AN: I'm sorry for the long wait, but here's chapter 13! Enjoy!
Harry continued to struggle, scream, and cry even after the nurses had admitted him to St. Mungos' and had moved him to a private room. Sirius and Remus watched, stunned, as Zacharias tried to calm him from the bedside with touch and the sound of his voice.
"I know, Baby, this isn't your crib is it? It's okay, Daddy's here…" Sirius opened his mouth to protest that there was no way a teenager could be a parent to another teenager nearly the same age, but Remus, seated next to him, elbowed him and shook his head and he shut his mouth again, "Do you want your paci?" Zacharias bent down to reach the diaper bag at his feet and rooted around in one of the side pockets until he found what he was looking for and pulled out a pacifier shaped like a snitch.
Harry spit it out immediately, his wails gaining volume as he continued to fuss. Seeing that the teenager who was trying to help his once unspoken godson was frazzled and tired, Remus stood up from his seat that was to the left of the bed and offered some advice.
"Perhaps he is hungry or thirsty? The nurses did say he has to drink. Do you, um, do you have a bottle for him? I can feed him if you need a break. You and Sirius can go for food and coffee or something."
With a heavy sigh, Zacharias got up from his own chair, "Thank you…"
Remus smiled down at the boy, "It would be my pleasure. I'll just go heat up the bottle if you have it and I'll be right back."
The bottle of milk was handed over and Remus quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him. He was back in a minute, and then Zacharias and Sirius left the room to take a walk, Zacharias wincing guiltily as the door shut behind them and Harry's cries didn't quiet any. When they had moved down the hall a little, Remus turned to the boy who he had known as a baby but then lost for many years before finding him again.
"Hi, Prongslet… It's Uncle Moony… Are you hungry? I have your baba. It's okay, I'm here. I know, your belly hurts, doesn't it? Shh, shh," after trying to calm the boy with just words, Remus nervously climbed into the small hospital bed and took a still crying Harry into his arms, bottle ready in one hand, "Pain makes it hard to focus, doesn't it? I know. Shh…" After manipulating the young boy into a better position, Remus presented the warm bottle and put the nipple to Harry's lips just like Lily had taught him so long ago.
Once he realized there was something in front of him, Harry took the bottle between his lips and began to suck, his cries quieting and his tears stopping. After a while, his green eyes focused on his honorary uncle and stared at him, his eyes tracking his face and mesmerized by his features.
"Hi, Prongslet, hello," unaware that he was even doing it, Remus let his voice go up a pitch or two as he laid his head down by Harry's on the boy's pillow, the boy entranced by his face just like a real infant would be. In a moment of complete peace, Remus tried something he had not heard in years. He started to sing the lullaby he had heard Lilly sing to Harry so many days and nights when things were still happy and peaceful in his life, surrounded by his makeshift family.
Harry nursed the bottle dry and fell to sleep, lured into dreamland by the soft song that Remus only remembered bits off, something he regretted deeply.
"There's my sweet boy," Remus pet James' messy, black hair from Harry's forehead as the boy settled down and feel to sleep, "I love you. I always have and I always will. Sweet dreams, Sweetheart."
His sweet boy seen to and finally comfortable, Remus settled down for a nap of his own, holding the boy he had lost close for the first time in years. And was truly content.
