CHAPTER ONE: Following Orders
a/n: Hey there! Welcome to chapter one of Babysitting Harry. Please feel free to leave a review! I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope you feel the same way about reading it.
Trrr-trrr! Trrr-trrr!
The muggle phone was ringing at Potter Cottage. It was Seven o'clock in the morning on a Saturday.
"Hello", Lily Potter answered it. Her husband James wasn't accustomed to waking up any time earlier than Nine on Saturdays. "Potter residence, Lily speaking".
"Hi Lily!", an excited loud voice replied. Lily smiled, she knew only too well who that ridiculously loud voice belonged to. "It's Sirius. How are you?", he asked. He could barely contain his excitement.
"Hi Padfoot! I'm fine. How are you? It's been quite a long time you know. I was starting to think you might have gotten stuck somewhere with all the muggle-ishness", Lily said. She was grinning.
Sirius let out one of his bark-like laughs.
"I'm alright. Yeah I know, these muggle phones are quite hard to use. The large ones on the streets in Rome didn't accept the money I put in. Turns out, they have different currencies for each country. The money I put in is used only in England. Stupid muggle systems. I've gotten a bit of a tan by standing out in the sun so much, but otherwise, I'm doing great!'', he said.
Lily laughed.
"How's Harry doing? Does he miss me? Ask him for me won't you. How's James? Is he up by any chance?", Sirius asked.
"Nope, James is still asleep. You know how much he likes to sleep late on Saturdays. But I'm pretty sure he'd break his head trying to get down here if I told him you've called. Of course Harry misses you. He likes to keep watch out the kitchen window every morning for you. How's all your adventuring going? How do you like the muggles?", Lily asked.
"Tell Harry I'll be back by Wednesday. The muggles are pretty nice actually. Especially the tour guide. He offered to help me sort my money out. Probably thinks I'm a nutter though", Sirius laughed again. "Speaking of nice muggles, isn't your sister Petunia on holiday Lily?", he asked.
"Yes, I think so. She's gone to the seaside in Italy with her husband and little son. Why do you ask?", Lily replied.
"The thing is...", Sirius began, sounding guilty, "...I met her in Rome, at the beach. Her husband Dursley wasn't exactly nice you see. He kept looking at my hair and scowling at it. But being the gentleman I am...", here Lily couldn't help but snort, "...I asked them to dinner anyways. I'm really sorry Lils but I couldn't help myself. I just had to do it"
"What did you do do Sirius?", Lily asked. After Six years of having finished school, Sirius Back still couldn't help but cause trouble wherever he went.
"He told me my hair was too long!", Sirius sounded like as if that was the most offending thing ever. Lily smirked at this, "So I charmed him to fart throughout the party. You should have seen it. It was hilarious!", Sirius finished.
Lily fell down on the sofa. She was laughing so hard she could barely stand. The thought of Vernon Dursley farting in a tuxedo was a little too much, even for her, to handle. Obviously Sirius was laughing at the other end. "I'll. Get. James. See you. On. Wednesday", Lily told him in between fits of laughter and went up the stairs.
She opened the door to the second bedroom upstairs. Here, James Potter was sleeping in a huddle under the sheets. Lily poked him. "James! James it's Sirius. He's on the phone downstairs! James!", she wispered.
The reaction was just what one would expect. James Potter sat up really fast. His eyes were wide open though he looked half asleep. "Really?", he asked.
"Yep", Lily replied plainly, handing him his glasses. "Go on then, get downstairs", she pushed him out the door.
Taking the steps three at at time, James reached the phone in a record breaking Thirty seconds, though in all the excitement, he forgot all about this achievement.
After finishing his breakfast-which consisted of some mushy baby food-Harry Potter wobbled over to the window seat in the kitchen of his parent's home. He was a fat little boy, almost a year old, with round hands and feet. This made it quite hard for him to move around. His father lifted him up and onto the window seat. Harry smiled at him, who smiled back. With his chubby chin in his hands, Harry watched the backyard door with patience. He was waiting for Sirius.
This had been his daily routine for almost a month now. The reason being, the back door was where his Godfather- Sirius Black- came in to their house through every Saturday. His reason being only formal people entered through front doors, or bothered was Wednesday, the day Sirius had said he was coming back from his month long trip around the world.
And sure enough, there was Sirius Black, at Ten-Fifty Five, looking exactly as he had always, with his dark hair upto his shoulders, misty Grey eyes, t-shirt and Black jeans in place and looking a tad bit tanned, at the garden gate. He grinned at Harry, who giggled at the prospect of having someone to amuse him for hours at a go. Sirius was fun because he let Harry play with his things and didn't mind the baby drool.
"Look who it is!", Lily said to James and Harry. She was standing beside him and waving at Sirius ,who was now coming in to the kitchen from the back door without bothering to wait for an invitation.
"What's up Padfoot?", James asked him, hugging him in a manly way. "How was the tour?"
"Great! Hello Lily, how's is going?", Sirius let go of James and asked Lily.
"Brilliant Sirius", was Lily's bright reply. Sirius spread his arms out as to hug Lily, he looked back at James. "Nah, I wouldn't do that to you mate", he said and shook Lily's hand instead.
Sirius walked over to the window seat and picked up Harry. "And how are you?", he asked Harry.
Harry beamed up at him. Then pulled a few locks of Sirius's hair.
"Ouch!"
"You deserved that you wife-hugger!", James said.
They laughed.
"So Lils, you going to Mary Prewetts baby shower this weekend?", Sirius asked her.
Lily raised her eyebrows at him.
"What? Didn't you know? Baby showers are the new hot topic in Italy. Everyone talks about them", Sirius said.
"I can't go. There's no one to look after James while I'm gone", said Lily. She was folding the laundry.
"You mean Harry", James corrected her.
"Not really. I was talking abou you James. Remember that time I went to my mother's place for Two hours?", she asked them.
Sirius smirked. "He burnt up the kitchen trying to make pancakes", he said.
"Exactly!"
"Hey! It was Harry's fault. He's the one who asked me for pancakes", James said defensively.
"I can look after both your kids iif you want me to", Sirius offered.
"And come back home a fortnight later to find Harry alone and the two of you in jail for trying to break in to the house because you lost the keys? I'd rather not, thank you", Lily said. "But of course, if Wormtail or Mooney agree to help you then I can seriously consider"
"Oh so they won't loose your keys. Each of them are more forgetfull than both of us put together", said James.
"Forgetfull but responsible", Lily reminded him, finishing folding the last of the clothes.
"The baby food is in the cupboard, don't forget. I've left you an entire list of the things you should and should not do in the sitting room. There are extra sheets in the storeroom but I made up the guest beds for all of you. Sirius don't sleep in the garden, you'll catch a cold. James, you can see without glasses for a bit. My bedroom is off limits even for cleaning and or other situations. You are to go in there only if your life is threatened. The bathrooms aren't for making potions. No bugs inside the house especially the kitchen. I'll see you all in a fortnight then!"
"Gee Lily that's a lot of things to remeber" Sirius remarked. "I'm bound to forget something, you know".
"That's why I made you each a rule book", Lily smiled as she handed them each a manual titled; how to not burn up the Potter residence in two weeks.
"Thanks...", Remus Lupin said, soundind very unthankfull when he was given his copy.
"'Rule number one, do not dispose of this manual as soon as you get it'. Wow that's pretty thorough Lily", Sirius said.
"Thank you. Now I'll see you all in two weeks then. Bye Harry", Lily hugged her son goodbye. "Wow I'm such a bad parent. Leaving a baby at home with you four. Oh well!", Lily replied. "Bye everyone!"
After the departure of Lily Potter, which included a lot of fake protests from James and Sirius and a fairly considerable amount of eye rolling from Peter and Remus, the house took to immediate chaos. Which was surprisingly short lived considering the people who were causing it.
"Guys! Guys! We have an example to set! Stop jumping around!", Remus tried in vain to stop the other three men who were jumping on the couch and eating ice-cream. He sat down beside Harry and watched all the commotion instead.
a/n: Wohoo! Yeah boing! First chapter's up. Please review. I'll post the second chapter when it's done. Did you guys like it? The next chapter is where the story really begins. It's gonna be pretty funny. Did you peeps like how everyone is?