Well, Chapter 7 is up! Sorry, I wasn't able to update for a few days. Thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you like the story. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this one
"I think I should send Harry an owl." Sirius said suddenly. It was mid-afternoon and soft rain was falling outside, when Sirius and Natalie were in the kitchen enjoying a comfortable quiet. Remus had finally agreed to get some rest so Natalie had sent him into one of her guest rooms, which he usually used while visiting her. Sirius was sitting at the table, solving a crossword puzzle, his eyebrows knit with concentration, while Natalie was making an apple pie at Sirius' special request.
"It's a good idea. He should know that his efforts to save you were to no avail." Natalie said "On the desk in the living room, there's some parchment and quills." she added so Sirius abandoned his crossword puzzle and went for the parchment.
"How did Harry take the news that you're his Godfather?" Natalie asked suddenly and Sirius looked up from the letter.
"Took me by surprise, actually. He already knew." he said and didn't miss Natalie's slight frown. "What's the matter?" he asked and Natalie sighed.
"It's just…that I suppose he doesn't know about me. I've talked to him only once, and as his teacher, I couldn't tell him that I'm his Godmother. You've got a good reason for not being with him but I…" she trailed off. Sirius put away the quill, got up and came over to her while she continued "How can I tell him I wasn't with him because of stupid orders? That I left him live with those poor excuses of people because Dumbledore told me so?"
"Nat, he will understand-" Sirius said but Natalie cut him off.
"No, Sirius, he won't. He's just thirteen-year-old boy who has to live with his terrible Aunt and Uncle and a stupid cousin." she exclaimed and a few tears poured down her face. Though she was desperatedly trying to stay collected for Sirius' sake as he was in need of friend right now, she was quite losing it.
"Listen," Sirius said and put his arm around her shoulders "I know that we will meet him again and when we will, you can explain it to him. Harry will understand and he will be happy to have one more person who cares about him." he said and Natalie nodded.
"I think you're right." She sniffed and wiped her tears. Now she felt stupid in front of him. She had cried two times in two days in front of him; she sure made a great impression. "Thank you."
"Alright?" Sirius asked and she nodded, however, Sirius left his arm around her shoulders for a while longer before he let go of her and got back to his letter.
"You know what?" Natalie said with a sudden idea "When I was teaching in Hogwarts," at that words, the corners of Sirius' mouth twitched by suppressed laughter. "I found out that Harry wasn't allowed to visit Hogsmead because those stupid guardians of his hadn't signed his form. As his legal guardian you could allow it when." Natalie suggested.
"That's a brilliant idea!" Sirius exclaimed and took another scrap of parchment and began writing "That should do. Listen:" he said when he finished and read aloud what he had written.
"Sounds good." Natalie agreed "Alright, come on, let's find you an owl." she said and together they went to the garden, not minding the drizzling rain. Natalie led Sirius to the cages where she had five owls. With a slight surprise, Sirius noticed a cage which he hadn't noticed before. It was a cage with two big colourful tropical birds.
"What are these?" he asked, pointing at the birds, which were sitting calmly and proudly. Natalie just gave them a glance to see what Sirius was referring to.
"Oh these? Sometimes I use them instead of owls, especially when I need to send something too heavy for owls." She said unconcerned "Which one do you want?" she asked, pointing at the cage with five different owls.
"It doesn't matter." Sirius shrugged but then another cage caught his eye. It was a cage as big as the others were, but inside, there was just one owl, which was so small that it would fit into a palm. The owl was enthusiastically fluttering around its cage and squeaking. Natalie noticed what was Sirius watching, and she smiled.
"Or you could use this one." she suggested with amusement and Sirius arched his eyebrow.
"Is it reliable?" he asked with doubts.
"Reliable? Oh, sure, it is. I didn't trust it either, so once I've tried to send it to Remus to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, it came back." she said and Sirius gave her a look.
"Unfortunately?"
"Well, you see, it was some time back when those kids brought me an egg which they had found somewhere. They knew I was taking care of animals so they brought it and I took it. However I didn´t know what would hatch out of it. This little devil is the result. It is reliable and enthusiastic but sadly, that's the problem. It's so enthusiastic that I have to keep it in a separate cage as it annoys other owls and they would probably eat it."
"I see. So you hoped it might not find the way back?" he asked.
"Yeah. I know it's cruel but the other owls are going mad from all that squeaking and I can't take it inside, otherwise I would be going mad." she explained.
"What if I borrowed it for sending the letter to Harry and then got rid of it for you?" Sirius suggested and Natalie gasped.
"Are you crazy? It is annoying but you can't just kill it. No way, that is even crueler than hoping it would get lost! And since when do you hurt small cute owls?" she would go on forever if Sirius didn't stop her.
"Swanny? Swanny! I didn't mean I would kill it. I just thought that maybe Harry's friend would be keen on keeping it. It was him, who owned Peter, thinking it was just a rat." Sirius explained and Natalie gasped with recognition.
"Oh. Sorry. In that case I agree, let him keep it. If he wants it." she added then.
Next month, Sirius was feeling like he was in heaven. Not only because Natalie was doing every wish she saw in his eyes, but simply because it was her he was with. In those twelve years he had been locked up in Azkaban he had had many memories of her but indeed, they had been the worst memories he had in his mind - memories of all of their fights - and also the made-up thoughts of her, living with someone else and sometimes even the images of her dying or being tortured. After some time he hadn't even been sure which of these had been made-up or which had happened for real. Even now, when he was with her again, those dreadful thoughts were still haunting him and frankly, she was the only thing which could chase them away.
Natalie was trying desperately to help him recover and she was doing great job. He finally gained some weight so now he didn't look like a skeleton and although a dark shadow covered his face if he was left to his thoughts for too long, a reminder of his usual spark returned into his eyes as well as his wits and habits.
Even Natalie was getting used to not living alone and frankly, it was as dificult for her as it was for Sirius. Although Natalie hadn't spent twelve horrible years in Azkaban in company of dementors, she was all alone for six years as well, used only to a company of her pets. Now, she had to get used to her house being a constant mixture of mess and ruckus. These two things had always been following Sirius on every step and not even a decade in prison changed that. Natalie, who had always been rather neat, was after a month finally getting used to it, although she was still cringing, when Sirius threw his feet onto her table or left crumbs of cookies on the couch. But despite that, she was happy to have him back and have someone to talk to. During that one month he was with her, they managed to get to know each other again and sometimes it seemed to Natalie that he had never been gone. If it hadn't been for that everpresent pang of sadness for her friends' death, she would have thought none of those horrible things had ever happened. When she and Sirius were reminiscing and laughing together, she felt as if he had just dropped by, to hang out for a second, and he would leave in a while saying he had to go to take his bike for a ride or that every moment now James, Lily, Remus and Peter would drop by as well.
However, as much fun as they had, during the last days a strange tension began to build between them. Neither of them had any doubts about the cause of this tension, it was the same one that had hung between them every time they looked into each other's eyes since they were sixteen-year-old. But having in mind the conversation they had had on the first night they reunited, both of them decided to ignore it, or at least try to ignore it. Strangely enough, without even talking about it again, they had found an odd compensation – bantering. When Remus dropped by, they were driving him into insanity with they endless teasing and jokes, although the perceptive werewolf could see right through it.
Remus himself would show at Natalie's place at least once a week, sometimes staying for a few days even. Natalie was more than happy to let him stay for as long as he liked as she was a bit concerned about his well-being, but the fact that he was actually able to stay for several days straight without having to work was making her worried even more. It showed that he indeed didn't have any work to attend, otherwise he wouldn't have taken so many days off in order to save them for full-moons. But knowing her friend well enough to know that he didn't like when she fussed over him, she kept quiet, not wanting to make him feel unwelcome.
It was another rainy afternoon and neither Sirius nor Natalie wanted to go out into the garden, where they would be every other time after lunch. Instead, they were in the kitchen. Natalie was carefully making a birthday cake for Harry, whose birthday was approaching quickly. Baking was her speciality (her grandmother had taught her) and she was determined to make the best cake Harry had ever got. In the meantime, Sirius was sitting at the table, tilting his chair on its back legs just like he had done at school, engrossed in a copy of Daily Prophet.
"Listen to this: A Ministry worker missing." he read aloud and Natalie looked up with surprise.
"Who's missing?" she asked Sirius, who was still absorbed in the article.
"Bertha Jorkins. She went for a vacation to Albania and no one has heard of her since." Sirius summarized the article.
"Isn't she that seventh year girl with strong glasses who overheard us talking about Marauder's Map?" Natalie squinted with concentration as she was trying to remember.
"Yeah, that's her. She's working in Magical Games and Sport but they say Ludo Bagman's really reluctant to send someone after her." Sirius said, still not taking his eyes from the article.
"Hmm…Albania? I think it's quite suspicius." Natalie mused.
"It sure is. But right now, with the on-coming Quidditch World Cup the Ministry has other things to tend to." Sirius snorted and closed the newspaper and threw it on the table. Natalie knew he was fond of Quidditch as well, very fond of actually. In Hogwarts, he used to play in Griffindor Quidditch team as a Beater and while everyone had been praising James as the best Seeker the Griffindor team had ever had, Sirius had been playing nearly as well. One year after school, their whole gang had even gone to see Quidditch World Cup to Germany. Not that Natalie was that interested in Quidditch herself, but she had known that going with the guys to Germany would be so much fun and what's more, James'd even talked Lily into going as well. On the World Cup, Sirius had been having a time of his life but now, even he admitted that there were more important things than Quidditch and disappearing of the Ministry worker in the country known as the place where Voldemort had been seen last was definitely one of them.
Sirius got up from the table and came over to the counter where Natalie was making the cake and watched her with interest.
"Whoa, this looks good." he said when he saw the progress. He was almost beginning to envy his Godson this cake but he knew he could easily talk Natalie into making one just for him. Concerning food, he could be wicked.
"Thanks." Natalie beamed at him and went to fetch some supplies into the pantry, leaving a bowl of freshly made chocolate cream on the counter.
How convenient! Sirius thought with a grin and with a quick glance in the direction of the pantry, he dipped his finger into the bowl and tried what his Godson would eat for his birthday. Indeed, it was delicious and without thinking, Sirius took another round of the cream. He repeated this several times, so he didn't even hear the approaching footsteps from the pantry and it took him by surprise when a hand suddenly spanked his own.
"Hey!" Natalie exclaimed "This is not for you! Surprisingly, some food in here isn't for you. This is for Harry so back off." she said and snatched the bowl from his hands.
"I just wanted to try what Harry will be having." Sirius defended himself with an expression of five-year-old boy and Natalie, although rolling her eyes, had to suppress a smile; she was supposed to be mad at him.
"Try? You've eaten half of the bowl. Now I'll have to make new." Natalie said as angrily as she could but Sirius saw right trough her.
"Really now? So you won't mind if I take this one." he said with a childish grin and snatched the bowl back.
"Hey! Give it back, you thief!" Natalie exclaimed and tried to get the bowl back but Sirius was quicker and jumped backwards. But Natalie wasn't one to give up easily and in a while, she was furiously chasing Sirius around her kitchen, not even caring that they were knocking down everything what came into their way. After some time of Natalie's unsuccessful attempts to catch her friend, she somehow jumped across the sofa, tripped Sirius' feet and sent him down, but fell down herself in the process so they ended up in a heap on the floor.
"Gotcha" Natalie grinned triumphantly and a twinkle appeared in Sirius' eyes.
"You've got cream on yourself." Sirius responded and when Natalie looked down at her robes, she figured that he had been right. In their fall she somehow, in some very strange way, managed to get the subject of their fight spilt all over herself, some of it had even smudged over her face. Amazingly enough, despite the fact that she and Sirius had ended up in one pile, he got off untouched.
"Blimey, I do!" Natalie gasped but right then, they both fell into a fit of laughter. Really, they both were like two lunatics, lying on the floor, laughing. When Natalie got short of breath again, she just fell on her back next to Sirius, breathing heavily. Sirius, who was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, stopped laughing as well. All laughter died down when he looked into Natalie's eyes. She was lying next to him, looking absolutely adorable with disheveled hair and a smear of the cream on her cheek. Natalie, too, was sensing the all-so-familiar tension between them, but now she wasn't that sure she wanted to care about the whole friends-deal between them.
Sirius seemed to forget it altogether. Suddenly, without either of them noticing it, their faces were getting closer and closer and their eyes were locked. When Sirius' face was mere inches from hers, Natalie closed her eyes, anticipating the long craved feeling of his lips. Just as Sirius was about to close the tiny gap between them, a loud crash typical for Apparating echoed from the kitchen and the sound had an immediate result on Sirius and Natalie. They flew apart like shrapnel.
"Nat! Padfoot!" they heard Remus' voice from the kitchen.
"We're here!" Natalie called and she and Sirius quickly got up and in a second, Remus appeared in the doorway with a wand in hand and Natalie realized what he must have thought when he saw the disarray in the kitchen. When he saw nothing except furniture and Natalie's robes was out of order he put the wand back into his cloak.
"What for Merlin's sake happened in here?" He asked when he took in the look of his friends and surrounding. Natalie was covered in chocolate cream, Sirius' hair was tousled and kitchen and sitting room were a disaster.
"Well…" Natalie said, still in a slight shock, both from the scare and the fact that she and Sirius were… when she just thought about it her heart skipped a beat and she totally forgot what she wanted to say "You know…we…I was making a birthday cake for Harry." she stammered finally, although the statement wasn't making any sense at all. Remus raised one eyebrow at that.
"And that explains all of this how?" he asked, spreading his arms and looking around. "It looks like a hurricain has swept across here."
Natalie finally recovered from the shock of almost being caught and patted Sirius on his back "And said hurricain will now help me clean all of this." she gave Sirius a wry grin "But at first, I have to go to get changed so if you excuse me…" she said and went past Sirius into her room. Damn! She thougth on her way. She totally forgot that she had invited their werewolf friend for a supper.
When Natalie returned, fresh clothes on, it took them almost an hour to get her house into its normal state. For the whole time, Natalie and Sirius were sneaking glances at each other, occasionally catching each other's eyes. Natalie still couldn't believe what had almost happened between them. Sure, there was always some tension between them, however she had not expected something so spontaneous. It wasn't in her plans! They were supposed to stay friends, they had agreed on it and here they were, almost kissing! Although…Nat had to admit that as much as her mind was screaming a very resolute NO, her heart was telling her otherwise.
After they got the kitchen cleaned again, Natalie finally finished the cake for Harry and it was actually the right time to send it so it would get to him in time. Sirius even talked her into borrowing him one of the colourful birds to deliver the cake to their Godson instead of owls; although he didn't have to make much effort to talk her into it.
Soon after this, it was 31 July and in the evening, while Sirius and Natalie were sitting in the sitting room, drinking tea, they had remembered the events that had happened fourteen years ago.
FLASHBACK
It was 31st of the July 1980 and this year the summer was especially rainy. Even this day, the heavy rain was pouring from leaden clouds, making puddles on the streets grow increasingly. But two young women, almost girls yet, didn't seem to mind at all. They were sitting in a spacious, warm-looking kitchen, drinking tea. They were just having another fit of laughter.
"No. No way, Natalie, am I naming my baby Cleophaestus." the readhead girl said when she stopped laughing and distractedly rubbed her big belly.
"What? Why not? It would be cute to call him Cleo." young Natalie joked.
"It's cute for a guinea-pig, not for a child."
"Alright, you're right." Natalie grinned, turned her attention back to the name book and browsed through it.
"You´re doing an usless work." Lily Potter rolled her eyes. "James wants to name the baby after himself." she said, obviously disgruntled about her husband's stubborness.
"What if it's a girl?" Natalie wondered and Lily gave her a pointed look.
"He wants to give this baby his name either way. If it's a girl he wants to call her Jamie." Lily said and Natalie couldn't help but burst out laughing again. This was so like James.
"Sorry! I'm sorry." Natalie said quickly when she calmed down and wiped the tears out of her eyes "Did you- Did you try to talk to him about it?"
"Well, not yet." Lily admitted and when Natalie gave her an incredulous look, she explained further. "Everytime I just mention the baby, he goes rambling about how we will decorate his or her room and how 'James' will be great at Quidditch and how he will teach him flying and so on and I just…don't have the heart to interrupt him, you know?" she looked at her friend and Natlaie sighed.
"Lily, just talk to him. Although…I don't think that James is a bad name, it is a nice name - just imagine he would be really called Cleophaestus - but if you don't agree with him, just tell him. He loves you, he will understand." Natalie encouraged her friend. Just when Lily wanted to answer, a loud knock echoed from the front door.
"I'll get it." Natalie offered and made her way through the Potter's house to the front door. "Who is it?" she asked before she opened.
"It's me, Remus." a voice of her friend echoed but Natalie still made no move to open. Being trained by no one other than Mad-Eye Moody himself, she knew well to be cautious. Constant vigilance she repeated in her mind.
"Prove yourself!" she ordered him.
"Once in the fourth year I got a detention because I was disturbing too much during Transfiguration. However, I wasn't disturbing, I was delirious because Sirius had placed a Billywig sting onto my seat." Remus said and instead of response, he heard the sound of unlocking door.
"Hi, Moony!" Natalie smiled and hugged her dear friend.
"Hi, Swanny. How's everything?" he asked.
"Good. We're just having a chat with Lily until James comes back."
"I see. When are those two due to come back? I really would fancy seeing them." Remus said, referring to James and Sirius, who were on a mission for Dumbledore. Natalie was having a day off, thus she could stay with Lily. Remus, who had not been seen for a few days because of the full moon, was glad to see his friends.
"They're supposed to come in the evening or early night." Natalie said. Remus had just taken off his cloak and hung it on the coat-rack when a loud gasp and a sound of shattering glass echoed from the kitchen. Natalie and Remus just changed quick glance before they dashed to the kitchen. As soon as they stormed into kitchen, they saw Lily, leaning against the kitchen counter, clutching her stomach and panting heavily. Both of them immediately rushed to her.
"Lily, what's wrong?" Natalie asked and touched her friend's arm; Remus joined her from the other side.
"I- I think it's time." Lily managed to say through clenched teeth.
"Oh, bollocks!" Natalie gasped and covered her mouth in panic. Thank Merlin that Remus was there, because his nerves didn't fail him as much as Natalie's. But one can't think ill of her - she was just nineteen as she was the youngest of their gang.
"Alright, Nat, we need to get her to St. Mungo's and find James. You take her to hospital and I'll try to fetch him." he suggested but in that while, Natalie snapped back into reality, her Auror-mind kicking in.
"No." She said, getting hold of Lily's right arm and gesturing for Remus to do the same "No I think you should come with us, get her settled in so you'll know how much time you have to find James. Besides, he will want to know details as soon as possible." she said and Remus admitted it sounded reasonable. He helped her escort Lily to the living room to the fireplace and then threw a hand of Floo powder into the flames. It was decided that Natalie would go first, so she could wait for Lily on the other side and alarm the staff of St. Mungo's beforehand.
"Now, Lily, will you manage?" Remus asked his friend and she just nodded, not even able to talk. "Alright, let's go." he said and helped Lily into the fireplace.
"St. Mungo's!" Lily managed to say and then disappeared in green flames. On the other side Natalie helped Lily out of the fireplace and even before Remus appeared in the fireplace as well, a group of Healers was already taking care of Lily, conjuring up a stretcher, so they could levitate her into the appropriate room. Lupin and Nat were following them closely, not wanting to leave their friend. But the healers didn't allow going with her to her room for now, so they were anxiously waiting outside for some news.
Finally, the healers came out of Lily's room and one of them informed Nat and Remus, that it would still take a few hours for the baby to come out and that they could go in to see her.
"Moony, you go and find James, I'll stay with her." Natalie decided, although she was absolutely frightened. What if Remus wouldn't find James in time? She wasn't sure she was strong enough to stay with her friend through everything… Remus just nodded and was about to sprint away.
"And Remus?" she called out again and he stopped and turned around to see his friend with aboslutely panicked expression, though she was bravely trying to hide it. "Please hurry!" she pleaded. Remus just nodded and was off.
Natalie came into Lily's room and when she saw her friend's expression, she froze in the doorway. Lily was looking as bad as Natalie was feeling and that made Natalie feel absolutely guilty. She was here, thinking about how she was feeling, while her friend was going through this ordeal alone. Immediately, she rushed to her friend's bedside and took her hand.
"How are you doing?" she asked her.
"Awful." Lily said, her voice shaking. "It hurts." she whimpered and Natalie squeezed her hand.
"It's going to be alright. I promise." she encouraged her but Lily frowned.
"The baby wasn't due for other two weeks." she said "We- we don't have the room finished and we don't even have the damn name!"
"Lily, you shouldn't worry about this, really. You should concentrate just on having this baby, and then you can worry about the nursery. Besides, you're a witch – you're going to have the room done in a matter of minutes." Natalie smiled but to her surprise, Lily sniffed.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this. He- he should be here." she said, a few tears making their way down her cheeks.
"He will be." Natalie said confidently. "Remus will find him, you'll see. He'll be here before you know it."
"And what if he won't? What if James won't be here?"
"He will." Nat answered firmly "But if not, you don't think I'd leave you alone, do you?" she said and finally, Lily chuckled slightly and looked gratefully at her friend.
"Thank you." she said and then squeezed her hand as another contraction hit her.
Oh, Remus please hurry Natalie thought.
In the meantime, Remus flooed first into Sirius' flat, thinking that if they had already finished their mission, they could stop at his place. However, he found no one at Sirius' place. He thought that they could drop by Peter' but then he remembered that he was visiting his mother. So next best shot was, of course, Dumbledore.
Remus flooed into Dumbledore's office and found the Headmaster sitting behind his desk. When he stepped out of the fireplace, the old wizard looked up.
"Young Mr. Lupin, how nice to see you. From your expression I assume something's the matter." he said and Remus nodded.
"Sir, I'm in need of finding James. Lily has just gone into labour." he said but the Headmaster didn't seem very surprised about that.
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are on a mission for me but I expect them to be back within an hour." Dumbledore said "Maybe it would be best, Remus, if you waited for them here. Do you care for a cup of tea?" he asked the tired-looking werewolf, who just nodded and sat down.
The next hour was excruciating. Although he was talking to Dumbledore about various things, he just couldn't take his mind of Lily's well-being. Finally, when his anxiety seemed to be unbearable, the flames in the fireplace turned green and Sirius stepped out of them, soon followed by James. To say they were dishevelled was an understatement. They had apparently come through a fight. Their faces were smudged by dirt and smoke and their robes were torn on various places. A right sleeve of Sirius' robe was missing as well as James' shoe. They were also covered with cuts and scratches.
"Mission accomplished, sir." Sirius grinned, although the rather big cut on his forearm was still bleeding.
"I'm very glad to hear that, gentlemen but-"
"We too, it wasn't an easy task to get- Moony, what are you doing here?" James didn't finish his sentence when he noticed his other friend sitting on the chair, looking anxious.
"I'm looking for you." Remus said and sprang up from his seat. "Lily's gone to labour. She's at St. Mungo's." Remus didn't need to say anything more for James had already dashed back to the fireplace, flooing to St. Mungo. Sirius was just looking at the fireplace longingly, not knowing if he could leave or not.
"Just go, Sirius, you can inform me about it later." Dumbledore said with a slight smile and both Sirius and Remus ran to the fireplace as well. In St. Mungo's Sirius and Remus caught up with James, who was unsuccessfully trying to find out where his wife's room was.
"James, come on!" Moony said and dragged James behind him in direction of Lily's room.
In the meantime, Natalie was getting desperate. She was trying to calm Lily but it seemed to be impossible. Lily was in turns crying for James and screaming by pain and Natalie was getting short of ideas how to calm her friend. Just as Lily fell into another crying fit, the door to her room burst open and James stormed inside. He was dirty and Natalie didn't fail to notice that his shoe was missing, but she was glad to see him nonetheless. Immediately, she vacated the chair at Lily's bedside and let him sit down instead. Following him close, even Remus and Sirius came, the latter in similar state of James'.
"Lily, honey, it's alright. I'm here." James said when he saw his wife's tears and took her hand.
"James, I'm so glad you're here. I'm scared." she whimpered.
"Don't be, it will be alright." he said soothingly, although his friends knew that he was not only scared, but absolutely terrified, just like they were.
"How are you doing, Lily-kins?" Sirius, who had now also approached Lily's bed, asked. However, he didn't meet such a warm warm welcome as his friend had.
"Try to push water melon out of you and you'll know." she hissed at him and Sirius raised his hands in defensive gesture.
"Whoa! No need to get all snappy on me, right Prongs?" he said wryly and patted James on his back.
"Stuff it, Padfood." James said and continued to tend to his wife. Sirius, Natalie and Remus spent several long hours in Lily's room, trying to cheer her up, so she would forget her pain at least for a while, as well as cheer James up, so he would forget his fear; but then they were shooed out of the room. This was, however, even harder for them to bear - to hear their friend crying in pain - than be with her in her room. Sirius was the only one not showing his anxiety, although everyone knew he was just as nervous as everyone else, he was just better at hiding it. He was casually leaning against the wall, waiting patiently. Natalie was anxiously fidgetting on her seat, obviously unable to sit calmly for more than thirty seconds. She also got back to her habit to chew on her fingernails. Remus was nervously pacing the hallway, still looking at his watch or at the big clock on the wall. Every once in a while, they heard Lily's painful, ear-piercing scream, at which all of them cringed. After one especially terrifying shriek, at which Natalie plugged her ears, another high-pitched cry could be heard. Remus immediately stopped pacing and looked at the door with hope. Even Sirius straightened up and Natalie rose from her seat so quickly that she almost toppled the chair over. Remus, who still didn't take his look off of the door, came over behind Natalie and put his hands on her shoulders in order to calm her nerves. Sirius was just as on the edge as others and had enough of waiting, but right when he was about to voice his thoughts out loud, the door opened and two healers left the room, followed by their friend, who was grinning goofily although there weretears glistening on his cheeks.
"Well?" Sirius asked for all of them.
"There- There's someone for you to meet." James finally said, stuttering slightly, and gestured for them to go inside.
They followed him into the room, which was now very quiet, contrary to the ruckus just five minutes ago. Prongs sat down on the chair beside the bed again and proudly looked at his wife, who was holding a small bundle of blankets.
"Hi." Lily beamed at her friends, tiredly but there was no trace of worry or fear on her face anymore and her eyes were shining. "Everyone, meet our son, Harry James Potter." she said and Nat, Remus and Sirius came closer to her bed, almost bashfully.
"Harry, huh?" Natalie gave Lily a knowing smile, remembering their earlier talk and her friend nodded.
"Yeah, we thought that calling him James might be confusing." James answered for his wife.
"And here I was hoping you would name him after me." Sirius mock-pouted.
"That would be confusing as well, Padfoot." James remarked "However…" he said but then he paused and gave Lily a hesitant look. When Lily nodded at him to continue, he went on "We thought that you might be…honoured in another way." James said now completly serious, which wasn't usual for him. He got up and looked into his best friend's grey eyes. "We want you to be Harry's Godfather and legal guardian in case something happened to us." he said and for a while a dead silence settled in the room, even little Harry (as if knowing that the matter was concerning him) didn't make a sound.
"M-me? Are you…really?" Sirius stuttered, completly taken aback.
"Yes, Padfoot, really. It might look like we have lost our minds but…you're like my brother, who else should get Harry if not you? So, do you accept?" James asked him and Sirius (who was still absolutely stunned) now looked at Lily, as if to make sure she was alright with it as well. She smiled brightly at him and nodded and Sirius turned his attention back to James.
"It will be my honour, Prongs." he said, without any hint of his trademark sarcasm or jokes. It was obvious how much this ment to him, for he had almost tears in his eyes.
Hearing this, James grinned, as well as Lily.
"We're glad to hear it, Sirius. Well, would you like to hold your Godson?" Lily said and Sirius nodded wordlessly, although a little hesitantly. He had no experience with children, let alone babies. Very, very carefully, almost as if he was scared he would break him, he took Harry from Lily's arms. For a while, he was looking at him, with Natalie and Remus looking over his shoulder, and took in the appearence of his Godson - from the tuft of already jet black hair to the shape of his face - and then he grinned.
"Whoa, you already look like your old man, Pronglet." he said, making everyone chuckle and James looke very proud.
"Now," Lily suddenly spoke up "the Pronglet also needs a Godmother." she looked at Natalie meaningfully.
"Really?" Natalie gasped and when the new parents nodded she squealed and eagerly hugged first Lily and then James "Thank you." she said then and wiped the few tears that managed to spill out of her eyes.
"Moony, we're sorry but." James looked at his other friend but Remus cut him off.
"That's alright, Prongs, I understand." he said and gave him a smile.
"Thanks Moony." James smiled gratefully "And I promise you, you'll get to be the Godfather of the next one." he said, earning a scowl from his wife.
"James Potter, if you really plan on having another one in recent future, it will be you giving birth." Lily said and Natalie snickered.
It was ten minutes later and Sirius was still holding the little boy and Natalie was getting agitated.
"Padfoot, will you finally let me hold my Godson?" she said and reached her hands for the baby, however, Sirius drew away.
"Hey, no one takes my Godson." he defended, making Natalie frown even more.
"Your Godson? He's my Godson!" she scowled.
"I got him first." Sirius said childishly.
"And you had him. And now it's time for his Godmother to have him."
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Kids, if you're going to fight, give Harry to me at first." Remus chimed in but neither of his friends seemed to listen to him.
"No, Remus, they're not going to fight, they'll even stop argue if either of them wants to have Harry." Lily said and her words had an effect as an icy shower on Sirius and Natalie.
"Come on, Padfoot, give Harry to Swanny for a while." James said and at that, Sirius gave and exasperated sigh but he handed Harry to Natalie anyway. Natalie took the bundle with the utmost care. She still couldn't believe that she's holding a son of her best friends, and what was more - her Godson. As she held him, the baby slowly opened his eyes and stared at her with a strange, almost knowing look.
Natalie gasped "Oh my…Lily, he has your eyes!" she said with astonishment. The boy was looking so much like James that she had been almost willing to bet money on his eyes being hazel; however, the baby was now staring at her with emerald green eyes - Lily's eyes. For next ten minutes, Natalie was cooing at the baby and then she carefully gave the baby to Remus.
When Moony himself held the newborn long enough, he handed him back to his mother, who took him and watched him lovingly. James, who had been talking to Padfoot, now sat down on Lily's bedside once again and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Lily leaned into his touch and together, the new parents were cooing at their son and talking to him, every now and then one of them would softly caress his cheek or his tiny hands. Their three friends were watching the family with grins on their faces, happy for them. Natalie had, despite her wide smile, tears in her eyes and as she was watching Lily and James with Harry, subconsciously she wrapped her arms around Sirius' waist and leaned into him, and Sirius himself put an arm around her shoulders; but neither of them took their eyes off of the scene before them. They both were so absorbed into the atmosphere of the room, that they had actually forgotten even to feel awkward about their subconscious actions and neither of them could wipe the smirk off their faces. But just a few seconds later, Remus wordlessly gestured for them to leave and give their friends some privacy.
END OF FLASHBACK
There! We got to know how Harry came to be:) I hope you liked it just as I enjoyed writing it. See ya!
