The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

[Season Nine] Game Day: Round Six / Keeper - RemusLily

Word Count: 1,022

The kitchen table had scratches on it. Funny, how it was the first time Remus had ever noticed that, though he'd been eating at this table for over two years now.

His rough, weathered hands brushed atop the carved oak, feeling it smooth to the touch, however bumpy in some places due to some reason or other. In the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered a prank involving a fork, an angry Sirius, and a jumpy Peter, but the specifics of the incident escaped him. Something about salt in tea? Who knew.

Eventually, he reached over and grasped a glass of chilled lemonade in his left hand. His right continued traversing the surface of the table.

"I'm sure he said 'mummy'."

Opposite him, Lily's mane of red hair flicked to the side as she looked up. Her eyebrows were creased, emerald green eyes sparkling determinedly.

"No, Moony, he said your name."

The werewolf frowned.

"Are you sure? Because I could have sworn..."

His friend smiled at him sweetly, her own petite hand reaching over and encasing his.

"I'm sure. I told you Harry loved you."

Encouraged, Remus nodded, "Harry loves the both of us."

"Sirius is just jealous 'Padfoot' wasn't Harry's first word," Lily assured him. "And I did tell you, Remus, that it doesn't matter who his godfather is, officially. All of you are his uncles."

The topic of debate was, as a matter of fact, the first word of one Harry James Potter. Just barely a year old, he had three uncles vying for the position of "favorite", and although this didn't determine who it was, it was a major deciding factor in it.

"Moomy... it really could have been both, at the same time," the sandy-haired man mused.

"A combination of Harry's two favorite people," the boy's mother giggled.

Remus took a sip of his lemonade and nodded. So what if he wasn't around as much as Sirius was? So what if he couldn't turn into a giant big dog? None of that really mattered in the grand scheme of things. Harry liked him. Harry had said his name before anyone else's. And yeah, maybe it hadn't been as clear as one could have hoped for, but it was close enough. It counted. And Sirius could go suck it.

"James is pissed he didn't papa," Lily was continuing on, laughing merrily. "But what did he expect? He just didn't have enough dedication."

"Dedication?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

The redhead smirked, eyes gleaming mischievously.

"I may or may not have been coaching Harry all year. Babies' first words are what they hear most often, after all."

The chocolate-lover snorted and shook his head.

"Sneaky. I can appreciate that."

"I thought you might," Lily nodded. "It was a bet between James and I, seeing whether Harry would say mama or papa first. Seems he's bamboozled all of us, actually."

"A true Marauder," Remus grinned proudly.

"Oh, ah ah," the green-eyed woman waggled her finger sternly. "No indoctrination, Remus. Not from you, at least. You promised."

"Oh, very well," he sighed, very put upon.

"Thank you," she nodded triumphantly, getting up from her seat. "I think someone needs a diaper change."

"I was wondering what that smell was."

"I'm surprised you didn't recognize it the moment it happened," she giggled, scooping her son up from the ground. The little boy wiggled in her arms, impatiently extending chubby limbs toward his motionless toy broomstick on the rug.

"I've come here so often, I've just learned how to block it out." Was Remus' response. "It's best for all of us, I think."

"Whatever you say, Moony," Lily smirked. "We'll be right back."

And with that, she and her son ascended the stairs to Harry's nursery, where the boy's poor mother would undoubtedly be dealing with a blowout of some sort. Thinking about it, Remus nodded and decided he didn't envy her one bit.

Moments later, a sulky James Potter wandered into the kitchen, hazel eyes glaring at his friend resentfully.

"I'm pretty sure it was poopy he said."

"Oh, sod off, Prongs," Remus scoffed playfully. "The lad's already picked his favorite, and he's smart about it too."

"Sure, if he likes pooping that much," the bespectacled man pointed out.

"Alright, Slytherin, I can see you're switching red for green. It's not a good color on you."

"Piss off, Poopy," his friend glared.

"Oh, so you admit it was my name he said?"

"Not in a million years," James declared. "Harry loves me best and we all know it."

"Do we?" Remus rolled his eyes.

"False," Sirius announced, stalking into the kitchen like he owned it. "All lies, all slander. The boy is my godson; obviously, he's following in my footsteps, given that I'm his favorite."

"In what universe does my son prefer you to me?" James sniffed.

"In this one," his brother in all but blood retorted.

"Pfft. You're delusional."

"No," he grinned cheekily. "I'm very Sirius."

"Oh Merlin," Remus groaned. "That joke was old even when it was new, Padfoot."

"I don't know what you're talking about. My jokes are quality-tested and controlled. It's not my fault you can't recognize perfection, Moons."

Just then, Lily came down the stairs with Harry.

"What are we talking about?"

James beamed and extended his arms toward his mini-me.

"Oh, just the matter of who Harry's favorite is. It's papa, right Harry?"

Big green eyes, identical to his mother's, swiveled around curiously, widening at the sight of all his favorite people in one room. With a grin eerily similar to his father's, Harry James Potter beamed and exclaimed:

"Moo-ders!"

A.N. That last word there is "marauders," if you can't tell. Harry has my whole heart *insert crying emoji*