TICK TOCK TICK TOCK!

That was all that could be heard in the Potter household that day…the irritating sound of the clock.

"So, Moony, what would you like for lunch?" Sirius asked tentatively as he leafed through a Magical Cookbook. Remus did not respond. Instead, he chose to keep his face hid behind a storybook that he was reading under his breath to Harry. Sirius sighed in defeat. Remus was mad at him…and he couldn't change that. "Erm--I guess tuna casserole is okay?"

No answer.

"Tuna casserole it is! And of course the usual milk for Harry." Sirius hummed as he read over what wand movements were required to make the tuna casserole. He kept on sliding side-glances at Remus, seeing if he showed any signs of forgiveness. None yet.

"Casserole is ready!" Sirius said brightly. With a thump from Remus shutting the book, he and Harry entered the kitchen. Still in complete silence, Remus placed Harry on his high chair and pulled himself a seat. He began eating immediately. Sirius watched Remus eat and Harry suck on his bottle (the bottle being held up magically in thin air).

"How is it?" Sirius asked, still attempting to make conversation.

"Fine," Remus answered bluntly. Sirius grinned a bit…a word, yet curt, but still a word! He was getting somewhere. Sirius found it safe to start eating too.

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK!

Lunch passed in complete reticence. No sound but of clanking forks onto plates, Harry's sucking and that infernal ticking! It was beating against the very core of Sirius' head. This was unbearable.

"Moony! When are you going to forgive me? I didn't mean for the comment to sound like that…I was just…pointing something out."

Remus grunted.

"Moony…you're not being fair! After all, you WERE the one who doubted me in taking care of kids in the first place," Sirius said stubbornly.

"Ah, Padfoot, I forgive you. I just find that your comment was extremely rude and unnecessary!" Remus got up, cleaned his plate with a swish of his wand, and strode into the living room where he turned on the television set. Sirius shifted his head guiltily, seeing Harry scrutinize him with his green eyes.

"Stop it! It wasn't my fault!" Harry persisted in looking at him the same way. "Don't look at me like that! I'm reminded of Lily and the way she eyes me when I've done something wrong!" Harry's face broke into a smile. "You can smile like that…that reminds me of James when he approves of my mischief." Suddenly, Sirius smelled something really unpleasant.

"Oh, damn." He looked over at Harry, who was still smiling smugly. "Better not bother Moony…I'll--gulp--change you." Sirius picked Harry up from his highchair and brought him up to the nursery.

"Now…all I have to do is take this plastic-feely thing off." He undid the straps on the diaper. "Whoa, man! Geez, that's really unappetizing…ugh, ew!" Sirius plugged his nose with one hand as he continued his mission with the other. "Now I have to wipe you with these cloth things." He yanked ten wipes from the box and used it to wipe Harry. Seeing that one wipe wasn't enough, he grabbed another ten. After using about fifty wipes, Harry was respectably clean. "Okay…I guess I have to put this white stuff on you…*cough cough*" Powder was floating around the room, gathering in clumps on Sirius' shirt and hair. "Finally, I put another plastic-feely thing on you!"

At long last, Harry was clean and fresh, wearing a new diaper. "I did it!" Sirius exclaimed. "I changed your diaper! I did it! I am a fully-skilled baby-sitter!" Harry giggled. "Yup! I am now the king of all kids!" He picked Harry up and started dancing around the room with him. "I can take care of babies! I can take care of babies!" he chanted.

Unfortunately, Harry had just eaten, so all the moving around was making him queasy. So--

"Argh! Aww…all over my shirt too! Thanks a lot Harry…"

Harry laughed.

*~*~*

Remus was flipping through the channels. Nothing, not one interesting thing, was on TV. Switching the television off, Remus plopped down onto the sofa in a huff. The day hadn't been the best. It started with banana mush in his face, then with him dropping Harry a hundred feet in the air, now with him on non-speaking terms with Sirius. He really didn't want to be mad at Sirius, but Sirius had really pushed it this time. He had to learn to back off somehow.

"Oh, Moony!" came a singsong voice from the hall. Remus inwardly groaned. He didn't really need Sirius at the moment. "Moony!" Sirius sang again. "Look what I did!" Those four simple words were enough for Remus to whip his head around, expecting to see a disaster before his very eyes. Instead, he was staring straight into Harry's green eyes.

"Hello, Harry," Remus greeted him. Harry gurgled. Remus leaned his head over to look at Sirius puzzled. "What'd you want me to see? It's just Harry," he said dully.

"I know it's just Harry! But look! I changed his diaper and his clothes!" Remus peered back at Harry. It was true; Harry was as clean as ever.

"Wow…good job, Padfoot," Remus said. He was genuinely impressed. Sirius had been vastly improving on his skills with handling babies. Then, a nasty odor caught Remus' nose. "Eurgh! What's that smell?"

Sirius looked sheepish. "Um…me."

"You?" Remus sniffed the air. "Why would you smell of baby powder and--" he sniffed again "--sour milk?"

"Let's just say that dancing around with Harry so short after a meal is a bad idea," Sirius answered. Remus was a little puzzled by the statement, but shrugged it away.

"Sorry for holding a grudge, Padfoot. You're truly forgiven," Remus said. Sticking out his hand for Sirius to shake.

"Really?" Sirius said, eyes sparkling. "I'd shake your hand, but I'm holding Harry right now…and I haven't washed my hands yet." Remus immediately withdrew his hand.

"Right…thanks for the warning."

*~*~*

"Look, Harry! See? This is a dog!" Sirius said excitedly, as he shot a picture of a dog from his wand. Harry looked up at it curiously, waving his hand through the picture. As soon as he touched it, the picture faded away, much like a haze would. Harry smiled and squealed delightedly.

"Oh yeah? See this one? This is a cat…can you say cat, Harry?" Remus said, shooting a picture of a cat from his wand. Harry responded with one of his signature "bah!'s".

It was already eight o'clock in the evening. Sirius and Remus had spent the rest of the afternoon playing games with Harry. They even let him use Sirius' wand, but once he shot a lightening bolt from it, knocking over a candle holder, they decided to not let him use it furthermore.

Harry gave a loud yawn, right when Sirius was showing him a picture of a star.

"I think someone's tired," Remus said quietly.

"Nah…I'm not tired, Moony. Why are you?" Sirius asked innocently. Remus stared at him.

"Sirius, I was talking about Harry," he stated. Sirius blinked a few times, then nodded his head vigorously.

"Oh right! I knew that!"

Remus took Harry into his arms then brought him upstairs to the nursery, with Sirius in pursuit. Remus laid Harry down in his crib, waiting for him to drift off into dreamland. Sirius soon joined him by the crib, and it was much like the first night, the three of them just staring at each other.

"Oh damn!" Remus said suddenly, slapping his forehead.

"What happened? And why isn't Harry sleeping?"

"Sirius! We broke the Quidditch mobile…and that's the only thing that lulls him to sleep!"

"Quidditch? They have a mobile? A car? Where?" Sirius asked ecstatically.

"No, you dolt! The Quidditch mobile!" Sirius stared at Remus blankly. "The little music box that you broke and it kept on repeating itself? I smashed it with a hammer last night so that it would stop playing!"

"Ooh!" Sirius said in realization. "Ooh--oh no!" he said, soon figuring out the dilemma they were in. "What do we do now?"

"Do you know how the tune went?"

"Sort of…"

"Well, put some words in there…and…and…sing him a lullaby!" Remus suggested triumphantly.

"WHAT?!"

*~*~*

Author's Note: Ta ta! Tune in next time!

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