Renata was very familiar with Sirius' bold cheekiness, but she would have never anticipated him going as far as suggesting marriage, which caused her to turn even redder than before. Harry seemed to enjoy the fact that she was changing colours before his very eyes as he smiled and placed his hand on the side of her face. However, it was Sirius who was laughing at her reaction to his statement.

"Oooh, I see you were actually just thinking about it, weren't you?" he said in a teasing tone as Renata rolled her eyes and looked away, tapping her foot against the pavement.

"That's not funny," she said quietly, " I don't think marriage is something that has crossed Mr Potter...I mean, James's mind-"

"I see we're on first name basis now too," Sirius examined as he placed his hand to his chest, " the meeting with your mother must have really gone well. Maybe not for her, but you two, seem to have jumped several steps over this visit-"

"Can we get back to the original topic here, please?" Renata begged him because if she grew any warmer in the face, she felt like she was going to end up exploding. "You know, back to the wedding ring and what I'm supposed to do?"

"I already told you what to do," he replied, " you have to talk to him about it-"

"But that's going to make things awkward-"

"As oppose to right now, Renata," Sirius interjected, " it seems to me that things have already been made awkward because neither one of you will discuss this. Why do you two have to wait until you're on the verge of exploding before bringing anything up? Is this like a weird game or a secret kink-"

Renata made a scolding face at Sirius as she placed her hand over one of Harry's ears and pressed his other ear into her shoulder. He could only laugh as she took the same protective stance that James normally took with him if he managed to slip and swear in front of Harry. It seemed Harry was far off at all when he called Renata "Mummy" because she certainly acted like a protective mother.

"All I'm saying is that you two need to talk to each other, rather than always tiptoeing around things until you both can't take it anymore," he said pushing himself up and climbing down the steps to be at her eye level.  "Unless you two are sort of into that kind of thing, which judging by you standing before me asking for help, I don't think that's the case."

She could only watch as he started making his way down the pavement, away from his flat and where Renata was standing with Harry still in her arms.

"Wait, where are you going?" she called after him.

"Well, your mother has just left town, I can only assume your brother is in some needing of cheering up, right?"

He gave her an exaggerated wink which only made Renata wish that he would trip over the curb as he stepped down, but she had no such luck with that wish. However, as much as she didn't want to think of how Sirius was going to cheer up Adelmo, she didn't want her brother to alone after that visit and he definitely was in need of some cheering up.

"If you're heading over there if Adelmo hasn't done so already, can you let Enzo out of the upstairs bedroom. I had to put him up there during the visit, my mother doesn't like dogs."

Sirius came to a pause in the middle of the road, his hands pushed down deep in the pocket of his trousers before he turned to face her.

"So, she doesn't like that idea of your brother being with a man and she doesn't like dogs. That's two strikes against me, isn't it?"

It brought a smile to Renata's face as she let out a faint chuckle before Sirius disappeared, leaving her with Harry on the pavement outside of the quiet flat. She looked down at Harry, who was peering up at her with a grin before his stomach rumbled. Unfortunately, Harry's breakfast had been interrupted with the arrival of Alcina and it seemed that Sirius didn't take to feeding him throughout all the tantrums that Harry had.

"Come on, Harry, let's get you home and get you something to eat."

"Ron and Nevy?"

Harry was making his own personal requests for his friends to come over so he could play with them and since Renata and James probably needed a distraction from what had taken place earlier, she didn't see a problem with having the boys over for a day of fun.

When Renata and Harry returned to the flat, James was no longer there and Renata worried that her sudden departure without discussing things with him had led to further problems. She truly hoped that James wasn't too upset with her as that was the last thing she wanted at the time. But there wasn't even a note explaining where he had left to. Hoping that he was just out getting some fresh air on his own to clear his mind, Renata was left with the task of preparing a lunch for Harry since the morning had gotten away from them.

She also made a lunch for Ron and Neville as they anticipated the arrival of the boys. It seemed Molly and Augusta never really missed an opportunity for a playdate among the three, whether it was to have some time to themselves or the fact that they actually liked the interaction between the boys, Renata didn't really mind either. Harry always enjoyed his playdates with the two and she was always so happy to see all three of them having fun.

With the threat of rain, Renata sat outside with the three as they ran around the garden with Harry teaching them the dragon game he had played with Renata and James before. He was the dragon this time, chasing Neville and Ron around, who screamed and laughed. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Harry attempting to roar at his friends, while the tiny little legs of Ron and Neville ran about.

If they came to close to where she was sitting, she would playfully growl and snap her teeth at them pretending to be another dragon. At one point, Neville and Ron decided to hide behind a tree to catch their breath and as Harry couldn't see them in plain sight, Renata watched as he started to squint during his search. She raised a brow as her eyes followed him as Harry was on the hunt.

"Oh dear," she said to herself as she thought about all the times where she had witnessed Harry holding things very close to his face, "I think someone might be in need of an eye exam."

She made a mental note to talk to James and Adelmo about the possibility of Harry actually needing glasses, despite the fact that he was very young, he seemed to squint an awful lot and whenever he had something in his hand, he held it relatively close to his face. Perhaps he didn't need them, but it was best to be sure and it was a lot better to catch it early on his life rather than later to reduce the strain.

Finally, Harry found the hiding spot where Neville and Ron were hiding and as soon as he jumped around the trunk and roared, they all took off running and screaming. Harry went to race after them, however, the roots of the tree led to his downfall...literally.

Renata could only watch for the few seconds that it took for Harry to hit the ground and smash his mouth. The laughter immediately died down as Harry lifted his head up, revealing a bloodied mouth, as he started to cry.

Immediately, Renata was up on her feet, running to where Harry was on the ground and lifted him up into her arms to bring him inside with Neville and Ron in tow. She had him in the kitchen, unsure of where she had placed her wand at the time, but as Harry continued to cry and the blood continued to seep down his chin and stain his shirt, Renata quickly reached for a towel and placed it against his mouth gently.

It appeared as though that Harry had split his lip open, nothing major that couldn't be fixed with a simple healing spell, but she couldn't remember where she had placed her wand after they had arrived back at the flat.

She heard the front door open and James appeared to be returning, only to hear the sound of Harry crying. However, she didn't turn to face him as she continued to keep the pressure against, Harry's lip while telling Ron and Neville that everything was alright as the boys appeared to be on the verge of tears themselves.

"James," she called to him, looking over her shoulder, " I'm not sure where I put my wand at the moment, do you mind helping me here? Harry fell outside and split his bottom lip open."

While James wasn't trying to be a neglectful parent, he certainly didn't act nearly as fast as he normally did, only because he found himself in a state of shock. From where he was standing across the way, the blood from Harry's cut was extremely prominent and had stained the white towel that Renata was using. However, her hand was holding it up and she showed no signs of fainting as she motioned for him to either find her wand or use his.

Eventually, he snapped out of it seconds later, realising that his son was in pain still as Harry continued to cry. He pulled out his own wand and used the "episkey" incantation to heal Harry's lip within just a couple of seconds. As soon as the cut mended, Harry placed his fingers against his lip, while Renata cleaned him off and removed his shirt that was damp and bloodied. As fast he had started crying earlier, Harry's eyes were tear free and a smile returned to his face as he looked down at Ron and Neville.

"Yay!" Neville clapped his hands together, seeing that Harry had survived such an ordeal. However, Ron was ready to resume playing as scrapped knees, split lips, and all sorts of other injuries were so common in his household with all the boys around that he was used to it. As soon as Harry was set back down on his feet, all three of them ran off, Harry bare-chested, smacking his hands against his chest while roaring as the dragon returned.

Renata let out a small sigh of relief, glad that Harry was alright, only to turn around to see James staring at her as if she had grown two heads within the last couple of minutes.

"Ren, what happened?" he asked her and she figured he was upset that Harry had gotten hurt on her watch.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed quickly. " The boys were just playing outside and they were running close to the tree. I think Harry tripped on one of the tree roots and he fell right on his face. I know I should have had my wand on me but I wasn't thinking about it at the time. I really am sorry-"

James placed his hands on her shoulders because she was definitely missing everything that he was focusing on.

"Ren, I'm not upset about that, Harry is just fine. Children fall all the time, it's alright. But I'm talking about what happened to you? He was bleeding and you didn't...you didn't faint."

Finally, it seemed to click in her mind as her eyes met his before she glanced down at the bloody shirt on the floor and the towel that was still in her hand. She suddenly felt queasy for a second as she quickly brought herself to look up and then back at James. Although she was quite confused herself because she was actually still standing.

"I don't know," she whispered to him, " I...I...all I saw was Harry go down and when I saw that he was hurt, I didn't feel sick or faint, I just knew I had to get to him and make sure that he was alright. I wasn't scared for myself I was scared for him and I think that took over everything."

Not willing to push Renata any further than she had pushed herself in one day, James took to cleaning up the blood in the kitchen, while taking the towel from her hand and inviting her to go sit outside with the boys. He couldn't describe the fluttery feeling in his chest that had erupted from the situation because despite her phobia playing an inconvenience in her life, James could see just how much Renata cared about Harry. Blood was her fear, but it seemed she held a greater fear of Harry getting hurt that sent her to override everything else and act fast.

Of course, James wasn't happy to see it all happen at the expense of Harry getting hurt, but it was a sign that Renata could get over the fear. She just needed the right sense of motivation to get her through it and that motivation above all seemed to be Harry.

Once the kitchen area was cleaned in just a couple of minutes, James found Renata's wand on the sofa and then made his way outside to sit with her. She was keeping a close eye on the three as they continued their game as if nothing happened. As he sat beside her, he noticed that she seemed interested in the bag that he was holding in his hand leaving him to hold it out to her.

"What is it?" she asked, hesitant to take it as if something was going to jump out at her.

"Just open it, you'll see."

Doing as she was told, she reached into the paper bag and pulled out what seemed to be a good-sized photo album. On the front, she could see a picture of Lily holding Harry in her arms and just below the photo was a clear pocket that held two wedding rings. She peered over at James, feeling as though she had somewhat of an understanding, but was still confused.

"It's for Harry," James told her, " when he gets older because he doesn't understand now obviously. But that will be there for him when he's ready. He has a right to those memories and even though he won't really remember her, he'll at least know that she did play a role in his life. That she loved him and would always be there for him if she could be."

"I think that's very sweet of you, James, to put all of this together for Harry. But are you ready to part with your own ring?" she questioned, noticing his bare fingers.

"Yes, because in a way, it's always going to remain with me but it belongs to Harry now, it's part of his story, if that makes any sense. I realised that I was holding onto it out of guilt, because I felt so terrible that it didn't end perfectly with Lily as I thought it was when I was younger. Then when I thought back on it all...I realised things weren't perfect, even when I thought they were or when I fooled myself to believe they were."

"Moments can be perfect, James," Renata said, " not everything is meant to be perfect all the time, but it doesn't mean we don't have moments that don't achieve our idea of perfection. I bet you anything you consider that moment when Harry was born perfection, right?"

James smiled and nodded his head. "One of the happiest memories I hold to date," James replied, " it was perfect. He's perfect to me and I don't care if he's not perfect to anyone else."

"Well, of course, he's perfect," Renata chuckled as Harry rolled around in the grass in defeat as Neville had slained the dragon, " he takes after you, quite a bit."

It was James' turn to blush as he took back the photo album with a grin and placed it back in the bag. Renata followed the photo album until it disappeared from view before looking at James once more.

"I just hope you didn't decide to take it off because my reaction," she said quietly, "I'd never want to pressure you-"

"I did take it off for you, Ren," James admitted to her, " but I also took it off for my sake as well. I took it off for the both of us because I want to move on with my life. And I want to move forward with you. I can't find out how my story is going to go if I'm stuck on just one chapter, right?"

"That's a beautiful way of looking at it."

To James, Renata had made so many major strides in just one day's time, she had stood up to her mother, she had even stared down her phobia to help Harry, and that was just after he thought she couldn't get any more remarkable as a person. But now he was curious to see where they would go now that he was free from the guilty chains that were holding him back. He was curious to see where Renata would want to go now that she was plagued by the rulings of her mother.

He was definitely looking forward to everything that was coming next as he continued to fall in love with Renata Abate. Maybe she didn't catch that part when he was speaking to her mother, but James meant every word that he told Alcina and if she had doubts that the relationship was going to last, he was just going to have to prove the wretched woman wrong.

"Oh, I knew there was something I wanted to tell you," Renata said, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt and giving it a shake.

"And what's that?"

James felt nervous, wondering what she was going to say, maybe she had heard what he mentioned earlier and was going to bring it up. But even if that was the case, when she turned to him wearing that usual smile of hers, James suddenly found himself relaxed before she spoke.

"I think Harry might be in need of glasses."

"What?!"