Chapter 4
The rest of the day had been completely uneventful. There was a few who waved at him, making faces like they were trying to entertain a baby. When he gave them no reaction, they were quick to give up. Most ended up slightly embarrassed.
Remus almost enjoyed watching this, he would've if he hadn't known it made Harry uncomfortable. But even older Harry was socially anxious, and Remus knew this.
It was almost unnerving to see how little Harry had changed over time, but it was even more unnerving how quiet Harry was. He only spoke when spoken too, and really only asked questions. It was even more odd watching Harry interacted with people. How he pretended no one existed until they directly interacted with him. Or how he just stares at people before actually reacting to your presence.
Don't let all of that fool you though, because he definitely inherited Lily's tongue. He may look like his father, but he's more like Lily than anything. If he was more comfortable with you he'd spare niceties, preferring to inform you of your stupidity right to your face. Though, this treatment is saved for the close. Remus watched as Harry played with the lamb toy, it was akin to a wolf watching its young. (Ironic isn’t it?)
The school day was over, and Remus had a promise to keep. He was holding hands with Harry, who couldn’t have cared less, as they walked towards his office. Dumbledore, reluctantly, allowed Sirius to visit. But let’s all be honest, Remus would’ve snuck Sirius in if Dumbledore had said no. They had made it to his office and Remus opened the door slightly, peaking through the crack to see if anyone was there yet. He saw long black hair through the crack, now this could’ve been anyone, except the fact that his hair was in a messy bun, tied by a red ribbon he and Remus matched. Seeing that Sirius was there, Remus fully opened the door allowing him and Harry to enter.
“Moony!” Sirius barked excitedly, his gaze slowly drifted towards a slouching Harry. “You’ve brought Prongslet, good!” Sirius was a very energetic man, for being in his thirties. Even though Harry didn’t particularly like loud people, there was only an enjoyable loudness. Harry smiled at the unknown but familiar man, not minding the hug that ‘Sirius’ had given to him.
"I haven’t seen you in forever!” Sirius suddenly realized something was wrong and his face went from excitement to confusion. “Uh… isn’t he supposed to be a little older? Wasn’t he just thirteen?” For such an interesting man, intelligence lacked when it didn’t come to athletics or academics. For lack of better words, Sirius severely lacked common sense. Had Remus really not have informed the other man of the situation?
“About that, as you can tell, Harry has been de-aged. He’s only four now.” Remus stated as if it was a simple concept to grasp. Sirius glared at Remus slightly, who giggled in response. “Alright, stop looking at me like that. It was a potions mishap, he’ll be like this for a while.” Sirius stopped glaring, turning away to face Harry again. Smiling again, Sirius went back to talking to Harry.
His smile faltered when he had noticed Harry did not speak back, or at least not as enthusiastically. Sirius shot Remus a curious look, Remus returned it with a solemn look.
“He doesn’t speak much, it isn’t that much of an issue. We find other ways to communicate.” Remus could see slight disappointment before forgetting about it and going back to hang out with Harry.
They ended up lying on the floor, drawing something. Remus thinks he see’s flames, but who knows. Harry certainly had the art skills of a toddler, so it was hard to tell what anything on the page was. Sirius was exactly how he was before, maybe even a bit more eccentric. Remus wasn’t sure if Harry could tell, but Remus could. He could tell that Sirius was the happiest man alive now that he was able to spend a little time with Harry, Harry as a small child and not just a teen. Be a part of his childhood even for just a moment.
Remus ended up sharing some of his chocolates with the two black-haired artists. Harry was so much like his parents it was uncanny, it was almost as if Lily and James had merged before they had died. Lily’s eyes and personality, and James' body and skin. But Lily never had such dead eyes, and James had a pure smile. Harry’s eyes were a bright green, but they were dull at the same time. Like he had never seen the light before. James had a wide and toothy smile, but Harry inhabited a sharp small smile. It was almost like Harry was slightly… creepy, as much as Remus would hate to admit.
Remus thought Sirius had noticed it as well, Remus could sense an unease. Remus was actually pretty sure everyone had noticed, with the way they had all reacted.
"Remus, you alright?" Remus had snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes met worried ones. Sirius' tone proved how he was worried, if his eyes did not prove it already. "You zoned out, we got worried." Harry nodded in agreement, dropping the crayon he was holding.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Remus spoke, sifting his hand through his hair, "Why don't you guys show me what you've drawn so far?" Sirius smiled halfheartedly and nodded once at Harry. Quickly, Harry grabbed the paper and got up. A smile was on his face, such smile gave alarms through his head, but it was ignored. Harry walked over and held out the paper so Remus could grab.
It was a house, colored with a green crayon along with the blue sky and a dark green background. It looked like a campsite, from what Remus could tell from the scribbles. There was a fire after all, it was a red and yellow blob over some brown blobs. It was decent for a four year old... But very bad for a 31 year old. Remus placed a hand onto Harry's head, and ruffled his hair a little bit. Harry stood there, he tensed when Remus placed that hand on his head. Remus deducted that Harry was most likely expecting something else.
Harry had hair just like his father, curly and black. James had always prided himself in his hair, Harry hadn't. If there was one thing Remus knew about Harry's relationship with the Dursleys, is that the Dursleys hated his hair. It wasn't that unexpected, Petunia had straight blond hair along with her son Dudley. Although Vernon had thick hair as well, Harry told that Vernon had always combed it and gelled it. Petunia(and Vernon) probably had no idea had to deal with such thick curly hair and simply just decided to cut it instead of learn.
Remus decided that he would not worry about it right now, and would deal with it with the older Harry.
It took everything in Remus not to go over to the Dursleys and kill them right then and there for even mistreating Harry. But Remus knew better, he needs to know more before he chooses what type of fate they deserve.