Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything else that J.K. Rowling created.
Warning: This story is AU due to the fact that I've ignored book five, The Order of The Phoenix because the end of book four was a much better place to start this fan fiction.
Take Backs
Chapter 5: To Be It
By Rhiane Raine
His son. The words seemed to echo for an eternity inside James's head. The boy in the photo that he had mistaken to be himself was his son.
It was astounding to think that the he and Lily had procreated a son to look like the perfect collaboration of their best features. The difference in outward appearance between Harry and himself were very much spottable now that he actually looked.
Lily's bright green eyes had been passed onto their son as well as her nose and ears. James's tousled black hair and poor eyesight had somehow been thrown into the mix. Harry appeared very small compared to his red headed friend, though it was hard to determine if the boy's skinniness had come from James's, who had always appeared scrawny despite being as tall and big around as the next person. Lily had always been petite and of average height. It was possible that Harry had been given a strong dosage of both.
"He looks-"
"-just like you?"
"Yeah," James said in pure awe.
Remus chuckled at James's proud face.
"Sometimes he acts like you as well."
"So he's into mischief then?"
"Err, you could say that. In fact I think he's been into more than you ever were," Moony confessed.
"How many detentions?" James asked keenly.
"Not as many as you nor Sirius."
"Ah! So he has the innocent face perfected well enough to keep him out of trouble!"
"Well, no."
James's smiled slowly turned itself around. "What's going on? Why do you and Sirius feel the need to hide things from me about my own son?"
"Look, James, its not because we don't want you to learn about your son. Actually I think that it's better for you to hear most of it from Harry when you meet him. The other half is because I don't want to deal with your ranting and raving."
"Why would I be angry?" James was confused. True that he felt better knowing that his best friends weren't trying to keep his son's life hidden from his, but he couldn't help but wonder what exactly Harry did in his life that caused Moony to clam up.
An audible sigh came from Remus jerking James out of his thoughts.
"Because Harry has a talent of getting into trouble, not looking for or making it. Mischief finds him. And it's not really the kind of trouble that you would like."
A pang of panic flew through him at the thought of his son being in danger. Didn't Sirius say that he'd heard the reasons why Harry couldn't live with him at the moment? Did that mean that Harry had been in mortal peril as of late? What about the past?
Remus must have noticed James's conflicting emotions because he hastened to add, "He's fine for now, Prongs."
Relief washed over his body like a cleansing shower.
James gave Remus a look of disbelief. "This parenting thing isn't always going to feel like this, will it?"
The blonde streaked gray haired man chuckled. "I thought we already went through this conversation when Harry got his first ouchie."
"We did it's just Lily was there when it happened. Seems like the feeling is more intense now. Is it because he's older?"
"I don't know Prongs, but I don't think it gets any better, especially when it's Harry. It's not his fault though. He can't help being related to you."
"I can't wait to see him, Moony. I want to hear all about his life, his friends, his dreams," James stated wistfully.
Remus grinned. "You will. I've got an idea for it but not tonight. It's been a rather stressful day what with trying keep Sirius from depressing himself into an early grave then trying to peel him off the walls when our dead best friend comes back to life. If you don't mind, I would like to get some sleep."
"Actually, that sounds like a good idea, Moony. One question though," said James.
"What's that?"
"Where are we going to sleep?" he asked as he stared around Remus's small cottage.
"Oh, um… Well, I usually let Sirius sleep on the sofa. Sometimes I transfigure it into a bed when he's been good, if I feel up to it that is. I suppose that we can just transfigure the sofa and one of the recliners into beds on opposite sides of the room-"
"Moony, come on. We shared a dorm room for seven years! I think we're close enough to manage sleeping in the same room without having our personal space invaded."
"Yes, but if we transfigure our beds out of the furniture where it is now, I'm sure there won't be room. Remember what happened when we tried to change a match into a desk without removing it from its matchbox?"
"Oh, yeah," James said in embarrassment at having not caught the whole point earlier.
The two men set to work levitating their pieces of furniture far enough away to keep the room intact before they transfigured their beds. James flicked his wand and a bed that mimicked the Hogwarts dorms took it's form although this bed was a well worn shade of blue.
James looked down at his clothes and saw, for the first time, that he had been dressed in his best dress robes when they had buried him. Red and gold trim work weaved around the edge of the fine black cloth. They were clean enough after Remus's charm work earlier but James felt a little disturbed at the thought of sleeping in the same robes he had been buries in and, thus, worn for the past fourteen years.
A swish and an incantation later, Prongs the Marauder stood next to his transfigured bed in a pair of soft black, red, and gold, striped pajamas.
He crawled into bed suddenly feeling the way Sirius and Remus must be; utterly worn out.
"Good night, Moony."
"Night, Prongs."
But James did not go directly to sleep but rather lay there thinking amidst his weariness. How would Harry react to his sudden presence? Would he be happy to have a father? Sad? Angry? Would he even care? What if they didn't get along? What if Harry decided he rather liked Sirius as a father better? Well, that one was actually easy to answer. He'd leave them be. If Harry and Sirius were happy with current arrangements, why tip the broom? Padfoot braved fourteen years of misery in his honor; James would return the favor even if he had to watch from the background as his son grew up under Sirius's parentage.
Of course, James hoped that wasn't the case. He really had grown fond of the image of a teenage Harry getting tips on pranking and girls from his father and Godfather.
When he finally felt his body drifting off to sleep he decided that whatever Harry decided he wanted James to be, he'd be it.
