Disclaimer: I don't own HP.
Toasted Sandwich
Harry Potter giggled around his pacifier as his godfather, Sirius Black, flicked a wand to get a tiny toy broomstick to fly around the child's head. Harry batted at the broom like a cat, trying to get it down, but the broomstick only flew up higher, causing the little boy to pout and let out an annoyed huff. Sirius laughed, and enchanted a stuffed snitch to follow the broom. Harry sucked harder on his pacifier with a small frown on his chubby face.
Lily Potter was banging around in the kitchen, attempting to organise something for lunch, and with her horribly bad cooking skills, Sirius didn't keep his hopes up for something edible. He had been sleeping on the Potters' couch for a few nights now, and had discovered that fact when she accidentally set the oven on fire while trying to make a lovely roast. Of course, it was put out quickly with a few good Aguamenti charms, but after that, she wasn't really trusted to make anything that involved ovens or stoves. The solution to this, of course, was toasted ham and cheese sandwiches.
Harry banged his tiny fists on Sirius' knees in an attempt to get his godfather's attention back on him, and Sirius smiled down at him, before a stream of swearing coming from the kitchen made him cover the baby's ears, with a theatrical gasp.
Lily wasn't the cursing type, especially since Harry happened. So to hear her swear, very explosively, he might add, prompted him to get up and go see what was wrong with her. So he swung Harry into his arms (after the 'Crawling On the Ceiling' incident, Harry wasn't trusted alone), and balanced him carefully on Sirius' hip, a place where the little boy couldn't reach Sirius' in-need-of-a-trim hair (which he had a tendency to pull).
"You 'right there, Evans?" he asked as he wandered into the kitchen, bouncing the baby gently.
"I just went to the supermarket, and I forgot the aioli. The aioli, Sirius!" she cried out, running a hand through her red hair, eyes wide with panic.
Sirius shot Harry a look that said very clearly that Lily had lost it. Harry spat his pacifier out, allowing a string of saliva to dribble onto his chin. Sirius took that as an agreement.
"Calm down, Lil. It's just aioli. Nothing to cry home about," he said flippantly. Lily's scowl alerted him to her irritation at his attitude, and he instantly arranged her features into a mask of contriteness, just so she would stop looking at him like that. He considered using Harry as a shield.
"'Just aioli'? 'Just aioli'? Sirius, I'm not sure that you understand. Aioli brings it all together. It's like the cheese on a pizza, or the chocolate chips in cookies. These foods don't work without those crucial elements."
Sirius raised his eyebrows, and tried to figure out if James knew how insane Lily was before he married her. Harry was raised up a bit to cover Sirius' chest, just as protection. Lily wouldn't dare try to hex him with her son right there.
"Alright, fine, go get some," he said, cringing as his best mate's wife collapsed into a kitchen chair.
"No, I can't," she wailed, burying her face into her arms. "They know me now!"
"…So? Maybe if they see that you're an eager customer, they'll give you the aioli for free."
"I may or may not have accidentally knocked over a couple of displays while I was there, and forgot to pay before I left," Lily said sheepishly, looking flustered. "I'm not sure that they'll welcome me back so easily."
"Evans, you criminal!" said Sirius, looking vaguely surprised, yet amused.
"I thought someone was following me," she said defensively.
He, of course, interrupted. "In a Muggle grocery store? Not sure it's Voldemort's style, to frequent those places. Hell, I barely go there."
"Yeah, but you barely go anywhere," she said, grinning at the look of offence that decorated Sirius' face. "Look, I know it sounds silly, but I was wandering about the store for hours, trying to shake off this person. They just wouldn't leave me alone, so I was getting a bit scared. Since it's always better to be safe than sorry, I sent a discrete spell over to a display and toppled it over, making it collapse on top of the person I thought was following me. In the chaos following, I made a quick escape, and forgot to pay on the way. You know, I reckon I could be a spy," she said thoughtfully, imagining herself in all black, creeping along corridors and picking up information that nobody else could get, kicking the arse of anybody that got in her way. Her fantasy lasted for all of two seconds before Sirius interrupted.
"You could not be a spy," he said with a roll of his eyes. Lily looked rightly indignant.
"I'll have you know that I would be an amazing spy," she said.
"You just said that you would be recognised if you were to go back," said Sirius, unimpressed. "Real spies don't let themselves get recognised."
"Not true! But, anyway, I need you to go back and get the aioli," said Lily, finally getting to the point. "And maybe you should give them some extra money to pay for my other stuff too."
Sirius groaned, feeling far too lazy to leave the house, and Harry patted his stubbly cheek consolingly with a sticky hand, saying, "'kay, Pafoo," in a sympathetic tone.
Lily grinned at the baby, and blew him a kiss. Harry gave her a toothy smile in return. "You should take Harry out too! Have some godfather/godson bonding time! My follower will probably be gone by now, hopefully unconscious somewhere. I think they might've been knocked out by a can of tomatoes."
Sirius scowled at the redhead, but acquiesced, which led to him getting kitted out with the baby carrier and various supplies he may or may not need when out with Harry. He thought that Lily was just getting a huge kick out of seeing him with a baby hanging off of his chest.
"You've just ruined my afternoon plans, you know," he told her, with a grumpy look on his face as he lightly bounced Harry around, amused by the peals of laughter the little boy was emitting.
Lily stared at him, doubtful. "Did you even have afternoon plans?"
He seemed offended by that. "I'll have you know that I had a hot date with this month's Playwitch, Evans."
She snorted. "And I'm sure that your magazine won't miss you too much. Also, maybe you could put Harry on one of those little rides while you're there. He loves the yellow aeroplane." And with that, she began to usher them out the door, eager to relax a little after her supermarket experience. "Thanks for your help, Sirius!"
"This sandwich had better taste like bloody heaven, Evans!"
A very short, kinda plotless story, with some lovely Lily/Sirius friendship, and the inclusion of baby Harry! Written for The Platonic Relationships Competition, by TheChasm, with the prompt 'help'. Hope that you enjoyed it :)
Love,
Silvs