Stand Against the Moon // Tomarry

Chapter 4: Three - Never Quite Perfect

"So," Sirius said once they'd settled in at the Leaky with their food, "did Petunia let you do anything fun?"

Harry considered that for a moment while nibbling at his toast. "I'm not sure 'let' is the right word," he admitted. "I may or may not have taken the opportunity to add itching powder to the laundry once, and I would hide the remote for the telly all the time, just to make Dudley search for it." Which, well, the laundry one came from that other reality, but he'd hidden the remote on Dudley all the time.

Sirius snorted. "Well, that's one way to get them back for being sorry excuses for humanity," he decided before shaking his head. "But not really fun in the way I meant. You never got to play ball or anything?"

"That assumes any ball survived Dudley for longer than ten minutes," Harry replied drily and Sirius winced. "But, no, I never really played with any toys or such. Well, I had my one soldier, and I did manage to steal some paper at one point to draw on, but the pictures got binned when Uncle Vernon found them."

Harry made a mental note to keep Sirius from ever finding out how many times he'd got a broken bone from Vernon manhandling him, because his godfather looked rather like he was thinking about joining Voldemort just for the chance to torture the Dursleys.

"What did you like to do for fun when you were my age?" Harry asked, figuring that was a good way to distract his godfather from his murderous thoughts.

Sirius gratefully took the distraction and expounded on various magical toys and games, most of which Harry had a passing familiarity with from helping Andromeda raise Teddie and spending time with the various Weasleys with children. He also mentioned the names of his cousins and brother, all of whom Harry knew, but asked about anyway, since it would have been expected.

The conversation got them through breakfast and down to Madam Malkin's. There, they were both dragged into the back, Madam Malkin insisting that Harry wasn't the only one who looked like he needed new clothing. (Which, in Harry's opinion, wasn't inaccurate, because Sirius' robes were hanging off him a little too loosely, thanks to his time in Azkaban.)

Harry's Dudley cast-offs were a little too loose for Malkin's assistant, especially since Sirius had insisted on under things for Harry as well as robes, so she asked if he'd take his shirt off. Which, well, Harry was going to have to do anyway, since there was no way he was wandering around Diagon Alley in his muggle clothing, so he shrugged and did so.

"That's an interesting ring," Sirius commented. Clearly, the Notice-Me-Not spell had worn off. It figured.

Harry reached up and wrapped his fingers protectively around his ring, trying to figure out how to explain its existence. 'Ah...' He offered Sirius an uncertain smile. "I found it in the garden. Didn't want anyone to steal it from me, so I kept it with me."

Sirius nodded in understanding. "It's certainly shiny."

Harry snorted and glanced down at the polished golden band attached to the rough black stone. "Part of it, maybe," he agreed and Sirius laughed.

Once they had robes to wear out – they'd have to come back for the rest of their order – Sirius asked, "May I see the ring? I promise I'm just curious."

Harry pulled the ring out from under his robes and stared at it uncertainly for a long moment. It wasn't that he didn't trust that Sirius would give it back, but there was a part of him that didn't want to let it out of his grasp, already too used to the familiar weight of it against his chest. Finally, he made himself tug the twine over his head and hold it up for Sirius to see.

"Not the prettiest thing, is it?" Sirius joked as he held it back down, and Harry took it gratefully. "I can resize the band, if you want to actually wear it."