Scamps

Lily surveyed the boys - yes boys - in front of her. All five of them were rosy-cheeked and had dirt and grime across the knees and seats of their trousers. All save for Harry, thankfully protected by a warm woolen hat, had bits of leaf stuck in their hair and across the back of their coats. Two, specifically her son and his godfather, were missing one glove each.

"Scamps," Lily had said, unable to hide her smile.

"Aw, Lil, you wound us." Sirius pressed one hand dramatically against his chest and threw the other around Peter's shoulders. He feigned a kicked-puppy expression for good measure.

"Yes," replied Lily, nearly impervious to the Black charm. "I can tell that you are in quite a state. However do you keep from weeping?"

"It's a difficult task. I do try to keep a strong front for the little one." Sirius inclined his head towards Harry and was able to hold his somber expression for all of five seconds before grinning and planting a quick kiss on Lily's cheek as he walked by.

"And your missing mittens are…" She trailed off, obviously expecting one of them to fill in the blank.

James smiled as he kissed his wife in greeting. "Well, I believe Harry's is at the bottom of a leaf-pile somewhere, we're not sure which one, and Sirius' is caught up in a tree."

"In a tree." Lily repeated, amused.

"Yup," replied Sirius. "Stolen by a mischievous squirrel."

"Is that so?" Lily rolled her eyes at Remus, who grinned back at her and shrugged. Lily took that to mean something along the lines of, "Well, what did you expect?"

They all walked towards the sitting room to take off their coats, jumpers, hats, and mittens and pile them all across the back of the sofa to be sorted out later by Lily or Remus, no doubt.

"Something smells wonderful, Lily." Peter commented, sniffing the air appreciatively.

"With the lovely peace and quiet I was able to finish my work and had enough time to make warm cider for you adventurers. And the cookies will be ready in a few minutes."

"I haven't had cider since we were all in Hogwarts," commented Remus wistfully. "This will be quite a treat."

"You should come around more often, mate." James grinned and poked at Remus with the familiarity of long friendship. "Lily's is first-rate. Just the perfect amount of cinnamon and nutmeg."

Sirius stopped making silly faces at Harry upon hearing James comment on Remus' increasingly frequent absences from their gatherings. It was sobering to admit, but he feared that they were growing apart, despite all the promises made at the end of seventh year. Peter, too, was a hard man to track down at times. Only James and Sirius, closer than brothers, remained as close as ever before. Fun times like today, just being together and catching up, were becoming ever more rare as they grew older and the danger of the war loomed ever closer.

Sirius shook his head slightly and focused on his friends once more, shrugging out of his coat. James had taken off Harry's coat and hat, but the child had stubbornly refused to give up his only remaining bright red mitten. James lifted the child up in the air, causing him to giggle, and brought him down into a hug.

Looking over James' shoulder, Harry eyed Sirius as he chewed on his father's shirt collar.

Walking over to the pair, Sirius made a grab for Harry's nose, causing the child to shriek with glee and launch himself from James' grasp and into Sirius' waiting arms. Sirius sat down on a comfortable armchair with Harry in his lap, bouncing the cheerful boy up and down. He tickled Harry's stomach and was rewarded with a truly alarming amount of drool.

Remus offered to help Lily in the kitchen, and James propped himself against the back of the couch listening to Peter prattle on about this and that. Sirius was once again struck by how comfortable he felt in the Potter's home, always filled with warmth and light. His godson was getting a far better childhood than he'd had. One filled with warmth, love, and acceptance. Sirius was grateful for that.

Harry, apparently picking up on Sirius' mood, had sobered and sucked on the fingers of his bare left hand while staring up at his godfather. After a moment, Harry looked around briefly before settling his gaze on his mitten-covered right hand. He opened his mouth in a wide grin and grasped at the mitten, pulling it off in two tugs.

Harry held up his prize to Sirius with an, "Ah!"

"Ah?" Replied Sirius.

"Ah." This time Harry said it solemnly as he handed it over to Sirius.

Sirius accepted the gift and grabbed his own matchless mitten from the nearby sofa, showing it to Harry. "There we go," he said, voice hitching slightly. He placed Harry's much smaller mitten inside his own large black one. "Now they aren't lonely. They've a match."

Harry didn't much care that they weren't the same size or color, nor did he really understand the meaning of the word "lonely". He simply knew of a job well done and grinned up at Sirius. He clapped his hands and drooled enthusiastically onto Sirius' knee.

**

A few weeks later, while sorting through Sirius' effects, Remus came upon the black mitten placed on a bookshelf near a picture of a smiling Harry at his first birthday, chewing on the points of one of the silly party hats that Sirius had bought and insisted that everyone wear during the celebration.

Remus pulled down the mitten and stared at it in his hand for a moment. He felt the bump in the material and, reaching inside, pulled out the small red bit of wool that was little Harry's mitten.

That was when Remus finally broke down. He crumpled to the floor of the flat and cried, alone but for two abandoned mittens.