Life With The Marauders
Chapter Four
"Are you ready yet, Prongs?" Sirius asked after knocking on the door to James' room. It had been one day since Sirius had offered his childhood home to his friends and they were all getting ready to go to the funeral of James' wife. When he didn't get an answer, Sirius opened the door and found James sitting on the bed, holding his son. "Prongs?"
James looked up at his best friend and sniffed. He'd been crying again.
"Aw James." Sirius said as he walked over to the bed and sat beside him.
"I-I don't th-think I want to go S-Sirius." James whispered, closing his eyes tightly. Over the past few hours he had been debating with himself whether or not he wanted to attend his wife's funeral. He'd changed his mind so many times it made his head spin.
"James, if you don't go you'll beat yourself up later on down the road." Sirius told him gently. "Come on. You won't have to stay the entire tme. And if someone comes up to you and tries to talk to you me and Moony'll hex them. Get your robes on, I'll go get Harry ready." Sirius took his godson from James' arms and went to the room down the hall where Harry's room was.
After changing his godson, Sirius carried the boy back to James' room. He knocked again and opened the door. Now James was dressed but his hair looked a horrible mess. Then again, James' hair always looked like a horrible mess. When James saw Sirius and Harry enter the room he stood up and held out his arms. Sirius let James take Harry and led the two down the stairs and to the sitting room where Remus was waiting.
Remus nodded to them and they all went to the fireplace to Floo. The werewolf quickly put a few cleaning charms on all of them before grabbing a pinch of powder from a pot on the mantle. He ducked into the fireplace and half-shouted, "Number 3, Godric's Hollow!"
James, with Harry, and Sirius followed after him. James stayed in his old sitting room and never left the room. Multiple people tried to approach him, but only a selection got past Sirius' curses; McGonagall, Dumbledore, Ted and Andromeda Tonks, Hagrid, and a couple others. They all said about the same thing. That they were sorry for his loss and that Lily was a wonderful person.
After about an hour of this everyone went out to the graveyard. Everyone but James and Harry, that is. Sirius tried to persuade him to go, but James said he was just going to return to Number 12 and feed Harry.
The father used the Floo with his son and arrived at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. He changed himself and Harry into regular clothes and carried his child to the kitchen to make a bottle.
Sirius' home had definitely changed over the past day and a half. As soon as Sirius had suggested using Grimmauld Place for Remus, James, Harry, and himself to live in he had returned home to prepare the house. Most of the rooms had been sealed off so Harry wouldn't wander off into them and find some dark objects. Remus had retrieved some things from Godric's Hollow and his own flat and moved them to Number 12. Once the house was somewhat child-safe, James brought Harry.
Once Harry was fed, James took him up to his room and watched him play with his toys. About half an hour passed and James heard Remus and Sirius return through the Floo.
"James?" Remus' voice carried up the stairs.
"In Harry's room!" James called from his son's doorway. He was soon joined by his fellow Marauders. The two used their wands to change into normal clothing before James asked how the rest of the funeral went.
"Oh, you know. Just a regular funeral." Sirius replied nonchalantly. He didn't believe James would want to know the details or the man would have gone himself. Sirius and Remus understood how hard this was for their friend and they respected his wishes to only stay for part of the funeral service.
Nodding, James turned back to watch his son who was now playing with the three charmed figures Sirius had made. Remus had bought a small box to keep the dog, stag, and wolf in. When the lid of the box was shut the animals would 'turn off'.
Eventually Remus had to leave to go to his job interview in Diagon Alley. The two men wished their friend good luck and he was on his way.
"I hope he gets the job." Sirius said when Remus had left.
"If anyone deserves a job it's Remus." James agreed.
"Hey, you want to play chess?"
"Sure. Do you care if we play up here though? I don't want to be too far away from Harry."
Sirius nodded and went to retrieve the chess set from the sitting room where he and Remus had played the previous night while James found them a spot on the floor to play. Soon the dog Animagus returned and he and James set up the board.
They played two games before James noticed Harry was half-asleep on the floor. With a stifled laugh, he left the board to pick up his son and put him in his crib. The mobile above his crib had stars and moons attached to it, a gift from Remus when Harry was born. James gave it a flick and the mobile span silently.
"Maybe we should move downstairs." Sirius suggested when James rejoined him on the floor. "I don't think we should wake up Pronglet."
James shook his head, "We won't be that loud Sirius."
"Is this about being loud or Harry being left alone?"
The father gave his friend a hard glare, but didn't answer.
"That's what I thought. James, you, Remus, me, and Dumbledore all put up wards around this place. Plus all the wards and protections that we don't even know about that my parents had up. If someone that isn't suppose to be here finds a way in I'll eat my left sock. Come on."
Very reluctantly, James had to admit Sirius had a point. There were so many wards and protection spells on Number 12 it'd be impossible to get in. James helped Sirius pick up the chess pieces and board and the two went to the kitchen table to play one more game. Through the entire game James was distracted, constantly looking at the doorway.
Sirius held back a sigh. His friend's paranoia was to be expected, but it was getting annoying. "James. Harry will be fine. I've got no idea how you're going to go back to work if you can't leave him alone for ten mintues."
Again, Sirius had a point. How was James going to return to his Auror position if he was so distracted?
"Say it with me Prongs, Harry. Is. Fine."
"Harry is fine." James said hesitantly.
"Harry's fine."
"Harry's fine."
"Harry James Potter is completely safe."
"Harry James Potter is completely safe." this time James really did believe what he was saying. It must have just been the recent events that had him so disbelieving.
"Sirius is the coolest bloke you've ever met."
"Sirius is the biggest prat I've ever met."
The dog Animagus rolled his eyes and spat out his tongue. They played another game, James' head was actually in it this time, before Remus came back through the Floo. Just one look at his face and they could tell he had gotten the job.
"And?" James prompted, already knowing the answer.
"I start in a few days." Remus replied with a big smile.
A sudden thought went through Sirius' head, "Guys...what are we going to do about Pronglet?"
"Baby-sitter?" Remus suggested.
James let out a humorless laugh, "Yeah, right. There is no way I'm letting some random person watch my kid. Well...I could put off going to work for a while...I guess."
"Maybe we can get someone we all trust? What about Hagrid?"
Sirius let out a bark-like laugh, "Hagrid? Baby-sit?"
Remus and James cracked smiles. The very idea of the gentle half-giant babysitting someone as big as his own hand was kind of funny.
The trio brainstormed some people, but none seemed to fit the description. It had to be an adult, that way school wouldn't get in the way. They had to be responsible, too.
"Figgy?" Sirius asked the other Marauders.
"Arabella?" Remus looked over at Sirius, "I thought she hated you."
Sirius shook his head, "She doesn't hate me...but she was the one who caught me tossing garden-gnomes into her yard."
"Arabella could work..." James accepted, "We'll have to ask her first of course but she loves Harry so I'm sure she'll say yes. And she's part of the Order, too, so she's trustworthy."
"We also thought Peter was trustworthy." Remus pointed out softly, "I'm not saying Arabella can't be trusted, just playing Devil's Advocate there."
"Remus, it's Figgy!" Sirius reminded him, "Like James said, she loves Harry. She's probably one of the most trustworthy people I know!"
"That's true." James nodded, "Alright. I'll owl her in the morning."
"Speaking of owls..." Remus nodded towards the window where a dark brown owl was hovering, a letter attached to it's leg. Remus went to the window and opened it quickly, letting the owl in. He removed the letter and sent the owl back out.
"Who's it from?" Sirius questioned, getting up from the table and walking to Moony.
Remus held up a finger signaling for Sirius to wait a moment. Sirius impatiently tapped his foot while he and James waited and Remus read.
"Merlin." Remus muttered.
"It's from Merlin?"
"No Sirius I mean...it's from Dumbledore."
"What did he say?" James said, standing now.
"It's the Longbottoms. Frank and Alice were found today and have been sent to St. Mungo's after repeatedly being exposed to the Cruciatus Curse."