A Person
"Read....umm..." Harry thought for a second, then pointed to the wall to the right of his bed. "That one!"
Lily shuffled over to the little framed paint swatch he had pointed out and cleared her throat dramatically.
"Hey little bit." Lily read.
Harry giggled at the nickname Al always called him.
"We're all so pumped to meet you! Probably you'll have everything you could ever need or want in life, but if you can think of anything, I'm here for you. I'm trying not imagine who you will be, because ultimately that's up to you, but I do know that whomever you become will awesome. It's hard to express all these feelings in a letter but, just know there are A LOT of them. I have so many feelings about meeting you and holding you for the first time. About painting together and bead art and... just so many feelings. I really love you, little bit.
- Your Al"
"I love Al" he hummed happily as Lily laid down next to him in the bed and pulled the covers around them both. She loved that when Harry said 'Al' it still sounded more like 'Ow' than anything else. She knew it would change. He was growing up so fast... nearly three years old already.
"Al loves you. And so do I, Little Bit."
"No!" He protested, expression as serious as a three year old messy haired tot could get. "Only Al's Little Bit!"
"Oh! I'm so sorry" she chuckled, giving him a tickle. "What should I call you then?"
"You call me Harry. I call you mama."
"That works for me."
She tickled him again as James tapped lightly on the door frame.
"Room for one more?" He asked, already moving to cuddle in on Harry's other side.
The twin bed was definitely not made for three people, but it's where they often landed at the end of the day for half an hour or so while Harry settled down for the night. It was the best part of the day. Something they both looked forward to, knowing one day Harry would truly be too big to cuddle to sleep in that bed. Knowing one day in the not so distant future he would likely be sleeping in a bed at Hogwarts an hour away from them every night.
"Mama, I have a question" Harry said, mumbling as if he had woken himself up with the thought.
"What is it?"
"Is Al me aunt? Or me uncle?"
Lily turned her head slightly to look at James over Harry's head as he played sleepily with the edge of the blanket James had made him years ago.
"People don't have to be aunt or uncle, buddy" James said simply, choosing his words carefully.
Truthfully they hadn't really considered this conversation. Part of Lily had hoped that by the time Harry was old enough to ask questions, society would have caught up enough that they/them pronouns were commonplace; not something to question at all.
"But everyone else is me aunt or me uncle" he pressed. "Aunt Marly, Uncle Sirius, Aunt Emmy..." he named them off, holding out a finger for each one as if counting, and saying Uncle Sirius twice.
"That's true" Lily replied.
She was having a wordless conversation with James, both of their expressions speaking for them where Harry couldnt see. Eventually, somehow, they decided to just tell it like it was and hope he could grasp it.
"But most people see aunts as girls, and uncles as boys, and Al isn't a boy or a girl."
"What is they then mama?"
"They are Al." James added. "You can be a person without being a boy or girl. Some people are neither. Some are both."
"I'm a person" Harry said, announcing it proudly and pointing to his chest.
His words were still a little jumbled together in that way toddlers spoke that most people who didn't have kids didnt really understand.
"Yes you are" Lily chuckled.
"But I'm a boy too?"
They looked at each other again, and James shrugged.
"You can be anything you want, buddy."
"I want to be a person. And I want to be a boy." He said, doing the fake counting movement with his fingers again. "But I also want to be a princess and a dumptruck."
"Alright" James laughed. "Should we call you Princess Dumptruck then?"
Harry nodded excitedly, and they all laughed.
"Al is me Al" Harry said, the finality in his tone leaving no room for debate.
His little voice made My Al sound more like meow, and they had to hold in their laughter as they smiled at each other, each scooting up a little in the bed to press their foreheads together.
"I want to see Me Al tomorrow."
"We can probably make that happen" Lily said. "But you have to sleep first."
They gave him kisses on each cheek as they got up. Lily turned out the light and James turned on the space projector Sirius and Remus got him for his second birthday.
Harry closed his eyes and sunk down a little deeper into his pillow as they left, closing the door behind them.
"That was..." James started.
"Yea" she laughed. "It was."
*
And Al did come to visit the next day. They took Harry to the park to feed the ducks while they ate sandwiches, then stopped to compare the shiny-ness of the different rocks in the parking lot.
-
Those We Love:
(1:09pm) ALoe Vera: Harry has been calling me 'Meow' all day and I can't figure it out. Everytime I ask him he looks at me like I'm crazy and just repeats it with emphasis as if I'm really dumb.
(1:09pm) ALoe Vera: I'm starting to feel like I AM dumb! Im usually pretty fluent in Harry-speak 😭
(1:09pm) Daddy Lily: Oh my god 😂
(1:09pm) Daddy Lily: He's saying 'Me Al'.
(1:10pm) Dorky The Dragon: That's the cutest shit I've ever heard in my life.
(1:10pm) Franklin: I love that
(1:10pm) Mama James: He asked why he doesnt call you aunt or uncle and ended up settling on just calling you his.
(1:10pm) Daddy Lily: You belong to him now, apparently.
(1:10pm) Bendy: I want to be Harry's too!
(1:10pm) Babe: Don't we all, babe.
(1:11pm) ALoe Vera: Back off Ben, I will cut you!
(1:11pm) Professor: friendly reminder that my name was his first word so...
(1:11pm) Marlene: He said 'Moo'. I still don't think that counts. He could have been calling you a cow for all we know.
(1:11pm) Professor: Whatever you have to tell yourself Marls
Peter changed 'ALoe Vera' to 'Meow'
(1:12pm) Dr. Em: Can we call you meow too?
(1:12pm) Meow: No! Only Harry!
(1:13pm) Daddy Lily: 😂😂 Funny enough he almost bit my head off for calling him Little Bit last night. Only you can call him that...
(1:13pm) Poopy: Im trying real hard not to be jealous but Meow and Little Bit just has such a ring to it.
(1:13pm) Little Orphan Annie: tbh I'm still laughing about Harry calling you Poopy for a solid month Sirius😂😂
(1:13pm) Poopy: That was over a year ago! He just couldn't say Paddy yet!
(1:14pm) Mama James: Sure sure...
(1:14pm) Dorky The Dragon: Meow is the best one though.
(1:14pm) Meow: Yea. It is.
(1:14pm) Meow: Alright later bitches! Meow & Little Bit are getting ice cream ✌
(1:14pm) Poopy: That's bribery!
(1:15pm) Babe: Jealousy isn't a good look on you Poopy.
(1:15pm) Little Orphan Annie: 👆😂😂
Sirius changed 'Poopy' to 'Paddy'
Marlene changed 'Paddy' to 'Poopy.
(1:15pm) Marlene: Nope.
(1:16pm) Poopy: 🖕you guys.
(1:16pm) Marlene: pAsSsSsSs
(1:16pm) Little Orphan Annie: pass
(1:16pm) Babe: Pass
(1:16pm) Daddy Lily: pass!
(1:16pm) Dr. Em: PASS
(1:16pm) Dorky The Dragon: passssss
(1:16pm) Meow: Pass.
(1:16pm) Franklin: Pass
(1:16pm) Bendy: pass
(1:16pm) Mama James: Pass
(1:17pm) Professor: .... 👀