Purpose

Hot, that's what Sirius remembered of that day being hot for all the wrong reasons. It had been one of the hottest days that summer and it seemed that it wouldn't relent even a bit.

He tried cooling charms to keep from dying of heat, the house had most of the curtains drawn to avoid the sun scorching what was left of his soul. But the end of July was proven to be the worst of the summer and there wasn't much he could do but try not to move too much.

It was madness, they were supposed to be in England, not the bloody Caribbean. At the rate the temperature was rising, half of the country would be dead of heatstroke.

He tried to rest. He had been going on missions lately, trying to cover for his friends; that were either too busy or preoccupied at the moment. But the bloody heat was not allowing him to.

Grabbing his wand he sat up, maybe he could make the proper charm stick this time around, maybe if he added some timer to it it would work better. He thought.

Sirius didn't get a chance to get it started when a familiar voice came out of his discarded trousers. Bending, he grabbed the piece of clothing from the floor and took the small mirror from its pocket, the voice of James louder than before.

"Sirius Black!" James' voice repeated into the darkness.

"Yeah, Prongs, I'm here." Sirius answered, lighting the tip of his wand.

"Finally! Where in the bloody hell are you? Why is it so dark? Are you naked?" All the questions came at once, not letting Sirius reply to any of them, and he didn't get a chance to, "Nevermind, I don't want to know. But you need to come." James rushed, he was flustered, and a bit… worried was one word but Sirius wasn't sure it was the right one.

"Is everyone alright? Lily? The baby?" Sirius asked, moving to put on his trousers, looking for a shirt that wouldn't make him die of heat while he reached the Potters.

"I do hope so, because it is coming." James finally admitted, half of his face in a grin, the other half in a frown.

Sirius stopped for a moment and looked at James, "It's D day? Merlin's left ball, the baby is coming! I'll go grab Marlene and get to yours a–"

"She's already here, she's with Lily, they are not letting me in that room."

His best friend looked worried, he understood why, they were at war, things were happening all over, now James had to protect 2 people instead of just one, and their world got a little bigger. Good and frightening all at the same time.

"Then I'll bring the Firewhiskey."

It didn't take him long to reach the Potters' home, he was familiar to apparate to certain spots, and he had gone over so much he could do it half asleep. He noticed James was pacing in the living room, none of his other mates were in the room with him. Apparently they were all at missions and calling upon them would endanger their covers. Which sucked for James as he needed someone to vent his energy with, and just Sirius was great but not exactly ideal when they could both hear Lily screaming in pain in the other room.

"This is ridiculous, I'm the father, I should be there." James said for the tenth time in a row.

"Marlene's got it, I think Lily wants you to think like a dad and not like a Healer at this moment. They'll call if they need help." Sirius said, patting his friend's shoulder, grabbing a forgotten Quaffle from one of the corners of the living room, throwing it at James so he would have an outlet for the pent up energy. Heat forgotten by the needed of taking care of his brother.

It took hours to get any news from the room, until finally a small cry of a little baby entering the world broke through all the tension. Sirius and James smiling broadly, hugging each other.

"I guess you are a father now, Mr Potter." Sirius teased.

"Godric, I don't think I'm ready for being Mr Potter just yet." James laughed, feeling a bittersweet moment, he wanted his parents to meet Harry, he guessed he was the new Mr Potter of the family.

"You'll do just fine." Sirius assured him, patting his shoulder and guiding his best mate towards the bedroom.

They were finally let in by a sweaty but happy Marlene, who couldn't stop smiling. James gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before passing to the two figures in bed, settling next to Lily.

He brushed the sweaty hair out of Lily's face and smiled at her and then at the buddle in her arms, "Everyone okay?" he asked to know one in particular.

Marlene replied, "10 fingers and 10 toes, all there, none missing. Same with the Potter's mane." chuckling, she moved next to Sirius wrapping her arms around him.

Sirius did the same, kissing the top of her head, being distracted almost immediately by a gasp from James as he held the newborn in his arms.

"He's perfect." Sirius heard him say.

"He really is." Lily replied in a soft and croaked voice. Sirius couldn't imagine how she was awake, much less talking. It sounded like she had a hard time bringing the little guy into the world, but her eyes had a new fire in them. Something that he couldn't quite place as something he had seen before.

Lily turned to James, who was mesmerised by his kid and asked: "Did you tell them?"

James shook his head, "Wanted for us to do it together."

"Tell us what?" Sirius asked, worried for the first time that afternoon. Marlene sensing it just gave him a gentle squeeze, hoping it would bring him some calm in a moment that was supposed to be filled with joy.

Lily looked at them and smiled, "We talked about it, but we wanted to make a proper dinner, it just has been hard to get everyone together. We want you to be Harry's godparents. If you'll have him."

Marlene looked at Sirius and then at the Potters, not sure what to do at the moment. Sirius seemed to be blank in expression, something that rarely happened. And she had just delivered a baby, she was exhausted and thought she had missed something, the bad end of this moment that seemed too good to be true. "You mean it?" she asked, perplexed that she was even considered, she always thought that Mary or Doe would be the ones to be chosen.

"We wouldn't want it any other way." James replied, smiling at them. Sirius still frozen on the spot.

"Love?" Marlene asked, looking at Sirius like he was about to break, or scream, or run. Lately the emotions were all over the place, and the war just made everything so dark that big announcements could be met with unexpected reactions.

Sirius looked at his family. Exhausted Lily, enthused James, worried Marlene and all he could do was blink one more time, like his brain couldn't accept this happiness to be real after all the darkness. Yet it was, he was there, they all were, surrounded by this new person that seemed to pull them all together.

"It'll be an honour." he finally said, smiling at his family, remembering why was he fighting for.