It's over
When Sirius and Harry burst through the door, hands full of shopping bags, Remus was surprised to see the younger so ecstatic.
"Sirius was telling me all about the silly things daddy and you all did when you were at magic school!" Harry beamed whilst taking off his old worn-out shoes, then passing them to Sirius to chuck away. The boy unboxed his new pair of bright red converse and wordlessly showed them to the tall brunette. "And- and he was telling me how good mummy was at making all sorts of different potions! And Sirius showed me that he can turn into a dog! The dog that helped me!"
"Oh did he now?" Remus looked over Sirius, shooting him a bemused look, the latter looked back sheepishly.
"Yep! We got lots and lots of new clothes too! I'm excited to live here.. will I travel to school with you now Mr Lupin?"
"Actually, Harry, that's uh- something we need to talk about. Oh- and, please just call me Remus, or Moony. You'll be living here so I don't mind." Then Remus motioned that the ravenette should take a seat on the sofa. "You won't need to go to school anymore, and for your safety it's best that you stay home.."
"What d'you mean?"
"Well.. As you know, your parents were very powerful and could perform magic, like me, Padfoot and you." Harry nodded in response. "But.. unfortunately, someone close to us all, betrayed us and that led to your parents' death..." Remus held his breath, struggling to explain.
"What?! But- but Uncle Vernon always told me they died in a car crash!"
"Your Uncle lied to you, your mum and dad died protecting you." Sirius piped up, clenching his fists as he recalled that the younger had been told his whole life that his dad was nothing but a drunk.
"I knew daddy wouldn't kill himself or mummy... I always said so."
"Your father loved you very much, Harry. What happened to him and your mother was tragic and will forever break our hearts. It feels unfair we spent so much time with them and you so little." Remus spoke softly.
Harry hung his head low, holding back tears as his lip began to quiver. Sirius put a hand on the boy's head and combed him fingers through the matted hair. His hair wasn't simply just 'messy', it was beyond that. Almost every one of his tresses wound and woven into each other, knotted at every angle.
Noticing this, the brunette spoke again. "How about I draw you a bath and we can sort your hair out?"
Instantly, Harry's eyes widened, demeanour completely shifting; shoulders tense, worry woven into his face. "I- no.. that's okay."
"Why not bambi?" Sirius spoke calmly. The boy smiled at the new nickname they decided on whilst shopping. But his face dropped again as he began to recount his memories.
"I don't like baths. They hurt." he said simply.
"Harry, sweetie, baths shouldn't hurt." the brunette gravely spoke. Green emerald eyes looked at Remus confused.
"But- but whenever I had a bath Aunt Petunia always put my head under the water, and- and I couldn't breathe.. I couldn't- she would hold me there and then I'd cough the water up or be sick.. Then she'd do it again.. but she- she would just.. I hate baths, please don't make me.. please!" he began to hyperventilate and stutter, tears welling up in his eyes; upset and overwhelmed.
Sirius sat on the other side of Harry and picked him up, carefully, placing him on his lap whilst gently stroking the younger's head.
"Oh bambi, we won't force you at all. What your Aunt did, that should've never happened and now you're safe with us, it never will happen again."
With initial hesitance, Harry decided to lean into his Godfather's embrace, laying his head in the crook of the other's neck.Revelling in the comfort of the moment; nearly drifting to sleep. He'd not felt love like this in a long time. Remus huddled up closer to the pair, taking one of Harry's delicate hands, covered in thick red scar tissue from his previous burn, in his own rough and scarred ones.
"If- if I have a bath, please can I keep my head above the water?" he said, pulling his head away from Sirius to look at Remus.
"Of course Bambi." Remus smiled softly, "I'll go run one, now."
The tall brunette let go of the small hand and made his way to the bathroom, turning on the hot water to fill up three quarters of the bath and cold water for the remainder. He put in some bubbles and checked the temperature.
For his next bath I'll go to the shops and get some toys, it might help him relax. he said to himself, internally before calling for Sirius and Harry.
The pair strolled into the bathroom, Harry hiding behind his godfather, one hand desperately clasped onto the sleeve of the older man's shirt, The other nervously pinching at the skin on his legs, through the fabric of his oversized school trousers that he was yet to change out of. His eyes glowered at the ceramic tub, the water taunting and jeering as he began to hyperventilate.
"Harry.. Harry look at me," Sirius crouched down, "I promise you it's okay, and Moony does too. If you get in and decide it's too much, you can get out straight away. Okay?" Grey eyes met wide green ones.
"Mhm.." the smaller mumbled, "I- I'll try be brave, Padfoot."
Sirius gave a kind smile, "That's my boy. Now then, do you want to undress and get in?"
Harry nodded slightly and then spoke in a very low tone: "Don't stare too much please... I know it's bad." His two guardians anxiously darted their eyes to each other before nodding. They knew what he'd meant by that. Dubiously, he began to fumble with the buttons of his school shirt, revealing small burn scars tracing down from the back of his neck and then expanding across his entire back. Yellowed bruises littering his torso, one massive, still purpled, contusion lay across his side. The small burn marks licked across his forearms along with abrasions from being hit with a thin leather belt and its buckle.
The pair gasped solemnly, they'd never seen anything so.. so sick. Thoughts raced through their minds'. How could someone possibly be so cruel to a child?
Harry was smaller than ever, now, he'd never felt so exposed. "It didn't get this bad until a few years ago.." he started, "Uncle Vernon got really mad cos I'd always cry," the ravenette slumped his shoulders. "When I was little, he would hit me really hard or shove me out the way and I'd bruise my knees on the floor.."
The phrase 'when I was little' made Remus and Sirius wince, eyebrows knitting together; the boy was still so young to have gone through so much.
He continued to remove the rest of his clothes and cautiously padded over to the bath, stepping in one foot at a time. After he grew accustomed to the temperature, he sat down with a shaky breath.
"Good job Harry," Remus smiled down at the other, "Pads, how 'bout you start dinner whilst I sort Harry out?"
"Okay love." he gave the two a small smile then headed to the kitchen.
Remus grabbed a plastic cup from underneath the sink and then scooped up a cup full of bath water up. "Bambi, I'm just going to wet your hair now. Is that alright?" Harry gave a small nod. "Okay, close your eyes for me. That's it, good job. I'm going to pour the water now." The boy had tensed slightly but then eased up as he felt the warm water trickle off his hair and down his back. Remus smoothed the water into the black tresses then poured another cup of water on the younger's head. "You alright?"
"Mhm."
"Okay, you're doing great," the brunette comforted, laying a hand on the ravenette's back. Harry flinched slightly, but that was to be expected, the boy was already facing his fears. Both Remus and Sirius knew it would be a long road to recovery for the boy. "I'm going to use the shampoo now, ready? Okay, close your eyes again for me." he massaged the soap into his knotted locs, pear-scented suds foaming up beneath his fingers.
"I like this smell.."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah.." Harry said, relaxing under Remus' soothing touch. "...Moony?"
"Mhm."
"Thank you..."
"For what?"
".. For saving me."
"Oh Bambi.. You're more than welcome." he smiled, "Me and Sirius are so happy you're finally safe with us."
"I'm happy too.. I hope you don't think I'm pathetic, y'know because of what Uncle Vernon did to me. I know all my marks are horrid."
Remus felt his heart shatter, he couldn't stop himself from hugging the frail body, not caring that his shirt was getting wet. Instead of pushing him away, Harry returned the hug. The brunette felt his eyes grow wet, "Of course I don't, Harry. How your Uncle and Aunt, even your cousin, treated you, that- that wasn't your fault." The two separated from the embrace tears in both their eyes, the younger's lip quivering as he began to rub the tears out his eyes. Remus did the same, "Ah- look at me getting all emotional," he sniffed "Right, I'm just going to detangle your hair, I'll be as gentle as possible."
"M'kay."
Carefully, Remus worked the brush through Harry's hair in sections, washing off the shampoo when he was done. As he clambered out the bath, the brunette passed him a towel and a new pair of pyjamas, that Sirius had bought, that had been laying a the radiator. Remus frowned slightly as he noticed the size of the bed clothes were 4-5, but he'd known Harry was far too small for his age. By the time he dried himself off and changed into the fresh pyjamas, Padfoot had laid dinner out on the table.
Harry stared at his portion in awe, "Is all this for me?!"
"Of course it is, Bambi." Sirius replied, trying not to look too sullen by the thought that his godson had never had a proper meal before.
"Wow!" he exclaimed, as he took a seat at the table and eagerly tucked into his meal. Then, he paused looking shocked, dropping his knife and fork in an instant, "I'm sorry!" green eyes growing wide.
"Hm? For what?" Remus asked, concern growing on his face.
Harry quickly scurried out his chair and sat on the floor, biting his cheek, anxiously. "Uncle Vernon always said it was naughty for me to sit at the table.. I'm not allowed to do that.. and they said it was bad table manners to eat first. They always made me wait."
"Harry, we told you, you don't have to worry about stuff like that here. C'mon sit back up here with us and enjoy your food." Sirius said, offering the boy a hand to help him back at the table.
"Kay..." he paused, "M'sorry... I grew up with them telling this stuff.. It's hard to quit the habit."
"Don't worry, we understand."
They continued to eat their meal, Remus and Sirius spoke amongst themselves but Harry remained quiet. Eventually the older two loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. Seeing the younger ravenette yawning, they decided it was time for him to go to bed; it was rather late anyway, the pair would be lying if they said they weren't growing tired after the day they'd had. It had been chaos, so much had happened in the span of the last 24 hours. But in the end it was all worth it, they'd managed to get Harry out of the life of anguish he'd been living. James and Lily would been grateful for this, that they knew.
Sirius transfigured an old sofa, in the spare room, into a pristine, comfortable double bed. Remus picked Harry up to carry him into his new room, placing him gently back down on the bed.
"I know it's not much but we can start decorating tomorrow, if you want?" the brunette said.
"No I love it! Thank you, Moony, thank you Padfoot.." he beamed at the two, reaching his arms up to hug the two. "Thank you for everything." Harry whispered, tears seeping out his eyes. He'd never been so happy. From what he could remember, anyway. He was glad to have confirmation that his parents were, in fact, loving ones. But unfortunately, he'd been so young that he could hardly remember. That was okay, though, he had a new family now that could he could create happy memories with.
"Oh Bambi, there's no need to thank us. We're more than pleased you're here." Remus then Sirius kissed Harry on the head.
"Goodnight, Harry. Sleep tight." his godfather whispered before affectionately ruffling the boy's, now clean, hair. Though, still eternally messy. Just like James.. he thought, smiling to himself.
"G'night.." Harry said, a tired smile apparent on his face.
Remus and Sirius slowly made their way out the makeshift bedroom, closing the door behind them. The couple collapsed on their bed the moment they got into their own room. The long haired man lay his head on the brunette's chest, the latter twirling his boyfriend's thick dark curly tresses with his fingers.
They slowly drifted to sleep in each others' embrace; a smile gracing their faces.