It Meant Family

1st of September 1984

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Author Ernest J. Gaines

Grimmauld Place 12, London, England

Harry couldn't go anywhere in the wizarding world until he had received his Hogwarts letter, places like the Hogsmeade village, or the Diagon Alley were far from his reach. However, being raised by Remus and Sirius, he knew a lot about them. He had learnt about famous sorcerers, magical creatures and all the beauty from his world, but he had also learnt about its darkness, its prejudices and the so-called "pure" bloodlines.

Even at a young age, he was amazed at how two worlds could be so different and yet so similar. Muggles discriminated against people for the colour of their skin and wizards for the blood in their veins. Maybe, he wondered, hate, fear and judgement weren't muggle or wizard things, but simply human things. And because of them he had also been taught, from the moment he stepped foot outside for the first time, how to keep a secret.

"Are you excited for your first day of school, cub?" Remus said while dressing him in the uniform that Sirius had gotten made for him, they fitted the boy perfectly, not one centimetre too big or too small. It was very different from the clothes Remus had worn to school, there were no long robes or pullovers, but it was also very similar, with trousers, white button ups and neckties, he thought it looked very sweet in the little boy.

"What if I forget the secret?" he asked as he played with a stuffed wolf he'd gotten for his birthday the year before.

"You are not going to forget it, Harry." Sirius stood by the door frame admiring the scene with a smile.

"Papa," the boy ran, jumping in his arms "renny help me, d'you like it?" He nodded with a smile, holding Harry tightly.

"You'll be alright lad. Just don't talk about Moony." Sirius tried to pretend that asking Harry to lie to his classmates about his home life didn't hurt him, but his boyfriend could see the ache through the way his eyes flickered and through the shaky undertone in his voice.

"But he's my ren," the boy whined "why can't I tell people he's family?" Remus waved them over to where he was sitting on the floor and they joined him, he picked Harry up, turning the kid to face him. When Remus and Sirius had told him that no one could know about magic and their relationship, the marauders had hoped he wouldn't ask why and until that day, he hadn't.

"A lot of people," Remus started "both muggles and wizards," he added, hopelessly trying to fix the kid's hair "believe that boys can only love girls and girls can only love boys," Harry looked uncertain "so they say that people who don't fit that idea don't deserve to have or be a family."

"But why matters for them who you love?" The boy looked genuinely confused. "Why they care?"

"Because people are often afraid of what they don't understand and what they perceive as different." Remus patted Harry's head still in another hopeless attempt to flatten his hair, in that moment he remembered James and thought about how much easier the boy's life would be if his father was there. Something flashed through Remus chest, he felt guilty for how much he loved that family, as if he had stolen something from his friend, but he tried to talk himself out of it, by thinking that this is what James and Lily would have wanted, for Harry to be raised by people who loved him as much as they would have.

xXx

When they went down for breakfast that morning Harry was uneasy from their conversation, he ate with a very angry and rather adorable expression. He was so occupied with his thoughts about the injustice his family was subjected to that, at one point, he knocked his glass over leaving Kretcher soaking in his pumpkin juice. Much to Sirius' frustration, the elf cleaned himself quickly, but the incident left everyone in a better mood, laughing at the creature's rageful expression.

Muggle London, England

On the way to the school, Sirius admired muggle London, he was always amazed by how the magical society slipped through the cracks and made an appearance in the most unlikely places, he liked to see the contrast of the modern muggle buildings next to the much more ancient wizard ones. Ever so often, Harry would point out - quietly, so the taxi driver wouldn't hear it - a muggle reacting to the hidden magic, having goosebumps or looking twice at a wall, certain they had seen someone walk through it.

Around Harry's school there were no glimpses of magic, it would require a long walk through a purely muggle London for any wizard to reach the boy, which gave his guardians a great, and maybe false, sense of security. When they walked into the building, Harry gripped Sirius' hand tightly, his backpack hung a little lower than it was supposed to, but he would grow into it. Sirius trembled as a kid ran onto his leg.

"I'm sorry" a woman said when he turned around to see the child, she was tall and had really long brown hair, her skin was almost as white as Sirius' and her clothes semi formal "I'm Cassie Rennie, this is my daughter Ollie" the little girl smiled wide and waved exited at Harry.

"I'm Sirius Black." He shook the woman's hand politely and gave his godson a little nudge.

"I'm Harry," he stuttered shyly "Harry Potter." Ollie took the boy's arm and pulled him towards a playground a few metres away.

"C'mon" she called.

"Bye papa" he said, sounding much happier with his new found friend. The woman looked at Sirius with a very familiar expression, the kind that wanted to ask something she knew was not appropriate.

"He's my godson," he beat her to it "I raised him". He smiled with pride and pain in his eyes and maybe anyone would've understood what he meant, or maybe it was Cassie's personal story that allowed her to read between the lines. She let the urge to ask more subside and gave him a kind smile in return.

"Well," she said after a long awkward silence "I have to get going, I have work". Sirius nodded, thinking about all the nothing he had to do at home. They both went out the door, Cassie got into her car and drove away while Sirius walked, once he got far enough from the school and the only person in sight was an old lady feeding pigeons, he apparated home.

xXx

Author's Note: I didn't want Harry to refer to Remus nor Sirius as his fathers or dads because I think they would have preserved that title to belong to James, but they still are his paternal figures. Ren or renny is the gender neutral term for paRENt, it also goes well with Remus!