Chapter Two: James and Aradia

Enjoy! (Disclaimed again) Here is James' POV. Happy holidays!

Pacing seemed like a good pass time. It didn't really require any thought process, so long as I turned to go the other way before I hit the chairs I was all set. Occasionally I had to step wide to avoid colliding with Harry, but more often than not I was allowed to keep myself moving in a (more or less) straight line. Despite not having raised him myself, he seemed to have inherited all of my habits (I caught him ruffling his hair out of the corner of my eye as I did the same).

I glanced over to where Tonks, Kailey and Alianna were sitting. They were the only three in the room not behaving nervous in the least. Remus was checking his watch every ten seconds, which was actually in time with my pacing. But those three girls were just chatting about what the baby would look like. Alianna was bouncing in her seat between her godparents. She looked more like Keena than like Sirius. Maybe Aradia would look more like Sirius than like Keena.

My eyes drifted briefly to Kailey as I narrowly avoided colliding with my son for the umpteenth time. Her eyes slid towards Harry again and I mentally chuckled. Who would've guessed a Potter and a Snape would actually like each other as more than friends? Irony did exist in the world. Now if we could just get them to admit to it.

I glanced up at the sound of footsteps in the hall way and paused my pacing when the doors opened to reveal my wife and her Healer friend. Both were grinning widely.

"It's a healthy baby girl," Lily stated, coming forward to embrace me briefly before taking our son into her arms.


"James could you take her for a moment?" Keena asked, holding her three day old daughter, who happened to be screaming at the top of her little lungs, out to me. "I need to go and give that portrait a few choice words," she added venomously, her chocolate eyes gleaming as they flickered towards the hallway where the picture of Sirius' mum was currently wrecking havoc.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked warily. The last time I had held a baby had been fourteen years ago. The last time it had been a screaming baby? Never.

"Yes, she's your goddaughter, are you afraid of her?" Keena's anger subsided slightly as she laughed at me. Her laughter seemed to calm Aradia slightly. That or I was slowly going deaf.

Rolling my eyes at my little sister, I took my niece from her arms. Well, even if Keena laughing had made the baby happier, it didn't matter; she screamed louder than ever at being handed to me.

"Just bounce her up and down a few times," Keena said as she moved towards the kitchen door. "And put up a silencing spell."

She shut the door behind her and I took her advice, cutting off the shrieking from the portrait. With only half the noise being made, Aradia's screaming didn't come off as nearly so daunting.

I sat down with her, feeling some of my dusty old parenting instincts coming back slowly as I began to rock her. I thought for a moment that just maybe she was only crying so loudly because she needed a diaper change. I checked and was slightly disappointed that this was not the case; diapers were easy to handle, just change the baby and the problem is over.

"But your problem is different right now, isn't it?" I murmured aloud to the baby in my arms. "You're frightened, aren't you?"

I lifted a finger and let one of her flailing fists catch hold of it. It made me chuckle when she squeezed hard.

"You've got quite the grip there, eh? Well, there's no telling which side of the family you got that from. Your parents are both strong," I told her like it was the biggest secret in the world, feeling pleased when she began to quiet her screaming so that she could hear the sound of my voice. "Sometimes I think they had more of a hand in raising Harry than I did. No, that's not right, is it? I know that they had more, even if Sirius didn't meet him until the same night that we did. I guess that's where having a job at Hogwarts is more beneficial; he gets to see Harry a whole lot more than I do."

Her screams were turning into sniffles now as I continued to rock her back and forth.

"I didn't get to be there for when Harry was frightened by loud noises or the dark," I told her sadly, confiding in her the words I had never felt right telling to Lily when she already missed her baby boy so much. "But I will be there for you, little one. You're my second chance."

Her crying had stopped now and she stared up at me with big, gray eyes. I had been right; her features were by far more like Padfoot than like my sister.

"I'll get to spoil you rotten too," I grinned. "I'll get you your first broom, but don't tell that to your mum or Auntie Lily. And Harry will be done with Hogwarts long before you go, so we'll make sure you get your hands on the map. Even if you don't, I'll tell you about all of those secret passageways. When you're a toddler, we'll get into the sweets whenever we can and when you start school I'll teach you every jinx I know to keep pesky boys away."

I paused as she blinked at the last sentence, almost as if she had understood something in there. But her blink was followed by a yawn, so I lowered my voice as I continued.

"Even when you're a teenager and don't want them chased away, I'll make sure to prank them somehow; you're dad'll help me with that. And—and…"

I sighed, remembering how Sirius had made similar plans with Harry when he had been a baby. We were going to raise him to be a Marauder. I was going to teach him how to fly. I was going to give him girl advice that would've made Lily roll her eyes at me before taking him aside to negate every word I'd said. I was going to be there for him at all times. I wasn't going to let anything stop me from fighting for my son.

Instead, I'd fought from behind the scenes. Destroying horcruxes was all well and good, but it had left me separated from my son. Merlin forbid something happening to him while Lily and I worked on hunting them down; he had been safer away from us. The dementor attack only proved that in my opinion; what dark, magical creature had ever attacked him during the summers before he left Privet Drive?

"And in case your dad can't be there for you, I will. The way your mum was there for my son, I will be there for her daughters if the need ever arises," I paused again and sighed. "I know you're too little to understand all of this, but that's really for the best. If I have anything to say about it, you won't be able to remember this war at all. And that is a promise."

Her grip on my finger slackened as she closed her eyes, yawning once more. Then she was asleep in my arms.

I glanced up at the sound of the door opening to see Keena standing there with tears in her eyes. Frowning, I stood up but before I could walk over to her, she had shut the door again and flicked her wand to the door.

"You're silencing charm was only one way," she explained, coming forward and embracing me tightly. The baby woke for a moment but registered somehow that it was only her mother and drifted off to sleep again. "I've been standing there for the past few minutes."

I felt my face heat up slightly in embarrassment.

"Didn't you hear the part about this being a secret between me and my goddaughter?" I asked lightly as she pulled away.

She looked at me for a moment then shook her head.

"I heard from chasing boys away onward," she replied with a shrug. "And that's hardly a secret, it's kind of expected."

She gazed down at her daughter with the same adoration I had seen Lily gaze down on Harry with. Even now, when he isn't looking, Lily sometimes will still look at him that way. Keena doesn't bother to make sure Alianna isn't looking, at least not yet.

"I meant every word," I told her softly, holding the sleeping baby out to her mother. "But don't you dare let Sirius make me have to follow through."

She let out a slight laugh before she caught the serious expression on my face.

"You know I won't just let anything happen to him and I don't expect you or Remus or Lily to sit on the sidelines either. We're all in this together and that's the way I expect us to come out of it," she stated firmly, though she kept her voice soft as she cradled her daughter. "After all, we all have our godchildren to consider in addition to our own kids."

"Yeah about that," I muttered frowning at the sudden thought. "Who is Moony gonna make godfather and godmother when he finally gets his act together and realizes Tonks has a very serious crush on him?"

She blinked at me before shrugging.

"I think you're a little bit ahead of where Moony is just now. Why don't you wait for them to start going out before you and Sirius start competing?"

That's the end of this chapter. I realize it's much shorter, but seeing as Aradia can't exactly talk back yet…oh well! I hope you enjoyed it regardless! Next will be the final chapter focusing on Sirius and Harry's relationship.

:-D