Sitting On The Baby By HPOD sufferer
Date: Saturday, 19thMay , 8:16PM
Rating: K+ (Scary and Supernatural themes may scare young children, includes character death)
Summary: Sirius bounded into the compartment, making to sink into the seat next to Lily. The seat in which a sleeping baby...well, slept.Eyes popping, James grabbed his friend's wrists, stopping him from sitting. Sirius Black was frozen in a strange, half-sitting, half-standing position. Lily grabbed the baby quickly, and James released his friend."You know," said Lily " Baby sitting doesn't usually consist of actually sitting on the baby."
A baby has appeared. Where from? Why? Who does the baby belong to? Harry travels to Marauder Era. AS A BABY! Something went seriously wrong on that Halloween night.
Chapter 2: Remember Their Future Kiss
When remembering the future, there is one thing to learn,
Everything will happen, everything will have it's turn.
And asa baby, with his small fingers and mind,
Yet one memory can come, when you unbind.
But if you forget to remember, please do this:
Remember the best moment, the one where they kiss.
Lily Evans had found herself in a very odd predicament. The boys had refused, flat out, to explain their shock at the baby's words, to her great annoyance. Instead, they had begun a game of wizard's chess...in her compartment. In her head compartment. And even if James Puff-Potter was head boy, the fact remained that Sirius-ly stupid Black was not.
And to top it all off, she had to take care of a gurgling baby which had appeared out of nowhere. She wondered idly if it was possible for babies to do accidental Apparition as well as accidental magic. But enough of that, she would give the babe to a teacher to take care of once she got to Hogwarts. Not her responsibility.
Yet she could not help a maternal feeling towards the sweet child.
Presently, he was singing. "Gum-gum in da garden, wike a tweddy bwear...wum step, twoo step, twikle uder dere!" the boy moved his fingers in a lame attempt at tickling her stomach. He giggled, and then grabbed her hand again. He hit it "Gum-gum in da garden, wike a tweddy bwear..." he started to move his hand up her arm towards her stomach "wum step, twoo step..."
He fluttered his fingers "twikle uder dere!"
She shifted, and caught his attention. Lamp-like green eyes turned to her in wonderment. "Do you know Twinkle Little Star?"
The baby smiled shyly. "Twikle, twikle, widdle star..." his face scrunched up in confusion.
"How I wonder..." Lily began.
"What ooo are!" She smiled happily at him, and nodded encouragingly.
"Up above the world so high..." she waited for him.
"Wike a dwimand in da sky."
"Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!" they finished together.
The pair sang songs for the next few hours, when Lily deposited the baby on the seat and headed for the bathroom to change. Sirius and James pulled on their robes, and sat down. The baby gurgled.
"Pafof!" the baby said accusingly, glaring at Sirius. The boys exchanged worried looks.
"How does he...?" Sirius left the question hanging. It made no sense.
The baby stretched his arms out to Sirius. "Pafof, now!" He said in a grumpy, commanding, childish voice. Sirius hesitantly stretched out a finger.
The baby stared at it for a full minute, then burst into wails.
Just then, Lily entered. One look at the baby, the boys, and she placed her hands on her hips.
The train pulled up at Hogsmeade station.
Lily clenched her jaw, and picked up the baby, settling him on her hip. Turning to James she said sternly "You, head boy, need to come with me to McGonagall to," she hitched the baby significantly. James smirked.
And that was how he happened to be in her horseless carriage instead of the usual gaggle of girls; four boys watching her intently. One glare and two of them looked away. The other two...she continued to glare.
"Could I hold him?" James asked after a while.
Lily ignored him. It was for this reason that she was so startled when the squishy warmth left her arms. Her gaze focused, to see James holding the boy awkwardly under the arms. The baby gave a feeble kick. A thoughtful look passed the seventeen year-old's face, and he lowered the baby's belly to his face. A soft raspberry sound emitted form the pair and the baby began to giggle helplessly. More raspberries continued, until Lily finally exclaimed "Will you desist?"
James lowered the black-haired boy to his lap and pulled an old, worn snitch from his pocket. He let it go, and caught it quickly.
"Daddy wif da switch!" the baby explained to Remus, who was sitting next to James. Remus contemplated him, then nodded. "Hawwy want switch!"
Sirius and Remus exchanged a smirk.
"You want the snitch, do you?" James asked, shaking the golden ball in the baby's face. He got a nod for an answer. "Then go get it!" he said, and released it. The balls zoomed around the carriage- Lily ducked. Harry calmly snatched it out of the air as it soared past.
"Dat was a slow switch," Harry grunted, dumping in into James's slack hand.
The boys in the carriage just stared at him.
Lily huffed the rest of the way to the castle. James continued to let the snitch go, and the baby would immediately pluck it out of the air, and frown at the older boy as he handed it back, in a most accusing manner.
Lily was quite glad when the carriage stopped. She jumped out, and took the child from the head boy's arms. She stomped all the way up the castle steps angrily, the four boys on her heels.
In the entrance hall, Professor McGonagall was chivvying students into the Great Hall. She turned to the next lot which included Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and the baby. Upon seeing the baby, her face went stern.
"What is the meaning of this?" she said, casting a look at Sirius for some reason.
Lily was so very glad to be able to get rid of the child. He would probably be in the arms of his worried parents (heaven forbid if they were muggles like her own) by the time the feast had finished. "Well, you see Ma'am, he appeared out of nowhere."
The raised eyebrow stated very easily what the Deputy Head thought of this.
"I mean, I was on the train, when James here-" she jerked a thumb to the afore mentioned head boy "- just arrived, when I stretched, and this baby just appeared in my arms, and started to cry." She paused, thinking for a moment. "Is it possible he accidentally Apparated, Ma'am?"
Sirius snickered at the look on his professor's face.
"Well...uh. No, I don't think-" McGonagall paused as if to pull herself together. "I think it's prudent we meet with the Headmaster, don't you?"
Lily's arms were starting to ache; the baby was getting rather tiresome. "Ok."
"Well, I think it's best if only the ones who were present-"
"I'm coming!" Cried Sirius. Remus and Peter nodded their assent. McGonagall surveyed them imperiously.
She turned without another word, and headed up the marble staircase. It was halfway to Dumbledore's office that they ran- quite literally- into the Headmaster. James rubbed his bottom as he got to his feet. The Headmaster looked pleasantly surprised and smiled indulgingly.
"Well, well, well... What are we all doing here, I was under the impression I was running late for the feast!" He said.
James, as much as he liked the man, had always thought Dumbledore was quite odd. Moments like these only strengthened his opinion.
"Yes, quite." McGonagall said stiffly. "However, there has been...a disruption."
"Ho, really!" Dumbledore said, never once ceasing to gaze at the Marauders. It was almost as if he had been in this situation many times.
Lily stepped forward. " A baby appeared out of nowhere on the train, Headmaster.
A tiny puzzled expression filled out the old man's face, and he inquiringly drifted his arms towards the baby, which was now dozing on Lily's shoulder. She gently handed the baby over, and Dumbledore cradled the black haired child in his arms, grinning down at him.
The baby blinked, and opened his eyes, gazing up at the wizened face. "Dwumblebwore..." he muttered sleepily.
"Hello, what's your name?" Dumbledore enquired.
"Hawwy. You Dwumblebwore."
"Hello Harry, I am indeed Dumbledore," the Headmaster said jovially.
The baby had already fallen asleep. Dumbledore looked up, slightly concerned. "I have never met this child, to the best of my knowledge, yet he knows my name. Very interesting."
"Do you have any idea who his parents are?"
"No... there have been no magical children under the name of Harry born in Europe in the last five years," Dumbledore said, the lines on his forehead deepening. He looked up at the collected students. "I must look into this. But for now-" he gave the baby back "-could I ask that you care for him during the feast?"
Lily nodded dumbly.
Dumbledore's lips stretched and his eyes go back some of the life that was usually there. Pulling out and odd pocket watch, he gasped. "My, my!"
Lily glanced at her own watch. "Oh, we're SO late!"
The group had already started making their way to the Great Hall. At the door, Dumbledore turned his head to Lily. "I know how to fix this-" Lily frowned. "- We'll just say that everyone is early!"
Dumbledore and McGonagall went through the doors, leaving Lily gaping. "Coming?" James asked, hand on her elbow. She let him lead her docilely to the Gryffindor table, the whole student body muttering. As soon as she had slipped into her seat, Dumbledore stood up, spreading his arms out wide.
"Welcome, boys...girls...and in-betweens" (many students giggled) "to another wonderful, I'm sure, year at Hogwarts! I don't know about you, but I would really rather eat!" At this last word, the tables filled themselves with food, and students dived in, chatting happily.
Lily discretely pulled out her wand and conjured a pillow, and sat the little boy named Harry on it. He had woken with all the sound, but instead of wailing or being grumpy, he smiled delightedly. As Lily served herself some Shepard's' pie, the girls around her started to coo and act all soppy with the baby. Alice, one of Lily's friends who was sitting on the other side of Harry, picked him up and placed him on her lap. Scooping up some mashed potato, she waved it in front of the baby teasingly. "Here comes the broomstick!" she said.
Lily rolled her eyes as the baby munched happily. "I think he can eat some solids Alice!"
Alice blushed, and picked up a small piece of chicken, which Harry refused. Putting it down, she turned back to Lily. "What's his name?"
"Harry."
It was not Lily who said this- James had extracted himself from his Quiddich conversation further up the table to hear Alice's last statement.
"Ooh...that's such a nice name!" squealed a girl with dark skin and large eyes the shape of walnuts. Done with this comment, she turned back to her boyfriend. Lily couldn't quite remember his first name-he was in sixth year, but she was pretty sure his last name was Patty...no, Patil, that was it!
"Yes well..."
"Where'd you get him, is he a relative?" asked a girl with a heavy Irish accent.
"Oh! No, no, no!" Lily said. "It was rather odd, he just appeared!"
"Apparated, you mean?" frowned a blond-haired girl. "But you can't do that until your seventeen, they don't teach it until sixth year!"
"It wasn't like Apparition though, was it Lily?" said James. "He kinda just faded into your arms, and he was glowing red, wasn't he?"
Lily opened her mouth to say something, but just then the food was replaced with dessert. Harry bent down from Alice's arms and grabbed a handful of strawberry ice-cream. He squinted in Sirius's direction, and Lily felt her stomach drop. The small fist drew back, the ice-cream was flying...and with stunning precision, the pink glob met it's target on the back of Sirius's head. The boy seemed to sit still, as the pink slid down his neck and under the collar of his robes. Then with a yell, he jumped up, doing a weird sort of dance. Students turned from their food to watch the young Black jump and shout, his arms bending back in a futile attempt to get rid of the offending item, which was obviously crawling down his spine. With a plop it splattered onto the stone floor, and Sirius gave the laughter-filled Hall a wave before taking his seat. He turned to the baby with a calculating look.
"What that for?" He asked.
"Now come on Black-" Lily tried to reason, but the baby cried over the top of her.
"Pafof no come Fwiday! Hawwy sad! Pafof wikes Swrawbwerrwy!"
Sirius's eyes widened, and suddenly he turned from the baby and began an angry, urgent looking conversation with the rest of his friends, hands waving dramatically. Lily ignored his and wiped little Harry's fingers on a napkin. "You shouldn't have done that," she told him sternly.
His eyes looked up at her, filled with tears. "Is mummy angwy at Hawwy?" he sniffed.
Her heart melted, despite the fact that despite his beliefs, he was not his 'mummy'. "Of course not..."
She busied herself with wiping his face as her friends sniggered. What did they know?
All too soon the feast had ended, the start of year announcements made (she was mostly interested in the update on You-Know-Who's actions, as you couldn't always trust the Daily Prophet). She made her way up to the front of of the Hall to where the Professors all stood eyeing her wearily- she had no doubt that they had been alerted of the situation. To her great chagrin, Potter and his cronies followed her.
"What's this, eh?" Professor Slughorn boomed, waddling over to peer at the frightened child in Lily's arms. He pried the child from her grip and held him up high. "Well, good evening!"
The baby looked down at the wide man, as if not entirely sure what to do with himself. "Ga-ga?"
"Sluggie's the name!" Slughorn said, lowering the boy.
"Swuggy?"
"Yes..." Slughorn looked around, and deposited the baby into the arms of the Professor next to him- a surprised looking Professor Kettleburn of Care of Magical Creatures. Lily was pleased to note that, with his experience with animals, he had a better idea of how to handle the small boy than her Potions Master. Dumbledore made his way over.
"What is the meaning of this?" Demanded the Ancient Runes Professor.
"Please," Dumbledore glanced a group of seventh-year Slytherins who were dawdling in a very obvious way that showed they were trying to eaves-drop. "Could we take this to my office?"
The rest of the teachers nodded their assent, and Lily trotted along with her superiors, flanked by the boys, all the way to the Head's office. The teacher crowded around Dumbledore's desk, leaving the teens standing awkwardly by the door. Dumbledore sat, clearing some papers away and nodded at Lily to come over. Kettleburn placed the boy on the table and Lily gave a quick explanation of the day's events.
"So who are his parents?" McGonagall asked.
"No idea," Dumbledore supplied.
McGonagall looked severely annoyed. "Well, how are we going to find out? Surely you're not suggesting we put an ad in the Prophet!"
"No..." Dumbledore said, amusement in his eyes. He pulled out his wand. "and since Veritaserum won't really work..." He trained it on the baby. Lily stiffened. Dumbledore training his wand on a baby was a scenario she would never have been able to understand. Her heart started to beat fast. And, seeing the other's faces, she was not the only one.
"Dumbledore glanced up. "It won't hurt him!"
Lily couldn't help a small shiver however. James smirked very slightly when her hand clutched his as the wand was raised.
"Legilimens!"
The baby and Headmaster sat, eyes locked on one another for a good ten minutes. Lily watched, scared, as the old man's face paled as time went by. When she felt she could take it no longer, he broke wand and eye contact with Harry, and gazed at the desk.
"Professor...?" whispered Sirius cautiously.
Dumbledore looked up, but his face was not set in a mask of grim decisiveness. "I know who his parents are, and...where they are.He remembers watching them kiss."
Lily felt concerted by the stare the powerful wizard seemed to be giving her and James.
A/n: You should be very grateful I updated so quickly. I had a sicky today, which is why I managed this! Hope it's good enough!
Review, or I'll get Dumbledore to place his wand on you! (115 hits-4 reviews that's a ratio of 4:111...tut tut tut!)