Disclaimer: If I owned this world, I would have the power to go live in it & would never have heard of fanfiction, because wizards don't have the internet.

a/n: well, I wanted to write something cute about baby Harry. Hopefully you all will like it.

Dedicated to my very own cross between Lane Kim & Lorelai Gilmore.

Foreshadowing and First Words

- o -

"James Potter you will not indoctrinate our son with Gryffindor mania before he can even talk!"

James grinned up at his wife from where he was sitting on the floor of their living room, shooting puffs and spirals of crimson and gold smoke into the air above his son's head, who was laughing and rolling around trying to catch them.

"C'mon, Lils! He likes them. What's the harm if I just give him a little encouragement…"

"Wed! Wed!" squealed baby Harry, reaching for the smoky shapes.

"He's only ten months old, James!" said Lily, snatching her son up off the floor, but suppressing a grin. "We don't even know if he wants to be in Gryffindor."

"Of course he does!" said James, looking vaguely insulted. "He's a Potter!"

"Wed!" said Harry again, grabbing hold of a hunk of his mother's hair.

"Now, sweetie, we don't pull mummy's hair, remember?" admonished James, trying to gently tug the piece of his wife's hair out of his son's grasp.

Harry ignored him. "Wed," he said determinedly, showing his mother the clump of hair, then, very carefully and deliberately, said "Red." Both James and Lily froze.

"Did he…" whispered Lily in awe.

"YES!" whooped James, punching the air. "This means he's gonna be a Gryffindor for sure!"

"It does not," said Lily, though she was grinning ear to ear. "It could just mean he likes red hair. Come on, sweetheart," she said encouragingly to her son, "Say 'red' again." Harry just grinned toothlessly back up at her.

"Alright, son," said James in a businesslike voice. "Now try and say 'Go Gryffindor.'"

"Ga-wiggle," said Harry.

"See? He said it!"

"No he didn't, that wasn't even a word."

"Yes it was; it was 'Go Gryffindor!'"

Harry looked from his mother to his father, and then stuck the piece of hair in his mouth.

James' indignant look turned into a smile for his son. "Ok, maybe it doesn't mean anything," he relented.

Lily shot him an I-told-you-so look before handing Harry to him. "I need to take a shower, you won't say anymore new words until Mummy gets back, will you Harry?"

"Go on," said James with bravado. "Now that he's talking I can teach him all the pranks I never got to in seventh year."

"Don't you dare," said Lily warningly, and then, as if she couldn't help herself, "You'd thought of other pranks besides the ones you carried out?"

James grinned and shrugged. "Sirius is an evil genius. And besides," he said looking at her knowingly. "I had better things to do seventh year than pull pranks."

Lily rolled her eyes again, though utterly failing to suppress her grin this time, before kissing both her husband and son and going upstairs.

James waited until he was out of earshot before whispering to Harry. "Red-headed witches," he said conspiratorially to Harry, "can be a handful. But they are def-in-ate-ly worth it."

Baby Harry just smiled.

a/n: in case you need telling, this implies Harry/Ginny. But hopefully you didn't need to be told that.

Reviews would be like treacle tart, the woody smell of a broomstick handle, and flowery perfume.