Work Text:
Sirius noticed it a few days after Harry had come home from his first year at Hogwarts. He was squinting way too much, like he had before Sirius and Remus had taken him to get him his first pair of glasses, or like James had whenever his glasses weren’t strong enough anymore.
That night, once Harry was in bed and Remus had joined Sirius on the couch with a mug of tea in his hand, he asked Remus about it.
‘Moons, I’ve been wondering,’ he started, snuggling up to his husband, ‘should we take Haz for a check-up? I think his eyes got worse.’
Remus hummed under his breath as he sipped his tea. ‘He’s been looking at things from a bit too close since he got back, sure, but you know I’m not an expert when it comes to that. Maybe we should ask him first tomorrow.’
‘He’s doing exactly what James used to do every time before Effie dragged him to the optometrist. But yeah, we’ll ask him.’ He leaned in and nuzzled Remus’ cheek before his head dropped on Remus’ shoulder. ‘Though if he inherited James’ shitty eyes, he’ll need a new pair every six month or so throughout Hogwarts.’
‘That sounds like you’re saying he’ll need a new pair of eyes twice a year,’ Remus snorted.
Sirius swatted at him half-heartedly but laughed with him nonetheless. ‘Oh, you know what I mean!’
*
The next morning, Harry settled on the carpet right in from of the television with his mug of morning hot cocoa. Sirius frowned at him, but after an encouraging nod from Remus, he decided to confront the boy.
‘Hey, Haz, aren’t you a bit too close to the screen? They say you should watch it from farther away.’
Harry looked up at him, squinting a bit. ‘I think that’s made up.’
‘Really, you can’t possibly take in the whole picture from so close.’ Sirius sat down cross-legged next to Harry, turning away from the device so the bright flashing lights didn’t hurt his eyes. ‘Do you sit this close because you don’t see it well? You’ve been squinting an awful lot lately.’
Harry shrugged and looked down into his drink. ‘I don’t know, maybe? How sharp should it be?’
‘Well, for me, it only starts getting blurry when I try to watch it from the sink. When does it get blurry for you? Can you show me?’
Harry nodded and got up, backing away a bit. He took a few steps backwards and forwards until he stopped way too close to the screen for Sirius’ liking.
‘If I go farther, the channel logos become just blotches. Is that normal?’
Sirius sighed and stood up as well. ‘Yeah, it just means your current prescription isn’t enough anymore. I’ll ask Moony to book an appointment, okay? Looks like your eyes are just as bad as your dad’s.’ He ruffled Harry’s hair and gave him a half hug. ‘Try not to sit too close to the TV, though.’
Sirius walked back to the kitchen, where Remus was just putting away the last bowl, and hugged Remus from behind.
‘He’ll need the optometrist,’ he murmured against Remus shoulder blades. ‘Will you please call them?’
‘You could do that, too. It’s not difficult,’ Remus retorted amusedly.
‘Yeah, but what if they ask some really basic question that I don’t get, and I mess up? You know the Muggles better.’
‘Fine, but you’re on lunch duty then.’ Remus twisted around in Sirius’ arms, his own snaking around Sirius’ waist. ‘And I fancy some homemade pizza.’
‘Greedy.’ Sirius tilted his head and stood on his tiptoes to reach Remus for a kiss. ‘I’ll get started right away.’
Remus smiled at him, then, after another kiss, let him go and went to their study to find the optometrist’s phone number. Sirius watched him with a fond smile, then called out to Harry, ‘Hey, Haz, do you want to help me make some pizza?’
*
Almost a month passed before Harry received his new glasses. He had chosen a similar frame to the old one: round, dark grey and made of steel. He had wanted to keep the old ones but they’d been getting too small and kind of uncomfortable, so Sirius had helped him find a similar pair a size larger.
It was also the first time his astigmatism showed itself enough to need correction, and he was still getting used to the feeling of having cylindrical lenses. The optician had told them it would take a few days to fully become used to the new lenses but to go back if Harry still felt off after a week of using them.
Sirius, of course, kept a close eye on Harry, which made Remus chuckle every time he caught his husband watching Harry out of the corner of his eye.
On the morning of his birthday, Harry stumbled into the kitchen still half-asleep, his glasses halfway down his nose. He plopped down on his chair and mumbled a greeting that turned into a yawn.
‘Morning, birthday boy,’ Sirius sing-songed as he placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of Harry.
‘Good morning, kiddo, and happy birthday,’ Remus added, flipping the pancake he was making.
Harry grinned at them, then fixed his glasses, squinting a bit before his sight became clear.
Sirius frowned.
‘Is that prescription not correct? Should we go back to the optometrist?’
Harry shook his head slightly and took a small sip of his hot chocolate. ‘Uh, no, I just need a few moments when I first put them on in the morning. But they're great and my eyes aren’t exhausted in the evening anymore.’
‘Are you sure?’
Harry glared at Sirius. ‘I’m not lying.’
Sirius put up his hands as if in surrender. ‘I’m not saying that, I just don’t know how glasses work because,’ he waved at his own face, ‘I don’t have them, so I’m just trying to make sure your glasses are good for you.’
‘They are.’ Harry smiled. ‘It’s just a bit strange with the cylinder and all.’
‘Let’s not forget his old prescription was a lot weaker than the current one,’ Remus injected from the stove, pouring batter onto the pan. ‘James was the same when he came back from winter break with new lenses in second year.’
Sirius groaned. ‘I know, but the optician said–’
‘Pads. She meant nausea and the like when she said go back if Harry still had trouble with it after a week.’
‘Which I don’t have at all,’ Harry declared, taking a large gulp of his hot chocolate to prove his point. ‘I just need to blink a few times, and then everything’s okay. And I need to blink less every day,’ he added petulantly, twisting around on his seat and trying to reach the small tower of pancakes Remus had made without standing up. Remus batted his hand away.
‘Patience, I’m almost finished.’
Harry pouted at Remus’ back. ‘Anyway, the only thing still strange about my new glasses is the colour.’
‘The colour?’ Sirius asked, flabbergasted. ‘But I thought this frame was the same dark grey as the old one.’
‘No, not the frame! The lenses,’ Harry declared, laughing into his drink. ‘This has this blue reflection, but the other one was yellowish-greenish-something.’
‘That will be because of the different lens treatment,’ Remus explained. ‘And I think these lenses are a different brand than the old ones, that could also be the reason.’
‘I liked the yellow-green better.’
‘Even with green being Slytherin’s colour?’ Remus asked amusedly as he added the last pancake to the tower and brought it over to the table. Sirius had already set the table, and now they both took their seats.
‘It wasn’t like Slytherin’s green. It was lighter and yellowish.’
‘Well, we can ask for green lenses next time, if you want.’
Harry nodded enthusiastically.
‘But for now,’ Sirius interrupted, ‘happy birthday, Prongslet!’ He drew Harry into a half-hug, then served him a pancake while Remus had his turn at embracing the boy.
‘Thank you both,’ Harry said with a wide grin and reached for the jar of Nutella, glasses completely forgotten.