Disclaimer: I own nothing so please dont sue.
A/N: These are the two chapters that I've already done. If I continue on, this story will be very similar to many others. Perhaps only one more chapter to go...I'm trying to find a good way to end it. Don't expect an update anytime soon since school will soon start again for me. Thank you for your reviews and keep them coming!
Chapter 2
Before dawn the following morning, Harry woke up to a wet bottom. He whimpered pathetically, as he no longer had the energy to cry out loud anymore. As his calls for attention were too quiet to be heard, he tried a little harder and kicked his legs around as an attempt to remove himself from the discomfort.
Minerva McGonagall stirred in her sleep as her sensitive ears heard a noise. Her eyes opened slowly as her brain attempted to pinpoint the source of the noise. As she turned her head, she saw the cot and movements inside it. Despite wanting more sleep, she forced herself to get up and check on the child.
"Hello Harry," Minerva softly cooed to the boy.
After changing the infant, she carried him back to her chair, hoping she can get the boy to sleep for a few more hours, not only for his own benefit but also hers. Cradling the child close to her chest, she rocked him soothingly back and forth, her eyes closed but not asleep.
However, sleep was far from Harry's mind. Curious about his new surroundings, he could not take his eyes off of this stranger. He didn't recognize her face but her voice sounded vaguely familiar; the same one in fact, who answered when he wanted his mama so badly during the night. His thoughts reminded him of his longing to see a familiar and comforting face. He had not seen his mama or da for a long time, far longer than he was used to. He remembered the previous day when he cried and cried for either of his parents. That was the longest time he ever had to cry without anyone responding to him. He not only missed his mama and da, but was left all alone in a room the entire time. That had never happened to him before; his wails were fueled with fear and loneliness, long after his energy deserted him.
The rocking was starting to take its effect but the child fought it in order to get an answer to a question he had for two days.
"Mama?"
It was obvious from the small, coarse voice that the crying from the previous day and sporadically through the night had taken its toll on the small distressed child.
Upon hearing the plea, Minerva opened her eyes and saw large green eyes shining with misery and longing.
Her heart ached. She stopped cradling the child and instead, let him lean against her side as she seated him upright on her lap. The green eyes never left her. Wishing wholeheartly that she could give another answer, she instead said, "I'm sorry Harry but your mum is not with us anymore. She's in heaven with your dad."
Harry didn't understand. "Da?" he tried.
"No dear, your dad is not here either."
He didn't understand the words, only that neither were there. He was miserable and expressed it the only way he knew how. It wasn't so much as the loudness of the cries, or lack of in Harry's case, that worried Minerva; it was the pain behind the cries.
Worried that any more crying will result in serious repercussions on the boy's larynx, Minerva once again cradled the boy and gently rocked him.
"Shhhhhhhhh. Please stop, Harry. You have me, you'll always have me." When the crying didn't stop, McGonagall continue coaxing the child.
"You'll also have Dumbledore, who I'm sure will care for you as much as I do, if not more. Then there'll be Pomfrey, Sprout, and Flicwick, who I'm afraid will all spoil you if left to their own devices. You will be loved, dear child, in the same way that your parents would have loved you."
Her touching words however fell on deaf ears. Ready to floo Poppy for some mild calming draught, Minerva's eyes, instead, were caught on a card lying on the mantle. It was a thank you card from Lily and James, for the present that she and Albus bought for Harry when they visited him in the hospital. Included in the card was a photo of the new family, taken by Remus in Harry's nursery. Minerva walked to the mantle, and held the picture for the child in her arms to see.
The picture had just the effect that Minerva was hoping for. Harry was mesmerized by the familiar figures waving at him with happy grins on their faces. He stopped his fuss and reached for the photo in Minerva's hands. She gladly gave it to him.
"Yes, Harry, those are your parents. I've never seen them happier than they were when you were around them." Minerva took advantage of the distraction to place the boy back in his crib. She covered him up and watched as the little boy quickly fell back asleep, with the picture clutched in his hands. Minerva crawled under the covers on her own bed and fell into a deep, undisturbed sleep. Since day on, the picture was never far from Harry's bed.