Who's Your Goddaddy?

On the early morning of August 1st, 1980, three men, each haphazardly dressed in their own idiosyncratic ways, stood behind the threshold of Potter cottage in Godric's Hollow. It was a little past dawn, and for these men, getting out of bed before ten was usually a big hell no.

But today was a special occasion. You see –

"Oh, man, I'm shaking," said one man. He was wearing broomstick covered pajamas (courtesy of Wormtail, seventh year) and his favourite leather jacket. "Look at my hands. They're bloody shaking."

The sandy-haired man closest to the door grinned brightly, effectively mimicking his embarrassing yellow pajamas. "Is big bad Sirius afraid of a little baby? I never thought I'd see the day."

Sirius shot him a rather rude gesture and the third man, a chubby fellow wearing a long stocking cap, moved passed them to knock on the door. A few seconds past by before a voice spoke up behind the door.

"Who's there?"

"Wormtail, Moony and Padfoot."

There was a pause, and then: "Who tricked us into thinking Padfoot was dying from the so-called Highly-Poisonous- Highly-Dangerous-Neon-Ink?"

"The Pom-Poms!"

"Madam Pomfrey."

The door flew open, revealing a smiling James Potter, having what was possibly his best hair day as of yet. Today, it looked as if he'd flew into a tornado instead of getting it stuck inside a blender. This must've been what fatherhood did to people.

"Lily's upstairs with…well, you can see for yourselves," said James, after hugging his friends in greeting.

The climb upstairs was possibly one of the longest they'd ever endured. Not because the staircase itself was long, but because everything was going to change once they stepped inside that room. The Marauders were never going to be the same again. James was maturing faster than a snitch, right before their eyes. He was a father, now. He had responsibilities. And so would they, too, once they met their little nephew or niece. They would protect that child from anything and everything for as long as they lived, and that was a solemn promise.

Once they'd finally reached the second floor, James expertly led them to a closed door at the end of the hallway. Opening the door, he said, "Right this way, single file-line, watch your step, please."

A Healer in lime green robes grinned at them as they entered. Strapping her medical bag closed, she said, "Floo me if you're having any trouble, Lily, okay?"

"Thanks, Hestia, and I will."

"Alright, have a good one, then!" She smiled at them once more, before James walked her to the front door.

"So are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to say hello to your nephew?" joked Lily Potter from her place on the bed. She was sitting up, supported by dozens of fluffy pillows, and practically glowing. A small, blue bundle was situated in her arms. The only thing visible was a tuft of spiky, black hair. There was no doubt about where he got that from.

Remus reacted first, walking slowly over towards the bed. Lily held the baby out to him, and the werewolf tentatively steadied him in his arms.

"He's beautiful," he remarked, watching the baby give a big yawn. "Have you decided on a name, yet?"

"Harry Potter," answered James, returning from his little trip downstairs. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"And James will be his middle name," said Lily, matter-of-factly.

James looked ecstatic and kissed her cheek.

"No PDA in front of the little Prongslet, you two!" squawked Sirius indignantly, swooping over to cover Harry's bright green eyes.

Peter was watching the scene with a peculiar expression on his pallid face. He looked as if he'd seen a boggart. "Uh, I'd love to stay, you guys," he said suddenly. "But I have to get back home to Mum. She's caught this terrible bug…"

"Of course," said Lily delicately. "Tell her I said hello, OK?"

Peter gave her a strained smile before Apparating away. The sudden noise startled Harry, and he began to cry. Remus quickly returned his nephew to Lily, and she rocked him, muttering soothing words. But Harry still refused to stop. His wails increased a decibel as he was passed onto his father, and James was suddenly desperate.

"Padfoot, you try."

Sirius' eyes widened to cartoon-like proportion as he was handed the screaming baby. He didn't know the first thing about children. He wasn't even out of diapers when Regulus was born, and it wasn't like their mother raised them for it. That was the house elf's job. They were only supposed to extend the Black line – not take care of them, goddamit.

But the strangest thing happened when Harry settled in Sirius' arms – he stopped crying. The baby's face un-scrunched and his breathing slowed as he gripped onto the wizard's leather jacket with one tiny fist.

"He's smiling at me!"

"We're glad he likes you," said Lily, holding a silent conversation with James with her eyes. He gave shaky smile as he turned to Sirius.

"Padfoot, we'd like you to be Harry's godfather."

Sirius tried to cudgel his tired brain into working. "Godfather? What are you – Me?"

"Catch up, mate," said Remus, teasingly. "Yeah, you."

"I think a little responsibility will help you grow up a bit," Lily said, smiling slightly. "Of course, this could just end up corrupting Harry in the end, but if it gets you to be more mature and stop pulling those godawful pranks then I'm all for it," she turned to Remus. "And I trust you can be the godfather of our next baby if we have one?"

"Definitely."

Kissing Harry's smooth forehead, Sirius finally answered them, "I would be honored to be his godfather," he mumbled into Harry's soft blanket, and they were polite enough not to point out the few tears trailing down his face.

And at that moment, that very single moment, their little mismatched gang experienced happiness again. Everybody put aside that they were still in the middle of a war. That Voldemort could be standing outside their house right now, waiting for them to exit to strike. No, they just wanted to enjoy each other's company without interruption. Perhaps this was something babies did, bring people closer together (if that was even possible for them) and making everything all sunny and happy.

…and then Harry threw up all over Sirius.

"Welcome to the family!"

A/N: Thanks to Hpdwlotr24, bubblecloudz, agryffindorgal, Harry1675, Chuggamuffin, MissDemigodWizard, chaosshotgun, Remus' daughter, TheWeirdestMuse, Moony1972, Guest and Crystalline-Enchantix for reviewing!

Baby Harry strikes again! I'm so thrilled -

Marauders: Ahem.

We're so thrilled that you guys enjoy this story. We have a lot more chapters to go before I wrap it up (like, a lot) so if you do have any suggestions whenever, just drop me a line!

Special thanks to MissDemigodWizard for being my three hundredth. Check out her stories! They're Marauder-centric and awesome!