Sirius Black II
Sirius pouted as the two boys played with the very expensive toy train. It took less than ten minutes for them to play like they’ve never done anything else. It was disconcerting seeing his godson having this much fun with the son of Lucius Malfoy. It was unnatural.
He glared at Remus who was sitting with Narcissa and having a too friendly conversation. His blonde cousin was a true snake and Sirius had noticed how she’d been inserting herself into their lives through Remus ever since that blasted gathering. She and her father both. Sirius almost fainted when he received a missive from his uncle wishing to meet with Harry during yule, he had fainted when Arcturus Black entered through the floo with Cygnus Black in tow. Cygnus Black was the last person who Sirius would ever think be interested in his godson.
Remus had of course explained how Harry had wooed practically every Black on his birthday but that didn’t lessen the sour taste of having to spend the holiday with the two elder men. It was Uncle Cygnus who had bought Harry the same ridiculous toy train that he was currently playing with.
It was a week after the gathering that Remus had brought up Narcissa’s wish of letting her son meet Harry. Sirius had refused, obviously. The five months that followed was filled by letters exchanged between his lover and cousin. Sirius was still perturbed by how the brilliant Remus Lupin could have fallen for Narcissa Black’s charms. Sirius refused to acknowledge her as a slimy Malfoy, the thought of being related to one of those French upstarts made him sick.
Little Draco Malfoy had the same grey eyes and cheekbones as his mother, but the rest was all Malfoy. He looked uncannily pointy for being a toddler. Sirius had to admit though that the sight of Harry and Draco playing together was an adorable sight. He detested the fact that his godson had befriended a Malfoy but he was also happy that the child finally had a playmate.
Sirius grimaced as he realised that Harry would never let the blonde boy go now even if Sirius would forbid them from meeting again. The green-eyed boy had proved to be a true son of a marauder, and this was combined with his enormous amount of magic. Godric knows how both he and Remus tried to avoid spoiling the pup too much, they had to learn the hard way to never give in.
Harry James Potter-Black was relentless if he noticed any weakness within his guardians.
Sirius knew that Remus was worried about this, they had at first welcomed the behaviour as they thought it was a good thing that the abused boy took charge. They thought that it was proof that his time with Lily’s sister hadn’t permanently damaged him mentally. But they soon saw a pattern, the boy would get almost desperate when he was denied thing’s and not in the way that spoke of a spoiled child. They were afraid that the abuse had done more damage than previously thought. Remus had gone as far to contact healer Greengrass and he had agreed with them.
There was a possibility that Harry didn’t want to be denied because he was afraid of what that would mean, the boy didn’t want to accept the word no. Healer Greengrass had explained that it may be a coping mechanism from how the muggle’s had denied him food, care, and love. That the boy wouldn’t let anything escape his grasp now that he was safe. He did also mention that they boy was unconsciously testing them to see how far he could go before they decided to put him in another cupboard.
The only thing they could really do was to love Harry and try to set boundaries as best as they could, which was hard with a toddler who could very take down the house if it struck his fancy.
“We have to meet at least one day every week. I haven’t seen Draco having this much fun with any other child”
Sirius grimaced at this cousin’s words.
“Lucy won’t be allowed anywhere near him” Sirius sneered.
Narcissa rolled her eyes.
“I will be the one bringing our son here until you feel comfortable enough to visit the manor”
Sirius snorted.
“Which will never happen”
Remus shot him a pointed glare.
“I’m so happy that you’re here to keep my cousin grounded Remus” Narcissa said with a small smile in the werewolf’s direction. The traitor answered her with a smile of his own. “One would think that he’s a toddler with how childish he’s being” Remus said. Narcissa shook her head with a sigh.
Sirius scowled at the werewolf, the man who he shared his bed with and whom he had loved since he was fifteen. He felt betrayed by how at ease the other man was in the presence of the woman. They were behaving like the best of friends.
The animagus sighed before standing up and making his way outside, he needed an escape.
It was almost dark when Sirius entered the house again, he had been flying on his broom for hours now.
“Welcome back” Remus said drily, he was sitting on his armchair as usual. Seemingly reading a way too thick book. Sirius smiled and leaned against the door frame.
“Harry went out as a light twenty minutes ago, just ten minutes after Narcissa and Draco left” Remus said while not taking his eyes off the book.
“They stayed that long?” Sirius asked.
Remus shot him a glare before massaging his temple, Sirius frowned at the gesture. He knew that Remus had always been prone to headaches but they seemed to be more frequent nowadays.
“Head hurting again?” Sirius asked softly.
Remus clenched his jaw before answering. “Just a little bit”
“Have you seen a healer yet?”
“We both know they can’t do anything about it” Remus said tiredly with a faraway look on his face.
Sirius grimaced at his comment, it was true. The headache was correlated with his lycanthropy, Remus explained that it was quite normal to have bouts of pain as a werewolf. He had learned this during his time infiltrating Greyback’s pack. The reason behind it was a bit unclear but Remus guessed that it had something to with the strain of the full moon, it wasn’t exactly healthy to be forced to have your mind suppressed once a month.
It apparently got worse with stress and this particular werewolf couldn’t do anything but stress.
School had been stressful for a very ambitious Remus Lupin and raising Harry together with Sirius Black was even more stressful.
“Come on, let’s go and rest for a bit” Sirius said with a weak smile.
Remus was on his way to decline but decided against it at the last minute, the werewolf knew that he was exhausted.
It was twenty minutes later when Remus was slumbering in his embrace in their shared bedroom that Sirius felt at peace and let himself lose consciousness.