Regained Moments

Chapter 6

People were indeed staring at James as he carried Harry to the Great Hall, otherwise the marauders acted perfectly normal, which seemed to have caused more confusion for some. James paid the looks and whispers no mind though, only looking down to make sure Harry was alright.

"So, what did future Mrs Prongs want to talk about?" Sirius asked with a suggestive smile and eyebrow wiggle.

"It was nothing like that Padfoot, it was about what we talked about last time, plus she was a little curious about Harry." James said, he wasn't going to go behind Lily's back and tell the others what they had been talking about.

"You sure it wasn't that she wanted to be his mum?" Peter asked, joining in on Sirius' joke. For some reason Harry flinched every time Peter spoke, but he wouldn't say why.

James couldn't help himself but burst out laughing; how could they be so close but so far at the same time? "No, more asking if I was going to send him back. I'm not, he's mine now." James tightened his grip on Harry slightly, hoping to get his love for the young child across.

"It's Transfiguration first, are you going to take Harry with you or leave him with someone?" Remus asked as they all sat down. Not that anyone else could tell, but Harry's hands tightened on James' clothes.

"I'm going to take him with me, obviously. Who could I give him to who's not got classes? Besides, Harry wants to stay with me." James said, sitting down too, and turning Harry around to face the table. "What do you want to eat, Harry?"

"I don't mind." Harry said quietly, James had learnt the night prior that Harry was used to just eating leftovers or small portions, and so didn't have too much of a sense of what he likes or not yet.

"Then why don't we just have a simple breakfast?" James suggested, getting two plates and putting toast and scrambled eggs on the plates and putting them side by side in front of the pair of them, Harry on James' lap. "Which plate do you want?"

"Um, that one." Harry said, pointing at the plate that had slightly less scrambled egg that was on the right, pointing with the same hand that held the stag toy, making James keep a hand of his own out to make sure that it didn't get dirty.

"Alright." James said, ruffling Harry's hair, Harry pulling his hand and the toy back.

"Hey Potter," Felicity, one of the more opinionated members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, said, coming up behind him. "I see you got a kid now."

"Yeah, he's called Harry, like I told everyone in the common room when we came back from Mme Pomfrey." James said, smiling widely, very happy and proud to talk about Harry, who let out a small squeak and held onto James again.

"He better not interfere with your Quidditch skills and practice." She said, her hands on her hips, looking down at James, but he refused to be intimidated.

"With all due respect," James snapped, wrapping his arms around Harry in hopes to reassure him that it was okay and he could ignore what Felicity was saying. "You are not the captain, you are not someone with authority over me, and you are not the captain. You do not have the right to tell me what I can and can't do and how to look after my son. You're making my son upset. Good. Bye."

"It doesn't matter if I'm the captain, I am on the team too and I care about the team, you need to care about it too given you're on the team." She said, not backing down, which James guessed she did deserve some credit for as she was only in fourth year and James was a lot more popular and infamous than her.

"Would you rather I quit then? Because that's all you'll achieve." James said with a cold glare, turning back to their plates.

"No, but-" Felicity tried to reengage James and continue the argument.

"I think he made it more than clear enough that he doesn't want to talk to you and you have no authority over the way he treats his child and how he deals with everything else." Sirius said, fixing her with a glare himself. Sirius would also suffer from James quitting the team, although it was highly likely that he would take the captain position.

"Just leave if you're going to keep making an issue about Harry." Remus joined in, not looking at her, but his tone clearly hostile.

She walked away in a huff, James being the only Marauder who didn't watch her walk away, continuing to ignore her existence like he now wished he had since before he responded to her. Harry hadn't said anything, but was slumped slightly against James and was hugging the stag tightly, his expression a little dark.

"Sorry for causing you problems." Harry mumbled, his voice a little watery, and looking down at his lap.

"Hey now, Harry, you're not causing any problems, I promise. I love having you here with me and I love you." James said softly, hugging Harry tightly and playing with his hair, his eyes a little sad.

"Yeah, don't think too much about what she said, she's just up on herself." Sirius said with a smile.

"How about I teach you how to fly a little?" James suggested brightly. He always loved flying and he was sure that Harry would take to it like a fish to water.

"And what, exactly, are you expecting him to ride on? Not a normal broom I hope." Remus said, fixing James with a firm look. While James was more of a father to the group than Remus, he was sometimes a little overboard when it comes to flying and Harry was way too young for a normal broom.