Raised by Canines {A Harry Potter fanfiction}

6. Rocking Chairs Scare Away the Nightmares

Disclaimer: All of these characters belong to the beautiful JKR!

Remus couldn't believe what had just come out of Harry's mouth, but figured he'd worry about that later. His cub was crying and, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

"Oh, Cub." He cooed, keeping a steady pace as he rocked. "Shh, Uncle Moony's here. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Harry took a few, quick, labored breaths. "N-nightmare!" He rubbed at his eyes as he started to calm down, and Remus gently nudged his little fingers away to wipe away some of Harry's tears with his thumb.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The little boy shook his head. "N-no."

"It might help." Another shake of the head. "Harry, how long have you been having nightmares?"

Harry mumbled something that Remus didn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

"E'ry night." He mumbled, albeit louder.

"And every day at nap time, I assume?"

Remus was granted a nod in response. He sighed and continued to rock Harry. "Cub, I wish you would come to us when you have nightmares. Uncle Padfoot and I don't mind and would do anything for you."

Harry sniffled. "U-uncle Vernon got mad."

"You can't help it, sweetie. There's no reason for us to be mad and we won't be." He kissed Harry's head. "Would you like to try to go back to sleep?"

Harry nodded and slumped against his Uncle, still sniffling softly. "Stay wit' me? Please?" His 'please' sounded more like 'peas' and Remus couldn't help his soft chuckle as he ran a hand through the untamable mop of dark hair.

"Of course. Just relax and try to fall asleep. I'll still be here when you wake up, Cub." Harry blushed at this, not realizing at first that Remus fully intended to rock him to sleep. He said nothing, however; he'd been wanting this since he'd seen the stupid thing but was too embarrassed about that to ask.

But, he did as Remus asked and relaxed, and then positively melted. This felt better than anything. He was exhausted, yes, but he felt safer than he'd ever felt before. He felt warm and loved, but then, that horrible feeling of guilt crept back up.

Harry did not feel as though he deserved this at all. Remus should have just left him there to cry, but he didn't. Remus should have just sent him back to bed, but instead, here he was, rocking Harry and staring down at him lovingly. Remus should have been able to have some free time, but instead, he was just going to wait with Harry until after his nap was finished.

Harry had to try incredibly hard to gulp down a fresh set of tears. He blinked blearily a few more times, the quiet, constant rocking soothing him just exactly as it had done a few years before. Within minutes he was fast asleep, no more nightmares, but no good dreams, either.

*~*~*

Remus, as promised, stayed with Harry through the entirety of his nap. He continued to gently rock the little boy as he slept, keeping an eye on the time to make sure he didn't let Harry sleep too long. He took it upon himself to implement an extra hour into Harry's nap; there was no telling how many hours of sleep Harry had been losing, and they needed to make up for that.

Harry had been doing very complicated accidental magic for a four year old--whether they liked it or not was not the issue, Dumbledore needed to be informed and that needed to be soon. Remus frowned, not knowing nor looking forward to how Sirius would react to this.