Remus stroked Sirius’ fur. It was a rare treat for the scruffy man to transform these days, he doesn’t exactly enjoy being treated like a dog…well, he does enjoy the headpats, belly rubs and “good boy”s but the whole flea part was just too much of a hassle to deal with. On top of that, in the muggle world there were a ton of animal catchers that seemed to secretly be ninjas or something, Sirius had been catched more than once at this point and it was starting to feel awkward whenever he had to turn back and knock from inside the vehicle in order to be let out.

He was lucky that the ministry had become more loose with their punishments over the peaceful years, he’s probably one of the main reasons so many modern english citizens believe in/know about werewolves and shapeshifters.

James sat back with the two, his stare focused on a rather suspicious acting man. 

Severus had been acting constipated ever since dinner and James couldn’t grasp why, they didn’t exclude him during conversation so why was he acting like such a neglected sour puss all of a sudden? Part of him wants to ask but another doesn’t wanna set a bomb off.

Things were finally getting normal again with his family and his fights with Lily had been slowing down significantly ever since Harry had begun speaking again. The boy might not speak many sentences, but just saying more than one word per day was such a relief.

It was still a mystery as to why Harry suddenly seemed…comfortable again. It happened shortly after the night they let Snape babysit.

“...Sev, what’d you wish for christmas?” James addressed the long haired man. “Shut up.” He got in response. James narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Excuse me for trying to be nice-”

“I said SHUT. UP.” Severus nearly yelled, finally turning around to face James after almost thirty minutes of staring out the window. “Don’t talk to me unless you finally reveal what happened to him.” James shrunk back, Remus had done the same. Sirius groggily awoke, raising his fluffy head with surprise at the sudden noise. “Despite what you may think, I am not naive.”

James grasped the couch tightly. “...What’s it to you, I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Correct, you don’t have to.” Severus said while walking closer. “But if necessary, I will force it out of you.” The two dark haired men stood close and scowled at each other challengingly. “How long has it been since you last fought, Potter? Haven’t been able to wave a wand much ever since family life…”

James let out a sharp chortle, pushing Severus back with his palm. “Please, if you’re trying to scare me you’re doing a pretty crappy job, Snivellus.” He traced his hands across the other man’s shoulder before grasping at his long locks and pulling his head close enough that his and James’ nose touched. “You’re still nothing but a bookworm, I could literally rip you to shreds even without my wand.”

Remus put Sirius to the ground and stood between the two men. “Settle down you two, Lily is trying to put the boy to sleep and your nonsense fight will keep him from rest.”

Severus turned his view from James to Remus. “Fine then, if you’re too much of a coward to speak I’ll ask him .” He took a deep breath and with absolute focus asked a question that he probably wanted to ask for weeks but never found the courage to while Lily was still around. “What happened between Pettigrew and Harry?”

Sirius let out a growl that slowly transformed into a whine. He shook his body and began transforming back into his humanoid form. “That’s not for you to know about.” He said, taking a stand next to James.

“Don’t you think I know that?! This stupid mystery is driving me crazy!” Severus practically screeched. “All these…You’re making it seem like…” Severus clutched his arms together and averted his former determined stare. “He’s the only one who didn’t arrive, none of you have even mentioned his name and Harry shows signs of…”

“Signs of what?” James asked. “Signs of what?! Go on, you probably already know the truth.”

“...I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want it to be the truth, Potter.”

James’ face softened, he realized the man was not trying to push his buttons. He turned away and punched at the wall, hard enough to leave a mark. “Dammit…Dammit!” He continued throwing his fist against the plaster.

“James, please…calm down.” Remus said with a half broken voice.

“This is not something I like to revisit, Remus, you know that.”

“Then you must also know that this topic was inevitable.” Remus argued. “We couldn’t just pretend like what Wormtail had done- That it never happened.” Remus’ breath became heavy and with his head lowered, “Peter he…he hurt Harry.”

“Odd word to describe rape.” Sirius suddenly said, James had almost thrown both of his fists for speaking the word. “What? It’s true. Being vague about it just makes it sound less worse than the actual act. That piece of shit used our trust…abused James’ and Lily’s trust…Fuck…”

Severus dug deeper into his arms until his nails penetrated the skin, small drops of blood coated underneath his fingernails. He had the suspicion, Harry’s behavior had been so distant yet begging for attention of sorts, he seemed so scared of everyone yet begging for love from anyone. Severus tried to convince himself that it could’ve been literally anything else; a developmental issue, shyness, just his standard personality…

The boy is barely tall enough to climb the stairs correctly. Whenever he chews his food he looks like a chipmunk. He was so small…So innocent…To think he was even smaller when he…

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my damn fault.” James whimpered. “Why did I ignore him, why did I let him just- just get away with it for so long…” Sirius took the man into his arms, stopping James from speaking any further. “It is NOT your fault, it never will be. Peter was the one who-” Sirius spoke, when suddenly his eyes widened.

“You should leave.” Lily said in a neutral tone. “It’s getting late.”

Sirius’ mouth shut instantly and his lips tightened. He looked over to Remus who looked absolutely exhausted, like he hadn’t slept for a month straight. He nodded towards Lily’s direction and grabbed Sirius’ hand as they walked past her. Sirius couldn’t look Lily in the eyes.

Severus moved to walk too, but Lily stopped him. She looked at the man with an unreadable expression. “No, I need to talk to you.” Lily looked over to James and silently directed him to follow along as well.

The three walked upstairs, heading to the direction of Harry’s room. She pushed the door slightly ajar and made the men look through the gap. On the bed lay a young child, drooling onto a plush while deeply asleep. Lily wouldn’t let the men turn away, silently forcing them to continue watching.

“What do you see?” Lily asked in a hushed voice. James wouldn’t answer, still focused on the boy. Severus couldn’t answer, his throat suddenly feeling tight. “I see a boy who is happy.” Lily spoke, her voice still quiet. “A boy who likes caramel candy. A boy who waits everyday for the snow to melt so the bugs can return to our garden. A boy…who is slowly becoming a child again.” James turned his eyes away finally, noticing tears had stained Lily’s cheeks. “Please…don’t ruin this. He is not… we are just not ready. Maybe Harry will be just fine, just…” Her voice trailed off. “Sev, ever since you came he’s been getting better.” Severus startled at the mention of his name, almost forgetting that the couple was still here. “I beg you, don’t make things worse again.”

“...I’m sorry.” His throat felt like he had been choked. Severus wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for, messing with their private business? Bringing up a topic they didn’t want to revisit? Maybe he just…felt sorry for them.

Harry mumbled something in his sleep and his eyes slightly opened, just enough that he could spot Severus who had leaned furthest into his room. Shortly after, his tired eyes fell closed again.