Well, this is another Marauder (mainly Sirius, and James) centric one shot. Guess I'm still not over them *sigh*. I've worked on this longer than the others purely because I read somewhere that you should give some time to your writing so you can recognize faults and such, and can I just say how tremendously that helped me?

I won't write anything else, other than I would love it if you guys could leave a review telling me what you thought of it this little piece. Constructive criticism is always welcome :"))

A knock on the door interrupted the Potter family's not so peaceful dinner time. James, halfway out of his chair, gripped his wand and waited for the person to knock again. Any other knock other than the three pre-decided by the Marauders and Lily would be met with the full force of the duelling champion and his mentality of attack first, think later.

He heard the familiar 3-2-4-4-5 and sighed in relief, knowing that no one other than Sirius could be at the door. Just because they had cast the Fidelius charm didn't mean that he felt completely safe. In fact, sometimes it terrified him even more because if these protections weren't enough, then he knew nothing ever would be.

He walked to the door, slipping his wand back into its holster, and opening it, saw Sirius shrinking his motorbike and keeping it in his pocket. Not even bothering to hide his smile, for he knew how protective he was of his bike, he moved forward to pull his brother into a tight hug, not having seen him for close to three months. Sirius had dived into his job as an unofficial Auror as the worst of the War was upon them. Sometimes it seemed like he was trying to make up for the absence of James by his side. His hard work was present on his face in the worm of exhaustion and dark circles, which, somehow, did nothing to detract from his beautiful aristocratic features, James noticed.

"Oi, Prongs. I know you haven't seen me in some time, but spare some thought to your poor wife trying to control your sprog there before drooling over me," Apparently, Sirius had noticed James' scrutinization of him as well. James, however, refused to be embarrassed by Sirius Black of all people. He'd grown up with the man, for Heaven's sake. There was very little that embarrassed either of them any more.

Nevertheless, he very maturely stuck his tongue out at the younger boy, swung his arm over his much too thin shoulders and directed him towards the table, not even needing to announce his arrival as Harry's loud 'PA'FOO' upon seeing Sirius managed to do just that.

He heard a tinkling laugh and turned slightly to see Lily shaking her head at the sight before her. He didn't even need to see it to know what had happened; Sirius would have went straight to his beloved godson, lifting him up into his arms and chucking him straight into the air. Harry would squeal and giggle, arms outstretched and completely trusting in his godfather, and Sirius would catch him before twirling him around. It was the same story every time he came over. Not a force on Earth could keep those two apart.

He saw down in the chair he had just vacated, watching his best mate bring a smile to the previously crying child's face. Usually, Hary was the most well behaved child he had ever seen, but sometimes, like this particular day, he kicked up a particularly nasty tantrum during dinnertime. During those days, it was practically impossible to control him, his godfather being the only one who could do so, hence why James was so relieved. He supposed if it had been anyone but Sirius, he might have been somewhat jealous of the bond his son shared with the man, but he was glad he was as close to the dog animagus as he was, knowing that Sirius needed him just as much as Harry needed Sirius.

"Did you miss me, little Pronglet? Did you miss your Padfoot?" Sirius had the widest smile on his face, and why shouldn't he? He had the world's most beautiful baby in his arms, though he was not above admitting that might be a little biased in that declaration, and nothing gave him greater joy than seeing Harry laugh in pure joy.

The little kid nodded along, clapping his hands, not understanding the words spoken by the man, but wanting to please him all the same. His tiny hands clutched at the black silk worn by the animagus, and he rested his head on his warm chest, automatically snuggling up to the man he felt most comfortable with.

Sirius ran his large hand over the messy tuft on Harry's head, looking at him with an affectionate smile, moving forward to sit in the chair beside Harry's baby seat.

"So, why were you so flustered when I came in, Lils? Harry here giving you any trouble?" He gave her an appraising look, seeing her normally sleek hair all puffed up and eyes slightly swollen. It wasn't hard to miss the tired look both her and her husband were sporting, which was understandable of course, with an eleven month baby in the house, and no way to unwind owing to the restriction them going into hiding came with. It was even harder for James, who had never quite managed to get rid of all the nervous energy that was once managed through religious Quidditch Practice, but now had no way out.

"I can't say it's unexpected, it was almost too good to be true how well he's behaved so far. It was only a matter of time before he started throwing tantrums. Neither James nor I have had a proper night's sleep this past week. I'm telling you, Sirius, it's no coincidence he gets crankier the longer you're away from him." Lily ended with a tiny smirk on her face, completely convinced of her observations.

James chimed in to give his two cents, as usual, "I am seriously considering checking my son over for any spells you've cast over him. It's not natural for him to be as attached to you as he is." At that, he gave a very pointed look at the little monkey hanging onto Sirius' chest, looking for all the world like an angel, and not the shrieking brat he was just a few minutes earlier.

Sirius barked out a laugh, hand going up to smooth Harry's hair like it often did, "I can't help it if your kid likes me more than he likes you, Prongs. It's the Padfoot charm, I tellyou," James, very maturely again, just stuck his tongue out at his oldest friend and sat back to finish his untouched dinner.

"Seriously, though, has he not been eating? The food splattered on the ground is a good indication, but Prongs not even touching his grilled chicken is an even bigger sign." Sirius waved his left hand over the mess on the floor, and the little bits on the table, Vanishing them. Lily, who was looking for her wand to do just the same sent him a grateful smile, and started on her own dinner.

"No, it's been the same story for three days now. He's okay at breakfast, slightly fussy at lunch but downright impossible at dinner. He hasn't had anything more than a few bites for dinner recently, and Lils and I are getting a bit concerned now," It was James who replied, through a mouthful of mash. Lily looked at him in disgust, smacking the back of his head with her hand. Sirius had to smother a laugh, it was no secret that James had the worst eating habits in their year at Hogwarts. The fact that he was the Heir to an Ancient and Noble House, and more importantly, son to Dorea Potter, mattered not a bit to the bespectacled man in from him who was dodging the not so mild Stinging Hexes his wife was sending towards him.

However, Sirius had a more important matter to deal with than James' disgusting eating habits. He looked down at the small toddler in his arms, noticing that he had dozed off quite comfortably. He did have to eat, though, so Sirius gently shook his godson until he woke up, small fists rubbing his eyes, looking around blearily, before his eyes fell on who was holding him and his face lit up with a brilliant smile.

"PAFOO! PAFOO! Pa'foo homee. Hawwy mif Pa'foo. Stay?" Harry immediately started babbling excitedly. Sirius being quite fluent in his baby talk by now immediately picked up what he was trying to say.

"I missed you too, little Pronglet. Yes, I'll stay, I can't stay away from you so long," Sirius dramatically put a hand to his forehead, turning his head away from the giggling toddler and pretending to weep.

"Nono Pa'foo no cry, Pa'foo smiii," To make sure Padfoot DID smile, he leaned forward and placed a huge wet kiss with a loud smacking sound on his precious godfather' cheek. Sirius immediately started tickling the adorable child, making him shriek 'Nooo, Pafoo noo'.

"Pa'foo eat?" Harry asked after a few seconds of tickling, having gotten his breath back.

Sirius looked at him with a mischievous look creeping into his eyes, "Well, pup, I have, but what is this I hear about YOU not eating, hm?" He didn't know how he managed to do it, but the eleven month old perfectly understood him and managed to maintain a perfectly innocent face, free of any guilt whatsoever.

"Hawwy mif Pa'foo. No Pa'foo no eat," He crossed both his arms and pouted adorably.

Sirius' heart melted. He hugged Harry close to his chest, relishing in the feel of his tiny arms trying to wrap themselves around him.

"Okay, but what say you eat now that Padfoot is here? Chicken is your favorite isn't it?" Without bothering to wait for an answer, Sirius took hold of the baby fork that already had tiny pieces of chicken speared on it. He looked at Harry, waiting for the affirming nod, and he wasn't disappointed as Harry nodded so excitedly he almost fell back.

He laughed and guided the fork to Harry's eagerly awaiting mouth, looking at the Potter parents as he did so, both of them looking at him in awe and not a small amount of surprise.

James ran a hand through his messy black hair, "I dont know why I'm still surprised, to be honest. Harry has always done whatever you asked of him. Sort of reminds me of you when you're in your animagus form and someone scratches you behind the ear; you roll over on your back, and become putty in their hands," He smirked at this.

"Still. In the past three days, whenever we even tried to get a spoon near him, he kicked out with all fours, clattering everything to the floor. It was a headache just getting him to drink water." Lily continued, with an undertone of amazement in her voice.

Guiding another fork of chicken into his godson's mouth, Sirius spoke again, "I've already decided that I'm taking Harry with me today. You guys need time for yourself and now that I'm here, make sure you get it. Sleep, take a bath, have hot wild animal sex, whatever, but forget about Harry for the next two days for he'll be taken care of by the coolest, most awesome person to ever walk Merlin's green earth, won't he, pup?" He directed the last part at Harry, wiping the drool dribbling off his chin, and ignoring Lily's shout of 'Sirius!'. It was amusing to see her so red and flustered and one look at his best mate told him Prongs agreed.

Lily shook her head at the man, but couldn't say anything, for she knew they indeed needed the rest and that the godfather-godson pair needed to spend some time with each other just as much. Harry calmed SIrius down, because even when it looked like the man was perfectly alright he had demons haunting him, and Harry would never give up on an opportunity to spend more time with his precious godfather. She wiped her mouth with a napkin as she finished her dinner, picking her plate up to place it in the sink. As she was doing so, she felt two muscular arms wrapping themselves around her waist from behind, her body automatically leaning back into her husband's chest.

James placed his chin on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear, his husky voice sending delicious sensations down her spine, "Now that Pads is here, we don't need to worry about Harry waking up crying, or crawling in on us in the middle of something. Fancy going back to our room and….catching up?" He accentuated his point by lightly biting her neck, and she knew she was a goner. She straightened up and grabbing her husband's hand, dragged him out of the kitchen, straight to their bedroom, only stopping once to wave at the highly amused dog animagus sitting in the dining room.

Meanwhile, Sirius had managed to feed Harry everything on his plate, and was about to burp him. He could see the little monkey's eyes closing, and knew that he must have been tired so he quickly did his thing and went up to Harry's room.

He was about to place Harry in his light blue crib when small hands tightened on his shirt, making him look down surprised at the child he had thought was asleep. He saw said child looking up at him petulantly and shaking his head, looking incredibly cute as he did so.

Sirius smiled knowingly and proceeded to sit down on the rocking chair beside the crib that was bought and placed there by Prongs for this very reason. "Don't you shake your head at me, Sirius Orion Black, you will sit on this chair dammit." He had looked exactly like Mrs. Potter then, hands on his hips, scowl on his face, as he tried to convince Sirius to take something others gave him without fuss. He shook his head ruefully at the memories of times spent at the Potter Manor with Mr. and Mrs. P, who insisted he call them mom and dad. They were truly some of the best times of his life.

He rocked baby Harry, singing a lullaby Mrs. P used to sing for him whenever he woke up from one of his nightmares. Even though it had been quite some time since she last sung to him, he still remembered each word quite clearly. He could see Harry's agitated features calming down and gently brushed a hand through his hair. Slowly, he could feel his own eyes drooping and soon, Sirius Black was asleep in the rocking chair, tightly holding on to his godson, who had attached himself in quite a comfortable position onto his godfather.

It was in this position that Lily found the godfather-godson duo, hours later when she woke up out of mere habit to check up on Harry, who usually created quite a fuss by that time. She couldn't quite stop the smile that formed on her face, and the warmth that spread through her at seeing the Black Heir cradling her son protectively, even in his sleep, and snoring lightly himself. His mouth was slightly open, and as if subconsciously imitating his godfather, so was Harry's. She had to stifle a snort at this, knowing that Harry would grow up to be the most lovable troublemaker around if his Godfather had any hand in it, which she had no doubt he would.

For the second time in as many hours she felt muscular arms wrap around her, and a sleep laden voice whispered in her ear, "We made the right choice, didn't we?"

Not needing to ask what her husband was talking about, as it was quite clearly displayed in front of her eyes, she softly replied, "Yes, we did."