a/n: Hello everyone! Part three is now up! I only got one review for part two (**cries**). I hope that made you all guilty. (just kidding). This will get a bit more exciting soon, but Harry is born in this part! Celebrate! As for other news, my wonderful Fanfic pal and beta-reader is going off to college at the end of the summer, and she’s really busy, so to take a bit of a burden off her, I’m looking for maybe one or two of you to beta-read. It’s fairly simple, I email you the story, and then you type in comments and corrections using a different color. Then I read them and fix up my fic! So, thanks for checking this out, and review!

Chapter 3: The Baby

            “Is the baby coming any time soon?” Peter whined, “The boss is going to yell at me for leaving so unexpectedly!”

            “If it’s so important to you, then just go!” snapped Sirius.

            James threw him a dirty look and then turned to Peter. “Go ahead Wormtail. I’ll owl you as soon as anything exiting happens around here.”

            “Thanks!” said Peter gratefully as he made his way towards the door. As soon as he was gone, James wheeled around to face Sirius,

            “What the hell is your problem? You’ve been nothing but miserable for months!”

Sirius said nothing, and buried his face in a pillow. James went over and laid a hand on his shoulder. “At least tell me something Padfoot. What’s wrong?”

Sirius shook his head, and then began to cry softly. James tried to contain his shock, as he’d never seen Sirius cry before. In fact, the only emotions he could ever remember Sirius showing were pure joy, good humor, and the occasional tinge of jealousy. James dropped to his knees next to the chair.

“Padfoot?” he said softly, “What happened?”   

Sirius slowly turned to face James, his eyes rimmed in red. “It sounds really silly Prongs, but what if you…” Sirius’ voice trailed off.

“Die?” asked James gently.

Sirius nodded, managing a weak smile.

“In that unlikely case, you would take care of my child as his or her godfather.”

Shaking his head, Sirius motioned to Remus. He was still asleep on the sofa, rolling around a bit and coughing fretfully. “Can you believe that…”

“We don’t know.” James interrupted. “Lily loves him like her own brother. She trusts him. Don’t jump to conclusions Padfoot.”

“Look at him!” Sirius sighed, “It’s hard to imagine that someone so skinny and sick could possibly be a horrible monster.”

“He’s been through a lot though.” James added sadly.

“That still gives him no excuse to…”

“You don’t know if it’s him!” James said quickly, “Lily trusts him, so I’m trying to as well. Just drop it.”

Sirius nodded reluctantly and looked down at Remus, who was now shivering and fighting a series of hacking coughs. Out of years of habit next to Remus’ bed in the hospital wing, James reached down and gently rubbed Remus’ back. It seemed to help a bit, so James threw another blanket over him, and turned back to Sirius. 

“Can he see the baby?” Sirius asked, “I’m not an expert on lycanthropy. Can the baby catch a cold from him coughing like this?”

“I don’t think so.” James said thoughtfully, “He told me once that he gets the fever because his body is trying to fight the tings in his blood that cause lycanthropy. And the cough is simply because his body is so weak; I don’t think it’s contagious.”

Sirius nodded, “I supposed his ‘protector’ will want to see him anyway.”

“Who, Lily?” asked James.

“Of course,” Sirius said, rolling his eyes. “She babies him. She sits by his bed, rubbing his back and checking his temperature.”

“She’d do the same for you if you were that sick.” James countered, “Besides, she loves you just the same. You know that.”

            “Sure,” Sirius said as Remus began to awaken.

            “Is it here yet?” he asked sleepily.

            “No...” James began, but he was cut off by the earsplitting wail of an infant. James jumped up and crossed to the fire.

            “PETER!!!” he called into the flames, “It’s here!!”

            Peter’s head popped up in the fire. “I’ll be right over!” he said excitedly.

            Doctor Harrington came down the stairs. “James, Lily would like you to come meet your new son.”

            Sirius whooped with joy and embraced Remus, letting go rather quickly when he noticed what he was doing. Peter stepped through the fire, and Sirius tackled him too, shouting, “It’s a boy!!”

            James left his friends and went upstairs to his bedroom. Inside, Lily held a whimpering bundle with a tuft of black hair visible over the blankets. James kissed Lily gently, and then took the baby in his arms.

            “I thought he looked like a ‘Harry’.” Lily said, “How about ‘Harry James Potter’?”

            “Perfect,” said James as the baby gazed up at him through bright green eyes. “It’s an honor.”

            “Well, I suppose Sirius is ready to burst downstairs. Why don’t you call them up and then Harry and I can get some rest.”

            James went to the door and called out to his friends. Sirius and Peter came dashing up, and then began to ooh and ahh over Harry. Lily mouthed ‘Remus?’ to James, and James headed back downstairs to find him limping towards the staircase.

            “Okay there pal?” asked James, putting an arm around Remus’ shoulders. Remus stumbled a bit and began to cough. James led him over to the steps and sat him down.  Remus slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. James noticed his left leg was magically splinted.

            “Sorry they left you down here like that.” James said softly, “They were just excited.”

            Remus shook his head and sighed. “It’s alright,” he said after a moment, “Let’s just go see the baby.”    

            James helped Remus up the stairs and into the bedroom, where Remus took a seat next to the bed. Peter handed a wailing Harry to him, and Harry instantly quieted.

            “You have a way with kids Remus,” Lily said kindly. Sirius rolled his eyes quite obviously, and Remus chose to ignore him. He handed Harry back to his mother saying,

            “Of all people.”

            Lily cuffed his lightly on the arm. “Don’t say that. You would make an excellent teacher, and don’t assume that you can’t just because of who you are. Now, clear out. I think Harry and I need a well-deserved nap.”

            Doctor Harrington came in with some baby supplies for Lily as James was placing Harry in the basinet by their bed. As she was leaving, Doctor Harrington saw Remus with his crudely splinted leg and feverish gaze.

            “Are you alright young man?” she asked concernedly.

            “He’s fine,” James said quickly, hoisting Remus to his feet, “I was just going to get him to bed. He’s had a terrible cold since this morning. He’ll be alright.”           

            “Please,” Doctor Harrington said, following James and Remus out of the room, “Let me check him. He looks horrible.”         

            James helped Remus into the Potter’s spare bedroom and covered him in a heavy blanket. Remus curled up under the blanket and immediately fell asleep. Doctor Harrington approached the bed and Remus began to cough in his sleep.

            “He’s very ill,” Doctor Harrington said, “That cough isn’t from a cold. He may have an infection in his leg that is causing a virus. Let me check it for you.”          

            “No.” James said quickly, “I mean, he’s already had it checked.”

            “Then why is it magically splinted?” Doctor Harrington asked suspiciously. “Please, just let me make sure it isn’t broken. If there is an infection, he could die from what he’s contracted.”           

            “I highly doubt that.” James muttered.

            “Then at least let me properly set it.”

            James gave up and pulled the blankets aside to reveal Remus’ bandaged leg. Doctor Harrington removed the bandages, only to discover that Remus’ lower leg was broken in three places.

            “Hey Moony,” James whispered, shaking Remus awake, “Your leg is broken. Doctor Harrington is going to magically set it for you, okay?”

            Remus nodded weakly and winced as the bones moved back into place. Doctor Harrington tightly bandaged the leg, and then took James out into the hall.

            “Is your friend a werewolf?” she asked. “I noticed that he’s very weak, and his leg is already been broken at least once. He’s also got a large amount of scars on his arms and the leg I saw.”

            James nodded, “Yes, he is. Please don’t tell him you know. He’s rather uncomfortable about it.”

            “I won’t” she said kindly, “How do you know him?”

            “From Hogwarts.”

            “Really? Albus Dumbledore let him in?”

            “Yes,” said James proudly.

            “It’s odd, because I’ve met three other werewolves in other parts of Europe, and he’s by far the worst affected. I’ve never seen any of the other three so skinny or weak afterwards.”

            “Well, he’s always been a bit un-stereotypical. He’s very quiet, and he’s constantly reading or sketching. He’s also incredibly smart.”

            He’s lucky to have such good friends,” Doctor Harrington said as she gathered her things.

            Some friends we’re acting like right now, James thought.

            “I’d make sure he stays in bed at least until noon tomorrow. Tell him to take it easy on that leg for the next week. Make sure he gets lots of rest, he needs it.” Doctor Harrington instructed, “As for Lily, she needs to rest for the next few days. Tell her to relax and stay in bed as much as she wants to. If you have any problems, feel free to owl me.”

            James thanked her graciously, checked on Remus who was still sleeping soundly, then went into his room. Lily was sleeping peacefully, as was Harry who was curled up in the basinet. James leaned down and kissed his baby son on the forehead.

            “I love you Harry Potter” he whispered as he quietly shut the door.