Harry Potter and the New Start

Life As We Now Know It

Hello everyone. Thanks to the reviewers, I'll be talking with you all at the bottom though. I'm sorry this took so long! Schools been a bitch, and even though we have today off, I need to clean my room (I'd rather get dental surgery). So I'm cleaning and when I've done a good bit of it then I treat myself to a break, meaning I rush to the other side of the room (over lots of stuff, as I'm not done yet) to write some of this.

This chapter is probably one of my least favorites of the outline. It's more of a filler chapter, so you all know what's going on. After this we will be flashing forward a few years, as I can't keep Harry a baby through the whole thing. Don't worry though, its only by a few years.

This is a week after the last chapter. Also, if Harry calls Sirius "Sir" it's supposed to be "Seer". Beware of fluff.

----------------------------------Emerald's Palace

Harry watched in amusement as Sirius cursed loudly again. The man was completely oblivious to the baby's presence, as Harry had slipped away from Boo and crawled to his godfather. For Harry it was rather amusing to watch Padfoot get all frustrated when the box he was looking in didn't contain what he wanted it too.

"God damn it James! I know you left it in here somewhere. All your parents' old things. Bloody hell..." the animagus muttered. Not softly enough for the baby to not catch it, but not loudly enough to alarm the house elves. If Lily had found out that her baby had heard him talking like that then he would be dead.

When the next box turned up nothing Sirius growled and flopped back onto the floor. This action was followed by a rather loud yell. Though, it didn't bother Harry in the slightest. He merely giggled, causing Sirius to jump almost a foot.

"Harry!" he near shouted as he crawled through the mess towards his godson. How long had Harry been there? And more importantly, how much had he heard?

Giggling again, Harry answer. "Pa-fut! Wha' do?"

"Umm...well Harry. Something that many people would frown upon. You want to know?" He added mischievously. Truth was, it was frowned upon, though he could hardly think of a reason why it would be against the law. No one had ever escaped Azkaban, so there weren't many laws that were in place for such an occasion.

Nodding furiously at Sirius, the baby gurgled his "yes" out quickly. Little Prongs Junior was every bit the marauder. His father's son in more than just looks. Sirius was quiet pleased for that fact, it would make turning his godson into a prankster so much easier for him.

Smile still in place, one that would have let the teachers of Hogwarts give out a collective shudder, Sirius explained. "Well, Harry, I'm going to borrow your grandfather's wand."

Seeing that this meant very little to the child, Sirius continued to explain. He didn't care that it would probably mean nothing to him whether it was explained better anyway. "Your dad and I could change wands all the time. They were very close in makes. Both had dragon heartstrings inside of it. Mind was eleven and a half inches, and your father's was just eleven. Though his was mahogany and mine was cherry wood. Really close either way."

Harry just continued to watch Sirius as his godfather started looking boxes again. Catching on to the trend, Harry opened a box too. He used the edge to hold himself up so he wouldn't wobble around and risk landing on his bottom.

"Now, Emeralds, if memory serves me...and it usually does when it comes to breaking rules...your grandfather's wand was very close to your dad's. All the same except Mr. Potter's was fourteen inches long. I don't know if that makes..." Sirius trailed off to look up at Harry, who was calling to get his attention.

In the little boys fist was a ruler. He looked expectantly at Sirius to ask if this was what he was looking for.

"No, good try though. Wands are round, not flat, baby." Sirius informed the child, who merely shrugged and went to the next box.

Deciding to keep a running dialogue, Sirius continued. "Now, if this wand works for me, then we're in business Harry. James pretty much went totally sentimental after they died and put a lot of your grandparent's things into this place. Though I don't see the significance of a ruler." He muttered, confused.

The next few boxes turned up nothing. And mentally, Sirius was just waiting for the inevitable explosion of Boo when she saw the mess. Considering that there was no female presence in the two's lives – and chances were there wouldn't ever be – Boo had taken over a bit of a matriarch's role.

"Sir?" Harry asked, holding out a wooden spoon. If James had been alive Sirius would have had a long discussion with him over what was worth saving and what could be thrown away.

Shaking his head again, Sirius turned down the cooking implement. "Nah, Emeralds. Closer though,"

"James, if you weren't already dead..." Sirius growled again after another ten minutes had gone by. "You save rulers, wooden spoons, pencils and a cocktail stirrer. But where the hell are their wands?"

BANG

A loud explosion ran across the room seconds after the words had left Sirius's mouth. Smoke filled the area and after a few seconds it cleared.

Sirius was thankful he was sitting down, or else he would have collapsed.

The room was now a very violent shade of magenta. Teddy bears were covering the floor and green vines were coming from the ceiling.

And standing in the very center of it all was a soot covered Harry, who was holding James' father's wand in his hand. Had Sirius not been in shock himself he would have found the look in the child's face to be rather comical. Harry looked shocked, amazed and quiet pleased with himself, all at the same time.

"Well, I guess we found the wand..." Sirius faintly stated as Harry nodded. Both of them were nearly half buried in the bears.

With a loud screech a monkey fell into Sirius's lap from the vines above. The fully-grown auror looked at the monkey as though he'd never seen anything like it. Then his head moved up to the now guilty looking Harry.

"New rule...Harry never touches wands."

------------------------------------The Next Day

The mess in the storage room had taken quiet some time to clean up. Though, with Sirius's new wand, the time was cut in half from what it would have been. The wand accepted him and gave him no troubles after a few simple spells. Which is exactly what Sirius had been hoping for.

Their life at Emerald's Palace was far quieter than what Sirius was used to. It was probably how James and Lily would have had it, had they lived. With the house elves though, they weren't entirely in a world of domesticity. Considering that Sirius didn't have to cook or clean.

Actually, it was almost like Hogwarts again.

The pain of losing Lily and James was always in Sirius's mind. But as time went by, time spent with Harry, the pain lessened. Having a purpose helped also. Sirius's only goal in life was to keep his godson happy and healthy.

Harry, in turn, was doing his part to help Sirius through. When the deadened look of Azkaban slid into his godfather's eyes, the child did anything and everything he could think of to bring Sirius back to the present, where he was far away from the hell of his former prison.

As much as Sirius wanted to stay just as they were, Remus was always in his mind also. Would Moony believe him? Could they risk it? His mind told his heart – which was fighting for Remus to get a chance to at least hear the truth – that it was not possible. And on top of that, it could not be risked.

If he and Harry were caught then that would mean the end of their life together. And that could not be risked. Not with the Dursleys as a constant threat. They needed to stay in hiding.

And that was all there was to it.

Sadly, his mind's resolve did little to keep thoughts of his only other best friend from his head.

"PAD-FU!"

The newer – and closer to the truth – version of his name was yelled out like a war cry. A war cry that successfully managed to pull him out of his musings. And even if that didn't, the handful of mashed carrots would have done the trick.

Sirius wiped the orange mess from his eyes and opened them again. Harry was sitting in his highchair gearing up to throw another handful his way. Yet again, once sad thoughts entered his mind, there was his rather marauder-ish godson ready to pull him out of it.

Before he could comment on the lovely mess on his face another handful of the offending substance was flying at him. The child's aim was pretty good, as he was hit head on again.

Sirius sent a withering glare heavenward, where Lily and James were no doubt having a wonderful time laughing at his predicament. The little boy started to giggle madly, very pleased with himself and what his actions had accomplished. And Sirius couldn't exactly blame him either, as he was sure that he looked interesting all covered in a mashed up orange mess.

Instead of reprimanding his godson, Sirius decided a different approach. He gathered his own handful of the carrots and flung them back at their original thrower, hitting Harry square in the face.

The baby shut up instantly.

"Life lesson Harry, never mess with a marauder unless you're ready to take their retaliation. Seriously, didn't Prongs teach you anything?"

Padfoot was sincerely hoping that if James was laughing at him that had shut him up as good as the carrots had shut up Harry.

Okay, that chapter wasn't quiet what I had planned. The basic premise of this chapter was meant to be where Sirius got a wand that worked, and so you could see how Harry would be raised. I hope you did like it though. But feel free to tell me it sucked, as I would be forced to agree with you.

Takemeunder23- I was trying to think of a good nickname for Harry, and I thought Emeralds would work, luckily you all agreed. Thanks for the review, and the patient waiting.

Lady FoxFire- Because that would mess up my plot? LOL, I have no reason why they wouldn't other than they can't for this story to work. Good question though, thanks.

Christy the Angel- I like the penname. Big on angels, hu? Anyway, I'm glad you liked the cuteness. I'm trying to intersperse this with mush, at least before I start to cause problems. Thanks for the review!

Padfootluver- Thanks for the compliment. I personally don't think I'm that great, but I still like hearing that other people do. Hehe. As for Harry's speech, I know that no child has perfect speech. Even after I age Harry a bit, he won't talk perfectly. So don't worry about that. Thanks!

Athenakitty- Sirius already pretty much knows what the articles will say, so I don't think I'll have him read them. At least not now. And as for your questions, they do give me an idea as to what you want or don't want. So that I do like. Thanks for reviewing!

HoshiHikari4ever- I'll work out the Voldemort aspect eventually. I don't know quiet yet. I'm glad you liked the chapter, thanks for the review!

Hermoine21- Thank you!

Yana5- If that's your view on Dumbledore, you may have some problems later on in the second story if it's written, as he is a major part. Maybe I'll be able to change your mind for that one story, either way though, he's in it. Though, I admit that I'm not too pleased with Dumbledore after the last one either. Thanks for reviewing.

BlindJedi- I agree completely. I realized after the whole thing had been written that the responses equaled the story length pretty much. But I like how the chapter had gone so I decided to let it slide this time. I'm trying to lengthen chapters, but sometimes it doesn't work. Thanks!

Luvguurl- I want to show how close they are, so I'm glad you like it. Updates may slow a bit though. Sorry. But thanks for the review!

Yami Rose- Next chapter Harry is older. Thanks for the review, I hope you like the older version of Harry.

Korrd- Lupin makes appearances in this one. I don't know how much of him you want, but I can guarantee some. Thanks for the review.

Wolfawaken- Here's more, I hope you liked it. Thanks!

Stinky Stan- Yep, he does have Harry to cheer him up, which you saw with the carrots. LOL. I love writing for baby Harry, and here's to hoping I'll enjoy little boy Harry too. Thanks for reviewing.

PrincessSkywalkerOrgana- Yeah, perk to fanficiton, mistakes are allowed. Thanks for the review!