The argument they had had that night went unspoken of and though the things said, accusations and worrying issues, were forgotten, Sirius kept to the new diet Harry had set for him. He often grumbled that it didn't seem to be helping, but that changed after a one month when he was getting dressed on a cold Saturday morning.
He shivered and took off his pyjamas, pulling on a pair of trousers. As he buttoned them up, he felt a slight looseness; enough just to get his fingers in them, and a rush of excitement went through him.
"Hey Harry, come here." He said excitedly and Harry, who was putting on his own robes, gave him a curious look but came over with a smile anyway. "Am I just imagining it, or are these, roomier?"
Harry looked closely at them, feeling the waistband and the amount of space before grinning at his husband.
"You know, I think they are. It's working." He said as he stood up, Sirius wrapping his arms round his waist and pulling him against him. "Maybe we can swap clothes."
"I'm glad you have confidence in me, but I'm quite sure I won't fit into your robes."
"Well, they don't fit you, they don't fit me! Why don't we just throw them out?" Harry said as he rubbed his cheek against Sirius's neck.
"They're going to fit in a few months after our baby's born and you shrink back to your tiny self. If they continued to fit now there would be something wrong with the baby. It needs the room to grow." Sirius said and Harry leant back as Sirius rested his hand on his stomach. In the past month, the small almost invisible curve had become bigger and was now a very noticeable bump, the amount of growth shocking both of the soon-to-be parents.
He rubbed it gently and Harry laughed. Sirius then pulled him into a strong hug, rubbing his nose in his hair and letting out almost a growl.
"I love you so much for going through all of this just to give us a baby."
"It's really not that bad, maybe you can have the next one."
"Next one?"
There was a loud bang and Sirius, who'd been lounging on the chair on the porch for the past half hour, stood up. He rubbed his numb backside and stretched as the woozy person attempt to stand and fell back down again. It took him a few more seconds before tried again, still wobbling dangerously.
"Moony!" Sirius called out and Moony seemed to sober up from the effects of the portkey. Remus's eyes travelled over him, as if checking if it was really his friend. After a few seconds of silence, Remus opened his arms widely.
"Padfoot!" They embraced for a long moment. "It's been so long!"
"Too, too long, old friend."
"It's freezing out here, aren't you going to invite me in?" Sirius's eyes shone.
"Very well, if you must, come inside old man."
"Old man! You're older than I am!" Remus said as he walked through the front door, looking around. "Nice decorating."
"You can thank Harry for that." Sirius said as they sat down in the living room in front of the fire. Sirius noticed Remus's face lit up.
"How is he doing? I haven't seen either of you since the wedding."
"He's doing great. Settled in well down here. Likes playing the housewife." He grinned. "And speaking of the most beautiful angel…"
Harry came in carrying a tea tray and a plate of biscuits and put it on the table, pausing only to greet Remus and kiss Sirius's cheek before leaving, but as he bent over the tray, Remus's eyes widened. He made sure Harry was out the room and far out of hearing range before speaking.
"I didn't want to say anything because I'm not sure. Is he..." Remus made a wide round motion with his hand before folding his arms to look like he was holding a baby. Sirius seemed very amused by this.
"Yup, with our first." Remus saw a look he'd never seen on Sirius's face before. He was beaming and practically radiating happiness, a strange look of pride and parental joy on his face. Harry came back into the room and Remus hugged him tightly.
"When is due?" Remus asked still squeezing him.
"In five and a half months if you don't squash it." Sirius replied drylyand Remus sheepishly let Harry go, mumbling an apology. Harry shook his head, showing that it didn't matter, picked up the laundry basket against the wall and walked out again. Remus sat down and watched Sirius curiously for a few moments.
"So, you're enjoying, married life, by the look of things." He hadn't said it, but Sirius knew exactly what he meant.
"I'm losing it."
"What?"
"I said I'm losing it. Yes, I know I've put on a lot of weight. No need to rub it in. I get that enough already."
"There's nothing wrong with it Sirius." Remus said and Sirius glared at him. "I mean it. We're getting older, and nobody ever said you had to stay looking like an underfed war orphan like when I last saw you. It's good to see Harry's taking care of you." He gave Sirius a genuine smile.
"Thanks Moony."
"Who rubs it in? Do I need to have a talk with Harry?" Sirius shook his head frantically.
"No, Harry's been great about it. It's just, we've been keeping in contact with Lily and James, they are his parents, and well…"
"James being a bastard about it?" Sirius nodded. "Well, he was bound to find someway to get back at you."
"Get back at me?" Sirius gave a sharp laugh. "What for?"
Flashback
After the train had stopped, the four friends sat in silence for a long time. Eventually one stood up.
"Come on, we'd better go." Remus said and Peter followed. Sirius gave James a look and seeing the hard expression on his face, went after his friends. James noticed that as stood up, his wand fell out his pocket but didn't say anything and only picked it up when he'd gone.
"I'm going to miss you, Padfoot, you sure I can't change your mind?" Remus said as he and Sirius hugged. Sirius looked like he was in-between decisions.
"Maybe I could just t-"
"You forgot something." James said coldly and there was a loud snap. Everybody was silent as he walked to Sirius, holding his wand pieces out to him.
"James! Is a pointless fight worth doing this? I mean come on, who cares whether you should give up on Evans or not?" Both seemed to ignore him and glared at each other.
"It's alright. Since you seem to like it so much, keep my wand, I'll buy another one in Bulgaria."
"I thought you were going to stay?"
"I was, Wormtail, but now, it just doesn't seem worth it." Sirius spun around on his heel, dragging his trunk behind him and walking off the train, disapperating before two of the three remaining marauders could run out to stop him.
End flashback
"Well, you two didn't speak for however many years…
Flashback"And here I was thinking you'd never get married. Cheers!" James said holding up his glass and hitting it gently against the other two. They drank together.
"Well, nothing's changed much here..." A voice said and Remus spat the champagne back into his glass, turning around suddenly.
"You're here? I thought you hadn't come."
"Don't be silly, Remus, of course I came. Wouldn't miss it for the world." The person laughed.
"Come here." Remus took the person's arm and pulled them towards the other two. "Pour another glass James. We need to toast to Padfoot." Both James and Peter stared.
"Sirius?" Peter asked as James fumbled with the champagne. "Where the hell have you been?" He asked in amazement.
"Bulgaria." James handed him the glass, a lot of champagne dripping off the sides where it had spilt. "Thanks." He said sarcastically, wiping his hand off on his robe. James glared at him. Sirius raised an eyebrow and took something out his pocket. He held out the long wand to James.
"Do you want to snap this one too? Cause I swear, this time I'll break your head open." He growled. Remus sighed and looked from James to Sirius. He didn't think Sirius was lying about breaking James's head open. He had always been tall, but now he seemed to tower over James. His skin was pale and although his body was muscled, he had that undernourished look about him.
"Can't you two just put this behind you. It's Moony's wedding day, for Merlin's sake." Peter said angrily and Sirius put his wand away.
"Sorry Moony." James mumbled and although the conversation between him and Sirius seemed to have a forced politeness, both loosened up after a while as they went through the bottle of alcohol.
"So, what have you been doing?" James asked him.
"I've been in the streets feeding orphans and giving them loving homes." All three stared at him before he threw back his head and laughed loudly.
"Surely you know me better than that? I've got a flat and cushy job in the Bulgarian ministry."
"Not married then?" James asked chuckling.
"No, not yet. Still looking." He took a drink from his glass. "Though I met the most amazing guy a couple of weeks ago. Would have brought him, but he couldn't come."
"That's great Padfoot. What's his name?" Sirius shrugged.
"Don't know yet."
"You don't know his name, yet you're dating him?"
"Says I owe him three dates and then he'll tell me. Right now he's just Swan." At Remus's amused look, Sirius shrugged again. "Don't even ask." He grinned and stared off dreamily.
"Yeah, be grateful you still have that kind of life." James grumbled. "No reckless indecisive gold-digger child..."
"Again? What did he do now?" Remus asked, looking strangely at Sirius.
"He tells me from when he's fifteen that he knows what he wants to do and asks me to trust him. Now, he's finished school and he wants to carry on with the stupid dancing, no idea of what real career he wants!" James said angrily and Peter put a fist in front of his mouth, closed his eyes and laughed. "Easy for you to laugh! It's not your money he's wasting."
"Harry's not that bad."
"You're kidding? He's worse than his mother."
"You know, it's rude to gossip. And just for that, I'm going to live off of you for another nineteen years." Harry said, coming up next to his father.
Remus shook Sirius and the presence of someone else seemed to wake him up. He looked to Harry, who was arguing with James, and smirked.
"Well, at least you weren't lying when you said you couldn't come." Harry stopped talking and all eyes settled on Sirius before Harry launched himself into Sirius's arms, laughing as his boyfriend spun him around.
"Fate works in strange ways..." Harry replied before kissing him passionately. Three pairs of eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"What do you think you're doing?" James asked him angrily as Sirius set him back down on the floor.
"You remember I told you about the guy who nearly broke my ankle in class?" He said as Sirius stood with his hands still on the tiny waist. "This is him." And as Harry wrapped his arms around his neck againand hugged himtightly, Sirius saw the murderous glare James was giving him.
Flashback end
…And then you were dating his son."
"So he's probably never going to forgive me?"
"Pretty much." Remus saw the saddened look on Sirius's face. "Hey, cheer up. Are you excited about becoming a daddy?" Sirius nodded and grinned at him.
"Of course. Can't wait."
"Well, both of you should enjoy the time you have alone now."
"What do you mean?"
"When the baby comes along, you don't have the time all for just each other. You have to share and that can damage your relationship."
"What are you saying?" Sirius growled angrily.
"Nothing. Just forget I said anything."
After Remus left, making him promise to write when the baby was born, Sirius disappeared upstairs, leaving Harry to finish the housework.
Once all of it was done, Harry went searching for his husband, instead finding a big black dog lying curled up on their bed. He lay down and the dog didn't look at him, instead huffing and closing his eyes.
Harry reached out a hand and scratched the dog on its chubby stomach, making its leg jump. After a moment, Harry stopped and its leg stopped twitching madly. It whined and Harry laughed. It transformed back into his husband.
"Why'd you stop?" Sirius asked leaning up on his elbow.
"Because I knew you'd change back if I did. Now why are you sulking?"
"Who says I'm sulking? Maybe I'm just, thinking."
"Fine, what are you thinking of?" Sirius was silent for a moment. "You can tell me."
"We're not going to end up ignoring each other, are we?"
"When? Why?"
"When the baby's born. Are we going to be too busy with it for each other?"
"Did Remus tell you that?" Sirius went quiet again. "I see."
"Is that a yes?"
"I wouldn't know. I've never had a child before. But things will change, we both know that, and we'll just have to make time."
"And if we can't?"
"That's what babysitters are for." Sirius gave him a sad smile. "You're not regretting havingthe baby, are you?" Harry said nervously
"Of course not." Sirius lied, a horrible feeling down in his gut.
This cliffy was inspired by Lddurham, who left Harry dangling his baby from a balcony and made me want to make my own readers nervous. Thank you to all who have reviewed this! One hundred reviews is more than I ever expected when I wrote the little one-shot!
Woohoo!
reivew