Hydrus, trying hard not to laugh at the little boy trying to be a man, picked Harry up and shushed him from snapping at the other child. "Let your Uncle Padfoot take care of this. They're his family," he whispered in his nephew's ear. The boy nodded and they sat and watched the byplay.
Sirius glared at his little cousin, disappointed at his behavior. He then turned to his older cousin and said, "Cissy, how lovely to see you. I didn't know young Draco was riding adult brooms, how careless of you, dear cousin."
"Sirius," Narcissa greeted with a regal nod. "I assure you that Draco does not ride anything but a child's broom. Draco, apologize at once for you awful manners," the tall blonde woman snapped at her child.
"Sorry," came the insincere apology. The boy looked downright miserable at having been chastised in front of people. His mother never did that before, so it made him wonder who these people were to make her act so strangely.
Narcissa, not wanting Sirius to be offended, said, "I do apologize for my son, he usually is not so ill mannered. I will make sure that he sees the error of his ways." Once more sending a cutting glare at her son. He had been taught better than this. She had hoped with the death of her husband he would not be so forward, but her social circle was filled with Pure-blood women and spoiled children. He must have picked up that mannerism from one of the older boys.
"How are you doing, Cissy?" he asked for politeness sake, ignoring the pouting child.
"As well as can be expected, I suppose," she said airily.
"Well, it was nice to see you, however, we must be getting our errand done," the youngest Black said dismissively.
"Will you not introduce me to your friends?" she said softly. She knew who they were; they had just never actually met. She was hoping to get on her cousin's good side by making the acquaintance of the Mudblood and the Boy Who Lived. Sirius could pull her from the family for her son's slight, and while the Malfoy name carried a good deal of money and prestige, the Black name carried more and while Sirius was childless Draco stood a chance to inherit. She damned Arcturus for giving this Gryffindor the position of family head so soon.
"No, I don't believe I will. Perhaps another time, when young Draco has learned some manners," he said once more snubbing the widow. He had warned her to keep Draco under control, but judging from his behavior today, that wasn't happening. He would have let it go, were it not directed at Harry.
"As you say," Narcissa sniffed and turned away. "Come, Draco, we will return later." And with that they left the store, Draco complaining the entire time.
"Why was he so mean, Uncle Padfoot?" Harry asked, looking to where the two had stood, wiggling to get down.
"Well, sometimes people are just mean," the dogman said awkwardly, not really sure how to explain that to a child.
"But, why? Shouldn't everyone be nice?" the green-eyed boy asked, though he did remember there were not nice kids at the daycare center. There was that one girl who always fought over crayons, and that one boy who would try and take his snacks. But the teacher said everyone should be nice, was she wrong?
"Yes, everyone should try and be nice, but, Prongslet, people are different. Not everyone is a good person," Hydrus tried to explain as he set the boy down and knelt to his height.
"But, why?"
"Because if everyone was the same, the world would be boring," the immortal said, standing and patting the child on his ever-messy head.
"Oh," Harry said thoughtfully. He didn't like being bored, so that made sense. Then he turned back to the brooms, dismissing the whole scene.
There were three brooms to choose from, each progressively went to a higher altitude. The first was ten feet, the second was twenty and the third was thirty. Hydrus, knowing he had been a natural flyer, was hemming and hawing on the one that went thirty. He was trying to be a responsible adult, but he also wanted Harry to enjoy the air as much as he did. In the end responsibility won and they got the one that went ten feet.
They paid for the broom and went home. Taking Harry into the back yard, they decided to start in the sandbox.
"Okay, Harry, put the broom on the ground next to your foot," Sirius said and watched the child follow that order. "Now, hold your hand over it like this," he said, showing his hand just off to his side, palm down, fingers spread and waited for Harry to copy him, correcting him only a few times. "That's right, good. Now, say 'up'."
"Up," little Harry said and the broom jumped to his hand, making him beam with pride.
"Very good. Now, put your leg over the broom and just sit there a minute," Sirius said and then showed him where his hands needed to be. "Good, now, gently kick off." Keeping his hands near the boy in case he fell. The other two men with their wands ready for the same reason.
"Very good, Harry," Remus said proudly as the broom rose about four feet.
"Yes, well done," Hydrus added his praise.
The boy smiled at all his uncles.
....
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