Harry Potter and the New Start: Musing After Four Years

Thanks to all of the reviewers. Okay, I know that when I read stories like this, I usually don't like when the author flashes forward, but sadly it needed to be done. I can't very well make the star of the story a one year old the whole way though, now can I?

This is four years later, hence the title of the chapter. Harry is now five.

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

Sirius watched with a smile as Harry ran around, trying to catch the fireflies. The warm summer air breezed past them, and Sirius just sat back and let Harry run himself into exhaustion. A very useful tactic when one had a hyperactive five year old to contend with.

Every day Harry grew more into James, though his own person at the same time. In looks, he was James with Lily's eyes, and that was all there was to it. His godson would be hearing that his whole life from people who had known his parents.

But in personality, he wasn't quite the same. Yes, he was very hyperactive, an adjective used for James and Sirius many times. He was stubborn, though quick to back down if the war was against Sirius himself. Harry was shy, and that wasn't something that anyone would have expected from the son of a marauder and the fiery redhead, Lily Evans.

Not painfully so, just occasionally Harry would do something that suggested that he was in fact shy. It was hard to tell, there wasn't really anyone to be shy around. He knew all of the house elves, and he knew Sirius. So no one was really sure how he would react to new people.

For the time being, however, they'd just let that remain a mystery. With everyday that went by, Harry grew closer and closer to Hogwarts. And that thought scared Sirius.

There wasn't a whole lot that could scare him anymore, and Hogwarts should be pretty far down that short list. But the betrayal of his best friend - and the much smaller betrayal of the headmaster - had shaken his trust in the place he'd called home for seven years.

"Siri! Look!" Harry screamed happily. And once again, Sirius was dragged out of his depressing thoughts by his godson, who had perfected these interruptions to an art form.

In Harry's hands was a firefly, blinking furiously for freedom. "I caught 'im for you." The little boy stated in a way that would make a woman turn to mush.

Sirius knew this for a fact, because he was practically ready to do the same. "Thanks, Emeralds. How many did you get so far?"

"I didn't count this time." Harry replied. It was usually a tradition for Harry to count as many as he could get, reaching pretty high in numbers.

His godson was already turning out to be a very smart little boy. He could read, for starters. Though Sirius was still unclear as to how. He and Boo hadn't even begun talking about teaching him until his fourth birthday. But only weeks after Harry had started walking around with one of the books from the library in his lap. Sirius had found it immensely cute that his godson was pretending to read and had called in the house elves.

Needless to say, they'd all been a little surprised when they realized he wasn't pretending.

"Here, let me take him. You know, spend some quality time before we set him free, and you go catch some more. Show 'em whose boss!" Sirius suggested with an indigent war cry.

Harry giggled and nodded, "You be nice to him, Padfoot!" He warned as he transferred the firefly to Sirius's much larger hands. "I'm gonna go get some more."

"Have fun." Sirius smiled and sent Harry on his way. The little boy ran off and started chasing them again.

Their attire for the night was far from black tie. Sirius was clad merely in some jeans while Harry ran around in a pair of shockingly red shorts. As time went on, they became more and more isolated from everyone else.

Making your bed? Why do it? You'd only get back in later. Get dressed all the way? Why ever would you get dressed nicely if you were the only ones around? Keep up with popular authors and singers? Nah, who cares what they think?

It was their own little world, just Harry and Sirius. The house elves were there, most prominently Boo. But the house elves were different, they didn't care what their masters did so long as it wasn't harmful to them.

If he and Harry ever did head back into their own world, it would be quite the culture shock. But as Harry grew up, Sirius knew that they would have to do something. He couldn't allow his godson to grow up unable to figure out how to act around people.

He'd been planning it for years, a trip out for some shopping. He and Harry had talked about it before, eager to see the old Marauder haunts. The joke shop was first on their list. When Sirius felt the time was right, a few well-placed glamour charms would be cast and they'd be off to Diagon Alley.

Sirius watched his godson leap out at a firefly from behind a bush. Whether sneak attacks were necessary for fireflies had yet to be discovered. But Sirius could tell that Harry was getting sleepy. Which is exactly what had made him suggest a nice pre-bedtime firefly excursion.

You'd be crafty too if you had a little boy to take care of. Because, as everyone knew, little boys could play dirty too.

"Baby, it's time to go in." Sirius called. He'd continued to call his godson "baby" even though Harry wasn't one anymore. It was a term of endearment, and Sirius wasn't going to stop using it. It was hard enough that Harry was getting older.

The day that Harry told him that he couldn't be called baby anymore was going to be a sad day. One that was also for the milestone journal. Sirius had thought it would be quite funny for future reference to have a book that held all of the major events of Harry's life.

He couldn't wait to read back the entry that he'd written on the day he realized he was going to have to start potty-training Harry.

"Aww, Siri, can't I stay out longer?" Harry pouted. A tactic that worked with house elves, but did not work on godfathers. It was worth a try, however.

Scooping up the little boy into his arms, Sirius responded, "Stick that bottom lip back in, Harry. And no, you can't stay out longer. I've already given you a extra half an hour."

Bedtimes were an evil concept, and this was a fact that both Harry and Sirius agreed upon. Which meant that Harry had to go to bed at a time that Sirius chose, varying on the day's activities and the situation. Parenting books around the world scolded him for it, too.

Rules were often few and far between. And boundaries and limits were practically swear words. They did actually have a few rules though, really more for safeties sake.

When Sirius says bed, it is to be obeyed.

No coffee for Sirius in the morning.

No bribing the house elves to help in pranks.

Harry is not to touch wands.

And, most importantly, no spending more than a half an hour in the library in one day.

These rules were the laws of the castle, and were followed as such. There were other peace treaties that had been instated during the last four years also, though those were not rules and could be broken. Not that either one of them was ready to break the one about putting foreign objects into each other's foods.

"Wha'a we going to do tomorrow, Sirius?" Harry asked, eyes drooping in spite of his previous resistance to sleep.

Pondering the question, Sirius stayed silent for second. "Well, I don't know. We could hide the house elves cleaning equipment." He said after a second, mischievous grin on his face.

"I want to live to six." Harry retorted in a dry tone, proving just how much time he spent with his godfather.

"Good point."

Fluffy chapter. I hope you like it, though I'm not sure I do.

I also want to mention that I am not doing reviewer responses now. They take up too much room, and so I'm ending them. I want to thank you all yet again, though, you make writing this story worthwhile. If you want the full scope, I wrote a much better explanation in chapter four of The Return of the Father.

Please, let me know what you think!