Disclaimer: If it were mine, I could pay off my mortgage in less than a minute. Then I could quit work and write FF in cafes all day... in Scotland, no less. *sigh* Alas, I've more chance of picking ear wax out of my ears than my bank accepting your reviews as payment on said mortgage.

Updated: Sunday 20 June 2009

A/N: This is part of an experiment to test my muse: whichever story gets the most (and the best) feedback I will continue with at a faster pace. At least that's the theory I am out to test...

Updated: Sunday 20 June 2009

Chapter I: Plans for the Godson

Two little dark-haired boys lay side-by-side in the over-sized cot; one, a fluffy-haired toddler, and the other, an extremely protective four-year-old. Watching over them, a familiar couple looked happy, but weary; the day spent chasing after two able-bodied little boys finally catching up on them.
"It's so good when he comes to visit," murmured Lily Potter, lovingly adjusting the covers over the two small children, pausing to place her hand over the elder boy's chest; her fidgeting movements calmed by the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. "But it reminds me of how quickly they grow... why, I remember when he was Harry's age..."

"They're certainly going to be two peas in a pod," observed James, reaching down and ruffling the light dusting of hair on his son's head. "No matter the age difference. We'll have to give Aidy his own room soon, though... he won't always want to sleep with Harry."

Lily gave her husband a searching look, mirroring her husband's actions on the older boy's head and absently humming a lullaby as the child shifted in his sleep.
"We could keep him," she said wistfully. "Sirius will be off on twice as many missions when we go into hiding. Aidan's already here more often than not..."

"Lily, I'm not asking my best friend to give up his son," said James firmly, shaking his head. "And before you say it, you know he'll never leave her..."

"She is not good for him," hissed Lily defensively. "Either of them! Did you not see the state Aidan arrived in? His clothes looked like they hadn't been changed in over a week! He had a scrape on his knee that had gone untreated for at least as long! I know Sirius tries to carry the load, but he works so much; he's not home to pick up the slack..."

"Annie's going through a stressful time," said James, in hopeless defence of his best friend's reluctant wife. "An Auror's working hours are never easy on the wives... not everyone can be as wonderful and capable as you, Lil'."

"Aidan shouldn't have to suffer because of her shortcomings!" snapped Lily, pulling her hand away from the sleeping child in question for fear that her anger would somehow radiate unto the children in the proximity. She whirled around to face her husband and hissed in a low whisper. "Annie never wanted him; never wanted to end up with Sirius. She's irrational, James, and one day I fear she's going to go too far..."

"Sirius loves her, Lily," James reminded his wife in a strained voice, torn between the evidence his wife was presenting to him and the loyalty to Sirius that wanted to deny that his friend could ever have such a fatal attraction.

"She doesn't love him, James!" said Lily, with a hint of aggravated condescension. She shook her head. "And some times I can't help but wonder if Sirius only ever went after her because he didn't want Severus to have her-"

"-Snivellus was his own undoing," James cut his wife off, sneering slightly at the mere mention of his nemesis. "If he never pushed her away in the first place and just gave up pursuing you, then Annie wouldn't have hooked up with the one chasing her to prove some point-"

"-and Aidan wouldn't be here now," said Lily with a shudder. Pained by the realisation, she bowed her head. "Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing..."

"Lily!" said James, his head snapping up in shock.

"What, James?" said Lily defensively. "Sirius chasing Annie. Annie chasing Severus. Severus wishing he could have who was already yours! We were the only ones destined to be happy in all of this! Aidan being born because Annie wanted to give Sirius what he wanted, just to show Severus that he would never get what he wanted... it's not fair on Aidan to have to live with that. Be the consequence of actions his mother cannot face!"
She shook her head in dismay.
"Without Aidan, Sirius would be miserable in that marriage, and you know it! She's not good enough for him, no matter how much he professes to love her! He can love her all he wants, but if she never loves him – or Aidan – back, it will not end well!"

She gave her husband a hard look.
"I would never, never say that Aidan was a mistake; but it was unplanned," said Lily, scowling at her husband when he looked at her as though to say 'what's the difference?'. She narrowed her eyes at the man and frowned. "Sirius is a wonderful father. I doubt that he could be any better even if he'd waited a few years before bringing a child into the world; he's a natural, just like I always knew you would be."
She favoured her partner with a small appreciative smile and took a deep breath.
"But when it comes to Annie... he's blinded by his infatuation with her," the smile faded from Lily's lips. "I don't even blame him for that – no one can help how they view the ones they love, after all – but you can only excuse so much, James! Some people just aren't cut out to be mothers..."

"Lily..." said James awkwardly.

"No, don't you 'Lily' me, James Charlus Potter! Annie is running fast out of excuses, and you damn well know it!" hissed Lily, her voice raising slightly. Harry stirred, and she immediately hauled her husband out of the nursery and into the hall. "At first, it was because she was only 18 and had to juggle her pregnancy with her NEWTS. I could understand her falling to pieces then, I really could! I could barely cope with being Head Girl, I never begrudged her having to go through that!"

"I know, Lily..." said James soothingly, running a hand up and down his wife's arm as she fought to justify the uncouth feelings she now felt towards a woman she still considered a friend.

Lily shook him off, too distracted by her husband's touch to welcome it.
"Then it was post-partum depression... then dealing with the 'adjustment' of graduating and being forced into marriage because the wizarding world wouldn't have things any other way... again, situations that I could readily understand," she shook her head in frustration. "Now come on, you know what I am talking about! This has gone on long enough! One of these days Sirius is going to come home from a mission and find that boy not breathing!"

"-Annie'd never hurt Aidan," said James hesitantly, cutting Lily off.

"Never intentionally, I'll grant you that," said Lily with a sad expression. "But she needs help, James. Help that none of us are able to give her. If you could just talk to Sirius. Tell him what I know you see too... he'll never listen to me! He trusts you, James. If you tell him how much Annie needs a break from Aidan, he'll consider leaving him here for longer... you can't deny that it wouldn't be for the best!"

James sighed in frustration.
"I know Lily, you're right," said James, giving in to his wife's cajoling. "But I just can't do what you're asking! I can suggest that Sirius spend a little less time in the field... give Moody a few subtle hints, even; but it's not our place to tell him how his son should be raised, or by whom."

"Oh, but it's our place to stand by and watch that sweet, lovable, adorable little boy suffer at the hands of a neglectful mother?" snapped Lily, her hands perched on her hips in a show of defiance. "Merlin, James... I love Annie, I really do. There was a time when I counted her as one of my closest friends. But she just can't cope... not alone as often as she is..."

James looked pensive, giving his wife's desperate words considerable thought. Sirius had been leaving Aidan with them more and more as he left on missions longer than two days, always citing that Annie was 'under the weather'. He'd always tried not to pry in his friend's marital life, but it was never any secret that the unlikely pair had only married because of the baby – it could hardly be expected to be the groundings of a fulfilling relationship. This latest visit, little Aidan had arrived disheveled and hungry, unwashed and with an infected scab on his left knee. Sirius had looked mortified by his son's condition, the man having spent four days longer than the prescribed two on his last rotation in the field, and had been uncharacteristically quiet when dropping the boy by for an unscheduled visit. James knew for a fact that his best friend did not have another mission so soon, and so strongly suspected that the overworked man was taking steps towards getting his wife the help she needed; he was not entirely sure that their intervention now would be welcomed, or necessary. But with he and his wife due to take Harry into hiding within the week, the Stag Animagus could not overlook the fact that there would come a time very soon whereby he and Lily could not simply take the boy at a moment's notice, or indeed watch over him at all whilst Sirius was away on assignments. Annie either needed to come to cope on her own, or accept some form of live-in help... something the woman had wanted to try, but Sirius was rightfully adverse to, in light of the wizarding world's current political climate. It was just too dangerous to bring someone new and unfamiliar into the house, especially with Voldemort's propensity for putting unsuspecting victims under Imperius and dolling out Polyjuice Potion to his followers like Dumbledore handed out Lemon Drops... and given Sirius' own childhood experiences with House Elves, magical help was never brought up.

Wrapping her arms around her husband's waist, Lily sighed into the man's returned embrace; resting her forehead on his chest.
"What are you thinking, love?" she said, feeling suddenly guilty for having loaded so much more onto her husband's shoulders; it wasn't as if they had enough on their plate trying to keep little Harry safe.

"Perhaps they should come into hiding with us," said James, becoming strangely excited as a wand lit up in his mind. "Moody 'n Shacklebolt'll pitch a fit for losing two of their most promising Aurors, but there's plenty of room here, and it'd be nice to have a little back up on hand, y'know, just in case..."
He whirled his wife around in a strange impromptu dance.
"Think about it, Lil'! Harry will have a little someone to play with, and we can keep an eye on Aidan all we want whilst ensuring Annie gets the help she needs..."

"...and you can regress back to your Hogwarts days with your best friend living under the same roof as you? I think not, Mr Potter," said Lily, aghast at what would become of her house with two of the Marauders – and their respective progeny – in close quarters. Even still, she could not deny that the idea had some merit, if only for one pressing matter. "But Sirius is going to be Secret Keeper... it won't be as effective if he resides under the roof that he is charged to protect."

James ruffled his hair, much like he had done by the side of Hogwarts' lake all those years ago, though now Lily recognised the action as an act of nervousness.
"Well about that," said James, his voice drifting off. "Sirius made a suggestion..."

"Mama Lily?" a small, sleepy voice called from the darkened doorway of Harry's nursery. "I heard angry voices."

Untangling herself from her husband's arms, Lily had swept the little boy up into her embrace before the child even had the opportunity to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
"What are you doing up, little man?" cooed Lily, struggling with the limber weight of the growing four-year-old in her arms. "Oooh, you're getting big! Did Aunt Lily and Uncle James wake you?"

Aidan Black blinked at his red-haired angel, a small fist rubbing at one of his eyes. He grinned at the woman coyly before nestling his head on her shoulder and, thumb in mouth, stabbing a finger in James' direction.
"He Uncle Pongs," he said informatively, hiding his grin around the digit in his mouth.

James growled playfully at his little godson and waggled his fingers in front of the child's wide grey eyes, the threat of an attack from the notorious tickle-monster imminent. When Aidan first started talking, he called all of the Marauders by their nicknames, never quite mastering the pronunciation of 'Prongs'. There was little doubt that the emerging Marauder in Aidan knew how to say the name now, it – much to his father's delight - was just a conscious choice on the boy's part to taunt James with the unflattering variation. The 'Mama Lily' situation was a little more innocent, however. Lily had spent a lot of time those first few years – before Harry came along – helping Annie day to day with chasing after an active toddler and looking after the house whilst their husbands were in training. The cherubic little boy had seen no reason to distinguish between the two women he saw so very much of, and had called both women 'Mama'; later adding their first names thereafter as a matter of distinction. The Potters, and Sirius, had spent the best part of the previous two years trying to gently discourage the title being used, all knowing how particularly sensitive Annie was about such things; but nothing seemed to stop the boy from looking upon Lily as the second mother she practically was.

Frowning at the boy's choice of address – but flattered all the same – Lily refrained from pulling Aidan up on the slip on account of his sleepiness, but now that her husband seemed intent to rouse the child into full wakefulness, she was beginning to lose patience.
"James, don't do that! You'll wake him up!" she swatted away her husband's poking fingers as the sound of Aidan giggling reached her ears.

"Aidy 'wake!" Aidan piped up, jerking his head from the soft pillow of Lily's shoulder to prove his consciousness. "Harry sleep! Not Aidy!"

"That's right," Lily admitted to the adorably scowling boy in her arms. "Harry is asleep, just as you should be, little man!"

"Aidy not little! Aidy getting big, 'emember Mama Lily?" protested Aidan, going rigid in the woman's arms, as though to extend himself to his full height and prove his point.

James let out a snort of amusement, and reached out for the squirming child.
"Clever, kid... very clever," smirked James, accepting the smiling boy from his wife and holding him close. "Now c'mon, Pup, if you want to grow even bigger – like your Dad and Uncle Prongs – then you need to get lots and lots of rest! You don't want to leave poor Harry all alone in that big cot, do you? Hey, how did you get out, anyway?"

Just as little Aidan looked about ready to launch into a long explanation of how he had mastered the railings of the enlarged cot, Lily grabbed their attention.
"You can tell your Uncle James all about your exciting exploits first thing in the morning, my special big boy; but right now it is frightfully past your bedtime," said Lily sternly, in her best no-nonsense tone. Holding her hands out, she gestured towards the nursery. "Now, which of us would you like to tuck you back in?"

With barely a moment's consideration, Aidan shot his godfather a sly look, his lips curling into a secretive little smile.
"Uncle Pongs!" he said earnestly, wrapping his arms securely around the man's neck. Oblivious to the apologetic shrug his uncle gave his aunt, or the kiss the woman blew him as they departed, he unabashedly began to tell the senior Marauder all about his latest escape as the man carried him into the dimly lit nursery.

"Give me strength!" muttered Lily half-heartedly, lingering in the doorway to watch the silhouette of her husband tuck the prattling preschooler into bed. Deciding to give them a moment, she spun on her heels and stalked down the hallway, inwardly heartened by the latest display of the little boy's resilience.


"Thanks for taking him, Evans... how was he? His usual charming self, I hope?" said Sirius late the next afternoon, a napping Aidan in his arms. Even a stranger could have detected the underlying worry and hidden meaning of the father's words.

Lily smiled affably at her husband's best friend, inwardly shaking her head at the man's propensity for calling her by the name she'd not legally used for nearly three years. Reminding him of that fact was a mere folly, for Sirius addressing her by her maiden name was as much an endearment as the schoolyard monikers James and his friends still insisted on using amongst themselves. Giving him a careful shove instead – mindful not to wake the sleeping bundle of limbs in his arms – Lily regarded her son's godfather with a warm smile.
"He's becoming more and more his father's son everyday," admitted Lily, reaching out and rubbing circles on the slumbering boy's back. "We're always happy to have him, you know that."

Shifting the weight of the son in his arms, Sirius smiled indulgently at the woman's comment and looked around to see if his best friend had anything to add. When he had seen that James had drifted out of earshot, a fussing Harry in tow, his expression turned grave.
"I'm glad to hear that, Lil'," said Sirius with a tone of relief.

Lily, meanwhile, was instantly on edge, for it was very rare for the man before her to address her by her given name. Sure enough, the man had something on his mind, and he continued self-consciously; one eye fixed on James in the distance.
"Listen, I know you're not an idiot. I know you've seen how Aidan winds up when I leave him alone with his mother," Sirius' voice trailed off as he took a shuddering breath and swallowed his pride. "Damn, Lily, you've no idea how difficult this is for me to admit this... we all knew Annie was the least ready to become a parent when I knocked her up... and it's becoming to be no secret that my love for her is one-sided..."
He took a calming breath and closed his eyes as Lily placed a comforting hand on his arm. Forcing himself to relax, lest he start to hold his son too tightly and wake him up, the contrite Animagus forced himself to continue.
"I thought that if I could only have a few days with her, spend some time with her one on one with Aidy out of the frame for a bit, that I could get through to her; understand why she completely ignores him when I am not there..." said Sirius, leaning in close to Lily, his voice barely above a whisper. A quick check to ensure that his son was truly asleep, and he shared his latest revelation with the child's doting godmother. "She doesn't love him, Lily. Either of us."

Blinking in discomfort, Lily reeled back slightly in surprise, her wide green eyes subconsciously seeking out her husband. She'd never not gotten along with Sirius Black, but of her husband's friends, Remus had always been the one she had spoken to more freely. It surprised her that the man before her was able to see past his love of the woman, and her face flushed with guilt for having underestimated him; but her being right did little to make her comfortable with the situation she was being presented with.
"I... I'm sorry to hear you think that, Sirius, truly I am," said Lily awkwardly. "I'll help in any way I can, but don't you think James would be better equipped..."

Sirius shook his head furiously and latched on to Lily's arm when she made to side-step him and head in the direction her husband had left.
"No," he said resolutely. "Prongs is my brother in all but blood, but I don't know how he could help with this particular issue; he got the girl he loved. I can accept that Annie doesn't love me like I do her – well no, it's a little hard to deal with, but it's the least of my concerns – but her latest announcement has me over the barrel."

Lily mentally backed up, her eyes widening in a mix of shock and sympathy.
"Wait, she actually told you... she told you that she didn't care for Aidan?" said Lily, mortified at how a mother could say such things about an adorable little boy.

"Oh no, she cares for Aidan," drawled Sirius, delirious in his devastation. "In the small hours of the day when she isn't resenting him for tying her to me, or wishing he was someone else's son. Honestly, Evans, I am beginning to think my mother had more consideration! She needs help, Lily, and I have to be the one to give it to her; it's my fault she's so miserable... if I hadn't gotten her pregnant..."

"Fathering her son, no matter how unplanned it was, does not make you responsible for her outlook of life, Sirius!" said Lily imploringly, shaking her head firmly. "We make the most of what we are dealt, and if Annie cannot cope with her hand, then perhaps you and she ought to reinvent the wizarding world's stance on marriage absolution! The Muggle in me just cannot justify staying miserable all throughout my life because my partner doesn't want to make an effort when its needed!"

"I can't leave her, Lil'; it's just not done;" said Sirius with a sigh, though there was little doubt that he would ever leave the woman he had been infatuated with since their third year at Hogwarts; even if wizarding society condoned it. "Gryffindors don't quit."

"You got that right, Padfoot my friend," said James jovially, dusting his hands off as he strode back into the room, sans one grumpy toddler. "Pronglet took an age to convince into his cot. It seems a certain mini-Marauder-I-won't-name has shown him how to open the latch on the railings. Little rascal can climb out unassisted... at fifteen months! What did I miss? Oh, ooops... didn't realise the little prison breaker was asleep there, sorry, mate!"

"That's all right; Aidan can sleep through anything when he's this tired," said Sirius affectionately, holding back from adding '...when he is safe in the arms of a loved one'; though it remained equally true. "Evans and I were just discussing what to do with the little imp, actually. With Voldemort on the rise, and you lot set to go into hiding, I'm getting a tad anxious about leaving Aidan so unprotected when we're bound to become targets ourselves. And with you soon out of the picture, Prongs, Moody's going to need all wands accounted for... I was thinking that with you lot going under the Fidelius... well, what I mean to say, is... Annie'd have to stay with me in London to detract any suspicion – if people catch wind that Aidy's in hiding, they'll know he's with you and know to look for a couple with two kids – but I'm clutching at wand tips, I know... feel free to cut in any time..."

"All right, all right, I can take a hint!" said James, taking his not-so-subtle cue from his tongue-twisted friend. He gave the pleading Animagus a searching look, knowing full well that whilst the man's exemplified concerns all had merit, that there was likely a deeper reason to his reluctant request.

Clapping a hand on the man's shoulder in support, James was quick to assure the godfather of his child.
"Anything we can do to help, Pads, you needn't ask," said James, exchanging a knowing look with his wife, who gave the slightest of confirming nods. "We're always happy to have Aidan come stay, for whatever reason, and for however long... we are his godparents, after all."

Sirius winced, his friend's loyal affirmation striking a sore point.
"Thank you, Evans... Prongs..." he said sincerely, his head bowing slightly. "I am just sorry that I can't respond in kind with my godson."

"Oh Sirius, you're a wonderful godfather!" said Lily, quick to remind the man of how much little Harry's face lit up on one of his godfather's visits. She patted him on the arm. "And we wouldn't expect you to take Harry overnight; not at his age, and certainly not in the middle of this war."

It was clear to all by Lily's intonation that she was referring to more than just the war when excusing Sirius' reluctance to become an over-night sitter. Apart from Sirius' unprecedented outpouring moments earlier, the subject of Annie – specifically her ability to be a mother – remained an unspoken taboo in front of the woman's beleaguered husband. Individually, concerns and suspicions about Annie's fragile state of mind had been privately pondered and fleetingly shared between spouses, but confrontation where it mattered was never forthcoming. Thankfully, Sirius had the good sense to volunteer his son to their protection, all under the believable guise of keeping the child safe from the 'war'... and not just his own mother.

Having turned to his messy-haired friend for more reassurance, and misreading the man's silence, Sirius began to retract his earlier request.
"Well, I mean, I suppose it's not really that unsafe for Aidan at home... asides from that nasty business with my mother and Regulus a few years ago, he's not really on any radars... forget I said anything..." he said dismissively, heading towards the fireplace. "I'll get out of your hair. Wormtail's coming over tomorrow to do the Charm, right? It's all set?"

James looked bemused, and waved aside his friend's segue into the upcoming plans to place the Potter's safe house under Fidelius.
"Padfoot... Sirius, did you not hear what I said? We're happy to have him, truly," said James, shaking his head in confusion. "Whether you want us to go into hiding with him or not is your choice. I'm sure Peter will have no trouble letting you in on his little secret, so you can visit all you want, and it'll be good for Harry to have someone to play with. Honestly, mate, we would be honoured..."

And so that was how Aidan Black came to be residing in the home of the Potters on the fateful night of Halloween, 1981.

End Chapter

A/N: Yes, I have a give-a-random-marauder-a-kid thing. No idea when the next chapter will come, I'm afraid. Evil work and all that jazz...