"I'll look better in a bit, after I've washed. And maybe after tonight, if I get enough sleep." Cute boy. Boy who had no idea of the world, but was so sweet and gentle. Even though he'd been treated so cruelly. "You have your mother's eyes," he told him, smiling softly. "You look a lot like both of them. And they were both brilliant. They'd be so, so proud of you."
He was sure of it. Sirius kept eating, feeding Harry whenever he was ready, but mostly eager to get food in himself too. He had been running on very little energy, adrenaline more than anything. "You get your own room with your own bed. You can pick the room, I'll pick one right next to it. Then you can come and wake me up if you need anything."
"You can pick first if you want." He didn't want to accidentally pick the wrong room so he tried to offer the option to Sirius so he could pick his own first. Just in case. He was nibbling on yet another crust, shuffling slowly down the couch during pizza time. He had gone from a cushion over to right next to Sirius, their legs touching. It was nice. He liked to be close to Sirius, he gave good hugs.
"I won't bother you in the night either. I see well." Mostly. He tried to. And if anything went wrong, he fixed it. He was good at that. "If you want to come and wake me up for anything, you can too. I can make breakfast."
"...you can make breakfast?" Sirius blinked. "But you are tiny!" Was that an insult to the boy? He didn't mean for that, but... Well. He was tiny! He frowned, running a hand through Harry's hair again, smoothing it down a little. Of course it wouldn't stay down. So much James' son. "You don't have to make breakfast. I'll take care of that."
Somehow. He didn't know how yet. "I don't always sleep so well, you know? I get nightmares a lot."
"I make breakfast for my aunt and uncle every morning unless I'm being punished. IF I'm being punished, I can't leave my room. It's boring." Harry sounded more put upon than anything, like an employee than a nephew being taken care of. "I'm bad at making bacon but my eggs are okay. Though sometimes I burn the toast because eggs you gotta watch."
He had a very serious little nod as he looked at Sirius and then reached out, holding his hand up to stroke Sirius' face. Stubbly. Beardy. "I can take care of you. If it's scary, I'll wake up and sit with you."
"Well, don't worry. I'm not gonna punish you. And I really, really hope they still haven't dug your uncle out of the ground." That wasn't even remotely enough comeuppance, but at least he felt some satisfaction at the mental image. He smiled at Harry, incredibly endeared. "You will, huh? You are a true hero."
He had no doubt about that. "Maybe you can teach me how to make breakfast. I'm pretty useless at all of that stuff."
He sighed and then closed the pizza boxes, before leaning back and pulling Harry onto his lap. "Tell you what, Harry. How about the two of us hunt down the bathrooms and then we both get cleaned up some? I bet I can find pyjamas for us somewhere in this house and I'll just magic them smaller for you."
"I can do it myself." Harry assured him, proud of how independent he was. He had to learn to be, it wasn't like anyone would do it for him. And it wasn't like he could neglect it either. Whenever he skipped a shower, his aunt would go on and on about what a dirty boy he was. He hated that a lot. "I just need a step in the shower so I can turn the water on and I can do it okay."
Leaning back against Sirius, he smiled excitedly and enjoyed the closeness. "I'll teach you about breakfast tomorrow. We can make it together. I'll teach you how to brew coffee right too."
It was all about ratios. Or so he had been lectured about before. "We'll take care of each other."
"Good deal." Sirius nodded and then he helped Harry off the sofa, holding his hand as he headed up the stairs. "I reckon the bathrooms and bedrooms will be up here."
Seemed logical to him. He liked the staircase already, since there wasn't a cupboard under it. Weird muggle customs! Sirius opened the first door, then smiled triumphantly. "Ha! Bathroom. Looks like it has all we need, right?"
There were even towels. "All right, let's keep going. You go left, I go right. Yell if you find a bedroom?"
"Okay." Harry hurried along, pushing open doors which took great effort to get open. He was a tiny boy so it involved a lot of jumping and shoving but he checked several rooms before finding one with a bed in it. "Sirius! I found beds!"
He hurried to the one next to it and managed to get it open, checking and yes, a bedroom next to it. Two together. He walked into the room and looked around, touching the sheets with interest. They were so dusty. Everything was dust.
"You found it!" Sirius caught up to Harry and crouched down next to him. "Good job!" He got his wand out again and muttered a cleaning spell, swirling it around the room so the dust flew up and then vanished with a 'pop'. Much better this way. He laughed and picked Harry up, just so he could carry him over to the wardrobe, opening it. "Lots of stuff here... You see anything like pyjamas?"
"Uhhh... that one!" He reached out and pointed at the stripey ones. "Dudley has a pair like that. I'll get them some day soon... if I go back." He wasn't sure what would happen but he'd happily never go back. He just had to be super food to make sure he got to stay with Sirius. He was going to be the best boy. "I like them when they're stripey. They're like in picture books. I've never had my own pyjamas."
"Well, you don't need to go back to the smelly place." Sirius set Harry back down and got the pyjamas out. Holding them up, he shrunk them down, until they seemed to fit better, then he handed them to Harry. "Does that look right to you? These are gonna be yours now. But we can buy better ones later."
He wanted to buy him so many things. "I got loads of money, you know? We can buy you all the toys. All of them."
"I don't need all the toys, I'm happy to be here. I like to be with you, Sirius." He was very happy, he didn't want to cost him a lot of money. And besides, he didn't know what toys he'd like. He did look at Dudley's sometimes with wanting but he wasn't sure if that was just because he was bored. "Did my dad like toys?" He was just wondering what sort of boy he should be. "Did he have a lot of them?"
"Oh yeah." Sirius nodded his head, he could assure him of that. "First time I saw his room, I thought my head would explode. He had so much stuff, the rotten bastard." He grinned, sitting across from Harry and facing him. What a tiny boy. "He loved playing around, your dad did. And your grandparents? They were aces. The best people. And they loved him a lot, so they got him whatever he wanted. But James was really generous too, you know? He always shared what he had. Really good bloke."
"He sounds really nice. I wish I could have known him." Hearing about him was exciting but it did hurt. He wanted his dad, he wanted to meet him and hug him. Same with his mom too. He missed them and he didn't even know then, barely met them. "I see them in my dreams sometimes but it's only ever the bad dream." The one in the bedroom where the scary man came and it was like lightening. He didn't like that dream. "I want to make happy memories with them. We can do it together."
"We can do it together," Sirius agreed, taking Harry's hand in his to shake on it. "I get it. It's hard for me to remember the good things too. But you are the best that they've ever made. And we will make the best of it all. That's what they'd want."
Sirius knew that for a fact. "All right. Now, what do you say we wash, change into our pyjamas and then we meet back here, so I can tuck you in? I'll tell you a good night story."
"Sounds good." Harry smiled and held out his hand for Sirius to take, knowing that they were a team and they would take care of each other. He just had to make sure that sirius would want to take care of him and then it'd all be perfect.
For now, he was happy and sage. That was all that mattered.
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He was sure of it. Sirius kept eating, feeding Harry whenever he was ready, but mostly eager to get food in himself too. He had been running on very little energy, adrenaline more than anything. "You get your own room with your own bed. You can pick the room, I'll pick one right next to it. Then you can come and wake me up if you need anything."
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"I won't bother you in the night either. I see well." Mostly. He tried to. And if anything went wrong, he fixed it. He was good at that. "If you want to come and wake me up for anything, you can too. I can make breakfast."
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Somehow. He didn't know how yet. "I don't always sleep so well, you know? I get nightmares a lot."
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He had a very serious little nod as he looked at Sirius and then reached out, holding his hand up to stroke Sirius' face. Stubbly. Beardy. "I can take care of you. If it's scary, I'll wake up and sit with you."
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He had no doubt about that. "Maybe you can teach me how to make breakfast. I'm pretty useless at all of that stuff."
He sighed and then closed the pizza boxes, before leaning back and pulling Harry onto his lap. "Tell you what, Harry. How about the two of us hunt down the bathrooms and then we both get cleaned up some? I bet I can find pyjamas for us somewhere in this house and I'll just magic them smaller for you."
Oh. "Wait. I should help you get washed, right?"
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Leaning back against Sirius, he smiled excitedly and enjoyed the closeness. "I'll teach you about breakfast tomorrow. We can make it together. I'll teach you how to brew coffee right too."
It was all about ratios. Or so he had been lectured about before. "We'll take care of each other."
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Seemed logical to him. He liked the staircase already, since there wasn't a cupboard under it. Weird muggle customs! Sirius opened the first door, then smiled triumphantly. "Ha! Bathroom. Looks like it has all we need, right?"
There were even towels. "All right, let's keep going. You go left, I go right. Yell if you find a bedroom?"
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He hurried to the one next to it and managed to get it open, checking and yes, a bedroom next to it. Two together. He walked into the room and looked around, touching the sheets with interest. They were so dusty. Everything was dust.
It made him sneeze.
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He wanted to buy him so many things. "I got loads of money, you know? We can buy you all the toys. All of them."
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Then it felt less lonely to miss them.
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Sirius knew that for a fact. "All right. Now, what do you say we wash, change into our pyjamas and then we meet back here, so I can tuck you in? I'll tell you a good night story."
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For now, he was happy and sage. That was all that mattered.