Disclaimer: Monkies may or may not have flown out of Madonna's butt but I still haven't seen pigs fly.

Ch. 14 Drain the Cup Dry

I was on the couch three months later, on my back with Nina sleeping soundlessly on my chest. She had assumed her big brothers position, and my hands had slipped almost automatically to her back, and the other cupping her diapered bottom. She was on her stomach, her fists holding a handful of my t-shirt.

I was smiling at the white ceiling of our living room, enjoying the feeling of the little body on my chest. Enjoying the peace that was there before she woke up wailing again, like all babies do. Lily was at work, still paranoid about the baby weight only she could see. To me, she was the beautiful angel I loved, and will forever.

And even though I took care of Nina whether Lils was home or not, Nina wasn't at all neglected in the love field.

So much had happened and I wanted to explode my brain as I tried to keep up. Halloween had been the most interesting of them all. It concerned a certain incident that included my one and only adventurous son, a certain redhead and know-it-all and a Mountain Troll. Good combination right? It is if you're not the adventurous son's over-protective father.

My son, at the tender of age 11 with no prior experience nor knowledge about the Wizarding world had survived the attack of a Mountain Troll (then again, he survived Voldemort). The day Dumbledore delivered the news, about three days after Nina's birth, the incident filled my mind with temporary distraction from spending the entire day at the hospital with the baby. In place of that heart-clenching concern for Nina, pride and concern of my firstborn's health occupied me, and I was thankful, for the first time, Harry had gotten my mischievous streak.

According to Dumbledore, a troll had been allowed into the Castle, but Quirrell, the Professor who spotted the troll, had said it was in the Dungeons. But the fun part is, the troll was in the girls bathroom and apparently Hermione Granger, the bushy headed girl I had seen talking to Harry and warning him during their flying lesson, had gone after the troll. Naively thinking she could take him on because of all she'd read about them, she'd risked her neck in the line of pure stupidity. And my son had gone to her rescue with the Weasley boy.

I was quite amazed at the paternal concern and anger that suddenly overtook the pride I had felt after hearing the news. It was weird but I was angry at Harry for being so frivolous and so much like me to go rescue a stupid Damsel in distress. If I was his father, I mean like involved father, he would've gotten an Howler in less then two seconds with such scolding words of warning that it would freeze him on the spot. I was basically thinking "how dare you scare me to death like that Harry!" Dude…being a father of a preteen is harder then I thought, I only thought Harry would scare me when he was a baby, never when he grew up. But apparently, they scares you most when they're growing!

And Lily has assured me that Nina will be a lot like her brother, for that, I wasn't that thankful. How much I had come to love and depend on this little girl is almost baffling. She looks a bit like Harry, Lily's sharp nose and her bone structure was all she inherited from her mother. Her eyes were the same color as mine, unlike Harry's they are my midnight blue colored eyes. She looked like a black haired angel from my point of view, nestled into my chest peacefully.

Having been sleeping on my back for over an hour, I squirmed to a new position, causing Nina to make a cute, disgruntled sound. "Sorry babe," I whispered, watching her for any signs of awakening. She went back to her comfortable position, and I settled back. Thinking. Thanking.

Everyone who knew about Nina had shown so much love for her. The lost love, the missing love of Remus, Kat and Sirius's lack of presence was almost filled by Dumbledore and Piper. Though Dumbledore's approach towards her was a little more subtle then her jumping Godmother who did all but faint when she laid her eyes on the dark-headed angel. And Nina cooed every time she saw Sirius in the mirror, never minding his wasted good-looks, never fathoming how much he would've loved her had he not been so far away. She didn't mind, she seemed to love Sirius despite his haggard appearance, and after all, he is her godfather.

Sirius had been thrilled to hear that I had a daughter, and was even more thrilled to hear her middle name, though I could see tears in his sunken eyes.

My butt hurt again and I squirmed under my daughter, she didn't waste her precious time protesting, "sorry sweetheart, but my ass hurts," I slowly sat up, my hand still under her butt and my hand supporting her back. Her head slumped on my shoulder, and I slowly stood up. I went up the stairs slowly, taking care not to move her too much.

Her bedroom was the room directly connected to Lily and mine so we didn't have to travel much to reach her at night when she wailed. And using our old friend magic, we had busted a door from her bedroom to ours in the wall that connected us. I paid little attention to the artwork and decoration her mother and godmother had decorated her room with, although they were quite remarkable. Though it was covered with little teddy bears with a light green background, they had used the old charm they had learned when they were decorating Harry's room. Like Nina's, Harry's nursery had a wolf, a dog, a stag and a rat who disappeared when the human form wasn't in the house. For example, if I was at work and Sirius had slipped out and had gone to Lily for food with Remus, a dog and a wolf would appear on the wall. And right now, a stag was the only thing that appeared there, waiting impatiently for Padfoot and Moony to follow suite. I prayed and hoped that they would join the doggy one day, he was way too lonely and Lily refused to add a female dog there with a red coat.

Nina only protested slightly as she was put in her bed, her tiny hands in fists in form of a surrender, her head to one side with her eyes squinted close. Using the same spell Lily had taught me when Harry was born, I went to the library again. The spell was to set off my wand when Nina cried, very efficient for the parent and the baby.

I went through my books in the library, looking for the one whose singular passage had been pounding my brain for the longest time. I found it, an old favorite of Sirius's, A Tale of Two Cities. Though I didn't enjoy the book as much as others, there was a passage there, dialogue which shook me every time I read it: "buried how long?" "Eighteen years." "You had abandoned all hope of being dug out?" "Long ago." "You know that you are recalled to life?" "They tell me so." "I hope you care to live?" "I can't say." And selecting the answer that fit my imagination from the three choices offered, "shall I show her to you? Will you come and see her?" "I don't know her, I don't understand."

With a hollow, bitter laugh I dropped on the leather couch with the book in my hands, finally understanding why I was drawn to it. Sirius. My best friend Sirius was the man that was answering the questions I asked him. He was buried, and soon, I would recall him to life (hopefully soon!). And I would ask him those questions, and his deadened eyes would stare at me lifelessly as he answered me.

I'm so torn with the fact that my life was starting to finally work out, happiness was finally coming to me. The thing that tore me to ribbons was that, for the first time, I couldn't truly share it with my best friend. And that hurt more then anything else. It just sort of felt wrong not to see him play with Nina, or tease me about having to change diapers. He and I have always shared our happy moments together, it's weird for him not to be here corporeally.

The library door opening got my attention, and Lily entering the room provided a wonderful distraction from my thoughts. "Hi," she said brightly, leaving the door open as she advanced to me.

I looked at her with a smile, "hi," I said as she sat next to me on the brown leather couch.

"Nina asleep?" she asked, pulling out the pin that kept her hair in a bun. I watched in rapt attention as it fell to her waist like a red waterfall. It looked so soft I couldn't resist reaching out a hand to play with a stray strand.

"Yeah," I answered, smiling sensually at her as she gazed down at me sprawled on the couch with a Tale of Two Cities on my chest.

"Was she fussy?" she asked, running a finger up my chest making my sigh.

"No, pretty quiet actually," I frowned, still playing with her hair.

"She asleep long?" she asked, watching her fingers as they trailed lightly down my shirt.

I closed my eyes as the feather-light sensation of her finger drove me nuts, as always, "not really, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes," looking at the fire in her eyes, I looked at her curiously, "what do you have in mind sweetheart?"

With a coy smile she tried unsuccessfully to suppress, she giggled, "I've been thinking about you all day," she murmured, suddenly turning shy and staring at her fingers instead of my eyes.

"Oh?" I asked curiously, softly knowing what it did to her.

She nodded, "James?" she asked after a few minutes of silence I enjoyed, staring at her face as she played with my shirt, running her fingers down the crevices beneath.

"Hmm?" I asked.

Her gaze turned up to meet mine, "I love you."

I smiled at her, and couldn't resist wrapping my arms around her waist and drawing her to me, "how much?" I asked with a smile, my lips an inch away from her as she placed her hands on my chest.

Her breathing seemed to become shallow as I pressed her verbally, "without limit James…beyond forever."

"Promise?" I asked.

She nodded with a smile, kissing my chin, "how 'bout you?" she asked, lifting her head to look into my eye's slyly.

Looking into her exquisite emerald eyes, I could see all her love for me shine in them. I suddenly remembered the first time I saw her on the platform in front of the Hogwarts Express, looking so nervous despite her efforts. I remembered the first time I made her laugh, right after we were grudgingly assigned together for a potions project and it blew up in our faces. I still remember the purple-faced beauty laughing as I made stupid comments. I remembered, in those reflective eyes, the times when she would admittedly laugh at something I did, then stop abruptly remembering she hated my guts. And I remember that special night, as I sat frustrated, ready to strangle Peter, and she asked me to speak with her privately. And the bliss I lived in after that night she admitted to loving me with all her heart, although grudgingly. But oh, all these years I've been with this women, and all those foolish times these past few years when I doubted, I have never stopped loving her for one second. And I would never stop, till my last breath.

"What do you think Lils?" I asked, pushing back a tendril of her hair.

Her eyes softened remarkably, making me drown in the passion they displayed, the love I had for her pounded through my every pore. "I just want to hear you say it, James," she said softly.

I looked at her and smiled, "I love you Lily," I whispered.

She gave a genuine smile and reached for my lips asking, "you think Nina'll be up soon?"

Shacking my head, I let Lily wrap in the intricate web of her undying love for me. Hence me finding myself on my back on our bed upstairs with the very naked Lily using my chest as a pillow, a sated feeling pounding through both of us. With a sheet covering us from the waist down, we enjoyed each other immensely. As I mentioned earlier, Lily still has the mother figure, and I'm incalculably happy about that.

"I'm gonna go check on Nina," she said silently, my hand moving up and down her back.

"Alright," I said just as quietly and cursed silently when she got off the bed, the cool air surrounding me immediately without her.

I smiled to myself once she left our room with her peach colored robe on. Turning to sleep on my stomach, never having been accustomed to sleeping on my back without Lily, I nearly laughed out loud in the pillow. In the middle of all this misery, all this shit I'm being put through by some unseen force, I still managed to smile, and feel my heart flutter every time I thought about the fact that I had a daughter now, and I loved my wife more then ever, and, Dumbledore keeps telling me that someday soon, Harry would rejoin us.

Looking at the picture of Harry on the nightstand, I suddenly began to go over the problem that had invaded my thoughts for a while now. What to get Harry for the fast-approaching Christmas?

It was already December 22nd, the air in England and Turlock were freezing and everyone on earth was hunkering down for the happiest time of the year. For four or five years now I'd been giving him birthday and Christmas presents from Atticus. This year, I decided I would be giving them to him, just not putting any name on the presents. For his birthday, I hadn't been able to give him anything this year, unless you count the money in the vault Lily and I left him. But that didn't satisfy. To make up for that, now I wanted to give him something he would always remember.

For some reason, a thought kept nagging at me to give him something that I valued, to pass on to him something from his father would maybe make him feel less lonely. That's why I've been thinking of something I value deeply. The first thought was my wedding ring but I sorta think that's stupid to give your 11-year-old son. Second choice was a photo album, but I wanted to give him something more then that. Something I valued and loved more. I was thinking of an item that had significant memories for me, something that had been present when something important happened to me. Something unbelievably significant.

I knew it had do be something involving the Marauders, whom had been a large part of my life. It had to of course include memories I cherished with Lily with that object present, and my parents, Harry's grandparents.

It was like lightning struck I sat up so fast with the idea flashing brightly in my mind. I smiled, then scolded myself for not having come up with it sooner. Dolt that I was, I couldn't remember one of the most important objects in my life. This particular item was given to me by my father, and had been passed down from one generation of Potter to the next mischievous one since before the Middle Ages, starting with Bartholomew Potter who bought it. It had taken a significant part in our Marauder days and saved our necks during and after Hogwarts, I even mean during the First War. Lily and I often used this object to sneak out and share a privet minute or two by the lake, just to talk or to share affection.

I started to chuckling silently as I stood up, wrapping the white sheet around my waist, I walked towards the walk in closet. Turning on the little light in the over-sized closet full of our clothes (Lily's dominant in quantity) I knelt down beside one of the two trunks that lay on the ground with the initials JP on it. Unlocking it, I began rummaging through various memorabilia I had kept from Hogwarts. I smiled brightly when I found the beautiful, billowing, silvery Invisibility Cloak that had survived countless Potter pranks, wars, and heavy passion.

This was perfect for Harry, of course, he would use it to get into trouble but ey, he's the son, godson, and surrogate nephew of the Marauders. I picked up the cloak and walked back to the bed with it in my hand, sitting at the edge, and staring at it released countless memory rushes. Sirius, Peter and myself huddled up under it, running slowly across the lawn of Hogwarts under the Full Moon to join our friend when he needed us the most. I remembered every time Lily and I sneaked out of the castle for a few stolen moments when we discovered that we could actually be very intellectual companions to each other.

I remember one time she and I decided to go and have a picnic by the lake the last week of 7th Year. It was as romantic as I could make it, which was pretty romantic. Her eyes sparkled like champagne in the moonlight, setting my heart to beat with a newly found passion. We had talked about our plans for the future. She was signed up for training as a Healer, and I was going to the Auror training academy and on to living with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin in a shabby apartment in London.

It was decided, as Lily came back to me with the news that Nina was sound asleep and began massaging my bare shoulders, I would give my baby boy the Invisibility Cloak.

The next morning I woke up early with the sound of Nina's cries and the beds weight shifting as Lily hastily went to our daughter. I lay a little disoriented for a while, never having been a morning person and was never able to speak in full sentences until 9. I sat up, and almost instinctively went to the writing desk in the corner of the room. Picking up a piece of parchment and a quill I began writing the following note:

Your father left this in my possesion before he died

It's time it was returned to you. Use it well!

I didn't sign a name and left it a mystery to Harry. And I had no doubt he would somehow link it to Dumbledore and lose the trail. After telling a protesting and pretty happy Lily about giving the cloak to Harry, I wrapped it up and went to Hogwarts to give the present to Dumbledore to put it under the tree for my son.

I've never been happier.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Sooo sorry about the late update you guys! But I've been sooo unbelievably busy with school and life and stuff. And I'm writing a short about Lily and James' wedding. For those who know Alan Alda, the actor/writer/producer dude, he's my hero and I got to meet him on Friday. He has wanted to be a writer since he was 8 (He's 70 now) and he just published his first novel, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed ((I recommend it!)) I went up to him and told him that I'm a writer and he told me to promise him to keep writing. So I'm gonna do that and try to do my homework and that. So I need you all to have patience even though it's not a common virtue. Please, please have patience! I've come up with a concept for the story that has me going to back to read books 1-5 since I already wrote six. And it's still on fresh on my memory. PATIENCE! I LOVE YOU! REVIEWS POSTED ON MY BIO PAGE! SHOUT OUT TO NEUROTICA!