to enchant snowballs that were guaranteed to find and hit its target. The younger twins were watching with wide eyes, and Remus was suddenly glad they wouldn't have access to wands for another 6 years. Surely they wouldn't remember this little trick, right?

Harry even rode a broom for the first time since he was one when the younger Weasley children all received a second-hand toy broom as their Christmas gift. Molly had almost cried seeing her children's happiness, apparently having saved up for this gift for an incredibly long time.

Even beneath all of Remus' parental anxiety, at seeing Harry on a broom, he couldn't deny the boy was a natural. Remus could already see the second time "Potter" was going to be written on a Quidditch uniform.

The one time the boy fell, was to check that Remus was watching, but luckily, with the broom not flying higher than a few feet and the snow softened the fall.

Later in the afternoon, the twins tried to put a tiny gift bow onto Percys rat, but the rat hid and fled whenever he saw Remus was near. Remus wasn't concerned, animals had always deeply disliked him. Except the ones who also took the form of his friends of course. Anyways, Remus was just as happy to avoid the rat as the rat was to avoid him, the animal reminding him too much off Peter.

After staying longer than intended, the two were invited to stay, Remus insisting on taking the sofa, and despite Harry being offered Ron's room, he cuddled up with Remus. Remus didn't even care that the already limited space on the sofa was now even smaller, leading to Harrys hands ending up on his face more than once.

That night, Remus looked at the ceiling for a long time, wishing James and Lily could be here. Seeing how wonderful their beautiful little boy was. Wishing beyond desperate that they had been here, unpacking gifts with their son. Seeing their son with his first friend.

That new year, Remus knew he couldn't wish for the dead to return. But he did wish for Harry to have the best life he could with their little found family as he looked upon the fireworks in the distance and kissed the curly black hair on his lap when the watch on his arm struck midnight.