Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the like are property of JK Rowling, her publishers, and Warner Brothers. No money is being made.
Chapter Six: Duddykins
"Daddy!"
Looking down at the boy who was tugging on his sleeve, he took in his jumpy manner, and began to fear the worst. "What's wrong, Harry?"
"I gotta go potty!"
At first the words didn't register in his head, but then all at once it was like a light bulb clicking. The boy was finally ready, at long last, to start potty training! Quickly ushering the boy to the nearest bathroom, he lifted the lid to the training potty. Harry though, only continued to jump around.
Realizing that Harry had no clue what to do, he thought back to when Molly suggested demonstrating it to him. Not being entirely comfortable with the idea, but knowing that if he made it seem wrong Harry would never want to do it, he took a deep breath, and said, "Okay Harry, this is how we boys do it. First, we undo our pants."
After a few moments of fumbling with the snap clasp of his shorts, Harry looked up and smiled proudly at his godfather.
"Good, now, you need to pull down your pants and your special training nappies. Right. Now you just gently grab your, er, wee-wee, point it at the potty, and relax, I guess. Do like me, see?"
The child's aim was quite off, but he had finally used the potty, and that was enough to make Sirius a very, very happy man.
Muttering a cleaning charm on the floor, wall, and training potty, he lifted Harry up to wash his hands.
"I did it Daddy! Just like a big boy!"
"Yes, you did, and I am very proud of you! What do you say we go celebrate with some ice cream? We can go get some of that peppermint stick stuff you love so much."
Harry was out of the bathroom and trying to reach the front door lock before Sirius knew what hit him.
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The next Saturday found Sirius at the park, three toddlers in tow. Neville Longbottom's grandma had found herself at St. Mungo's, and not wanting to leave the young boy at the hands of his uncle, whom Sirius really didn't trust, he offered to have the child stay at their house. Having already arranged to have Ron over, he decided two friends would help Neville keep his mind off his sick granny.
After hollering to Harry not to kick sand in other people's faces, he collapsed on a bench.
"Are they all yours?" The woman next to him asked.
Sirius took her in. She was fair faced, with blue eyes and auburn hair.
"Heavens, no. The one with black hair was my best friend's son, but he and his wife died just shy of two years ago, and being the child's godfather, I took him in as my own. The red head is my distant cousin's sixth child, of seven, and the round faced boy is my former co-worker's kid."
"You've got your hands full today, it looks like. I'm really sorry to hear about the boy's parents, must have been quite the shock to loose two friends and gain a child."
"It was really hard for a while there. He would have nightmares, and it's hard to make a child stop cry when you wanted to start yourself. But, we're moving on, and most of the time the only problems I have to worry about are the normal toddler stuff. Tantrums, potty training, making sure he eats his broccoli."
The woman chuckled, "Yeah, my little Joey absolutely refuses to touch anything green, even if it's candy. See, he's the one in the red overalls?"
"Oh, adorable child, how old is he?"
"He just turned three last week. How about your godson?"
"Harry will be three on the 31st of July, so just a couple months."
"Are you raising him on your own?"
"For the most part, yes. But I get a lot of help from the red head's mom, and my friend Remus. You know, when I first got him, I was so sure that I was going to royally screw things up with him. I was only 21 and I had absolutely no plans of settling down, and then one day I found myself with a child, living in a house in Kent rather than my old flat in London. Not having any sex at all for two years when I used to not go two days without it. But you know, sitting here and watching him play and laugh with his friends, I wouldn't go back to my old life for a million gall—pounds.
"Daddy! Neville got sand in his eye!"
"I told those boys not to kick the sand. You'll have to excuse me, nice meeting you—I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Christine."
"Nice meeting you, Christine, I'm Sirius. Now, I have to go help a three year old rinse sand out of his eye."
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"Daddy? Why do I have to go to the healers? You said they were for sick people, like Neville's grandma."
"They are for sick people, but they're also for healthy people who don't want to get sick."
"Are they nice?"
"Oh yes. And, if you're a good boy for them, we'll go over to Aunt Molly's for dinner tonight. Word on the street is, she's making carrot cake."
Harry got an excited gleam in his eyes, and began tugging on his godfather towards the floo.
"Alright Harry, you remember what you've gotta do, right? Or should we go together?"
"I'm a big boy, Daddy. I remember!"
Holding out the floo powder, Sirius watched nervously as Harry threw the powder in and yelled, "Saint Mungo's!" Sirius would have had them floo straight to the pediatrics wards, but Harry could not get his young tongue around the word "Pediatrics." Best not to take chances with two year olds.
Saying a silent prayer that Harry ended up in the right place, Sirius quickly followed after him.
Stumbling out of the fireplace at Saint Mungo's, Sirius was relieved to see Harry talking to a healer about how much a of a big boy he was.
"There you are, kiddo! Come along, we're running a couple minutes late."
Leading Harry onto one of the lifts, they soon found themselves in a room full of toys, along with a few chairs placed along the wall. Instructing Harry to go play for a few minutes, Sirius went to sign in.
Soon the healer's assistant called our Harry's name and they were led into a small room, where the assistant instructed that Harry needed to change into a special hospital room and that the healer would only be a few minutes.
Sirius had just enough time to help Harry out of his normal clothes and into the paper-cloth robe before the healer came in.
"Well hello there! This must be Harry. My name is Healer Anderson. I'm just going to do a few simple tests and exams to make sure you're nice and healthy, okay?"
Thinking that the lady was very nice-seeming, Harry shyly nodded.
The visit was overall a very strange experience to Harry. Why the healer asked him to cough for her when the entire reason he was there was so he wouldn't get sick was completely beyond him.
"He's going to need a few potions, and a couple of shots."
"Why does he need shots? Can't potions take care of everything?" Sirius did not want to have to put Harry through the pain of needles being stabbed into his flesh; especially after telling him he wouldn't be hurt by the visit's events.
"I'm afraid that for some vaccinations, like for the rather un-enjoyable muggle viruses like chicken-pox, react badly to the stomach acids, making them counter-productive. So, Harry, can you just drink these potions for me?"
Hesitantly drinking the potions, Harry gagged at the disgusting flavors.
"Very good, Harry, sorry about the taste, but there isn't much we could do about it without offsetting the effects. Now, Mr. Black, if you could just help me keep Harry calm while I give him his shots, that would be wonderful."
Immediately going to Harry's side and rubbing soft circles in his back Sirius began to whisper soothing promises into Harry's ear, who had just seen the needles and immediately tensed.
After rubbing Harry's arm with alcohol, the healer administered the shot as gently as possible. Unfortunately, it was still a painful experience for Harry, who immediately tried to bury his tear-wet face into his godfather's chest while wailing away.
"There, there, Harry, it's all over. You were such a good boy. You know, how would you like to go pick out a toy from a muggle shop in the area before we go to Aunt Molly's?"
Nodding slowly, Harry wrapped his arms around his godfather's neck. Who then proceeded to pick him up, and was about to exit the room when the healer stopped him.
"You were very brave child today, Harry. Take this sucker to help get the taste out of your mouth from those potions."
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Sirius and Harry soon found themselves in Harrod's toy department, in which Harry insisted that he HAD to have the giant, man sized giraffe toy, but it was about 600 muggle pounds, and that was a wee bit on the pricey side for Sirius' tastes. Anyways, where on earth would they put it?
"How about this smaller one?"
"But I like the big one! Pwease?!"
"I'll tell you what, we can buy this smaller one, and when we get home I can enlarge it. It won't be quite as big as that one, but it'll still be bigger than you."
Seeming to think it over, Harry smiled up at Sirius and nodded his approval.
"Perfect! Now, what do you say we get you a couple of books for your collection, drop these off at home, and head over to the Weasley's?"
"Okay, Daddy."
Just then Sirius heard a piercing scream, which he was surprised didn't make him go deaf.
"I WANT IT!"
"But Duddykins, that mechanical horse is five-thousand pounds! We can just go to the market and use the one there. Now, how about this train set? See, you can ride it!"
"NO! I WANT THE HORSEY! NOW!"
Sirius watched the rather obese child scream at his long necked aunt like he owned her, and was at that moment extremely grateful that of all the children he could have raised, he got Harry. He was rather tempted to go and teach that kid some manners, as it was apparent that his mother spoilt him too much to do it herself.
"Daddy, can we go now? I don't like that boys screaming."
"Yes, let's go pay for these."
AN: I know that this chapter took longer than the others to get out, and for that I apologize. I'm out of town this weekend, so the next one won't be up immediately, but it'll get there. Thanks to all who reviewed.
