Knowing that Remus wouldn't be back till late, he was taking the train as he still felt a bit dodgy and didn't want to have a disaster in the chimney, James and Sirius made the most of their day in London.
They hung out in Sirius' flat until Harry woke up from his nap, and then they went sightseeing. Well, they planned to, but they had forgotten one thing.
They had walked to Whitehall to get some food and look at the river. As they didn't have the pushchair, they alternated Harry between the two of them as they strolled. And then it happened- lunch break at the Ministry of Magic.
"We're really not subtle are we?" James observed as a huge number of people poured out of a telephone box and some nearby public toilets.
Harry was sitting in between the two of them, chewing on the dummy James had had the presence of mind to bring. A chilly November wind was blowing his fringe off his forehead.
"Look!" A young witch with dark hair was pointing at them.
"Uh-oh." Mouthed James, putting a protective arm around his oblivious son.
"Can it be?" A tall wizard in a tall hat wearing lime green, who James hoped for a fleeting second might be Dumbledore but unfortunately wasn't, began striding towards them.
"What are they talking about?" Sirius asked curiously as an elderly witch started jumping like she was mad.
"Harry. The boy who lived." James murmured, as the crowd closed in. "Grab my coat, we might need to apparate."
"The what?"
"Have you got my coat?"
"Yes, but-"
"Move away please ladies and gentlemen, give them some space." A red-headed wizard was ushering away the giddy ministry workers.
"Is he alright?" He asked James, gesturing to Harry.
"I think he's probably about to have a bit of a meltdown after all that noise." James said, bouncing Harry on his knee in an effort to calm the baby down. "I'm sorry, who are you?" He added. The man seemed familiar and he certainly seemed to know James, but he couldn't quite place him.
"Arthur Weasley. You apparated into my kitchen in quite a panic a few days ago."
"Oh, of course!" James exclaimed. Molly's husband, now it clicked. "I can't believe I didn't realise what time it was or I would never have come here."
At this point, James realised that Sirius had been tapping him on the shoulder for quite some time now.
"Explanation?"
"You know Molly who fixed Remus' teeth on Thursday? This is her husband."
"Arthur Weasley." Arthur said, holding out his hand to Sirius.
"Sirius." Sirius responded, shaking it. Then he turned back to James, "What were all those people doing?"
"Think about it Padfoot. Harry has vanquished You Know Who, he is the only one to survive the killing curse. Millions of people's lives have been saved so now he's a hero. The fidelius charm is still on our house so no-one can find it, but once we take it off there's going to be journalists and everything outside. When I went to the Ministry I had to have a special escort to get anywhere."
"He's famous?"
"They were discussing making the day of the events a national holiday. Decided against it because it was Halloween, but if it had been any other day I reckon it would've passed." Arthur supplied to a dumbfounded Sirius. "I have to go now, I was in the middle of investigating some talking roof tiles. I'd go now too if I were you, I don't think mere work schedules are going to stop this lot from seeing Harry Potter."
-
Heeding Arthur's advice, James and Sirius made their way back to Charing Cross. There were tourists everywhere, meaning Harry was being constantly jostled in James' arms and ,by the time they got to Horse Guards Avenue, he was having a full blown tantrum.
After a very long 10 minutes, the two men burst into the flat with the screaming baby. While Sirius shrunk the boxes, James transformed into a stag to try and placate his son. However, Harry carried on crying.
"It's not working." He told Sirius, after he'd given up and returned to human form.
"He always likes Padfoot." Sirius said offhandedly, as he continued to pack.
"I guess he likes Padfoot better than Prongs." James proclaimed, feeling rather affronted.
"Could be worse, at least his favourite isn't Wolfie."
James turned to Sirius with a dangerous look in his eye. "Harry is never meeting Wolfie."
"I know I'm irresponsible but surely you don't think I'd let a baby meet Wolfie."
"Just checking."
-
Remus still wasn't back by the time James and Harry flooed back to the house. Much to James' relief, the kitchen no longer smelt, although Remus would probably detect otherwise. James suddenly realised that, for the first time since the marauders had returned, he was alone in the house with Harry. His son had stopped fussing now he was back in the familiar house, and was lying on the carpet with one of his feet in his mouth.
"You look like butter wouldn't melt." James said fondly to his baby, who giggled at him, blinking his green eyes. "Come on then, Daddy's going to get you some milk; it's thirsty work being famous isn't it tiger?"
"Dadda."
"Did you just- you did, you really did. That's right Harry, I'm your dadda!"
He whisked the baby up in his arms and started doing a bit of a jig. Harry was looking almost judgmental, so much so he could almost hear her voice in his head, full of laughter: ("Really James, what on Earth are you doing? You look like you're being electrocuted.")
"Why the victory dance Prongs?" Sirius asked from the doorway.
"Harry said his first word! Dadda!"
"Aw, well done tyke." Sirius said, ruffling Harry's unruly mop of hair.
"Come on, say it again Harry." James pleaded, but the boy remained mute.
"Let's unpack and he might say it again when we're not staring at him so hard."
James nodded and picked up one of the re-enlarged boxes before putting it down again.
"Padfoot, how on Earth did you get here so fast?"
Sirius made for the stairs, clearly feigning deafness.
"You flew didn't you?"
"The M25 was just ridiculous Prongs, what else was I going to do?"
"Not risk being seen by thousands of muggles?"
"Visibility was terrible; I was almost invisible."
"How did you find your way here then?"
"Well, maybe not terrible."
James raised his eyebrows, which somehow caused his glasses to slide down his nose.
"Don't tell Moony." Sirius pleaded.
"If I told Remus he would kill us both. Don't you remember our journey to London?"
-
"It's very bright." James said, glancing dubiously at the bedroom.
Sirius and Remus' previously bare space was now half full of colourful furniture and ornaments. James' comment was being directed at a truly lurid green and purple chair that they had placed on Remus' side of the room to make it seem less bare. "Are you sure he'll like it?"
"Prongs, I can personally guarantee you that he won't even notice."
"It's just a bit of a contrast to his usual colours."
"Brown is cheap and that's all there is to it. He'd look like a walking highlighter if neon yellow cost the least amount of money."
They heard the door being unlocked.
"Let's put your theory to the test then." James said, doubtfully.
"How was Hertfordshire?" Sirius asked as Remus entered the room.
"Grey." He said with a yawn as he collapsed on the chair. "London?"
"We got mobbed."
"Really?" He sat up in alarm "Like riot shields etc?"
"Padfoot's exaggerating … kind of."
"What happened?"
"Did you know Harry's really famous Moony? They're calling him the Boy who Lived."
"I suppose he did." Remus replied thoughtfully. "Adoring fans then?" He joked.
"Yep." James said with a straight face.
"Wait … seriously?"
"Molly's husband had to rescue us."
"That sounds quite dramatic." Remus said, sounding really rather impressed.
"And that wasn't the only exciting thing that happened!" James cried, suddenly remembering Harry's milestone. "Harry said his first word!"
"Ahh, bless him." Remus said, smiling at the baby who was sitting on the floor and playing with his favourite toy deer. "What was it?"
"Dadda."
"What was your first word Prongs?" Sirius asked.
"Mumma I think. What about you?"
"Well, according to mother dearest it was "no" but seeing as we were screaming at the time I think she might've just been trying to make a point. Moony?"
"There was quite a bit of controversy in my house: Dad thought it was "dadda" but mum maintained it was "mumma". I learnt not to ask after a while as the debate got alarmingly heated." Remus replied with a grin, followed by, "I'm famished, have you two eaten yet?"
James shook his head. "I'm hoping there's some curry in the fridge. I just need to settle down Harry now though."
Remus left to go and sort out dinner and Sirius made to follow him, but stopped just outside the room.
"Told you." He taunted.
"Told me what?"
"He didn't even blink at the chair. I should have bet money."