Growing up Pureblooded

Like We Never Left

     After dessert – Narcissa had a small dish of lemon sorbet, whilst Sirius enjoyed a large slab of chocolate cake with an enormous scoop of mint ice cream – they returned to Windermere Court, where Sirius began packing his trunks. He was, in fact, far worse about putting such things off than either of his sons, and had been ever since his student days. Going to Hogwarts as a part of the staff only made the temptation worse, since he knew that if he forgot anything he could just pop back home to pick it up. "Heading off to Hogwarts already, Padfoot?" a familiar voice said, filling Sirius, as it always did, with an equal measure of sorrow and delight. "That's right, Prongs," he replied, looking up fondly at his best friend's portrait. James was sitting on the bank of a small stream, dangling his feet in the briskly-flowing water. "I'm a professor now." "Merlin help us all," James snorted. "I'd never have figured you for the respectable one."

     Sirius grinned. "I'm married now and everything." "I still can't wrap my mind around that one," James said, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm happy for you though. I never thought you'd manage to tie the knot."' "I never had a problem getting the girls to notice me," Sirius replied smoothly. James gave him a sharp glance. "You know perfectly well what I mean, Padfoot." Sirius hesitated before giving his friend a curt nod. "I do." "I'm glad," James said with a sigh. "I always hoped you'd be able to have what I have with Lily." He shuddered. "Even if it's with Narcissa Black, of all people."

     Sirius laughed. "I wouldn't exactly say that Cissy and I have what you and Lily did. Our relationship is a bit more...pragmatic." He paused. "Damn, I've missed you, Prongs." James smiled at him sadly. "I'm sure. I can't imagine what I'd do if our positions were reversed. Or if I'd survived and Lily died." He shook his head. "That would have been awful." "But Harry would have had you," Sirius said in a low voice. "He wouldn't have to live with all these bloody disguises and lies. He wouldn't know more Dark curses than both effing Lestrange brothers put together." He kicked his trunk. "I hate this, Prongs. Harry's a really great kid. He deserves to have a real father, not some good-for-nothing godfather who couldn't even manage to be there for the first ten years of his life. I got myself locked up in Azkaban and left him to be abused by the Muggles from Hell, and then to be molded by my Wicked and Most Evil relations into the second coming of the Dark Lord."

     "Let me tell you something, Padfoot," James said gravely, leaning forward in the painting. "I've watched Harry grow up over the past several years. You're right. He's a fantastic kid. Of course I wish he still looked like me. Of course it hurts a bit every time he calls me 'Uncle James'." He growled suddenly. "Do I wish he didn't have Magick Moste Evile memorized? Absolutely." He shook his head. "But I made you Harry's godfather for a reason, Padfoot. And not once in all this time have I ever regretted that decision." "I haven't a clue what I'm doing," Sirius said softly. "You were such a great dad." He snorted. "What am I saying? You still are. All my best ideas come from you."

     James smirked. "Even dead, I'm still the brains of the operation." "I always figured there was some reason for that big head of yours," Sirius shot back, trying and failing to hide a grin. James took a pebble from the stream and tossed it repeatedly in the air, catching it unfailingly in his hand. "You're a brilliant dad, Padfoot," he said sincerely. "To Harry, and to Draco too. They adore you, and it doesn't take a genius like yours truly to see that you feel just the same way about them." His face twisted into a funny expression. "Frankly, in your position, I don't know that I'd do half as well." "Thank you, Prongs, for that beautiful and odoriferous load of crap," Sirius said with a loud guffaw. "False humility doesn't become you."

     James smiled. "All right, so I was lying about that last part. I always knew I'd be a great dad. Hell, I was a great dad. Sometimes I think my entire purpose in life was simply to win Lily's heart and be Harry's father." "You're forgetting your most important role," Sirius observed. "You were Sirius Black's best mate for far longer than you were Lily's husband or Harry's father." James nodded pensively. "That's true." He chuckled. "And I think I did a halfway decent job of it, too." Sirius grinned. "The best."

     James jumped to his feet. His trousers were rolled up to his knees, yet even so he had managed to get them wet around the edges. "I don't suppose you can take me with you?" he said hopefully. Sirius shook his head. "McGonagall would have kittens. She had a hard enough time accepting the idea of two Marauders on staff." James looked solemnly into his best friend's eyes. "Give them hell from me, Padfoot," he said. Sirius's blue eyes glinted mischievously. "It will be like we never left."