When Sirius turned up at the Potter's house, he was grinning to himself. He'd remembered to bring vodka, and he was going to try and remind his best friend that drink was good. They hadn't been drunk together in a long time, because Lily had been pregnant and James hadn't wanted to leave her in case she went into labour.
He left the motorbike parked in the street and strode up to the door, which opened before he'd even knocked. "Sirius." Lily was beaming, and threw her arms around him. "It's been a long time."
"It's not that long," he replied, disentangling himself, walking into the house.
"It's been like two months," she replied, shutting the door behind him. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten us."
He shrugged, going to hang his leather jacket up. If he was going to drive a motorbike, he would look the part. In fact, Lily was pretty sure he only rode the bike to have an excuse to wear the jacket.
"Wait," he paused, looking at the coat hooks. "Which one I am not allowed to use?"
"The left one," she said, moving past him, halfway into the lounge. "I thought you knew that."
"I forgot," he muttered. Lily was right. It had been a long time, but he was too young to have friends who had a kid. He was twenty one for god's sakes. He didn't want to hang out with a pregnant woman, but he'd decided that now that she wasn't ridiculously round anymore, he could face her. And he had missed her and James.
He walked into the living room, to find that the picture of the five of them at Remus' twenty first had been moved to accommodate a photograph of a little old man. Then he realised it was a picture of their son. Their son. They had a son now. His heart sank as the reality that everything would change now hit him.
"Padfoot!"
He turned, a grin spreading across his face at the sound of his best friend. "Prongs."
James hugged his friend tightly. "I like the bike."
Sirius laughed. "Yeah, it's new. I call her Vera."
"Vera?" James asked quizzically. "I know it's old. I mean, a side car? But an old lady's name? Really?"
Sirius shrugged. "It seemed right."
"Do you want a drink?" Lily stuck her head in the door.
"Yeah, I guess." He looked down, almost guiltily, at the clear bottle in his hand. "I brought…" He handed it her. "Well, you know."
She smiled. "Thank god. James is completely unbearable sober." This was accompanied with a mischievous grin.
With spiked coffee it wasn't long before the two men were laughing like they'd never been apart. But a wail cut across them.
"What the hell is that?"
"Harry." James didn't seem worried or apologetic that he was inflicting this sound on his best mate. The crying stopped, and there was the faint sound of Lily murmuring to the boy. Sirius looked round, but he couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from. "It's a baby monitor," James explained. "There's one next to his cot and one where we are. Means we can hear him when he cries."
"Why would you want to?" The disdain was evident in Sirius' voice.
"He's my son," said James quietly. Sirius rolled his eyes but James' face was sombre. "Sirius." There was a pause. "We want you to be his godfather."
Sirius spluttered and stood up before he split his drink. "What? Why? Why would you want that?"
"Sirius-" James' voice was soothing, but Sirius was having none of it.
"No." He was adamant. "On what planet would I be a good godfather? Surely Remus-"
"Remus can be godfather to the next one."
"Oh god." Sirius collapsed into a chair. "There's gonna be more."
"What's wrong with me and Lily having kids?" James demanded. "Ever since we told you guys, you've been acting weird."
"We're young James," Sirius protested. "We should be out getting drunk, partying all night. You can't do that when you've got a kid to run home to. And there's no way you actually want meto be godfather. You've asked Moony and he said no so now you're lumped with me and I won't do it." He was standing again, walking out into the hall. "I'm irresponsible, unreliable and I don't even believe in god, which I'm pretty sure is a requirement."
"What's all the shouting for?" Lily had walked down the stairs without either of the men noticing, holding a tiny person in a sleep suit in front of her.
Sirius' face softened, as the boy looked at him with wide eyes. He slowly walked towards Lily, and without asking took her son out of her arms. "Hi," he whispered. Harry reached out with a hand, and grasped a piece of Sirius' hair. "I'm Sirius. And I think you're Harry." Sirius winced as the boy tugged on his hair. "I don't know, a bully already. Just like your Dad." Harry yawned, as if this was old news, and he wriggled slightly in his uncle's arms. "Yeah, I know, you were sleeping. Sleeping's good." As if he agreed, Harry closed his eyes. Sirius watched him in wonderment, then looked at James sheepishly. "Do you still want me?"
James laughed, and then winced as Lily punched him. "Don't wake the baby," she hissed.
"Course we want you Padfoot," James said with a smile. "You're gonna do the talk about the birds and the bees."
Fin