March 1981

Harry screeched with triumph as Sirius held his hands and helped him walk around the front room of the cottage in Godric's Hollow. He hadn't quite got the hang of putting the soles of his feet flat on the ground yet; he tended to drag them sideways, but he was getting closer and closer every day. Harry let go of Sirius's hands and made a bee-line for the jar of Floo Powder sitting on the floor by the fireplace. Lily was watching on closely, and she swiftly picked up the jar and placed it on the mantelpiece out of reach. She need not have worried; Harry managed to take one step before nose-diving forward; Sirius grabbed him before he fell.

'I keep telling James not to leave the Floo Powder there; he keeps forgetting that Harry doesn't just stay where you put him now, and he's fascinated by the Floo Powder. He keeps trying to eat it; it's apparently so much more appealing than mashed banana,' sighed Lily.

'I can sympathise with him there,' said Remus. 'Bananas give me a stomach ache.'

Remus was lying on the sofa, still recovering from the full moon, which had been two nights earlier. Unless it was a month where his injuries from his transformation were so severe that they merited St Mungo's, he always recovered at the Potters' home. After they had left school, Lily had enquired as to what arrangements he had made for himself every month. She had been horrified at his response, had deemed his plans entirely unacceptable, and dictated that he should come to Godric's Hollow instead. He had protested initially, telling her he didn't want to be a burden, that he had his pride; telling her it wasn't safe for her and James to give a werewolf house room. James' response to that had been to point out that they had shared a dormitory for seven years, and unless he was very much mistaken, Remus had never torn his throat out then; but eventually, in the face of Remus's stubbornness Lily and James had had to be rather harsh with him to get him to agree, telling him they weren't going to stand for him wallowing in self-loathing; that what he seemed to call pride struck them as just another way to punish himself for something which was not and never had been his fault; that they respected his right to personal autonomy, but that when he made decisions that endangered his health they had to step in; that he was weakening himself in much the same way as his father had done before him, and they really didn't fancy having to arrange their friend's funeral. To Remus their words had been like a kick in the teeth, but he had known, deep down that they were right, and that the sentiments, however crudely expressed, were of love. So he had accepted their help.

As Sirius set Harry back onto his feet and took his hands again, Lily got out her camera, the very same one that her father had bought her ten years earlier. She had, fortunately, long since become much more skilled at taking photographs than she had been as an eleven year old.

'I don't think,' she said, as she snapped pictures of her baby, 'that it'll be much longer before he'll be walking on his own, Sirius, and he won't need your help; what do you think you'll do then?'

'Teach him to fly,' answered Sirius, without hesitation.

Lily looked as if she was about to cry out in horror at this pronouncement.

'It's hard enough keeping an eye on him as it is! I can't help thinking about the chaos that's going to manifest itself…'

'He's going to be running around bothering the cat and playing Quidditch in no time; I wouldn't expect anything less of my Godson,' said Sirius, apparently ignoring Lily's fears. Sirius scooped Harry up off of the floor and blew on his stomach. Harry laughed delightedly.

Lily smiled.

'Honestly, Sirius; the way you go on anyone would think that it was you who'd given birth to him.'

'Well, obviously I am the most important person in his life. They don't call me Godfather for nothing,' he said as he tossed Harry up in the air.

Lily shook her head, just as Harry reached his hands over Sirius's shoulder towards Remus.

'Oi, is Uncle Sirius not good enough for you?'

'You might be the most important person in his life when he wants someone to play with him, perhaps; but he likes his Uncle Remus better when he's tired,' smiled Lily.

Sirius, disappointed that Harry had seemingly had enough fun for one afternoon, reluctantly passed him over to Remus, and the baby snuggled into the werewolf's robes. Remus stroked Harry's hair and smiled down at him.

'Is that you getting possessive over my son, Padfoot?' said James as he walked in the door.

'How did things go, James?' asked Lily.

'We got there just in time, five minutes later and there would have been Death-Eaters swarming all over that house; the protective enchantments are all in place now, but it was a miracle that we managed to get away without a fight.'

'What? But that was supposed...'

'I know. I just don't understand it. That was supposed to be a routine mission to protect a muggle household; a precaution; nothing more. But lately it seems that every plan we have they're one step ahead of us. We were lucky; we arrived early. All our careful planning, all our precautions, and our success came down to nothing but dumb luck.' The frustration in James' voice was evident.

'Let's not think about it. Just tonight James, please. You did succeed; just for tonight, that's all that matters,' pleaded Lily.

'You're right. I thought Wormy was meant to be coming here this afternoon?'

'He was. He's late.'

'He always seems to be late these days.'

'What do you expect, it's Wormy,' said Sirius. 'He's probably got himself lost; apparated to Rowenaswood rather than Godric's Hollow, and is currently drinking a butterbeer with a hag and a goblin, ruminating over whether he's left it too late to come at all!'

James laughed at this.

'That does sound like Wormy. Oh, by the way Padfoot, I've got something for you.' He tossed an envelope at his friend. Sirius caught it and looked inside; it was stuffed full of chocolate frog cards.

'You said Dora collects them? I've even found her an Agrippa.'

'Excellent, thanks; she'll be thrilled; I've not sent her any in ages.'

'Gone off chocolate?'

'Not likely. But I keep getting cards I know I've already sent her.'

'There's some in the pocket of my cloak,' said Remus. 'I'll get you them later, or you can go and look for them yourself, she can have them too. I don't want to move just now though,' he said, looking down.

Harry had fallen asleep, and was splayed across Remus's chest, his arms and legs outstretched; the very picture of tranquillity. Lily grinned at the scene, and picking up her camera, took a picture of her sleeping baby, as Sirius slipped out into the hall to rummage through Remus's cloak pocket.

June 1992

As he gathered up his box of photographs, Remus shook away his memories. Why was it, he thought, that all the lovely memories he had of his friends always had to be polluted by the presence of Sirius Black?