Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
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The weeks were passing, with James and Lily falling into a good routine in caring for Harry. Their friends helped and even the professors would take turns watching him if they had a free period. Halloween approached, with Harry being a little quiet the day before. James and Lily had been concerned but Harry hadn't wanted to talk about it. Unfortunately for him, he'd had a nightmare that night and when his dad woke him up he shared that Halloween was the night he had lost him and his mum. James had taken him to his own bed and held him, talking soothingly to his son until he had fallen into a peaceful sleep. Harry had perked up during the feast with all the treats. Now they were headed into December and it was cold outside so it felt good to be in the Tower sitting by the fire playing as his dad did his homework next to him.
"Can I watch when Remus become a werewolf and the rest of you are in your Animagus forms?" Harry asked eagerly. He had heard Sirius mention the full moon was coming up earlier and he really wanted to see them all as animals.
James looked up from his textbook and stared at him. "Of course not! Do you realize how dangerous that would be? No. You better not be thinking of sneaking off to the shrieking shack Harry, unless you want to find yourself in very big trouble." he warned, fear filling him at the thought of Harry near Remus as a werewolf.
"I was just asking," Harry huffed. He thought it would be cool to see them all in their animal forms together. "You don't have to go mental."
James sat back and folded his arms, staring at Harry with hard eyes. He didn't say anything, just stared at his boy and waited.
Harry immediately wished he hadn't said that. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.
James nodded. "Thank you. Listen, I know it sounds fun and interesting but it's highly dangerous. We only became Animagi to keep Remus company, it helps keep him more calm to have us with him. It's dangerous and you won't be anywhere near it. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Harry fiddled with his crayons.
"I'd rather you stay with your mother while I'm gone, make sure she's safe," James said, keeping his voice serious. He hid a smile at the solemn nod Harry gave. "Good boy."
HP
The evening of the full moon, Lily stayed in the Tower with Harry. They spent the evening in the common room going through a workbook Lily had bought him. She wanted to test his reading and math comprehension, see if he still remembered how to read and count. She gave him two sheets to do.
Harry picked up the quill but had trouble holding it. He frowned. He remembered it took him awhile to get used to using a quill when he had started Hogwarts but he should still be able to do it.
"You're holding it too tight," Lily said, showing him the right way. "You're not used to using a quill with a smaller hand."
"Yeah," Harry looked at the sheets. He could still read...sort of. For some reason he couldn't make out all the words. He frowned again. He could count but the higher he tried the more hazy it got. Weird.
"Here, use a pencil. It's easier to use at your age," Lily said, handing him one of the pencils she had brought from home.
"How are you doing?" Lily asked after a few minutes.
Harry scratched his head. "I can remember some things but not other things."
"The Headmaster said this may happen," Lily said gently. "Certain memories and knowledge will fade so that you just know what you're supposed to know at your age."
"Oh." Harry went back to his lessons but after awhile was bored of them. He thought of his dad, Sirius and Remus in their animal forms having fun. Even that rat Pettigrew was with them. "Mum? Have you seen daddy's Animagus form?"
"Yes, he's shown me," Lily answered. "I'm sure he'll show you if you want to see it. He's a pretty big stag."
"He's one tonight," Harry said hopefully. "I could see him..."
"Not tonight, love. He's with Remus," Lily said.
"I've seen Remus as a werewolf before," Harry shrugged.
"What? When?"
"My third year. He forgot to take the Wolfsbane potion that helps him keep his mind during the transformation." Harry said. "We could just take a peek."
"No. It's dangerous," Lily said, shocked that Harry had encountered Remus as a werewolf.
"But -"
"No, Harry. Go back to your lessons."
"No."
"Excuse me?" Lily frowned at her son.
"I said no. I don't want to do stupid lessons," Harry threw his books on the floor. He didn't know why he was so upset, he just felt so angry. Tears filled his eyes.
"Harry James," Lily admonished. "Pick your books up and get back to work."
"No," Harry glared at her. "Only if we can go and watch Dad and the others."
"No, Harry." Lily said, her voice hard. "I don't like your attitude. Perhaps you should go to bed now if you don't want to do your lessons."
Harry stood up. "No!" he shouted.
Lily also stood. "All right. To bed with you." she said quietly.
"No!" Harry stomped his foot. He was shocked a moment later when his mum took him by the arm, turned him and smacked his backside. He looked at her woefully. "No," he whined.
"Upstairs now, Harry," Lily said sternly.
With a pout, Harry finally obeyed.
HP
Since everyone in their dorm was in the shrieking shack, Lily slept in James's bed. Early in the morning, James walked in and kissed her awake. "Hey beautiful." He whispered.
"Hey," Lily said sleepily. "I guess I better get to my own dorm. Where are Sirius, Remus and Peter?"
"Sirius and Peter should be up soon. They always stop at the kitchens to get a pre-breakfast." He chuckled. "Remus usually stops by the infirmary before returning to the dorm," James stroked her cheek. "You look tired. Did you not sleep well?" He asked in concern.
"It was a bit of a rough evening," Lily admitted, glancing at Harry, who was still sleeping.
"What happened?"
"He had a tantrum last night. I even smacked him," Lily said guilty.
"If you did, I'm sure he deserved it," James frowned. "Tell me what happened." As Lily explained, his eyes darkened. "I had already told him he couldn't watch us. I can't believe he tried to get you to agree it to it after my talk with him."
"I had him go to bed early, after he refused to work on his lessons," Lily said. "I felt horrible being stern with him." she admitted. It was harder than she had thought it would be.
"You were easy on him," James said. "I would have sent him to the corner and given him more than one smack." He stiffened. "In fact, I may do those things now since he's eavesdropping. Again."
Harry peeked at them and then buried his face in his pillow.
"Nice try but we know you're up," Lily said lightly.
Harry sighed and sat up, reaching for his glasses.
"You want to explain your behavior last night?" James asked, a stern look on his face. "You threw a tantrum when your mum wouldn't bring you to the shrieking shack. I believe we talked about the danger, do you remember?"
"Yes," Harry said quietly.
"It sounds like you were very rude to your mother," James continued. "You should know better than to be disrespectful to her. I think you should apologize."
"I'm sorry, Mummy," Harry said sorrowfully. "I was a brat."
Lily bit back a smile. "I forgive you, love. I hope it won't happen again."
Harry shook his head. "It won't."
Lily got out of bed and then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you two for breakfast." She said before leaving.
Harry looked at his dad after Lily left the room. "Are you mad at me?"
"Yes," James said honestly. "You were rude, threw a tantrum, and tried to get your mother to to do something that I had already said no to."
"I'm sorry," Harry said, lowering his gaze.
"What caused your misbehavior?" James asked.
"I don't know."
"I need a better explanation than that, Harry."
"I don't know! I just got angry!"
"Okay, what made you angry?" James asked patiently.
"I don't...I just.. I'm forgetting things. Like reading and writing." Harry said unhappily.
"We told you that would happen. It just means you'll learn it again. That's what got you upset?"
"Yeah. And I was bored of doing lessons." Harry admitted. "And I wanted to see you and Sirius and Remus in your animal forms."
"I had already said no to that, Harry. I explained to you why it wasn't allowed. And I don't want to hear of you giving your mum a hard time like that again. You do not talk to her rudely like that, am I understood?" James asked sternly.
"Yes Daddy."
"You'll miss watching my next Quidditch game." James said, holding his hand up when Harry made to protest. He hated doing it, Harry loved watching him play and he loved knowing his son was cheering him on. "No arguing. And I'd like you to stand in the corner for five minutes."
"But -"
"You want ten minutes?"
Eyes wide, Harry quickly planted himself in the corner.
James made his and Harry's bed and then grabbed towels and change of clothes for them for after their bath. Harry loved the bath in the prefects bathroom and was much more comfortable with swimming. After five minutes, he called Harry out of the corner.
Harry approached his dad, sniffling. As he passed his dad, he felt a sharp swat to his backside and yelped. He looked up at his dad.
"I expect better behavior from you. If you are feeling upset or frustrated about something, you need to tell us and let us help you. Understand?" James gave him a firm look.
"Yes." Harry said, tears in his eyes.
"And no more eavesdropping, Harry. I'm serious." James said sternly. He had a feeling this was going to be an ongoing struggle for Harry not to eavesdrop.
"Yes Daddy," Harry was crying and eagerly accepted his dad's hug. "I'm sorry!"
"Forgiven," James said, kissing the top of his head. "But if you're rude like that to your mum again, or to me, you can expect a full spanking as well as being on restriction. Do you understand me?"
"Yes."
James took Harry to the prefects bath and after bathing they splashed around in the water and James watched proudly as Harry swam around. "You're becoming a fish," he teased as they got out and dried off.
"Can we swim in the Great Lake again?" Harry asked hopefully.
"When the weather warms up," James nodded. "If you behave," he winked at Harry.
"I'll be good," Harry assured him.
James snorted as he helped Harry dress for the day. Harry reminded him of himself and knew the boy would be a handful and find more trouble than he should, just like James had done as a kid. But Harry was also a great joy to him and Lily and he loved him so much. Even when he was naughty.
HP
The day of next Quidditch game, which was Gryffindor against Hufflepuff, approached and Remus had volunteered to watch Harry so that Lily could go to the game. "My study group for Astronomy got moved to now," Remus said regretfully as he walked up to them.
"I can stay with Harry." Lily said.
"No Mum, you have to cheer to Daddy on," Harry protested. He gave a pout. "Since I'm not allowed to watch the game and cheer for him."
James sighed. Harry was attempting to make him feel guilty for his punishment...and it was working. He was tempted to withdraw the restriction but he knew he couldn't, he had to consistent with his child.
"I guess I could stay with him," Peter offered in a small voice. He glanced warily at Harry.
Harry made a face.
"I'll stay with him," Sirius spoke up. "You'll just have to try and survive without my cheers." He joked to James.
James rolled his eyes. "Somehow I'll manage." He eyed Harry and then looked back at Sirius. "He has homework to finish so you'll have to supervise him while he does it. No goofing off until it's done."
Sirius's and Harry's face fell. "But that's boring!" They both said.
James shook his head. "Lily, maybe you should stay with Harry."
"No, no. I can handle it." Sirius said quickly. "I have homework too."
Lily grinned. "If you both do your work maybe we'll reward you with some treacle tart." she teased.
HP
"Sirius, I'm bored," Harry whined as they worked in the library.
"I know, pup." Sirius scribbled on parchment, writing his essay. "Homework is usually boring."
"Can't we do something fun?" Harry whined.
Sirius looked up. "How far have you gotten in your workbook?"
"Um," Harry hedged. "I got some of it done."
Sirius peered at the book. "Half a page?"
"Can't we just take a little break?" Harry begged.
Sirius sighed. "What do you want to do?" He knew he should make Harry finish his homework but he looked so sad and he knew his pup was disappointed that he was missing the game.
"We could spy on the Quidditch game?" Harry suggested. "We could use daddy's cloak!"
"No, Harry," Sirius shook his head. "Your punishment is that you miss watching the game. I can't go against that." He hated having to say no, hated having to enforce a punishment for his pup. He didn't know how James and Lily did it.
"Fine," Harry pouted for a second before brightening. "Can we sneak to Honeydukes?" He asked hopefully.
"Harry," Sirius groaned. He knew James and Lily would be upset if he did that, Harry was supposed to be doing his homework and thinking about what led to him missing the game.
"Please?" Harry gave Sirius a pleading look. "Please Sirius?"
"All right." Sirius gave in.
HP
"Where did all this come from?" James asked with a raised eyebrow when he saw the candy wrappers on the table.
Harry swallowed his mouthful of toffee. "Honeydukes! Did you win your game?" He asked eagerly.
"Yes," James said, eyeing the wrappers with a frown.
"You went to Hogsmeade?" Lily asked incredulously, putting her hands on her hips.
"Not exactly," Sirius said sheepishly.
"You used the tunnel," James realized. He glared at his best friend. "How could you? You knew Harry was to do his homework. Also the whole reason he sat out the game was because he was being punished."
"You didn't say Harry had to be miserable," Sirius countered. "His punishment was to miss watching the game and he didn't. Was I supposed to torture him as well? Should I have made him scrub the toilets or wax the floor? Merlin, James. You used to be more fun."
"I'm a parent now, Sirius," James said quietly. "And I didn't say that Harry had to be miserable this afternoon but he was to work on his homework and I can see that he didn't do much of it."
Harry watched guiltily. They were fighting because of him!
"He's working on it," Sirius said uncomfortably.
"He should have finished it. Really Sirius, you need to be more responsible..."
"Stop!" Harry burst out. "He only took me cause I kept whining about it. He said no to my other suggestion so he is responsible."
"What was your other suggestion?" Lily asked.
Harry shrugged and looked away.
"It doesn't matter." Sirius spoke up. "Listen, I get it. I'm a horrible babysitter and I'm sorry, okay?" He turned and strode out of the library.
James ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"What was your other suggestion, Harry?" Lily asked curiously. When her son hesitated, she smiled softly.
"I won't scold you for it." she promised.
"I wanted to use daddy's cloak to watch the game," Harry admitted. "But Sirius said no."
"And then he suggested Honeydukes?" Lily asked.
"No, I did. I begged." Harry eyed his parents warily. "I'm sorry!"
"Thank you for being honest, love." Lily said, patting his shoulder.
"I should go talk with Sirius," James said. He eyed his son. "I believe you have some homework to finish."
Harry sighed and picked his pencil.
HP
"Sirius," James found his friend in the owlerly.
"If you're going to lecture me more -" Sirius sighed.
"I wasn't lecturing you," James said. "It's just, everything's different now, you know? I'm a parent and I'm trying to be a good one."
"You are a good one," Sirius said.
"I don't know what I'm doing half the time," James smiled ruefully.
"You're a good dad, James. Just like your dad," Sirius said softly. "I'm not good at being stern, I want to be the fun uncle, you know? Pup deserves some spoiling."
"I know," James said. "Believe me, part of me really wanted to lift his punishment but...I need him to learn to follow the rules and be respectful. I wouldn't be doing right by him if I let him get away with everything."
"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have taken him to Honeydukes."
"No, it's fine that you did." James said.
"I should have made him do all his homework first."
"Well...yeah, that would have been good." James grinned. "Speaking of, did you finish your essay?"
"Uh, almost," Sirius said with a laugh.
James shook his head. "No treacle tart for either of you."
"No problem. We already had some from Honeydukes," Sirius said cheerfully.
"Incorrigible," James shook his head.
"You're not going to punish pup, are you?"
"No. I'd have to punish you too," James joked. His face grew more serious. "I assure you, I never like disciplining my son."
"I know you don't."
"Harry is finishing his homework," James said pointedly.
"That's good," Sirius said, petting one of the owls.
"I believe you have an essay to finish, Sirius."
Sirius froze, and glanced at James warily. The stern expression on James face made him a falter a bit. "Okay, I'll do it now Mr. Pott -" he broke off as James burst into laughter. "Merlin James! You looked and sounded just like your dad!" He playfully punched his friend.
"Come on, Harry was worried about you," James slung a arm around his friend as they left the Owlery. "By the way, you did good not letting him watch the game from under my cloak."
"He told you?" Sirius asked in surprise.
"Yeah, he's a good kid," James said. "He also said it was his idea to go to Honeydukes."
"I had fun with him," Sirius said.
"I'm glad you did. You're going to be an important part of his life. Remus too. And from the way things are going, Snape as well."
"Who would have thought we would be friends with that bat?" Sirius shook his head.
James laughed and lightly swatted the back of Sirius's head. "Be nice. He's Lily's friend again and he warned us about Harry. He's actually not that bad."
"Have you noticed Peter has been mostly keeping his distance?"
"Yeah," James said. "I feel bad, he hasn't done anything to us. Yet, anyway and hopefully won't."
"Maybe it would help if pup stopped glaring at him anytime he is nearby," Sirius smirked.
"Harry doesn't trust him and after what he told me about everything Peter did in his time, I can't blame him." James said. "But I'm hoping Peter won't succumb to evil this time around."
"Yeah, me too," Sirius said with a slight frown.
TBC: