"Hey cutiepie," he called, keeping his voice in that perfect register between casual and caring. "What's this?"
Zee turned from where she'd been watching sparrows argue outside her window. Her face lit up with mischief when she saw what he held. "Bullshit from school," she declared, then dissolved into giggles, pressing both hands over her mouth as if she could push the laughter back in. Using Harry's curse words always gave her that fizzy feeling in her tummy, like drinking soda too fast.
âHarryâs vocabulary, I assume,â he murmured.
Zee only giggled harder, clearly proud of the reaction. Remus pressed his lips together hard, the professional in him warring with the uncle who found her utterly delightful. "Why is it all torn up, sweetheart?"
She scrambled over, her socks slipping slightly on the rug. "Because Miss Marie said draw your family," she explained, jabbing a finger at the paper where stick figures peeked through the red storm. "See? Ma, Da, Harry, Zee, Elara, you and Uncle Sirius." Each name was punctuated with a tap of her finger against the crumpled paper.
Remus' throat tightened. There they were âSirius with his ridiculous hair (even in stick-figure form), himself with the scar Zee always included because "it's your special star," even Elara her stillbirth sister with little Wings on her side.
"And why did Miss Marie say it was wrong?" he asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral.
Zee shrugged, the motion so like Harry's it hurt. "She said two men together is weird." Her nose scrunched up. "But I told her you and Sirius are my uncles even though you're not Daddy's brothers, and that you love each other and that's okay because..." Here she straightened up, putting on her very serious voice, the one she used when reciting Important Things: "Love is all you need. That's what Harry said when I asked why you and Uncle Sirius kiss differently than Ma and Da."
https://archiveofourown.org/works/64919179
