If Joanna thought she was smooth sailing a couple of weeks ago, she wasn't sure that's how she would describe her life now. When she eagerly accepted to babysit her nephew to allow her brother and sister to catch up on some much-needed sleep, she didn't realize how much that job would entail. Sirius sat on the beige couch in the living room with the radio on the coffee table. The Holyhead Harpies were playing and he decided the broadcast of the match would probably get baby Harry to sleep. That wasn't the case. Neither was feeding him some of Lily's milk. Or leaving him alone in the cot. Or making ridiculous faces Peeves would find amusing.
"Merlin, remind me why we ever accepted to do this? I thought babies were supposed to eat and sleep -- not cry till our ears bleed out..." Sirius huffed, cradling Harry in his toned arms.
Joanna pinched the bridge of her nose after another one of Harry's wails, "Because we love James and Lily. Veeery much. And babies are supposed to eat and sleep."
"I thought the match was working. He was quiet for a minute, right?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah, but then the commentator said someone fell off their broom and he started to cry again," she explained despite the crying that droned on.
Sirius whispered as he moved the baby over his shoulders to burp him, "You know Moony really got let off the hook with this one. I sort of wish I was chosen to go talk to werewolves than do this."
"Hmm I don't know which one is worse, but I'm too tired to laugh right now," Jo winced.
She tried to talk Harry to sleep, speaking in hushed tones and softly rubbing his back, to no avail. If she was feeling baby fever when Lily was pregnant, this had long dispelled it. But the way Sirius was holding their nephew, with his chest bare if not for the muslin on his shoulder, made her want to kiss him right then and there. The only thing that ruined the mood was Harry's subsequent posset.
"He's lucky he's so adorable," Sirius noted before wiping the baby's mouth.
Jo smiled, "Lily and James sure know how to make a cute baby."
"You think we'd make cute babies?" He quickly questioned.
She used a cautious tone, "Sirius--"
"Just imagine ten years from now. I think we'd make some gorgeous babies, don't you?"
"Ten years from now, after the war, maybe we can have a lovely baby," she semi-complied.
He used a mocking tone, "Maybe? Why aren't you on board with this?"
"Isn't this enough to deter you from having children for a while?" She pointed at the fussy human he was holding.
"Not really, no," he answered.
"We have time to think about this, Sirius. We just got out of school ourselves and--" she got interrupted again.
"So you're saying James and Lily rushed into this," he mentioned.
"No, I think James and Lily are... they're James and Lily. Look, I just... I don't think I'd be capable of bringing another human into this world when I can barely defend myself. And when crazy relatives are killing innocent people. And when I already have enough family to lose," she rambled on all in one breath.
Neither had noticed that the baby had stopped whinging. Sirius simply sat staring at her in silence with those piercing grey eyes. Jo unconsciously began to trace the scars on her neck. Did she mess up again? How did she always manage to find the wrong things to say?
Sirius slowly let down the sleeping baby in the basket. Jo's breathing grew heavy, but she tried not to show her chest rising and falling as much. 'Don't leave me' was all she could think of.
YOU ARE READING
The Other One | Sirius Black
Fanfiction"I'm sorry, I just... remembered something," she muttered as her fingers traced the scars on her throat. He placed his hands on her shoulders before whispering, "It's just me." "It's just you," she sighed. ...
