Financial strife has been an issue for me lately. That is why this took awhile. I also discovered the Fallout games and I've been playing that a lot. This also isn't my best work but I hope you like it nonetheless.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Storytime

THUD! CRASH!

Shiro coughed the soot out of his lungs as he brushed more of it off his shoulders. He looked around the Leaky Cauldron, searching for the one who invited him over in the first place. A young man with messy black hair and glasses looked up from his table. He looked to be Lily Potter's age, somewhere in his early twenties.

"Shiro!" he called out as he stood up from his table and approached the priest.

Shiro smiled and shook James Potter's hand. "Long time, no see, James," he greeted. "How are Lily and the others doing?"

"Wonderful, thanks," said James.

Shiro decided to get straight down to business. "So, why did you ask me to come here?" he asked.

James looked around. "Should we find a more… quiet place to talk?" he asked.

Shiro looked around too. "Alright. Let's go to a Muggle restaurant. Ever been to one?"

James winced. "Not since I met Lily's sister and her fiance. It didn't end well."

Shiro scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I remember you telling me a bit about that incident in Wales. Come on, let's go grab a drink somewhere. Swain once took me to this Japanese restaurant here in London. Made me feel at home."

James gestured towards the door. "Lead the way."

~0~0~0~

Shiro laughed as James choked down his first shot of sake. He coughed and sputtered as Shiro patted his back to help him get it down.

"First time sake drinker," Shiro explained to a passing bartender who was checking up on them.

James took a sip of water to clear his pallet. "Lily's pregnant," he said.

Shiro did a spit-take on the sake he was sipping. "Seriously?!"

James nodded. "Her Muggle healer confirmed it."

"Doctors. We call them 'doctors,' not healers."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Doctors have more at their disposal than healers," Shiro explained. "They have more medical equipment that can detect things inside your body that you don't even know exist."

"Fascinating," James breathed. "I heard there's also a machine that'll let you see the baby before it's born?"

Shiro nodded. "It's called an ultrasound. I'd explain it to you but we'd be here all evening."

James nodded again and took another sip of sake (followed by a cough). "I don't know if I'm cut out for fatherhood," he admitted. "I'm barely out of my teens. Lily would tell you I still have some growing up to do."

Shiro gulped down a shot of sake and chuckled. "You and I both! Lily calls me childish whenever I pull a prank on Alistor."

James chuckled too. "That farting cushion thing was brilliant! I still regret not using something like that when I was in school," he said. His face became solemn. "Do you think I'll be a suitable father?"

Shiro chuckled back. "You're asking the wrong guy. I'm a rookie myself. The only difference between you guys and me is that I'm raising twins. I'm winging it."

"I'll see if Lily can stop by and give you a few pointers," said James. "She's familiar with child rearing. I believe she said that she looked after some in her neighborhood whenever she was home for the summer holidays."

"That's called 'babysitting' and yes, please, send Lily over to the monastery whenever she's available," said Shiro.

James nodded. "Speaking of babysitting, who is watching over your twins while you're here?" he asked.

"The other priests are looking after them," Shiro replied. James snorted to which Shiro glared at. "If you're about to make a joke about Catholic priests and little kids, I'll shove this sake bottle down your throat."

James held his hands up in front of him in surrender. He took another sip of sake before continuing. "With this war going on, I don't know how Lily and I will be able to raise a child."

Shiro shrugged. "Well, you could hire a nanny or one of you can stay home while the other goes to war. If you both want to go back into the battlefield but don't want to hire a nanny, leave the kid with a family friend or a relative. You think Lily's sister would look after him or her while you're out during the day?"

"I doubt it. Petunia made it perfectly clear that she hates her sister and wants nothing to do with us," James answered.

"What about your parents? Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa is always a treat for kids."

"We could possibly ask Lily's parents. Mine passed away from dragon pox awhile back."

Shiro blinked. "'Dragon pox?'"

James waved his hand dismissively. "Tell you later. So, Lily's parents might be potential caretakers for the baby while Lily and I are out during the day. I'll talk to her and see what she thinks."

Shiro smiled at the young wizard. "Look at you. The kid hasn't arrived yet and you're already making plans for him. First sign of a good parent if you ask me."

James's eyes widened. "You really think so?"

"Tells me what kind of parent you want to be. You want to continue fighting the forces of evil but you also want to come home to kiss your kid good night at the end of the day," Shiro explained.

James smiled warmly. "Thanks."

Shiro quickly brought humor back into the conversation. "Alright, save the tears for when the baby's here."

~0~0~0~

Harry couldn't believe his ears when Shiro finished his story. "He was that nervous about being a dad?" he asked.

Shiro took a bite of his curry before answering. "You have no idea. He was a pureblood wizard and your mother was Muggleborn. He didn't know how different Muggles raised their kids. What's safe for wizard parents might be dangerous to Muggle parents. He kept asking Lily so many questions on how she was raised before Hogwarts," he explained.

"What's the difference?" asked Rin through a mouthful of sukiyaki.

"Swallow your food, Rin," Shiro scolded. "And I have no idea how kids are raised in the wizarding world. That's a question for your friend Ron and his family."

Harry took another bite of his soba noodle stir fry. "So what did my mum and dad do? Did they continue fighting?" he asked.

Shiro sighed and took a sip of sake. "When they learned that Voldemort was after them - specifically you - they had to go into hiding. I only saw them once after that."

"So you saw Harry when he was little?" asked Yukio before taking a bite of his sashimi.

"Only once," Shiro replied. "It was at his christening."

Harry's eyes widened. "Seriously?!"

Shiro chuckled. "You were no different than the other babies that were baptized. You started crying when the water was poured on your head. 'Too cold,' I joked."

Harry smiled softly as he stared at his food, deep in thought. It made him feel better about himself that two of his best friends' father knew his parents. He felt less alone in the world that there were still people who knew his parents and could tell him stories. It made Harry feel closer to them.

"In fact, that bar over there is where we sat down and talked," Shiro pointed out towards the bar in the corner of the room. "It was also the first and only time James tried sake."

Harry's eyes widened again. "You guys ate here?" he asked in surprise.

"Eh, it was more drinking than eating. We ate sushi but nothing more. James tried it but didn't like it. He thought eating raw fish was kind of gross," Shiro explained.

"Did you try telling him how the fish was prepared?" asked Rin.

"Yeah, but he didn't care. After gagging on his first bite of it, he never wanted to try it again." Shiro then mimicked the gagging face James made when he tried sushi for the first time.

The boys laughed at Shiro's face. "After that James swore to never eat at Muggle restaurants again," Shiro finished. The boys laughed even harder.

~0~0~0~

The last day of the summer holidays, Harry, Rin and Yukio wandered through Diagon Alley looking for their friends Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger. If they didn't find them, then they'd have to wait until tomorrow on the Hogwarts Express. They stopped walking when they spotted a wanted poster on the inside of a shop window. It featured a laughing man with dark, shaggy hair.

"So this is Sirius Black, huh?" Yukio inquired.

"Yeah," Harry confirmed. "The Daily Prophet said that he murdered several Muggles with a single curse."

The twins winced.

"I wonder how he pulled that off," said Rin.

"Let's hope we never find out," said Yukio.

"I also heard Black was a big supporter of Voldemort," Harry added.

Rin let out a loud groan. "Why do I have a feeling that Black is gonna come after you this year, Harry?"

Yukio gripped his chin. "And why does the name sound so familiar?" he asked mainly to himself rather than to his brother and friend.

Rin blinked. "What, Sirius Black?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Yukio. "I feel like I've heard Black's name before but I can't remember when or where."

All Rin and Harry could do was shrug.

"Harry! HARRY!"

The trio turned towards the source of the voice at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Ron Weasley's red hair and freckles stood out amongst the crowd. Next to him was the unmistakable bushy hair of Hermione Granger. The three of them ran over and exchanged greetings. They then ordered ice cream and a saucer of cream for Kuro who was accompanying them.

"Finally!" said Ron, grinning at the three of them as he sat down. "We saw Shiro at the Leaky Cauldron but he said that you lot already left. Then we went to Flourish and Blotts and Madam Malkin's and -"

"We got our books already," Harry explained.

"By the way, Hermione," Rin cut in, "could you look at my summer homework when we get back to the Leaky Cauldron? Dad helped me with the witch hunt paper but he couldn't help with the rest." He then glared at Yukio. "And a certain four-eyed mole face refused to let me copy his answers."

"I can help you stop the forces of evil but I refuse to help you cheat," Yukio retorted.

"I think fighting evil trumps cheating on homework," Rin argued.

Harry and Ron laughed at the twins' argument. Their fights always cracked them up.

Hermione glared at them before answering Rin's question. "Yes, I will look over your summer homework and I will also tell you why it's wrong to copy answers from other people's homework, even if it's your brother."

Rin withered at Hermione's answer, so Harry decided to change the subject. "So how did you two know that we were staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Dad," Ron simply answered. "Shiro confirmed it and let us know that Rin and Yukio were here too."

Arthur Weasley, who worked for the Ministry of Magic, no doubt had heard the whole story about Aunt Marge.

"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" Hermione asked in a serious tone.

"I didn't mean to," Harry defended while Ron and Rin howled with laughter. "I just… lost control."

"It's not funny, you two," Hermione said sharply.

"It's funny and you know it," Rin tried arguing back but started laughing again.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I'm surprised Harry wasn't expelled."

"Forget being expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested," Harry admitted. He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"

"Probably 'cause it's you," Ron shrugged, still laughing. "Famous Harry Potter and all that."

"I'm pretty sure there's more to it than just Harry's fame," Yukio cut in. "If Harry got let off for every magical mistake he makes, then any wizarding celebrity could get off easy."

"Anyway, we're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "So you lot can come to King's Cross with us! Hermione's there as well."

Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things!"

"Awesome!" Rin cheered, pumping his fist.

"So you two got all of your new books and supplies?" Yukio inquired.

Ron beamed. "Look at this," he said, pulling out a long, thin box out of a bag and opening it. "Brand new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, with a unicorn tail hair. And we got all our books -" He pointed to a large bag under his chair.

Yukio noticed three bulging bags under Hermoine's chair. "Uh, Hermione…?"

Harry and Rin looked at where Yukio was staring and their eyes widened.

"What the hell, Hermione? Did you buy every book at Flourish and Blotts or something?" asked Rin.

"Well, I'm taking more new classes than you," answered Hermoine. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Ancient Runes, Muggles Studies -"

"What are you taking Muggle Studies for?" Ron inquired. "You're Muggleborn! You were raised by Muggles! You know all about them!"

"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," Hermione argued.

"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry while Ron sniggered.

"Or socialize?" Rin added.

Hermione ignored them. "I still have ten Galleons in my purse. My birthday is in September and my mum and dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."

"How about a nice book?" Ron asked innocently. Now it was Rin's turn to snigger.

"No, I don't think so," Hermione replied composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol-"

"Errol's a family owl," Ron corrected. "All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket and placed him on the table. "And I want to get him checked over."

Yukio leaned closer to get a better look at the rodent. The poor thing was incredibly thin and his whiskers had drooped. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him, Ron," he said, recalling reading a Daily Prophet article about Arthur Weasley winning the lottery and taking his family for a vacation to Egypt.

"I know," the redhead agreed.

"There's a magical creature shop just over there," said Harry, who knew Diagon Alley pretty well by now. "You could see if they got anything for Scabbers and Hermione can get her owl."

They then paid for their ice cream (and regular cream) and walked over to the Magical Menagerie.

I'm gonna have to cut this chapter in half. I added Kuro in at the last minute because... well... you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out.

Please review and keep Ukraine in your thoughts and prayers!