Authors note: Thanks to Morphox for helping me recover from writers block and to Bookish0278 for her lovely Pm's. To my wonderful reviewers, thank you!
Chapter fourteen: The Babysitter.
The doorbell rang just as Sirius was bringing a freshly-bathed Harry down the stairs. Harry ran into the lounge and left Sirius to answer the door. He watched Harry disappear out of sight and sighed, he hoped Harry would be okay with the babysitter. He opened the door to reveal a pretty young woman standing on the doorstep. She lived opposite which was the precise reason Sirius had picked her because Harry had seen her around and so hopefully wouldn't feel so awkward around her, she was a muggle but he hoped that it wouldn't matter.
"Hello!" she said breezily as she stepped into the house.
"Hello" Sirius replied somewhat taken back by her forwardness.
"You must be Sirius, I am Jenny. I have seen you and the little darling wandering around, and Remus, where is he?"
Sirius blinked, little darling? Harry was not going to like that!
"Umm, he is in the kitchen" Sirius said weakly.
"I am here" Remus said cheerfully as he walked through the kitchen door.
"And where is the sweet little child I get to look after?" She asked excitedly.
Sirius raised his hand vaguely towards the lounge. To Sirius' alarm Jenny began to make her way towards the door.
"Harry?" Sirius called quickly to warn Harry "Why don't you come and meet your babysitter?"
Harry remained stubbornly silent, Sirius mentally shrugged oh well he had tried.
"Oh isn't he precious!" Sirius heard Jenny coo.
He stifled a chuckle and went into the lounge to rescue Harry. He nearly laughed out loud at the sight that met his eyes. Harry was enfolded in a big hug and as he caught sight of Sirius he glared at him angrily. Sirius was just about to save him when Remus came in.
"Right he has had a bath but he still needs his tea, the emergency contact number is on the fridge, he has no allergies that we know of and he needs to be in bed by eight o clock" Remus instructed.
"We will be fine, we will have a lovely time wont we darling?" Jenny released Harry in order to kiss him.
Harry backed away quickly wiping his cheek furiously as he did so. Sirius spluttered with laughter and Harry turned to face him with a look which would have killed a lesser man. Harry folded his arms across his chest and cast a wary look at his babysitter.
"Is there anything else you need to know?" Remus asked seriously.
The babysitter shook her head.
"Well we best go now" Sirius said cheerfully. "Bye Harry"
Harry unfolded his arms. "Y-you're going?"
"We have to Har, but we will be back soon." Remus said tenderly.
"Do we get a hug?" Sirius asked hopefully.
Harry shook his head in a perfect imitation of his babysitter. Sirius pouted in an attempt to hide the hurt he really felt. With a chorus of bye's they left the house they were half-way down the path when a little voice yelled "Wait!"
Harry barrelled towards them and threw his arms around their legs.
"Bye" he said softly.
Sirius picked him up and held him close before passing him to Remus. The babysitter came up behind them.
"Oh how absolutely adorable, isn't he a lamb?" She simpered.
Harry was starting to dislike her and her darlings and lambs and precious's. Remus put him down and he sat on the gate and waved until they were out of sight. They had to get out of range to apparate Harry realised..
"Why don't we go and play a game?" Jenny suggested.
Harry was still watching the place his godfathers had once stood. Why did they have to leave? As he sat there a horrible thought crossed his mind, he tried to shake his head to get rid of it but it was persistent. What if they weren't coming back?
It would make sense, they could leave Harry with a over-enthusiastic moddy-coddling weirdo and make a fast escape. That's why they both went, they weren't coming back! Harry's tummy suddenly felt like it was playing host to a hive of bees who were swarming around trying to get out, his hands felt like ice and his heart hurt. They had left him, just like everyone always left him.
Tears prickled the back of his eyelids and he swallowed hard. Jenny was patting him on the head like he was a dog, this thought nearly made Harry laugh, what is wrong with me? He thought, one minute he wanted to cry and the next he was trying not to laugh. Suddenly his feeling of fear, confusement and misery disappeared. They were replaced by anger.
Why should he always have the good things taken away from him? Why did Sirius and Remus have to build his hopes up just to shatter them? Did he really not deserve any happiness? Anger coursed through his veins and he jumped off the gate with a bang.
"Oh good, are you going to play now?" Jenny asked hopefully.
"No!" Harry snapped and stomped back towards the house.
"Are you hungry love? We could have tea" Jenny suggested following him into the house.
"I'm not hungry" Harry shouted.
"Why don't we watch TV?" Jenny asked determined to find something that she could do with her young charge.
"Just leave me alone" Harry yelled and ran up the stairs to his room.
He lay on his bed and closed his eyes trying to calm down. He heard the babysitter tiptoe up the stairs, she was singing softly. He sat up quickly and brushed his sleeve across his face to catch any stray tears.
Why should he calm down? It was them who had left him with a weird woman, he was entitled to be mad and give this woman a hard time. Its not her fault a little voice in his head whispered but he pushed it to the back of his mind, life wasn't fair to him so why should he be fair?
"Dear, dear you are in a state aren't you love?" The patronizing woman exclaimed as she entered the room.
"Why don't you come and draw?"
A devilish idea suddenly crossed Harry's mind. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't do it but today…
He was going to give this babysitter hell.
"Yes" he said decidedly "Lets draw"
"Oh good! Come on then sweetheart" Jenny said relieved.
But Harry had ran off in front of her and down the stairs to the lounge where he had some pens that Sirius had bought him from the toy store. He hadn't used them yet and he wasn't going to use them now. Picking up a handful he threw them up in the air like confetti.
"Harry dear, I meant draw with them not throw them" Jenny finally reached the room.
Harry ran to the cupboard and began to throw all of his toys around the room.
"Now Harry I really think you ought to sto- owww" Jenny was cut short as a stuffed elephant collided with her head.
Harry rushed out of the room and into the kitchen were he began to throw open cupboards and grab random items of food. Crisps, he ripped them open and scattered them over the floor. Chocolate frogs were released to hop around the kitchen and bertie botts every flavour beans were used for target practice, the target being the babysitter. When the kitchen was successfully flooded Harry ran into the garden. Jenny was still spluttering.
He ran to the hose pipe and turned it on before hiding behind the door.
"Harry, Harry where are you?" Jenny called as she ran outside.
Harry took his cue and jumped out of his hiding place letting his babysitter get the full blast of water. He waited until she was totally soaked and then dropped the hose and ran into the house leaving his dripping babysitter to clean up his mess. He went into the lounge and hid behind the heavy curtains and looked outside. Ten minutes later his babysitters voice filled the house.
"Harry! Come here!" She didn't sound very happy.
At least she's lost all her dears and lambs, Harry thought with the trademark Potter smirk. He listened to his babysitter panic as she frantically searched for him, he couldn't believe he was actually getting his own back on an adult for the way they all treated him.
He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. When he woke up daylight sun was filling the room. He smiled slightly as he remembered the previous day. But deep down he couldn't help feeling…bad. After all he knew how it felt to be stamped on by the world.
He was just going to come out and apologise to his babysitter and maybe clear up the mess when he saw a sight that made his heart stop. Sirius and Remus were walking up the path.
But they weren't coming back?? Harry panicked. But they obviously were and Harry knew he was going to get into so much trouble now. He heard the door open and his godfathers laughing which was normally a sound which filled Harry with joy but today the only emotion he felt was dread.
"Was he good?" Remus asked cheerfully.
"What is all this mess?" Sirius exclaimed his observant eyes picking up what Remus had missed.
"He has not been good! He has been a..a…a" Jenny searched for a horrible enough word.
"I take it you aren't going to say lamb?" Sirius said quirkily causing Remus to dig his elbow into his ribs.
"Nightmare" Jenny finally finished.
Harry shuddered, he had first hand experience of just how bad nightmares were and this lady thought he was one!
"Where is he?" Remus asked solemnly.
"I don't know!" The babysitter exclaimed "I have looked everywhere for him, and he made all this mess and he soaked me with the hose pipe"
Sirius spluttered with laughter but contained himself after a glare from Remus. Harry knew he had to go up to his room now before he was too late. He leapt from behind the curtain and flew up the stairs with speed he had acquired from living with Dudley. Sirius and Remus only half-heartedly tried to grab him. Jenny was still spluttering with rage. Sirius paid her extra and managed to propel her out the door.
"and then he-" Jenny moaned
"See you another time, bye!" Sirius shouted.
When there house was free from babysitters Sirius and Remus looked at each other and began to wave their wands cleaning everything up. In normal circumstances Remus would have made the child who made the mess clean it up but Harry had already done far too much cleaning at the Dursleys so they did it for him. When everything was back to how it should be they climbed the stairs to Harry's room.
There was a small lump under the bed clothes.
"What have you been up to Harry Potter?" Sirius asked but he didn't sound very cross.
"I'm sorry" Harry sobbed.
Sirius reached under the covers and pulled his godson out. Harry's face was streaked with tears. He sat him down on his lap.
"Why were you so naughty Harry?" Remus asked not unkindly.
"I thought you weren't coming back" Harry howled.
"We would never leave you Harry" Sirius said loudly.
The three hugged for a long time.
"Are you cross?" Harry asked anxiously when they finally broke apart.
"No" they laughed.
"But don't ever be that naughty again" Remus said sternly. "Once we will let you get away with but lots of times…" He mimicked cutting his throat which sent Harry into peals of laughter.
"Well maybe not not ever again" Sirius said thoughtfully. "You need a bit of fun"
"Just don't make it a regular thing" Remus said rolling his eyes in Sirius' direction. "And I will take you to apologise to Jenny tomorrow"
"I will draw her a picture!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes shining. He was much more animated now he knew his godfathers weren't going to hit him.
He cuddled into bed with one godfather on either side of him and fell asleep listening to stories of the torture Sirius and Harry's father James had inflicted on their unfortunate babysitters.