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“Dinosaurs?”
“Dinosaurs,” sighed Frank. “They're—er—”
“I know what dinosaurs are. Big beasts,” Sirius spread his hands theatrically, “that inhabited this poor planet before humans and wizards. Maybe the ancestors of dragons, or maybe they were dragons. I'm more surprised you know about them.”
“Hey, I went to Muggle Studies too! And if I remember correctly, they're still among us. Birds are dinosaurs as well.”
Sirius rose his eyebrows. Frank coughed.
“Someone in kindergarten brought an encyclopedia, and here we are.”
Sirius whistled.
“Readings worthy of a true pureblood heir. Your mother must proud.”
Frank hissed and turned back to the bar. Sirius chuckled and finished a bottle of butterbeer in one gulp.
“Anyway,” Sirius interrupted the silence caused by Frank's thoughts about his beloved mother, “are you sure Alice wouldn't mind if James and I gave Neville a dinosaur?”
“No,” Frank grumbled.
“Okay,” Sirius said. “Red and gold?”
Frank smiled.
“If you can find one, Black. But we'll be happy with anything, even cardboard.”
The toy store is full of plastic and smells of roses. The saleswoman smiles wearily at them.
“We need dinosaurs,” James announced. He smiled as if he knew that even if their plan failed, they would still come out on top.
The saleswoman pursed her lips and shook her head.
“They've taken it apart, but there are still some construction toys left. Maybe you could use this?”
James asks to see. The corners of his mouth turned down a little, but his eyes were burning like fireworks.
“We came for a present for Neville,” Sirius whispered. “A soft toy, Prongs. He's five.”
“That doesn't stop us from looking at the presents for you,” James whispered back and winked.
Sirius' collection has been expanded with new Lego sets.
They found the dinosaur on the first day of the Christmas market in Godric's Hollow. An old woman had tied a bunch of colourful and diverse toys, among which James noticed a lizard that looked like a dinosaur.
“That's perfect! Just like in the picture,” James said. “This one has crests, and this one has horns. Let's take two.”
Sirius couldn't refuse James. His love for their friends' children outweighed even his love for Quidditch, and Sirius… He admired every aspect of James, without exception.
They took plenty of toys and lace napkins, for which they received a portion of Grandma's tears and advice to visit another lady for a secret recipe for gin.
“Can't believe my eyes! Where did you get those horrible creatures? He'll definitely like them. It's a well-known law—Marlene confirmed it, so don't even think about arguing with me—the uglier the toy, the more likely it is to become his favourite. Oh, this wine? How sweet of yours.”
Alice led them into the living room, where Neville—a rosy-cheeked child with a love for all animals, including snakes—was showing off his collection of chocolate frog cards. He liked the dinosaurs. Frank gave them a sceptical look; Alice silently went into the kitchen to pour the wine.
“We should have got those Pokémon, they would have been good for him. Dinosaurs and cardboard—two in one, what's not a gift?” James whispered.
Sirius smiled.
“So I didn't buy them for nothing, did I?” said Sirius. James turned and stared at him with eyes that were golden in the lamplight. Sirius took out several bags—damn plastic—with pictures of strange monsters. “I was curious. Heard the children begging their parents to buy them more, because they had come out with some kind of collection with gold cards. They're hardly solid gold—imagine the goblins' reaction—but they sure are pretty. What do you say, Prongs?”
James made sure no one was looking at them, and kissed Sirius as hard as he could.
“I love you, Pads.”
Sirius grinned.
“I love you, Prongs. But back to the dinosaurs on cardboards.”