Disclaimer: Yada yada yada JK Rowling yada yada what I usually put here.
His Boy
Chapter Fourteen: Beach
Sirius stared down at the large double bed of the hotel room, his hand over his mouth, trying with quite a bit of difficulty not to laugh for fear of waking anyone else. It was five in the morning and his bladder had yelled at him to release its contents before it did it for him, so he'd gotten up and done as it commanded. On his way back to his bed, however, he had paused to admire how adorable his godson was and this scene greeted his eyes.
Ronnie had somehow flipped over in his sleep, putting his feet up towards the head of the bed, his head lolling backwards off the end of it, mouth wide open in invitation to any flies that might be lurking about the room. Harry was just visible beneath the covers, a shock of unruly black locks sticking up, laying quite peacefully on his stomach. Hermione was also on her stomach, stretched out over Harry's back using her otter as a pillow. Instead of her thumb being in her mouth (Sirius thought this next bit was the piece de resistance) she was sucking quite contently at Ronnie's left big toe, which upon closer inspection, was about the same size of one of her thumbs.
Tredding carefully across the carpet to where Remus was sleeping peacefully, he took out his wand and jabbed the werewolf in the side with his wand, whispering. "Silencio." He then prodded Remus quite harshly with his wand tip, causing the other man to jerk awake and his mouth to open in an apparent silent scream of surprise. He gave Sirius an inquiring look once his mind started comprehending what was going gon.
"You have to see this." Sirius whispered, gesturing towards the bed. Remus sat up and stared over at the kids. He bent over double, obviously giving into a fit of silent laughter, glad Sirius had put the silencing charm on him before he'd woken him up. He retrieved his own wand from the top of the dresser and jabbed himself with it, returning his voice.
"That cannot be the least bit hygienic." He whispered, moving to the big bed and reaching over to extract Ronnie's toe from Hermione's mouth.
"Wait! I promised the Grangers I'd take photos…" Sirius stated quickly, dashing into the sitting area and digging into what he referred to as his 'day bag'. He'd taken to carrying a bag around ever since he'd gotten Harry, knowing that sometimes they would be around Muggles and he wouldn't be able to just magic the boy clean in public and therefore, a change of clothes was always nice. He dug out the Muggle camera he'd gotten not too long ago, wishing to document more of Harry, and brought it back into the bedroom area. He quickly snapped a few photos of the three kids sleeping.
"Happy?" Remus asked. After Sirius nodded, the former removed Ronnie's toe from Hermione's mouth. The girl rolled over onto Harry's head and then back again, apparently not liking the bumpyness, finding her mouth with her thumb now, and settling back down. "You'd better now show Hermione those when they're teenagers, Padfoot. She'd probably be disgusted."
"It's going right on the mantle as soon as it's developed." Sirius grinned and set the camera down on the bedside table. He moved into the sitting room and then to the little kitchen area. "Coffee?"
"Yes please. Though, I dare say I still prefer tea." Remus joined him in the sitting room and they both had a cup to help wake themselves up and prepare for the day. While the kids were still sleeping, the two men get everything ready for the beach. Remus packed the bags with all the sand toys, the floaties, and put their picnic lunch in the cooler. Sirius laid the kids' clothes out on one of the single beds so that they could get dressed without too much hassle. He'd already decided to put both little boys in white t-shirts over their swimmy trunks. Hermione would wear a similar white dress over her suit. They would each have to wear a white cloth hat with a brim all the way round to help keep the sun off their faces in case the sunscreen wore off too soon.
"Are we going to go to the zoo today as well, Moony?" Sirius asked after he had finished laying out the kid's clothes. "It'd be a pity for you to miss it. You'll be much too tired to do anything tomorrow after…"
Remus nodded with a sigh. He was not looking forward to tonight's upcoming full moon at all. He would have to deal with it though, because it was his life. His time of the month, as James used to call it, the three nights he had to endure and then the exhaustion for a few days afterwards. He turned his head to look over at the three sleeping pre-schoolers. "Yes. I really don't want to miss out on Harry seeing a real lion for the first time. At least, I don't want to be too tired to enjoy it."
"It's settled then. We'll go after nap time. I was checking one of those brochures when I brought the trolley down yesterday… the zoo is open until eight and the kids usually wake up around three, so that'll be more than enough time to go there. Even if they take a late nap and wake up at four, we'll be fine. And then I was thinking we could eat out someplace nice while it's still light out. It won't get dark until nine. You can apparate home around eight and get in the shed by then."
"That sounds good. Maybe if my stomach is full, I won't be so vicious." Remus tried to laugh but failed, his own joke not making the idea of being a werewolf any easier. It was true that when he ate a lot, it satiated his hunger a bit when he transformed, but it was still rough. It had been easier when he'd had three friends to help him through it, but he and Sirius had already decided, that at least for the first full moon, Sirius would stay with Harry. In the future though, they might be able to find sitters who would take him over night, for at least the first night, which was always the worst. And that Remus wasn't so sure about. What if he were to really hurt Sirius in a fit of rage and then where would Harry be?
"It'll be fine, mate." Sirius stated, patting Remus on the back. He knew the other man was not the least bit keen on having to leave tonight or the next night, but it was the way things had to be. "We'll have a blast today, and then tomorrow, you can rest all you want. I'll take the kids down to the pool or out somewhere so you can get plenty of sleep. And I'll drive us home the day after. It's no big deal."
"Thanks, Paddy."
"Ah, so you've noticed then?"
"Yeah. Any clue as to why?" Remus glanced over at the large bed where the three youngsters were still out cold.
"He said I'm not his dad, but I'm as good as." Sirius stated with absolute pride. "Far be it for me to correct him. Half the time I don't even know what the bloody hell I'm doing."
"But you do it well." Remus laughed, now clapping Sirius on the back and tilting his head back. "You're better with him than you realize. He's happy isn't he? And the Healer even said he was just under average weight at his last check up. And he doesn't really cause much trouble… he's a good kid. Reminds me a lot of Lily. The fire in his eyes yesterday when he told that woman off…"
"Just like Lily's whenever she gave us hell for picking on Snivellus." Sirius laughed. "But let's hope he's still got a bit of his dad in him besides his looks. In any case, he'll be a Gryffindor yet. Honestly, I'm banking on Gryffindor for all three of them. I bet they'll make it."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. The Weasleys are notorious for being in Gryffindor. And Hermione has some serious spunk."
"I was aiming for Ravenclaw with Hermione actually…"
"Possibly." Sirius agreed and rose from the couch, stretching and picking up his coffee cup. He placed it in the sink and moved across the room to the one large window currently covered in drapes. By now it was six thirty and the sun was bound to be up and shining brightly. He threw back the drapes, filling the entire room with bright light and making the tiny occupants on the big bed stir. "Alright you lot, time to be getting up. We've got a big fun day ahead of us!"
"Mmmm Paddy,… I is still sleepin'." Harry groaned, sitting up and pushing Hermione off of his legs as he did so. There was a sleep like across his right cheek and he rubbed at his eyes sleepily as he looked up at his godfather.
"So… you don't want to go to the beach then?"
"Beaaaach!" Harry laughed, his eyes shooting wide open now and he climbed out from under the covers. He hopped over his two friends and slid from the bed to the floor, dancing about in his jammies. "Beaaaach! Ronnie! 'Mione! Wake up! We're goin' to da beeeeeach!"
"Oh goody!" Hermione laughed, sitting up, her hair an impossible mess of bushy curls, sticking up as badly as Harry's always did only worse because there was more of it. Ronnie groaned, rolled over, and then stretched his entire body long before he sat up with a yawn.
"We goin' swimming'?" He asked as he rubbed at one eye and grinned up at them all.
"Yes." Remus smiled, peering through the bars of the half wall. "C'mon then. Everybody up and dressed. We've got to get breakfast before we do anything else. Your clothes are all over there."
"What about my baffy?" Harry asked curiously as he began stripping off his pajamas.
"You spent three hours in the pool yesterday. I think you're clean enough for today. Besides, we're all just going to get dirty anyway." Sirius laughed as he handed Hermione her clothes and sent her into the bathroom to get dressed for the day. "We're going to get absolutely filthy."
"YAAAAY!" Harry and Ronnie laughed, jumping up and down on the big bed at the idea of being allowed to get as dirty as dirty could be. They all got dressed quickly, wanting to get to the beach as soon as was possible.
Once everyone had been slathered from head to tiny toes with sunscreen and everyone had a hat on his or her head, Sirius swung Harry up onto his shoulders, causing the little boy to laugh with delight, and they headed out.
The group of five took a quick trip down in the elevator (there were no mean old cows this time) and into the lobby where they made a right into the dining area where breakfast was served every morning from six to ten.
"Alright guys, what do you want to eat? It looks like they've got cereal or bagels or waffles or…"
"Waffles!" Ronnie exclaimed quite excitedly, bouncing up and down to get a better look at the counter that spanned the wall on one side of the room.
"Waffles it is then for you, Ronnie." Remus laughed, spraying down the waffle maker and adding the batter to it before closing it to cook.
"I would quite like a bagel with butter and jam, please, Mr. Black." Hermione stated simply as she climbed into the chair of a nearby table. She took a napkin from the dispenser and spread it gently in her lap before folding her hands on the table to wait like a good girl.
"My cereals?" Harry asked, jumping up and down to get a better look at the cereal dispenser. He clapped his hand upon spotting the colorful round circled cereal he had come to liking. Sirius laughed, popping some bread into the toaster for Hermione along with a bagel for himself. He then grabbed a bowl and held it beneath the dispenser to get Harry some cereal. He added milk and a spoon and then set it on the table next to Hermione. Harry climbed into the chair and dug in happily.
The waffle maker dinged and Remus flipped Ronnie's waffle onto a plate. He cut it into bite size pieces and then covered it in butter and syrup before placing it down on the table where the little red head had sat. Ronnie grabbed up his fork, stabbed a piece of waffle and shoved it into his mouth with relish.
"Here's your toast, Hermione. I hope you like strawberry."
"Yes, thank you." Hermione beamed brightly and lifted a slice of toast gingerly to her mouth. She took a dainty bite and chewed thoughtfully before swallowing and taking another. "May I have some juice please?"
"Me too me too!" Ronnie bounced. "Juice please!"
Remus laughed and filled two small cups full of apple juice and set it down for them before he got his own waffle out of the maker.
Once everyone had had their fill to eat (Ronnie had gotten another waffle and another cup of juice, and was promptly cut off when he asked for thirds.), the two men and three children cleared up their table and made their way back into the lobby.
"Headed for the beach?" The kind woman from the night before leaned forward on her large desk to look down at the preschoolers with a bright smile.
"I'm gonna build a sandy castle." Ronnie exclaimed proudly, pointing to his chest with his thumb and standing up tall on his tip toes. He was full of pride at the very idea.
"Oh, I bet you'll build the best sand castle ever seen." The woman laughed. "Did you put on sun screen?"
"Mmmhmmm!" Harry nodded and rubbed his face, arms, and legs. "We put it alllll over!"
"Good! You don't want to get burned. You'd turn all red and it would hurt. The beach is right down the…"
"Excuse me." A voice stated from behind them. It was the woman from the night before and she was followed closely by a man who was just as large and just as sour faced as she was. "If you are done chitter chattering, I would like a file a formal complaint."
"I'll be with you in one moment, ma'am. I'm just finishing up helping another guest and it will only take another…"
"My wife wishes to file a formal complaint. This matter is more important than doting on a pair of gay men and their demon spawn."
"Excuse me?" Sirius turned around sharply. "That had better not be my kids you're talking about."
"Come on guys." Remus gestured for the four year olds to move down the hallway towards the back door of the hotel, the one that would lead out onto the beach. They did as he said, looking back at Sirius curiously as they did so.
"Please sir, the use of derogatory terms is quite…"
"They are demon spawn. Probably came from teenage pregnancy, or surrogate mothers…"
"They are nothing of the sort!" Sirius growled. "First off, we're not gay. Secondly, that's my godson and his friends, not that I should have to explain it to you, you old bastard."
"What did you call me?" The portly man stepped forward.
"You heard me!" Sirius squared his shoulders.
The man's wife moved forward to the desk. "We have never been spoken to in such a ghastly manner! Just last night that man and those… children… were impossibly rude to me outside of the elevator. The little ginger knocked me down and tried to bite me. And then the black haired one, he yelled curse words and then the little girl, she was the worst, she…"
"That's not the least bit true and you know it." Sirius spun around. "You barreled Ronnie over when you got off of the elevator and Harry and Hermione told you to apologise. I admit, that Harry could have used his manners a bit better, but he's only four and he was angry. He didn't curse either. Curse words to Harry are things like 'meanieface' or 'froggyguts'. He doesn't know anything more offensive. And then you smacked him in the head with your bag."
"I did no such thing."
"Yes, you did. I have three four year olds and a grown man willing to testify to it. And I'm sure the hotel has a camera by the elevators on each floor, right?"
"Yes." The woman behind the desk nodded. "Ma'am, we have video and audio surveillance on all of the floors in the hallways and the stairwells, for the protection of ourselves and our guests. I can have someone look up the video of last night if you would like to make a claim of being mistreated, though I don't see how a few four year olds could have done such a thing."
"I… that…" The woman faltered. "Well, I don't think that would be quite necessary. But I can assure you that it happened just the way I said it did. I can show you the bite marks from…"
"Ronnie didn't bite you. He was too busy crying over his skinned knee."
"I'm going to have to give the four year olds a pardon for whatever behavior might have offended you ma'am. I highly doubt they did what you say they did. They're practically still babies."
"Well, I never! I have raised five wonderful children and they were all perfectly manners by the time they were four! What do you know about children? You're probably still in secondary school!"
"Actually, the love of my life is seven years old." The woman lifted up a framed photo from her desk and turned it around for them all to see. A little boy with a cheeky grin beamed up at them, covered from head to toe in mud and looking as though he was using that grin to get out of trouble.
"Oh my… what a little hellion! My children were never allowed to get dirty at all! You are a terrible parent! He should be removed from your home and placed somewhere where he can be taught proper manners and respect!"
"Get out."The kind woman's face suddenly went dark with rage.
"What?"
"You heard me. Gather your things and get out. I'm officially banning you from this hotel."
"Well, I never! What authority do you have to…"
"I'm the owner's daughter. And you just insulted me and my son."
"You can't kick us out for something so ridiculous." The husband of the woman stated angrily, stomping his foot quite like little Harry had the night before. "We are paying guests and we deserve to be treated with respect. I will notify the police, you cannot throw us out without a justifiable cause."
"Your wife harmed a pair of four year olds and then went on to insult them, their care takers, myself, and my son. You're gone. Security will escort you in getting your things and see you out." The woman picked up the phone on er desk and dialed it while the old hag's face got redder and redder, like a bulgy tomatoe of grossness. "Hi, yes, I need you to see a pair of guests out…. They're being unreasonably rude and have some serious sticks stuck up their asses… alright.. thank you Henry…" She hung up the phone. "Henry and Gregory will be right up."
A moment later, a pair of rather large men came striding down the main hallway. "Let's go." One of them stated in a very deep voice, motioning for Mr. and Mrs. Rudeasshat to follow them. As soon as they were gone Sirius punched the air.
"Bababing! That was amazing." He leaned against the desk and offered the woman his hand. "Hiii… I'm Sirius." He waggled his eyebrows. The woman giggled and shook her head.
"I'm married."
"Damn." Sirius clenched his fist and snapped his finger. "Well, your husband is one lucky man. Thank you very much for that amusing scene. Now, I have a trio of four year olds who are waiting to bury me in the sand."
"Have fun! And do try to wash yourselves off a bit before you come back in… housekeeping will have enough to deal with after one of the groups we had using our conference room for a family reunion last night."
"That we will." Sirius laughed and waved at her, heading down the hallway for the back door.
Just out the back door of the hotel, a long winding path of stones led straight down to the sand of the beach. Sirius followed it until he spotted his best mate and three small figures clad in white. He waved and one of the figures took off, sand kicking up from behind his feet. Harry's hat flew off in the wind, catching around his neck by it's strings as he went straight for Sirius.
"Paddy! Paddy! Come see! We finds a crabby!" Sirius crouched slightly and flung out his arms, catching his boy up and swinging him up into the air with a laugh.
"A crab, you say?" Harry laughed, nodding as he spun through the air and then was tucked gently and securely to Sirius's chest.
"Mhm. A really big crabby! You hasta see, Paddy!" Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck and leaned forward, pointing.
"Alright, alright… let's go see this crab." Sirius laughed again and strode across the sand to where Remus was holding a small plastic bucket out for Ronnie and Hermione to peer into. Sirius set Harry down and leaned over to get a better look at this really big crab Harry was on about. He snorted. The thing was nowhere near big, but he supposed, to a four year old it would be.
"He looks kinda like a bug." Ronnie contemplated, reaching for the bucket.
"Caaareful." Remus warned quickly lifting the bucket a bit further. "You don't want to get your fingers pinched by his claws. That would hurt a lot."
"He's not a bug. He's a crustacean." Hermione stated promptly, peeking over the edge of the bucket to get a better look at the crab. "I have a book all about sea creatures at home. I should have brought it."
"That's alright. You can just remember the types of creatures we've seen today and look them up when you get home."
"Sounds good." Hermione nodded agreeably and then sat down right where she was and drew one of the crabless buckets towards herself. She picked up a shovel and began filling the bucket with sand. "Let's make a castle."
"Yeah!" Ronnie grabbed the other bucket and began filling it as well.
"Woah… that sand is too dry to make a castle. It won't stick. We need to get it wet, but not too wet." Remus crouched down, setting the crab free and handing Harry the third bucket. "Why don't you and Padfoot go get us some water?"
"Ok!" Harry nodded, glad to have been given a job to do. He took Sirius's hand and just about dragged him down to the ocean. He gasped as they got close up, the water hitting his toes and then running away. He dropped his bucket and chased after it, his job forgotten. "Look Paddy! Look!" He laughed, catching up to the water and splashing his feet into it.
"Those are waves, Harry." Sirius smiled, catching up with him really fast. Harry didn't have his floaties on and Sirius did not want any accidents. He reached down and took Harry's hand, leading him a bit further into the water, though not past Harry's knees. He didn't want to go too deep.
Harry let out a squeal as a wave came and slammed into them, splashing and getting him wet all the way up to his chest. He laughed. "Paddy! The water is playing with us!" He ran in place out of excitement, his shirt soaked. Sirius laughed and reached down, tugging off Harry's shirt.
"Let's put this up on the beach so it can dry and then we'll come back in the water, alright? Maybe the others would like to come play with the waves."
"Ok!" Harry laughed and darted back up onto the sand, Sirius on his heels. They put Harry's shirt down on the cooler so it could dry and then asked if the others would like to come into the water as well. Ronnie and Hermione were intent on their sand castle, so Remus agreed to stay with them while Harry and Sirius went in the water. Sirius got Harry's water wings and ring on, not wanting him to get knocked over and not be able to get back up. The floaties would keep him up in the water as opposed to down.
"Oh! The waves like to play a lot, Paddy! They're silly." Harry danced about as the waves slammed into him again. This time he was ready for it and spread his arms out as though he were trying to catch the waves. After a couple of more waves, Sirius realized that this was exactly what Harry was trying to do. He would jump and fling his arms out before bringing them into his chest and dancing about.
"Come back wavey! Come back!" Harry laughed, jumping up and down in excitement. Sirius laughed and pointed down.
"Watch for it to come Harry and then let's jump over it."
"Ok!" Harry nodded, his eyes glued to the next wave that was coming. He had never had this much fun when he had lived with the Dursleys. He was so happy to be here at the beach with his Padfoot. He bent his knees, ready… and when the wave came, he and Padfoot jumped. Sirius tugged Harry a little higher into the air by his arm, lifting him over the wave and letting him land easily in the splashing water. As the water receded, Harry gasped, looking down. The sand around his feet was moving and disappearing too! "Paddy! Look!"
"I see, Harry." Sirius laughed, pointing down to where the sand was moving around his feet as well. "The waves did it. It's really neat, isn't it?"
"Yeah!" Harry nodded, rather enjoying the way the sand moved from under his feet when the wave went back into the big ocean. Something white caught his eye and he jumped up and down, pointing. "Look, Paddy! A sailboat, like mine! I has a sailboat too!" He laughed, quite delighted.
"So it is. That's a nice big sailboat that people ride on. Maybe sometime we can ride on a big boat."
"Yeah! Like the train!" Harry agreed whole heartedly. He bounced a bit on his toes, getting hit by yet another wave… and then by a hat. He blinked slightly, grabbing for the hat as it flew by them, caught by the air. "Paddy! A hat! A hat!" Harry chased after it, not wanting the hat to get lost. He thought maybe whomever had lost it would be very sad if it blew away. "Catch it, Paddy!"
"I'm trying!" Sirius chased after the hat as well, trying to keep a hold on Harry's hand as he did so. His other hand stretched, and finally, closed around the brim of the hat. It fluttered for a moment and then settled down.
"Oh, thank you!" A woman with milk chocolate hair came running towards them, waving her arms above her head. She skidded to a stop in front of Sirius. "Th-…" She paused, tilting her head and blinking slightly. "Sirius? Sirius Black?"
Sirius's brow knitted in confusion for a moment before his eyes grew absolute wide with wonder. "Alexandria Owan?"
"Yes!" The woman laughed. "I'd heard you'd gotten out! I'm so glad you didn't really betray Lily and James, I knew it had to be a mistake as soon as I heard. There's also been a rumor that… oh! Is this Harry? This has to be Harry." The woman suddenly crouched down to get a better look at the four year old who immediately stepped behind Sirius's leg and clung to it.
"Yes, this is Harry. Harry, come out and say hi to Alex. She was one of your mummy's best friends." Harry peeked out from behind Sirius's leg and gave the woman a small shy smile.
"That's right, Harry." Alex smiled, offering a hand to the little boy. "And I knew you too, when you were a tinchy tiny ittle baby. But you're a lot bigger now."
"I'm really big." Harry nodded, lifting his arms to show her how big he was. "Super-duperdy big, big , big!" The adults laughed and Sirius lifted Harry up into his arms. Alex righted herself. "Does you know stowies about my mummy and daddy?"
"Yes, I knows lots and lots of stories. Most of them are about your mum though."
"Paddy knows more stowies about my daddy than my mummy." Harry pondered this for a moment before all shyness dissolved. He flung himself forward out of Sirius's arms towards Alex, and she caught him quickly, with the keen skill of a Chaser, though quite a bit surprised. Sirius was surprised as well, though happy that Harry seemed to have warmed up to Alex quite quickly. Perhaps it had been the mention of Lily that had done it. Harry locked his arms around her neck. "Tell me stowies about Mummy?" Or maybe it was definitely the mention of Lily that had made this normally nervous little boy automatically trust this new stranger… except she wasn't a stranger really. He had known her when he was a baby and there was a weird familiarity about her just as there had been when he had first been reunited with Sirius. And again, she smelt like a smell he had forgotten to sniff until just now. His nose told him that this was someone he could trust, someone he had once trusted long ago.
"Sure. I bet you haven't heard the one about the time your Mummy fell into a vat of spaghetti sauce…"
"Ooooh!" Harry's eyes widened and he bounced excitedly as Alex began to tell the wild tale of a late night trip to the kitchens and an angry old house elf named Catrin. Sirius led the way back up the beach to where Ronnie and Hermione and Remus had gotten a good start at constructing what looked to be a promising sand castle.
Sirius flopped down in the sand beside Remus. "Look who we found, Moony."
"Lexie Owan, what a pleasure." Remus laughed, offering her a very sandy hand. She took it and sat down, Harry in her lap.
"Remus Lupin, how long has it been?"
"At least three years. I don't think I've seen you since the funeral."
"Me neither, I…"
"What happened next!" Harry asked abruptly, looking quite annoyed that his precious mummy story had been interrupted by these adult formalities.
"Well, then I had to magic a ladle so it was really big and get some of the house elves to help me scoop…"
"So how's the castle coming?" Sirius asked.
"We're building the main watch tower now, and then I'm going to build the courtyard and Ronnie is going to work on the moat." Hermione explained as she patted down the top of what looked to be a tower made out of several buckets of sand stacked on top of one another. Sirius was sure there was some magic involved in holding it together. He was fairly certain a pair of four year olds would not be able to have done that on their own, hell, most adults couldn't.
"And the spaghetti tasted like socks?" Harry exclaimed, his eyes wide, head tilted back as he looked up at Lexie.
"Dirty, rotten, gross super stinky socks. For a whole week!"
"Ewwww!" Harry laughed, sticking his tongue out and making a face at the very idea of yucky sock spaghetti. Lexie tickled his tummy and he laughed harder, squirming out of her lap and onto the sand. His eyes fell on Ronnie who was now digging the beginnings of the moat and he grabbed up his shovel as well, wanting to help.
"I had forgotten about that." Sirius grinned, his eyes glazing over. "The week of sock spaghetti. So that was you guys? James and I got detention for a week for that! And McGongall didn't even have any proof that we'd done it except the word of a house elf!"
"Yup… that was Lily's doing. She told the house elves not to mention it, and if anyone asked, it was the Marauders' doing. I think she was still pissed at James for something or other. But then, when wasn't she?" Lexie nodded. "It's a good thing old McGonagall didn't know who really did it. I've thought about telling her, now that we're out of school, but I feel like she'd find some way to punish me for it anyways."
"Oh she would. She'd probably lock you in a room without a wand and make you write lines until you lost the use of your hand." Sirius laughed and then winced, rubbing at his right hand in an obviously painful memory. McGonagall wasn't that cruel, but he'd been a serious trouble maker in his day. "So, what are you doing here, Lexie?"
"Just visting my cousin for the week, though she's a bit busy with work during the day. We have plenty of time to visit during the evenings and weekend, it's really nice. I'm pretty much on my own until six."
"Would you like to join us for lunch? Since you're not doing anything. We're going to the zoo later as well." Remus asked, looking up from where he was patting some sand into a bucket at Hermione's request.
"Oh! I'd love to, that sounds like fun. So I'll just hang out with you guys until six then."
"Sounds great." Sirius smiled and reached out, brushing some sand off of Harry's cheek. "Careful, guys. You don't want to get any sand in your eyes, that'll hurt." Harry giggled and dropped his shovel. He grabbed hold of Sirius's arm, hugging it tightly and then climbing into his lap to cuddle up to him. He sure did love his Padfoot.
"Lexie's going to spend the day with us. Won't that be fun, Prongslet?"
"Yay!" Harry laughed and fell forward to hug onto Lexie. He loved his Padfoot and his Moony, but having some grown up female company made him feel good too. Sirius figured it would be good for Harry to have a woman around now and then. He had Tricia and Molly of course, but they were typically busy. Pondering it slightly, Sirius's face suddenly broke into a grin.
"Hey… Lexie, what would you say to a little baby sitting now and then? We could sure use someone say… once a month…." Lexie looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes widened and she nodded in understanding. Being close to Lily and on the Quidditch team in school, she had learned of Remus's monthly issue in their seventh year. Sirius figured if he asked her, they'd at least have a back up for when Tricia was unable to watch Harry. "I'd love to. But, isn't there a full moon tonight?"
"Yeah. But he'll have to go it alone. I'm watching the kids tonight." Sirius explained.
"I could do it. I wouldn't mind at all, and my cousin will probably be too tired from a long day at work to go out. I could easily grab a few things and then get over to wherever you're staying at around... eight? Then you'd have enough time to get somewhere."
"Really? You'd do that?" Remus perked up, his whole being alight with hope. Maybe he wouldn't have to endure this full moon alone after all!
"Sure! I'd love to. Besides, Harry is my best friend's son. I'm sure if nothing had happened to Lily and James, I would have done plenty of babysitting him already. And his friends seem like good kids too. This one looks like he'd be one of the Weasley's."
"Yes, he is. That's Ronnie, and Hermione Granger. She's Muggleborn."
"What d'you say Harry, would you like me to spend the night with you while Moony and Padfoot go do some grown up things?"
"Yeah!" Harry jumped up and down, hugging Lexie around the neck. "Lexie's gonna stay!"
"Then it's a deal." Lexie laughed and kissed Harry's cheek. Sirius grinned, plucking the little boy from the sand and snuggling him. He was glad Harry and the others would be with someone he knew he and Remus could trust tonight. Tricia and Molly were excellent, but they'd known Lexie for years. He was also happy that Harry liked her and wasn't shy around her.
"Who wants some lunch?"
"Me me me!" Harry laughed, wriggling in Sirius's arms. Sirius laughed, tickling him and placing him back on the sand beside the cooler. Lunch sounded just like what they all needed right now.
So sorry it took me so long to finish this one, the world is a very busy place lately. Anyways, I made it a bit longer than usual, and I'm hoping you like the new character I've added! Please let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you.
Love always,
S.Q.O.